2020-08-02: News Headlines

Elaheh Farmand (2020-08-02). Insurance industry profits over people's lives: Democrats reject Medicare for All. liberationnews.org What people need is not more profits for private companies and corporate bailouts, but a universal, socialist healthcare system.

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-02). Congress Fails to Agree on Extending Aid to Jobless Americans. globalresearch.ca On Thursday, I emailed the information below to a retired physician/health and fitness expert friend I've known since the 1940s, explaining the following: | Like earlier coronavirus outbreaks (SARS-Cov 2002-04, MERS 2012), SARS-Cov-2 hysteria will pass in time. | Of far greater …

Dr. Harvey Risch (2020-08-02). Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk COVID-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis. globalresearch.ca Abstract | More than 1.6 million Americans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and >10 times that number carry antibodies to it. High-risk patients presenting with progressing symptomatic disease have only hospitalization treatment with its high mortality. An outpatient treatment that prevents …

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2020-08-02). Mayo Clinic Expands Commitment To Serving Veterans By Participating In VA Community Care Network Beginning August 1, 2020. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Veterans in the upper Midwest may now be eligible to receive care in their local communities from Mayo Clinic Health System providers; and veterans around the country may be eligible for unique care for complex health issues at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Mayo Clinic in Florida, and Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. This expanded access is …

Abdul Rahman (2020-08-02). COVID-19 shows the need to rebuild public health systems in Central Asian countries. peoplesdispatch.org Most of the countries in central Asia have been reluctant to reimpose restrictions due to the economic fallout. This has led to a massive jump in the total number of new infections and deaths in late June and July…

news.un (2020-08-02). Leaving No Roma behind during a pandemic, and beyond: a UN Resident Coordinator's Blog. news.un.org Roma people in Europe face widespread discrimination in many areas of life, including housing and health. In this opinion piece, Francoise Jacob, the UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia, explains how the UN is helping Roma communities, many of which have no access to safe water or electricity, to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

_____ (2020-08-02). On Medicare And Medicaid's 55th Birthday, Let's Expand Benefits. popularresistance.org On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law. This crowning achievement was both the culmination of a decades-long effort to attain guaranteed universal health insurance and the first step in the quest for Medicare for All. | In the 55 years since the legislation was signed into law, both programs have proven their worth. Before Medicare, about half of seniors lacked health insurance. They were an illness away from bankruptcy. Today, 99.1 percent of Americans 65 and older are insured, thanks to Medicare.

yenisafak (2020-08-02). Doctors plight mounting in Bangladesh amid pandemic. yenisafak.com The misery of doctors and frontline staff in the war against the novel coronavirus is surging in Bangladesh with at least 92 physicians having died due to the disease.The country reported 2,199 more infections as of Saturday with 21 additional deaths as the virus shows no indication of slowdown, according to the health ministry data.Deaths related to COVID-19 now stand at 3,132 and total infections stand at 240,000.Infections among doctors are raging and have already spread across the country as authorities allegedly failed to stop cases by taking proper measures even after the first COVID-19 case was detected Ma…

yenisafak (2020-08-02). Philippines' confirmed coronavirus cases exceed 100,000. yenisafak.com The Philippines on Sunday reported 5,032 additional coronavirus infections, its largest single-day increase on record, taking the country's confirmed cases to 103,185.In a bulletin, the Department of Health also said the Southeast Asian country's coronavirus death toll had jumped by 20 to 2,059.President Rodrigo Duterte was scheduled to meet key cabinet members on Sunday to discuss a call by medical frontliners' groups to put the capital Manila, which accounts for the bulk of infections, back under a stricter lockdown, his spokesman said.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-02). Iran COVID-19 update: 2,685 new cases, 208 deaths. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 02 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,685people in Iran in the past 24 hours, increasing the total cases to 309,437, said Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari on Sunday.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-02). Minister urges nation to observe health protocols in Muharram. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 02 (MNA) — Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has called on the Iranian nation to fully observe anti-coronavirus health protocols during Muharram rituals.

Labor Video Project (2020-08-02). Shut It Down! Workers Shut Amazon DSF4 For Health/Safety & Living Wages. indybay.org Amazonians and workers shutdown the Amazon DSF4 warehouse on August 1, 2020 to protest the lack of health and safety and slave labor wages…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-08-01). 2009 H1N1 Vaccine Caused Brain Damage in Children. Dr. Anthony Fauci on "Vaccine Safety" Issues. globalresearch.ca A lawsuit against the Trudeau Government for its handling of the COVID-19 Crisis has been launched. What is at stake is the violation of fundamental rights of Canadians. | "The mass and indiscriminate containment of citizens, the restriction of access to …

Anand Naidoo (2020-08-01). The Heat: China's Navigation System & U.S. Politics. america.cgtn.com China charts its own course with a new satellite navigation system. And, the surge of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Why health experts say it may only get worse in the weeks ahead.

