2020-10-05: News Headlines

WSWS (2020-10-05). Almost half of UK coronavirus infections in schools, colleges and universities. wsws.org Figures from the latest Public Health England's COVID-19 epidemiology surveillance summary show that educational settings now account for 45 percent of all positive cases in the UK.

Prabir Purkayastha (2020-10-05). Why We're on a Long Road to COVID-19 Immunity Even With Vaccines. counterpunch.org As the pandemic continues to spread throughout the world, many countries seem to have given up the fight against COVID-19 and are now waiting for a vaccine to protect against the virus. With cases exceeding 32 million, and more than a million dead, the world economy has taken a bigger hit than at any other

Newsclick (2020-10-04). What do Covid-19 studies tell us? peoplesdispatch.org In this interview with Dr. Satyajit Rath, we talk about the recent studies done on COVID-19 across the globe. We also look at the state of the vaccines under trial and the delivery mechanisms…

Elijah Magnier (2020-10-04). Les ´ guerres nouvelles ª menées par Israà´l et les USA réussiront-elles à affaiblir le Hezbollah? thealtworld.com Comme la guerre conventionnelle n'a pas réussi à vaincre le Hezbollah libanais, Israà´l et les USA ont adopté de nouvelles tactiques dans l'art de la guerre tout en évitant un conflit ouvert aux yeux du public. Ces nouvelles tactiques, qui n'excluent pas la guerre traditionnelle, comprennent une série de guerres ou d'actions reposant sur des formations irrégulières, des actes terroristes, le chaos, les sanctions, les plates-formes électroniques, la guerre médiatique, la propagande, les fausses nouvelles, la division de la société, la politique visant à réduire à la famine et l'engagement de l'ennemi de l'in…

_____ (2020-10-04). Health Justice And Black Liberation: Ugo Edu. popularresistance.org I remember always wanting to be a doctor—perhaps because my parents are Nigerian—and having a genuine concern with people's health. I soon became disillusioned with treatment and the competition that entailed pre-med education as an undergrad at UCLA. Nonetheless, I decided public health better suited my interest and desire to develop preventive interventions. Public health left out too many factors to be the only means by which I felt I could contribute to health—I decided to study medical anthropology, simultaneously exploring other disciplinary offerings. My current work draws on all these as…

_____ (2020-10-04). Preempting Progress In The South. popularresistance.org A new report from the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) at EPI and the Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) describes the ways in which state interference—in the form of preemption—is impeding local democracy and hamstringing progress on a variety of economic, social, and public health issues for communities throughout the South. The report also describes how this interference is a continuation of long-standing state-imposed policies and practices rooted in anti-Black racism and how modern-day misuse of preemption disproportionately disadvantages workers of color, women, and low-income wo…

30 Days to Go (2020-10-04). 11/3/20 Election: The Stakes; The Cal & S.F Propositions. indybay.org What is at stake in this election are the very existence of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, food stamps, the right to abortion and birth control pills, funding Planned Parenthood, funding the Violence Against Women Act, the existence of all environmental regulations, all consumer protection laws, all gun control laws, all civil rights laws, all labor laws, an efficient, patronage-free mail system, federally funded affordable housing, public school education, federal funds for state governments and raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. Further, all progress we have made in…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-10-04). As Covid-Positive GOP Politicians Enjoy Healthcare They 'Would Deny Others,' Coronavirus Pandemic Again Makes Case for Medicare for All. commondreams.org The case for Medicare for All was once again made by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, Sen. Ed Markey tweeted on Sunday, after Republican politicians including President Donald Trump were able to check themselves into hospitals shortly after announcing they had tested positive for Covid-19. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Dr. Pascal Sacré (2020-10-03). The COVID-19 Vaccine. The Imposition of Compulsory Vaccination with a Biometric Health Passport? globalresearch.ca The COVID-19 vaccine… Is this THE final goal of this crisis, to impose a compulsory vaccination on everyone, with a biometric health passport and without it, the impossibility to move, to buy, to eat? The near future will tell.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr (2020-10-03). Half a Million Sharks Could Be Killed to Make Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline may need to slaughter

WSWS (2020-10-03). Health care workers stage strikes, protests in Chile and Argentina. wsws.org According to Amnesty International, of the 7,000 health professionals in the world who have died after contracting COVID-19, more than a third are from the Americas.

