Why Did the World Health Organization Wait Until March to Declare a Global Pandemic?
Vijay Prashad | zcomm.org | 2020-04-29
The 2005 regulations pushed on the World Health Organization by the United States and the Europeans hampered the WHO's ability to declare an emergency and a pandemic…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/why-did-the-world-…
Why did the World Health Organization wait until March to declare a global pandemic?
Vijay Prashad | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-29
The 2005 regulations pushed on the World Health Organization by the United States and the Europeans hampered the WHO's ability to declare an emergency and a pandemic…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/29/why-did-t…
What are the underlying transmission patterns of COVID-19 outbreak? An age-specific social contact characterization
Yang Liu, Zhonglei Gu, Shang Xia, Benyun Shi, Xiao-Nong Zhou, Yong Shi, Jiming Liu | thelancet.com | 2020-04-29
With an in-depth characterization of age-specific social contact-based transmission, the retrospective and prospective situations of the disease outbreak, including the past and future transmission risks, the effectiveness of different interventions, and the disease transmission risks of restoring normal social activities, are computationally analyzed and reasonably explained. The conclusions drawn from the study not only provide a comprehensive explanation of the underlying COVID-19 transmission patterns in China, but more importantly, offer the social contact-based risk analysis methods that can readily be appl…
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PI…(20)30098-5/fulltext?rss=yes
Guatemalans Stage a Funeral Procession to Protest
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-29
After staging a funeral procession through the streets of Guatemala City on Tuesday, social activists and workers came together in the Constitution Square to denounce the poor management of the health emergency by President Alejandro Giammattei administration. | RELATED: | Guatemala: President Giammattei Reaches 100 Days in Office | "Basic services were c…
telesurenglish.net/news/Guatemalans-Stag…
Cuba: Interferon's Effectiveness Against COVID-19 Confirmed
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-29
Cuban scientific authorities confirmed this week that the use of Interferon to treat COVID-19 patients was indeed effective. | RELATED: | French NGO Nominates Cuban Medical Brigades For Nobel Peace Prize | Eulogio Pimentel Vazquez, President of the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), affirmed that the Interferon application complies with Cuban Health Ministry (Minsap) protocols. Pimentel stated that it is part of a patients' treatment but not for those in…
telesurenglish.net/news/cuba-interferons…
Colombia's southeast in crisis as coronavirus breaks out and promised medical aid is missing
Adriaan Alsema | colombiareports.com | 2020-04-29
The government of Colombia's southeastern Amazonas province urged for help on Tuesday after a coronavirus outbreak almost instantly collapsed its healthcare system. The National Health Institute (INS) reported that the…
colombiareports.com/colombias-southeast-…
Iranian scientist in US jail contracts coronavirus
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-04-29
TEHRAN, Apr. 29 (MNA)
Jaffna health workers complain of poor facilities as pandemic spreads in Sri Lanka
wsws.org | 2020-04-29
Health workers in northern Sri Lanka insist that the insufficiency of tests and shortcomings of health facilities has made the province vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/29/jaff…
Black Workers Unite, Covid-19 & Black Workers Under Attack On Front Lines In City of SF
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2020-04-29
San Francisco Black Workers Unite covered a panel on the health and safety conditions of Black city workers in San Francisco. They discuss the systemic racism, health and safety violations and retaliations against whistleblowers…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/27/1883266…
Brazil Admits Country Is Getting Worse Due to COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-29
With 5,017 people affected by COVID-19, the Brazilian government on Tuesday admitted that emergency situation is getting worse in the country due to the pandemic. | RELATED: | Brazil: Workers' Party Files Lawsuit Against Bolsonaro and Moro | In the last 24 hours, 474 deaths were reported, the highest number recorded since the beginning of the epidemic. | The country's health authorities said the number of infections and deaths continues to grow. That reality must be treated as…
telesurenglish.net/news/brazil-admits-co…
Public Health and Private Profits Under COVID-19 Pandemic
Prabir Purkayastha | zcomm.org | 2020-04-29
There is a major problem with vaccines and the for-profit pharmaceutical industry…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/public-health-and-…
What is contact tracing, and why is it important in fight against COVID-19?
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
Contact tracing is one of those terms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic that has seemingly become a part of our everyday language. But it's a public health strategy that's been used for years to combat communicable diseases. Contact tracing is the process of finding out who has recently been in close contact with a person …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/wh…
Why are more men dying from COVID-19 than women?
