Music: Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes — ‘I Did It For You’
Are female leaders more successful at managing the coronavirus crisis?
The Guardian reports: On 1 April, the prime minister of Sint Maarten addressed her nation’s 41,500 people. Coronavirus cases were rising, and Silveria Jacobs knew the small island country, which welcomes 500,000 tourists a year, was at great risk: it had two ICU beds. Jacobs did not want to impose a strict lockdown, but she did want physical distancing observed. So she spelled it out: “Simply. Stop. Moving,” she said. “If you don’t have the bread you like in your…
U.S. missing as world leaders agree action on Covid-19 vaccine
The Guardian reports: Global leaders have pledged to accelerate cooperation on a coronavirus vaccine and to share research, treatment and medicines across the globe. But the United States did not take part in the World Health Organization initiative, in a sign of Donald Trump’s increasing isolation on the global stage. The cooperation pledge, made at a virtual meeting, was designed to show that wealthy countries will not keep the results of research from developing countries. The meeting also represented a…
Trump expands battle with World Health Organization far beyond aid suspension
The Washington Post reports: President Trump and his top aides are working behind the scenes to sideline the World Health Organization on several new fronts as they seek to shift blame for the coronavirus pandemic to the world body, according to U.S. and foreign officials involved in the discussions. Last week, the president announced a 60-day hold on U.S. money to the WHO, but other steps by his top officials go beyond a temporary funding freeze, raising concerns about the…
When confronting a pandemic, we must save nature to save ourselves
Sahir Doshi and Nicole Gentile write: The COVID-19 pandemic has brutally and tragically exposed the extent to which the health and well-being of every family in America depends on the health and well-being of nature—both here at home and around the world. Nature is connected to human health, from the inherent mechanisms through which ecosystems regulate the emergence of new pathogens to the health benefits of spending time outdoors. But in our destruction of earth’s natural resources, we are losing…
Brazil becoming coronavirus pandemic hot spot as testing falters
CNBC reports: Cases of the new coronavirus are overwhelming hospitals, morgues and cemeteries across Brazil as Latin America’s largest nation veers closer to becoming one of the world’s pandemic hot spots. Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse, or already too overwhelmed to take any more patients. Health experts expect the number of infections in the country of 211 million people will…
Brazilian chloroquine study halted after high dose proved lethal for some patients
The Guardian reports: A Brazilian study investigating whether the anti-malaria drug chloroquine was effective in treating patients with Covid-19 was halted on safety concerns, after a high dose of the drug proved lethal for some patients. Chloroquine, and a related drug, hydroxychloroquine, in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, has been touted as a potential treatment for coronavirus by Donald Trump despite a lack of evidence. The findings were published as a letter in the journal Nature raised alarm about serious…
Election is still six months away, but Republicans are already worried about a Democratic takeover
The New York Times reports: President Trump’s erratic handling of the coronavirus outbreak, the worsening economy and a cascade of ominous public and private polling have Republicans increasingly nervous that they are at risk of losing the presidency and the Senate if Mr. Trump does not put the nation on a radically improved course. The scale of the G.O.P.’s challenge has crystallized in the last week. With 26 million Americans now having filed for unemployment benefits, Mr. Trump’s standing in…
Music: Butcher Brown — ‘Tidal Wave’
‘Archbishop’ of group peddling bleach as coronavirus ‘cure’ wrote to Trump this week
The Guardian reports: The leader of the most prominent group in the US peddling potentially lethal industrial bleach as a “miracle cure” for coronavirus wrote to Donald Trump at the White House this week. In his letter, Mark Grenon told Trump that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added…
Trump owes tens of millions to the Bank of China — and the loan is due soon
Politico reports: Donald Trump is warning “China will own the United States” if Joe Biden is elected president. But Trump himself is tens of millions of dollars in debt to China: In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could…
Hundreds of people volunteer to be infected with coronavirus in ‘human challenge’ vaccine study
Nature reports: Momentum is building to speed the development of coronavirus vaccines by intentionally infecting healthy, young volunteers with the virus. A grass-roots effort has attracted nearly 1,500 potential volunteers for the controversial approach, known as a human-challenge trial. The idea is also gaining traction with US politicians. The effort, called 1Day Sooner, is not affiliated with groups or companies developing or funding coronavirus vaccines. But co-founder Josh Morrison hopes to show that there is broad support for human-challenge trials,…
The attributes that make SARS-CoV-2 the perfect pathogen
David Shaywitz writes: Who bears responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic? While a detailed forensic accounting will ultimately reveal the contribution of people and institutions to the current crisis, we must take care not to lose sight of the most important culprit: the unique character of the virus itself. To a first approximation, a virus can be defined by two parameters: R0 (“R-naught”) is the basic reproduction number, which measures how transmissible the virus is. Meaning: If you’re a typical patient…
Checking blood for coronavirus antibodies – 3 questions answered about serological tests and immunity
Testing blood provides answers about who has been infected. Sean Gallup/Getty Images News via Getty Images By Aubree Gordon, University of Michigan and Daniel Stadlbauer, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Coronavirus testing in the United States is moving into a new phase as scientists begin looking into people’s blood for signs they’ve been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This technique is called serological testing. Virologist Daniel Stadlbauer helped develop a serological test to detect SARS-CoV-2…
Group guiding British government on coronavirus is shrouded in secrecy — updated
The New York Times reports: As the British government comes under mounting criticism for its response to the coronavirus — one that has left Britain vying with Italy and Spain as the worst hit countries in Europe — Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his aides have defended themselves by saying they are “guided by the science.” The trouble is, nobody knows what the science is. The government’s influential Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies — known by its soothing acronym, SAGE…
Navy recommends reinstating fired captain who sounded alarm on coronavirus outbreak
Politico reports: Top Navy officials are recommending that Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, be reinstated to his position, according to a senior defense official with knowledge of the decision. The unprecedented decision, which still must be approved by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, would be a stunning rebuke to former acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who fired Crozier over his handling of the outbreak and later resigned over remarks he made to…