_____ (2020-10-03). Homeland Security Assessment Warns Of Violent Unrest. popularresistance.org In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, potential civil unrest and worse has been predicted by multiple governmental agencies and assorted federal outfits, including the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Last week the organization published a "supplemental threat assessment" on the upcoming electoral contest subtitled "The Convergence of COVID-19, Nationwide Civil Unrest, and the Upcoming Presidential Election." | Using COVID-19 as a backdrop, the 13-page report identifies the pandemic as the "driving factor" behind "public health fears, economic instability, political dissent, an…

Dan Bacher (2020-10-03). Climate Advocates Criticize Newsom's Executive Order for Not Addressing Oil Drilling. indybay.org "If your climate leadership does not include relief for hundreds of thousands of Californians — the majority people of color — living with oil drilling in their neighborhood, then you are not serious about climate justice and creating healthier, more resilient communities," said Martha Arguà´llo executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and co-chair of STAND-L.A.

Jay Ramchand, Louise M Burrell (2020-10-03). [Comment] Circulating ACE2: a novel biomarker of cardiovascular risk. thelancet.com Dysregulation of the renin—angiotensin system plays a major role in the progression of cardiovascular disease in humans. The enzymatic reactions within the renin—angiotensin system generate angiotensin II, which promotes vasoconstriction and inflammation and deleterious cardiovascular effects.1 Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) acts to counterbalance the renin—angiotensin system by degrading angiotensin II.2,3 In 2005, ACE2 was identified as the cellular receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV),4 and we now know that ACE2 also facilitates viral entry of SARS-CoV…

Nikiforos Vasiniotis Kamarinos, Laura A Dawson, Leonard B Saltz, Christopher H Crane, Michael J Overman, Jean-Nicolas Vauthey, Bruno C Odisio, Alban Denys, Thierry de Baère, Philippe L Pereira, Daniel Y Sze, Thomas J Vogl, Martijn R Meijerink, Thomas Helmberger, Hyun S Kim, Stephen B Solomon, Constantinos T Sofocleous (2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Trials of locoregional therapies inspired by SABR-COMET. thelancet.com The stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) versus standard of care palliative treatment in patients with oligometastatic cancers (SABR-COMET) study is a thought-provoking addition to the literature about the treatment of oligometastatic disease.1 Despite its limitations, the authors are to be congratulated for completing a randomised trial of local therapy for oligometastases, a challenging task. Although intriguing, the results can only generate hypotheses, and cannot be regarded as able to change practice on their own.

Susan Jaffe (2020-10-03). [World Report] US election 2020: public health. thelancet.com In the race for the White House, where do US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, stand on public health? Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

Hannelore Neuhauser, Manfred Wildner (2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Gains and losses in translation of SDGs at sub-national levels. thelancet.com Samira Asma and colleagues1 show the complexity of the global monitoring of health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and argue for convergence, harmonisation, and strong data science. However, many offspring of SDG monitoring systems have emerged beyond the monitoring of UN SDG indicators, either at supra-national level (eg, the EU) or at sub-national level (eg, federal state or community level). This result is a translational process of locally reinventing the SDG narrative and choosing indicators that are appealing, appropriate, and available.

James H McMahon, Jennifer F Hoy, Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Linda-Gail Bekker, Chris Beyrer, Sharon R Lewin (2020-10-03). [Comment] Leveraging the advances in HIV for COVID-19. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic has led to accelerated research efforts globally and highlighted the importance of community engagement and leadership in the COVID-19 response. To achieve these objectives, partnerships between science, government, and affected communities are crucial, but building these rapidly presents major challenges. In the past months, we have also seen how advances in confronting the global HIV epidemic have had a positive impact on the COVID-19 response.

Carole J Lee, Sheridan Grant, Elena A Erosheva (2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Alternative grant models might perpetuate Black—White funding gaps. thelancet.com The White Coats for Black Lives and #ShutDownSTEM movements have galvanised biomedical practitioners and researchers to eliminate institutional and systematic racism, including barriers faced by Black researchers in biomedicine and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In our study on Black—White funding gaps for National Institutes of Health Research Project grants, we found that the overall award rate for Black applicants is 55% of that for white applicants.1 How can systems for allocating research grant funding be made more fair while improving their efficiency?

