Daily Archives: September 21, 2020

2020-09-21: News Headlines

Alan MacLeod (2020-09-21). US Pompeo Venezuela Feature photo REGIME CHANGE TOUR Pompeo Announces Funding for Welfare, Healthcare and Indigenous Support. In Venezuela. thealtworld.com The sweeping $348 million aid package, which includes funding for healthcare, direct cash assistance, and even psychosocial …

Alan Macleod (2020-09-21). Pompeo Announces Funding for Welfare, Healthcare and Indigenous Support. In Venezuela. mintpressnews.com The sweeping $348 million aid package, which includes funding for healthcare, direct cash assistance, and even psychosocial support, runs in stark contradiction to a long-held US policy of sanctions on Venezuela.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (2020-09-21). The possibility that Trump will not voluntarily leave. peoplesworld.org Yes. This is a presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Yes. This is an election about health care, education, the economy, climate change, criminal justice, and so many other important issues. More importantly, however, this is an election about whether or not we retain American democracy. This is an election we must not …

The Canary (2020-09-21). If we don't take action, the UK could see '500,000 coronavirus cases per day next month'. thecanary.co Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance used a press briefing to set out their growing worry over the spread of coronavirus in the UK.Here are the key points from their 20-minute presentation from Downing Street on Monday: — Vallance warned there could be 50,000 coronavirus cases per day next month, leading to 200-plus daily deaths, if the rate of the disease's spread was not tackled.— Less than 8% of the UK population are thought to have coronavirus antibodies to fight off infection, making the "vast majority" of people "susceptible" to the deadly virus…

RT (2020-09-21). CDC publishes, then DELETES, new guidelines warning of aerosol Covid-19 transmission, contradicting WHO. rt.com The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added to the confusion about coronavirus, updating then deleting new guidelines about its spread that differ from the official position of the World Health Organization. | "It is possible that [Covid19] may spread through the droplets and airborne particles that are formed when a person who has [Covid-19] coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes. There is growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants, or…

John Kendall Hawkins (2020-09-21). Trump: The Novel Coronated Virus. counterpunch.org I recently reviewed Mike Davis' The Monster Enters (2020), an update of his book, The Monster at the Door (2017), which was a warning that we were terrifyingly close to suffering a flu virus pandemic that could wipe out millions of people, unless the world worked together to develop a universal vaccine (suspending the profit

WSWS (2020-09-21). SEIU calls off health care strike in Minnesota after Allina hospital system threatens legal action. wsws.org The cancellation of the strike comes as 4,000 workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago in SEIU Local 73 remain on picket lines in Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and Urbana.

Dr. Mike Yeadon (2020-09-21). Lies, Damned Lies and Health Statistics — The Deadly Danger of False Positives. globalresearch.ca

| I never expected to be writing something like this. I am an ordinary person, recently semi-retired from a career in the pharmaceutical industry and biotech, where I spent over 30 years trying to solve problems of disease understanding and seek |

_____ (2020-09-21). What Does A "Safe Return" To School Look Like? popularresistance.org Demands for stu ≠dents and edu ≠ca ≠tors to return to in-per ≠son school ≠ing dur ≠ing the pan ≠dem ≠ic are com ≠ing from Democ ≠rats and Repub ≠li ≠cans, both claim ≠ing the return is nec ≠es ≠sary not just to pro ≠vide high-qual ≠i ≠ty edu ≠ca ≠tion, but to save the econ ≠o ≠my and get par ≠ents back to work. The nar ≠ra ≠tive con ≠scious ≠ly exploits the needs of par ≠ents who may not have health ≠care and who rely on pub ≠lic schools to care for and edu ≠cate their chil ≠dren while they work. It pits par ≠ents,…

_____ (2020-09-21). Reclaim Public Medicine For Public Health. popularresistance.org Far too many people have suffered and died because our medicines and medical products system was not prepared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with prompt and universal access to reliable tests, treatments, and vaccines. Governments, non-profits, and industry in the U.S. and around the world are working furiously to catch up. But their efforts have been hampered by fundamental flaws in our profit-driven pharmaceutical industry. | For Americans with diabetes, cancer, asthma, infectious diseases, mental illnesses, and a myriad of other health issues, those flaws have been causing suffering and even death for dec…

Editor (2020-09-21). Plague Journal #26: What Future Grandkids Will Ask. scheerpost.com By Larry Bensky / Berkeley, CA September 14, 2020 "Grandpa, do you remember the day the sun didn't come up?" "Couldn't have happened." "But there are videos. Look!" "Oh, that day. Actually, the sun came up. It just couldn't bring any light through the air." "Why not?" "Well it had to do with smoke and ash from fires that had been burning all around us for days." "And what happened when they… |

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-21). Iran COVID-19 update: 177 deaths, 3,341 infections. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 15 (MNA) — The daily count of COVID-19 infections in Iran reached 3,341 on Monday, bringing the total cases to 425,481, according to the Health Ministry.

