First immigrant in ICE custody tests positive for coronavirus in New Jersey
wsws.org | 2020-03-26
This development highlights the criminal lack of basic sanitation that the Trump administration maintains in immigrant detention centers, as well as the ruling class' callous disregard for public health.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/26/berg…

Helping migrant shipwreck survivors to deal with trauma
news.un.org | 2020-03-26
Every year, migrants embarking on sea-crossings see their journey end in tragedy: those who survive and return home can struggle to cope with daily life, and need support. To help migrant returnees, the UN has a range of programs aimed at tackling the mental health side-effects of trauma.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1…

Technology of Death: The Not-So-Shocking Report on Israeli Weapons Exports
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-26
The Middle East region, battered by wars and adjoining humanitarian crises that have left millions of people stateless, hungry and diseased, is in urgent need for peace, security and reconstruction. Thanks to the US, Russian, French, Israeli and other weapons manufacturers, however, it is now the dumping ground for military hardware, an ominous sign for…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/26/technology-o…

A Triage Crisis is Coming, and It's Personal
Dave Lindorff | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-26
I'm sitting here self-quarantined with my family in our 1738 stone farmhouse just north of Philadelphia. It's an ancient building that I'm sure has known its share of epidemics over the centuries, including typhus and the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu. Right now I'm thinking about hospital triage. According to the New York Times, hospitals in…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/26/a-triage-cri…

'Covid-19 could be seasonal': Fauci warns coronavirus is likely to return in 'CYCLES', stresses need for vaccine
rt.com | 2020-03-26
Even if the US and other nations battling Covid-19 succeed in beating it back, the illness may return in yearly cycles, warned Anthony Fauci, a top expert on the US coronavirus task force, urging for the fast rollout of a vaccine. | …
rt.com/usa/484116-fauci-coronavirus-seas…

S.F. has 8,000 Homeless, 30,000 empty homes, 42,000 empty hotel rooms
repost | indybay.org | 2020-03-26
We are now seeing the boarding up of businesses in San Francisco, including the huge Sir Francis Drake Hotel near Union Square due to loss of tourist business. Meanwhile, San Francisco has an estimated 8,000 homeless, 30,000 empty homes and 42,000 empty hotel rooms. The homeless must be housed right now to save their lives from the coronavirus and to stop the epidemic. At sfunitedincrisis.org/, 100 medical professionals have a letter with their recommendations.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/25/1883181…

Moscow shuts down all non-essential shops & restaurants to stop spread of Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-03-26
All restaurants, cafes, and shops, except food stores, will be closed in the Russia capital from March 28 to April 5. The mayor also advised Muscovites to refrain from visiting places of worship amid the Covid-19 epidemic. | Restaurants and cafes will still be able to provide take-away food and delivery service, the order by Mayor Sergey Sobyanin read. | The restrictions also include barber shops, spas, massage parlors, as well as baths and saunas. | Access to parks, including Gorky Park and the All-Russian Exhibition Center, will be barred during the upcoming week due to the epidemic. | "I understand the feel…
rt.com/russia/484133-moscow-shops-restau…

Venezuela's Coronavirus Response Might Surprise You
Leonardo Flores | zcomm.org | 2020-03-26
Venezuelans waiting to go home understand that their chances of surviving the coronavirus

Amidst Coronavirus, It's Time to Heal the U.S.'s Domestic and International Reputation
Greta Zarro | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-26
It is in times of crisis, like the growing coronavirus pandemic, that deep structural inequities and the U.S. government's mismanagement of funds are starkly revealed. Half of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Half a million Americans sleep out on the streets. Thirty million Americans don't have health insurance. Forty-five million are burdened with $1.6…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/26/amidst-coron…

G20 leaders to convene remotely, discuss coronavirus pandemic, economic impacts
rt.com | 2020-03-26
Leaders from the Group of 20 major economies will speak by video link on Thursday about combating the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impacts. Global infections top 471,000 with more than 21,000 dead, according to Reuters. | G20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed this week to develop an "action plan" to respond to the outbreak, which the International Monetary Fund expects will trigger a global recession. Few details, however, have been offered so far. | World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will address the leaders to seek support for ramping up funding and prod…
rt.com/newsline/484134-g20-leaders-conve…

