- WorldYahoo News
'It is an existential threat': As coronavirus spreads to Africa, health experts warn of catastrophe
Many are concerned that as cases increase, COVID-19 will make its way to vulnerable populations in war zones, slums and sprawling refugee camps across the continent. Princeton University professor Jessica Metcalf, who specializes in infectious diseases and public policy and who has worked in Africa, warns that the introduction of the coronavirus into the “tsunami of other infectious diseases” across vulnerable populations in Africa might be catastrophic.
- WorldYahoo News
Coronavirus is ushering in a new wave of racially motivated attacks, warns intelligence bulletin
Federal agencies are concerned that domestic extremists could use the coronavirus pandemic to attack Asians and Jews, according to a joint intelligence bulletin obtained by Yahoo News. That bulletin mirrors what organizations that monitor online hate content are also finding. The bulletin, a joint effort of the Department of Justice, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Department of Homeland Security, is dated April 7.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Mattis rebukes Trump over removal of Pentagon inspector general
Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis issued a rare public rebuke of President Trump Tuesday over his decision to fire Glenn Fine, the Pentagon inspector general charged with overseeing implementation of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. “Mr. Fine is a public servant in the finest tradition of honest, competent governance,” Mattis told Yahoo News in an email. “In my years of extensive engagement with him as our Department of Defense's acting Inspector General, he proved to be a leader whose personal and managerial integrity were always of the highest order.”
WorldYahoo News VideoWuhan ends its coronavirus lockdown, but another Chinese city shutdown emerges
The Chinese city where the new coronavirus emerged ended its more-than two-month lockdown on Wednesday, even as a small northern city ordered restrictions on residents amid concern about a second wave of infections.
- U.S.The Independent
Coronavirus: 16-year-old pilot selflessly flies medical supplies to hospitals in need
A 16-year-old is using his skills as a budding pilot to bring desperately needed medical equipment to rural hospitals. TJ Kim carries a variety of supplies including gloves, masks and gowns to small hospitals during his flying lessons, The Associated Press reported. The teenager undertook his first delivery on 27 March to a 25-bed hospital in Luray, where he was overwhelmed by the gratefulness at his efforts, AP said.
- U.S.Business Insider
Wawa sent a 53-foot refrigerated truck to store bodies of people who died of COVID-19 in New Jersey, as morgues and funeral homes struggle to keep up with the rising death toll
AP Photo/John Minchillo Wawa provided a 53-foot refrigerated truck to the state of New Jersey to store the bodies of people who have died of COVID-19. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said that Wawa sent the truck to "help take the pressure off our morgues and funeral homes in protecting the bodies of those we have lost." "Deathcare" workers in morgues and funeral homes have struggled to keep up with the rising death toll as more than 12,700 people have died from COVID-19 in the US.
- BusinessAssociated Press
Hamas arrests Gaza activists after Zoom call with Israelis
Hamas-run security forces have arrested several peace activists in the Gaza Strip on treason charges after they took part in a web conference with Israeli activists, officials said Thursday. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the activists are accused of “holding a normalization activity with the Israeli occupation.” “Holding any activity or contact with the Israeli occupation under any cover is a crime punishable by law and a betrayal for the people and their sacrifices,” it said in a statement.
- WorldReuters
What you need to know about the coronavirus right now
Beyond the daily casualty statistics, the big, sobering economic number of the week lands on Thursday at 08.30 ET (1230 GMT): New U.S. jobless claims will likely reveal that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits in the last three weeks has now hit a staggering 15 million. The speed with which patients are declining and dying from the new coronavirus is shocking even veteran doctors and nurses as they scramble to try to stop such sudden deterioration. The quick turns for the worse are likely products of an "overly exuberant" reaction by the immune system as it fights the virus, said Dr Otto Yang, an infectious disease specialist at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
BusinessAFPOil producers intend to cut 10-15 mn barrels: Kuwait
Top oil producers meeting later Thursday intend to cut production by between 10 and 15 million barrels per day, Kuwait's Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel reportedly said. The talks between OPEC and other major producers come as oil languishes at near-two decade lows, with Russia and Saudi Arabia's price war compounding slack demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. "Through our continuous consultations in the past weeks, I confirm that the intention is to conclude an agreement to cut production by a large amount ranging between 10 million bpd and 15 million bpd," Fadhel said in an interview with Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai published Thursday.
