(2022-01-22). Escalating COVID-19 cases and deaths as Omicron enters Fiji. wsws.org The current wave has coincided with the reckless decision by the government to open the country's borders to international travel on December 1.
(2022-01-22). As deaths from Omicron surge across Canada, opposition mounts to in-person learning. wsws.org The growth of anger and opposition is being driven by the ruling elite's utter indifference to a dramatic acceleration of hospitalizations and deaths. On Friday, Canada's Public Health Agency reported the fourth-highest daily death tally since the pandemic began.
(2022-01-22). Graduate students at University of Oregon walk out for safe working conditions. wsws.org Graduate workers at the University of Oregon staged a walkout to protest inadequate measures to protect them against the Omicron surge.
(2022-01-22). [Correspondence] Long COVID and self-management. thelancet.com People with COVID-19 often have symptoms in the long term (ie, long COVID), including fatigue, breathlessness, and neurocognitive difficulties.1 The disease mechanisms causing long COVID are unknown, and there are no evidence-based treatment options. Clinical guidelines focus on symptom management, and various treatment options are being evaluated.1 The scarcity of advice has often left people with long COVID feeling isolated and frustrated in their search for therapies.
(2022-01-22). [Comment] Gene therapy offers new hope for children with metachromatic leukodystrophy. thelancet.com Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a rare, progressive lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding arylsulfatase A (ARSA), causing disease in the central and peripheral nervous systems. MLD presents in toddlers (late infantile disease) or in children (juvenile disease) with gait disturbances, loss of developmental milestones, and cognitive decline, leading to death in childhood. It is frequently not diagnosed until the later symptomatic phase when it is too late to intervene.
(2022-01-22). [Comment] Peanut oral immunotherapy in very young children. thelancet.com Peanut oral immunotherapy is a disease-modifying treatment to raise the peanut quantity necessary to trigger an allergic reaction. Among children older than 4 years undergoing peanut oral immunotherapy, nearly 75—80% achieve desensitisation, although few gain lasting protection (eg, remission) after discontinuing oral immunotherapy.1 Efficacy is balanced by an increased risk of treatment-associated anaphylaxis versus peanut avoidance, a preference-sensitive consideration manageable in partnership with a supervising allergist.
(2022-01-22). [Correspondence] Recognising Italy's mistakes in the public health response to COVID-19. thelancet.com The Day of the Dead in Italy this year was not only a time for remembrance but also for demanding justice for lives lost to COVID-19. On Nov 2, 2021, members of the #Sereni (also known as Serene and Always United) Association demonstrated in Rome against institutional omerta (ie, law of silence) and for the restoration of a parliamentary commission to examine the management of the epidemic. This event followed 520 complaints that were filed by the association 4 months earlier against the national government, the Ministry of Health, and Lombardy region administrators.
(2022-01-22). [Correspondence] Intersectionality and developing evidence-based policy. thelancet.com It is reassuring to see that ministers in the UK are formally acknowledging how people from minority ethnic (ie, defined here as all ethnicities other than White British) backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. However, crucial gaps exist in the collection, analysis, and translation of data to assess the effects of multiple intersecting factors on individuals and communities. The Science and Technology Committee and Health and Social Care Committee report, Coronavirus: lessons learned to date,1 dedicates thirteen paragraphs to how ethnicity ties into disparities and makes five recommendatio…
(2022-01-22). [World Report] "I am disabled, it doesn't mean I have no dignity" thelancet.com In India, women with disabilities face significant barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health care. Priti Salian reports from Bangalore.
(2022-01-22). [Correspondence] The COVID-19 response in Hong Kong. thelancet.com Richard Horton1 and the Editors2 have repeatedly called for closer collaborations in global health. China has been taking decisive, albeit difficult, measures to prevent and manage outbreaks in diverse settings, from city epicentres to rural clusters. Although these policies might be draconian, they resulted in community solidarity and success; with one prerequisite to both solidarity and success being transparency embraced by both the government and the health profession.
(2022-01-22). Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia. wsws.org India: Telangana teachers oppose forced transfers; Pakistani police attack health workers in Balochistan; South Korean parcel delivery workers strike; Sunbus drivers hold three-day strike in Queensland…
(2022-01-22). Australia's COVID explosion shows workers must fight for global elimination of the virus. wsws.org The shift in the world situation finds sharp expression in countries that previously suppressed transmission with public health measures, but have since adopted the "live with the virus" program with disastrous results.
