This is an archived newsroll page on A Socialist In Canada, consisting of headlines and weblinks, with occasional news summary and brief analysis, for the indicated month(s) and year. See the current, ‘World news’ website page here. To find past stories on this and other news pages on this website, use the ‘find’ (word search) function on your web browser. Headlines in red denote items published on the main news page of A Socialist In Canada, mostly authored by Roger Annis.
World news headlines on A Socialist In Canada, April 2020
Laboratory in Wuhan, China cited in Trump regime’s accusations conducted extensive research on deadly bat viruses but there is no evidence of any accidental release, report in Washington Post, Apr 30, 2020 …On April 30, the U.S. intelligence community released an assessment formally concluding that the virus behind the coronavirus pandemic originated in China. While asserting that the pathogen was not man-made or genetically altered, the statement pointedly declined to rule out the possibility that the virus had escaped from the complex of laboratories in Wuhan that has been at the forefront of global research into bat-borne viruses linked to multiple epidemics over the past decade… While intelligence analysts and many scientists see the lab-as-origin theory as technically possible, no direct evidence has emerged suggesting that the coronavirus escaped from Wuhan’s research facilities. Many scientists argue that the evidence tilts firmly toward a natural transmission: a still-unknown interaction in late fall that allowed the virus to jump from a bat or another animal to a human…
Related:
* U.S. officials crafting retaliatory actions against China in exercise to cover their own failings. Report in Washington Post, Apr 30, 2020
* Canadian Parliament votes unanimously to demand that Dr. Bruce Aylward of the WHO appear before a Parliamentary inquisition, report in Globe and Mail, Apr 30, 2020 [The failure of Canada’s governments and medical establishments to prepare for the Covid-19 pandemic are not as catastrophic as in the U.S., but they are damaging enough. Canada has some 53,000 cases–11th highest in the world–and has suffered some 3,200 deaths. These provide compelling reasons for a scapegoating ‘inquiry’ directed against China and the WHO. In this news report in the anti-China Globe and Mail, Donald Trump’s accusations against the WHO are reported favorably while the report makes the false accusation that the the Chinese government and medical system “muzzled’ doctors and scientists in the early stage of the pandemic.]
Britain now has the third-highest coronavirus death toll in the world after the British government begins including deaths outside of hospitals in its numbers, Associated Press, Apr 30, 2020 ‘If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we are beginning to wrestle it to the floor.’–British PM Boris Johnson, April 27, 2020 (source)
Millions have risen out of poverty in the underdeveloped world as women have entered the workforce. Coronavirus is pulling them back, New York Times, Apr 30, 2020 …The World Bank says that for the first time since 1998, global poverty rates will rise. By the end of the year, eight per cent of the world’s population — half a billion people — could be pushed into destitution, largely because of the wave of unemployment brought by virus lockdowns, the United Nations estimates…
The highways of Peru swell with families fleeing virus, raising alarms about a public health crisis in rural areas, New York Times, Apr 30, 2020 [Peru was the Latin American country chosen by the U.S., Canada and Europe to spearhead the regime change drive against the people and government of Venezuela. The ‘Lima Group’ of countries was created to be the public face of the regime change drive. Today, the Covid-19 pandemic is firmly under control in Venezuelan whereas in the Latin American countries run by right-wing, pro-imperialist governments such as Peru, Brazil and Ecuador, the pandemic is running a deadly course.]
Why did the World Health Organization wait until March to declare a global coronavirus pandemic?, by Vijay Prashad, published by the Independent Media Institute, Apr 29, 2020
Has Sweden found the best response to the coronavirus? Its high death rate suggests it hasn’t, Vox.com, Apr 28, 2020
Related world news: Australia is ‘nowhere near’ herd immunity in fight against coronavirus, health authorities say, ABC.net.au, Apr 28, 2020
Trump orders meatpacking plants to stay open in pandemic as many become Covid-19 hotspots, Washington Post, Apr 28, 2020 …At least 20 meatpacking plants have closed in recent weeks because of covid-19 outbreaks, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. The United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents thousands of workers at U.S. meat plants, said on April 28 that at least 17 have died of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and at least 5,000 have been directly affected by the virus…
Related U.S. news: Positive test rates for COVID-19 are as high as 87 per cent at some Michigan prisons, HuffPost, Apr 29, 2020 …According to Michigan Department of Corrections estimates, at least 1,364 inmates have contracted COVID-19 statewide. The system’s overall positive rate is a whopping 57% of those tested, and 38 inmates had died as of the evening of April 28. The state has tested only about 2,300 out of 37,000 inmates…
Comparing the number of Covid-19 deaths to annual numbers of flu deaths is like comparing apples to oranges, Scientific American, Apr 28, 2020 …In the last six flu seasons, the CDC’s reported number of actual confirmed flu deaths in the U.S.has ranged from 3,448 to 15,620, which is far lower than the estimates commonly repeated by public officials and even public health experts of ‘25,000 to 69,000’ per year. The [larger] estimates are produced by the CDC by multiplying the number of flu death counts reported times various coefficients produced through complicated algorithms. Covid-19 death tallies, on the other hand, are actual, reported cases… If we compare, for instance, the number of people who died in the United States from COVID-19 in the second full week of April to the number of people who died from influenza during the worst week of the past seven flu seasons (as reported to the CDC), we find that the novel coronavirus killed between 9.5 and 44 times more people than seasonal flu. In other words, the coronavirus is not anything like the flu: It is much, much worse…
Trump vows more coronavirus testing, but it’s less than what may be needed, New York Times, Apr 27, 2020 and read: report in Washington Post, Apr 27, 2020 Under growing pressure to expand coronavirus testing as states move to reopen their economies, President Trump unveiled a new plan on April 27 to ramp up the federal government’s help to states, but his proposal runs far short of what most public health experts say is necessary…
Related:
* Coronavirus death toll in U.S. is far higher than reported, CDC data suggests, New York Times, Apr 28, 2020 Total deaths in seven states that have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic are nearly 50 percent higher than normal for the five weeks from March 8 through April 11, according to new death statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
* U.S. deaths soared in early weeks of pandemic, far exceeding number attributed to Covid-19, Washington Post, Apr 27, 2020 …Analysis suggests that the U.S. deaths announced in the weeks leading up to April 4, based on reports from state public health departments, failed to capture the full impact of the pandemic. Those incomplete numbers were widely cited at a time when many states were making critical decisions about closing businesses and taking other actions to stem the spread of the virus. The analysis also suggests that the death toll from the pandemic is significantly higher than has been reported, said Daniel Weinberger, a Yale professor of epidemiology and the leader of the research team…
Trump’s response to virus reflects a long disregard for science, New York Times, Apr 28, 2020 …A disregard for scientific advice has been a defining characteristic of Mr. Trump’s administration. As the nation confronts one of its worst public health disasters in generations, a moment that demands a leader willing to marshal the full might of the American scientific establishment, the White House is occupied by a president whose administration, critics say, has diminished the conclusions of scientists in formulating policy, who personally harbors a suspicion of expert knowledge, and who often puts his political instincts ahead of the facts…
Related: Can the Trump re-election campaign rewrite the story of the Trump presidency?, New York Times, Apr 28, 2020
How Trump and his team covered up the coronavirus in five days, commentary by Ryan Goodman and Danielle Schulkin, New York Times, Apr 28, 2020 The strongest critics of the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic point to its flat-footedness and the consequences of time lost. But the full account looks worse. Over the last five days of February, President Trump and senior officials did something more sinister: they engaged in a cover-up…
Related: President’s intelligence briefing books in January and February repeatedly cited virus threat, Washington Post, Apr 27, 2020
Brazil edges toward being next big coronavirus hot spot, Associated Press, Apr 28, 2020
Previously reported:
* Impeachment talk ramps up in Brazil as justice minister in Brazil resigns, accusing far-right president Jair Bolsonaro of interference in criminal investigations, The Intercept, Apr 24, 2020 [Brazil has the largest number of Covid-19 cases in Latin America and the fourth-highest per capita rate, following (in order) Ecuador, Peru and Chile.]
* A perfect storm in Brazil as troubles multiply for Bolsonaro, New York Times, Apr 25, 2020
* City of Manaus in Brazil’s Amazon, population two million, is ‘living through a Covid-19 nightmare’, NPR, Apr 23, 2020
People-before-profit health system pays off in Cuba during pandemic crisis while in the U.S. capitalism proves a bitter pill, commentary by Pablo Vivanco, in RT.com, Apr 28, 2020
Related:
* Cuba’s Covid-19 medical brigades are not medical diplomacy, they are international solidarity at its finest, by Bill Hackwell, Dissident Voice, Apr 26, 2020
* Cuba’s unique model of medical internationalism, interview with John Kirk, published in Cuba Standard, Apr 1, 2020 (John Kirk is a professor of Latin America studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is the author of 2015 book Healthcare Without Borders.)