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
Men appear to be hit harder by COVID-19 than women. Early data from China and the World Health Organization (WHO) show that more men than women are dying from COVID-19. Other countries like Spain and Italy also are seeing higher death rates among men. But why might that be? Dr. Gregory Poland, a Mayo Clinic …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/wh…
73,791 recovered from COVID-19 in Iran
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-04-29
TEHRAN, Apr. 29 (MNA)
BBC Panorama exposes government responsibility for UK health worker deaths
wsws.org | 2020-04-29
Using documents from within the NHS supply chain, the investigation rips apart ministers' claims to have provided 1 billion items of personal protective equipment in the last two months.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/29/pano…
Mayo Clinic partners with state of Minnesota, University of Minnesota on breakthrough COVID-19 initiative
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
Mayo Clinic joined Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcom, the University of Minnesota, and other health system leaders to announce a breakthrough initiative to provide rapid, widespread testing for COVID-19 in Minnesota. The goal of this statewide strategy is to test all symptomatic people, isolate confirmed cases to limit the …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ma…
COVID-19 cases increase across Illinois as many counties push to reopen
wsws.org | 2020-04-29
The pandemic poses enormous problems for rural areas where public health programs and hospitals have been greatly defunded over the last decade, leaving vulnerable residents in greater danger.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/29/illi…
Testing tsar 'confident' government will hit 100,000 target for Covid-19
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-29
The government's testing tsar has said he is confident the 100,000 daily target for coronavirus tests will be met on Thursday.Professor John Newton, director of public health improvement for Public Health England (PHE), said: "We are pretty confident we will hit that target. It puts us really right up there with countries like Germany, so we need that now but we need that for the future as well."There will be a lag in receiving the data but "by the end of the week we will know whether we have reached that target", he added.The government has been under pressure over the target, with health secretary Matt Hancock…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/2020/04/29/testing-tsar-confident-government-will-hit-100000-target-for-covid-19/
International Workers' Day: Find an action!
Workers World Party | workers.org | 2020-04-29
May Day
COVID-19 Means a Systemic Human Development Crisis, UNDP Warns
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-29
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Wednesday warned of the "enormous differences" in the countries' capabilities to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, which is not only a global health emergency but also a systemic human development crisis. | RELATED: | Sub-Saharan Africa Won't Be Spared in Health, Economic Crisis: IMF | "It is a systemi…
telesurenglish.net/news/COVID-19-Means-a…
Essential Workers Plan Unprecedented Strike
Daniel A. Medina | zcomm.org | 2020-04-29
Workers from Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, and FedEx are slated to walk out on work, citing what they say is their employers' record profits at the expense of workers' health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/essential-workers-…
Australian health workers infected with COVID-19 but governments cover up full picture
wsws.org | 2020-04-29
Even according to the officially-reported cases, Melbourne's health system is one of the worst-affected in Australia.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/29/heal…
NSAIDS and heart disease: Mayo Clinic Radio Health Minute
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
They're common over-the-counter pain medications that are used millions of times. But on this Mayo Clinic Radio Health Minute, Dr. Rekha Mankad explains why caution should be used when taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. To listen, click the link below. NSAIDS and heart disease…
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ns…
China's parliament to begin annual meeting on May 22 as 'epidemic situation improves'
rt.com | 2020-04-29
The parliament of China will start its annual meeting on May 22, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. The session will be held over two months later than originally planned, owing to the fallout from the Covid-19 outbreak. | Conditions for holding the annual meeting of parliament have been met, now that the coronavirus epidemic situation has improved in the country, officials at the top decision-making body of the Chinese parliament were quoted as saying. | The top political consultative body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has also proposed to start its annual sessio…
rt.com/newsline/487193-china-parliament-…
In the American Snake Oil Stain
Martin Billheimer | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-29
In his Journal of the Plague Year, 1664, De Foe tells us that "
counterpunch.org/2020/04/29/in-the-ameri…
Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: COVID-19 news briefing with Dr. Greg Poland
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, covers the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Poland discusses current outbreak numbers, why there may be a second wave of infections, and research on a vaccine. Click the player below: Mayo Clinic Q&A is …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ma…
The Deterioration of the United States
Troy Prouty* | indybay.org | 2020-04-29
COVID-19 is just a Virus. Propaganda is the Disease.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/29/1883268…
Infographic: Informed but not overwhelmed
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
For the latest updates on the COVID-19 pandemic, check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. For more information and COVID-19 coverage, go to the Mayo Clinic News Network and mayoclinic.org.