(2022-01-22). [Perspectives] Jamal Rifi: family doctor building bridges in the community. thelancet.com During Australia's COVID-19 lockdown in 2021, family doctor Jamal Rifi came up with an unusual plan to encourage the remainder of his urban community of Sydney, NSW, Australia, to come forward for COVID-19 vaccination. "I realised we needed to build on our community advocacy work by using an inflatable vaccination facility that could be transported easily into the heart of urban communities that had become COVID-19 hotspots, such as my own suburb of Belmore in southwest Sydney", Rifi explains. More recently, he has used the vaccination facility to help kick-start a COVID-19 booster programme, and from Jan 10, 202…
(2022-01-22). North Carolina COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations skyrocket amid reckless school reopenings. wsws.org At least twenty schools in the state have already been forced to close due to staff shortages this month as case numbers reach all-time highs.
(2022-01-22). [Perspectives] Shutdown and after. thelancet.com On March 9, 2020, neoliberalism hit the buffers. Put simply, the idea that small states and unbridled markets delivered the best societies was tested to destruction, dramatically so. As the COVID-19 pandemic surged, the stock market went into free fall. The bond market followed. The world's financial system was on a rollercoaster: US Treasury bonds were "lurching up and down in stomach-churning chasms", to quote Adam Tooze. While global attention focused on the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths and governments in the UK and the USA dithered over their response to this pandemic, the world's bankers and finance…
(2022-01-22). Two hundred autoworkers out due to COVID-19 at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant. wsws.org Kentucky, with a population of 4.5 million, recently reached the grim milestone of over one million total cases, and 12,687 have died. On Friday, 15,864 new cases and 28 deaths were recorded in the state.
(2022-01-22). A 28-year-old disabled man dies as COVID is "let rip" in Australia's state of Queensland. wsws.org Despite suffering high fevers and seizures, combined with evidence of a respiratory infection and a pending COVID PCR test, Lachlan Moore was sent away from hospital and died in his sleep several hours later.
(2022-01-22). [Comment] Offline: COVID-19 as culture war. thelancet.com When Dr Anthony Fauci challenged Senator Rand Paul last week during US congressional hearings, he exposed how politicians have exploited the COVID-19 pandemic for their own personal advantage. Fauci showed screenshots of Senator Paul's website, which included the message "Fire Dr Fauci". He pointed out that Paul was inviting people to send donations to firefauci.org. He explained how Paul's exaggerations were creating the conditions for violent attacks on himself and his family. In December, 2021, a man was arrested on his way to Washington, DC, with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle in his car.
(2022-01-22). Western Australian government keeps border shut, fearing mass opposition to COVID disaster. wsws.org The decision indicates the rising working-class opposition and deepening political crisis being produced by the "live with the virus" offensive by Australia's governments, both Labor and Liberal-National.
(2022-01-22). Harvard tells students with COVID-19 to "self-isolate" and conduct their own contact tracing. wsws.org In the spring semester, Harvard students who test positive for COVID-19 will not be required to move into university-provided isolation housing but are being advised to "self-isolate" in their dorms or off-campus housing instead.
(2022-01-21). Biden Missed His Best Chance To Vaccinate America. dailyposter.com 
(2022-01-21). Ethiopia receives additional 2.2 mln doses of Chinese-donated COVID-19 vaccines. ecns.cn The Chinese government on Thursday donated an additional 2.2 million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Ethiopia, giving a boost to the East African nation's vaccination efforts.
(2022-01-21). ACLU Lawyer: Biden Is "Hiding Behind CDC" to Keep Pushing Trump-Era Anti-Immigrant Title 42 Policy. democracynow.org 
As the Biden administration marks its first year in office this week, we look at the president's ongoing defense of Trump-era anti-immigration policies. Department of Justice lawyers were in court Wednesday to defend the Trump-era order known as Title 42, which has been used to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants at the border without screening them for asylum. The policy was touted as a way to control the spread of COVID-19, even though top CDC officials say it's not needed to contain the virus. We speak with the ACLU's Lee Gelernt, who is the lead lawyer challenging the Biden administration's use of Title 4…
(2022-01-21). New Zealand PM declares "We won't stop Omicron" wsws.org Jacinda Ardern stated that New Zealand will not go into lockdown in the event of an Omicron outbreak, making clear that her Labour-Greens government has adopted the murderous policy of letting the virus rip.
(2022-01-21). Ratifican eficacia de Sputnik V ante cepa àìmicron de Covid-19. telesurtv.net En individuos con elevados niveles de anticuerpos generados por ambas vacunas, el 100 por ciento de los inmunizados con Sputnik V neutralizó Ómicron, por el 83.3 de Pfizer.
