(2020-03-03). Coronavirus is just more grist for the political mill in 2020 US election. rt.com 
While most Americans see coronavirus as merely a viral epidemic threatening their lives, the 2020 presidential candidates are focused on what's really important — using the virus to attack one another. | Sure, some in government have concerned themselves with pedestrian matters like ensuring hospitals are adequately supplied to deal with the epidemic and advising Americans on tips for staying healthy. But Trump and his Democratic nemeses are asking the more important question: "how can I use this epidemic to score points off my enemies?" | US President Donald Trump met his critics with an 'I told you so'
(2020-03-03). Beijing to quarantine travelers from coronavirus hotspots as China sees spike in IMPORTED cases. rt.com 
Beijing will begin to isolate travelers arriving in the Chinese capital from countries hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, amid a rise in imported cases of the disease. Shanghai has reportedly taken similar measures. | All individuals entering Beijing from South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy will be quarantined for 14 days, the Deputy Secretary General of the Beijing Municipal Government, Chen Bei, said on Tuesday. The countries placed on the quarantine list are among the largest carriers of the coronavirus outside China. Bei explained that the new rule would apply to everyone arriving from the designated nat…
(2020-03-03). 5-star treatment: Armenia quarantines coronavirus suspects in luxurious hotel (VIDEO). rt.com 
Being quarantined on suspicion of carrying a deadly contagious disease is quite an ordeal, but at least Armenia is making up for the hassle by placing coronavirus patients in a 5-star hotel. | In some countries, repatriated coronavirus patients are met with stones and threats, but in Armenia, they have so far received drastically different treatment. Thirty-two people have been quarantined in the country after coming into contact with an infected Armenian man who arrived from Iran over the weekend. | "Our countrymen, isolated because of the coronavirus, are being supplied with everything needed, including food…
(2020-03-03). Saying Government-Funded Healthcare's Too Costly is Nuts… zcomm.org Unless You Think the US Uniquely Can't Do It…
(2020-03-03). Coronavirus hits Russia as further news emerges of healthcare system in crisis. wsws.org A man returning from Italy tested positive for the coronavirus in Moscow on the same day that a federal audit revealed that thousands of the country's healthcare facilities for children lack running water, heat, and sewage systems.
(2020-03-03). A US ruled for and by the Rich leaves Workers at Risk for Coronavirus. zcomm.org There are policy responses far short of a social revolution that would address these strains. Paid sick leave more work at home four day workweek, universal healthcare, and job guarantees would be a good start…
(2020-03-03). SSP Commissioner Deletes Harassing Posts, Commits to "Professional Interactions" in Future. indybay.org Damon Bruder, Supervisor Ryan Coonerty's appointee to Santa Cruz County's Syringe Services Program (SSP) Advisory Commission, has deleted the harassing and bullying statements he made on on Facebook on February 14 about County Health officer Rachel McCullough-Sanden. Bruder, who was complaining about delays in the publication of the monthly public SSP report to the County's website, called McCullough-Sanden "daft" and made other harassing statements on social media posts that displayed a disparaging photo of her. McCullough-Sanden is an Epidemiologist and HIV Surveillance Coordinator at the Santa Cruz County Heal…
(2020-03-03). Lack of preparedness puts US health care workers at greatest risk from coronavirus. wsws.org The risks facing health care workers are bound up with the lack of preparedness of US hospitals and other health care facilities, the underfunding of public health and the subordination of medical care to profit.
(2020-03-03). National Nurses United Urges Administration, Congress to Protect Health Care Workers and Fully Fund Coronavirus Response. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-03-03). The Epidemic is Both a Challenge and an Opportunity. zcomm.org What is happening should at least remind everyone that the history of humanity is also the history—including literary history—of its pandemics…
(2020-03-03). San Francisco Chinatown Rally: "The Virus is Our Enemy, Not China" indybay.org Although there has been only one death from the coronavirus in the U.S., the nation's Chinatowns are seeing a large decline in customers as fear about the viral outbreak spreads. On February 29, hundreds rallied in Portsmouth Square, the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, to decry anti-Chinese racism and show support for Wuhan.
