Daily Archives: September 1, 2020

2020-09-01: News Headlines

Staff (2020-09-01). Meet the New Yes Man on Trump's COVID Task Force: Dr. Scott Atlas Wants U.S. to Adopt Herd Immunity. democracynow.org As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States passes 6 million, with a death toll of over 183,000, the Trump administration is loosening coronavirus restrictions, fast-tracking vaccine approval and disregarding safety tests, and now one of Trump's top medical advisers is pushing for the country to adopt a controversial "herd immunity" strategy, raising alarm among public health officials. Washington Post health reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb says Dr. Scott Atlas is not an epidemiologist and was brought on specifically because he would back President Trump's position "about how the pandemic was going,…

yenisafak (2020-09-01). Coronavirus deaths continue to rise in Palestine, Oman. yenisafak.com The coronavirus pandemic claimed seven lives in Palestine and another four in Oman, local health authorities said on Tuesday.In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said it had recorded seven COVID-19 fatalities, 552 cases, and 282 recoveries.The ministry figures pushed the total numbers of cases to 30,490, including 180 deaths. The tally covers the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.In the Gulf state of Oman, the Health Ministry registered four deaths, 206 cases, and 214 recoveries from the virus.The total number of cases rose to 85,928, including 689 deaths and 8,124 recoveries.Since it origi…

David Trujillo (2020-09-01). Ousting Trump is the way forward for hard-pressed Latinos. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES — In this country of abundant resources and talk of greatness we still have Latino children suffering from hunger every day and night. Their concentration and focus on education drift away because their minds are worrying about other things. Latino parents worry about keeping their families together, securing adequate housing, health care, protection …

Don Fitz (2020-09-01). What Can We Learn from Cuba? Medicare-for-All Is a Beginning, Not the End Point. dissidentvoice.org As a coup de grâce to the Bernie Sanders campaign Joe Biden declared that he would veto Medicare-for-All. This could drive a dedicated health care advocate to relentlessly pursue Med-4-All as a final goal. However, it is not the final goal. It should be the first step in a complete transformation of medicine which includes combining …

RT (2020-09-01). Tony Abbott slams 'health dictatorship' of Covid-19 lockdowns, says 'fear of falling sick' cancels out 'being fully alive'. rt.com Former Australian PM has condemned the demise of personal freedom embraced amid the Covid-19 pandemic: a world of lockdowns, unsustainable government benefits, and "health dictatorships" trying to conquer death. | The ex-leader urged politicians to stop thinking like "trauma doctors" willing to pour unlimited resources into preserving every life and start thinking like "health economists" in a speech to the UK think tank Policy Exchange on Tuesday. The levels of spending required to sustain a country's economy during a prolonged shutdown aren't sustainable, he argued, pointing out that the devastating financia…

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-01). Russia-Sanctions-Gate: Trump Sanctions Three Russian Research Institutes. globalresearch.ca Russia won the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. On August 11, its Sputnik V was registered for use by the Russian Ministry of Health. | Development of the vaccine followed 20 years of research, what its scientists called another …

Staff (2020-09-01). Corporate-Backed State Attorneys General Seek End to Obamacare. truthout.org The Supreme Court may gut the Affordable Care Act in a case called

Moscola J, Sembajwe G, Jarrett M, et al. (2020-09-01). Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Health Care Personnel in the New York City Area. jamanetwork.com This seroprevalence survey study describes severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seropositivity among health care workers at a New York City—based health system by age, sex, race, county of residence, and prior PCR-confirmed viral exposure.

Gostin LO, Cohen I, Koplan JP. (2020-09-01). Universal Masking in the United States: the Role of Mandates, Health Education, and the CDC. jamanetwork.com This Viewpoint proposes legal and policy options for promoting universal face mask wearing in the US and, recognizing the limits of state-by-state implementation, proposes strengthening the authority, independence, and funding of the CDC to enact responses to this and future comparable public health emergencies.

Lin E, Erickson KF. (2020-09-01). Payer Mix Among Patients Receiving Dialysis. jamanetwork.com To the Editor The Research Letter by Ms Hoffman and colleagues described trends in payer mix among patients receiving dialysis in the United States. We share the authors' concerns that shifting patients from publicly funded insurance to commercial insurance could increase the overall cost of dialysis care. Although the Affordable Care Act increased access to the commercial insurance market through the creation of health insurance exchanges, we were surprised by the magnitude of non-Medicare coverage reported.