After downplaying COVID-19 pandemic, Japan forced to postpone Olympics
wsws.org | 2020-03-26
Facing a growing public outcry over his indifference to public health, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the Olympics had been moved to the summer of 2021.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/26/japn…

How market reforms made the NHS vulnerable to pandemics
Colin Leys | mronline.org | 2020-03-26
A 2014 report warned that reforms to the NHS would make it vulnerable to pandemics

Leaked government report warns of tens of thousands of deaths in one Canadian province
wsws.org | 2020-03-26
An internal Saskatchewan Health Authority report has warned that the rapid spread of the coronavirus would overwhelm the province's health care system and result in 9,000 to 15,000 people dying due to COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/26/caco…

German investor Dibelius: Big business must take priority over health care
wsws.org | 2020-03-26
It will only be a matter of days before Dibelius and his ilk will demand that workers who refuse to risk their health by going back to work should be forced to do so.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/26/dibe…

San Francisco Dept of Public Health Site Offers Help to Everyone
Solidarity Around the World | indybay.org | 2020-03-26
San Francisco now has 178 Coronavirus cases and for the first time today, 1 death. See the Department of Public Health website at www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/coronavirus.asp The same website has all kinds of helpful tips good for everyone, no matter where you live, translated into Chinese, Filipino, Spanish, Arabic and Vietnamese.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/25/1883180…

How Austerity and Anti-Immigrant Politics Left Italy Exposed
Conn Hallinan | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-26
Italy has the fourth largest economy in the European Union, and in terms of health care, it is certainly in a better place than the US. Per capita, Italy has more hospital beds–so-called "surge capacity"–more doctors and more ventilators. Italians have a longer life expectancy than Americans, not to mention British, French, Germans, Swedes and Finns. The virus has had an especially fatal impact on northern Italy, the country's richest region. There are a number of reasons why Italy has been so hard-hit, but a major one can be placed at the feet of former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of the xenopho…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/26/how-austerit…

US coronavirus deaths top 1,000 as the country waits for $2.2 trillion economic rescue package
rt.com | 2020-03-26
Deaths from Covid-19 have surpassed 1,000, according to a widely-cited tally, a worrying benchmark in the ongoing health crisis as Washington rushes to provide economic relief to the country's battered economy. | The United States saw its 1,000th fatality on Wednesday night, according to Johns Hopkins University. Confirmed cases have also continued to grow, reaching more than 69,000 by Thursday. The US reported its first case of the virus at the end of February. | The milestone coincided with a unanimous vote in the Senate to pass a $2.2 trillion bill designed to provide badly-needed economic aid to the countr…
rt.com/usa/484129-coronavirus-us-deaths-…

Governor Cuomo pleads for assistance as New York state plunges into an unprecedented health crisis
wsws.org | 2020-03-26
The governor is asking for more ventilators and beds, as New York faces a near collapse of its healthcare infrastructure.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/26/cous…

Iran's coronavirus death toll reaches 2,234 with 157 new fatalities
rt.com | 2020-03-26
Covid-19 has now killed 2,234 people in Iran, with 29,406 infected, the health authorities said, as the country remains the worst-hit by the disease in the Middle East. | …
rt.com/news/484147-iran-coronavirus-deat…

Nashville, Tennessee mayor issues business-friendly "safer at home" order in face of coronavirus pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-03-26
The state's Governor Bill Lee also suggested that workers and their families seek solace in prayer during the growing public health disaster.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/26/tenn…

Do the Deuteronomy
stclair | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-26
Do the Deuteronomy Do you want to shampoo Do you want to sham pee Do you want to sit six feet From me And watch the news of the plague On the TV Or do you want to do do do Do the Deuteronomy Deutero, do you know what that means? It's Greek

CDC: Housing, Not Handcuffs Is the Way to Stop COVID-19 Amongst Homeless Populations
NLCHP | indybay.org | 2020-03-26
Advocates Hail First Step, Call for More Help…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/24/1883178…

