(2020-03-26). How market reforms made the NHS vulnerable to pandemics. mronline.org 
A 2014 report warned that reforms to the NHS would make it vulnerable to pandemics — by making staff redundant, undermining public health and defining spare capacity as waste. It was ignored.
(2020-03-26). US coronavirus deaths top 1,000 as the country waits for $2.2 trillion economic rescue package. rt.com 
Deaths from Covid-19 have surpassed 1,000, according to a widely-cited tally, a worrying benchmark in the ongoing health crisis as Washington rushes to provide economic relief to the country's battered economy. | The United States saw its 1,000th fatality on Wednesday night, according to Johns Hopkins University. Confirmed cases have also continued to grow, reaching more than 69,000 by Thursday. The US reported its first case of the virus at the end of February. | The milestone coincided with a unanimous vote in the Senate to pass a $2.2 trillion bill designed to provide badly-needed economic aid to the countr…
(2020-03-26). Iran's coronavirus death toll reaches 2,234 with 157 new fatalities. rt.com 
Covid-19 has now killed 2,234 people in Iran, with 29,406 infected, the health authorities said, as the country remains the worst-hit by the disease in the Middle East.
(2020-03-26). Germany has 4,954 new Covid-19 cases & 49 deaths — RKI Health Institute. rt.com 
Nearly 5,000 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute has reported. Forty-nine fatalities over the past 24 hours have brought the death toll to 198. | The number of confirmed cases increased by 4,954 to 36,508 on Thursday. From Tuesday to Wednesday, Germany recorded 4,118 new cases and 35 deaths, according to the health institute. | Germany imposed strict lockdown measures last week in an effort to contain the virus. It currently has one of the highest numbers of confirmed cases in Europe, second only to Italy and Spain. | Cases worldwide have surpassed 470,000, with m…
(2020-03-26). G20 leaders to convene remotely, discuss coronavirus pandemic, economic impacts. rt.com 
Leaders from the Group of 20 major economies will speak by video link on Thursday about combating the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impacts. Global infections top 471,000 with more than 21,000 dead, according to Reuters. | G20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed this week to develop an "action plan" to respond to the outbreak, which the International Monetary Fund expects will trigger a global recession. Few details, however, have been offered so far. | World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will address the leaders to seek support for ramping up funding and prod…
(2020-03-26). 'Covid-19 could be seasonal': Fauci warns coronavirus is likely to return in 'CYCLES', stresses need for vaccine. rt.com 
Even if the US and other nations battling Covid-19 succeed in beating it back, the illness may return in yearly cycles, warned Anthony Fauci, a top expert on the US coronavirus task force, urging for the fast rollout of a vaccine.
(2020-03-26). Moscow shuts down all non-essential shops & restaurants to stop spread of Covid-19. rt.com 
All restaurants, cafes, and shops, except food stores, will be closed in the Russia capital from March 28 to April 5. The mayor also advised Muscovites to refrain from visiting places of worship amid the Covid-19 epidemic. | Restaurants and cafes will still be able to provide take-away food and delivery service, the order by Mayor Sergey Sobyanin read. | The restrictions also include barber shops, spas, massage parlors, as well as baths and saunas. | Access to parks, including Gorky Park and the All-Russian Exhibition Center, will be barred during the upcoming week due to the epidemic. | "I understand the feel…
(2020-03-26). First immigrant in ICE custody tests positive for coronavirus in New Jersey. wsws.org This development highlights the criminal lack of basic sanitation that the Trump administration maintains in immigrant detention centers, as well as the ruling class' callous disregard for public health.
(2020-03-26). Helping migrant shipwreck survivors to deal with trauma. news.un.org Every year, migrants embarking on sea-crossings see their journey end in tragedy: those who survive and return home can struggle to cope with daily life, and need support. To help migrant returnees, the UN has a range of programs aimed at tackling the mental health side-effects of trauma.
(2020-03-26). An Often Overlooked Region of India is a Beacon to the World for Taking on the Coronavirus. counterpunch.org K.K. Shailaja is the health minister in the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, the state in the southwest of India that has a population of 35 million people. On January 25, 2020, she convened a high-level meeting to discuss the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. What had particularly worried her is that there
(2020-03-26). Governor Cuomo pleads for assistance as New York state plunges into an unprecedented health crisis. wsws.org The governor is asking for more ventilators and beds, as New York faces a near collapse of its healthcare infrastructure.