The Canary (2020-09-21). Local lockdowns in four areas South Wales after a 'worrying and rapid rise' in coronavirus cases. thecanary.co The areas of Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport and Blaenau Gwent will be placed under a local lockdown following an increase in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases, the Welsh Government has announced. | Health minister Vaughan Gething said there had been a "worrying and rapid rise" in cases of Covid-19 in the four areas, which have a combined population of about 430,000 people. | Under the measures, which come into force at 6pm on Tuesday, people must not enter or leave the areas without a reasonable excuse. | People are only able to meet outdoors and are unable to meet members of their extended household indoors. | Dym…

WSWS (2020-09-21). Strike of nearly 5,000 University of Illinois Health nurses and workers reaching a critical juncture. wsws.org The only way for service workers and nurses at UIC and UIH to combat poverty wages and the threat of the pandemic is to take their struggle into their own hands.

Global Research News (2020-09-21). Selected Articles: Lies, Damned Lies and Health Statistics — The Deadly Danger of False Positives. globalresearch.ca We hope that by publishing diverse view points, submitted by journalists and experts dotted all over the world, the website can serve as a reminder that no matter what narrative we are presented with, things are rarely as cut and …

The Canary (2020-09-20). Sadiq Khan presses for new coronavirus controls for London as infections rise. thecanary.co London mayor considers a return to working from home as new modelling shows capital just days behind Northern hotspots. | By | London mayor Sadiq Khan is pressing for new coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions amid rising infection rates in the capital — including a return to working from home.Mayoral sources said the city was catching up with disease hotspots in the North West and North East of England, which have been placed under new controls.While data from only a few days ago suggested London was two weeks behind those areas, the latest…

RT (2020-09-20). 'Best case' for end of pandemic is 2022, thanks to vaccines & funding, says 'optimistic' Bill Gates. rt.com Bill Gates just can't stop spouting his opinions on the coronavirus these days. In his latest spiel, the plutocrat has forecast that the pandemic will have concluded by 2022 — thanks to vaccines in which he's heavily invested. | In an interview on Fox News, the Microsoft founder predicted that, for people in the United States, life will have returned to normal by summer 2021, due to progress having been made with the development of vaccines against the disease. | The business magnate outlined that he expects the US to begin approving vaccines for public use early next year. Because of this, he said, he's…

Editor (2020-09-20). What the Flint Water Crisis Did to My Family. scheerpost.com Tarek / CC BY-ND 2.0] By Nakiya Wakes / OtherWords In 2015, my life fell apart. The first signs of trouble came from my son Jaylon. He was five years old and, although he struggled with ADHD, perfectly healthy. But then he started acting out in ways he never had before. His school didn't know how to handle it, so they started suspending him. By the time he was six, they had suspended him 70 times. |

Bernie Sanders (2020-09-20). Justice Ginsburg's replacement. zcomm.org Every issue we care about is at stake: abortion rights, campaign finance reform, voting rights, workers' rights, health care, LGBTQ rights, climate change, environmental rights, gun safety and more.

Abderrahim Oussalah, Stanislas Gleye, Isabelle Clerc Urmes, Elodie Laugel, Franàßoise Barbé, Sophie Orlowski, Catherine Malaplate, Isabelle Aimone-Gastin, Beatrice Maatem Caillierez, Marc Merten, Elise Jeannesson, Raphaà´l Kormann, Jean-Luc Olivier, Rosa-Maria Rodriguez-Guéant, Farès Namour, Sybille Bevilacqua, Nathalie Thilly, Marie-Reine Losser, Antoine Kimmoun, Luc Frimat, Bruno Levy, Sébastien Gibot, Evelyne Schvoerer, Jean-Louis Guéant (2020-09-20). The spectrum of biochemical alterations associated with organ dysfunction and inflammatory status and their association with disease outcomes in severe COVID-19: A longitudinal cohort and time-series design study. thelancet.com Our results point out the lack of the association between the inflammatory markers and the risk of death but rather highlight a significant association between renal dysfunction and the risk of COVID-19 related acute respiratory failure and death.