(2020-03-03). Qatar's coronavirus cases rise to 8. yenisafak.com Qatar has confirmed a new case of coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the total infections in the country to eight, according to the health ministry.A ministry statement said a Qatari national recently evacuated from Iran was infected with the disease.The Gulf state confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus on Monday.Known as COVID-19, coronavirus has now spread to more than 60 countries worldwide, including the U.S., U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.The global death toll from the outbreak has reached 3,044, with more than 89,000 infected.The World Health Organization, which already declared th…
(2020-03-03). Turkey to host 3rd artificial intelligence summit. yenisafak.com Turkey is set to hold the third Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit in Istanbul with the aim to inform people about upcoming innovations.The summit will be held on March 12 at UNIQ Istanbul under the theme, Artificial Intelligence Adds Value to your Business.A number of national and foreign experts are expected to attend the event."AI will become the operating system of our civilization. It is going to penetrate deeply into all segments of private and commercial life whether it be health, education, e-commerce, security, justice or banking," said Halil Aksu, founder of Turkey AI Initiative.Emre Ergun, vice presid…
(2020-03-03). In Argentina's north, indigenous children sicken and die from malnutrition. yenisafak.com In Argentina, once one of the world's richest countries and long a major supplier of beef, children are dying of hunger.In Argentina's far northern province of Salta, in a small indigenous community plagued by extreme poverty, eight children died in January alone from malnutrition and a lack of access to clean drinking water, health authorities say.The issue affects other places, too, and has prompted the national government to announce a plan to tackle hunger. The governor of Salta has declared a public health emergency, vowing to work with the national government to provide clean water in the province.In the pr…
(2020-03-03). 51 Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus in UK – British Health Minister Hancock. sputniknews.com The outbreak has spread significantly across the globe in recent days. Earlier, the UK government had unveiled its plan to fight the spread of coronavirus.
(2020-03-03). Head of Iran's Emergency Medical Services Diagnosed With Coronavirus – Reports. sputniknews.com Earlier in the day, the Iranian Health Ministry reported 835 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours with 77 deaths and 2,336 infected.
(2020-03-03). Alcovirus: Hungover Student Sparks Coronavirus Fear Inflight, Quarantined For Fortnight. sputniknews.com Last week, the Mirror reported that the UK's Department of Health closed the Holiday Inn hotel at Heathrow airport to quarantine visitors arriving from coronavirus-hit countries.
(2020-03-03). Be Prepared! China Reportedly Braces for Possible Locust Plague. sputniknews.com China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration has apparently urged local authorities to step up their monitoring efforts in the face of a potential locust threat.
(2020-03-03). Summer Olympics in the Fall? Everything's Possible, Japanese Minister Hints. sputniknews.com The world's biggest sporting event will descend on Tokyo months after a fast-spreading epidemic of the novel coronavirus, and the city could postpone the upcoming Olympics to help curb its spread.
(2020-03-03). Iran reports increasing number of deaths. iranian.com Ali Reza Raisi, a Health Ministry official, said 77 people have died and 2,336 have been infected by the coronavirus in Iran. Raisi spoke at a news conference in the Iranain capital, Tehran. Iran's supreme leader orders armed focrs to combat coronavirus Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Islamic Republic's armed forces to assist its …
(2020-03-02). Coronavirus Testing Costs Spark Calls for Full Government Coverage. truthdig.com 
This article originally appeared on Public health advocates, experts, and others are demanding that the federal government cover coronavirus testing and all related costs after several reports detailed how Americans in recent weeks have been saddled with exorbitant bills following medical evaluations. | Sarah Kliff of the New York Times
(2020-03-02). Coronavirus highlights dangers of Trump's destruction of the public sphere. peoplesworld.org 
It's easy to sell people on lower taxes and them to hate paying taxes altogether. Few politicians, even those who promise to provide health care, better public education, student debt relief, and so on, rarely explain in detail what Americans are getting in return for the investments their taxes fund or the bills they pay. …
(2020-03-02). Death Toll Rises in Iran, Middle East Epicenter of Coronavirus, Amid U.S. Sanctions & Gov't Negligence. democracynow.org 
The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54 — the highest number of fatalities outside of China, where the outbreak began. Experts say the real number of people who died from the disease may be as high as 200. This comes after Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, posted a video on social media last week acknowledging he contracted coronavirus. Just one day before, he seemed ill at a press conference, where he downplayed the spread of coronavirus in the city of Qom and said mass quarantines were unnecessary. Iran…
(2020-03-02). America Faces an Epidemic of Retirement Insecurity. truthdig.com 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average just It's not just a rapidly spre…
(2020-03-02). The Viral Blame Game: Xenophobia, Attribution and Coronavirus. counterpunch.org Moralising the way diseases and viruses are transferred is a very human, and particularly nasty trait. "We don't need this kind of riff-raff on our shores," screamed The New York Times in 1892 in response to Russian Jewish immigrants arriving at Ellis Island by boat. (The occupants hosted lice which, in turn, led to typhus.)