RT (2020-08-01). Next-level protection: Anti-Covid HELMET uses space technologies to stop virus in its tracks (VIDEO). rt.com Forget about face masks, engineers from Colombia have designed a special helmet similar to those used by astronauts to work as a protection bubble against the coronavirus infection. | The futuristic headgear is intended for use by people who are most vulnerable and who "really live their daily lives with a lot of risk" of getting sick, aeronautical engineer, Andres Felipe Giraldo, told RT's Ruptly video agency. | Yet, according to the helmet's co-creator, Ricardo Andres Conde, it will also fit "anyone who wants to protect him or herself" from the disease, which has already infected around 296,000 and killed ov…

RT (2020-08-01). Russia aims to begin public Covid-19 vaccinations in October, starting with medical workers & teachers — Minister of Health. rt.com Russia expects to start mass anti-coronavirus vaccinations, across the country, by October, the country's health minister has said. Mikhail Murashko added that medical workers and teachers will be given first priority. | Murashko announced on Saturday that clinical trials of a vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamalei Institute have been completed and that the health ministry is aiming to begin a public vaccination program in October. Medical personnel and teachers will be the first to receive immunization, he said. "Now, the package of documents for the procedure of registration [of the vaccine] is being…

Marilyn Kroplick (2020-08-01). Coronavirus shines light on zoos as danger zones for deadly disease transmission between humans and animals. nationofchange.org The pandemic makes one thing clear: We must change our relationship with wildlife or suffer the consequences.

Bill Willers (2020-08-01). Masks are a Psychological Preparation for Mandatory Vaccinations. dissidentvoice.org This respirator does not protect against the risk of contracting disease or infection. —Warning with a box of N-95 respirators. You have no right not to be vaccinated. You have no right not to wear a mask. You have no right to open up your business …. If you refuse to be vaccinated, the state …

Sinéad M Langan, Alan D Irvine, Stephan Weidinger (2020-08-01). [Seminar] Atopic dermatitis. thelancet.com Atopic dermatitis is a common inflammatory skin disorder characterised by recurrent eczematous lesions and intense itch. The disorder affects people of all ages and ethnicities, has a substantial psychosocial impact on patients and relatives, and is the leading cause of the global burden from skin disease. Atopic dermatitis is associated with increased risk of multiple comorbidities, including food allergy, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and mental health disorders. The pathophysiology is complex and involves a strong genetic predisposition, epidermal dysfunction, and T-cell driven inflammation.

Jon-David Schwalm, Tara McCready, Shofiqul Islam, Martin McKee, Salim Yusuf (2020-08-01). [Correspondence] Cardiovascular risk in hypertension: open questions about HOPE 4 — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Marleen Hendriks and colleagues and Adam Richards for their comments regarding the HOPE 4 trial.1 Hendriks and colleagues draw attention to the generalisability of our findings as the non-physician health workers were paid by the project and the study medications were provided to the intervention group free of charge. Although working within the infrastructure of existing health-care systems might be theoretically optimal for uptake and sustainability, most health systems do not adequately address cardiovascular disease control.

Bruce Gellin (2020-08-01). [Perspectives] Why vaccine rumours stick—and getting them unstuck. thelancet.com Infectious diseases have long shaped human history, from the plague of Athens (430—427 BCE) that killed around a third of the Athenian population, the Black Death in the 14th century that killed about 30—60% of all Europeans, and the 1918—19 influenza pandemic that took the lives of at least 50 million people globally. In the 8 months since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, more than 600‚Äà000 people worldwide have died from COVID-19 as of July 21, 2020. No sector of society has been spared and the full economic and societal reckoning will be grim by any account.

Adam Richards (2020-08-01). [Correspondence] Cardiovascular risk in hypertension: open questions about HOPE 4. thelancet.com Congratulations to Jon-David Schwalm and colleagues1 of the HOPE 4 study team for convincingly showing that a non-physician health worker care model reduces 10-year cardiovascular disease risk in middle-income countries. However, the reduction in risk attributable to the care model is almost certainly larger than the ‚àí6 ∑40% points reported for the primary outcome for two reasons.

Cal Winslow (2020-08-01). California's Health Care Crisis. zcomm.org The strikers at Memorial report that while the chain lavishes its executives with six-figure bonuses, it demands that its "heroes" accept insufficient PPE, unsafe staffing levels, cuts to paid-time-off, including sick leave, and sharp increases in health care costs…

news.un (2020-08-01). No end in sight to COVID crisis, and its impact will last for 'decades to come'. news.un.org Expressing "appreciation for WHO and partners' COVID-19 pandemic response efforts", the emergency committee convened by the UN health agency's chief, made it clear that there is not yet an end in sight to the public health crisis that has so far infected more than 17 million and killed over 650,000 people.