Richard Lane (2020-10-03). [Perspectives] Devi Sridhar: illuminating global health governance. thelancet.com Devi Sridhar has travelled far in her fairly short career. She was the youngest Rhodes Scholar, aged just 18 years, and became Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, UK, when she was 30. But milestones are of little interest to her, especially as her role as a leader in global health governance has been accelerated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. "This is the time for the global public health community to step up", she comments. "We have never before been required to work so intensively and as rapidly as in today's environment, where effective public health responses and global…

The Lancet (2020-10-03). [Editorial] Building a resilient NHS, for COVID-19 and beyond. thelancet.com The UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been ill prepared, patchy, confused, and incompetent. From initial equivocations, to a series of policy U turns and conflicts with scientific advisers, to vague public health guidance, the UK's COVID-19 performance has fallen disastrously short and undoubtedly cost lives. It has pushed the National Health Service (NHS) to the brink. Having wasted a summer of opportunity to strengthen systems to suppress viral transmission following an easing of lockdown restrictions, the UK Government is facing a winter wave of COVID-19 with no strategy in sight.

Sukrit Narula, Salim Yusuf, Michael Chong, Chinthanie Ramasundarahettige, Sumathy Rangarajan, Shrikant I Bangdiwala, Martin van Eikels, Kirsten Leineweber, Annie Wu, Marie Pigeyre, Guillaume Paré (2020-10-03). [Articles] Plasma ACE2 and risk of death or cardiometabolic diseases: a case-cohort analysis. thelancet.com Increased plasma ACE2 concentration was associated with increased risk of major cardiovascular events in a global study.

Junaid Nabi (2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Despair and the shame of personal responsibility. thelancet.com Given the history of the USA, it is difficult—if not impossible—to discuss health outcomes and economic mobility without understanding the importance of race. This fact is why the powerful analysis by Rhea Boyd1 of the rising midlife mortality in the last decade is an urgent and important read. At the same time, any analysis that ignores the influence of an unfair US economy and has an unfaltering focus on a personal responsibility narrative will be inadequate.

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-10-03). Timeline of Trump's Illness Confounds Experts, But Critics Say What's Clear Is President 'Knowingly Exposed People' to Covid-19. commondreams.org Journalists and public health experts on Saturday raised questions over the mixed messages coming out of the White House and President Donald Trump's medical team after Dr. Sean Conley, the president's physician, told reporters Trump was "72 hours into the diagnosis" of Covid-19. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-10-03). As Covid-19 Infections Increase on Capitol Hill, HHS Secretary Azar Says Public Health Protocols Don't Apply to President's Inner Circle. commondreams.org Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Friday testified following President Donald Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis that the Trump family can't be expected to take precautions, while also claiming the spread of the coronavirus is a matter of "individual responsibility." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

WSWS (2020-10-03). Russia prepares health care cuts as COVID cases rise. wsws.org The Kremlin's proposed budget axes spending on health care and allocates 27 percent of all federal expenditures to the army, national guard and security forces of the interior ministry.

Staff (2020-10-02). Superspreader-in-Chief: For Months Trump Spread COVID Lies, Now He May Have Spread the Virus Itself. democracynow.org President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement came early Friday morning, hours after Bloomberg News reported that Trump adviser Hope Hicks became ill during Trump's Wednesday night rally in Duluth, Minnesota, and had to be quarantined aboard Air Force One on the return flight to Washington. Hicks went on to test positive for coronavirus early on Thursday, though the White House did not report her illness. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is also getting tested over fears that Trump may have infected him at Tuesday's debate. We speak with Dr. Abdul…

news.un (2020-10-02). Sudan alert: Flooding and surging inflation threaten humanitarian assistance. news.un.org Catastrophic flooding and rising food and health costs in Sudan, have driven up the number of people in need, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.