Covid-19 stimulus measures must save lives, protect livelihoods and safeguard nature to reduce the risk of future pandemics, guest article published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Apr 27, 2020 (The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an independent, intergovernmental body established in 2012 by 94 governments.) There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic – us. As with the climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity – particularly our global financial and economic systems, based on a limited paradigm that prizes economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the seeds of future ones…
Insiders at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons slam April 8 report by the organization on Syria chemical weapons accusations, report by insiders at the OPCW, published in The Grayzone, Apr 28, 2020 (with introduction by Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté)
Trump fills his daily briefings on Covid-19 with attacks, boasts and little empathy, Washington Post, Apr 26, 2020 …Trump has spoken for more than 28 hours in the 35 briefings held since March 16, eating up 60 per cent of the time that officials spoke. Over the past three weeks, the tally comes to more than 13 hours of Trump — including two hours spent on attacks and 45 minutes praising himself and his administration, but just 4½ minutes expressing condolences for coronavirus victims. He spent twice as much time promoting an unproven antimalarial drug that was the object of a Food and Drug Administration warning on April 24… Trump also said something false or misleading in nearly a quarter of his prepared comments or answers to questions. His freewheeling approach ended in a political crisis this past week, after the president’s dangerous suggestion at a briefing on Thursday, April 23 that injecting bleach or other disinfectants might cure the coronavirus. The remarks set off a government-wide scramble and led to Trump telling aides the following day he would skip briefings this weekend. White House officials say privately they are considering scaling back the events entirely…
Related: Trump expands battle with World Health Organization far beyond suspension of funding, Washington Post, Apr 25, 2020 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…
The failure to reduce the jail population in the U.S. is shaping up to be the achilles heel for the battle to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in the U.S., press release by the American Civil Liberties Union, April 22, 2020 and read: report in The Guardian, April 22, 2020 [A research model commissioned by the ACLU shows that if action is not taken to reduce the number of inmates churning through the U.S. prison gulag, the projected Covid-19 death toll for the country will be 100,000 higher than the projection of 100,000 to 240,000 issued on April 1 by the Trump-led regime in Washington.] COVID-19 could claim the lives of approximately 100,000 more people than current projections stipulate if jail populations are not dramatically and immediately reduced, according to a new epidemiological model released on April 22 by the American Civil Liberties Union CLU and academic research partners… The U.S. is the largest incarcerator in the world, with just four percent of the world’s population and 21 percent of its incarcerated population. There are almost 740,000 people in jail in the U.S. on any given day…
Stockholm expected to reach ‘herd immunity’ in May, says Swedish ambassador to U.S., as the country’s death toll is many times higher than neighbours, NPR, April 26, 2020
World Health Organization says there are no studies showing that Covid-19 infection provides immunity from a second infection, BuzzFeed News, last updated Apr 27, 2020 There is currently no evidence showing that people who had the coronavirus can’t contract the virus again, the World Health Organization said in a scientific brief released on April 24…
Airbus warns of deeper job cuts with ‘survival at stake’, Reuters, Apr 26, 2020
Related:
* Embraer hits out after Boeing scraps $4.2 billion, regionhal jet merger proposal, Reuters, Apr 25, 2020
* Airlines bailout: Industry gets billions from U.S. government amid coronavirus fallout, International Business Times, Apr 26, 2020 …The Treasury Department confirmed on April 25 it would release an extra $9.5 billion in funds from its Payroll Support Program for use by the country’s airlines. The industry has so far taken $12.4 billion in relief funds…
Testing for Covid-19 remains scarce in the U.S. as governors weigh reopening states, New York Times, Apr 25, 2020
Related U.S. news: Meatpacking plants pressed to continue production as illnesses by workers shot up, Washington Post, Apr 25, 2020 Three of the nation’s largest meat processors failed to provide protective gear to all workers, and some employees say they were told to continue working in crowded plants even while sick as the coronavirus spread around the country and turned the facilities into infection hot spots, a Washington Post investigation has found… Tyson Foods, JBS USA and Smithfield Foods have closed 15 plants, devastating rural communities and threatening the nation’s supply of beef and pork. Industry analysts say production is already down by at least 25 percent…
How Chinese authorities and the World Health Organization handled the coronavirus pandemic, by Vijay Prashad, published by the Independent Media Institute, Apr 22, 2020 (part one of a two-part article) …On January 22, the WHO director-general convened the WHO’s International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee, which makes the decision to declare a “public health emergency.” The 15-member committee is made up of officials from the United States, France, Australia, Singapore, Canada and Thailand [plus many other countries]. The committee was divided; it eventually declined to declare an emergency, but suggested that it should reconvene 10 days later to assess the situation…
Related: U.S. elites use Russiagate playbook to blame China for coronavirus emergency and promote hostility, interview with Ajit Singh, broadcast on ‘Pushback’ (The Grayzone), with host Aaron Maté, Apr 25, 2020 The U.S. establishment is demonizing China over the COVID-19 crisis with a familiar Russiagate playbook of specious claims, fear-mongering, and deflecting responsibility for homegrown dysfunction. (Ajit Singh is a lawyer and a journalist at The Grayzone.)
Coronavirus and the price of Trump’s delusions, by Michelle Goldberg, columnist, New York Times, Apr 24, 2020 A cult of personality is no match for a pandemic.
Related:
* Abortion rights, guns and church closings have made the coronavirus emergency into a culture war in the U.S., New York Times, Apr 20, 2020
* We’re on our own, America, commentary in Washington Post, Apr 24, 2020
Despite the siege, Venezuela controls the coronavirus, by Maria Paez Victor, published in CounterPunch, Apr 24, 2020
Related:
* City of Manaus in Brazil’s Amazon, population two million, is ‘living through a Covid-19 nightmare’, NPR, Apr 23, 2020
* Ecuador’s death toll during outbreak is among the worst in the world, New York Times, Apr 23, 2020 A New York Times analysis suggests that Ecuador’s death toll is 15 times higher than its official tally of coronavirus deaths, highlighting the damage the virus can do in developing countries.
* Mexican president unveils severe cuts amid coronavirus, The Guardian, Apr 24, 2020 Andrés Manuel López Obrador is being compared to Reagan and Thatcher after introducing severe austerity measures
Nursing homes linked to up to half of coronavirus deaths in Europe, WHO says, Washington Post, Apr 23, 2020
Related: Nearly one in ten nursing homes in U.S. report coronavirus cases, Washington Post, Apr 20, 2020
U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration warns that the Trump-touted hydrochloroquine drug causes serious heart damage and even death, Washington Post, Apr 24, 2020
Related:
* Trump suggests ‘injection’ of disinfectant to beat coronavirus and ‘clean’ the lungs, NBC News. Apr 23, 2020
* Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie takes advocacy of anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine as Covid-19 treatment even further than Trump, Associated Press, Apr 24, 2020
* As Trump urges doctors to lie on live tv, top public health official Dr. Rick Bright says he was demoted for limiting hydroxychloroquine use, The Intercept, Apr 22, 2020
News from U.S. :
* Two investigations seek answers on why CDC’s coronavirus testing kits failed, Washington Post, Apr 23, 2020
* As construction continues amidst covid-19 in Washington DC region, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post raises few objections, by Pete Tucker, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, Apr 25, 2020
* Thousands gather at Wisconsin state Capitol to protest coronavirus restrictions, Milwaukee Seninel-Journal, Apr 24, 2020
* Charts show why Georgia isn’t ready to reopen, New York Times, Apr 24, 2020
Michael Moore releases new documentary film on global warming, ‘Planet of the Humans’, Rolling Stone, Apr 22, 2020 Executive producer Michael Moore has released a new documentary on climate change from director Jeff Gibbs. ‘Planet of the Humans’ is available to watch on YouTube for free for the next 30 days. ‘This movie takes no prisoners and exposes the truth about how we have been led astray in the fight to save the planet, to the point where if we don’t reverse course right now, events like the current pandemic will become numerous, devastating and insurmountable.’–Michael Moore
Related: America’s great greenwashing: Review of the new film ‘Planet of the Humans’ produced by Michael Moore’s, review by Robert Hunziker, published in CounterPunch, Apr 24, 2020
Hidden Covid-19 outbreaks spread through U.S. cities far earlier than Americans knew, estimates say, New York Times, Apr 22, 2020 …As political leaders grappled in February with the question of whether the outbreak would become serious enough to order measures like school closures and remote work, little or no systematic testing for the virus was taking place… The research offers the first clear accounting of how far behind the United States was in detecting the virus. The findings provide a warning of what can recur, the researchers say, if social distancing restrictions are lifted too quickly…
Related: The story of the dog breeder who was the first appointee in January 2020 to lead the U.S. Dept. of Health’s response to COVID-19, special report by Reuters, Apr 22, 2020
Jobless numbers in the U.S. are staggering but understate the crisis, New York Times, Apr 23, 2020 With 4.4 million added last week, the five-week total passed 26 million. The struggle by states to field claims has hampered economic recovery.
Related:
* American billionaires have gotten $280 billion richer since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, published by Fast Company, Apr 23, 2020
* Environmental and labor groups in U.S. team up to demand Covid-19 relief, Truthout.org, Apr 22, 2020
States rushing to reopen are likely making a deadly error, coronavirus models and experts warn, Washington Post, Apr 22, 2020
Related:
* The anti-quarantine protests in the U.S. seem spontaneous, but behind the scenes a powerful network of moneyed, conservative interests is helping, Washington Post, Apr 22, 2020
* ‘Sadness’ and disbelief from a world missing American leadership, New York Times, April 23, 2020
China imposes new limits as coronavirus fears return, New York Times, Apr 23, 2020
Antibody testing for COVID-19 isn’t the quick fix it’s been made out to be, by Andre Picard, health reporter, Globe and Mail, Apr 22, 2020
In New York’s largest hospital system, 88 percent of coronavirus patients on ventilators didn’t make it, Washington Post, Apr 22, 2020
Call for a better world following the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, statement by some 170 Dutch academics, with an introduction by A Socialist In Canada, published on April 22, 2020 ‘The political aftermath of the pandemic threatens a great acceleration of the three, existing threats looming over contemporary civilization—global warming, rising imperialist militarism and war, and growing social inequities. As such, the recovery from the pandemic offers a unique moment in human history to avoid a descent into barbarism and civilizational collapse, into which globalized, expansionist capitalism is taking the world.’
New York Times merges anti-China prejudice and conspiracy-mongering with its established anti-Russia prejudice. Report in New York Times Apr 21, 2020, titled ‘Chinese agents spread messages that sowed panic in U.S., officials say’ Sub-headline: American officials [unnamed] were alarmed by fake text messages and social media posts that said President Trump was locking down the country over Covid-19. Experts see a convergence with Russian tactics Excerpt: …Since the wave of [panicking social messaging in early March], United States intelligence agencies have assessed that Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms, according to six American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity… The origin of the messages remains murky. American officials [sic] declined to reveal details of the intelligence linking Chinese agents to the dissemination of the disinformation… [emphasis added].
Related:
* Senate Intelligence Committee report revives conspiracy claims of Russian interference in 2016 election. Report by Associated Press, April 22, 2020
[Special counsel Robert Mueller failed to find widely-alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump election campaign and agencies of the Russian government in his report delivered in April 2019. No problem–his report did allege “sweeping and systematic” interference in the election. This new report by the U.S. Senate is heavily redacted and repeats the accusations of interference. As with earlier such reports, the evidence of such interference compiled by the Senate is laughable, largely consisting of vague accusations of ‘Russians’ doing this and that over the internet. So the ‘Russian interference’ sideshow lives on. Today, it merges dangerously with threatened aggression against China using as justification conspiracy theory over the handling of the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic by Chinese authorities. All very convenient for distracting attention from the criminal and murderous neglect that has marked the response of the U.S. government to the pandemic. This underlines how the ruling classes in the imperalist countries will use the coronavirus emergency to accelerate their existing war against the people of the world and the delicate ecological balance of planet Earth.].
* Republican state of Missouri launches legal action against China over Covid-19, Associated Press, Apr 21, 2020 …The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the state’s top lawyer, alleges Chinese officials are “responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians.”…
Covid-19 and the propaganda war against Russia, by Bryan MacDonald, column published in the eclectic RT.com, Apr 22, 2020
Total cases: U.S. 788k, UK 125k, Russia 52k
Total deaths (as of Apr 22): U.S. 45,356, UK 18,100, Russia 413
Total tests: U.S. 4.2 million, Russia 2.25 million, UK 0.56 million
Populations: U.S. 331M, Russia 146M, UK 68M
(All figures from Worldometer)
U.S. is deporting migrants ill with Covid-19 back to vulnerable countries, Washington Post, Apr 21, 2020
Related U.S. news:
* In two states, a vast testing gap shows what it means to have no national testing strategy, Washington Post, Apr 21, 2020
* Medical panel recommends against drugs promoted by Trump for COVID-19, PBS, Apr 21, 2020 …As for the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine alone, the panel said there was “insufficient clinical data to recommend either for or against”. It reached the same conclusion about the drug remdesivir…
* Fox News quietly backs away from hyping Trump’s coronavirus ‘miracle drug’ as tests show no benefit and lots of risks from the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, The Daily Beast, Apr 21, 2020
Singapore lost control of its coronavirus outbreak, and migrant workers are the victims, Washington Post, Apr 21, 2020 …Thousands of new cases — and almost 70 per cent of Singapore’s total — are concentrated in dormitories that house migrant workers..