WSWS (2020-08-01). COVID-19 infections rapidly spread across Bangladesh. wsws.org The worsening coronavirus crisis in Bangladesh is a direct result of inadequate public health spending by successive governments.

Elizabeth Woodworth (2020-08-01). Remdesivir for Covid-19: $1.6 Billion for a "Modestly Beneficial" Drug? globalresearch.ca The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently "bought" all of Gilead Science's Remdesivir for $1.6 billion. "500,000 doses at $3,200 per patient — to be available to American hospitals but not for other countries"[6] | That's $1.6 …

Brasil de Fato (2020-08-01). Lula and other international personalities join call to give Nobel Peace Prize to Cuban doctors. peoplesdispatch.org The solidarity of Cuban doctors, once again, has gained international recognition. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, 1,800 healthcare professionals have been sent by the island's government to 27 countries to help contain the spread of the virus. | In response, everyday the campaign to award the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the Cuban doctors gains strength, through Among those who have signed the petition a…

news.un (2020-08-01). Breastfeeding 'for a healthier planet'. news.un.org World Breastfeeding Week got underway on Saturday, with the UN urging communities everywhere to "support breastfeeding for a healthier planet". Health agency (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued a joint call for governments to protect and promote women's access to skilled breastfeeding counselling – a critical component of breastfeeding support.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-01). Health workers in the UK protest demanding wage hike. peoplesdispatch.org Thousands of health workers, including thousands of nurses, marched in London protesting their exclusion from the pay rise announced by the government. The call for the march was given by the Unite union…

Sophie Cousins (2020-08-01). [World Report] COVID-19 has "devastating" effect on women and girls. thelancet.com Natalia Kanem, executive director of the UN Population Fund, is among experts warning about disrupted health services and a surge in gender-based violence. Sophie Cousins reports.

The Lancet (2020-08-01). [Editorial] The truth is out there, somewhere. thelancet.com The tidal wave of information on the internet concerning the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in difficulties in discerning truth from fiction. This so-called infodemic, defined by WHO as an "overabundance of information—some accurate and some not—that makes it harder for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when needed", has become a major threat to public health. Infection rates will rise if people are confused about restrictions and patients may be harmed if they use unproven treatments or bogus remedies.

WSWS (2020-08-01). Six months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global public health emergency. wsws.org Nearly 700,000 people have succumbed to the pandemic over the past six months.

WSWS (2020-08-01). Doctors at Michigan's Beaumont Health submit no-confidence petition on eve of merger. wsws.org A group of doctors at Michigan's Beaumont Health system are submitting a no-confidence petition on the eve of a possible merger with Chicago-Milwaukee-based Advocate Aurora Health system.

WSWS (2020-08-01). The coronavirus pandemic and the growing mental health crisis. wsws.org Dealing with the insidious uncertainty of COVID-19's spread is more like living with a domestic abuser or being deployed to a war zone.

William rivers Pitt (2020-08-01). If We Reopen Schools, We Admit That Community Safety Is Not Our Priority. zcomm.org "[C]lassrooms without adequate health and safety measures" covers most of the populated portions of the country right now…

_____ (2020-08-01). Humanity Protests Against The Crimes Of Death. popularresistance.org On 23 July, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the world now has 15 million people infected by COVID-19. 'The pandemic has disrupted the lives of billions of people. Many have been at home for months', he said. The trauma of the Great Lockdown is taking a serious psycho-social toll. 'It's completely understandable that people want to get on with their lives', Dr. Ghebreyesus said. 'But we will not go back to the "old normal". The pandemic has already changed the way we live our lives.

yenisafak (2020-08-01). Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 955 to 209,653. yenisafak.com The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 955 to 209,653, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday.The reported death toll rose by 7 to 9148, the tally showed.