Yan Qiu, Wen Ren, Ying Liu, Wei-er Chen, Xiao-hua Pan, Jing-jing Ren (2020-09-20). [Research Paper] Disease burden of inflammatory bowel disease in China from 1990 to 2017: Findings from the global burden of diseases 2017. thelancet.com Between 1990 and 2017, China experienced a decrease in the age-standardized DALYs, mortality rates and YLLs due to IBD, despite an increase in the age-standardized rate of prevalence, incidence and YLDs. China is still one of the low endemic areas.

Alessandro Invernizzi, Alessandro Torre, Salvatore Parrulli, Federico Zicarelli, Marco Schiuma, Valeria Colombo, Andrea Giacomelli, Mario Cigada, Laura Milazzo, Annalisa Ridolfo, Ivano Faggion, Laura Cordier, Marta Oldani, Sara Marini, Paolo Villa, Giuliano Rizzardini, Massimo Galli, Spinello Antinori, Giovanni Staurenghi, Luca Meroni (2020-09-20). Retinal findings in patients with COVID-19: Results from the SERPICO-19 study. thelancet.com COVID-19 can affect the retina. Retinal veins diameter seems directly correlated with the disease severity. Its assessment could have possible applications in the management of COVID-19.

Raffaele Bugiardini, Saša Pavasović, Jinsung Yoon, Mihaela van der Schaar, Sasko Kedev, Marija Vavlukis, Zorana Vasiljevic, Maria Bergami, Davor Miličić, Olivia Manfrini, Edina Cenko, Lina Badimon (2020-09-20). Aspirin for primary prevention of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction in persons with diabetes and multiple risk factors. thelancet.com Low-dose aspirin reduces the risk of STEMI as initial manifestation of CV disease with potential benefit in mortality. Patients with diabetes derive substantial benefit from aspirin only in the presence of multiple risk factors. In the era of precision medicine, a more tailored strategy is required.

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-20). Health Ministry confirms 3,097 new COVID-19 infections. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 20 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 3,097 COVID-19 infections and 183 deaths due to the disease in the past 24 hours.

Staff (2020-09-20). I'm Living in Fear of COVID as New People Get Transferred Into the Prison I'm In. truthout.org Washington State's Department of Corrections (WDOC) is continuing to transfer prisoners between facilities during COVID-19 outbreaks, a practice that public health experts warn dramatically increases the risk of the virus spreading. It matters to me because as an incarcerated individual, the WDOC is responsible for my health and well-being, and it should matter to you, because prisoners can't protect themselves from the spread of the virus and the impact of infected prisoners goes far beyon…

yenisafak (2020-09-20). Indonesia reports 3,989 new coronavirus infections, 105 deaths. yenisafak.com Indonesia reported 3,989 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the total to 244,676, data from the country's health ministry showed.The data added 105 new deaths, taking the total to 9,553, the biggest death toll in Southeast Asia.

Christopher Brauchli (2020-09-20). The Haves and the Have-Nots. commondreams.org President Donald Trump looks on next to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a meeting at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland on March 3, 2020. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

_____ (2020-09-19). Venezuela: The 2016-2020 National Assembly — Part Of The Plan. popularresistance.org It's hard to decide which of all the actions of the Venezuelan opposition representatives was the most shameful. Was it Ramos Allup giving the legitimate elected President Nicolas Madura a 6-month deadline to leave office while removing the portraits of Simon Bolivar and of Comandante Chavez from the Federal Capitol? Or Julio Borges spreading letters throughout the world in which he called for an increase in the economic blockade against the Venezuelan people while he labeled us a plague in the region?

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-09-19). What is Covid-19, SARS-2. How is it Tested? How is It Measured? The Fear Campaign Has No Scientific Basis. globalresearch.ca The data and concepts have been manipulated with a view to sustaining the fear campaign. The estimates are meaningless. The figures have been hyped to justify the closure of the national economy. Covid-19 is a public health concern but it is NOT a dangerous virus.

