Daily Archives: November 11, 2020

2020-11-11: News Headlines

Media Lens (2020-11-11). Robert Fisk: Death of a "Controversial" Journalist. dissidentvoice.org Robert Fisk, the Independent's Middle East correspondent, died on 30 October aged 74. In reviewing his life and career, the newspaper for which he worked for more than two decades wrote of their star reporter: 'Much of what Fisk wrote was controversial…' As John Pilger noted, in describing Fisk's journalism as 'controversial' the Independent was …

MEE staff (2020-11-11). UK urged to boycott G20 over Saudi Arabia's plans to displace Bedouin tribe. middleeasteye.net UK urged to boycott G20 over Saudi Arabia's plans to displace Bedouin tribe | Saudi Howeitat tribe accuses Riyadh of planning to expel them from their ancestors' land to build the megacity Neom on the Red Sea | Wed, 11/11/2020 – 12: 13 | Britain's Secretary of State and Foreign Affairs, Dominic Raab (Reuters) | A Saudi tribe has called on Britain's foreign secretary to boycott the G20 Summit set to be hosted b…

Betsey Piette (2020-11-11). Wallace family calls for firing of police. workers.org The Oct. 26 police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia was caught on a video that went viral, bringing thousands into the streets to demand justice for the 27-year-old Black man, who had been experiencing a mental health crisis. Despite a series of 911 callers saying Wallace needed an . . . |

Staff (2020-11-11). Supreme Court Challenge to ACA Highlights Why We Need Medicare for All. truthout.org Once again, the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health law passed under the Obama administration in 2010, will be in the hands of the Supreme Court. The court heard oral arguments in the case, California v. Texas, on Tuesday. A decision is expected in the spring. This is the third time the law has been tested in the Supreme Court, but this time experts are not certain the outcome will be as favorable as it was in 2012 and 2015 due to the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her replac…

Health Care Voter (2020-11-11). Tuesday 11/10: #SaveTheACA Rally at Supreme Court w/ Health Care Voter (livestream). indybay.org Livestream recording of protest rally…

Staff (2020-11-11). Days After Hopeful Pfizer Vaccine News, 82% of Doses Bought by Richest Nations. truthout.org Campaigners in the United Kingdom on Wednesday Pfizer says…

_____ (2020-11-11). More Than 14 Million May Have Lost Health Coverage. popularresistance.org In the latest analysis, researchers first tried to assess how many workers and dependents relied on job-based coverage as of March 2019. Then, using data from the Labor Department, they estimated how many workers lost jobs and how many of those had employer-based coverage. Researchers examined this information by industry, age and gender. | Some industries were affected more than others and a few were almost spared entirely. "As a result, we would expect the number of people losing jobs with [employer-sponsored insurance] to vary greatly by industry, and possibly by other characteristics, such as age and gender,"

Dr. Joseph Mercola (2020-11-11). How COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Are Designed. globalresearch.ca There's been a lot of talk lately about whether or not the fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccine will in fact be safe and effective. While vaccine makers insist that any vaccine reaching the market will have undergone rigorous testing, the way …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-11). Workers mobilize across Greece demanding protection of public health and safer workplaces. peoplesdispatch.org The Federation of Greek Hospital Doctors' Associations has presented a series of demands in light of the spike in COVID-19 cases. These include urgent mass recruitment and appointment to permanent positions for all doctors…

Elie Mystal (2020-11-11). The Affordable Care Act May Live to Die Another Day. thenation.com The Affordable Care Act May Live to Die Another Day…

news.un (2020-11-11). UN envoy urges Yemen's warring parties to place 'a firm bet on peace', as famine threat continues. news.un.org The plight of Yemenis demands "nothing less than a firm bet on peace", the UN Special Envoy told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Labor Video Project (2020-11-11). UCSF Hospital Bosses Cutting Staffing In Middle Of Covid Pandemic! indybay.org CNA UCSF nurses and workers from AFSCME 3299 and CWA UPTE spoke up against the cutbacks of nurses and other staff threatening the health and safety of the workers and patients. The UCSF management, UC Regents and Governor Newsom according to the workers are continuing to put profit before patients and workers.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-11-10). Viral Optimism: The Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine. globalresearch.ca The announcement that Pfizer Inc., along with its collaborative partner BioNTech SE, had come up with a successful vaccine candidate to combat the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

news.un (2020-11-10). UN agency for Palestine refugees runs out of money as COVID-19 spreads. news.un.org The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) has run out of cash on hand to keep vital services going amid the worsening health emergency, UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai told a regular UN press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