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/in…
US teachers' unions vow action against early reopening
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-29
Major teachers' unions in the US are gearing up to call for strikes or major protests if states reopen schools without taking proper precautions amid the coronavirus pandemic.The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's two biggest teachers' unions, told Politico news outlet Tuesday that they will not remain silent when it comes to student safety.AFT President Randi Weingarten said schools need funding to implement public health measures, including personal protective equipment, to prevent possible exposure to the virus.If schools reopen without proper safet…
yenisafak.com/en/world/us-teachers-union…
Malaysian activists say 'let Rohingya boats land'
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-04-29
Healthcare Refugees & migrants Alex SalmonIssue 1263 Malaysia COVID-19 Rohingya refugeesApril 29, 2020A boat carrying 200 Rohingy…
greenleft.org.au/content/malaysian-activists-let-rohingya-boats-land
Physicians, scientists and physician-scientists connect dots between heart disease, potential for worse COVID-19 outcomes
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
ROCHESTER, Minn. ? People with certain heart diseases may be more susceptible to worse outcomes with COVID-19, but the reason why has remained unknown. New research from Mayo Clinic indicates that in patients with one specific type of heart disease ? obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) ? the heart increases production of the ACE2 RNA transcript …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ph…
How Mayo Clinic is using artificial intelligence in its COVID-19 research
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
Artificial intelligence has a vital role in helping researchers in their efforts to fight COVID-19 and is an important tool in the work being done at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Andrew Badley is an infectious diseases specialist and leads Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 Research Task Force. In this Q&A, Dr. Badley answers questions about the task force …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ho…
Symptom list for COVID-19 expanded
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-04-29
COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, affects people in many ways. Early symptoms have included fever, cough and chills. The list of symptoms in people with confirmed COVID-19 disease has expanded since early reports of the disease.
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sy…
English hospital COVID-19 death toll rises 445 to 19,746
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-29
A further 445 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in English hospitals, bringing the total there to 19,746, the health service said.Of the 445, 27 had no known underlying health condition and were aged between 14 and 94.
yenisafak.com/en/world/english-hospital-…
Pompeo says no sign of North Korea's Kim, real risk of famine in country
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-29
The United States has caught no sight of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and is watching reports about his health closely, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday, adding there is a real risk of famine in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.North Korean media has not reported on Kim's whereabouts since he presided over a meeting on April 11, provoking intense speculation about his health and raising concerns about instability in the nuclear-armed country that could affect other North Asian countries and the United States."We haven't seen him. We don't have any information to report today, we'r…
yenisafak.com/en/world/pompeo-says-no-si…
Sweden's confirmed COVID-19 cases rise above 20,000
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-29
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Sweden rose past the 20,000 mark on Wednesday as the Nordic country reported 107 new deaths to put the tally at 2,462 since the outbreak began.Statistics compiled and reported daily by Sweden's Public Health Agency showed 681 new cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus that emerged in China late last year, bringing the accumulated number to 20,302.Sweden has taken a less strict approach to curbing the the spread of the disease than most European countries, allowing most schools and businesses to remain open even as its mortality rate in the pandemic has r…
yenisafak.com/en/world/swedens-confirmed…
Zero Fatalities: What is Behind Vietnam's Success in Combatting Coronavirus?
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-29
The World Health Organisation's latest estimates put the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Vietnam at just 270, a far cry from the situation in neighbouring China where the figure stands at a whopping 84,347.