(2020-03-26). Climbing the Deadly Curves of COVID-19 and Capitalism. counterpunch.org Millions in the United States have been rendered especially vulnerable to the coronavirus's exponential growth by steep declines in workers' rights, the lack of economic security for low-income and marginalized communities, and, of course, the absence of a universal health-care system. These failures have resulted from the pursuit of exponential growth in private wealth for the affluent minority through exploitation of the majority.
(2020-03-26). San Francisco Dept of Public Health Site Offers Help to Everyone. indybay.org San Francisco now has 178 Coronavirus cases and for the first time today, 1 death. See the Department of Public Health website at www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/coronavirus.asp The same website has all kinds of helpful tips good for everyone, no matter where you live, translated into Chinese, Filipino, Spanish, Arabic and Vietnamese.
(2020-03-26). Nashville, Tennessee mayor issues business-friendly "safer at home" order in face of coronavirus pandemic. wsws.org The state's Governor Bill Lee also suggested that workers and their families seek solace in prayer during the growing public health disaster.
(2020-03-26). German investor Dibelius: Big business must take priority over health care. wsws.org It will only be a matter of days before Dibelius and his ilk will demand that workers who refuse to risk their health by going back to work should be forced to do so.
(2020-03-26). How Austerity and Anti-Immigrant Politics Left Italy Exposed. counterpunch.org Italy has the fourth largest economy in the European Union, and in terms of health care, it is certainly in a better place than the US. Per capita, Italy has more hospital beds—so-called "surge capacity"—more doctors and more ventilators. Italians have a longer life expectancy than Americans, not to mention British, French, Germans, Swedes and Finns. The virus has had an especially fatal impact on northern Italy, the country's richest region. There are a number of reasons why Italy has been so hard-hit, but a major one can be placed at the feet of former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of the xenopho…
(2020-03-26). Leaked government report warns of tens of thousands of deaths in one Canadian province. wsws.org An internal Saskatchewan Health Authority report has warned that the rapid spread of the coronavirus would overwhelm the province's health care system and result in 9,000 to 15,000 people dying due to COVID-19.
(2020-03-26). Amidst Coronavirus, It's Time to Heal the U.S.'s Domestic and International Reputation. counterpunch.org It is in times of crisis, like the growing coronavirus pandemic, that deep structural inequities and the U.S. government's mismanagement of funds are starkly revealed. Half of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Half a million Americans sleep out on the streets. Thirty million Americans don't have health insurance. Forty-five million are burdened with $1.6
(2020-03-26). After downplaying COVID-19 pandemic, Japan forced to postpone Olympics. wsws.org Facing a growing public outcry over his indifference to public health, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the Olympics had been moved to the summer of 2021.
(2020-03-26). S.F. has 8,000 Homeless, 30,000 empty homes, 42,000 empty hotel rooms. indybay.org We are now seeing the boarding up of businesses in San Francisco, including the huge Sir Francis Drake Hotel near Union Square due to loss of tourist business. Meanwhile, San Francisco has an estimated 8,000 homeless, 30,000 empty homes and 42,000 empty hotel rooms. The homeless must be housed right now to save their lives from the coronavirus and to stop the epidemic. At sfunitedincrisis.org/, 100 medical professionals have a letter with their recommendations.