Five Arab states register new coronavirus cases
yenisafak.com | 2020-03-26
Health authorities in five Arab countries confirmed new cases and deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday.Lebanon reported 35 new cases of the coronavirus, known as COVID-19, bringing the total number to 368, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement.A total of six people died, while 20 others have recovered from the virus, the statement said.A total of 13 new cases were also registered in Kuwait, with the total cases of COVID-19 reaching 208, a spokesman for the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said in a news briefing.Oman's Health Ministry also said 10 new cases were reported in the Gulf country, bringing the t…
yenisafak.com/en/world/five-arab-states-…

COVID-19: Belgium's death toll at 220, cases top 6,000
yenisafak.com | 2020-03-26
The coronavirus death toll in Belgium has risen to 220 after 42 more fatalities were reported across the country, health authorities said on Thursday. | A total of 1,298 COVID-19 cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 6,235, according to a statement by the Federal Public Service of Health. | It said 536 people were hospitalized over the past 24 hours. | In a radio show, Health Minister Maggie De Block said Belgium's National Security Council will convene on Friday to discuss further measures to stem the virus' spread. | Meanwhile, a Belgian company announced that it has developed a rap…
yenisafak.com/en/world/covid-19-belgiums…

COVID-19: 'Sleep deprivation reduces killer cells'
yenisafak.com | 2020-03-26
Sleep deprivation reduces the number of natural killer cells which fight tumors and viral infections, a Turkish professor said, adding that a healthy immune system is your best bet against coronavirus."Healthy sleep is key for the proper functioning of immune system," said Levent Ozturk, a physiology expert at Trakya University in Turkey's Edirne province."Staying up for even only one night reduces the number and activity of the natural killer lymphocytes, which are crucial for the fight against viruses," Ozturk stressed.Ozturk added that the natural killer cells provide defense against the infections and they do…
yenisafak.com/en/news/covid-19-sleep-dep…

INFOGRAPHIC: Over 487,600 coronavirus cases recorded globally
yenisafak.com | 2020-03-26
Confirmed cases from the novel coronavirus across the world have reached 487,648 on Thursday, according to figures compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.The virus known as COVID-19, which emerged in Wuhan, China last December, has spread to at least 175 countries and regions around the globe, while a total of 21,571 people have died.In all, 117,749 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered from the disease.Italy, Spain, China and Iran continue to be the most affected countries.Although China has the most confirmed cases with 81,782, Italy recorded the most deaths with 7,503 fatalities in over 74,300…
yenisafak.com/en/news/infographic-over-4…

Putin: Russia May Defeat Coronavirus in Less Than 3 Months
sputniknews.com | 2020-03-26
Russia enacted a series of comprehensive measures to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak in recent weeks, instituting travel restrictions, quarantine for infected individuals, and efforts to make an effective vaccine available following testing.
sputniknews.com/russia/20200326107871545…

No Need for Hard Quarantine in Russia So Far – WHO
sputniknews.com | 2020-03-26
There are currently less than 900 officially confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia, but the country's government has recently introduced a number of self-isolation measures to prevent the rapid spread of the disease.
sputniknews.com/russia/20200326107871531…

Watch Russian Biological, Chemical Protection Troops Conduct Training
sputniknews.com | 2020-03-26
As the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, the Russian Defence Ministry has put all its efforts into dealing with the deadly virus in Russia. Thus, earlier in the day, the Russian Defence Ministry stated that it would build 16 modular-type centres for treating infectious diseases by 15 May.
sputniknews.com/military/202003261078715…

Malaysian socialist calls out dangerous myth of COVID-19 "mitigation"
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-26
Healthcare Jeyakumar DevarajIssue 1258 Malaysia COVID-19March 26, 2020I received a video on March 22 featuring an Israeli minister making an argument supporting "mitigation" as a strategy for combating COVID-19. He explained that since mortality rates are lower than 1% for…
greenleft.org.au/content/malaysian-socialist-calls-out-dangerous-myth-covid-19-%E2%80%9Cmitigation%E2%80%9D

