(2020-10-06). Trump, COVID and poetic justice. workers.org 
Donald Trump, who sat by while so many died, undercut health professionals' recommendations for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, mocked wearing a mask, placed capitalist profits over the lives of thousands and put forward no serious plan to address the pandemic, is now sick himself. The chickens have come home to . . . |
(2020-10-06). Why Trump's Approach to the Coronavirus Vaccine May Leave America Behind. counterpunch.org 
As with everything else, Donald Trump likes to boast about how quickly we are moving toward developing a coronavirus vaccine. By historic standards, he has a case. We may have a vaccine through the final Phase 3 tests and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before the end of the year. However, this
(2020-10-06). California nurses declare: 'Patients over profits!'. workers.org 
This statement was released Oct. 5 by the Organizing Committee of the Workers Assembly. Over 1,000 nurses in California will begin a five-day strike on Oct. 7 to protest hospital management's failure to protect nurses and patients in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. California nurses within the Alameda Health . . . |
(2020-10-06). Tens of thousands of UK COVID-19 cases and contacts went unreported. wsws.org Besides giving a completely false picture of the spread of the disease, the failure to report 15,841 positive Covid-19 cases has left tens of thousands of their potentially infected contacts untraced for up to a week.
(2020-10-06). Third wave of COVID-19 expected to sweep across the United States. wsws.org Health officials reviewing the case reports from across the country are concerned that the trends indicate another wave is on the horizon, bringing with it rising hospitalization rates and an increase in the number of deaths.
(2020-10-06). Iran update: 227 deaths, 4,151 new infections in 24h. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 06 (MNA) — The daily count of COVID-19 infections in Iran reached 4,151 on Tuesday, bringing the total cases to 479,825, according to the Health Ministry.
(2020-10-05). Republican leaders denied COVID's seriousness. Now they are being ravaged by it. therealnews.com 
Trump, who was recently revealed to have paid little to no money in taxes in the last 15 years, is receiving cutting-edge, taxpayer-funded medical treatment at Walter Reed Military Medical Center…
(2020-10-05). A Model for Healthcare Reform from a Surprising Place. dissidentvoice.org 
The issue of healthcare reform is one that is consistently identified by opinion polls as being among the most important to Americans. The United States continues to be the only fully industrialized nation that lacks a public healthcare system, a feature of modern "democracy" that is taken for granted in most developed countries. Most American …
(2020-10-05). Facebook breakup would be 'complete nonstarter': memo leaked ahead of antitrust report. rt.com 
Separating Facebook from Instagram and WhatsApp would harm consumers, cost billions and defy US law, the social media giant argued in a memo leaked to the media ahead of a congressional report expected to advise otherwise. | The 14-page document was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend and amounts to a preview of Facebook's defense against the pending report from the House Antitrust Subcommittee. | FB says breakup would be a "complete nonstarter" … as if theirs is the only view that matters. A breakup alone will not eliminate threat FB poses to democracy, public health, privacy, innovation, b…
(2020-10-05). Despite imminent arrival of Sputnik V vaccine, More than 70% of Russians don't want to be inoculated against coronavirus- survey. rt.com 
Two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country had developed the world's first Covid-19 vaccine, a new government poll has revealed that just 23 percent of the nation wants to be inoculated. | The research, conducted by the ruling party United Russia, revealed that more than 73 percent of respondents do not want to be vaccinated against coronavirus. Another four percent said they don't need it, as they've already had the disease. | The hesitance of Russians to be injected is mainly linked to the lack of proof that any vaccine works, with two-thirds of respondents (63 percent) sayi…
(2020-10-05). Pro-Netanyahu daily tweets false story on Trump's health after hack. middleeasteye.net 
Pro-Netanyahu daily tweets false story on Trump's health after hack | Israel Hayom's Twitter account issues series of fake posts on Hezbollah spy submarine and gunmen outside Clinton home | Mon, 10/05/2020 – 11: 08 | President Trump's motorcade drives past supporters outside the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, 4 October (AFP) | The Twitter account of Israel Hayom, a daily newspaper close to I…
(2020-10-05). Medical Journal Calls for Mandatory COVID Vaccine: 'Noncompliance Should Incur a Penalty'. globalresearch.ca A paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine has called for mandating a coronavirus vaccine, and outlined strategies for how Americans could be FORCED to take it. | *** |
(2020-10-05). Does Trump Really Have COVID or Just a Nasty Cold? globalresearch.ca "U.S. President Donald Trump's condition is improving as he is being treated for COVID-19 at a military hospital…" so says the media pundits' drone on. | Yet does he really have COVID-19? This ever devolving disease seems to acquire a broader …
(2020-10-05). Why We're on a Long Road to COVID-19 Immunity Even With Vaccines. counterpunch.org As the pandemic continues to spread throughout the world, many countries seem to have given up the fight against COVID-19 and are now waiting for a vaccine to protect against the virus. With cases exceeding 32 million, and more than a million dead, the world economy has taken a bigger hit than at any other
(2020-10-05). Almost half of UK coronavirus infections in schools, colleges and universities. wsws.org Figures from the latest Public Health England's COVID-19 epidemiology surveillance summary show that educational settings now account for 45 percent of all positive cases in the UK.