Nima Elbagir (2020-09-19). Yemen on Brink of Famine After U.S. Cuts Aid While Fueling War. zcomm.org The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is deepening amid the pandemic and cuts to international aid from the United States and its allies, leaving millions of Yemenis facing famine after years of a brutal U.S.-backed, Saudi-led bombing campaign that has devastated the country…

MEE and agencies (2020-09-19). Iran's coronavirus death toll exceeds 24,000, says health ministry. middleeasteye.net Iran's coronavirus death toll exceeds 24,000, says health ministry | Health specialist says roughly half of all coronavirus patients being treated in Iran's intensive care units are dying | Sat, 09/19/2020 – 13: 11 | An Iranian woman stands next to a street bin urging people to follow anti-coronavirus health protocols in Tehran (AFP) | Iran's coronavirus death toll has topped 24,000, the h…

Stephanie Kenefic (2020-09-19). Six teacher deaths at start of fall semester heighten public health concerns. liberationnews.org Reopening schools is by and large not a response to the needs of young people in the United States.

John Gilmore (2020-09-19). The Heat: COVID-19 and Latin America. america.cgtn.com Latin America is now the region most affected by COVID-19. Meanwhile, in a stunning public rebuke, President Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected the professional scientific conclusions of his own government about the prospects for a widely available coronavirus vaccine and the effectiveness of masks in …

The Canary (2020-09-19). As infection rate climbs, PM confirms second wave but still says no to national lockdown. thecanary.co Boris Johnson says the second wave of the pandemic has now reached the UK. | By | Ministers are considering tough new coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions as Boris Johnson said the long-feared second wave of the pandemic has arrived in the UK.With new cases of the disease in England estimated to have doubled over the past week, the prime minister said they were keeping "everything under review"."Transmission at a faster rate" with deaths expected to rise: Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said its latest estimate "shows…

RT (2020-09-19). The world has thousands of Covid-19 strains, but 99% of all Russian cases come from just two, says health watchdog. rt.com Today, there are several thousand coronavirus mutations globally, but only 22 are stable, according to Russia's health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor. In Russia, 99% of all infected samples come from just two of the mutations. | The 22 were all first detected around January-March 2020, and since then, other mutations haven't managed to become widespread. | "The total number of mutations identified in the sequenced genomes of SARS-CoV-2 is many thousands," the Rospotrebnadzor statement reads. "However, only a few of them are fixed and consistently inherited." | According to the watchdog, 93% of the studied samples co…

RT (2020-09-19). Latvian doctor boasts to magazine he refused to assist hospital visitor who spoke Russian – says he was proud not to help. rt.com The Latvian debate over the Russian language is often political, but now it has entered healthcare. A Riga doctor has boasted about refusing to help a hospital visitor because he was a Russian speaker. | According to Sputnik Latvia, anesthesiologist Roberts Furmanis called himself "Latvian to the bone,"

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-09-19). 'We Can, and Must, Fight': Death of RBG Sparks Senate Showdown and Calls for Supreme Court Reform. commondreams.org "The fate of our rights, our freedoms, our healthcare, our bodies, our lives, and our country depend on what happens over the coming months." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

_____ (2020-09-19). New Report: Private Health Insurers Overpay Hospitals. popularresistance.org Prices paid to hospitals nationally during 2018 by privately insured patients averaged 247% of what Medicare would have paid, with wide variation in prices among states, according to a new RAND Corporation study. | Some states (Arkansas, Michigan, and Rhode Island) had relative prices under 200% of Medicare, while other states (Florida, Tennessee, Alaska, West Virginia, and South Carolina) had relative prices that were above 325% of Medicare. | The study notes a steady increase in hospital prices, rising to the 2018 average level from an average of 224% of Medicare costs in 2016 and 230% of Medicare costs in 2017…

Fight Back (2020-09-19). UIC workers march, call for Gov. Pritzker to support their demands. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Over 1000 University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) workers from SEIU Local 73 and the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) flooded the center of downtown Chicago, September 18, calling for Governor JB Pritzker to support their demands in the largest strike ever at the university. | The strike began last Saturday, September 12, when INA nurses walked out at UI Health, where UIC has refused to negotiate safe staffing limits. 4000 Local 73 workers bolstered the lines September 14, joining the strike, demanding safe working conditions, staffing and a living wage. Large rallies and lively picket lines have m…

WSWS (2020-09-19). Teacher in Vancouver, Washington speaks out on school reopenings amid wildfires. wsws.org Despite weeks of unhealthy wildfire-fueled air quality, the Evergreen School District is preparing to reopen elementary schools for partial in-person learning.