How a Trump media dump mainstreamed Chinese lab coronavirus conspiracy theory, by Max Blumenthal and Ajit Singh, published in The Grayzone, Apr 20, 2020 A conspiracy theory about Covid-19 escaping from the Wuhan Institute of Virology is the Trump administration’s Iraqi WMD. And the Washington Post’s Josh Rogin is playing the role of Judith Miller
Previously reported:
* U.S. health and science experts working at the World Health Organization kept the U.S. gov’t fully informed about the rise of the coronavirus pandemic, Washington Post, Apr 19, 2020 …The presence of so many U.S. officials working at the WHO in Geneva undercuts President Trump’s assertion that the WHO failed to communicate the extent of the threat out of a desire to protect China and is largely responsible for the rapid spread of the virus in the United States…
* Trump says WHO didn’t share early information about Covid-19. A new report by the Washington Post shows that’s not true, Vox.com, Apr 19, 2020
* Anti-China Covid-19 speculation and conspiracy theory goes from margin to center, by Ari Paul, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), Apr 17, 2020
Comparing coronavirus death rates in states and regions in the U.S., New York Times, Apr 22, 2020
As some states move to lessen coronavirus safety measures, wedge between states and White House over role and availability of testing deepens, Washington Post, Apr 20, 2020
Related:
* In Georgia and elsewhere in the U.S. south, governors begin lifting coronavirus restrictions, NBC News, Apr 21, 2020 [Georgia is the tenth-highest state in the U.S. for reported Covid-19 cases, at 20,000 as of April 20. It is also tenth highest for Covid-19 deaths–800 as of the same date.].
* Nearly one in ten nursing homes in the U.S. report coronavirus cases, with deaths in the thousands, Washington Post, Apr 20, 2020
* Give me liberty and also death, by Jack Holmes, Esquire Magazine, Apr 20, 2020 American Ignorance rears its head as scattered groups of protesters demand an end to the coronavirus lockdown
* Poll by Yahoo News/YouGov shows most Americans reject anti-lockdown protests, Yahoo News, Apr 20, 2020 An overwhelming majority of Americans, Republicans included, are rejecting right-wing protests — encouraged by President Trump — to immediately ‘reopen’ the country in the midst of the world’s largest and deadliest coronavirus outbreak, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll
COVID-19 ‘liberate’ groups are the same ones that push global warming denial, by Steve Horn, published in DeSmog Blog, Apr 20, 2020
Related: Coronavirus doubters follow global warming denial playbook, by Dana Nuccitelli, Yale Climate Connections, Apr 14, 2020
170 Dutch academics issue five proposals for a better world after the pandemic, centering on proposals for degrowth, statement by 170 Dutch academics, published in Climate and Capitalism, Apr 20, 2020 [The coronavirus emergency worldwide brings to the fore the societal imperative for a radical shift to a world economy based on de-growth (de-commodification), which is to say principles of social justice and ecological balance. Yet few or none of the many manifesto-style, left-wing declarations being published in English since the onset of the Covid-19 emergency have addressed this imperative. This declaration by 170 Dutch economists addresses the degrowth imperative squarely, making it exceptionally important. The fact that the declaration is re-published in the degrowth-wary, ecosocialist website Climate and Capitalism hopefully signals a broader, positive shift by left-wing environmentalists. To date, they have been following the lead of liberal environmentalists such as Naomi Klein whose proposals for societal change are locked into the dead end of a ‘greening’ of capitalism.]
28,000 missing deaths: Tracking the true toll of the coronavirus crisis, New York Times, Apr 20, 2020 …At least 28,000 more people have died during the coronavirus pandemic over the last month than the official Covid-19 death counts report, a review of mortality data in 11 countries shows — providing a clearer, if still incomplete, picture of the toll of the crisis…
Coronavirus recession could plunge tens of millions into poverty, new report warns, Washington Post, Apr 20, 2020 The poverty rate could spike as much as 50 percent if the nation’s unprecedented plunge in unemployment is prolonged
Related: How Covid-19 pandemic is deepening the economic inequalities in the U.S., by Anna North, Vox.com, Apr 10, 2020
Too much oil: How a barrel came to be worth less than nothing, New York Times, Apr 21, 2020
Related: Why deflation is poison for virus-plagued economies, Bloomberg News, Apr 19, 2020
The White House has erected a blockade stopping states and hospitals from getting coronavirus personal protective equipment, by David Wallace-Wells, published in the ‘Daily Intelligencer’ bulletin of New York Magazine, Apr 19, 2020 Whenever you start to think that the federal government under Donald Trump has hit a moral bottom, it finds a new way to shock and horrify. Over the last few weeks, it has started to appear as though, in addition to abandoning the states to their own devices in a time of national emergency, the federal government has effectively erected a blockade to prevent delivery of critical medical equipment to states desperately in need…
Maryland and Virginia governors blast Trump over his support to protests against coronavirus public health measures and the lack of federal government testing equipment as cases continue to rise in the U.S. capital region, Washington Post, Apr 19, 2020
‘Under siege’: Overwhelmed Brooklyn care home records 55 Covid-19 deaths, Associated Press, Apr 20, 2020
Related: Nursing home in New Jersey records 70 Covid-19 deaths. This is what went wrong, New York Times, April 19, 2020
How the Nicaraguan opposition has distorted the government’s response to Covid-19, by John Perry, in Masaya, Nicaragua, published in CounterPunch, Apr 21, 2020
Related news from Latin America: How Ecuador descended into COVID-19 death and chaos, by Guillaume Long, published by the Center for Economic Policy Research (Washington DC), Apr 18, 2020
Analyzing Trump’s false claim that the World Health Organization said the coronavirus was ‘not communicable’, Washington Post, Apr 18, 2020 Donald Trump’s announcement on April 14 that he would suspend payments to the World Health Organization in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic contained a number of false or misleading claims… For the purposes of this fact check, we will examine the part of Trump’s statement that holds some credibility — that the WHO did not alert the world quickly that the new virus could travel among people. We have assembled a detailed timeline to look at what the organization said…
U.S. health and science experts working at the World Health Organization kept the U.S. gov’t fully informed about the rise of the coronavirus pandemic, Washington Post, Apr 19, 2020 …The presence of so many U.S. officials working at the WHO in Geneva undercuts President Trump’s assertion that the WHO failed to communicate the extent of the threat out of a desire to protect China and is largely responsible for the rapid spread of the virus in the United States…
Related: Trump says WHO didn’t share early information about Covid-19. A new report by the Washington Post shows that’s not true, Vox.com, Apr 19, 2020
Anti-China Covid-19 speculation and conspiracy theory goes from margin to center, by Ari Paul, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), Apr 17, 2020
28,000 missing deaths: Tracking the true toll of the coronavirus crisis, New York Times, Apr 20, 2020 …At least 28,000 more people have died during the coronavirus pandemic over the last month than the official Covid-19 death counts report, a review of mortality data in 11 countries shows — providing a clearer, if still incomplete, picture of the toll of the crisis…
Too much oil: How a barrel came to be worth less than nothing, New York Times, Apr 21, 2020
Related: Why deflation is poison for virus-plagued economies, Bloomberg News, Apr 19, 2020
The White House has erected a blockade stopping states and hospitals from getting coronavirus personal protective equipment, by David Wallace-Wells, published in the ‘Daily Intelligencer’ bulletin of New York Magazine, Apr 19, 2020 Whenever you start to think that the federal government under Donald Trump has hit a moral bottom, it finds a new way to shock and horrify. Over the last few weeks, it has started to appear as though, in addition to abandoning the states to their own devices in a time of national emergency, the federal government has effectively erected a blockade to prevent delivery of critical medical equipment to states desperately in need…
Maryland and Virginia governors blast Trump over his support to protests against coronavirus public health measures and the lack of federal government testing equipment as cases continue to rise in the U.S. capital region, Washington Post, Apr 19, 2020
‘Under siege’: Overwhelmed Brooklyn care home records 55 Covid-19 deaths, Associated Press, Apr 20, 2020
Related: Nursing home in New Jersey records 70 Covid-19 deaths. This is what went wrong, New York Times, April 19, 2020
How Covid-19 pandemic is deepening the economic inequalities in the U.S., by Anna North, Vox.com, Apr 10, 2020
How Ecuador descended into COVID-19 death and chaos, by Guillaume Long, published by the Center for Economic Policy Research (Washington DC), Apr 18, 2020
Analyzing Trump’s false claim that the World Health Organization said the coronavirus was ‘not communicable’, Washington Post, Apr 18, 2020 Donald Trump’s announcement on April 14 that he would suspend payments to the World Health Organization in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic contained a number of false or misleading claims… For the purposes of this fact check, we will examine the part of Trump’s statement that holds some credibility — that the WHO did not alert the world quickly that the new virus could travel among people. We have assembled a detailed timeline to look at what the organization said…
As U.S. coronavirus fatality rate rises to five per cent, experts are still trying to understand how deadly this virus is, Washington Post, Apr 18, 2020 The ‘case fatality rate’ of Covid-19 illnesses varies wildly from country to country and even within nations from week to week …Any case fatality rate is, in general, an inaccurate number. And yet in the middle of an epidemic, it is hard to do better. With this coronavirus in particular, the inadequate testing means many infections have been missed… Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch has written that he and most experts suspect the fatality rate is about one to two per cent for symptomatic cases. A one percent fatality rate is ten times the average fatality rate for seasonal flu…
Family planning clinics in U.S. report up to 400 per cent rise in abortion requests. If there’s a Covid-19 economic collapse, this will get much worse, RT, Apr 19, 2020
Small protests erupt in some state capitals on April 18 against Covid-19 protection measures, Washington Post, Apr 18, 2020 President Trump has singled out Democratic governors in Michigan and Virginia for having “gotten carried away”
Related:
* Trump encourages fringe, right-wing protests against governors who have imposed virus restrictions. Report in New York Times, Apr 18, 2020 The president’s stark departure from his message on April 16 when he announced guidelines for governors to reopen their states and said they would “call your own shots”, suggests he is ceding any semblance of national leadership on the pandemic.