(2020-03-26). CDC: Housing, Not Handcuffs Is the Way to Stop COVID-19 Amongst Homeless Populations. indybay.org Advocates Hail First Step, Call for More Help…
(2020-03-26). COVID-19: Belgium's death toll at 220, cases top 6,000. yenisafak.com The coronavirus death toll in Belgium has risen to 220 after 42 more fatalities were reported across the country, health authorities said on Thursday. | A total of 1,298 COVID-19 cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 6,235, according to a statement by the Federal Public Service of Health. | It said 536 people were hospitalized over the past 24 hours. | In a radio show, Health Minister Maggie De Block said Belgium's National Security Council will convene on Friday to discuss further measures to stem the virus' spread. | Meanwhile, a Belgian company announced that it has developed a rap…
(2020-03-26). Five Arab states register new coronavirus cases. yenisafak.com Health authorities in five Arab countries confirmed new cases and deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday.Lebanon reported 35 new cases of the coronavirus, known as COVID-19, bringing the total number to 368, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement.A total of six people died, while 20 others have recovered from the virus, the statement said.A total of 13 new cases were also registered in Kuwait, with the total cases of COVID-19 reaching 208, a spokesman for the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said in a news briefing.Oman's Health Ministry also said 10 new cases were reported in the Gulf country, bringing the t…
(2020-03-26). COVID-19: 'Sleep deprivation reduces killer cells'. yenisafak.com Sleep deprivation reduces the number of natural killer cells which fight tumors and viral infections, a Turkish professor said, adding that a healthy immune system is your best bet against coronavirus."Healthy sleep is key for the proper functioning of immune system," said Levent Ozturk, a physiology expert at Trakya University in Turkey's Edirne province."Staying up for even only one night reduces the number and activity of the natural killer lymphocytes, which are crucial for the fight against viruses," Ozturk stressed.Ozturk added that the natural killer cells provide defense against the infections and they do…
(2020-03-26). INFOGRAPHIC: Over 487,600 coronavirus cases recorded globally. yenisafak.com Confirmed cases from the novel coronavirus across the world have reached 487,648 on Thursday, according to figures compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.The virus known as COVID-19, which emerged in Wuhan, China last December, has spread to at least 175 countries and regions around the globe, while a total of 21,571 people have died.In all, 117,749 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered from the disease.Italy, Spain, China and Iran continue to be the most affected countries.Although China has the most confirmed cases with 81,782, Italy recorded the most deaths with 7,503 fatalities in over 74,300…
(2020-03-26). Putin: Russia May Defeat Coronavirus in Less Than 3 Months. sputniknews.com Russia enacted a series of comprehensive measures to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak in recent weeks, instituting travel restrictions, quarantine for infected individuals, and efforts to make an effective vaccine available following testing.
(2020-03-26). No Need for Hard Quarantine in Russia So Far – WHO. sputniknews.com There are currently less than 900 officially confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia, but the country's government has recently introduced a number of self-isolation measures to prevent the rapid spread of the disease.
(2020-03-26). Watch Russian Biological, Chemical Protection Troops Conduct Training. sputniknews.com As the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, the Russian Defence Ministry has put all its efforts into dealing with the deadly virus in Russia. Thus, earlier in the day, the Russian Defence Ministry stated that it would build 16 modular-type centres for treating infectious diseases by 15 May.
(2020-03-26). British prisons have now seen their first coronavirus death. thecanary.co An 84-year-old man has become the first British prisoner to die after contracting coronavirus (Covid-19). | The inmate at HMP Littlehey, a category C male sex offenders' prison in Cambridgeshire, died in hospital on 22 March. | He reportedly had underlying health issues. | A Prison Service spokesman said: "An 84-year-old prisoner at HMP Littlehey died in hospital on March 22. | "Our thoughts are with his family at this time. | "As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman." | As of 25 March, 19 inmates had tested positive for coronavirus across 1…
(2020-03-25). Italian workers to strike after bosses put profits over health with coronavirus loopholes. peoplesworld.org 
Metalworkers in Italy's Lombardy region are set to walk out for 24 hours on Wednesday. The region's three main metalworker unions—FIOM, FIM, and UILM—warned that bosses are exploiting loopholes and exceptions in a government decree that forces businesses to close due to the coronavirus. They said that the government list "has been excessively extended, covering …
(2020-03-25). Frontline NY Nurses Lack Protective Masks & Ventilators, Say Worst Yet to Come as COVID-19 Spreads. democracynow.org 
As the New York metro area has 60% of all the new coronavirus cases in the United States and is responsible for half the cases all over the country, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the number of hospitalizations is expected to peak in the next 40 days as hospitals are already encountering shortages of equipment needed to protect medical workers and to keep patients alive when the city's COVID-19 cases peak in the coming weeks. We're joined by two people on the frontlines of the pandemic: Sean Petty, a registered nurse in the pediatric emergency room of a public hospital in the Bronx and member of the…
(2020-03-25). Venezuela's Coronavirus Response Might Surprise You. mintpressnews.com 
Unlike in the United States where coronavirus treatment can cost up to $35,000 and where Trump seems more concerned about the economy than about peoples' lives, Venezuela is handling the crisis by placing value in health over profits.