Jeffrey St. Clair (2020-10-02). Roaming Charges: Crosstalk Hurricane. counterpunch.org Donald Trump was just one of 43,000 other Americans who tested positive for COVID today. While nearly all of them paid more in taxes than he did, few will have his resources to fight the ravages of the disease and recover from its financial aftershocks.

teleSUR (2020-10-02). Guatemalan President Threatens To Arrest the Caravan Migrants. telesurenglish.net Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei on Thursday ordered a "state of prevention" in six departments of his country because of the entry of a caravan with over 3,000 Honduran migrants traveling to the United States. | RELATED: | "All those Hondurans who have entered illegally will be detained," he stressed, arguing that this measure is the consequence of their "disrespect" for the health protocols implemented t…

CFDIPR (2020-10-02). Sugar workers in Iran striking for wages and public ownership. peoplesworld.org September 2 marked the 80th day since workers of the Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane complex in the south of Iran came out on strike, on June 15. They are demanding their unpaid wages, medical insurance, reinstatement of dismissed colleagues, return of the industrial giant to the state sector, and the return to the workers of funds embezzled …

Roberta Wood (2020-10-02). Northwestern food workers 'die-in' for COVID protections. peoplesworld.org EVANSTON, Ill. — Is it too much to ask for an institution sitting on an $11 billion dollar endowment to provide sick pay for 14 days for an employee under a coronavirus quarantine? "Dying in" for health and safety, scores of cooks and housekeepers employed at Northwestern University's leafy lakeside campus here put their bodies …

Staff (2020-10-02). Trump gets COVID-19, after months of lying about its danger. therealnews.com Trump has access to world class healthcare, but he and Republicans have blocked billions in funding for healthcare, COVID-19 testing and economic relief.

RT (2020-10-02). Kremlin says 2nd Covid-19 lockdown isn't on the cards, as WHO urges Russia NOT to impose new quarantine due to mental health fears. rt.com Despite a dramatic spike in daily reported coronavirus infections over the past week, the World Health Organization's representative in Russia has cautioned against the idea of re-introducing harsh restrictions in the country. | Melita Vujnovic warned on Friday that prolonged lockdowns influence the human mental state, and therefore should be avoided at all costs. Russia imposed one of world's toughest quarantines following the first serious outbreaks of Covid-19 in March, and many Russians fear the harsh winter in most of the country will make a repeat hard for people to bear. | "The local authorities know th…

Philip Giraldi (2020-10-02). What They Are Not Talking About: War and Peace, Healthcare and Jobs Are Non-Issues. globalresearch.ca Watching the network news on television or reading about current events in the newspapers seemingly transports one to an alternate universe where nothing seems to make sense. The profit driven news cycle in the United States is admittedly a poor …

_____ (2020-10-02). Scheer Intelligence: In A Time Of Mortal Crisis. popularresistance.org There's no denying there's been a renewed wave of interest in socialism in the United States, thanks in large part to Bernie Sanders. While the Vermont senator gained support across the country for his rallying cry against inequality and for promoting equitable policies like Medicare for All, Rabbi Michael Lerner, a lifelong progressive and author of the new book Revolutionary Love: A Political Manifesto to Heal and Transform the World, believes there was something missing from Sanders' socialist message.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-10-02). Healthcare workers in Germany strike for better work conditions. peoplesdispatch.org The trade union Ver.di is demanding an increase in salaries by 4.8 percent for federal and local employees, as well as a maximum of a 45-hour work week. They are also demanding a hike in trainee pay…

Fight Back (2020-10-02). Worse to come as layoffs continue. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – The latest report by the Department of Labor on unemployment insurance applications shows that the tide of layoffs continues. But this week, major U.S. corporations announced even more layoffs to come as the economy tilts on the edge of a 'double-dip' recession. | The Labor Department report released on Thursday, October 1 showed that there was no letup in the pace of layoffs. While the number of regular state unemployment insurance claims for the week ending September 26 fell by 36,000 from a week earlier, the number of new applications for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or PUA progr…

Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi (2020-10-02). Video: Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi and Dr. Heiko Schà∂ning on COVID-19 and the Genome-modifying Vaccine (German). globalresearch.ca Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi and Dr. Heiko Schà∂ning in conversation about Covid-19 and the genome-modifying vaccine, i.e. the real risks of new mRNA- or DNA-vaccine and the deadly danger it presents for us and the following generations. | Watch the video below….