RT (2020-11-10). Displaced Syrians settle in ancient Roman ruin instead of 'overcrowded' refugee camps amid Covid-19 pandemic (PHOTOS). rt.com In a bid to avoid overcrowded refugee camps a family of refugees in Syria has set up home in the ruins of a Roman temple of the ancient settlement of Baquirha in the north of the war-torn country. | Abdelaziz al-Hassan, his wife and three children fled their home in Idlib last winter after a series of attacks on the city. | They now live in a tent village, pitched at the second-century temple of the ancient local god Baal, also called 'Zeus' in Greek mythology. "I chose this place because it provides peace of mind, far from overcrowded places and those riddled with disease," al-Hassan told the AFP news agency,…

The Canary (2020-11-10). Matt Hancock suggests vaccine will be rolled out from December, but not for everyone. thecanary.co The military and NHS staff are on standby to roll out a coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine across the UK from the start of December, according to the health secretary.Matt Hancock said there were many hurdles to overcome before the "vast task" of vaccination could begin. These include regulatory approval of the new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and assessment of its safety data.No escaping second wave: On Monday 9 November, England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam told the Downing Street press conference he was "hopeful" there would be "some vaccine by Christmas". But he also urged caution.H…

RT (2020-11-10). Netherlands to cull 48,000 chickens after ANOTHER bird flu outbreak. rt.com The Dutch government has ordered the culling of a further 48,000 chickens after an outbreak of highly infectious bird flu was detected — the second such incident in less than a week. | Health officials said on Tuesday that an outbreak of the H5N8 strain of bird flu had been discovered at a chicken farm in the village of Lutjegast, in the northern province of Groningen. | A local transport ban on products including poultry and eggs has been placed on farms within a 10km radius of the affected site by the Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Dutch PM Carola Schouten. | It comes after the Netherlands, Europe'

Mark Gruenberg (2020-11-10). Biden backs Obamacare as SCOTUS ponders its future. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—For Julia Skapik, an M.D. who works at a community health clinic in Northern Virginia and sees many people struggling to pay their medical bills, keeping the Affordable Care Act as law of the land is nothing more than "common sense." "Why would you want to make it [health care coverage] more expensive and unpredictable?" …

Ragip Soylu (2020-11-10). Covid-19: Turkey to be prioritised in receiving vaccine, official says. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Turkey to be prioritised in receiving vaccine, official says | BioNTech founder says vaccine could be given to Turkish citizens in the first three months of 2021 | Tue, 11/10/2020 – 15: 12 | Vials carrying a potential vaccine against coronavirus (Reuters) | Turkey will be among the first countries to receive the experimental vaccine that is proven to be 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-…

Staff (2020-11-10). Dehumanizing the disabled won't end with a Dem in office. therealnews.com People with disabilities have loudly pointed out the ways our society and our healthcare system are made inaccessible to them. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the cruelty of these systemic exclusions and injustices, and we can no longer ignore the fact that denying disabled rights means denying human rights.

Staff (2020-11-10). As U.S. Faces Out-of-Control Pandemic, Pfizer Raises Hope for Vaccine, But Many Questions Remain. democracynow.org Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has announced that a Phase 3, late-stage study found their potential COVID-19 vaccine showed more than 90% effectiveness. The two-dose vaccine still faces several challenges, including how to store and transport it, since it must be refrigerated at subzero temperatures. Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Laurie Garrett says the news is hopeful, but urges caution. "There's been no scientific release. There's no published data," she says. "We don't have anything to go with except what the lawyers at Pfizer massaged carefully into a single-page press release. So, we have to take th…

John Winstead (2020-11-10). Why pharma giant Pfizer should not control the COVID vaccine. liberationnews.org Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, along with its German partner BioNTech, is hoping to cash in on the promising new vaccine for COVID-19 unveiled this week. Studies have shown that when taken twice three weeks apart, the vaccine was up to 90 percent effective at preventing symptomatic occurances of the disease compared to those who took only …

Staff (2020-11-10). "We Are Committing Mass Suicide": Laurie Garrett on Danger of Overturning ACA During Pandemic. democracynow.org Today, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and millions of Americans could lose their healthcare in the middle of a pandemic. "In a way, we're committing mass suicide," says science journalist Laurie Garrett, who says scrapping the landmark Obama-era healthcare law would leave people "to potentially carry disease forward into the community, into their workplaces, and so on, without any treatment, any help, any assistance. That's just insane."

