Daily Archives: August 10, 2020

2020-08-10: News Headlines

The Canary (2020-08-10). Plan for more nursing apprenticeships falls short, union warns. thecanary.co A multi-million pound government plan to train more apprentice nurses falls short of what is needed, the Royal College of Nursing has said.The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said a package worth up to £172m will enable healthcare employers to take on up to 2,000 nursing degree apprentices every year over the next four years.The NHS and other healthcare employers will receive £8,300 per placement per year for both new and existing apprenticeships. | The government said the funding will enable employers to meet the costs of taking on apprentices, including staffing costs while apprentices a…

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-10). Trump's Payroll Tax Deferral Aims to Weaken and Kill Social Security and Medicare. globalresearch.ca All politicians lie. Rare exceptions prove the rule. | Trump is Exhibit A, a serial liar never to be trusted, a menace to virtually everything just societies hold dear. | Last February 8 he tweeted: "We will not be touching your Social …

WSWS (2020-08-10). Unions' big lie to Quebec health care workers battling the pandemic: "The government will protect you" wsws.org With the unions unable and unwilling to defend them, health care workers must take matters into their own hands, to protect their own health and lives and those of the public.

Andrew Emett (2020-08-10). Bernie and colleagues introduce Make Billionaires Pay Act. nationofchange.org "As our country faces vast economic and health needs, billionaires continue to display their appetite for greed."

James Bovard (2020-08-10). COVID as a Pretext to Prevent the Reopening of Schools: Deceit and Demagoguery in Montgomery County, Maryland. globalresearch.ca Across the nation, politicians and bureaucrats have invoked the COVID pandemic to seize dictatorial power to ban activities they disapprove. One of the most brazen examples recently occurred in super-lefty Montgomery County (MoCo), Maryland, where local health czar Travis Gayles…

F. Douglas Stephenson (2020-08-10). Is Big Pharma More Interested in Profiteering Than Protecting Us From Coronavirus? counterpunch.org Gainesville, Florida April 12, 1955 stands out as the brightest day in the history of vaccine development and public health when news of the discovery by Jonas Salk of a vaccine for the poliovirus was made public. The most venerated medical scientist of the 20th century, Jonas Salk, M.D., was hailed as a miracle worker.

Jon Miltimore (2020-08-10). Masks Aren't Helpful in Beating COVID-19: Europe's Top Health Officials. globalresearch.ca Denmark boasts one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates in the world. As of August 4, the Danes have suffered 616 COVID-19 deaths, That's less

news.un (2020-08-10). WHO chief points to 'green shoots of hope' in COVID-19 pandemic. news.un.org Although COVID-19 cases are on track to hit 20 million worldwide this week, and 750,000 deaths, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has pointed to "green shoots of hope" amidst the global crisis, while urging both governments and people everywhere to work to suppress the new coronavirus.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-10). Iran records 2,132 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 10 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,132 people and claimed 189 lives in Iran in the past 24 hours, a senior health official said.

Dan Bacher (2020-08-10). Senate Committee Votes Against Bill to Create Health and Safety Setbacks Around Oil Wells. indybay.org "The fact that dozens of Spanish speaking residents who are currently poisoned by the fugitive emissions coming out of oil wells near their homes and schools were denied the opportunity to express their support for AB345 during yesterday's hearing is just another example of the environmental racism that they have endured, being unheard," said Nayamin Martinez, Director of CCEJN and a member of the VISION coalition.

Register Peace & Freedom or Green (2020-08-10). Social Security & Medicare Cut to Be Permanent if Nazi Trump Reelected. indybay.org Nazi Trump signed an illegal order on 8/8/20 to cut the payroll tax for Social Security and Medicare and promised on national TV to make it permanent if he is re-elected. This is a long-standing Republican Party program, outlined in their platform as they want to privatize both programs.