* Trump foments resistance to coronavirus safety restrictions, Washington Post, Apr 17, 2020 …Conservative groups have bolstered the protests in an effort to create a nationwide movement in favor of restarting economic activity on a broad basis despite health concerns…
* Coronavirus testing needs to triple before the U.S. can reopen, experts say, New York Times, Apr 17, 2020 …About 20 percent of those tested so far in the U.S. were positive for the virus, a rate that the researchers say is too high… The researchers say that expanded testing could reduce the infection rate to 10 percent, which is the maximum rate recommended by the World Health Organization. In Germany, that number is seven percent and in South Korea, it is closer to three percent…
Trump re-election campaign concludes there is more to be gained by attacking Biden than trying to defend Trump’s pandemic response, Washington Post, Apr 18, 2020 President Trump’s campaign is preparing to launch a broad effort aimed at linking Joe Biden to China, after concluding that it would be more politically effective than defending or promoting Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic…
Related: First, the coronavirus pandemic took their jobs. That wiped out their work-related health insurance, Washington Post, Apr 18, 2020 …The latest census data show that job-based coverage accounted for 55 per cent of Americans’ health insurance. The kinds of work now disappearing the most — restaurant jobs and others in the service industry — have always been less likely to offer health benefits. The Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates that 9.2 million U.S. residents were at high risk of having lost coverage during the past four weeks. The consulting firm Health Management Associates forecasts that perhaps 12 million to 35 million people will lose job-based insurance because of the pandemic, on top of the 27.5 million who were uninsured before the virus arrived…
An overlooked, possibly fatal coronavirus crisis: The dire need for kidney dialysis, New York Times, Apr 18, 2020 Kidney specialists now estimate that 20 percent to 40 percent of ICU patients with the coronavirus suffered kidney failure and needed emergency dialysis
Related: U.S. races to stock up on dialysis supplies as kidney failure ravages virus patients, Politico, Apr 15, 2020 Hospitals in New York City are running out of dialysis fluids as thousands of coronavirus patients develop kidney failure, an unexpected development that could presage the next critical supply shortage nationwide. Approximately 20 per cent of coronavirus patients in intensive care around the city need the kidney treatment, often for weeks, a development that many providers did not see coming…
Thousands of U.S. hotels are providing rooms for health care workers and the homeless, but cities say Trump’s hotels aren’t participating, Washington Post, Apr 18, 2020 …”Thank you to hotels around the country for providing healthcare workers and first responders a place to stay while they’re on the front lines of the pandemic,” the White House’s Twitter account wrote on April 5…
Coronavirus outbreak may have started in September 2019, say British scientists, South China Morning Post, Apr 17, 2020 The SARS-CoV-2 virus is more likely to have come from southern China than Wuhan, but further analysis of bats and other potential host animals is needed, geneticist says
Related news:
* Why it is unlikely COVID-19 escaped from a lab, by Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, published in Forbes Magazine, Apr 17, 2020 (Dr. Jason Kindrachuk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases at the University of Manitoba.) …Although the consumption of wild meat certainly presents the opportunity for zoonotic viruses to transmit to humans, most transmission is caused by urban sprawl as humans increasingly come in contact with animals. Deforestation and climate change have minimized the ecological niches of wildlife, including the migratory range of bats, forcing animals to come into closer and closer contact with humans…
* Did COVID-19 escape from a lab?, by Mark Lynas, published by Alliance for Science (Cornell University), Apr 15, 2020 A frenzy of speculation has arisen around the idea that the novel coronavirus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic might originally have escaped from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. While there is so far no evidence being offered to support this suggestion, the fact that the mere possibility is being reported in mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post and Yahoo News might seem to give credence to earlier conspiracy theories about the virus being engineered in a biowarfare laboratory and deliberately released into the human population. But don’t be fooled…
Why France has four times as many coronavirus deaths as Germany, Vox.com, Apr 17, 2020
The risk of Covid-19 transmission through routine interactions is low. Report in New York Times, Apr 17, 2020
Timeline of the coronavirus pandemic and the response of the U.S. government and public health officials, Wall Street Journal, Apr 17, 2020
As the Trump administration legitimizes Covid-19’s ‘China lab’ origins conspiracy theory, remember the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ lie in Iraq, commentary by Scott Ritter, published in RT.com, Apr 17, 2020 (Scott Ritter is a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and former UN weapons inspector (1991-98).)
Related: Forget the Russians and Chinese: Trump is the biggest source of Covid-19 disinformation, by Scott Taylor, publisher, Esprit de Corps military affairs magazine (Canada), Apr 14, 2020
Previously reported:
* How China broke the chain of Covid-19 infection, by Vijay Prashad, Du Xiaojun, Weiyan Zhu, published by Independent Media Institute, Apr 15, 2020
* Report says there was no willful suppression by Chinese authorities of the news of the coronavirus outbreak, contradicting the tidal wave of Western media reports treating the accusation as fact, by Vijay Prashad, Du Xiaojun and Weiyan Zhu, published in CounterPunch, Apr 8, 2020
* Growing xenophobia against China in the midst of coronashock, by Vijay Prashad, Du Xiaojun and Weiyan Zhu, published by Independent Media Institute (Globetrotter), Mar 31, 2020
Trump regime diverting attention from its disastrous Covid-19 response by stoking anger at China and accusing the Democratic Party’s Joe Biden of being is ‘soft’ on China. Report in Washington Post, Apr 16, 2020 …The effort to weaponize anger over the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout echoes Trump’s past demonization of Muslims, Mexico and people with Mexican ancestry. It also attempts to portray Biden and his son as being financially beholden to China for decades, accusing them of the same sort of personal profiteering of which Democrats have accused Trump and his family…
Related: Trump’s denial of his coronavirus failings will be ‘one of the biggest propaganda battles in American history’, Vox.com, Apr 16, 2020 …The fight to keep Americans from understanding what happened from December 2019 to March 2020 is going to be one of the biggest propaganda battles in American history. Because so much of it is public–we have so many statements from Trump minimizing the danger… The Republican Party, the Trump campaign and the MAGA coalition are going to have to produce confusion and doubt on a scale that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before…
What South Korea knows so far about recurring COVID-19 cases, The Korea Herald, Apr 17, 2020 …The recurring cases in South Korea so far account for 2.1 per cent of the 7,829 people released from quarantine after recovering…
A postmortem on Bernie Sanders and Palestine, by Steven Salaita, published on his website, Apr 15, 2020 (also appearing in CounterPunch, Apr 17, 2020)
Related:
* How Bernie Sanders was made into a fighter for Palestine, by Steven Salaita, published on his website, Feb 10, 2020 (also appearing in CounterPunch, Feb 10, 2020)
* If coronavirus overwhelms Gaza, Israel alone will be to blame, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website, Apr 13, 2020
Trump announces ‘slow’ reopening of U.S. economy without targets, without dates while shifting responsibility for coronavirus testing to states. Report in Washington Post, Apr 16, 2020
Related:
* The U.S. economy can’t reopen without widespread coronavirus testing. Getting there will take a lot of work and money, CNBC, Apr 16, 2020 Some experts say America needs to perform 20 million to 30 million tests a day to begin getting the economy back to normal.
* Missing data in COVID pandemic leaves U.S. vulnerable, ABC News, Apr 16, 2020 …There are at least 671,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. However, experts have warned that the number is likely much higher because testing has been sparse…
Brazil’s Bolsonaro fires health minister Mandetta after differences over coronavirus response, Washington Post, Apr 16, 2020 …Brazil has reported more than 29,000 Covid-19 cases and more than 1,760 deaths, numbers second only to the United States in the Western Hemisphere. Given Brazil’s sharply limited testing, actual cases and deaths are believed to be significant undercounts… Out of the estimated 329 million people who live in the U.S., only 3.2 million have been tested, according to the Johns Hopkins data…
Ecuador is dealing with piles of bodies in its largest city as coronavirus ravages the country, Vice.com, Apr 14, 2020 Hundreds of bodies of people who died at home had been kept on beds, or the floor, or even outside on the pavement.
Why Cuba’s coronavirus response is such an interesting case, by Emily Morris and Ilan Kelman, University College of London, published in The Conversation, Apr 15, 2020
Singapore: From Harvard U’s ‘gold standard’ to a coronavirus ‘explosion’, LA Times, Apr 15, 2020
World Health Organization, now Trump’s scapegoat, warned about coronavirus early and often, New York Times, Apr 16, 2020
Open letter condemning China’s coronavirus response is initiated by right-wing think tanks in Canada, England and Czech Republic. Report by Global News (Canada), Apr 16, 2020 [The open letter is coordinated by the MacDonald Laurier Institute (Canada), Henry Jackson Society (England) and the European Values Center for Security Policy (Czech Republic).].
Related:
* Canada’s Globe and Mail daily publishes anti-China diatribe by right-wing ideologue, a former Liberal Party justice minister. Commentary by Irwin Cottler titled ‘The Chinese Communist Party’s culture of corruption and repression has cost lives around the world’, published in Globe and Mail, Apr 15, 2020
* Don’t blame China for your government’s Covid-19 failures, by David Mastracci, managing editor, Passage online magazine (Toronto), Apr 7, 2020
[Donald Trump’s salvos against the government of China and the World Health Organization signal a deepening of the violent, new cold war being waged by the United States and its imperialist allies against Russia, China, and progressive countries such as Cuba and Venezuela engaged in socialist paths of development. Washington’s allies will follow its lead because their entire world order is at stake–it lies in tatters and requires scapegoats to deflect attention. A ‘reopening’ of this world order will be accompanied by a vast police and propaganda effort to silence doubters and critics. Today, the world’s working class peoples have a unique but time-limited opportunity to stop this suicidal course and fight to dismantle the destructive, expansionist capitalist world order and replace it with a planned system of social justice and ecological balance. Failure to act on this opportunity will open the door to an acceleration of the terminal decline of human civilization itself which the world is already experiencing.]
Criticized for pandemic response, Trump tries shifting blame to the World Health Organization, New York Times, Apr 14, 2020
Related: Exposed for its criminally negligent response to Covid-19 threat, Trump regime lashes out against World Health Organization, threatens sanctions. Report on RT.com, April 14, 2020
[The New York Times and other news outlets in the U.S. are detailing the months-long record of criminal neglect by the Trump regime in Washington as the Covid-19 epidemic emerged in early 2020. Sections of the U.S. ruling class itself are unsettled by the political implications of this for U.S. imperialism, namely, a loss of prestige and confidence among world governments, perhaps even among its most slavish allies such as Britain, Canada and Australia.]