(2020-10-05). 70 per cent of COVID cases located in just 10 countries, WHO reports. news.un.org While COVID-19 has affected all countries, the pandemic is "uneven", and it is estimated that 10 per cent of the global population may have been infected with the virus, senior officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
(2020-10-05). COVID-19 disrupting critical mental health services, WHO warns. news.un.org The global pandemic has disrupted critical mental health services in 93 per cent of the countries it surveyed, underscoring the devastating impact of COVID-19 and highlighting an urgent need to scale up funding, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
(2020-10-05). Public Outrage Spreads Over Trump's Unnecessary and Risky "Joy Ride" truthout.org A number of health experts have condemned President Trump's decision over the weekend to use the presidential motorcade to greet supporters outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as he received treatment for COVID-19, calling it inappropriate and unsafe, particularly for Secret Service agents that were forced to ride along with him. | The reckless attempt by the president to convey strength to voters may backfire, as majorities in a number of polls have faulted Trump for not taking the…
(2020-10-05). GOP COVID Patients Receive Care They'd Deny Others. Time for Medicare for All. truthout.org The case for Medicare for All was Markey noted that throughout the coronavirus pandemic, in which more than 7.4 mil…
(2020-10-05). Ex-Officials, Rights Groups Denounce 'Wildly Inappropriate' ICE Billboards. commondreams.org "This hate-mongering and xenophobia is a disease in this country stemming from the very top of the government," said one human rights activist. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-10-05). As Trump Gets 'Excellent Taxpayer-Funded Care,' Analysis Finds Frontline Workers Disproportionately Lack Health Insurance. commondreams.org Given how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted people in "essential" industries and their high uninsured rates, the Public Citizen report says "the argument for Medicare for All has never been stronger." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-10-04). Les ´ guerres nouvelles ª menées par Israà´l et les USA réussiront-elles à affaiblir le Hezbollah? thealtworld.com Comme la guerre conventionnelle n'a pas réussi à vaincre le Hezbollah libanais, Israà´l et les USA ont adopté de nouvelles tactiques dans l'art de la guerre tout en évitant un conflit ouvert aux yeux du public. Ces nouvelles tactiques, qui n'excluent pas la guerre traditionnelle, comprennent une série de guerres ou d'actions reposant sur des formations irrégulières, des actes terroristes, le chaos, les sanctions, les plates-formes électroniques, la guerre médiatique, la propagande, les fausses nouvelles, la division de la société, la politique visant à réduire à la famine et l'engagement de l'ennemi de l'in…
(2020-10-04). What do Covid-19 studies tell us? peoplesdispatch.org In this interview with Dr. Satyajit Rath, we talk about the recent studies done on COVID-19 across the globe. We also look at the state of the vaccines under trial and the delivery mechanisms…
(2020-10-04). Health Justice And Black Liberation: Ugo Edu. popularresistance.org I remember always wanting to be a doctor—perhaps because my parents are Nigerian—and having a genuine concern with people's health. I soon became disillusioned with treatment and the competition that entailed pre-med education as an undergrad at UCLA. Nonetheless, I decided public health better suited my interest and desire to develop preventive interventions. Public health left out too many factors to be the only means by which I felt I could contribute to health—I decided to study medical anthropology, simultaneously exploring other disciplinary offerings. My current work draws on all these as…
(2020-10-04). Preempting Progress In The South. popularresistance.org A new report from the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) at EPI and the Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) describes the ways in which state interference—in the form of preemption—is impeding local democracy and hamstringing progress on a variety of economic, social, and public health issues for communities throughout the South. The report also describes how this interference is a continuation of long-standing state-imposed policies and practices rooted in anti-Black racism and how modern-day misuse of preemption disproportionately disadvantages workers of color, women, and low-income wo…
(2020-10-04). 11/3/20 Election: The Stakes; The Cal & S.F Propositions. indybay.org What is at stake in this election are the very existence of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, food stamps, the right to abortion and birth control pills, funding Planned Parenthood, funding the Violence Against Women Act, the existence of all environmental regulations, all consumer protection laws, all gun control laws, all civil rights laws, all labor laws, an efficient, patronage-free mail system, federally funded affordable housing, public school education, federal funds for state governments and raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. Further, all progress we have made in…
(2020-10-04). A New Nonviolent Medicaid Army Is on the March. commondreams.org Activists rally against the Republican healthcare agenda outside of the Metropolitan Republican Club on July 5, 2017 in New York City. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-10-04). As Covid-Positive GOP Politicians Enjoy Healthcare They 'Would Deny Others,' Coronavirus Pandemic Again Makes Case for Medicare for All. commondreams.org The case for Medicare for All was once again made by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, Sen. Ed Markey tweeted on Sunday, after Republican politicians including President Donald Trump were able to check themselves into hospitals shortly after announcing they had tested positive for Covid-19. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-10-03). Health care workers stage strikes, protests in Chile and Argentina. wsws.org According to Amnesty International, of the 7,000 health professionals in the world who have died after contracting COVID-19, more than a third are from the Americas.