Staff (2020-08-10). Trump Executive Action on Unemployment Insurance Deliberately Leaves Out Poorest. truthout.org On top of serious questions about the directive's The language of Trump's…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Turkish official warns of mental impact of COVID-19. yenisafak.com A Turkish official, who has recovered from COVID-19, warned of psychological impact of the disease as well as its biological impact on human body."It is really troublesome psychologically. So take your measures," Osman Bilgin, the governor of northwestern Kirklareli province, told Anadolu Agency.Bilgin was diagnosed with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus on March 31 and he recovered on April 17."Some citizens are not aware because they did not experience it. But when you do, there are both biological and psychological impacts of the disease," Bilgin stressed.Recounting the ordeal, he said he was so sad…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Iraq reports highest-ever daily virus case count. yenisafak.com With 3,484 new coronavirus cases, Iraq on Monday reported the highest-ever daily COVID-19 infections, according to the Health Ministry.Meanwhile, the ministry reported 72 additional fatalities from the virus.Monday's figures bring the total case count to 153,599 and the number of fatalities to 5,464, along with 109,790 recoveries.Health centers in Iraq face shortages of oxygen supplies and protective equipment, prompting the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety to direct the Health Ministry to provide support for investors wishing to build medical oxygen production plants.Security forces have also been…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Southeast Asia reports over 8,800 new coronavirus cases. yenisafak.com With 8,887 new coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia, the tally of cases in the region has crossed 333,300, authorities said Monday.The death toll in the region has hit 8,291, while recoveries are at 212,507.In Phillippines, the worst-hit in the region, total infections climbed to 136,638 after the country's health authority confirmed 6,958 new cases.The archipelago nation reported 24 more virus-related fatalities, raising the nationwide death toll to 2,292, while recoveries jumped by 633 to reach 68,306.Indonesia reported 42 more fatalities from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death t…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Turkish expert weighs in on importance of face masks. yenisafak.com The slight discomfort that comes from wearing a mask on a hot summer day is a small price to pay for protecting oneself from the coronavirus, Turkey's pandemic task force member has said. Dr. Afsin Emre Kayipmaz, a member of Turkey's Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, told Anadolu Agency that a rise in coronavirus cases was witnessed after the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday as people used the opportunity to flock to beaches and attend wedding ceremonies, flouting social distancing rules.Cases have risen 1.3 times compared to May when lockdown was still imposed in many parts of the country, Turkey's Health Minis…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). WHO urges action to contain virus as cases near 20M. yenisafak.com Behind the rising numbers of registered novel coronavirus cases and deaths — both expected this week to reach 20 million and 750,000, respectively — is "a great deal of pain and suffering," and leaders need to embrace new measures to turn the outbreak around, the top official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.Addressing a bi-weekly COVID-19 webinar for journalists Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "I know many of you are grieving and that this is a difficult moment for the world.""But I want to be clear, there are green shoots of hope and no matter where a country, a…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Coronavirus: Iran reports 189 more fatalities. yenisafak.com As many as 189 new coronavirus-related fatalities have raised the death toll in Iran to 18,616, the Health Ministry sai…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Gambia's health system near collapse amid pandemic. yenisafak.com The Gambia has seen over a 70% rise in coronavirus cases last week, and its health sector is crumbling under the weight of the deadly virus.The total number of confirmed cases in the country as of Aug. 7 stood at 1,235, with 23 deaths and 221 recoveries, according to the latest Health Ministry data released on Sunday. The Gambia's reporting of cases is two days behind due to lack of capacity to deal with the surge.The situation is "alarming" in the small West African country of around 2.4 million people, according to Modou Touray, communications director of the Gambia Red Cross Society, as the number of COVID-19…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Eurasia countries report new COVID-19 cases. yenisafak.com Coronavirus cases and fatalities continued to rise across Eurasian and Central Asian countries on Monday.- UkraineHealth Minister Maksym Stepanov said 1,008 more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 81,957.He said 25 more fatalities raised the death toll to 1,922 while recoveries increased by 387 to reach 44,359. | Stepanov urged the public to strictly follow the government's COVID-19 restrictions, which have been extended until Aug. 31. | – KazakhstanKazakhstan reported 741 more virus cases, raising the total to 99,442, as recoveries rose by 250 to reach the total of…

WSWS (2020-08-10). Twenty percent of Australian health workers lack PPE as infections in the sector soar. wsws.org Some 400 more health workers in Victoria have contracted COVID-19 over the past two weeks, prompting warnings of a looming staffing crisis in the hospital system.