(2022-01-21). Turkish doctors strike as government policies spread Omicron variant. wsws.org Determination to struggle is growing among health and other workers as the Omicron variant spreads uncontrollably in Turkey and internationally.
(2022-01-21). New Mexico governor calls in National Guard to substitute teach as educators and child care workers fall ill from COVID. wsws.org With outbreaks of the Omicron variant resulting in staff shortages at schools, the Democratic governor is mobilizing military forces to act as replacements to keep schools running and parents working to produce profits during the pandemic.
(2022-01-21). Amidst Omicron surge, Pakistan's government declares war on poor, moves to close hospitals. wsws.org Karachi, Pakistan's biggest urban agglomeration and the epicenter of the Omicron outbreak, recorded a shocking test positivity rate of 40 percent last weekend and again on Wednesday.
(2022-01-21). Outbreak effectively controlled in Tianjin. ecns.cn The outbreak of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 has been effectively controlled in Tianjin, a senior official said on Friday. But relevant departments will not let their guard down, and residents, too, should not be careless, Gu Qing, deputy secretary general of Tianjin municipality, said at news conference.
(2022-01-21). As Omicron rages through US workplaces, 8.8 million workers were off sick in early January. wsws.org The number out on sick leave represents 6 percent of the total workforce and does not include another 3.2 million workers staying home due to fear of contracting or spreading COVID-19.
(2022-01-21). Vaccine Profits Minted 9 New Billionaires While Vaccine Apartheid Drove Omicron. truthout.org 
As many of the world's wealthiest people wrap up virtual talks today at the World Economic Forum based in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam reports the incomes of 99% of the world's population dropped during the pandemic while the world's 10 richest men saw their wealth double. Meanwhile, vaccine profits have minted at least nine new billionaires at Moderna, BioNTech and China's CanSino, amassing a combined new wealth of over $19 billion. To discuss the rise of billionaires and the policies that got…
(2022-01-21). COVID Shows It's Time to End the Pharmaceutical Industry. truthout.org 
Eighty-four million Americans As with COVID testing, thousands of newly hired community health workers are needed to hit the streets and back roads to convince people that vaccines are safe and necessary. Daily conversat…
(2022-01-21). China's Jiangsu sees robust air cargo growth since epidemic. ecns.cn East China's Jiangsu province saw its cargo flight sector over the last two years surge by 489.2 percent compared with the level before the COVID-19 epidemic, said the provincial border inspection department.
(2022-01-21). China Fires Up Growth Engines Under Economic 'Triple Pressure'. telesurenglish.net China's year-on-year economic growth in 2021 was the best in around a decade, although a complicated external environment and the evolving COVID-19 epidemic continued to weigh on the world's second-largest economy. | RELATED: | Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.1 percent year on year last year, outstripping the government's target. However, there are still challenges on the horizon, with sporadic COVID-19 cases c…
(2022-01-21). Seven Hawaii Public Schools Still Can't Use Tap Water. popularresistance.org Nearly two months after tests revealed tainted water coming from the faucets at more than a half dozen public schools, health officials say it's still not safe to use the tap. The schools are all on the Navy's water lines, which are contaminated with fuel from the Red Hill underground storage facility. There is no timeline for when the taps will be turned back on. To get by, school staff have been hauling bottles of water into classrooms and setting up sanitation stations so students can wash their hands. All the disruption has even the youngest keiki asking questions. "They asked me why did they put the tanks by…
(2022-01-21). Maduro and Putin Ratify Multidimensional Alliance During Phone Call. orinocotribune.com 
The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, held a telephone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in which they ratified the multidimensional alliance between both nations. | Both leaders provided updates on the advances in cooperation on a wide range of issues, and highlighted that there has been an increase of 12% in commercial exchange. | They also highlighted advances in economic, health, and military issues, in addition to increased air connectivity between Caracas and Moscow. | President Maduro took advantage of the telephone conversation to thank Russia for its support in the fight against th…
(2022-01-21). Unions demand OSHA restore anti-COVID standard protecting health workers. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON (PAI)—Led by National Nurses United, unions are demanding the Biden administration's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) restore its national standard ordering hospitals and nursing homes to protect workers against the coronavirus. NNU's offensive took two forms. One was a Zoom virtual press conference, a National Day of Action, and a candlelight vigil in …