- BusinessYahoo News
Doctors rethinking coronavirus: Are we using ventilators the wrong way?
One doctor who has been treating COVID-19 patients at a New York-area hospital says there's no reason to believe it would work. Marik acknowledged that the World Health Organization has advised against the use of corticosteroids to treat viral pneumonia in patients with COVID-19 (except in clinical trials) citing previous studies on other viral diseases like SARS and MERS, which found insufficient evidence that the drugs were effective. But Marik's view encapsulates a growing suspicion among doctors treating COVID-19 that the disease has some novel features that may require a unique approach.
- U.S.NBC News
Texas teen accused of threatening to spread coronavirus is charged
A Texas teenager who police said announced on social media she would intentionally spread the coronavirus has been arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat. Police in Carrollton, near Dallas, arrested Lorraine Maradiaga, 18, late Tuesday morning after arranging her surrender to the city jail. "Maradiaga has stated that she is COVID-19 negative, and we currently have no proof that Maradiaga has tested positive," Carrollton police said in a statement.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump adviser warned of millions of virus deaths in January. Trump says he saw the memo only this week.
President Trump said Tuesday that he did not learn of two memos written in January and February by his own economic adviser warning that a COVID-19 pandemic could kill as many as 2 million Americans until “maybe a day ago.” On Jan. 29, Peter Navarro warned his colleagues at the White House that if the administration did not mount an aggressive containment strategy for the coronavirus, it could kill more than half a million Americans and cost the country nearly $6 trillion. Nearly a month later, on Feb. 23, Navarro distributed an even more dire second memo in which he said as many as 100 million Americans could be infected with COVID-19, which might kill upwards of 2 million U.S. citizens.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: Why India cannot afford to lift its lockdown
Will India extend its rigorous 21-day lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus beyond its end date next week? On 24 March, India shut its $2.9 trillion economy, closing its businesses and issuing strict stay-at-home orders to more than a billion people. A harsh lockdown is certain to slow down the disease.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
NYC Is Taking Hundreds of Body Bags Out of Houses—and Soon They Will Be Counted
The coronavirus death count in New York City, already unfathomable, is expected to surge in the coming days as officials begin including people who have been dropping dead at home without an official diagnosis. Emergency Medical Service data first reported by Gothamist suggests the undercount of individuals who have likely died from the virus is massive. Until this month, about 25 people in New York City were found dead in their homes on a typical day, suggesting that most of Tuesday's calls were related to the outbreak that has already killed over 5,400 people across the state and infected 140,386 more.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Thousands of scientists in Sweden are criticizing the government for not implementing a lockdown to stop the coronavirus
Sweden is resisting international trends by not implementing a lockdown or strict social distancing measures to fight the coronavirus. Researchers and scientists in Sweden have criticized the government's decision to allow businesses to remain open. More than 2,000 experts signed an open letter calling for stronger action, and some fear that a surge in coronavirus deaths is imminent.
- U.S.Associated Press
Coronavirus claims an unexpected victim: Florida vegetables
Mounds of harvested zucchini and yellow squash ripened and then rotted in the hot Florida sun. Thousands of acres of fruits and vegetables grown in Florida are being plowed over or left to rot because farmers can't sell to restaurants, theme parks or schools nationwide that have closed because of the coronavirus. Other states are having the same issues — agriculture officials say leafy greens in California are being hit especially hard, and dairy farmers in Vermont and Wisconsin say they have had to dump a surplus of milk intended for restaurants.