(2020-03-25). Is there a doctor in the house? Nevada state medical team that banned malaria drug for coronavirus lacks qualification. rt.com 
Nevada's top health officials lack the qualifications one might expect in leaders making public health recommendations for the US, but that hasn't stopped them from attacking a potential Covid-19 treatment. | Trump's detractors in the Nevada state health department have moved heaven and earth to stop doctors in the state from prescribing two drugs the president deemed promising for treatment of coronavirus, insisting he's not qualified enough for his opinion to outweigh a lack of medical consensus. However, a few Twitter detectives discovered on Wednesday that these "professionals" don't seem to have all the n…
(2020-03-25). For panicking capitalists, resuming profit flow trumps everything. peoplesworld.org 
Public health experts are united in advising Americans: "Keep your ass at home." Trump's panicky insistence on sabotaging that strategy is more than just ignorance and irresponsibility. It's not the "economy" in general he's in a cold sweat about. It's the flow of profits. And in that are revealed some hidden truths about our economy, …
(2020-03-25). The Decade Of Transformation Is Here: Remaking Health Care. dissidentvoice.org 
We've been writing for a while that the 2020's would be a decade when multiple crises would come to a head and we would have an opportunity for major transformations if we were organized to mobilize and demand them. The current coronavirus pandemic, economic collapse, and falling oil prices are three events that are creating …
(2020-03-25). Madrid's Ice Rink Turned to Morgue as Spain Exceeds China in Coronavirus Deaths. democracynow.org 
We go to Madrid, Spain, one of the epicenters of the pandemic in Europe, where health workers account for nearly 14% of the country's infections. Many face limited availability of protective equipment. So many people have died that Madrid's municipal funeral home has stopped collecting bodies. A large ice rink is now being used as a makeshift morgue, and the government plans to extend the state of emergency by another 15 days in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. "If Madrid was a country, it would actually be fifth in terms of death rate in the entire world," says María Carrión, journalist and former De…
(2020-03-25). New York the 'canary in the coal mine' for U.S. peoplesworld.org 
Doctors at New York hospitals are saying they fear that very soon they will have to make decisions about who lives and who dies because they do not have the equipment they need to treat all of their patients. In a desperate attempt to deal with an unprecedented pandemic, New York's leaders are warning that …
(2020-03-25). Timeline: Early testing failures and Trump inaction crippled U.S. coronavirus response. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON (AP)—A series of missteps at the nation's top public health agency caused a critical shortage of reliable laboratory tests for the coronavirus, hobbling the federal response as the pandemic spread across the country like wildfire, an Associated Press review found. President Donald Trump assured Americans early this month that the COVID-19 test developed by the …
(2020-03-25). 'I'm so happy I can barely speak': Trump responds to Romney's negative coronavirus, gets bashed for 'sarcasm'. rt.com 
President Donald Trump says Senator Mitt Romney not having coronavirus is "really great news," but he followed that up by slamming him as a "RINO" and "terrible presidential candidate." | Romney announced this week he has tested negative for Covid-19 following a move into self-isolation in Utah after he discovered Senator Rand Paul — with whom he'd had recent contact — had tested positive for the disease. | Trump took his usual swipes at his political adversary, though this time in a rather sarcastic fashion. | "This is really great news! I am so happy I can barely speak," the president tweeted in…
(2020-03-25). Nurses launch campaign against CDC's OK of bandannas and scarves. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—National Nurses United launched a scathing social media campaign, centered around a serious—but comic—graphic denouncing the federal government's recommendation that nurses wear bandannas and scarves around their faces if they can't find masks and respirators to wear while testing and treating coronavirus victims. CDC issued the recommendation, which is not mandatory, because the U.S. faces …
(2020-03-25). FRSO online forum: A people's response to the coronavirus crisis. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – The world is the midst of a once-in-a-century disease pandemic. COVID-19 is a natural phenomenon that is quickly becoming a human disaster. | Steff Yorek, political secretary of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) states, "We know that all the politicians serve the interests of the rich. We need to demand and win concessions that benefit poor and working people. This will be literally a life or death situation and will fall on those with the least resources the most." | Join us for an on-line forum addressing how capitalism fails to address the public health crisis, brings impending e…
