(2020-11-22). Gaza warns hospitals reaching Covid-19 breaking point. middleeasteye.net 
Gaza warns hospitals reaching Covid-19 breaking point | The blockaded territory will soon run out of ventilators, intensive-care beds, say public health advisers | Sun, 11/22/2020 – 13: 00 | A man walks past a mural in Gaza dedicated to doctors fighting Covid-19 (AFP) | Gaza's health system could be overwhelmed by next week because of a surge in coronavirus cases, health advisers warned on…
(2020-11-22). Protesters torch Guatemala's congress building amid unrest. thecanary.co 
Hundreds of protesters broke into Guatemala's congress and burned part of the building on Saturday amid growing demonstrations against President Alejandro Giammattei and the legislature for approving a controversial budget that cut educational and health spending.The incident came as about 10,000 people were protesting in front of the National Palace in Guatemala City against corruption and the budget, which protesters say was negotiated and passed by legislators in secret while the Central American country was distracted by the fallout of back-to-back hurricanes and the Covid-19 pandemic.About 1,000 protesters w…
(2020-11-22). On Contact: Covid-19 And America's Health Care Crisis. popularresistance.org On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Dr. Margaret Flowers about the Covid-19 pandemic and the catastrophic response to the public health crisis under America's for-profit healthcare system. Without national coordination, or universal and free national health care, Americans are faced with uneven or absent care due to hospital closures, reductions in hospital beds and services. Lawmakers and hospital administrators compete to purchase basic supplies leading manufacturers to hike prices.
(2020-11-22). Biden Could Enact Medicare For All By Executive Action. popularresistance.org Journalist David Dayen presented a convincing case Tuesday that President-elect Joe Biden, once sworn into office come January, would have the legal authority to immediately provide complete Medicare coverage to everyone in the country via executive action due to the Covid-19 pandemic—though the very serious question remains: would he? | During the primary season in March, Biden said he would veto a Medicare for All bill should one ever reach his desk, but with the coronavirus infection rate surging—and some scenarios projecting an overall death toll as high as 360,000 by the time the inauguration tak…
(2020-11-22). Pandemia's Norm: Wars and Rumors of Wars. strategic-culture.org Welcome to the world of Pandemia. It is a place where a deadly virus pandemic spreads in an out-of-control fashion. Sheltering at home has led to widespread unemployment. With closed borders and reduced airline flights, international and some domestic travel are all but dead. Legislatures and judicial courts render their decisions over video-conferencing connections. People of all ages die without being able to physically say farewell to their loved ones. | Pandemia is a dark place, where modern medicine and public health are dismissed by the equivalents of alchemists and indulgence sellers of medieval times. Pan…
(2020-11-22). "The Prison within the Prison": Lockdown and Social Distancing in America's Prisons. globalresearch.ca Our people inside are robbed of privacy, autonomy, safety, and human contact; why would their health in a pandemic be any different? Because of the poor standards and oversight of prison conditions in the U.S., each facility is largely responsible …
(2020-11-22). Guatemalan President Reviewing Budget, Which Slashed Healthcare Spending, After Outraged Protesters Set Fire to Legislative Building. commondreams.org "We are outraged by poverty, injustice, the way they have stolen the public's money," a psychology professor who attended the protests told the press. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-11-22). The Colossal Problem of Publicly Funded Vaccines in Private Hands. zcomm.org As Pfizer and Moderna prepare to roll out their COVID 19 vaccines, the problems associated with publicly funded vaccines in the hands of private companies are already on the horizon, as the drug industry seeks to control global efforts for a cure…
(2020-11-22). Vaccine Access Advocates Cautiously Optimistic As G20 Summit Ends With Pledge to 'Spare No Effort' to Ensure Widespread Distribution. commondreams.org World leaders expressed cautious optimism about widespread coronavirus vaccine access as the virtual G20 summit wrapped up with a final statement from the world's 20 largest economies, expressing that the countries would make sure vaccines are distributed equitably across the globe. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-11-22). People Are Rising Up Against The Elites, So Should We. popularresistance.org This weekend, ten thousand people took to the streets in Guatemala to protest the President and Congress over a proposed budget, the largest in its history, that cuts funds for health care and education as poverty rises, and provides slush funds to politicians and governments. In Colombia, the people held a national strike to protest their violent, right-wing government. In Peru, protests against a right-wing power grab have ousted one appointed president and people are demanding a new government and constitution.
(2020-11-22). The Rain on Our Yes-We-Now-Have-a-Vaccine! Parade. commondreams.org What could be better than a drug that can stop Covid? A society that doesn't let some make billions off a drug millions can't access | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-11-22). UN Chief Warns of Worst Famine in Decades in Yemen. dissidentvoice.org United Nations chief warned on Friday that war-torn Yemen is in imminent danger of the world's worst famine in decades.