RT (2020-11-10). WHO panel urges governments to share experience on 'effective fight' against Covid-19. rt.com A World Health Organization (WHO) panel has called on governments to pool their experiences in tackling the novel coronavirus, and so pass on the best methods they have discovered or developed in fighting the pandemic. | Former New Zealand PM Helen Clark, co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, said member states had been invited to make contributions to the group's work. | A "one size fits all" approach to the pandemic will not be appropriate, she added, but countries will still find it useful to "share experiences, and to consider policy alternatives and solutions developed…

RT (2020-11-10). Paris prosecutor's office advances criminal investigation into alleged mismanagement of Covid-19 in France. rt.com Four judicial inquiries have begun into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in France, with criminal charges under consideration including "voluntary abstention from fighting a disaster" and "endangering the life of others." | On Tuesday, five months after opening a wide preliminary inquiry into the potential mismanagement of the Covid pandemic in France, the Paris prosecutor's office decided to escalate the investigation. | The public prosecutor, Remy Heitz, claimed that the inquiry would focus on the impact of public decision-making on healthcare workers, public servants and those who were infected with, o…

David Gamble (2020-11-10). White Supremacy Sanctions Internal and External Colonialism. dissidentvoice.org Introduction Regularly, the media has reported the dire effects of European dominance on the communities of a disenfranchised minority: the public execution of African-Americans by police, the epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in Canada, the shadow of residential schools in North America, the legacy of red-lining, the impact of the …

Staff (2020-11-10). Headlines for November 10, 2020. democracynow.org William Barr Says Prosecutors Can Probe Voter Fraud Claims, as GOP Backs Trump Refusal to Concede, GA Republican Senators Call for Sec. of State to Step Down After They Fail to Win Their Races, Joe Biden Pleads for Use of Face Masks as U.S. Cases Top 10 Million, Saeb Erekat, Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dies After Contracting COVID-19, Trump Fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper, SCOTUS Hearing Arguments in GOP Attack on Obamacare, Which Could Strip Healthcare for Millions, Evo Morales Returns to Bolivia, One Year After Coup That Ousted Him, Peru Removes President Vizcarra in Impeachment Trial, Protests Erupt in Ar…

Staff (2020-11-10). Supreme Court Justices Hint That Obamacare Repeal Is Highly Unlikely. truthout.org Supreme Court justices listening to oral arguments on Tuesday regarding the legality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sometimes referred to as Obamacare, signaled reluctance toward finding the law unconstitutional. | At issue is whether a portion of the law called the individual mandate

news.un (2020-11-10). Can 'Open Science' speed up the search for a COVID-19 vaccine? 5 things you need to know. news.un.org The UN is calling for authoritative scientific information and research to be made freely available, to accelerate research into an effective vaccine against the COVID-19 virus, help counter misinformation, and "unlock the full potential of science".

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-10). FAO, WHO recommend five steps to ensure food safety. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 10 (MNA) — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization have provided five steps to ensure food safety.

Jasmine Norden (2020-11-10). The second lockdown will highlight the need for mental health service reform more than anything before it. thecanary.co The UK is now in its second national lockdown in an attempt to curb the still rising coronavirus (Covid-19) case numbers. While sorely needed, this lockdown could worsen the negative psychological effects of the first. | This is particularly evident in terms of mental health. Countless academics and charities have already warned about the mental health crisis facing the UK. The Centre for Mental Health The…

Barnett ML, Joynt Maddox KE, Orav E, et al. (2020-11-10). Skilled Nursing Facilities and a Bundled Payment Model for Joint Replacement Surgery. jamanetwork.com This study compares mean levels of institutional spending for Medicare beneficiaries after lower extremity joint replacement at skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) participating vs not participating in Medicare's bundled payment program, before vs after implementation of the program.

_____ (2020-11-10). Experts Temper Expectations For Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine. popularresistance.org Public health experts were among those who urged cautious optimism on Monday as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced that the first formal review of its coronavirus vaccine showed the vaccine is more than 90% effective at preventing the virus in trial volunteers who had never before had Covid-19. | Pfizer shared the news in a press release—not in a peer-reviewed medical journal, noted consumer advocacy group Public Citizen—amid its ongoing 44,000-person trial, which it is conducting with German drug manufacturer BioNTech.

Antonucci E, Giovini M, Dell'Anna A. (2020-11-10). Noninvasive Oxygenation Strategies for Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure. jamanetwork.com To the Editor The systematic review and network meta-analysis by Dr Ferreyro and colleagues found that noninvasive oxygenation strategies (ie, helmet or face mask noninvasive ventilation; high-flow nasal oxygenation) were associated with a lower risk of mortality and endotracheal intubation compared with standard low-flow oxygen therapy in adult patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. This study could support wider use of noninvasive ventilation during the current coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, especially if the availability of ventilators is limited. However, some issues should be discussed furthe…

teleSUR (2020-11-10). Sinovac Rejects Halt of its COVID-19 Vaccine's Trials in Brazil. telesurenglish.net Chinese vaccine developer Sinovac Biotech reaffirmed that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate CoronaVac is safe, following the announcement by Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) over the suspension of clinical trials in the country on Tuesday. | RELATED: | "After communicating with our Brazilian partner, the Butantan Institute, we learned that their board believes that this serious adverse event is not r…

