(2022-01-15). Australian governments claim Omicron peaking as hospitalisations and deaths mount. wsws.org Claims COVID-19 case numbers will soon decrease are part of the profit-driven campaign to force potentially infectious workers back on the job.
(2022-01-15). US hospitals rapidly reaching capacity as Omicron continues nation-wide surge. wsws.org The United States faces a massive health crisis as the Omicron variant sickens hundreds of thousands of Americans every day. However, no measures are being employed by the Biden administration to stanch to the ongoing collapse of the health care system.
(2022-01-15). Australian SEP electoral members discuss Omicron surge and Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic. wsws.org "The Workers Inquest is critical. It's become clear that the governments and health organisations don't want to provide the evidence about how it spreads, and what we need to do to keep safe."
(2022-01-15). [World Report] Disrupted care in Papua New Guinea: the harms of COVID-19. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea shows no sign of ending, and its worst legacy might be its effect on other diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. Chris McCall reports.
(2022-01-15). Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia. wsws.org Delhi University staff strike over unpaid wages; Sri Lankan health workers strike in North Central Province; Australia: Patrick Terminals to terminate enterprise agreement…
(2022-01-15). Mass opposition to Monday's return to in-class learning in Ontario and Quebec. wsws.org Mass walkouts must be organized to close all schools to in-person learning as part of a Zero COVID strategy that includes the shutdown of all nonessential production with full wages paid to all workers, and a comprehensive program of public health measures to stamp out transmission of the virus once and for all.
(2022-01-15). [Comment] Offline: The incontestable moral value of health. thelancet.com In March, 2020, chief science advisers from 12 countries, including the US, the UK, and Germany, issued a call to scholarly publishers "to voluntarily agree to make their COVID-19 and coronavirus-related publications, and the available data supporting them, immediately accessible in PubMed Central and other appropriate public repositories." That same month, over 30 publishers, including The Lancet, signed up to this request. The call reflected the urgency of the pandemic and "the associated global health crisis." We have made all of our coronavirus-related content freely available through a COVID-19 Resource Cent…
(2022-01-15). Growing support for Southern California trash collection workers as local government seeks to break month-long strike. wsws.org As a public health emergency is declared in light of infestations and contamination, Republic Services is enlisting city employees and volunteers as scab labor.
(2022-01-15). US government moves to end daily COVID-19 death reporting by hospitals. wsws.org The US federal government will no longer require hospitals to report the number of people who die from COVID-19 every day, according to new guidelines from the US Department of Health and Human services.
(2022-01-15). Crisis-ridden Australian government cancels Novak Djokovic's visa amid mass backlash. wsws.org Djokovic can be accused of an arrogant disregard for public health during the pandemic, but it is nothing compared to the Australian government.
(2022-01-15). [Perspectives] Physicians in the digital age. thelancet.com Artificial intelligence (AI) is here. We are now in decade of Philip K Dick's dystopian novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and AI is already capable of driving our cars. But self-driving cars have harmed pedestrians and AI has been credited with delivering misinformation in curated social media feeds that threaten democracy. AI has also entered medicine, with uses in medical imaging and many other areas. However, there is increasing attention on how some algorithms in health care are racially biased.
(2022-01-15). Mexico's COVID cases soar as AMLO minimizes danger. wsws.org A record number of new COVID-19 cases were reported this week by Mexican health authorities.
(2022-01-15). The US Enables Criminal Israeli Behavior. dissidentvoice.org Given all the attention focused on the covid-19 pandemic, the Build Back Better bill, the January 6th attack on the Capitol and the media-hyped crises over Ukraine and Taiwan this past year, many other important issues have not received much attention. One example is the Palestinian/Israeli situation. Views of Israel There have been some major …
(2022-01-15). COVID-19 cases surge 340 percent among ICE detainees in one week. wsws.org According to the most recent federal data, an estimated 1,254 people currently held in US immigrant detention centers have tested positive for COVID-19.
(2022-01-15). Appalachian State faculty member issues open letter against administration's reckless COVID-19 policies. wsws.org Opposition is mounting after a faculty member at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina issued an open letter condemning the university administration's COVID-19 guidelines.