(2020-11-22). Hospital Bills Amid the Pandemic Are Outrageous. Medicare for All Is the Fix. truthout.org Hospitals in the United States charge patients as much as 1,800% more than their costs amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study. | The 100 most expensive hospitals in the United States charge between $1,129 and $1,808 for every $100 of their costs, according to a Overall…
(2020-11-21). 'Ebenezer Scrooge' public health chief says Christmas should be delayed until summer to curb spread of coronavirus. rt.com 
A UK public health chief has backed calls for Christmas to be delayed to next summer in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus — despite acknowledging that he may sound like 'A Christmas Carol' villain Ebenezer Scrooge. | Expressing his concern that Christmas celebrations could "undo all of the work that we've done up until now," Mark Adams, a health chief for the coronavirus-heavy north-eastern Teesside area that encompasses Hartlepool,
(2020-11-21). Covid-19 pandemic could bring economic crisis on scale of 'Great Depression,' Putin tells G20 — warns of poverty & social disorder. rt.com 
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a global economic collapse that would have a significant impact on the lives of millions of people across the world. | Speaking at the virtual G20 summit of international leaders on Saturday, Putin warned that, "despite some positive signals, the main risk is still the so-called stagnant mass unemployment with a subsequent increase in poverty and social disorder." | "The coronavirus epidemic, the global lockdown and the freezing of economic activity launched a systemic economic crisis, which the modern world has not known s…
(2020-11-21). Legal challenge launched over 'unlawful' Government Covid appointments. thecanary.co 
Campaigners have submitted a legal challenge alleging that prime minister Boris Johnson and health secretary Matt Hancock acted "unlawfully" when appointing key figures to top posts during the coronavirus crisis, it has been reported.The Observer said that the case had been lodged jointly by the Good Law Project and race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust.It said that the judicial review, submitted to the High Court, alleged that three appointments were made without advertising the positions and without the open competition normally required for senior public sector roles. | This is our belief, that cronyism…
(2020-11-21). [World Report] US Supreme Court poised to keep the Affordable Care Act. thelancet.com A lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act may be floundering after Supreme Court justices questioned why the law should be dismantled. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.
(2020-11-21). The upcoming fights over COVID vaccine. zcomm.org Who will be vaccinated first — and in what country?>
(2020-11-21). How Many Lives Would Have Been Saved if We Had Collaborated on Vaccines With China? cepr.net We know that Republican office holders are not allowed to say that Joe Biden won the election. Apparently there is a similar ban in place for news outlets when it comes to the question of the United States collaborating with China, and other countries, in developing vaccines against the pandemic. In recent days, there have …
(2020-11-21). [World Report] Violence leads to health emergencies in Mozambique. thelancet.com Displaced by war, thousands of people in Mozambique are at risk of infectious disease. Munyaradzi Makoni reports.
(2020-11-21). Video: Guatemalan Congress Building Set on Fire Amid Protests Over New Budget. sputniknews.com Guatemala has been seeing protests against the country's new 2021 budget, which, according to The Associated Press, has cut spending on education and health. According to protesters, cited by The AP, the budget was negotiated and passed by the legislators in secret amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of back-to-back hurricanes.
(2020-11-21). Five reasons why a moratorium is the right next step in our fight to #CancelAnimalAg. indybay.org If you're reading this, I likely don't need to tell you that something is deeply wrong and unjust about animal agriculture. This industry tortures and kills trillions of animals each year, forces marginalized people to work in unsafe and traumatizing environments, and is a leading contributor of greenhouse gases, ocean dead zones, and pandemic-causing zoonotic diseases. We need to completely abolish animal agriculture and transition to a more just, plant-based food system, but it's not going to happen overnight.
(2020-11-21). The Imperative to Achieve Medicare for All. scheerpost.com By Dr. Margaret Flowers / Popular Resistance Health care will be a major issue early in the new Biden/Harris administration. Unemployment is still high with over a million people applying for unemployment benefits last week and 42.6% of working age people without a job. In the United States, losing employment often means losing health insurance. On top of the 30 million people who are already… |
(2020-11-21). [Editorial] COVID-19 vaccines: no time for complacency. thelancet.com "Yes. Yes. Yes." That was the response of John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, when asked whether we could be confident that life will be returning to normal by spring. He was being interviewed by the BBC shortly after the announcement last week by Pfizer and BioNTech that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate had 90% efficacy in clinical trials. Similar announcements about the Russian Sputnik V and Moderna vaccines followed soon after. The prospect of preventing illness and death, and avoiding the harm and misery of extended restrictions, is a cause for optimism.