Verghese P, Matossian D. (2020-11-10). The US Preventive Task Force Recommendation on Screening for Blood Pressure in Children. jamanetwork.com In this issue of JAMA the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updates its 2013 report on screening of blood pressure in children and adolescents with a new recommendation statement and updated evidence report and systematic review. After reviewing publications since the earlier report, the USPSTF again concludes that, while there is evidence of tracking of blood pressure between childhood and adulthood and some evidence of a relation to subclinical cardiovascular disease, overall there was insufficient evidence to make a recommndation for or against screening for high blood pressure in children and adolesc…

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-10). Iran's COVID-19 cases surpass 700,000. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 10 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 10,339 COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, bringing the total cases in the country to 703,288.

Kuehn BM. (2020-11-10). COVID-19 Poses Pregnancy Risks. jamanetwork.com Preventing and identifying coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pregnant women is essential, as new data suggest some are at risk of severe illness or pregnancy loss.

sputniknews (2020-11-10). US Election Results Could Impact Voters' Mental Health, Study Finds. sputniknews.com A team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, (UCSF) have warned health care providers that they may see a deterioration of mental health among some of their patients following the US 2020 presidential election, based on an analysis of voter mental health after the previous election.

Kuehn BM. (2020-11-10). COVID-19 Deaths Among US Clinicians. jamanetwork.com More than 100‚ÄØ000 US health care personnel have contracted coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since February and at least 641 have died, according to a report by health officials from the CDC and several states.

WSWS (2020-11-10). Coronavirus pandemic spreads in France despite partial lockdown policies. wsws.org In a press conference Monday, health director Jérà¥me Salomon warned that the "peak" remained "ahead of us," and "the second wave is continuing."

Staff (2020-11-10). Consumer Advocates Warn Pfizer Data Is Incomplete — Vaccine Is Still Months Away. truthout.org As the United States shatters global records for COVID-19 infections, news on Monday of early trial data suggesting that a potential vaccine for the virus is 90 percent effective provided a brief sense of relief. | However,

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-11-10). UN Agencies Warn of Global Hunger and Displacement 'Surge' From Coronavirus Pandemic. commondreams.org "The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on health and human mobility threatens to roll back global commitments," said one official, "and hinder ongoing efforts to support those in need of assistance." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Becker C. (2020-11-10). Relationships Between Academic Medicine Leaders and Industry. jamanetwork.com In this narrative medicine essay, a Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) clinician uses the resignation of BWH's president from Moderna's board of directors after a stock sale reportedly paying her millions to question why leaders of academic medical centers are allowed to develop lucrative relationships with industry that prioritize mutual profits over patient well-being and public health.

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-10). Iranian Health Minister visits Kermanshah province. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 10 (MNA) — Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki visited Kermanshah province to inaugurate 66 health projects on Tuesday.

WSWS (2020-11-10). Possible COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough makes measures to stop virus spread now more urgent. wsws.org The announcement of progress on a COVID-19 vaccine makes all the more necessary urgent measures to stop the spread of the virus until the vaccine is widely available.

Claudio Rivera, Stephanie Knezz Shawn Smith (2020-11-10). Students Push to Remove Police. University President Doubles Down Instead. zcomm.org We know policing has negative health implications on young people, especially for Black people who are disproportionately affected…

Gostin LO. (2020-11-10). The Great Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020—7 Critical Lessons. jamanetwork.com The world is experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, causing untold human suffering and death, unraveling of social relationships, and robbing individuals of livelihoods and countries of prosperity. The coronavirus pandemic has strained health systems, revealed unconscionable inequalities, and upended international institutions. Here are 7 critical lessons.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-11-09). Fur Trades and Pandemics: Coronavirus and Denmark's Great Mink Massacre. counterpunch.org "The worst case scenario is a new pandemic, starting all over again out of Denmark," came the words of a grave Kà•re Mà∏lbak, director of the Danish health authorities, the State Serum Institute. According to the Institute, COVID-19 infections were registered on 216 mink farms on November 6. Not only had such infections been registered;

The Canary (2020-11-09). How do the regions of England compare for Covid-19 case rates? thecanary.co The number of new cases of Covid-19 continues to rise in most local areas of England.The overall trend masks some notable differences between the regions, however.Here is an overview of the latest case rates in each region of England, including the areas with the highest and lowest numbers.In all instances, the figures are for the week ending November 4 and have been calculated by PA using data published by Public Health England.— North-west EnglandThe highest rates of new cases of Covid-19 continue to be in north-west England.Oldham is top of the list, with 779.4 cases per 100,000 people, up from the previo…