- BusinessArchitectural Digest
Your Home (and Mind) Needs One of These High-Design Mobiles
It's all about balanceOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldReuters
Cases of novel coronavirus in Russia surge past 10,000 after record daily rise
Russia on Thursday reported a record one-day rise in cases of novel coronavirus, pushing the official tally to more than 10,000, a day after President Vladimir Putin said the coming weeks would prove decisive in the fight against the virus. The number of cases jumped by 1,459 and 13 more people died, the national coronavirus crisis response centre said on its website. Moscow, the worst-affected region, and many other regions are in their second week of a partial lockdown.
- HealthYahoo News
This is what I want my friends to do if they have COVID-19 symptoms and are asked to go to the ER
Ashita S. Batavia, MD, MSc, is a board-certified infectious diseases specialist and public health expert with extensive experience in treating epidemics. In my state, New York, our hospital systems are being strained in unprecedented ways. As a frontline infectious diseases doctor, this is what I want my friends and neighbors to do if they have COVID-19 symptoms and are asked to go to the emergency room.
WorldAFPPakistan shoots down Indian drone as Kashmir tensions rise
Pakistan's army said Thursday it had shot down a small Indian surveillance drone in Kashmir, as tensions rose over continued cross-border shelling in the disputed territory. According to a statement from the army media wing, the Indian quadcopter -- about the same size as a commercially available hobby drone -- had crossed 600 metres (650 yards) over the de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC). "This blatant act was aggressively responded to by Pakistan Army troops shooting down Indian quadcopter," the statement read.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Cost of Navy secretary's trip to Guam? $243,000, his job and isolation after coronavirus exposure
WASHINGTON – Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly's trip last weekend to address sailors aboard the COVID-19-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt cost taxpayers more than $243,000 for the 35-hour round trip on a Gulfstream 550, according to a Navy official. Modly's profanity-laced speech to the sailors, during which he branded the fired captain of the ship as "naive" and "stupid" for seeking aid, prompted Modly to offer his resignation Tuesday. Modly, who is in quarantine after visiting the Roosevelt, had his offer accepted by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
- WorldNBC News
U.S. sees deadliest day in COVID-19 outbreak
As the Chinese city that was the original center of the coronavirus outbreak came out of lockdown with a celebratory light show, the U.S. registered its deadliest day yet with nearly 2,000 lives lost. After 11 weeks of strict restrictions on their movements, residents of Wuhan were allowed out on Wednesday and tens of thousands of residents prepared to leave the city, 100 days after the World Health Organization first reported the virus. In the U.S., the virus has now killed 12,849 people as of 2:50 am ET Wednesday, according to NBC News' tally, while the number of confirmed cases are nearing 400,000.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Black People Know: The Coronavirus Is No Great Equalizer
As an African-American, I always anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic would disproportionately hit my community, and other communities of color the hardest. COVID-19 does not see race, color, or nationality; but it does attack the vulnerable and require the collective will of a society to stop. Communities of color have always been excluded, exploited, and vulnerable to attack in America, so it was inevitable that the coronavirus would come for us.
- HealthBusiness Insider
Anthony Fauci says people who recover from the coronavirus should be immune through at least September. But some scientists worry that not all patients develop antibodies.
Alex Brandon/AP Dr. Anthony Fauci says people who recover from the coronavirus will likely be immune should a second wave of infection spread in the early fall. He explained that because the virus has not mutated much, people who develop immunity will likely maintain it at least for the next few months. Preliminary studies about coronavirus immunity and antibodies have shown that most, but not all, recovered patients develop antibodies.
- BusinessAssociated Press
Iran says US oil production must be known before OPEC+ call
Iran demanded on Wednesday that U.S. oil production levels must be known before an upcoming OPEC meeting with Russia and others seeking to boost global energy prices. The meeting of the so-called OPEC+ is scheduled to be held Thursday after officials delayed it following Saudi Arabia criticizing Russia over its comments about the price collapse. A meeting in March saw OPEC and other nations led by Russia fail to agree to a production cut as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has drastically cut demand for oil.