China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for six key days, Associated Press, Apr 15, 2020 Postcript: [An article by writer Vijay Prashad was published on April 22 refuting a central claim in this April 15 article by Associated Press. In his article, Prashad writes: …By January 14, the Chinese authorities and the WHO had made the following clear: there was a new kind of coronavirus that had a limited human-to-human transmission capability and had until now been restricted within China, with one person taking the infection to Thailand from Wuhan. These were all public statements. Bizarrely, the Associated Press ran a story on April 15 arguing that the Chinese government did not report the news of the outbreak to the public for six crucial days from January 14 to 20; in fact, the Chinese government had informed the U.S. CDC and the WHO on January 3, and had made public statements of what they knew until January 14. After Dr. Zhong Nanshan’s announcement of the lethality of the virus on January 20, everything changed… [End citation. Reference: How Chinese authorities and the World Health Organization handled the coronavirus pandemic, by Vijay Prashad, published by the Independent Media Institute, Apr 22, 2020]
[There is a solid scientific argument in favour of reviewing and reporting the early actions by the government and medical establishment in China as the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19 illness) pandemic was emerging. But there is the danger that any such reporting in Western media will simply serve to feed the growing anti-China propaganda by the Trump regime in Washington. The Associated News article highlighted above presents a rounded assessment of the difficult decisions China faced in early January 2020 when the full scope of the SARS-CoV-2 threat was, arguably, not yet fully clear. China’s actions contrast strongly with those of the leading imperialist countries of the world who dawdled criminally for several months (mid-January to mid-March) after the full-scale of the emergency became evident. As the Associated Press article reports: During those months [following the announcement on January 20 by Chinese president Xi Jinping that the findings by Chinese researchers of a potential pandemic “must be taken seriously”], Trump ignored the warnings of his own staff and dismissed the disease as nothing to worry about while his government failed to bolster medical supplies and deployed flawed testing kits. Leaders across the world turned a blind eye to the outbreak, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for a strategy of “herd immunity” — before falling ill himself. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sneered at what he called “a little cold”.]
Trump’s effort to enlist private companies to ‘reopen’ U.S. economy is derided as a disaster, Common Dreams, Apr 16, 2020
Related:
* Chaotic search in U.S. for coronavirus treatments undermines efforts, experts say, Washington Post, Apr 15, 2020
* As Trump regime discouraged the public from using protective masks, it raced to secure them for its own use, from Taiwan. Report in Washington Post, Apr 15, 2020
* Pandemic doesn’t stop corporate media in the U.S. from crusading against universal healthcare, by Joshua Cho, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), Apr 15, 2020
The Coronavirus is mutating. What does that mean for a vaccine?, New York Times, Apr 16, 2020
Related: Poor immunity or mutations? South Korea investigates ‘shrewd’ coronavirus as reinfections creep in, South China Morning Post, Apr 16, 2020
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus destroys the lungs. Doctors are finding it also damages kidneys, hearts and other organs, Washington Post, Apr 15, 2020
Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the post-pandemic period, research paper by mulitple authors at Harvard University, published in Science Magazine, Apr 14, 2020 From the abstract: …We project that recurrent wintertime outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 will probably occur after the initial, most severe pandemic wave. Absent other interventions, a key metric for the success of social distancing is whether critical care capacities are exceeded. To avoid this, prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary into 2022… Even in the event of apparent elimination, SARS-CoV-2 surveillance should be maintained since a resurgence in contagion could be possible as late as 2024…
Turkey to release thousands of common prisoners as coronavirus sweeps through jails, but tens of thousands of political prisoners are excluded, Al-Monitor, Apr 14, 2020 …Notable political prisoners include Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas, the former co-chairs of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, prominent philanthropist Osman Kavala and writer Ahmet Altan…
Extended lockdown brings more burdens for Syrian Kurds, Al-Monitor, Apr 15, 2020
$25 billion bailout and $25 billion ‘loan packages’ to U.S. airline industry, on top of earlier $10 billion for airports, Washington Post, Apr 14, 2020 …Unions representing pilots, flight attendants, maintenance workers and others also launched an aggressive campaign in support of the legislation, emphasizing the money would go directly to employees, not executives or shareholders…
Related: In unprecedented move, Treasury Dep’t orders Trump’s name to be printed prominently on stimulus checks, Washington Post, Apr 15, 2020
Cuba under U.S. media attack for sending doctors to aid other countries with Covid-19 pandemic, by Belen Fernandez, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), Apr 14, 2020
Related: Corporate media cover for U.S. mob threats against Venezuela, by Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), Apr 15, 2020
This could be the end of the line for cruise ships, by Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (University of South Australia), The Conversation, Apr 13, 2020
Related: Cruise ship crews stuck at sea, searching for a way home with paydays dwindling, Washington Post, Apr 14, 2020
How top Labour Party officials plotted to bring down Jeremy Corbyn after his election as party leader in 2015, by Jonathan Cook, Middle East Eye, April 16, 2020 (also published on Jonathan Cook’s website, here)
Trump regime’s scramble to call shots on ‘reopening’ the U.S. sets off constitutional standoff with state governors. Report in New York Times, Apr 13, 2020 (and read: report in Washington Post, Apr 13, 2020) [Two groups of U.S. governors, one on the east coast and one on the west, announced on April 13 they were forming multistate committees to explore how and when to lift restrictions on resuming the frenetic capitalist economy.] From the NYT article: There once was a time when President Trump made clear that governors were the ones mainly responsible for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. But that was then. On April 13, he declared that he was really in charge and would make the decision about when and how to reopen the country… The schism threatens widespread confusion if the president and governors end up at loggerheads over how and when to begin resuming some semblance of normal life in the country once the risk of the virus begins to fade sufficiently. Conflicting orders by Washington and state capitals would leave businesses and workers in the untenable position of trying to decide which level of government to listen to when it comes to reopening doors and returning to their jobs…
Related:
* Trump responds to reports about his incompetence by flying into a self-pitying rage at press briefing. He even brought his own hastily made propaganda reel, Slate.com, Apr 14, 2020 Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus task force press briefings stopped being about the coronavirus weeks ago. Any necessary or potentially helpful announcements have largely been supplanted by hours-long recitations of Trump’s various grievances, his imagined accomplishments and all the people who have most recently wronged him. On April 13, the president somehow managed to reach a new level of self-pitying psychosis…
* Trump’s public relations stunt at April 13 press briefing falls flat as White House video inadvertently exposes his failure to prepare for pandemic, The Intercept, Apr 14, 2020
More than 90 countries plead for financial lifelines as coronavirus wreaks economic havoc across the globe, Washington Post, Apr 14, 2020 …If left unchecked, the catastrophe descending upon countries such as South Africa, Brazil, India and Lebanon could shake the industrialized world. Disorderly defaults on government debt would cause stock and bond prices to gyrate on Wall Street. A torrent of illegal migrants fleeing poverty and sickness could demand refuge. And countries in chaos might serve as a haven for the coronavirus, enabling waves of infection that would hamstring the global economy for years…
[Amidst all the anxiety and discussion about the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and the desire to resume pre-pandemic conditions of economic ‘growth’, few people are asking ‘Why resume?’ Growing numbers amidst the working class peoples of the world see and realize that capitalist growth and expansion is a fool’s game, a now-proven formula for civilizational decline. So why the fixation on resuming the fool’s game and discussing its conditions? The pandemic is an occasion for the political and environmental left to launch a fight for the dismantling of the destructive growth and expansion imperative of the world capitalist order and replace it with a planned, social economy focused on production of social wealth for the people instead of ‘exchange values’ for the capitalists. But this alternative–call it ‘degrowth’, or ‘decommodification of society’–is poorly understood or accepted by the political left and the environmental movement. More’s the pity.]
South Dakota governor refused to order social distancing measures, now the state has one of the country’s largest coronavirus hot spots, at one of the country’s largest meatpacking plants, Washington Post, Apr 13, 2020 …More than 300 workers at the giant Smithfield pork-processing plant have fallen ill. The company was forced to close the facility on April 13, threatening the U.S. food supply… As of early April, the city of Sioux Falls had relatively few cases. But over the course of last week, the numbers surged as the virus ripped through the plant, a colossus that employs 3,700 people, many of them immigrants… Like other food production facilities, the factory was earlier deemed ‘essential’ by the federal government… [Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer in the world. The conglomerate was purchased by Chinese capitalists in 2013 and it is the largest foregin owner of farmland in the U.S. The company says the closure of its plant in Sioux Falls will last a few days, for cleaning and implementation of ‘social distancing’ measures. ] * Colorado meat packing plant with thousands of employees closed after coronavirus outbreak, CNN, Apr 11, 2020
Signs missed and steps slowed in Trump’s pandemic response, by Associated Press, Apr 12, 2020 [This feature report by Associated Press is the latest of many reports appearing in mainstream media that are documenting the criminal negligence by the Trump regime in Washington as the Covid-19 pandemic was unfolding in January, February and March 2020. Other such reports have appeared in the New York Times (April 11), Washington Post (April 4) and Rolling Stone (‘When the full story of this pandemic is written, it will be clear that Trump not only failed in protecting 329 million Americans from a deadly virus but that he even failed to protect his own sons and daughters.’). How much of a political price will the regime pay? Will any of its agents face criminal charges? (Corporate media helpfully calls the Trup regime’s conduct a ‘failure’, not a crime.) Similar negligence took place in nearly all the wealthy imperialist countries of the world, so similar questions pertain to them. But the awareness of criminal conduct is most apparent in the U.S. due to the reckless and brazen performance of Trump himself.]
Disposable gloves may feel safe — but don’t be deceived, Deutsche Welle, Apr 14, 2020
Senator Bernie Sanders endorses warmongering Joseph Biden as 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate. Report by Associated Press, Apr 14, 2020
Related analysis:
* Considerations on the Jacobin club (in the wake of the collapse of the Bernie Sanders candidacy), by Jason Smith, published in The Brooklyn Rail, print issue of April 2020 The crushing electoral defeat of liberal populist Bernie Sanders has not discouraged the members of the Jacobin club, who placed so many eggs in his basket.
* It’s their party, by Paul Heideman, published in Jacobin Magazine, Feb 4, 2016 A generation ago, socialists and civil rights activists tried to transform the Democratic Party. Why did they fail? …Any political action comes with opportunity costs, and the costs of a strategic focus on electing Democrats have been grave — from the labor movement’s inability to defend itself against attacks from “their” party to antiwar movements that disappear when a Democrat comes to office. Configuring left politics around electoral action, in the absence of any kind of social democracy, inevitably results in a situation where, as Robert Brenner puts it, reformism doesn’t even reform…
Vladimir Putin warns that Russia faces ‘extraordinary crisis’ over Covid-19, RT.com, Apr 14, 2020 [Although the per capita death rate from Covid-19 is very low in Russia–a tiny fraction compared to the countries in western Europe–the number of cases is rising rapidly.]
Sweden gambles with ‘low-scale lockdown’ as death toll soars past rates in neighbouring countries, Associated Press, Apr 13, 2020
Related: Sweden’s flawed coronavirus battle plan hits the poor & elderly, resulting in worst death count among Nordic countries, by Marcello Ferrada de Noli, RT.com, Apr 10, 2020 (Marcello Ferrada de Noli is professor emeritus of public health sciences in Sweden and a former research fellow at Harvard Medical School.)