(2020-03-02). End Torture and Medical Neglect of Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca On Nov 22, 2019, we, a group of more than 60 medical doctors, wrote to the UK Home Secretary to express our serious concerns about the physical and mental health of Julian Assange.1 | In our letter,1 we documented a history …
(2020-03-02). Declaring commitment to 'peace and stability' for Libya, top UN envoy steps down as stress takes its toll. news.un.org After serving more than two years as the UN's Special Representative in charge of finding a way to a lasting peace in war-torn Libya, Ghassan Salamé – who also heads up the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) – handed in his resignation on Monday, citing failing health caused by the immense stress of the job.
(2020-03-02). Saying Government-Funded Healthcare's Too Costly is Nuts…Unless You Think the US Uniquely Can't Do It. counterpunch.org The new corporate media and conservative Democratic argument against front-runner Bernie Sanders' eminently logical proposal for creating a single-payer government health insurance program that he calls "Medicare for All" is that it would destroy the huge health insurance industry and put 1.8 million insurance industry employees out on the street. That is about the stupidest
(2020-03-02). Toxic Agriculture and the Gates Foundation. counterpunch.org The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in 2000 and has $46.8 billion in assets (December 2018). It is the largest charitable foundation in the world and distributes more aid for global health than any government. One of the foundation's stated goals is to globally enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty. The Gates Foundation
(2020-03-02). Can We Trust the Government to Respond to the Coronavirus in a Fair and Effective Manner? aclu.org A group of over 450 public health experts signed a It is essential that all govern…
(2020-03-02). Ethiopia Detains 13 Canadians for Wrongly Practicing Medicine. telesurenglish.net Ethiopian authorities detained Friday a group of 13 Canadian health care workers on allegation they were practicing medicine without authorization in the African country and had distributed expired medication. | RELATED: | Ten Canadian volunteers, three Canadian staff members, and two Ethiopian staff members were taken into custody. | The group worked with Canadian Humanitarian, a non-profit organization ba…
(2020-03-02). COVID-19: 'Top priority' must be on containment, insists WHO's Tedros. news.un.org Containing the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic should still be everyone's "top priority", UN health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
(2020-03-02). A progressive agenda for COVID-19 pandemic preparedness. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – As COVID-19 spreads in the United States, the potential exists for the corporate health care system to be overwhelmed. American capitalism has developed a health care system well-equipped with fancy technologies and expensive medical devices, but poorly-equipped to do basic public health. There is no profit in the basics of health care and disease prevention. | COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new type of coronavirus circulating the world. The virus, SARS-CoV-2, passed from bats to mammals to people in Wuhan China in December 2019. | For about a month the virus remained isolated in China. Chi…
(2020-03-02). Coronavirus Death Toll Rises in Iran Amid US Sanctions and Government Negligence. truthout.org The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54 — the highest number of fatalities outside of China, where the outbreak began. Experts say the real number of people who died from the disease may be as high as 200. This comes after Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, posted a video on social media last week acknowledging he contracted coronavirus. Just one day before, he seemed ill at a press c…
(2020-03-02). 'Which Side Are You On?' Ask Progressives as Health Insurance Stocks Spike After Centrists Coalesce Around Biden. commondreams.org "People are gleefully gambling that the health insurance CEOs will be able to continue to profit off of killing our friends and family." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-03-02). Charter School Promoters Celebrate Charter School Failure. dissidentvoice.org 
Even worse than the persistently high failure rate of brick-and-mortar charter schools is the extraordinary failure rate of cyber charter schools year after year. Even the nature and scope of corruption in these deregulated online schools is more troubling than the corruption that has long plagued brick-and-mortar charter schools nationwide. The abysmal performance of cyber …
(2020-03-01). UN releases emergency funds to help vulnerable countries fight coronavirus COVID-19. news.un.org $15 million dollars has been released from the UN's Central Emergency Fund to help fund global efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, particularly vulnerable countries with weak health care systems.
