| Trump escalates battle with World Health Organization over coronavirus response Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Reprising the skeptical tone he has applied to the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, President Trump accused the World Health Organization of helping China to conceal the number of its citizens that have been infected by the coronavirus.
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| Animal shelters say in coronavirus lockdown people are looking for new friends Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Kelsey Pierce, a musician and songwriter in New York City, had always wanted to foster a dog with her roommate, Allyson Backus, but because of their busy schedules it was never a real possibility. Since all of New York is currently on a stay-at-home order because of the coronavirus pandemic, the pair were finally able to take on a furry friend.
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| U.S. spy agencies collected raw intel hinting at public health crisis in Wuhan, China, in November Posted: 09 Apr 2020 03:43 PM PDT  Current and former officials say there was no formal assessment in November but that there was raw intelligence that fueled formal assessments written in December.
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| China Reclassifies Dogs from Livestock to Pets in Response to Coronavirus Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  China's agriculture ministry has reclassified dogs, which it previously deemed livestock, as pets in response to the coronavirus pandemic."As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilization and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been 'specialized' to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China," the Ministry of Agriculture said in guidelines published on Wednesday that are now open to public comment.The new coronavirus is thought to have originated in bats that then infected wild animals that were sold in the so-called wet markets of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.In February, as the virus was beginning to spread and before it reached global pandemic status the next month, China temporarily banned the farming and consumption of "terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value," and plans to sign the ban into permanent law later this year. But the wildlife trade is widespread in the country, and previous efforts to curtail the market have had little effect.The guidelines list 18 traditional livestock species, including cattle, pigs, poultry, and camels, as well as 13 "special" species that will also be allowed to be sold, including reindeer, alpaca, pheasants, ostriches, and foxes.Several U.S. lawmakers have criticized China's wildlife trade and called on the country to do more to prevent outbreaks like the coronavirus from occurring again in the future."While I welcomed the announcement last month that the People's Republic of China (PRC) has permanently banned the trade and consumption of non-aquatic wild animals, I share the concerns of many in the conservation community that this ban does not go far enough," said Representative Mike McCaul (R., Texas). "The policy does not ban the trade of wild animals for fur, medicine, or research, and I believe that these loopholes may be exploited to illegally sell or trade these animals."
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| The first ER doctor to die from the coronavirus in the US said he was infected because he had to wear the same mask 4 days in a row Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Frank Gabrin worked in New York emergency rooms where, he told friends, there was a shortage of protective equipment. The hospitals denied a shortage.
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| New York state reports more coronavirus cases than any country except the U.S.: Reuters tally Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:50 AM PDT  New York state on Wednesday reported the most coronavirus cases in the world, overtaking Spain, according to a Reuters tally.
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| Biden pledges to lower Medicare age and reduce some student debt in olive branch to Sanders supporters Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:16 PM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden is reaching out to Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) supporters, just a little bit.Sanders suspended his 2020 run on Wednesday, though he pledged to keep collecting delegates and fighting for his progressive platform. So in an effort to win over Sanders' backers, Biden adopted a lighter version of some of Sanders' policies Thursday, pledging to lower the age of Medicare eligibility and forgive some student debt.In a Thursday blog post, Biden first promised he'd let Americans receive Medicare benefits once they turned 60, a small step down from the current eligibility age of 65. This "reflects the reality that, even after the current crisis ends, older Americans are likely to find it difficult to secure jobs," Biden wrote, though he was sure to point out that "those who prefer to remain on their employer plans would be permitted to do so." Sanders' health care plan, famously known as Medicare-for-all, would swap all private insurance to a universal public plan.Biden also adopted Sanders' and Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) plans to forgive student loan debt, albeit with several restrictions. Biden would "forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities for debt-holders earning up to $125,000," he said in the blog post. "Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas," Biden finished in his post, though some Sanders backers weren't totally happy with Biden's proposals.More stories from theweek.com A federal program promised small businesses up to $2 million in loans. Now it's maxing out at $15,000. Sting, Jimmy Fallon, and the Roots perform 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' remotely, creatively Google, Apple elicit praise and concern over massive coronavirus partnership