(2020-10-03). Half a Million Sharks Could Be Killed to Make Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline may need to slaughter
(2020-10-03). The COVID-19 Vaccine. The Imposition of Compulsory Vaccination with a Biometric Health Passport? globalresearch.ca The COVID-19 vaccine… Is this THE final goal of this crisis, to impose a compulsory vaccination on everyone, with a biometric health passport and without it, the impossibility to move, to buy, to eat? The near future will tell.
(2020-10-03). Homeland Security Assessment Warns Of Violent Unrest. popularresistance.org In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, potential civil unrest and worse has been predicted by multiple governmental agencies and assorted federal outfits, including the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Last week the organization published a "supplemental threat assessment" on the upcoming electoral contest subtitled "The Convergence of COVID-19, Nationwide Civil Unrest, and the Upcoming Presidential Election." | Using COVID-19 as a backdrop, the 13-page report identifies the pandemic as the "driving factor" behind "public health fears, economic instability, political dissent, an…
(2020-10-03). Climate Advocates Criticize Newsom's Executive Order for Not Addressing Oil Drilling. indybay.org "If your climate leadership does not include relief for hundreds of thousands of Californians — the majority people of color — living with oil drilling in their neighborhood, then you are not serious about climate justice and creating healthier, more resilient communities," said Martha Arguà´llo executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and co-chair of STAND-L.A.
(2020-10-03). [World Report] US election 2020: public health. thelancet.com In the race for the White House, where do US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, stand on public health? Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.
(2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Despair and the shame of personal responsibility. thelancet.com Given the history of the USA, it is difficult—if not impossible—to discuss health outcomes and economic mobility without understanding the importance of race. This fact is why the powerful analysis by Rhea Boyd1 of the rising midlife mortality in the last decade is an urgent and important read. At the same time, any analysis that ignores the influence of an unfair US economy and has an unfaltering focus on a personal responsibility narrative will be inadequate.
(2020-10-03). [Perspectives] Devi Sridhar: illuminating global health governance. thelancet.com Devi Sridhar has travelled far in her fairly short career. She was the youngest Rhodes Scholar, aged just 18 years, and became Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, UK, when she was 30. But milestones are of little interest to her, especially as her role as a leader in global health governance has been accelerated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. "This is the time for the global public health community to step up", she comments. "We have never before been required to work so intensively and as rapidly as in today's environment, where effective public health responses and global…
(2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Alternative grant models might perpetuate Black—White funding gaps. thelancet.com The White Coats for Black Lives and #ShutDownSTEM movements have galvanised biomedical practitioners and researchers to eliminate institutional and systematic racism, including barriers faced by Black researchers in biomedicine and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In our study on Black—White funding gaps for National Institutes of Health Research Project grants, we found that the overall award rate for Black applicants is 55% of that for white applicants.1 How can systems for allocating research grant funding be made more fair while improving their efficiency?
(2020-10-03). [Comment] Circulating ACE2: a novel biomarker of cardiovascular risk. thelancet.com Dysregulation of the renin—angiotensin system plays a major role in the progression of cardiovascular disease in humans. The enzymatic reactions within the renin—angiotensin system generate angiotensin II, which promotes vasoconstriction and inflammation and deleterious cardiovascular effects.1 Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) acts to counterbalance the renin—angiotensin system by degrading angiotensin II.2,3 In 2005, ACE2 was identified as the cellular receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV),4 and we now know that ACE2 also facilitates viral entry of SARS-CoV…
(2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Gains and losses in translation of SDGs at sub-national levels. thelancet.com Samira Asma and colleagues1 show the complexity of the global monitoring of health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and argue for convergence, harmonisation, and strong data science. However, many offspring of SDG monitoring systems have emerged beyond the monitoring of UN SDG indicators, either at supra-national level (eg, the EU) or at sub-national level (eg, federal state or community level). This result is a translational process of locally reinventing the SDG narrative and choosing indicators that are appealing, appropriate, and available.