(2020-03-25). Palestine Demands Israel Release Prisoners Amid Virus Outbreak. telesurenglish.net Palestine on Wednesday urged Israel to immediately release over 5,000 Palestinian prisoners from its jails amidst an outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. | RELATED: | In a press statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israeli Prisons Service (IPS) is not providing proper health protection to Palestinian prisoners, despite an alarming increase of coronavirus cases in Israel. | "Israel is in…
(2020-03-25). Cuba to Send Doctors to Four Caribbean Countries and Argentina. telesurenglish.net Cuba's health authorities announced that new brigades of doctors and nurses with experience in handling critical situations are heading to Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica on Wednesday and Thursday. | RELATED: | The first group with 25 health workers left for Belize this morning from the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation in Havana. | "We are aware that the current situation is difficult, but we are…
(2020-03-25). Brazil: 'Covid-19 Can Decimate Indigenous Peoples' Doctor Warns. telesurenglish.net The Sao Paulo Federal University (UNIFESP) researcher Sofia Mendonca Wednesday warned that Brazilian Indigenous peoples can be decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic if there are no forceful containment actions. | RELATED: | "There is an incredible risk that the virus will spread through communities and cause genocide," says Mendonca, who is the coordinator of Xingu, a health promotion project that UNIFESP has been ca…
(2020-03-25). Vets Say We Need a Strong VA to Combat Coronavirus and Win Medicare for All. truthout.org Not many know about the Department of Veterans Affairs's (VA) so-called "fourth mission." In 1982, Congress expanded the VA's role beyond providing care, benefits and burial services to the nearly 9 million veterans it currently serves. Its additional role is to provide a backup health care system in a national emergency — for example, The agency's Veterans Heal…
(2020-03-25). Spain's COVID-19 Death Toll Overtakes China's. telesurenglish.net Spain's coronavirus death toll surpassed Wednesday that of China, where the disease originated, as the country struggles to cope with an accelerating health crisis. | RELATED: | With 3,445 deaths, Spain now has the second-highest number of deaths globally after Italy's 7,503. The country has reported over 47,000 cases, with Madrid and the semi-autonomous region of Catalonia becoming the hotspots of the virus. | "There has been a 20 pe…
(2020-03-25). Caribbean Governments Join Forces Against COVID-19. telesurenglish.net The Health and Foreign Ministers of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) held Tuesday the first extraordinary meeting of the regional bloc on COVID-19, during which the delegations proposed joint actions to confront the pandemic. | RELATED: | More than 33 countries, territories, and regional organizations participated in what was called the First Extraordinary Meeting of Health and Foreign Ministers of the ACS, wh…
(2020-03-25). Ecuadorian-Colombian Indigenous Alone Against COVID-19. telesurenglish.net Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian-Colombian region are implementing autonomous actions to prevent Covid-19 from spreading. The natives do not have government support in this health-risk situation. | RELATED: | The National Organization of the Arhuaco people, which is part of the Tayrona Indigenous Confederation (CIT) in Colombia, announced on March 23 that they have taken several measures to prevent the spr…
(2020-03-25). PCHR: "Call for Intervention before It is too Late: PCHR Warns that Gaza's Healthcare System Would Collapse in case of Coronavirus Outbreak" imemc.org The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza is following with great concern the health conditions in the Gaza Strip and seriously warns of a catastrophic deterioration that may afflict the Strip in the event of an outbreak of the new Coronavirus Covid-19. The center is concerned that the health …
(2020-03-25). Pregnant? Here's What to Expect While Giving Birth Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. truthout.org Over the next three months, nearly a million women in the United States will give birth to nearly a million babies — a huge influx of mostly healthy, highly vulnerable patients into a hospital system that's about to come under unprecedented strain. Pregnant women, not surprisingly, are anxious. Those in their third trimester, looking to deliver during an epidemic, are close to frantic. | It's hard to stay calm when reliable information is as scarce as N95 masks and prenatal providers are so busy revampin…