Peter C. Reynolds (2020-10-02). The Supreme Male Head Unmasked. counterpunch.org Fascism is unique among political systems in that it treats society as a diseased body that needs to be purified. Certainly, the political left thinks that society is in need of reform, often to the point of advocating revolution, but the distinguishing feature of fascism, especially of the Nazi variety, is its organic imagery—the idea

teleSUR (2020-10-02). Argentina Demands the Liberation of Photographer in Bolivia. telesurenglish.net Argentina's Foreign Affairs Ministry demanded Bolivia's de facto government free Argentinian photographer Facundo Molares Schoenfeld, detained during the coup d'etat against former President Evo Morales. | RELATED: | The Argentinian Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the release of Molares is "particularly urgent given their state of health, added to the impact of the unjustified and consecutive cancellations of hearings called by the…

Editor (2020-10-02). In a Time of Mortal Crisis, Rabbi Michael Lerner Prophesies a Caring Society. scheerpost.com Click to subscribe on: Apple / Spotify / Google Play There's no denying there's been a renewed wave of interest in socialism in the United States, thanks in large part to Bernie Sanders. While the Vermont senator gained support across the country for his rallying cry against inequality and for promoting equitable policies like Medicare for All, Rabbi Michael Lerner, a lifelong progressive and… |

news.un (2020-10-02). Countries face 'critical moment' in COVID response: UN health agency chief. news.un.org With strong leadership and comprehensive strategies it's never too late for countries to change the trendlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite passing the tragic milestone of one million deaths this week amid regional surges in infections, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.

Jon Allsop (2020-10-02). Questions without answers in Trump's COVID diagnosis. zcomm.org There's plenty to be said about Trump's diagnosis that we know for sure: that he knowingly played down the threat of the virus for months; that he repeatedly blocked public-health measures; that Trump and those in his orbit have much better access to testing than most Americans…

_____ (2020-10-02). The Politics That Led To The 'Worst Debate'. popularresistance.org The rich man's media are calling it "the worst debate in modern American history," but that's because the truth is often painful to watch. The Biden-Trump confrontation revealed, with crystalline clarity, that the real "genius" of the American electoral process is its total imperviousness to popular demands for a healthier, more just and less economically precarious society and a peaceful, ecologically stable world. Instead, the Democratic alternative to the white supremacist Republican in the White House is — another lifelong racist, mass-incarcerating, corporate-serving, warmongering old white man.

Labor Video Project (2020-10-02). San Leandro Hospital CNA Nurses Fight Covid, For PPE & Conditions For Nurses & Patients. indybay.org San Leandro Hospital nurse and chief CNA rep talks about the conditions at the hospital and the effect of Covid-19 on the workers and patients. She also discusses the role of the Alameda Board of Supervisors in supporting the union busting operations of Alameda Health Services which was set up by the Board to run the public health system.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-02). Iran COVID-19 update: Death toll at 26,567. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 02 (MNA) — Iran's Health Ministry announced on Friday that with 187 patients losing their lives in the past 24 hours to the coronavirus, the country's death toll currently stands at 26,567 ones.

sputniknews (2020-10-02). Trump Camp Failed to Notify Biden Officials About Potential COVID-19 Exposure – Reports. sputniknews.com US President Donald Trump's campaign did not contact Democratic nominee Joe Biden's campaign to notify them of potential exposure to COVID-19 after the president revealed Friday that both he and his wife, Melania, have contracted the disease.

sputniknews (2020-10-02). North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Sends Message of Sympathy to President Trump. sputniknews.com The US president has departed for Walter Reed Military Medical Center for a few days following a positive test for the novel coronavirus. First Lady Melania Trump has also contracted the disease.

teleSUR (2020-10-02). Venezuela Is 1st LATAM Country to Receive Russia's Vaccine. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez Friday announced that the country received the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 and that the nation is ready to begin phase 3 of its clinical trials. | RELATED: | "Our country just became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to join the studies for the first COVID-19 vaccine registered in the world," Rodriguez recalled. | The first batch…