Wilensky G. (2020-09-01). The Importance of Reestablishing a Pandemic Preparedness Office at the White House. jamanetwork.com As the country tries to make sense of all that has happened during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, one idea that should cause little controversy is the importance of health to the security of the US, to its economy, and to the well-being of its citizenry. Given health's fundamental importance to national security, a disaster preparedness and response unit should be reestablished as part of the National Security Council (NSC) and remain there on a permanent basis. This response unit would be in addition to, not a replacement for, the Office of Pandemics and Emerging Threats. The latter currently…

Jaklevic M. (2020-09-01). Researchers Strive to Recruit Hard-Hit Minorities Into COVID-19 Vaccine Trials. jamanetwork.com This Medical News article discusses efforts to ensure participation of racial and ethnic minorities in clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines.

Don Fitz (2020-09-01). Medicare-for-All Is a Beginning, Not the End Point. zcomm.org What Can We Learn from Cuba?

WSWS (2020-09-01). New Zealand government ends Auckland lockdown. wsws.org The decision to reopen schools and workplaces, despite new cases of COVID-19 being reported every day, was opposed by some of the government's own health advisors.

Kristina Hille (2020-09-01). Co-ops Can Lay a Path to Just Economies Amid the COVID Crisis. zcomm.org Cooperatives have been central to confronting the twin economic and health crises…

_____ (2020-09-01). COVID-19 Is A Great Unequaliser. popularresistance.org Rome – Any of the first names that the media reported as having Covid were those of the rich and powerful, from movie stars to political leaders. Be ye ever so high, the virus is above thee — or so it seemed. | Now we understand that this perception, that came in part because at first only the wealthy and well-connected were getting tested, was misleading. The data is now crystal clear: Covid risk maps on to inequality, and Covid is a great unequaliser — in health, and in wealth. | But just as the initial "optimistic" take about Covid — that it would equalize us — got it wrong, so too the…

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-01). Iran's daily COVID-19 death toll declines. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 01 (MNA) — Iran's daily coronavirus fatalities dropped for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, with 101 deaths, down by six compared to a day earlier, according to the Health Ministry's spokeswoman.

sputniknews (2020-09-01). US Will Not Join WHO Effort to Develop Global COVID-19 Vaccine – Reports. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Trump administration will not join a global program to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine in part because it is led by the World Health Organization, media reported on Tuesday.

yenisafak (2020-09-01). Ed Sheeran announces birth of daughter Lyra Antarctica. yenisafak.com British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran said on Tuesday his wife had given birth to the couple's first child, a girl who they had named "Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran"."Last week, with the help of an amazing delivery team, Cherry gave birth to our beautiful and healthy daughter," the record-breaking musician said on Instagram alongside a photo of a pair of tiny socks."Both mum and baby are doing amazing and we are on cloud nine over here."The 29-year-old singer is the most successful British artist of the last decade, spending a total of 79 weeks at the top of the charts with eight no.1 singles, including the glob…

yenisafak (2020-09-01). Millions return to work and school in France. yenisafak.com Amid strict health protocols schools and offices, opened in France on Tuesday after months of restrictions to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.Wearing masks, nearly 12.4 million children walked to schools, the first time since March. An estimated 25.5 million people also returned to work from their offices in the country.Masks have been made compulsory for all students over the age of 11, which means those studying in middle school and above.Since the lockdown enforced by the pandemic, students have not been inside classrooms. Many of them studying form home lacked the necessary technology — computers or…

yenisafak (2020-09-01). Sanofi halts trials of failed COVID-19 drug. yenisafak.com Recent international clinical trials conducted with the drug — typically used for rheumatoid arthritis — have produced adverse reactions in some patients, including pneumonia and even death.Sanofi is one of several companies currently attempting to develop a vaccine against COVID-19. It manufactures Kevzara with its American partner Regeneron.John Reed, Sanofi's global head of research and development, expressed appreciation for his team's efforts in testing the drug."Although this trial did not yield the results we hoped for, we are proud of the work that was achieved by the team to further our understanding o…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2020-09-01). 'Nonsensical and Madness': Outrage After Trump Excludes US From WHO-Backed Global Vaccination Cooperation Pact. commondreams.org The administration's latest decision regarding vaccines and global cooperation denounced as "more self-inflicted damage." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Lisa Newcomb, staff writer (2020-09-01). Progressive Democrats Look to Massachusetts for Next 2020 Primary Night Victories. commondreams.org "Today we vote for a future where clean air, healthcare, and a quality education are considered a human right; not a privilege." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Hoffman A, Maciejewski ML, Wang V. (2020-09-01). Payer Mix Among Patients Receiving Dialysis—Reply. jamanetwork.com In Reply We agree with Drs Lin and Erickson on the importance of using patient-level data to corroborate facility-level trends in payer mix for ESKD. Significant changes were shown in facility-reported Medicare and non-Medicare enrollment in our study, but the patient-level statistics that Lin and Erickson provide from the USRDS Annual Data Reports showed almost no change in Medicare and non-Medicare enrollment.