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| N.Y. Reports Deadliest Day; Hospitalizations Plunge Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:31 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- New York City reported a record 824 deaths from the coronavirus in 24 hours, a grim reminder that despite flattening infection curves and lower hospital admissions, the health crisis in the largest U.S. city is far from over.Statewide, the fatality rate has worsened by the day. New York reported 799 new deaths on Thursday, on top of about 1,500 in the prior two days. Total coronavirus deaths in the state now exceed 7,000.The city and state take snapshots of the virus's effects at different times of day, which may partly account for why the city reported more deaths than the state did. A spokesman for the governor, Rich Azzopardi, said the city and state were working to come up with a unified reporting system to eliminate their discrepancies.The latest spike in deaths, which lag as an indicator of the virus's spread, comes as the rate of hospitalizations in the city and state is dropping sharply.At his daily virus briefing on Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said there had been only 200 net new hospitalizations over 24 hours, the lowest number since the crisis broke out. That number had been as high as 1,400 just a week ago. Likewise, the rate of new intensive-care admissions and intubations -- when patients are put on a ventilator -- also plummeted.But New York State also reported more than 10,600 new positive cases on Wednesday, a second day above 10,000 after multiple days when the number was trending downward. At more than 159,000 infections, New York's cases have now eclipsed those of Spain and Italy. It's unknown how many people have been infected but never tested.About 18,000 people in the state are hospitalized for the virus. If New York is indeed reaching a plateau, the statistics suggest that the state will need far less hospital capacity than it raced to build at the onset of the crisis.After early models predicted a wave as big as 135,000 coronavirus patients, New York nearly doubled its hospital capacity to about 90,000 beds, with hospitals filling hallways, lobbies and conference rooms with them. If the spread continues to slow, the question may become what to do with the excess capacity the state no longer needs.That wasn't a question Cuomo was prepared to answer on Thursday, saying it was too early to begin making such assessments."I don't want to get into a retrospective when we're in the middle of the game," Cuomo said. But he added: "The expert models were all off."He urged New Yorkers to continue practicing social distancing, noting that the curve could begin trending up again if people become complacent and that the state needed to prepare for potential additional waves of the virus."We're in a battle right, but this is about a war," Cuomo said.Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that the apparent flattening of the infection curve might mean that the city could reach a second phase as early as June that would relax restrictions on movement outside the home. That would require much wider testing and continued adherence to some level of social distancing, he said.The mayor gave no estimates for when, or under what conditions, businesses, schools, courts, restaurants or theaters could reopen."If we do things right and get testing we can make steady progress," de Blasio said. "If we don't do things right or get thrown a curve ball we may have to tighten restrictions further."The city death toll reached 4,426 on Thursday morning, up from more than 3,600 the previous day. Confirmed cases totaled roughly 84,000, up about 6,400 from 24 hours earlier.As the caseloads stabilize and then decrease, city officials plan to isolate mildly symptomatic patients in hotel rooms while they fight off the virus to prevent them from infecting others in their households, de Blasio said.(Updates with governor's spokesman in the third paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Disillusionment grows over Trump's coronavirus briefings Posted: 09 Apr 2020 01:34 PM PDT  The Wall Street Journal becomes the latest news outlet to criticize President Trump's performances at the daily coronavirus task force briefings.
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| Roosevelt Sailor with COVID-19 Found Unresponsive in Guam Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:35 AM PDT  The sailor is a member of the crew of the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which reported its first cases of COVID-19 on March 24.
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| DeVos reaches settlement in lawsuit over loan relief program Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:45 PM PDT  The U.S. Education Department is promising to process student loan forgiveness claims for nearly 170,000 borrowers within 18 months as part of a proposed settlement announced Friday in a federal lawsuit. The suit alleges that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos illegally stalled a program known as borrower defense to repayment, which promises to forgive federal student loans for borrowers who are cheated by their colleges. Under the settlement, DeVos admits no wrongdoing but promises to issue decisions on all pending claims within 18 months, and to cancel debt for approved claims within 21 months.
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| Why some doctors are moving away from ventilators for virus patients Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:11 AM PDT  Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for COVID-19 patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry that the machines could be doing harm.