(2020-11-21). White House Mum on Covid Thanksgiving Rules as CDC Asks People Not to 'Speak Loudly' in Own Homes. sputniknews.com Americans are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, with this year's celebrations marred by the coronavirus pandemic and the vast economic dislocation caused by efforts to keep infection rates down over the past eight months.
(2020-11-21). [Perspectives] Will global health survive its decolonisation? thelancet.com There are growing calls to decolonise global health. This process is only just beginning. But what would success look like? Will global health survive its decolonisation? This is a question that fills us with imagination. It is a question that makes us reflect on what Martin Luther King Jr saw when he said in 1968, in the last speech he gave before he was killed, that "I've been to the mountaintop…and I've seen the Promised Land." If what he saw was an equal, inclusive, and diverse world without a hint of supremacy, then, that world is still elusive.
(2020-11-21). Teledermatology reduces dermatology referrals and improves access to specialists. thelancet.com The use of teledermatology as a triage tool significantly reduced the waiting time for in-person visits, improving health care access and utilizing public resources wisely. Knowledge of sex, age, diagnoses and treatment of common skin conditions can enable public policies for the prevention and orientation of the population, as it can be used to train general physicians to address such cases.
(2020-11-21). Nurse Survey Exposes Hospitals' Failure To Prepare For Covid-19 Surge. popularresistance.org National Nurses United's new nationwide survey of more than 15,000 registered nurses reveals that 11 months into the pandemic, hospitals are failing to prepare for a surge of Covid-19 cases during flu season and that basic infection control and prevention measures are still lacking. Nurses cite the health care industry's inappropriate pursuit of profit during this public health crisis as the main reason for its failure to follow the proper infection control measures that nurses have been demanding since the beginning of the pandemic.
(2020-11-21). [Obituary] Frank von Sonnenburg. thelancet.com Specialist in infectious diseases and travel medicine. He was born on May 8, 1946, in Munich, Germany, and died there of brain cancer on Aug 21, 2020, aged 74 years.
(2020-11-21). FDA Lets Pfizer Test Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine on U.S. Children. globalresearch.ca Americans have been following COVID-19 vaccine trial developments for weeks, watching companies jockey for frontrunner status like contestants in a reality TV show. And though participants in some of the studies (by
(2020-11-21). [Comment] Notice of addendum to Article reporting Oxford trial of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. thelancet.com On request, and to aid others doing similar trials, we are publishing the full standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the Oxford University-sponsored trials of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. Operational details about running clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines in a pandemic are not generally available as they are contained in SOPs held at trial sites. These SOPs can provide additional insight into study conduct that assist with interpretation of the data. We have provided an additional appendix to our Article reporting the phase 1/2 findings1 to provide this information about the key processes guiding the Oxford…
(2020-11-21). As Canada's ruling class lets pandemic run rampant, workers must fight to shut down nonessential production and schools. wsws.org Canada's Public Health Agency warns that new COVID-19 infections will rise to 20,000 per day by the end of December—the equivalent of 200,000 per day in the United States—if social contacts remain at current levels.
(2020-11-20). By Rejecting WTO Drug Patent Waivers Amid Pandemic, Richest Nations Put Big Pharma Profits Before Health of Billions. commondreams.org Rich countries—accused of hoarding future vaccines—are being urged to support a "humanitarian buffer" to innoculate refugees and people in conflict zones. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-11-20). UK requests Pfizer & BioNTech jab assessment from regulator, hopes to start Covid vaccinations 'next month'. rt.com 
The British government has requested that the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) assess the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, as Health Secretary Matt Hancock hopes to roll it out from December. | "I can confirm that the government has formally asked the MHRA to assess the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for its suitability for authorisation," Hancock told journalists at a press conference on Friday, calling it the "first step" on the way towards the vaccine's approval. | "If the regulator approves a vaccine, we will be ready to start the vaccination next month, with the bulk of the rollout in…
(2020-11-20). Ways You Can Help Eliminate Global Poverty. dissidentvoice.org 
Image Source: Pexels The planet may feel like a smaller place, thanks to the ease of travel and the internet, but the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that "approximately 1.2 billion people in the world live in extreme poverty" and earn less than a single dollar per day. Poverty affects the health and livelihood of …
(2020-11-20). Trudeau rules out a 'normal Christmas' as Covid-19 cases spike in Canada & health chiefs sound alarm. rt.com 
Canada's health system will be "in trouble" if the daily number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise, health chiefs have warned, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged the country to "hang in there" and follow the health measures. | A second wave of the virus has forced 10 Canadian provinces to reimpose restrictions, amid predictions that the number of cases could shoot from the current level of 5,000 a day to 60,000 by the end of the year if people don't further limit their social contacts. | "We are facing winter that's going to drive people inside more and more, and we're really at risk of seeing caseloads g…