(2022-01-15). Fentanilo: Epidemia silenciosa en Estados Unidos. globalizacion.ca Mientras Estados Unidos enfrenta los retos que supone la COVID-19, otra epidemia letal hace metástasis en la sociedad. Las sobredosis de fentanilo se convirtieron en la principal causa de muerte en adultos de entre 18 y 45 años. | Desde el…
(2022-01-15). Inflation hits a 40-year high as record corporate profits roll on. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – On Wednesday, January 12 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that prices of consumer goods rose 7% in 2021. This is the highest rate of inflation in 40 years. With workers' wages only up by 4.7% last year, the purchasing power of workers' earnings fell by more than 2%. | One important cause of higher prices was the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While spending on services, which involve more human contact and a greater possibility of infection lagged, spending on goods surged. This was the case for used cars, where prices went up 37.3% last year, as travel on mass transit decli…
(2022-01-15). Attend Committee for Public Education meeting to fight the deadly reopening of Australia's schools amid COVID surge. wsws.org Rank-and-file safety committees need to be formed in every school, independent of the unions, to organise the widest discussion on the necessary steps going forward to take up the fight for remote learning, as part of a global fight for the elimination of the virus.
(2022-01-15). Hundreds of Boston students walk out to protest lack of remote learning option amid COVID-19 surge. wsws.org Hundreds of Boston public school students walked out of classes Friday morning to protest the state of Massachusetts' policy that all classes must be held in person. The lack of a remote option for students comes as the state sees a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
(2022-01-15). [Correspondence] The UK People's Covid Inquiry. thelancet.com The People's Covid Inquiry anticipated that any official public investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic would be much delayed. It was a citizens' tribunal —ie, part legal proceedings, part theatre, part publicly speaking truth to power—aimed at raising issues to more visible levels than government or the media were prepared to do on their own. The renowned human rights barrister, Michael Mansfield, acted as chair. A final report in December, 2021, set out conclusions and recommendations on the basis of the evidence collected.
(2022-01-15). Baton Rouge, Louisiana teachers stage sickout as COVID-19 ravages the South. wsws.org At least 760 teachers and school staff in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, called out sick Wednesday to protest the alarming spread of COVID-19 and the district's refusal to offer virtual learning.
(2022-01-15). Seattle students and teachers stage walkouts over lack of COVID-19 safety protocols in schools. wsws.org As infections rise throughout Seattle and Washington state, students and teachers have initiated sickouts at two high schools in defiance of the local, state and federal governments' policy of mass infection and death.
(2022-01-15). [Clinical Picture] Ground glass opacities are not always COVID-19: a case of acute eosinophilic pneumonitis caused by daptomycin. thelancet.com An 83-year-old man was admitted to our hospital reporting a 3-week history of cough and exertional dyspnoea. At the time of admission, the patient was 4 weeks into a 6-week course of daptomycin and rifampicin because he had an infected prosthetic knee joint; he also had a history of pituitary hypoplasia and had not been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
(2022-01-14). Strikes And Student Walkouts Spread Across US As Omicron Surges. popularresistance.org Across the US, Omicron infections continue to explode, as "more children are being admitted to hospitals than ever before," according to *CNN.* Vaccination rates among children remain low and community spread, accelerated by the holiday season and the return to in-person instruction, is rippling across the social terrain; hitting teachers, parents, and family members. In just the Los Angeles school district, "Approximately 65,000 students and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, according to mandatory testing conducted by the district during the winter break." The drastic spike in COVID cases has also…
(2022-01-14). How Canada's homicidal let it rip policy paved the way for the catastrophic Omicron wave. wsws.org With hospitalizations and deaths rising sharply across Canada, government and corporate media claims that Omicron is "mild" are proving to be a cruel lie.
(2022-01-14). Students in Portland, Oregon issue call to action to close schools. wsws.org Students have issued an open letter calling for the closure of their school in order to stop the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant and for a temporary shift to online learning.