yenisafak (2020-08-01). Japan's kabuki theatre resumes, socially distanced, after coronavirus hiatus. yenisafak.com Japan's stately traditional kabuki theatre resumed performances on Saturday after a five-month break due to the novel coronavirus, with musicians in masks, actors farther apart on stage and only half the usual number of seats.The re-opening of Tokyo's famed Kabukiza Theatre, which called off performances from March due to the spread of the coronavirus, came even as new cases have spiked to record highs around the country."We're re-opening based on guidelines from infectious disease experts, paying attention to audience safety from the time they enter until the time they leave," Kabukiza manager Yoshitaka Hashimot…

yenisafak (2020-08-01). Erdogan says Eid more joyous with Hagia Sophia Mosque. yenisafak.com The president of Turkey on Saturday said the reopening of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque made the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha even more joyous."The reopening of the Hagia Sophia grand Mosque — an 86-year wound in the heart of our nation — has added to the joy of our Eid," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, greeting local officials of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party for the holiday via video-link.Erdogan said he sought to hold an upcoming party congress as a "new resurrection, a new rising milestone."The next AK Party congress is expected to be held towards the end of 2020 while observing health and safet…

yenisafak (2020-08-01). Vietnam says up to 800,000 have left virus epicentre Danang. yenisafak.com Vietnam's health ministry said on Saturday up to 800,000 visitors to Danang city, the country's new novel coronavirus epicentre, have left for other parts of the country since July 1.Vietnam last week detected its first locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in more than three months in Danang, a tourism hot spot.The total number of infections in the country has since risen to 558 from 413, with most of the new cases linked to three hospitals in Danang.More than 41,000 people have visited the three hospitals since July 1, the ministry said in a statement.The Southeast Asian country reported its first two COVID-19 dea…

yenisafak (2020-08-01). Poland reports record rise in virus cases for third day. yenisafak.com Poland reported its highest number of new daily coronavirus cases since the global pandemic started for the third day in a row on Saturday, with 658 new infections, the Health Ministry said.More than 200 cases were reported in the Silesia mining region in southern Poland, which has been grappling with an outbreak amongst miners.The ministry also reported five new deaths.Poland has now reported a total of 46,346 coronavirus cases and 1,721 deaths.

sputniknews (2020-08-01). Bottle Episode: COVID-19 Pandemic Hits Champagne Producers. sputniknews.com France's GDP plunged 13.8 percent in April-June 2020, reflecting the effect of the coronavirus outbreak and related health crisis, the statistics agency INSEE reported earlier.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-01). Iran COVID-19 cases pass 306,000. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 01 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,548 people in Iran in the past 24 hours, increasing the total cases to 306,752, said Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari on Saturday.

Journey for Justice & OPEN (2020-08-01). Monday 8/3: National Day of Resistance: Oakland Car Caravan to Demand Safe, Healthy, Equitable Schools. indybay.org Car Caravan: meet at La Escuelita, 1050 2nd Ave, Oakland, CA…

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-08-01). Calling Ed Markey a 'Benchmark' Progressive, Dying Healthcare Activist Ady Barkan Endorses the Massachusetts Senator for Reelection. commondreams.org "Ed has long been a progressive champion for universal health care as well as the environment, equity, and dozens of other issues." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Norman Solomon (2020-07-31). Why Bernie Sanders Delegates Should Keep Fighting. commondreams.org Just as Biden's chances of winning the presidency would improve if he embraced Medicare for All, his prospects would also be enhanced by adopting popular positions that are especially important to racial minorities. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

_____ (2020-07-31). Here's How We Remake The Economy. popularresistance.org To defend the $600 unemployment payments as both morally and economically necessary is not to suggest that the CARES Act is a sufficient solution to our economic problems. Nor, says Pavlina Tcherneva, Associate Professor of Economics at Bard College and a Research Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute and advisor to Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, is the Democratic-led HEROES Act, which would extend the payments through January 2021 if Senate Republicans and the Trump administration would support it. Dr. Tcherneva studies the impact of unemployment on growth, income inequality and public health, an…

Reds In Ed (2020-07-31). CDC shifts under pressure, weakens safety standards for reopening schools, parents and teachers resist. liberationnews.org Everyone wants students back in the schools, but not at the risk of losing lives.

Yanis Iqbal (2020-07-31). Peru's corporate-controlled health system crumbling under stress of COVID-19. peoplesworld.org On March 11, Peru declared a 90-day national sanitary emergency to deal with the emerging coronavirus crisis. Subsequently, the country announced a total lockdown beginning from March 16. But despite implementing one of the earliest and strictest COVID-19 containment regimes in Latin America, Peru has become trapped in the turmoil of rising COVID-19 cases. With …

RT (2020-07-31). 'Thousands feel how I feel & countless more will': US woman whose dad almost beat Covid-19 —then suddenly passed— opens up to RT. rt.com Kristin Urquiza's father was on a path to recovery from Covid-19 when the disease suddenly took him. She says his death and countless others were preventable, if only the health crisis had been handled better in the US. | Mark Urquiza from Phoenix, Arizona, was only 65 and had no known preexisting conditions when his life was cut short by coronavirus. While in hospital he was responding well to treatment and was optimistic that he would soon be released. Instead he took a sudden turn for the worst and swiftly succumbed to his illness. | "It's a terrible disease that can quickly turn on a dime," his daughter Kr…