Rojava administration appeals for help
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-26
Healthcare Kerry SmithIssue 1258 Northern Syria COVID-19March 26, 2020The people of North and East Syria

People of Rojava left to fight COVID-19 alone
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-26
HealthcareIssue 1258 Northern Syria COVID-19March 26, 2020The world's richest and most powerful states have been overwhelmed by coronavirus (COVID-19), with coffins lining the streets of European towns and martial law imposed from China to France. | The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) [in the region commonly known as Ro…
greenleft.org.au/content/people-rojava-left-fight-covid-19-alone

COVID-19: Trump sacrificing lives in favour of corporate bailout
Peter Boyle | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-26
Healthcare Barry SheppardIssue 1258 United States COVID-19March 26, 2020The coronavirus pandemic has hit the United States hard in the last few weeks. Of the reported cases worldwide so far, the US

British prisons have now seen their first coronavirus death
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-26
An 84-year-old man has become the first British prisoner to die after contracting coronavirus (Covid-19). | The inmate at HMP Littlehey, a category C male sex offenders' prison in Cambridgeshire, died in hospital on 22 March. | He reportedly had underlying health issues. | A Prison Service spokesman said: "An 84-year-old prisoner at HMP Littlehey died in hospital on March 22. | "Our thoughts are with his family at this time. | "As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman." | As of 25 March, 19 inmates had tested positive for coronavirus across 1…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/03/26/british-prisons-have-now-seen-their-first-coronavirus-death/

The Decade Of Transformation Is Here: Remaking Health Care
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-25
We've been writing for a while that the 2020's would be a decade when multiple crises would come to a head and we would have an opportunity for major transformations if we were organized to mobilize and demand them. The current coronavirus pandemic, economic collapse, and falling oil prices are three events that are creating …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/the-decade-of…

Madrid's Ice Rink Turned to Morgue as Spain Exceeds China in Coronavirus Deaths
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-25
We go to Madrid, Spain, one of the epicenters of the pandemic in Europe, where health workers account for nearly 14% of the country's infections. Many face limited availability of protective equipment. So many people have died that Madrid's municipal funeral home has stopped collecting bodies. A large ice rink is now being used as a makeshift morgue, and the government plans to extend the state of emergency by another 15 days in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. "If Madrid was a country, it would actually be fifth in terms of death rate in the entire world," says María Carrión, journalist and former De…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/25/maria_car…

Frontline NY Nurses Lack Protective Masks & Ventilators, Say Worst Yet to Come as COVID-19 Spreads
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-25
As the New York metro area has 60% of all the new coronavirus cases in the United States and is responsible for half the cases all over the country, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the number of hospitalizations is expected to peak in the next 40 days as hospitals are already encountering shortages of equipment needed to protect medical workers and to keep patients alive when the city's COVID-19 cases peak in the coming weeks. We're joined by two people on the frontlines of the pandemic: Sean Petty, a registered nurse in the pediatric emergency room of a public hospital in the Bronx and member of the…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/25/frontline…

FRSO online forum: A people's response to the coronavirus crisis
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-25
Minneapolis, MN – The world is the midst of a once-in-a-century disease pandemic. COVID-19 is a natural phenomenon that is quickly becoming a human disaster. | Steff Yorek, political secretary of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) states, "We know that all the politicians serve the interests of the rich. We need to demand and win concessions that benefit poor and working people. This will be literally a life or death situation and will fall on those with the least resources the most." | Join us for an on-line forum addressing how capitalism fails to address the public health crisis, brings impending e…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/24/frso-onl…

Palestine Demands Israel Release Prisoners Amid Virus Outbreak
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-25
Palestine on Wednesday urged Israel to immediately release over 5,000 Palestinian prisoners from its jails amidst an outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. | RELATED: | Israel Controls 95 Percent of Occupied Jordan Valley: Official | In a press statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israeli Prisons Service (IPS) is not providing proper health protection to Palestinian prisoners, despite an alarming increase of coronavirus cases in Israel. | "Israel is in…
telesurenglish.net/news/Palestine-Demand…