Mark Taliano (2020-08-09). Video: Dr. Judy Mikovits and the Real Plague Infecting Humanity. globalresearch.ca Dr. Judy Mikovits is a top U.S. scientist who has played key roles in saving millions of lives. Instead of lauding her achievements and honoring her, Western governments and their agencies have sought to destroy her. | Why? Because corruption infests …

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-09). Covid-19 and the "Greater Economic Depression" Exceeding the 1930s: Unemployment Armageddon. globalresearch.ca The COVID-19 crisis at a time of deteriorating economic conditions caused what in hindsight may be known as a Greater Depression — exceeding the worst of the 1930s. | For 20 straight weeks, new claims for unemployment insurance exceeded one million….

Sandipan Talukdar (2020-08-09). More evidence emerges of T Cell Immunity against novel Coronavirus in unexposed people. peoplesdispatch.org Aside from our immune response to COVID-19, another important factor in countering the disease are cellular reactions which offer immunity in case of an infection. Two important aspects have emerged in recent case studies. The first is the production of an antibody that kills the virus at different locations of the body that the virus has colonized. The other is the cellular immunity provided by T cells. The T cell immunity could be more important than antibody production as it produces a longer immunogenic response than antibodies — which can die off in a shorter period of time, even within a few weeks.

Yanis Iqbal (2020-08-09). Covid-19 and the Health Crisis in Latin America. zcomm.org Latin America has surpassed more than 5 million Covid-19 cases to overtake North America, with 4.8 million Covid-19 cases, as the region worst-hit by the Coronavirus pandemic…

Dr. Pascal Sacré (2020-08-09). 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. | With …

Prabir Purkayastha (2020-08-09). Trump's Withdrawal From WHO A Cover-Up for His Failure on COVID-19. zcomm.org The WHO, with its warts and all, still stands for global cooperation and fostering public health policies, and is the only instrument we have for global cooperation. It is hated by the right wing precisely for these reasons…

H. Ealy (2020-08-09). Covid-19: Questionable Policies, Manipulated Rules of Data Collection and Reporting. Is It Safe for Students to Return to School? globalresearch.ca Elected officials have enacted many questionable policies that have injured our economy, educational system, our country's mental and emotional health, and the American citizen's personal expression of Constitutionally-protected rights to participate in our own governance.

Jon Queally (2020-08-09). Terminating Social Security and Medicare. zcomm.org Trump Just Admitted on Live Television He Will 'Terminate' Social Security and Medicare If Reelected in November…

Ed Yong (2020-08-09). A Virus Has Brought the World's Most Powerful Country to Its Knees. zcomm.org COVID 19 is but a harbinger of worse plagues to come. The US cannot plan for these inevitable crises if it returns to normal. Normal led to this. To avert another catastrophe, the US needs to grapple with all the ways normal has failed us.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-09). Iran registers 2,020 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 09 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,020 people and claimed 163 lives in Iran in the past 24 hours, a senior health official said.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-09). Eid al-Ghadir Khumm celebrated in Tabriz. en.mehrnews.com TABRIZ, Aug. 09 (MNA) — People in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan province, celebrated the auspicious feast of Eid al-Ghadir Khumm at Imam Khomeini Mosalla of the city by fully observing health protocols and guidelines due to outbreak of coronavirus.