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| Almost Everything on Levi’s Site is 40 Percent Off Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:52 PM PDT |
| Leading Scientific Journal Nature Apologizes for ‘Associating’ Coronavirus with China Posted: 09 Apr 2020 12:05 PM PDT  The leading British scientific journal Nature apologized in an article published on Tuesday for "associating" the coronavirus with its origin place in China on the grounds that the linkage had inspired racist attacks against people with Asian heritage across the world."That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologize," the journal said in an article published Tuesday.The coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, China and first appeared in bats thought to have infected wild animals that were sold in the city's wet markets. Since then, it has spread to at least 177 countries and infected 1.4 million people. As of Thursday morning, at least 89,000 people had died after contracting the respiratory illness."It's clear that since the outbreak was first reported, people of Asian descent around the world have been subjected to racist attacks, with untold human costs – for example, on their health and livelihoods," the article read.Nature remarked that the World Health Organization's dubbing the new coronavirus COVID-19 was a subtle reminder to "those who had erroneously been associating the virus with Wuhan and with China in their news coverage – including Nature."The publication urged that "Coronavirus stigma must stop – now.""It would be tragic if stigma, fueled by the coronavirus, led Asia's young people to retreat from international campuses, curtailing their own education, reducing their own and others' opportunities and leaving research worse off – just when the world is relying on it to find a way out," the journal said.The Nature report also chastised "a minority of politicians," who are "sticking with the outdated script.""Continuing to associate a virus and the disease it causes with a specific place is irresponsible and needs to stop," the report said.President Trump briefly referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus," defending his use of the term by saying "it comes from China," but later backed away from the phrase after reports of an uptick in violence against Asian Americans."Look, everyone knows it came out of China, but I decided we shouldn't make any more of a big deal out of it," Trump said early last month.The Communist Chinese government has denied that the virus originated in China and said that it is "strongly indignant" over the phrase, calling it "a kind of stigmatization." Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang demanded last month that the U.S. "immediately stop its unjustified accusations against China."
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| Anthony Fauci says people who recover from the coronavirus should be immune through at least September. But some scientists worry that not all patients develop antibodies. Posted: 08 Apr 2020 07:00 PM PDT  Fauci said the 315,000-plus people who have recovered from the virus are likely protected from re-infection — at least for a time.
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| Boris Johnson walking in hospital as UK sees record death toll Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:56 AM PDT  Prime Minister Boris Johnson was able to walk in hospital on Friday some 24 hours after leaving intensive care treatment for COVID-19, as Britain recorded nearly 1,000 daily deaths from the virus for the first time. "The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery," a Downing Street spokesman said. Johnson left intensive care at London's St Thomas' Hospital on Thursday evening, three days after being admitted due to his then-worsening condition.
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| Coronavirus: New York ramps up mass burials amid outbreak Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:03 AM PDT  Drone footage shows coffins stacked in a pit in the city, as the state logs more cases than any country.
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| Russia launches criminal investigation after Prague removes Soviet military statue Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:26 AM PDT  Russia said on Friday it had opened a criminal investigation after Czech authorities dismantled the statue of a Soviet military commander last week despite Moscow's protests, escalating a rancorous diplomatic row over the issue. The statue to Marshal Ivan Konev, who led Red Army forces during World War Two that drove Nazi troops from Czechoslovakia, is reviled by some in Prague as a symbol of the decades of Communist rule that followed the war. The statue to Konev, who also played a leading role in crushing the 1956 Hungarian uprising and building the Berlin Wall in 1961, was taken down on April 3 by municipal Prague authorities who said they planned to put it in a museum.
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| Fox’s Kilmeade: 60,000 Coronavirus Deaths Shows ‘How Good We Are Doing’ Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:07 AM PDT  Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade called for the American economy to quickly reopen amid downward revisions of some models projecting the coronavirus death count, saying Thursday that a now-expected 60,000 victims shows just "how good we are doing."With one influential and highly respected modeler moving its projections down over the past few days, Fox News hosts have been clamoring for President Donald Trump to quickly reverse social-distancing restrictions in order to jumpstart the economy, claiming public health experts exaggerated the impact of the virus.Noting that Trump had originally expressed hope that the country could get going again at Easter, Kilmeade said that one model shows that the peak of the coronavirus infections will now come around that time. He then seemed to downplay the possibility of tens of thousands of more deaths."The fact is, when someone says 200,000 people die, oops, I mean 60,000," the Fox host declared. "And it's not going to be right away, it's going to be in August. That's how good we are doing and how off the models were.""You have to wonder, as much as social distancing is working, I wonder if the economists are going to get in that room and say we have to stand up this economy in some way before we're not going to be able to stand when this is all said and done," he continued.Co-host Steve Doocy, meanwhile, reminded his colleague that 60,000 coronavirus victims is still a "staggering number.""It's a high number," Kilmeade reacted. "But how many people are going to die as the country goes flat on its back for three months. We're not going to look like the same country. So the economists have to have a say in this."As of publication, per the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the United States has over 430,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 15,000 have died.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Jerry Falwell Jr. says warrants are out for 2 journalists after critical stories on coronavirus decision Posted: 08 Apr 2020 05:57 PM PDT |
| Inmates at Kansas prison take over cell block, damage property Posted: 09 Apr 2020 11:43 PM PDT  There have been COVID-19 cases involving inmates at the prison, but a cause of the disturbance at Lansing Correctional Facility was not clear.