Promising coronavirus treatment granted exclusive status to Gilead Sciences by FDA
Ashley Curtin | nationofchange.org | 2020-03-25
"We will not tolerate profiteering. Any treatment or vaccine must be made free for all."
nationofchange.org/2020/03/25/promising-…

Pregnant? Here's What to Expect While Giving Birth Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-25
Over the next three months, nearly a million women in the United States will give birth to nearly a million babies

For panicking capitalists, resuming profit flow trumps everything
Roberta Wood | peoplesworld.org | 2020-03-25
Public health experts are united in advising Americans: "Keep your ass at home." Trump's panicky insistence on sabotaging that strategy is more than just ignorance and irresponsibility. It's not the "economy" in general he's in a cold sweat about. It's the flow of profits. And in that are revealed some hidden truths about our economy, …
peoplesworld.org/article/for-panicking-c…

Cuba to Send Doctors to Four Caribbean Countries and Argentina
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-25
Cuba's health authorities announced that new brigades of doctors and nurses with experience in handling critical situations are heading to Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica on Wednesday and Thursday. | RELATED: | Twitter Censors Official Prensa Latina Account | The first group with 25 health workers left for Belize this morning from the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation in Havana. | "We are aware that the current situation is difficult, but we are…
telesurenglish.net/news/Cuba-to-Send-Doc…

Timeline: Early testing failures and Trump inaction crippled U.S. coronavirus response
Michael Biesecker, Mike Stobbe, Matthew Perrone | peoplesworld.org | 2020-03-25
WASHINGTON (AP)–A series of missteps at the nation's top public health agency caused a critical shortage of reliable laboratory tests for the coronavirus, hobbling the federal response as the pandemic spread across the country like wildfire, an Associated Press review found. President Donald Trump assured Americans early this month that the COVID-19 test developed by the …
peoplesworld.org/article/timeline-early-…

Vets Say We Need a Strong VA to Combat Coronavirus and Win Medicare for All
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-25
Not many know about the Department of Veterans Affairs's (VA) so-called "fourth mission." In 1982, Congress expanded the VA's role beyond providing care, benefits and burial services to the nearly 9 million veterans it currently serves. Its additional role is to provide a backup health care system in a national emergency

Senate agrees to $2 trillion stimulus package
Jordan Davidson | nationofchange.org | 2020-03-25
The enormous $2 trillion package is designed to protect workers, families and businesses from the costly effects of needing to shut down businesses to protect communal health.
nationofchange.org/2020/03/25/senate-agr…

Italian workers to strike after bosses put profits over health with coronavirus loopholes
Steve Sweeney | peoplesworld.org | 2020-03-25
Metalworkers in Italy's Lombardy region are set to walk out for 24 hours on Wednesday. The region's three main metalworker unions–FIOM, FIM, and UILM–warned that bosses are exploiting loopholes and exceptions in a government decree that forces businesses to close due to the coronavirus. They said that the government list "has been excessively extended, covering …
peoplesworld.org/article/italian-workers…

Experts Explain Why COVID-19 Seems More Fatal in Men Than Women
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-25
Existing data show the novel coronavirus has caused higher mortality in men than women. Besides general poor health and habits like smoking and drinking for men that may cause damage to the lungs, leading experts told Xinhua hormonal influences on the immune response may also play a vital role in this phenomenon. | RELATED: | Spain's COVID-19 Death Toll Overtakes China's | While addressing a White House daily briefing, Dr. Deborah Birx, White House COVID-19 task force director, said a report from…
telesurenglish.net/news/Experts-Explain-…

Our leaders are terrified. Not of the virus, of us!
Jonathan Cook | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-25
You can almost smell the fear-laden sweat oozing from the pores of television broadcasts and social media posts as it finally dawns on our political and media establishments what the coronavirus actually means. And I am not talking about the threat posed to our health. A worldview that has crowded out all other thinking for …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/our-leaders-a…

UN launches major humanitarian appeal to keep COVID-19 from 'circling back around the globe'
news.un.org | 2020-03-25
To confront the unprecedented worldwide challenge posed by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, top UN officials on Wednesday, launched a massive humanitarian appeal to mitigate its impact, particularly on fragile countries with weak health systems.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1…