Ben Norton (2020-08-31). US Sanctions Russian Research Institute that Developed COVID-19 Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Russia won the race to develop the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The United States has responded by slapping sanctions on a Russian research facility involved in creating it. | The US government has blacklisted several Russian scientific institutes, including …

Staff (2020-08-31). Headlines for August 31, 2020. democracynow.org Protests Continue in Kenosha as Officials Plead With Trump To Cancel Visit, One Dead in Portland as Pro-Trump Rally Clashes With Anti-Racist Protesters, U.S. Covid-19 Cases Top 6 Million, Deaths Top 183,000, Under Pressure From Trump, FDA Admits It Might Approve Vaccine Before Trials End, Gaza Extends Lockdown, India Reports Record Daily Numbers as Global Covid-19 Cases Top 25 Million, Chadwick Boseman, Beloved and Ground-Breaking Actor, Dies at 43 After Battle With Cancer, "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" Rally Held on 57th Anniverary of March on Washington, Mustapha Adib Set to Become New Prime Minister of Lebanon…

Binoy Kampmark (2020-08-31). Waiting for the Old Bailey: Julian Assange and Britain's Judicial Establishment. counterpunch.org On September 7, Julian Assange will be facing another round of gruelling extradition proceedings, in the Old Bailey, part of a process that has become a form of gradual state-sanctioned torture. The US Department of Justice hungers for their man. The UK prison authorities are doing little to protect his health. The end result, should

Jon Cohen (2020-08-31). Here's How the U.S. Could Release a COVID-19 Vaccine before the Election—and Why that Scares Some. globalresearch.ca When President Donald Trump accepted his party's nomination for another term last night at the Republican National Convention, he pledged that the push by his administration's Operation Warp Speed to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine would succeed "before the end of …

WSWS (2020-08-31). Mounting social and health disaster in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura. wsws.org Three days after the most powerful hurricane to hit the state since 1856, the scale of destruction and accompanying social crisis is coming into sharp relief.

news.un (2020-08-31). Kickstarting economies without COVID-19 plan, 'a recipe for disaster': Tedros. news.un.org Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, countries want to "get their economies going again", the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, advising on the measures that governments, communities and individuals should take, to do so safely.

Jack Davis (2020-08-31). CDC Now Admits that 94% of COVID Deaths Had "Another Cause of Death" globalresearch.ca At the outset of the pandemic, the CDC had been instructed to change the methodology regarding Death Certificates with a view to artificially inflating the numbers of "Covid deaths". This is confirmed by the

Robert F. Kennedy Jr (2020-08-31). Video: Robert F Kennedy Jr. in Berlin: COVID-19 Is Destroying Us All, Making the Powerful Elites More Powerful!! globalresearch.ca By the Children's Health Defense Team | Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke to hundreds of thousands in the streets of Berlin, Germany, August 29, 2020. | With Groàüer Stern Square and the Siegesà§ule Monument as a backdrop, Mr. Kennedy talked about …

teleSUR (2020-08-31). Cali International Ballet Festival Pays Homage to Alicia Alonso. telesurenglish.net Given the complex global health scenario, the festival has opted to take place online through the Finbacali Youtube channel, among other social media platforms. | The virtual guest of honor is Cuba's National Ballet (BNC), one of many companies that regularly feature at the annual festival, directed by master Gloria Castro. | RELATED: | The festival includes an intervention from the director-general of the Cuban company, Viengsay Valdes, a le…

teleSUR (2020-08-31). COVID-19: Chile Eases Restrictions For Senior Citizens. telesurenglish.net Despite the high prevalence of COVID-19 in Chile, Health Minister Enrique Paris Sunday announced that his government will ease quarantine restrictions for people over 75 years old. | RELATED: | As part of the deconfinement plan called "Step by Step", senior citizens will be free to move around from Monday to Friday. This way, they won't have any additional restrictions, as long as their communes are either in the transi…

teleSUR (2020-08-31). Chile: Another Mapuche Prisoner on Hunger Strike Hospitalized. telesurenglish.net Mapuche political prisoner Eliseo Reiman Sunday was transferred from Lebu prison to a hospital after he spent two months of hunger strike and seven days of not drinking water. | RELATED: | "Reiman's health is deteriorating due to the hunger strike that he and his comrades have been carrying out," the Mapuche spokesman Miguel Maliqueo informed. | The prisoner's relatives asked Lebu's authorities for a doctor they trust…

WSWS (2020-08-31). Trump administration halts closure of California meatpacking plant despite eight COVID-19 deaths. wsws.org The Trump administration postponed the closure of a plant that local health officials had ordered closed after at least 392 workers tested positive for COVID-19 and eight died.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-31). Israeli restrictions, policies hinder Palestinians' fight against pandemic. peoplesdispatch.org Shatha Odeh of the Palestinian Health Work Committees talks about the difficulties faced by the people and health care professionals due to the rules and restrictions imposed by Israeli occupation.