Labor Video Project (2020-09-19). IUOE39 Members Fight In Middle Of A Pandemic! SF Strike Rally For Striking Macy Workers. indybay.org Macy's is trying to weaken and force major concessions on IUOE Local 39 engineers. While giving their executives million dollar bonus they want to take away healthcare and force concessions on wages.

David Jones, Stefan Helmreich (2020-09-19). [Perspectives] A history of herd immunity. thelancet.com As many countries around the world recognised the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, 2020, some seemed to put their faith in herd immunity. UK pandemic adviser Graham Medley, for example, said that "We are going to have to generate what we call herd immunity", which would require "a nice big epidemic". When the idea received furious criticism, British officials denied that herd immunity had ever been part of their plan. A run at herd immunity in Sweden prompted mathematician Marcus Carlsson to object: "we are being herded like a flock of sheep toward disaster".

David Agren (2020-09-19). [World Report] Understanding Mexican health worker COVID-19 deaths. thelancet.com An Amnesty International report says that more health workers have died in Mexico than anywhere else. David Agren explores why.

Richard Horton (2020-09-19). [Comment] Offline: Remembering the scientists. thelancet.com One of the most frightening aspects of reading Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), his imaginative account of the 1665 Great Plague, is his depiction of the total terror that enveloped London. No one, physicians included, had the slightest clue about the cause of "the Distemper". The best that could be done was to paint a red cross on the doors of those afflicted, padlock them shut, and place watchmen outside to ensure nobody escaped. As bodies accumulated, giant pits were filled with infected corpses.

The Lancet (2020-09-19). [Editorial] COVID-19: a stress test for trust in science. thelancet.com Peer Review Week is the annual celebration of the importance of peer review, running Sept 21—25. The theme this year is trust in peer review, a particularly appropriate focus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trust in research and its role in political decision making and policy changes have never been more at the forefront of public discussion and scrutiny than during the current public health crisis. But what is everyone's role in strengthening this trust?

Sabine Kleinert, Richard Horton, Editors of the Lancet Group (2020-09-19). [Comment] Preprints with The Lancet are here to stay. thelancet.com We started our collaboration with the freely accessible preprint platform SSRN in June, 2018.1 From then on, we asked all authors of research papers across Lancet journals at submission stage whether they would like to post their paper as a preprint. We started this as a trial to learn more about uptake and the perceptions of the medical and health community, particularly as a latecomer to the preprint concept.

Lise Alves (2020-09-19). [World Report] Brazilian doctors condemn new rules on abortion. thelancet.com Experts say that the new rules for health workers will discourage access to health services and increase the risk of unsafe abortion. Lise Alves reports from Sà£o Paulo.

Hans P. Verkerke, Cheryl L. Maier (2020-09-19). [Commentary] Towards characterized convalescent plasma for COVID-19: The dose matters. thelancet.com Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of COVID-19, remains a global health crisis with limited treatment options. While randomized controlled trials have demonstrated some efficacy of the antiviral agent remdesivir and the corticosteroid dexamethasone in COVID-19 treatment, any beneficial role of convalescent plasma (CP) has been less clear [1,2]. Since the early 20th century convalescent blood products and their antibody derivatives have been used for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases.

sputniknews (2020-09-19). New Finding Raises Doubts About Christopher Columbus Sparking Infectious Outbreak in Europe. sputniknews.com Believed to be the first explorer to discover the New World, Columbus has long been blamed for catching syphilis there and bringing it to Europe, where an outbreak of this disease was registered between 1492 and 1507.

yenisafak (2020-09-19). Former Turkish PM tests negative for virus. yenisafak.com The former Turkish prime minister recovered from COVID-19 and now tested negative.Binali Yildirim said on Twitter his test results came negative about two weeks after contracting the novel coronavirus.Yildirim hailed those who asked about his health status during quarantine days and supported him, saying: "May Allah bless you all."Wishing remedy for all patients going through COVID-19 treatment, he praised healthcare staff working day and night, making many sacrifices from their personal lives.He concluded that people should stick to adopting measures such as wearing masks, social distancing, and personal hygiene…