(2022-01-14). Students, educators and parents angered over Chicago Teachers Union deal to reopen schools. wsws.org As Chicago students prepare walkouts, opposition is growing to the CTU's deal to reopen schools in the midst of the deadly Omicron surge.
(2022-01-14). Spike in proportion of UK babies in hospital with Omicron. rt.com 
Researchers urge calm despite noting the rise in infants infected with Covid's most contagious variant | Data published on Friday by the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has warned the percentage of children aged under one in hospital with Covid has risen from 30% to 42% following the outbreak of the Omicron strain. | A study by the Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium and Covid-19 Clinical Information Network found that, compared with previous waves of the pandemic, there has been a recent sharp rise in the proportion of infants requiring hospital treatment. | One reason proposed is…
(2022-01-14). Australian trade unions demand free COVID testing for all as cases surge. peoplesdispatch.org Australia has added around a million new cases in the past two weeks, making it one of the biggest Omicron-driven surges in the world. Meanwhile, the Scott Morrison government is relaxing quarantine norms for close contact workers, a step that has been roundly criticized by unions…
(2022-01-14). AMS professorship and disease relapse: News from the College. imperial.ac.uk Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial.
(2022-01-14). Consumer Health: What is Hashimoto's disease? newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org January is Thyroid Awareness Month, which makes this a good time to learn more about Hashimoto's disease. Hashimoto's disease, also known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, is an autoimmune disorder where your immune system creates antibodies that damage your thyroid gland. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck. Your thyroid produces hormones that regulate your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and weight. Hashimoto's disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, or underactive…
(2022-01-14). A Program For A Future Society That We Will Build In The Present. popularresistance.org In October 2021, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a report that received barely any attention: the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021, notably subtitled Unmasking disparities by ethnicity, caste, and gender. 'Multidimensional poverty' is a much more precise measurement of poverty than the international poverty line of $1.90 per day. It looks at ten indicators divided along three axes: health (nutrition, child mortality), education (years of schooling, school attendance), and standard of living (cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets). The team studie…
(2022-01-14). Nurses In US Protest COVID-19 Working Conditions. popularresistance.org The protests were held under the banner of National Nurses United (NNU), a labor union with more than 175,000 members nationwide, which called on the hospital industry to "invest in safe staffing." | Hospitals in the US, the worst-hit country in the world, have been struggling to cope up with the new tide of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, as well as worker shortages and burnout. | Nurses are furious over sheer callousness and indifference shown by the government as well as their employers, blaming them for caring about their businesses, not the public health. | The protests took place across 11 US states and Was…
(2022-01-14). Hawaiians, U.S. military dependents protest Navy fuel pollution. workers.org 
By Anne Kealohapau'ole Jan. 9 — Protesters angered by the water crisis persevere at rallies at the Hawai'i Department of Health, the State Capitol in Honolulu and in front of the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, all on the island of O'ahu. Native Hawaiians, local community . . . |
(2022-01-14). Afghanistan in Freefall: Deadly U.S. Sanctions Blamed for Shocking Humanitarian Crisis. democracynow.org 
As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.'s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation's civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector. Dr. Paul Spiegel says conditions in the hospitals he visited in Kabul as part of a World Health Organization emergency team are rapidly deteriorating, and he describes the lack of heat and basic amenities as winter descended. "There's been a drought. There's food insecurity. And all of th…
(2022-01-14). Wednesday 1/19: Virtual Town Hall on Black Maternal Health w/ ERA Coalition & FWE. indybay.org Online event…
(2022-01-14). Joe Rogan is a 'menace to public health', doctors claim in letter to Spotify. rt.com 
Hundreds of health experts accuse the service's top podcaster of spreading "baseless conspiracy theories" about Covid-19 | A group of 270 health and science professionals have signed an open letter to the audio streaming service Spotify, demanding a stricter policy on misinformation to combat podcaster Joe Rogan's alleged Covid "conspiracy theories." | The
(2022-01-14). America's national symbol faces slow death. rt.com 
Lead poisoning is blamed for the slump in bald eagle population's growth | A new study has found the bald eagle population in the US has taken a significant hit from lead poisoning, eaten by the animals from left-behind ammunition from hunters. | The study, from the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health at Cornell University, found the bald eagle population growth has decreased by 4-6%, based on data gathered between 1990 and 2018. | Scientists examined bald eagle populations in seven Northeast states and found some are affected by hunters leaving behind contaminated organs after field dressing an animal.