_____ (2020-08-31). Medicare For All Is A Beginning, Not The End Point. popularresistance.org As a coup de grâce to the Bernie Sanders campaign Joe Biden declared that he would veto Medicare-for-All. This could drive a dedicated health care advocate to relentlessly pursue Med-4-All as a final goal. However, it is not the final goal. It should be the first step in a complete transformation of medicine which includes combining community medicine with natural medicine and health-care-for-the-world. | Contrasting Cuban changes in medicine during the last 60 years with the US non-system of medical care gives a clear picture of why changes must be all-encompassing.

_____ (2020-08-31). The Day After Election Day. popularresistance.org For the second election in a row two of the least favored politicians in American history represent the range of choices speaks to the vacuity of the 'process.' In the throes of electoral passion, the insistence has been that personality and tenor are substance, hence the promise 'to restore dignity to the presidency' is put forward as a ready substitute for adequate healthcare, meaningful employment at a living wage, environmental repair, and real political participation. | The American posture that elections create the political system has it perfectly backward. What better way to counterfeit the consent of the…

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-31). Iran registers 1,642 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 1,642 COVID-19 infections and 109 deaths due to the disease in the past 24 hours.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-31). Ta'zieh ceremony on night of Sham-e-Ghariban in Gorgan. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (MNA) — Ta'zieh ceremony for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH) was held on the night of Sham-e-Ghariban in Gorgan with health protocols in place.

Staff (2020-08-31). GOP Incumbents' Opposition to the Affordable Care Act Could Be Their Undoing. truthout.org

Staff (2020-08-31). Schools Are Preparing for a Mental Health Crisis Amid COVID. truthout.org The calls started at 6 a.m., and Patrick McCauley was ready, having retreated to the privacy of his garage where he sat waiting for Angelenos to share how they're coping with the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic. | For the last 14 years, McCauley has worked as a mental health counselor and consultant in the Los Angeles Unified School District. In April, he began staffing a new hotline the district created to reach students, parents and teachers in need of mental health supports and other services as the v…

teleSUR (2020-08-31). WHO: COVID Could Take Back Decades of Health Service Progress. telesurenglish.net COVID-19 could take back decades of progress BY health services in a short period, according to a study of the World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed on Monday. | RELATED: | "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on essential health services is a source of great concern. Major health gains achieved over the past two decades can be wiped out in a short period," the study said. | Recently, WHO warned about possible COVID-19 harm on…

yenisafak (2020-08-31). EU offers 400 mln euros in guarantees to WHO-led COVID-19 vaccine initiative. yenisafak.com The European Commission said on Monday it would contribute 400 million euros ($476 million) in guarantees to an initiative led by the World Health Organisation to buy COVID-19 vaccines.Countries wishing to be part of the WHO initiative, dubbed COVAX, had to submit expressions of interest by Monday.($1 = 0.8396 euros)…

yenisafak (2020-08-31). At least 100 doctors die of coronavirus in Indonesia. yenisafak.com At least 100 Indonesian doctors have died of the novel coronavirus since the pandemic started in March, a doctors association said on Monday."There have been 100 doctors who died while handling COVID-19. Likewise, the number of other health workers who have died also climbed," Daeng Faqih, chairman of Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), said in a statement.Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Halik Malik, the association spokesman, said the number of doctors who have died increased significantly over the last two months.As of Aug. 4, the doctors association recorded deaths of 74 doctors, and the number climbed by 26 ove…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-08-31). Public Health Experts Sound Alarm Over FDA Willingness to Roll Out Covid-19 Vaccine Before Finishing Phase 3 Trials. commondreams.org "Circumventing clinical trials would place huge numbers of people at risk," warned one leading virologist. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Ann Klosinski (2020-08-31). In the Age of Covid, Elder Care Should Be an Election Issue. commondreams.org "Covid-19 has also made it clear that we need to rethink our overreliance on institutionalized long-term care," writes Klosinski, "and expand home-based healthcare, daytime care centers, and financial compensation for family caregivers."(Photo: Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Glenn Greenwald (2020-08-30). The Social Fabric of the U.S. Is Fraying Severely, if Not Unravelling. zcomm.org Why, in the world's richest country, is every metric of mental health pathology rapidly worsening?>

news.un (2020-08-30). 'Wisdom' of Guatemala's indigenous people needed for sustainable development: A UN Resident Coordinator blog. news.un.org The wisdom and knowledge of indigenous people in Guatemala is central to the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, targets agreed by countries around the world to end poverty, maintain peace and preserve the health of the planet. In this blog, the UN Resident Coordinator in Guatemala Rebeca Arias Flores explains how sustainable development is not new, but simply a new name that draws on ancient wisdom that is renewed with each generation of indigenous people.