(2020-11-20). Madrid region to close for 10 days in December to limit holiday travel amid Covid pandemic. rt.com 
The Spanish region of Madrid will close for 10 days early next month to try to curb Covid infections by preventing people from traveling to or from the area over a national holiday. | Madrid's regional authorities said on Friday that they would prevent people from leaving and entering for 10 days from December 4 in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, particularly given that large numbers usually travel around the December 6 Constitution Day holiday. | "We want to be in the best possible condition by Christmas," senior Madrid health official Antonio Zapatero said. | The country has reported 1.54 million…
(2020-11-20). Arabic press review: Third of Jordanian children suffer from anaemia. middleeasteye.net 
Arabic press review: Third of Jordanian children suffer from anaemia | Jordanian health official warns of health crisis in the kingdom, while the UAE institute visa restrictions for Tunisians | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 11: 33 | Yemeni Aymen, who is suffering from a congenital spinal malformation, receives treatment at a private hospital in the Jordanian capital Amman (AFP) | Third of Jordan's child…
(2020-11-20). Palestinians with disabilities battling PA for vital healthcare. middleeasteye.net 
Palestinians with disabilities battling PA for vital healthcare | Covid-19 has exposed a deeply flawed health insurance system that lets disabled Palestinians down badly | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 16: 17 | Disability rights activists including Abdelrahman Awwad (C) and Shatha Abu Srour (R) have staged a sit-in for nearly three weeks in Ramallah. The banner reads: "We die of coronavirus and we die of medic…
(2020-11-20). Expert IPCC Reviewer Speaks Out. counterpunch.org 
Expert IPCC Reviewer Speaks Out Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion/XR recently interviewed Peter Carter, M.D., who has the distinguished title — Expert IPCC Reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The interview was conducted to get to the bottom of what science says about the state of affairs, specifically the health of the
(2020-11-20). COVID Offices and the Religion of Remote Work. counterpunch.org Masks can prove liberating. The hidden face affords security. Obnoxious authority breathes better, hiding in comfort. Behind the material, confidence finds a home. While tens of millions of jobs have been lost to the novel coronavirus globally, security services, surveillance officers and pen pushers are thriving, policing admissions to facilities, churning through health and safety
(2020-11-20). The AMA Officially Recognized Racism As A Public-Health Threat. popularresistance.org The American Medical Association has officially defined racism as a public health threat that has created substantial health inequality. | Racism, both systemic and structural, has historically perpetuated health inequality and cut short the lives of many Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in the US and around the world. | Over the last year, a number of county and state authorities have also labelled racism a public health threat. | Among them are county councils in San Bernardino, California, and Montgomery, Maryland, as well as authorities in Michigan, Nevada, Cleveland, Denver, and Indianapolis.
(2020-11-20). Foreign Correspondent: The Upcoming Fights Over COVID-19 Vaccines. progressive.org Who will be vaccinated first, and in what countries?
(2020-11-20). Leading COVID Vaccine Candidates Plagued by Safety Concerns. globalresearch.ca "It works!" trumpeted the normally stoic
(2020-11-20). Collective, conflict-sensitive responses vital to address COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout. news.un.org The coronavirus pandemic has not only exacted a terrible toll on human lives, health and economies, it has also exacerbated existing conflicts, a UN forum heard on Thursday, with top officials urging global solidarity in the fight against COVID-19.
(2020-11-20). Geraldo Rivera wants to name COVID-19 vaccine after Trump to make him feel better about the election. salon.com "Why not name the vaccine 'The Trump'?" Rivera asked on "Fox & Friends." "It would be a nice gesture to him"
(2020-11-20). Over 235 Organizations Call On Biden To Cancel Student Debt. popularresistance.org Washington, D.C. — Over 235 organizations sent a letter to President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris, calling on them to use executive authority to cancel federal student debt on day one of their administration. | In the letter, 238 nonprofit and community organizations highlight that cancelling student debt would stimulate the economy, help reduce the racial wealth gap, and could have a positive impact on health outcomes. The groups write that "executive action is one of the few available tools that could immediately provide a boost to upwards of 44 million borrowers and the economy…
(2020-11-20). 'No Vaccine for Climate Change'. zcomm.org Coronavirus Has Been Disastrous, Says Red Cross, But Global Warming Poses Greater Threat…
(2020-11-20). Anger After North Dakota Governor Asks COVID-Positive Health Staff to Stay on Job. zcomm.org "We are willing to break our backs and work as hard as we physically can. But then to ask us to come in as a potential infectious source is just stunning."
(2020-11-20). Youth suicides and mental health disorders on the rise amid pandemic depression. wsws.org One of the impacts of the pandemic is a rising mental health crisis, particularly among youth, for which no faction of the ruling class proposes any solution.