sputniknews.com/asia/202004291079133107-…
1985 LA Times Poll Found 51% of Americans Supported Quarantining AIDS patients, 15% Wanted Them Tattooed
John Balzar | anti-empire.com | 2020-04-29
Large numbers of Americans stand ready for strong new government action in the fight against the AIDS epidemic. | A Los Angeles Times Poll found that more than half of the adults in the nation support quarantining AIDS patients, nearly half would approve of ID cards for those who test positive for AIDS antibodies, more than a third would be willing to pay a one-penny national sales tax to finance greater research, and one in seven would favor such radical action as tattooing those with the disease. | The poll also found great public aversion to electing homosexuals, the largest AIDS risk group, to office. And…
anti-empire.com/1985-la-times-poll-found…
Pakistan Resumes Importing Food Items from Iran
Tasnim News | iranian.com | 2020-04-29
At least 20 trucks loaded with dates arrived in Pakistan through the Taftan border crossing after Islamabad decided to resume importing food items from Iran as the coronavirus disease in the region continues to slow down. The crossings of Chagai, Washuk, Panjgur, Turbat and Gwadar will remain open for three days every week to import …
iranian.com/2020/04/28/pakistan-resumes-…
French NGO Nominates Cuban Doctors For Nobel Peace Prize
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-28
French organization Cuba Linda advocated Tuesday to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the Cuban Henry Reeves medical brigades, deployed in more than 20 countries to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | Cuban Doctors Head to South Africa to Help Fight COVID-19 | "The international community is witnessing the solidarity of health professionals who leave their own country to provide services and share experiences in other parts of the world, which in the case of the pandemic…
telesurenglish.net/news/French-NGO-Nomin…
Health Outcomes With Vitamin D Supplementation
Grant WB, Boucher BJ. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-28
To the Editor In an Editorial, Drs Lucas and Wolf stated that randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of vitamin D and health outcomes have failed to confirm observational study findings. However, that is not the case for several health outcomes. Secondary analyses of the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL) revealed significant reductions in overall cancer incidence with supplementation with 2000 IU/d of vitamin D3 in participants with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 and in black individuals and reduced overall cancer mortality when the first 1 or 2 years of data were omitted. Secondary analyses of the Vitamin…
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticl…
Government Must Pay $12 Billion to Obamacare Insurers, Supreme Court Rules
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-28
Insurance companies are entitled to recoup $12 billion from the federal government in unpaid Obamacare claims, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in an 8-1 vote. | The companies were shielded under the "risk corridor" provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which promised compensation for companies that incurred losses in the marketplaces created by the law. | The original remuneration period lasted three years, but Congressional Republicans capped payments between 2015 and 2017, which the insure…
truthout.org/articles/government-must-pa…
Secret 'COVID-19 Manhattan Project' Led by Billionaires Seeking to Influence Trump Admin
Zero Hedge | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-28
Last month Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey called for the bold and urgent launch of what he called "a Manhattan Project-type approach" to fight the coronavirus pandemic given the enormity of the health and economic impact, increasingly even harming US defense …
globalresearch.ca/secret-covid-19-manhattan-project-led-billionaires-seeking-influence-trump-admin/5711114
Here's How to Cover Uninsured Americans During the Pandemic
Bernie Sanders | commondreams.org | 2020-04-28
For the duration of this crisis, under the act, Medicare will cover all medically necessary health care, including prescription drugs, for the uninsured, whether those who have recently lost their jobs or those who have been long without insurance. (Photo: Sally Prevost/flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2020/04/28/heres-…
New AHRQ Patient Safety Guidance
Rubin R. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-28
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently issued a review of 47 practices that can improve patient safety in various settings.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticl…
Cuban doctors arrive to South Africa
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-28
With a robust healthcare system and one of the world's highest ratios of the number of doctors in a country to its population, the communist state has already sent over 1,200 doctors to 22 countries.
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/04/28/cuban-doc…
'They're Right In Your Town' Tribute to Health Care Workers
Colleen Peluso | thenation.com | 2020-04-28
'They're Right In Your Town' Tribute to Health Care Workers…
thenation.com/article/society/theyre-rig…
Lower Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs for Medicare Plan D Beneficiaries
Rubin R. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-28
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced it will test a voluntary model for Medicare Part D plans to lower out-of-pocket expenses for insulin.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticl…
Democrats Poised to Propose Medicare for Those Who've Lost Health Coverage
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-28
Democratic lawmakers are expected to announce a proposal this week for expanding Medicare to cover millions of people who lost their employer-sponsored health coverage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to health care advocates on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, public support for a Medicare for All universal health care system has surged during the COVID-19 outbreak. | An estimated 9.2 million workers likely lost health coverage sponsored by employers over the past month as workplaces shuttered d…
truthout.org/articles/democrats-poised-t…
Quality Measure Development and Associated Spending by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Wadhera RK, Figueroa JF, Joynt Maddox KE, et al. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-28
This study uses data from the publicly available Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Inventory Tool to determine the proportion of CMS quality measures that are used or finalized for use in a CMS program, under development or consideration for use, or not in use.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticl…