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U.S. military says coronavirus likely occurred naturally but not certain

U.S. military says coronavirus likely occurred naturally but not certain

Reuters reports: U.S. intelligence indicates that the coronavirus likely occurred naturally, as opposed to being created in a laboratory in China, but there is no certainty either way, the top U.S. general said on Tuesday. The remarks by Army General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, could fan speculation about the coronavirus’ origins — something China has dismissed as a conspiracy theory that is unhelpful to the fight against the pandemic. Asked whether he had any…

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U.S. Covid-19 death toll is likely much higher than the official count

U.S. Covid-19 death toll is likely much higher than the official count

By Jack Gillum, Lisa Song and Jeff Kao, ProPublica, April 14, 2020 In recent weeks, residents outside Boston have died at home much more often than usual. In Detroit, authorities are responding to nearly four times the number of reports of dead bodies. And in New York, city officials are recording more than 200 home deaths per day — a nearly sixfold increase from recent years. As of Tuesday afternoon, the United States had logged more than 592,000 cases of…

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It’s the worst possible time for Trump to make bogus claims of ‘total’ authority

It’s the worst possible time for Trump to make bogus claims of ‘total’ authority

Neal K. Katyal writes: I teach my law students that every so often in the law, the best way to understand the veracity of a claim is just to say it out loud. They got a great example of this on Monday when President Trump made a contribution to the legal lexicon: “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total.” In terms that would even…

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Governor wouldn’t issue a stay home order. Now South Dakota has one of the nation’s largest coronavirus hot spots

Governor wouldn’t issue a stay home order. Now South Dakota has one of the nation’s largest coronavirus hot spots

The Washington Post reports: As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota’s top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home. Such edicts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kristi L. Noem said disparagingly, reflected a “herd mentality.” It was up to individuals — not government — to decide whether “to exercise their right to work, to worship and to play. Or to even stay at home.”…

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Inequality doesn’t just make pandemics worse — it could cause them

Inequality doesn’t just make pandemics worse — it could cause them

Laura Spinney writes: A lot has been written about how this pandemic is exacerbating social inequalities. But what if it’s because our societies are so unequal that this pandemic happened? There is a school of thought that, historically, pandemics have been more likely to occur at times of social inequality and discord. As the poor get poorer, the thinking goes, their baseline health suffers, making them more prone to infection. At the same time they are forced to move more,…

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As coronavirus pandemic rages, Trump disregards advice to tighten clean air rules

As coronavirus pandemic rages, Trump disregards advice to tighten clean air rules

The New York Times reports: Disregarding an emerging scientific link between dirty air and Covid-19 death rates, the Trump administration declined on Tuesday to tighten a regulation on industrial soot emissions that came up for review ahead of the coronavirus pandemic. Andrew R. Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said his agency will not impose stricter controls on the tiny, lung-damaging industrial particles, known as PM 2.5, a regulatory action that has been in the works for months….

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‘We need an army’: Hiring of coronavirus contact tracers seen as key to curbing disease spread

‘We need an army’: Hiring of coronavirus contact tracers seen as key to curbing disease spread

STAT reports: K.J. Seung is surprised to be hiring and training new workers in Boston. His public health nonprofit, Partners in Health, specializes in helping the poorest people in developing nations — tracking down contacts of Ebola patients in Liberia and Sierra Leone; running child health and HIV clinics in Haiti; and operating tuberculosis control programs in Peru. But now it is advertising for 500 people to help do what’s known as contact tracing to try to control Covid-19 in…

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East and West coast governors preempt move by Trump and form pacts to control reopening of economies

East and West coast governors preempt move by Trump and form pacts to control reopening of economies

CNN reports: States on the country’s East and West coasts are forming their own regional pacts to work together on how to reopen from the stay-at-home orders each has issued to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The first such group to be announced came Monday on the East Coast. Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts each plan to name a public health and economic official to…

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Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Biden, they announce ‘working groups’ on policy issues

Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Biden, they announce ‘working groups’ on policy issues

ABC News reports: In a surprise appearance on a campaign livestream, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination. “Today, I am asking all Americans, I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every Independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans, to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse — to make certain that we defeat somebody who I believe — and I’m speaking just for myself now — is…

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As more of grocery workers die, increasingly they fear showing up at work

As more of grocery workers die, increasingly they fear showing up at work

The Washington Post reports: Doug Preszler wasn’t thinking about risk when he took a cashier job at a regional supermarket in eastern Iowa. But five months in, he has found himself at the forefront of a global crisis with little training or protection — save for the pocket-size bottle of hand sanitizer and Ziploc full of disposable gloves he brings from home each day. The 51-year-old has told himself not to live in fear yet concedes he increasingly is. Even…

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Apple, Google debut major effort to help people track if they’ve come in contact with coronavirus

Apple, Google debut major effort to help people track if they’ve come in contact with coronavirus

The Washington Post reports: Apple and Google unveiled an ambitious effort Friday to help combat the novel coronavirus, introducing new tools that could soon allow owners of smartphones to know if they have crossed paths with someone infected with the disease. The changes the two companies announced targeting iPhone and Android devices could inject valuable new technological support into contact tracing, a strategy public health officials say is essential to allowing people to return to work and normal life while…

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Five-step plan for reopening business is put to the test in China

Five-step plan for reopening business is put to the test in China

The Washington Post reports: Employers and employees around the world are anxious to get back to work as soon as possible. A picture of how that will unfold is starting to emerge — and it’s far from straightforward. Businesses have long relied on a five-tier inverted pyramid called the “hierarchy of controls” to reduce workplace risks to employees, ranging from chemical exposure to physical injury. This framework will also be the basis for companies’ plans to get back to work,…

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Coronavirus could attack immune system like HIV by targeting protective T cells, scientists warn

Coronavirus could attack immune system like HIV by targeting protective T cells, scientists warn

South China Morning Post reports: The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 could kill the powerful immune cells that are supposed to kill the virus instead, scientists have warned. The surprise discovery, made by a team of researchers from Shanghai and New York, coincided with frontline doctors’ observation that Covid-19 could attack the human immune system and cause damages similar to that found in HIV patients. Lu Lu, from Fudan University in Shanghai, and Jang Shibo, from the New York Blood Centre,…

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