(2020-03-01). Trump Says Ready to Lend Helping Hand to Coronavirus-Hit Iran 'If They Ask'. iranian.com The United States is ready to provide assistance to Iran, which is struggling with the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), US President Donald Trump announced after imposing additional travel restrictions on Iran. "If we can help the Iranians
(2020-02-29). Debate Moderators Frame Questions to Define Acceptable Politics. fair.org 
With Super Tuesday around the corner, the Democratic presidential debates are coming to a close. The debates are ostensibly an exercise in democracy, a chance for voters to evaluate candidates' positions in order to cast a better informed vote in the nominating contest. But a review of three of the most frequent topics of debate starkly demonstrates how media hosts use their platform less to inform voters in an evenhanded way than to define which positions—and candidates—are acceptable, and which are not. | Healthcare: Both Bernie Sanders…
(2020-02-29). Reuters issues correction, deletes tweet after backlash for reporting 'just 1 American with coronavirus in hospital: VP Pence'. rt.com 
Reuters raised quite a few eyebrows, invoking a storm of online mockery after it posted an ambiguous tweet about Mike Pence's handling of the coronavirus crisis, prompting some to fear for the VP's health. | Punctuation is important, especially in the middle of a global health crisis, and Reuters learned this the hard way after it got pilloried by netizens for leaving too much room for interpretation in a recent tweet about the coronavirus situation in the US. | "Just one American with coronavirus still in hospital: Vice President Pence," the agency reported early on Saturday in an attempt to convey the words…
(2020-02-29). 1st US coronavirus death: Trump imposes more travel restrictions, says risk still 'very low' after woman dies in Washington state. rt.com 
President Donald Trump on Saturday addressed fears surrounding the coronavirus, as health officials have announced the first US death from the virus in Washington State. | The first US death from the virus was announced on Saturday by Washington State health officials. No details were given, except that it occurred in King County. | The deceased was a "medically high-risk patient in her late 50s," President Trump announced at his White House press conference on Saturday afternoon. While admitting more cases within the US are likely, the president said 15 of the 22 citizens who contracted the virus have "recove…
(2020-02-29). UN health agency warns against coronavirus COVID-19 criminal scams. news.un.org The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that criminals are taking advantage of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, to steal money or sensitive information.
(2020-02-28). Trump touts biodefense strategy but slashes funding to detect and combat outbreaks like coronavirus. mronline.org 
t the end of January, at a time when the coronavirus outbreak that began in China was dominating international headlines, The White House announced it was forming a new task force to address the growing crisis, one headed by the secretary of health and human services, Alex Azar. |
(2020-02-28). Doctors Without Borders: Cheap Coronavirus Diagnostic Kits Needed in War-Torn Areas & Refugee Camps. democracynow.org 
Across the U.S., officials report a severe shortage of test kits for coronavirus. New York officials say they're preparing their own kits, after kits distributed by the Centers for Disease Control failed validation tests. Meanwhile, new cases of coronavirus continue to spring up worldwide, with Nigeria reporting its first case and one of Iran's vice presidents testing positive. We discuss how MSF USA, or Doctors Without Borders USA, is responding to coronavirus, with the organization's executive director, Avril BenoàÆt.
(2020-02-28). 'Mayhem' in Syria's Idlib amid ongoing violence, as Guterres urges immediate ceasefire. news.un.org Rapidly escalating conflict in northwest Syria has created healthcare "mayhem", amid reports of displaced people moving closer to the Turkish border in search of shelter, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, as the UN Secretary-General appealed for all warring parties to "step back from the edge of further escalation."
(2020-02-28). Coronavirus COVID-19 risk increased to 'very high' but containment still possible. news.un.org Countries must act quickly and robustly to contain the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic, the World Health Organization said on Friday, as it raised the global risk assessment of the infection to "very high".
(2020-02-28). Prominent Iranian physician clears up misconceptions about outbreak & impact of sanctions. iranian.com Prominent Iranian physician & member of the Health Ministry Minoo Mohraz has for her part defended the health ministry's data but has also said the number of people infected has been underreported because sanctions had blocked access to diagnostic kits: twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409214… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409467… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409591… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409679… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409919… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233410030… twitter.co…
(2020-02-27). "Pence Is Not a Medical Expert": Is the Trump Admin Ready to Stop a U.S. Coronavirus Pandemic? democracynow.org 
The coronavirus disease that was first diagnosed in China's Hubei province has now spread to at least 47 countries and every continent except Antarctica. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international health emergency. President Trump sought to play down the threat from coronavirus and announced Vice President Mike Pence would be his point person to coordinate government efforts to prevent a widespread outbreak. As Trump spoke, a new milestone in the novel coronavirus outbreak was reported, in a possible example of community spread: A person was diagnosed with the virus in Northern Calif…
(2020-02-27). How the Climate Crisis Is Making the Spread of Infectious Diseases Like Coronavirus More Common. democracynow.org 
Sonia Shah is an investigative science journalist and author of "Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond." Her new book is titled "The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move" and will be published in June. She says the climate crisis is making outbreaks of infectious diseases more common, with the destruction of natural animal habitats and the changes in migration bringing humans and animals into ever-closer contact and making new pathogens more likely. Her latest article, published in The Nation, is titled "Think Exotic Animals Are to Blame for the Coronavirus? Th…
(2020-02-27). No escape from low growth. mronline.org 
Discussions on the state of the world economy centre around the likely negative impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic and the potential positive effect of the truce reflected in the "phase 1" trade deal between China and India. |