(2022-01-21). Selected Articles: The 5G Roll Out: EMF Radiation, Devastating Health Impacts, Social and Economic Implications. Crimes Against Humanity? globalresearch.ca 
By The roll out of the new C-Band 5G service by AT&T and Verizon …
(2022-01-21). Human eyes hold key to predicting imminent death — study. rt.com 
Researchers have linked increased mortality risks to the condition of a person's retina | A new, "reliable indicator" of a person's health problems, ones that may cause early death, has been found by a team of international scientists. Using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, researchers studied the eyes of nearly 47,000 people and concluded that the state of our retina may signal a heightened risk of death. | The study,
(2022-01-21). COVID-19 and Privatization in Germany. zcomm.org Public health is no longer measured on public health needs. Now they are based on abstract formulas about hospital bed and ICU occupancy…
(2022-01-21). Nurses in Barbados want to fight brain drain and understaffing. peoplesdispatch.org Nurses in Barbados from the Unity Workers' Union (UWU) have been on strike since mid-December to demand better staffing and working conditions. Approximately 300 nurses and nursing assistants from UWU began the strike to raise questions that they believe have root in the deficit of trained nursing personnel. | The strike has caused disruptions in the work of Barbados' two major hospitals, the Queen Elizabeth in Bridgetown and Bayview in Bayville, leading to a temporary return of retired nurses to work. As the beginning of the industrial action coincided with what became a steady rise in COVID-19 cases and issues…
(2022-01-21). Corporate takeover of multilateralism deals more blows to right to health. peoplesdispatch.org 
It is no news that transnational corporations have effectively infiltrated institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Still, according to a
(2022-01-21). Lung cancer: It is about more than smoking. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org World Cancer Day is February 4 ROCHESTER, Minn.— World Cancer Day is February 4 and that makes this the ideal time to talk about lung cancer and smoking. Internationally, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths and the World Health Organization estimates that 90% of cases could be prevented by eliminating tobacco use. People who smoke are at the greatest risk. Smokeless tobacco is also associated with lung cancer. And lung cancer…
(2022-01-21). Health crises in fragile states need urgent attention. peoplesdispatch.org Health crises spiked by conflict continue to rage across the world.
(2022-01-21). Lessons to be Learned from Nicaragua's Recognition of Beijing. orinocotribune.com By Andrew Korybko — Jan 17, 2022 | Recognizing Taipei isn't an insurance policy against US meddling; it's a guarantee that US meddling will become institutionalized to the detriment of that country's people. Those governments who begin practicing comparatively more independent policies risk being punished despite still recognizing Taipei exactly as Nicaragua's recently was. | China reopened its embassy in Nicaragua on New Year's Day after it was closed for over thirty years since 1990 following that country's mistaken recognition at the time of the Taiwan Province's rogue authorities. This move follows Manag…
(2022-01-21). QR Codes Are Dead in Russia. strategic-culture.org 
One thing the individual can do is resist, and when the majority of the population decides to grind the wheels the engine comes to a halt | The sum of all fears for the average Russian has just been averted. The large packet of totalitarian answers to a problem of questionable magnitude has been booted from the State Duma. There has been an air of dread amongst the populace who were waiting to see if nationwide QR-code legislation would make it into law destroying their lives and businesses to separate those vaccinated from plague ridden riff raff. There was an expectation that some sort of Hegelian Dialectic gam…
(2022-01-21). US blockade frustrates Cuba's vaccine internationalism. greenleft.org.au ING Group, the Dutch multinational banking institution, has bowed to pressure from the United States and is blocking donations to support Cuba's vaccine solidarity, reports Ian Ellis-Jones.
(2022-01-21). Are COVID-19 cases plateauing in major Indian cities? peoplesdispatch.org Immunologist Dr. Satyajit Rath and NewsClick's Prabir Purkayastha review the situation of COVID-19 infections in India and other parts of the world. He also discusses the latest vaccine 'Corbevax', its effectiveness and what its patent-free character means.
(2022-01-21). Cantante checa Hana Horká muere de COVID-19 tras contagiarse a propósito. cubadebate.cu Hana Horka, cantante del grupo de folk checo Asonance —que se opone a las vacunas contra el covid—, murió este domingo (16.01.2022), con 57 años, después de haber contraído deliberadamente el virus para obtener su pase sanitario, anunció la familia.
(2022-01-21). Gobierno francés prevé levantar algunas restricciones por Covid-19. telesurtv.net Una de las medidas que prevé eliminar el Gobierno francés es el uso obligatorio de la mascarilla.