As more of them die, grocery workers increasingly fear showing up at work, Washington Post, Apr 12, 2020 …At least 41 grocery workers have died of the coronavirus and thousands more have tested positive in recent weeks. Supermarkets are increasingly hard-pressed to find and keep staff. Workers are walking out, going on strike and circulating petitions aimed at getting companies such as Amazon, Trader Joe’s and delivery service Instacart to take additional measures to protect their health…
What do you risk by taking hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19? Your eyesight, for one, op-ed commentary by Eden Robinson, Globe and Mail, Apr 13, 2020
Will the Supreme Court let Texas’s latest assault on women’s rights proceed?, Washington Post, Apr 12, 2020
Related:
* Abortion providers ask Supreme Court to intervene after Texas bans procedures citing coronavirus, Washington Post, Apr 11, 2020
* Republican-led states are exploiting coronavirus to ban abortions, New York Times, Apr 6, 2020
* Abortion providers in Texas scramble after state tells them to stop during pandemic, calling it a ‘non-essential’ health care service, Washington Post, Mar 24, 2020 …Abortion rights advocates say Texas leaders are taking advantage of a public health crisis to forge ahead on an ideologically driven agenda. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said last week the procedure is essential because of its time sensitivity and potential consequences on a woman’s health and well-being…
Behind Trump’s failure on the coronavirus, New York Times, Apr 11, 2020
Related:
* U.S. states compete in ‘cutthroat’ global market for coronavirus supplies, Washington Post, Apr 11, 2020
* Examing the Trump claim that he imposed the first restriction against travelers from China, Washington Post, Apr 7, 2020
U.S. allies, pressured by Washington, said goodbye to their Cuban doctors. As coronavirus surges, some are arguing for their return, Washington Post, Apr 11, 2020 …Ecuador is one of a handful of U.S. allies that fell in step with the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy on Cuba, bringing an end to agreements that filled understaffed clinics and hospitals from the snow-capped Andes to the sweltering Amazon with thousands of doctors and nurses trained by the communist state. Now that country and South American neighbors Brazil and Bolivia are struggling to cope with outbreaks of the coronavirus that have overwhelmed hospitals and, in Ecuador, left bodies in the streets…
[The Washington Post writer uses the typically cynical terms of Western media when he describes Cuba’s medical internationalism as a “diplomatic tool”. How about: ‘Cuba’s medical internationalism is motivated by the highest principles of humanitarianism and international solidarity. Its example stands in stark contrast to the stop-gap medical aid provided by the wealthy imperialist countries in the West, typically delivered by funding religious and other private charities.’]
I volunteered for a coronavirus vaccine clinical trial and received my first injection a few days ago. I hope it works!, by Ian Haydon, op-ed commentary in Washington Post, Apr 12, 2020
Related: The storm inside: How the coronavirus killed Keith Redding, Washington Post, Apr 12, 2020 ‘This is nothing like the seasonal flu or pneumonia. Every branch of his lungs was ravaged‘ …The doctor was stunned. Bacterial pneumonia is typically confined to one lobe of the lungs, and many cancers tend to look like solid masses. But in Keith’s CT scan, the Covid-19 virus was everywhere…
In India, life under coronavirus brings blue skies and clean air, Washington Post, Apr 11, 2020
The coronavirus is a preview of our global warming future, by David Wallace-Wells, published in ‘The Intelligencer’ bulletin of New York Magazine, Apr 8, 2020 This essay was adapted for New York Magazine from ‘The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming’, by David Wallace-Wells (Tim Duggan Books, 2019, now in paperback)
Medical advisor to British government says the country may become the worst affected country in Europe, Business Insider, Apr 11, 2020 ‘Treatment and vaccines (sic) are really our only exit strategy’, says advisor as Britian’s death toll hits 9,875 on April 11. Britain recorded 980 deaths on April 10, exceeding the highest daily toll ever recorded in Italy or Spain. The following day, 917 deaths were recorded.
South Korea flattened its coronavirus curve quickly. What can this teach the world?, by Patty Winsa, data reporter, Toronto Star, Apr 11, 2020
Global deaths from virus soar past 100,000, but spread in U.S. may be slowing, Washington Post, Apr 10, 2020
Related:
* Virus deaths mount, but so far New York avoids the predicted surge at hospitals, New York Times, Apr 11, 2020 …State leaders and infectious disease experts say that to loosen restrictions safely — reviving the economy but not the virus — the United States must implement an ambitious system of testing individuals and tracing infection chains. And the country is not ready to do that, they said. So public health experts said on April 10 the plan for now should be more of the same. The success of isolation measures in slowing the outbreak’s spread is a reason to continue them, they said, not to end them…
* The coronavirus spread freely in vulnerable New York, a major challenge as talks turn to reopening the city, Washington Post, Apr 10, 2020 For the third straight day, coronavirus deaths in New York state were nearly 800. The early estimations of as many as 140,000 hospital beds needed for a surge of Covid-19 cases have not been met; only about 18,500 beds are in use, including 5,000 for intensive care. …New York City had 77,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as of April 7, five times greater than the entire state of California. More than 4,100 people have died, 27 times the number of Covid-19 related deaths in all of Texas. …Governor Andrew Cuomo said on April 10 that the coronavirus cases appear to be peaking at around 18,500 hospitalized patients. He has shifted his focus toward developing a plan that will allow residents to return to work. The key will be testing, he said…
* A plan to defeat coronavirus finally emerges, but it’s not from the White House, Washington Post, Apr 10, 2020 …A collection of governors, former government officials, disease specialists and nonprofits are pursuing a strategy that relies on the three pillars of disease control: Ramp up testing to identify people who are infected; find everyone they interact with by deploying contact tracing on a scale America has never attempted before; and focus restrictions more narrowly on the infected and their contacts so the rest of society doesn’t have to stay in permanent lockdown. There is no evidence yet the White House will pursue such a strategy…
This is how the U.S. coronavirus response went wrong, Sydney Morning Herald, Apr 10, 2020
Flying blind without mass testing, Washington Post, Apr 9, 2020 …A group of Stanford University scholars believe that the basic reason that estimates of deaths have had to be revised downward is because without widespread testing from the start, we didn’t realize how many mild or asymptomatic cases there would be…
Related:
* Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the U.S. in month of May, Washington Post, Apr 9, 2020
* The coronavirus was spreading. The parties went on. Now comes the pain, Washington Post, Apr 9, 2020 …In the early days of the United States’ struggle with the coronavirus pandemic — and even well beyond — birthdays, weddings, dances, club meetings, concerts, and other large get-togethers continued more or less as normal. The virus was here, but the party went on. Now the country is contending with the fallout: Covid-19 clusters that were seeded as President Trump was assuring America that the virus would simply “go away” and before authorities bothered to shut down gatherings that medical experts had warned would be perfect vehicles for the disease’s spread…
* Coronavirus data reflect the deep economic and social divides in New York and the U.S., The Intercept, Apr 9, 2020 The death rate from Covid-19 for Black and Latino New Yorkers is roughly twice that of white New Yorkers, according to the latest city data…
* The coronavirus is infecting and killing black Americans at an alarmingly high rate, Washington Post, Apr 7, 2020 …A Post analysis of available data and census demographics shows that counties that are majority-black have three times the rate of infections and almost six times the rate of deaths as counties where white residents are in the majority…
How China ensured food supply during coronavirus lockdowns, by Zhenzhong Si, University of Waterloo, published in The Conversation, Apr 9, 2020 Decades of planning on food security as well as local and national food reserve systems kept China’s urban populations fed during the coronavirus outbreak
Venezuela braces for thousands of returning migrants as coronavirus rattles Latin America, by Paul Dobson, Venezuela Analysis, Apr 6, 2020 …All of Venezuela’s land borders are currently closed as part of the national lockdown imposed on March 17. But exceptions are being made for humanitarian openings to allow migrants back home. Venezuela’s Covid-19 toll is considerably lower than its neighbouring countries… [As of April 10, Venezuela reports 171 confirmed COVID-19 cases and nine deaths. In comparison, Brazil reports 19,638 cases and 1,057 deaths, Ecuador 7,161 cases and 297 deaths, Peru 5,897 cases and 169 deaths, and Colombia 2,223 cases and 69 deaths. Yet Western media and some co-called alternative media outlets (see two examples immediately below) are full of vilification of the Venezuelan government. They have no shame.].
Related:
* Community organisation is key to Venezuela’s successful fight against Covid-19, interview with Gsus Garcia, spokesperson for the communal government of ‘Altos de Lidice’ (population 5,000), published in Green Left Weekly, Apr 9, 2020
* Al Jazeera and pro-imperialist ‘Open Democracy’ news outlets publish absurd lies and slanders against Venezuela gov’t amidst its successful fight against Covid-19. See: ‘How is Venezuela as COVID-19 is about to hit hard?’, in Open Democracy, Apr 7, 2020 and ‘Returning Venezuelans face ‘nightmare’ coronavirus quarantine’, in Al Jazeera, Apr 8, 2020
* Health authorities in Venezuela are coordinating their coronavirus strategy with Chinese experts, article translated by Orinico Tribune, from the original in Spanish Mar 31, 2020
Why are there so few cases of Covid-19 in Nicaragua?, by Jorge Capelán, published on the website Tortilla con sal (Nicaragua), Apr 7, 2020
Related:
* Nicaragua’s successful battle against COVID-19 is one of the best kept secrets of Western media, by Stephen Sefton, editor, Tortilla con sol, Apr 6, 2020
* ‘The Lancet’ on Nicaragua voices cynicism posing as concern, by Stephen Sefton, editor, Tortilla con sol, Apr 7, 2020
* Nicaragua and the COVID-19 pandemic, by Stephen Sefton, Tortilla con sal (Nicaragua), Mar 29, 2020
* Relentless propaganda against Nicaragua in Western corporate media. [A report hostile to the Nicaragua government appears in the Washington Post on April 13. Well into the report, it writes, “Nicaragua has reported only nine cases of covid-19 and one fatality. Officials say all the infections were acquired abroad.” But the Post then argues against the veracity of the claim, claiming that Nicaragua’s neighbouring countries, whose Covid-19 cases are much higher than Nicaragua’s, fear a “spilling over” of the virus.]
Chart in New York Times, Apr 10, 2020
New York Times report shows obscene rise in the wealth of the wealthiest in the U.S. New York Times, Apr 10, 2020
Action on global warming should be central to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, by Vijay Kolinjivadiby, Al Jazeera, Mar 30, 2020 (Vijay Kolinjivadi is a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Development Policy at the University of Antwerp. A longer version of this essay was published in Uneven Earth, Apr 3, 2020) Excerpt: …COVID-19 presents society with an opportunity to actually respond to climate change through “planned degrowth” that prioritizes the well-being of people over profit margins… Yet, the global slowdown caused by COVID-19 is not degrowth; it does not reflect the ethical and political commitment to development predicated on prioritizing well-being over profit. We need a just climate transition that ensures the protection of the poor and most vulnerable and which is integrated into our pandemic response. As warming temperatures continue to melt permafrost at alarming rates, the possibility for even more severe pandemics emerging from the melting ice is a very real risk. Acting on climate change is therefore itself a vital pandemic response…
Trump blasts World Health Organization, defends his regime’s early coronavirus steps. Report by Associated Press, Apr 7, 2020 …Trump played down the release of January memos from a right-wing adviser, Peter Navarro, containing early warnings of a possible coronavirus pandemic. He says he had not seen them at the time and instead is blaming the World Health Organization… The WHO declared COVID-19 a “public health emergency of international concern” on Jan. 30, nearly one month before Trump tweeted that “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA” and a full 43 days before he declared a national emergency in the United States [on March 13].