yenisafak (2020-08-09). Turkey: 5 die, 25 injured in bus accident. yenisafak.com At least five people died and 25 others got injured in a bus accident in Istanbul on Sunday.A passenger bus crashed into a wall of an overpass at the Istanbul Northern Marmara Motorway.The health condition of 10 among the injured, including three children, is serious, according to local authorities.Police have initiated an investigation, and further details are awaited.*Writing by Fahri Aksut…

yenisafak (2020-08-09). Eurasian nations report new coronavirus cases, deaths. yenisafak.com Coronavirus cases and fatalities continued to rise across Eurasian and Central Asian countries on Friday.- UkraineHealth Minister Maksym Stepanov said 1,199 more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 80,949.He said 18 more fatalities raised the death toll to 1,897 while recoveries increased by 317 to reach 43,972.Stepanov urged the public to strictly follow the government's COVID-19 restrictions, which have been extended until Aug. 31.- KazakhstanKazakhstan registered 872 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally to 98,701. The number of recoveries rose by 664 to reach 72,…

The Lancet (2020-08-08). [Editorial] Self-determination and Indigenous health. thelancet.com Colonisation is a fundamental determinant of Indigenous peoples' health. Indigenous is a term defined by dislocation, and the effects of that displacement are felt by Indigenous peoples around the world. Aug 9, International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, is a chance to look at the continuing effects of territorial removal, the destruction of people, culture, and languages, and the lack of self-determination (the right to determine one's own social, cultural, and economic development), and their impact on Indigenous peoples' health.

RT (2020-08-08). Incorrectly designed and rushed Covid-19 vaccine could actually AGGRAVATE infection, Russian virology expert warns. rt.com Russia's domestically produced Covid-19 vaccine could be dangerous and even cause infection if improperly designed, says Alexander Chepurnov, the former lab head at the Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology. | A rapidly produced vaccine has already been completed and trialed in Russia, and will soon be registered and undergo mass production. The country is just one of many in the race to produce an effective immunization against the disease. According to Chepurnov, if the vaccinated person already has specific antibodies, coronavirus could actually intensify after receiving the vaccine.

RT (2020-08-08). Doctors sound alarm as deadly tick-borne virus re-emerges in China, kills 7 so far. rt.com As if Covid-19 wasn't enough, Chinese doctors are warning that the country's population is threatened by yet another virus. The infection is passed by tick bites, but could also be transmitted between humans, experts say. | The SFTS virus has already infected around 60 people this year in China's eastern Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces, and seven of them have died. | Symptoms of the potentially deadly infection include fever, cough, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting, as well as a decline in white blood cells. | SFTS isn't exactly new, as the first cases of the tick-borne disease were reported in rural parts of the Hub…

RT (2020-08-08). 'This is a peaceful protest!' Trump rebukes journalist who mask-shamed crowded press conference. rt.com US President Donald Trump sparred with a reporter who observed that dozens of people at a press conference in New Jersey were flouting the state's health guidelines, arguing the crowd was engaged in a "protest against fake news." | During a presser at Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey on Friday, a journalist challenged the president's contention that the coronavirus is "disappearing," pointing out that even the crowd attending the press event was not adhering to the state's restrictions. The question drew audible groans from the audience. | "No, they don't have to, this is a political activity. You…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-08-08). The Likud Conspiracy: Israel in the Throes of a Major Political Crisis. dissidentvoice.org Protests against Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have raged on for weeks, turning violent sometimes. Israelis are furious at their government's mediocre response to the coronavirus pandemic, especially as COVID-19 disease is experiencing a massive surge throughout the country. Netanyahu warned protesters, thousands of whom have been rallying outside his residence in Jerusalem, against "anarchy …

WSWS (2020-08-08). Reject whitewash report into London bus driver coronavirus deaths! For rank-and-file health and safety committees! wsws.org There is nothing remotely "independent" about University College London's review into bus driver deaths.