(2022-01-14). Dr. Cheryl Grills Appointed to National Reparations Commission. indybay.org On the ground, in the streets of Sacramento County, seat of the Capitol of the Great State of California, "Racism" declared a Public Health Crisis by Sacramento County Supervisors. Slavery in California cloaked, authentic California History by people of African Descent distorted, discredited and being destroyed as Dr. Carter G. Woodson suggested in his seminal work, "Mis-Education of the Negro" – oftern it is darkest before the dawn.
(2022-01-14). More than 8,000 Kroger grocery workers strike in Colorado. nationofchange.org On the heels of a new report showing significant financial insecurity, including homelessness, among workers at Kroger grocery stores, more than 8,000 of the chain's employees in Colorado went on strike Wednesday to demand fair wages and better healthcare benefits. Amid a recent wave of successful strikes at companies including John Deere and Kellogg's, the …
(2022-01-14). More Afghans May Die From US Sanctions Than at the Hands of the Taliban. truthout.org 
As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.'s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation's civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector. Dr. Paul Spiegel says conditions in the hospitals he visited in Kabul as part of a World Health Organization emergency team are rapidly deteriorating, and he describes the la…
(2022-01-14). Public Health Professionals Must Demand an End to the Use of Weaponized Drones. truthout.org 
On January 13, 2017, a family including a husband, wife and three small children scurried from building to building in East Mosul, Iraq. They were seeking refuge as a battle between ISIS (also known as Daesh) and U.S.-backed forces swirled around them. The family was huddled in an abandoned school surrounded by other civilians when a U.S.-operated drone struck and destroyed the structure. The father and one of his sons narrowly escaped with their lives. The tragic fate of his wife and other…
(2022-01-14). US Supreme Court strikes down Biden large employer vaccine mandate. wsws.org The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to block the Biden administration's policy that would force companies with more than 100 employees to require their staff to be vaccinated or wear masks daily and be tested weekly at their own expense.
(2022-01-14). Selected Articles: "Different Batches" and "Lethal Doses", "The Vaccines Are Designed to Kill" globalresearch.ca 
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(2022-01-14). China urges certain countries to stop stockpiling vaccines and live up to promises: FM spokesperson. ecns.cn China calls on relevant countries to live up to promises of providing vaccines to the world, work with China to close the global "immunization gap" and make due contribution to humanity's early victory over the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese FM spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Thursday.
(2022-01-14). Biden Decries Supreme Court Ruling That Blocks Vaccine Rules for Workers. truthout.org 
On Thursday, President Joe Biden reacted to the Supreme Court's decision to place a stay on a rule requiring that workers at large companies get vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested for the virus weekly. |
(2022-01-14). China's foreign trade hits new high in 2021. ecns.cn China's foreign trade moved up another notch in 2021 by exceeding 6 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time albeit the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on the global trade, official data showed Friday.
(2022-01-14). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org School students in Italy in COVID safety strike demand return to remote learning and free tests and masks; protests in major cities in Lebanon and teachers strike as currency continues to fall; hundreds of striking South African Clover Foods dairy workers out for eight weeks protest wage cuts, retrenchments and restructuring…
(2022-01-14). Cabinet Ministers Reportedly Reveal What BoJo Should Do to Save His Scandal-Hit Career. sputniknews.com On Wednesday, several senior Tory backbenchers called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign after he apologised for attending a May 2020 party held in his official residence on Downing Street during a COVID-19 lockdown.
(2022-01-14). East China's Hangzhou reports 1 new local COVID-19 case. ecns.cn A nurse from a local hospital in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, was identified as a mild COVID-19 case after testing positive for the virus during a routine nucleic acid testing on Thursday evening.