Related: Most New York coronavirus cases came from Europe, not Asia, genomes show, New York Times, Apr 8, 2020 …On January 31, President Trump barred foreign nationals from entering the country if they had been in China during the prior two weeks. It was not until late February that Italy began locking down towns and cities, and not until March 11 before Mr. Trump said he would block travelers from most European countries. But New Yorkers had already been traveling home with the virus. “People were just oblivious,” said Adriana Heguy, a member of the New York University team researching the genetic variations of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus…
Timeline of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S.
Jan 11, 2020: China records its first death from Covid-19
Jan 20: First U.S. case reported (South Korea also reported its first case on this date. By the middle of March, South Korea had conducted 290,000 coronavirus tests while the U.S., with a population seven timeslarger, had only performed an estimated 60,000.)
Jan 30: World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a “public health emergency of international concern”
Feb 2: Staging of ‘Super Bowl’ football match in Miami, Florida
Feb 24: Declaration of a state of emergency by the city of San Francisco, three weeks before first death in the city
Feb 25: ‘Fat Tuesday’ caps days of ‘Mardi Gras’ mass gatherings in the state of Louisiana and city of New Orleans
Feb 29: First death on U.S. soil
March 6 Donald Trump says Covid-19 infections are comparable to influenza and would soon pass
March 11: Declaration by the World Health Organization of a worldwide Covid-19 pandemic
March 11: NBA (basketball) is the first professional sport league in North America to suspend activity, soon followed by hockey, baseball, tennis, others
March 17: Declaration of a state of emergency by the U.S. government
April 10: U.S. death toll is 18,637, nearly three times the total from one week earlier (South Korea’s death toll is 208.)
How delays and unheeded warnings hindered New York’s virus fight, special report by New York Times, Apr 7, 2020 The federal response to the coronavirus pandemic was chaotic. Even so, the initial efforts failed to keep pace with the outbreak, a study by the New York Times has found. …Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and former commissioner of New York city’s health department, said that if the state and city had adopted widespread social-distancing measures a week or two earlier [than mid-March], including closing schools, stores and restaurants, then the estimated death toll from the outbreak might have been reduced by 50 to 80 percent. New York mandated those measures days localities in other states had done so, including California and Washington…
Related: New York City struggling to keep transit running, New York Times, Apr 7, 2020 …At least 41 transit workers have died and more than 6,000 more have fallen sick or self-quarantined… The transit agency may have deepened its work force crisis by not doing more during the early stages of the outbreak to protect its employees and delaying some steps laid out in a plan the M.T.A. had developed for dealing with a pandemic…
News report documents Canada’s failed pandemic response, a case of criminal negligence. Special report in Globe and Mail, Apr 8, 2020, titled ‘Ottawa had a playbook for a coronavirus-like pandemic 14 years ago. What went wrong?’ [In 2006, a report commissioned by the Canadian government was released, recommending preparations for a pandemic scenario that has proven to be eerily similar to today’s Covid-19 emergency. The responses of successive federal and provincial governments to the 2006 report has been negligence. One of the authors of the 2006 report was Theresa Tam, currently the Chief Public Medical Officer of Canada. She told members of Parliament on January 29, 2020 that Canada’s coronavirus risk is “much, much lower” than that of many countries. “It’s going to be rare,” was her prediction for cases in Canada. She continued, “It doesn’t matter how few those cases are, we are preparing the whole country in the event that you might pick up a rare case.” One day later, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a “public health emergency of international concern”. As of April 9, Canada has nearly 20,000 reported cases and 435 deaths. Among the deficiencies in the 2006 report that were not acted upon was the poor state of medical equipment production capacity in Canada.].
Related:
* Warned of a pandemic, Canada’s governments still seem to be playing catch-up, by Andrew Coyne (conservative columnist), Globe and Mail, Apr 3, 2020 …Here we are in the first week of April, scrambling desperately to catch up. Having failed to stockpile protective masks, ventilators, intensive care beds or testing kits in advance, having failed to order more in January or February 2020 as the epidemic approached, our governments are only now starting to acquire them, weeks too late…
* Ontario doctor working in long-term care homes says lack of coronavirus testing is a dire threat to public health, interview with Dr. Barry Roth, broadcast on CBC Radio One‘s ‘As It Happens’, Apr 8, 2020 (first item on weblink, eight minutes) [Canada’s largest province, Ontario, is only using one quarter of its Covid-19 testing capacity. It is testing at a rate of 5,600 per million population, which is half of the rate of South Korea, one-third that of Germany and one-quarter that of Norway. Yet Justin Trudeau told his daily media briefing on April 9 that coronavirus testing in Canada is “getting better all the time”. Governments and even some medical officials in Canada have consistently downplayed and even lied about the crucial role of coronavirus testing in combatting Covid-19. Dr. Roth is a long-term care physician and says patients in long-term care homes are “sitting ducks” for the virus. “We need to find out where is the virus. We need to test, to test, and to test again.”]
U.S. says it will block Iran’s request for $5 billion IMF loan to fight coronavirus, Middle East Eye, Apr 8, 2020
Saudi-led ceasefire in Yemen begins, lifting hopes for peace, Reuters, Apr 9, 2020
Related: Coronavirus prompts Saudi-led war coalition to declare two-week ceasefire in Yemen, Agence France presse (AFP), Apr 8, 2020
In ‘war’ for coronavirus supplies, rich countries push poor countries aside, New York Times, Apr 9, 2020
Beyond words: Britian’s continued incarceration of journalist Julian Assange, in a high-security prison with Covid-19 cases no less, by Craig Murray, published on his website, Apr 8, 2020
How Western media colludes with tiny group of doctors linked to Alexei Navalny to weaponize Russia’s Covid-19 battle, RT.com, Apr 9, 2020
Senator Bernie Sanders ends his campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, CBS News, Apr 8, 2020 [Senator Sanders’ goal has been to transform the Democratic Party into some kind of Western-style social democratic party. His campaign aimed to convince the increasingly restive and disaffected U.S.working class that the Democratic Party is a viable instrument for making economic and social improvements. But the Democratic Party is one of the two pillars of capitalist political rule in the U.S. and the Sanders’ campaign has not put a dent in that reality.].
Related:
* Biden moves closer to Sanders on health care and student debt, Washington Post, Apr 9, 2020 …Sanders lauded Biden’s shifts, calling his new posture on health care a “step in the right direction” during an interview on MSNBC. “I think what you will see is the vice president beginning to move in a more progressive direction,” he added…
* Life comes at you fast: The ending of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign to win disaffected Americans to the Democratic Party. Essay by Jason E. Smith, published in The Brooklyn Rail, April 8, 2020 ‘This essay examines how the “socialist” left in the U.S. has approached this campaign, and where it is likely to go from here. If we have at most a decade, as Daniel Denvir recently wrote, “to stave off climate catastrophe”, we certainly do not have four years to waste waiting for the next election cycle.’
Covid 19 and the forgotten working class, by Jack Rasmus, published on his website, Apr 3, 2020
Related: Ontario groups call for raise in welfare rates that pay less than half the poverty line, by Laurie Monsebraaten, social justice reporter, Toronto Star, Apr 7, 2020
Trump regime wins appeal court decision to allow resumption of executions of cases under federal gov’t jurisdiction, Washington Post, Apr 7, 2020 The U.S. federal government has not executed a death row inmate since 2003.
Spain’s coronavirus crisis accelerated as warnings went unheeded, New York Times, Apr 6, 2020 [Per capita deaths in Spain from Covid-19 exceed those of Italy. On April 7, Spain reported a slight increase in the daily death toll of coronavirus for the first time in five days, with 743 people succumbing overnight (update on Al Jazeera).] Related: Sweden is outlier in virus restrictions, Washington Post, Apr 6, 2020 [Sweden has close to 8,000 cases of Covid-19. Its per capita case rate and death rate are app. one third that of hard-hit France, Belgium and Austria and about one quarter those of Spain.]
U.S. deaths from covid-19 soar past 10,000, Washington Post, Apr 6, 2020
Related:
* Graphic display of how the coronavirus death toll grew across the U.S., New York Times, Apr 6, 2020 [As of April 7, the death toll in the U.S. from Covid-19 is 11,781.]
The dark side of ventilators: Those hooked up for long periods face difficult recoveries, Washington Post, Apr 6, 2020 …The vast majority of people with Covid-19 experience mild cases of infection. But about one in six known cases develop severe shortness of breath. According to evolving data., about half of those become critically ill, as people’s damaged lungs fill with fluid, staying alive only with the help of a mechanical ventilator…
Advice on masks is changing as coronavirus knowledge evolves, by André Picard, health columnist, Globe and Mail, Apr 6, 2020 …The evidence for mask-wearing as a means of infectious disease prevention remains mixed at best. Increasingly, however, making and wearing a mask in public is becoming a demonstration of civic-mindedness, a public acknowledgment of the risks coronavirus poses, and a fitting symbol for the new normal.
We don’t have a North American ally anymore. We have a sick gorilla in a cage, by Bruce Arthur, columnist, Toronto Star, Apr 6, 2020 [This newspaper column begs, but does not answer, the question: If the U.S. government is so dysfunctional and un-humanitarian in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, why is the Canadian government and ruling class been so tightly allied with it, including with foreign military adventures in Ukraine and Iraq/Syria, the New Cold War against Russia and China, and the revised North American Free Trade Agreement now awaiting formal approval by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico? The question is not asked or answered in the column because Canada’s newspaper editors have been entirely in lock-step with Canada’s aggressive, political and military alliance with the U.S. All that is best left unsaid…]
Good God, Canada, migrants are not criminals. Release them all, by Shree Paradkar, race and gender columnist, Toronto Star, Apr 6, 2020
Coronavirus death toll: Americans are almost certainly dying of covid-19 but being left out of the official count, Washington Post, April 5, 2020 The fast-spreading novel coronavirus is almost certainly killing Americans who are not included in the nation’s growing death toll, according to public health experts and government officials involved in the tally. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts only deaths in which the presence of the coronavirus is confirmed in a laboratory test…
Related:
* Inside Maryland’s worst coronavirus outbreak, at Pleasant View Nursing Home where 66 of the 95 residents are ill with Covid-19, Washington Post, Apr 5, 2020
* A U.S. doctor explains his high-risk work in assisting people stricken with Covid-19 to breathe, Washington Post, Apr 5, 2020
* Ontario hospitals ban health-care workers from criss-crossing Canada-U.S. border to work, by Carly Weeks, health reporter, Globe and Mail, Apr 6, 2020 …The state of Michigan (population 10 million) had more than 15,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of April 5, surpassing the total number of cases in Canada (population 37.5 million). At least 617 people have died of COVID-19 in Michigan, nearly triple the 233 deaths in Canada… Some hospitals in Ontario have told employees they must choose between work in the U.S. or in Canada. But hundreds of Canadian health-care professionals continue to cross the border daily to work in U.S. hospitals. Health officials say this poses a growing risk to Ontario border cities. However, they also say that simply shutting the border to those essential workers could cause the COVID-19 outbreak in Michigan to spiral even further out of control…
* Trump now imagines himself as a doctor, prompting concerns among medical professional over his advocacy of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, Report in New York Times, Apr 5, 2020
* Trump refuses to allow Dr. Anthony Fauci to answer question at press conference on the dangers of the anti-malaria drig hydroxychloroquine, Common Dreams, Apr 6, 2020 During a press briefing on April 5, purportedly aimed at providing the U.S. public with crucial information amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump refused to allow the nation’s top infectious disease expert to answer a reporter’s question about the efficacy of an anti-malaria drug that the president has recklessly touted as a possible COVID-19 treatment…
* A small trial finds that hydroxychloroquine is not effective for treating coronavirus, by Katherine Seley-Radtke, The Conversation, Apr 3, 2020 (Katherine Seley-Radtke is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland and President-Elect of the International Society for Antiviral Research.)