Fight Back (2020-08-08). Justice for Travis Jordan – 38th birthday protest. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the Minneapolis police's 4th Precinct in North Minneapolis, July 31, to demand justice for Travis Jordan, on what should have been his 38th birthday. | On November 9, 2018, Travis Jordan was shot and killed by two rookie officers of the Minneapolis Police Department's 4th Precinct during a wellness check for his suicidal ideation. Officers Neal Walsh and Ryan Keyes, who had each been on the police force less than a year, responded to the call. Instead of saving Travis's life and providing him with the mental health support he needed, they killed him. C…

WSWS (2020-08-08). Autoworkers denounce bipartisan drive to reopen schools. wsws.org Opposition is growing among autoworkers and other workers to the back-to-school campaign, which is threatening the health of teachers, students and their families.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-08). Eid al-Ghadir celebrated in Urmia. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 08 (MNA) — People in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province of Iran, celebrated the occasion of Eid al-Ghadir on Saturday, preserving the anti-coronavirus health protocols.

_____ (2020-08-08). War And Pandemic Journalism. popularresistance.org The struggle against Covid-19 has often been compared to fighting a war. Much of this rhetoric is bombast, but the similarities between the struggle against the virus and against human enemies are real enough. War reporting and pandemic reporting likewise have much in common because, in both cases, journalists are dealing with and describing matters of life and death. Public interest is fueled by deep fears, often more intense during an epidemic because the whole population is at risk. In a war, aside from military occupation and area bombing, terror is at its height among those closest to the battlefield.

_____ (2020-08-08). Coronavirus Is Being Tackled By Nicaragua's Community-Based Health System. popularresistance.org Nicaragua's Sandinista government is — like every other government — engaged in a struggle to limit the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on its people. But Nicaragua suffers two additional handicaps. One is that it is subject to US and European sanctions, which severely limit the aid it gets from abroad or from multilateral bodies. The other is its internal opposition, which aims to use the pandemic in its latest attempt to destabilize the government and turn opinion against it. To do so it employs a wide range of propaganda methods, at home and abroad. These were very evident in a recent article in t…

Staff (2020-08-08). Health Care Workers of Color Nearly Twice as Likely as Whites to Get COVID-19. truthout.org Health care workers of color were more likely to care for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, more likely to report using inadequate or reused protective gear, and nearly twice as likely as white colleagues to test positive for the coronavirus, a new study from Harvard Medical School researchers found. | The study also showed that health care workers are at least three times more likely than the general public to report a positive COVID test, with risks rising for workers treating…

Harriet Mayanja-Kizza, Christine Sekaggya-Wiltshire, Desta Kassa (2020-08-08). [Comment] Optimal therapy for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV. thelancet.com The dual epidemics of tuberculosis and HIV have had a substantial toll on health outcomes, service delivery, and economies in many countries. Additionally, diagnosis of tuberculosis remains a challenge, especially with HIV infection, where the commonly used smears are of limited benefit; compounded by limitations of detecting drug-resistant tuberculosis.1…

yenisafak (2020-08-08). Indonesia reports 2,277 new coronavirus infections. yenisafak.com Indonesia reported 2,277 new coronavirus infections on Saturday and 65 more deaths, data from its health ministry website showed.This brings the country's total to 123,503 coronavirus infections and 5,658 deaths, the data showed.

Michael Winship (2020-08-08). Covid-19 'Has Laid Bare' the Crisis of Healthcare in America. commondreams.org The newly-created Center for Health and Democracy, says founder Wendell Potter, is necessary because there "not nearly enough awareness of the problems associated with money in politics and why money in politics is a real barrier for this country to move forward on meaningful healthcare reform. We will be drawing attention to how big corporations and associations are spending enormous sums of money to influence campaigns and public policy, both legislation and regulations, and help explain why that is blocking progressive reforms." (Image: Courtesy of Center for Health and Democracy) | www.commondreams

Jon Queally, staff writer (2020-08-08). Trump Just Admitted on Live Television He Will 'Terminate' Social Security and Medicare If Reelected in November. commondreams.org One progressive critic called the president's promise "a full-on declaration of war against current and future Social Security beneficiaries." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…