(2020-10-03). [Editorial] Building a resilient NHS, for COVID-19 and beyond. thelancet.com The UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been ill prepared, patchy, confused, and incompetent. From initial equivocations, to a series of policy U turns and conflicts with scientific advisers, to vague public health guidance, the UK's COVID-19 performance has fallen disastrously short and undoubtedly cost lives. It has pushed the National Health Service (NHS) to the brink. Having wasted a summer of opportunity to strengthen systems to suppress viral transmission following an easing of lockdown restrictions, the UK Government is facing a winter wave of COVID-19 with no strategy in sight.
(2020-10-03). [Articles] Plasma ACE2 and risk of death or cardiometabolic diseases: a case-cohort analysis. thelancet.com Increased plasma ACE2 concentration was associated with increased risk of major cardiovascular events in a global study.
(2020-10-03). [Comment] Leveraging the advances in HIV for COVID-19. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic has led to accelerated research efforts globally and highlighted the importance of community engagement and leadership in the COVID-19 response. To achieve these objectives, partnerships between science, government, and affected communities are crucial, but building these rapidly presents major challenges. In the past months, we have also seen how advances in confronting the global HIV epidemic have had a positive impact on the COVID-19 response.
(2020-10-03). [Correspondence] Trials of locoregional therapies inspired by SABR-COMET. thelancet.com The stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) versus standard of care palliative treatment in patients with oligometastatic cancers (SABR-COMET) study is a thought-provoking addition to the literature about the treatment of oligometastatic disease.1 Despite its limitations, the authors are to be congratulated for completing a randomised trial of local therapy for oligometastases, a challenging task. Although intriguing, the results can only generate hypotheses, and cannot be regarded as able to change practice on their own.
(2020-10-03). As Covid-19 Infections Increase on Capitol Hill, HHS Secretary Azar Says Public Health Protocols Don't Apply to President's Inner Circle. commondreams.org Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Friday testified following President Donald Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis that the Trump family can't be expected to take precautions, while also claiming the spread of the coronavirus is a matter of "individual responsibility." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-10-03). Timeline of Trump's Illness Confounds Experts, But Critics Say What's Clear Is President 'Knowingly Exposed People' to Covid-19. commondreams.org Journalists and public health experts on Saturday raised questions over the mixed messages coming out of the White House and President Donald Trump's medical team after Dr. Sean Conley, the president's physician, told reporters Trump was "72 hours into the diagnosis" of Covid-19. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-10-03). Russia prepares health care cuts as COVID cases rise. wsws.org The Kremlin's proposed budget axes spending on health care and allocates 27 percent of all federal expenditures to the army, national guard and security forces of the interior ministry.
(2020-10-02). Superspreader-in-Chief: For Months Trump Spread COVID Lies, Now He May Have Spread the Virus Itself. democracynow.org 
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement came early Friday morning, hours after Bloomberg News reported that Trump adviser Hope Hicks became ill during Trump's Wednesday night rally in Duluth, Minnesota, and had to be quarantined aboard Air Force One on the return flight to Washington. Hicks went on to test positive for coronavirus early on Thursday, though the White House did not report her illness. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is also getting tested over fears that Trump may have infected him at Tuesday's debate. We speak with Dr. Abdul…
(2020-10-02). Sudan alert: Flooding and surging inflation threaten humanitarian assistance. news.un.org Catastrophic flooding and rising food and health costs in Sudan, have driven up the number of people in need, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.
(2020-10-02). Roaming Charges: Crosstalk Hurricane. counterpunch.org 
Donald Trump was just one of 43,000 other Americans who tested positive for COVID today. While nearly all of them paid more in taxes than he did, few will have his resources to fight the ravages of the disease and recover from its financial aftershocks.
(2020-10-02). Guatemalan President Threatens To Arrest the Caravan Migrants. telesurenglish.net Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei on Thursday ordered a "state of prevention" in six departments of his country because of the entry of a caravan with over 3,000 Honduran migrants traveling to the United States. | RELATED: | "All those Hondurans who have entered illegally will be detained," he stressed, arguing that this measure is the consequence of their "disrespect" for the health protocols implemented t…