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| Rare look at stockpile handouts shows which states got ventilators, masks amid coronavirus Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:02 AM PDT  A federal report gives the nation its closest look yet at how the secretive Strategic National Stockpile distributed supplies amid the coronavirus.
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| Experts warn that there is no proof the coronavirus will stop spreading in warmer weather Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:57 PM PDT  A recently released report indicates that warmer weather won't have a significant impact on the coronavirus.
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| Virus appears to strike men, overweight people harder Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:54 AM PDT  In the emergency rooms of virus hotspots around the world, medical staff are seeing a greater number of men than women suffering severe symptoms of COVID-19, with obesity emerging as another potentially aggravating factor. What first began to appear as a pattern in China, where the virus emerged at the end of last year, has echoed through hospitals in Europe and the United States as the pandemic spreads. "More men than women have serious problems, and patients who are overweight or have previous health problems are at higher risk," said Derek Hill, Professor of Medical Imaging Science at University College London.
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| China ZTE executive quits amid sex assault allegations Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:34 AM PDT  Bao Yuming steps down from the tech giant's board after reports of a police investigation.
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| US officials: Missile defense systems now operating in Iraq Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:29 PM PDT  New air defense systems are now protecting American and allied forces at military bases in Iraq where troops have been attacked by Iranian-backed insurgents in recent months, according to U.S. officials. Patriot missile launchers and two other short-range systems are now in place at al-Asad Air Base, where Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against U.S. and coalition troops in January, and at the military base in Irbil, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive weapons movement. The military has been gradually moving the defensive systems into Iraq over the last few months to provide more protection for troops that have seen a series of rocket and missile attacks.
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| Trump news: President says American money built China in scathing attack as he threatens WHO funding in coronavirus briefing Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:20 AM PDT  Donald Trump continued to assure Americans living under stay-at-home orders that the US economy will soon see a "big bounce" — despite an unprecedented number of families now seeking emergency relief from food banks across the country and record unemployment claims this week.More Americans have died of coronavirus this week than in the entire Iraq War, which claimed the lives of more than 4,500 US troops between 2003 and 2011. Mr Trump, frequently describing himself as a "war-time president," now is faced with a daily death toll that has eclipsed that of both world wars.
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| Moscow mayor warns city of 'serious test' as coronavirus numbers climb Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:43 AM PDT  The mayor of Moscow urged residents of the capital to brace for a "serious test" from the new coronavirus and said the city would introduce a system of permits for movement to help enforce a lockdown, as infection numbers shot up across Russia. The country reported 1,786 new cases, bringing its tally to 11,917, even as Moscow and many other regions neared the end of their second week in a state of lockdown aimed at halting the contagion.
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| FBI arrests Texas man for coronavirus hoax meant to empty grocery stores Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:38 AM PDT  A Texas man is facing federal charges for allegedly posting on Facebook that he had paid a person with coronavirus to spread the virus in San Antonio-area grocery stores in an attempt to get people to stop shopping.
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| An 86-year-old woman with dementia was pushed and killed in an NYC emergency room over social distancing Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Janie Marshall grabbed onto a 32-year-old patient's IV pole to regain her balance, and the woman threw her to the floor, The New York Times reported.
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| Bill Gates thinks schools will be able to re-open by fall, but 'low-income students will be hurt the most by these school closures' Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:11 AM PDT  Bill Gates highlighted the inequalities surfaced by online learning, and expects low attendance as students finish this school year at home.
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| US man arrested for beating up mom over toilet paper Posted: 09 Apr 2020 04:29 PM PDT  A California man was arrested this week after allegedly punching his mother -- who had apparently hidden the family's stash of toilet paper because of his excessive use of the hot commodity. Police were called to the family's home in Saugus, north of Los Angeles, at 3:00 am Monday following a dispute over the whereabouts of the hygiene product, Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station, told AFP. The argument between Adrian Yan and his mother escalated and he punched her in the face, Miller said.
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| We can't shelter in place forever: How the coronavirus lockdown might end Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The coronavirus changed our lives. Health experts discuss how we might get back to normal.
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| What Went Wrong in the Wisconsin Election, and What We Can Learn From It Before November Posted: 09 Apr 2020 01:18 PM PDT  Watching the Wisconsin election unfold, it was impossible not to wonder: Is this what we're all in for in November?
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| Fox News says the coronavirus death toll is inflated. Experts say the opposite. Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:20 AM PDT  In his 2017 book "The Loudest Voice in the Room," journalist Gabriel Sherman reported that top Fox News executives meet every morning to strategize about how the network can angle its daily coverage to advance the Republican Party's political agenda.
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| German minister criticises U.S. coronavirus response as too slow: Spiegel Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:16 AM PDT  German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has criticised the United States' handling of the coronavirus outbreak as too slow, the latest sign of tensions between the two allies as they respond to the crisis. China took "very authoritarian measures, while in the U.S., the virus was played down for a long time," Maas said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine in a preview sent to the media on Friday. Germany was among countries that last week accused the United States of "Wild West" tactics in outbidding or blocking shipments to buyers who had already signed deals for vital medical supplies.
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| White House slams Voice of America, VOA fights back Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:20 PM PDT  The White House on Friday launched an unusual attack on the congressionally funded Voice of America, the U.S. broadcaster that for decades has provided independent news reporting around the world. In a broadside directed against VOA's coverage of the pandemic and China on Friday, an official White House publication accused it of using taxpayer money "to speak for authoritarian regimes" because it covered the lifting of the lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged. VOA promptly fired back, defending its coverage.
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| Trans woman fined for violating Panama's gender-based lockdown Posted: 10 Apr 2020 11:54 AM PDT  The country has imposed quarantine measures that only allow men and women to leave their homes on alternate days of the week.
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| Turkey's COVID-19 infection rate is the fastest rising in the world. Here's why it got so many cases so quickly. Posted: 09 Apr 2020 10:36 PM PDT  Less than a month ago, Turkey didn't have a single case. As of April 10, it had 42,282 confirmed cases with 908 deaths.
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| Italy and Austria share a border, but while one nation grapples with crippling coronavirus deaths, the other is preparing to lift its lockdown Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:34 PM PDT  Despite announcing "a step-by-step resurrection" of Austria's economy, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, "We are not out of the woods."
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| Pope presides over haunting Good Friday procession under lockdown Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:05 PM PDT  Pope Francis entered a torch-lit, but hauntingly empty Saint Peter's Square for a Good Friday procession under a lockdown caused by a coronavirus that has claimed 100,000 lives worldwide. The Argentine-born pontiff walked up to his podium flanked by five prison inmates from the hard-hit northern Italian city of Padua and five Vatican doctors and nurses. Earlier, Francis had said that medics and priests who died after becoming infected while looking after COVID-19 victims "gave their lives out of love, like soldiers at the front".
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| Trump administration, citing coronavirus, expels 10,000 migrants in less than 3 weeks Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:39 PM PDT  Homeland Security officials say CDC guidance on coronavirus and 'public health' outweigh U.S. laws that protect asylum seekers and migrant children.
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| Coronavirus: Teachers in Singapore stop using Zoom after 'lewd' incidents Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:53 AM PDT  A secondary school home-based geography lesson in Singapore was hijacked by two men.
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| UN agency says 280 migrants are stranded in unsafe port in Libya, banned from disembarking Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:25 AM PDT  The Libyan coast guard rescued 280 migrants in distress in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday and diverted them to the shores of the North African country, only to have them banned from disembarking, the U.N. migration agency said.
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| Letters to the Editor: Why is the federal government seizing medical supply orders? Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Trump doesn't want the states asking Washington for help, but his administration is seizing medical orders from providers. Why?
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| Mexico reports first deaths of pregnant women from coronavirus Posted: 09 Apr 2020 05:11 PM PDT  Mexico has recorded its first two deaths of pregnant women from the coronavirus as the overall number of fatalities in the country reached 194, the health ministry said on Thursday. One of the two women gave birth to a son before passing away, deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told a news conference, noting that pregnant women are highly susceptible to infection caused by the virus. For a short time the baby boy had respiratory problems and is still delicate, he added.
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| 29 years on death row, Pakistan woman suffers mental illness Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:35 AM PDT  Kanizan Bibi was 16 when she was charged with murdering her employer's wife and five children. The police said she was having an affair with her employer, who was also arrested and later hanged. Until his execution in 2003, Khan Mohammad swore he and Bibi had never had an affair and had not killed anyone.
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