U.S. ‘wasted’ months before preparing for virus pandemic, Associated Press, Apr 5, 2020 After the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment. A review of federal purchasing contracts by The Associated Press shows federal agencies largely waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, mechanical ventilators and other equipment needed by front-line health care workers…
The U.S. was beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged, page one feature in Washington Post, Apr 5, 2020 …It took 70 days from the initial notification on January 3 for Trump to begin to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well under control but as a lethal force that had outflanked America’s defenses and was poised to kill tens of thousands of citizens… Beyond the suffering in store for thousands of victims and their families, the outcome has altered the international standing of the United States, damaging and diminishing its reputation as a global leader in times of extraordinary adversity… This article retraces the failures over the first 70 days of the coronavirus crisis…
Tracing Italy’s disastrous response to the coronavirus threat, New York Times, Apr 5, 2020
Coronavirus is not the flu. It’s worse, six minute video broadcast on the YouTube channel of Vox.com, Apr 1, 2020
Related:
* What the coronavirus does to your body that makes it so deadly, by Professor Benjamin Neuman (Texas A&M), The Conversation, Apr 2, 2020
* I’m a healthy millennial. Getting COVID-19 was so much worse than I expected, by May Warren, staff reporter, Toronto Star, Apr 3, 2020
* If you could see my hospital, you would know the horror of Covid-19, op-ed commentary by Dr. Danielle Stansky (New York), in Washington Post, Apr 1, 2020
* I am hospitalized in New York with the coronavirus, by Jeremy Egner, New York Times, Mar 27, 2020 (Jeremy Egner is the television editor for The New York Times.)
China takes the lead in assisting the world with the coronavirus crisis, CNBC, Apr 3, 2020 …”This is the first international crisis where China is actively taking a global leadership role. It stands in particular contrast to the U.S., which has disdained international cooperation and invested more political capital in criticizing China for its role in allowing the outbreak to spread,” said analysts from the Eurasia Goup in a report this week…
Related:
* New York receives 1,000 ventilator machines provided by China, Associated Press, Apr 4, 2020 [The state of Massachusetts has used the New England Patriots’ team plane to pick up over a million masks from China. Russia has sent medical equipment to the U.S. The Trump regime in Washington, meanwhile, aims to prevent the export of N95 protective masks and other protective medical equipment to Canada and other countries. Trump is complaining that New York state is not voicing enough thanks to him and his regime.].
* U.S. multinational 3M denies German ‘piracy’ claims over vanished face masks, Deutsche Welle, Apr 4, 2020
* Trump regime to block export of N95 masks manufactured by 3M. Report by Associated Press, Apr 4, 2020 …Late on April 3, the president announced that he will direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to prevent the export of N95 masks, surgical gloves and other medical protective gear. He said exceptions might be made to help Italy and Spain, which have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak…
Testing in Britain for coronavirus in a shambles, gov’t promises to ‘catch up’. Report in New York Times, Apr 2, 2020 …Britain has conducted 163,194 coronavirus tests since the outbreak began, the vast majority on patients who are admitted to the hospital with symptoms of the disease. Germany has conducted more than 900,000 tests and is carrying out more than 50,000 a day — a disparity that many in Britain find inexplicable, given their country’s advanced research and medical industries… [As of April 4, the UK’s per capita coronavirus testing was one quarter that of Germany; France’s testing was one third, Spain’s was three quarters, the U.S. was less than half. source: Worldometers].
Related:
* Why has the UK lagged behind in testing for the coronavirus?, The Guardian, Apr 3, 2020
* UK coronavirus death toll passes 4,000 as 708 more die, Metro News, Apr 4, 2020
* Organizers of Cheltenham horse racing festival defend their decision to hold the event on March 10-13 , Metro News, Apr 4, 2020 …When the festival got underway, there were no social distancing measures yet in place. On March 9, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said there was ‘no rationale’ to postponing events…
Ecuador is quickly becoming the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America, Washington Post, Apr 4, 2020 [The city of Guayacil is reporting more than 2,200 cases, quickly overwhelming local hospitals. That’s ten times the number of reported cases in Venezuela. Brazil has the highest number of cases in Latin America at nearly 10,000. A popular revolt there is pressing for the removal of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro over his denial of the gravity of the pandemic. The U.S. and Canada have been especially friendly towards Bolsonaro, yet another example of the criminal negligence of those two countries fueling the rise of the pandemic in early 2020.]
Few countries have flattened the curve for the coronavirus. Charts by country, published in New York Times, Apr 3, 2020 [Many countries are still reporting few cornoavirus cases, including Vietnam, Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia. In the big imperialist countries, the pandemic continues to explode.].
Related:
* Charts showing the rise of coronavirus infections in cites across the United States, New York Times, Apr 3, 2020 (updated daily)
* Russia to halt international flights bringing citizens back home over Covid-19, RT.com, Apr 3, 2020
* Is Canada taking COVID-19 seriously enough? It didn’t look like it on my flight home from Mexico on March 29, by Timothy Wilson, The National Observer, Apr 1, 2020
Coronavirus threatens the seasonal farmworkers who supply the U.S. with food, by Michael Haedicke, The Conversation, Apr 3, 2020
Related: Canada’s food supply is threatened by short supply of seasonal and other temporary foreign workers, Globe and Mail, Apr 1, 2020 … Canada admits about 60,000 seasonal agricultural and other temporary workers each year to work on fruit, vegetable and other farms – a program farmers say is critical to reliable food production. The federal government last month allowed their entry, stipulating that they must self-isolate for 14 days – a two-week period during a busy season when they’re not allowed to work. And the logistics of getting them here have been extremely difficult. Visa offices in Mexico have been closed, bureaucracy has slowed and flights are scarce
In Canada’s fight against the coronavirus, the U.S. border remains a problem, column in Globe and Mail, Apr 2, 2020 …During the week of March 23 to 29, for instance, the number of people coming into Canada from the U.S. over land was down 82 per cent and down nearly 85 per cent at airports, compared to the same time last year, according to the Canadian Border Services Agency. However, in that same week, more than 88,000 truck drivers from the U.S. were allowed into the country, along with nearly 100,000 “other travelers” – a group I suspect largely consisted of Canadian snowbirds returning from sunny southern getaways…
Coronavirus could overwhelm the developing world, Washington Post, Apr 1, 2020 …India, one of the first nations in the world to impose social distancing rules, has reported 1,397 cases of covid-19. Analysts say the health system would not be equipped to deal with larger numbers. The country has 0.5 hospital beds for every 1,000 people, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The United States has 2.8. South Korea has 12.3…
Related: Nicaragua and the COVID-19 pandemic, by Stephen Sefton, published on the website Tortilla con sal (Nicaragua), Mar 29, 2020
New York’s scramble to brace for peak crisis is a siren call for the rest of U.S., Washington Post, Apr 1, 2020
Related:
* USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier out of action in Guam with 93 Covid-19 infections on board, only one quarter of crew tested so far, Washington Post, Apr 1, 2020
* 
The regions of the U.S. where people are not stopping their travel, New York Times, Apr 2, 2020 Stay-at-home orders have nearly halted travel for most Americans, but people in Florida, the Southeast and other places that waited to enact such orders have continued to travel widely, potentially exposing more people as the coronavirus outbreak accelerates, according to an analysis of cellphone location data by The New York Times…
Italy coronavirus death rate slows but studies suggest true tally higher, Reuters, Apr 1, 2020 [On April 2, reported Covid-19 cases in Italy rose by nearly 4,800, to a total of some 111,000. 4822 health care personnel have fallen ill with Covid-19; 61 doctors have died. On April 1, authorities reported 727 new deaths, down from 837 the previous day but the number of new cases rose more than in previous days, by some 4,800.].
Related: Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus rose above 10,000 on April 2 after a record 950 people died overnight, Reuters, Apr 1, 2020
The dark secrets in the Fed’s last Wall Street Bailout are getting a devious makeover in today’s bailout, by Pam Martens and Russ Martens, published in Wall Street On Parade, Mar 31, 2020
Can China return to normalcy while keeping the coronavirus in check?, Science Magazine, Mar 30, 2020 Life is almost back to normal in much of China…Three-quarters of China’s workforce was back on the job as of 24 March, according to one company’s estimate. Wuhan, where the COVID-19 pandemic originated, is lagging, as is the rest of Hubei province, but even there the lockdown is set to lift on April 8… China has done what few believed was possible: Bring a blazing epidemic of a respiratory virus to a virtual standstill. On 18 March, the country reported zero locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 for the first time. Since then, only six of such infections have been reported, only one of them in Wuhan. Now, the key question is: Can China keep it that way?…
Related:
* Beijing comes cautiously back to life as COVID-19 hits hardest beyond China, Deutsche Welle, Apr 1, 2020
* As Wuhan reopens, China revs engine to move past coronavirus. But it’s stuck in second gear, Washington Post, Apr 1, 2020
* South Korea fears quarantine dodgers could cause new wave of infections, Deutsche Welle, Apr 1, 2020
* Millions of garment workers in Bangladesh face ruin, New York Times, Mar 31, 2020
Coronavirus border closures are threatening Europe’s food supply, Washington Post, Mar 31, 2020
Related:
* Covid-19 pandemic could create global food shortages, Deutsche Welle, Apr 1, 2020
* Abrupt shortage of seasonal farmworkers in Europe threatens to create food shortages, by Eric Reguly, Europe correspondent, Globe and Mail, Mar 30, 2020 [The Covid-19 pandemic is de-stabilizing the entire world’s industrialized, chemicalized and globalized food industries because capitalist production is founded on the principle of reducing costs of production to the bare minimum and a key part of that cost reduction is reliance on migrant workers. The Covid-19 pandemic should serve as a moment to break from this destructive model. But that will depend on agreement around an alternative model, and a will to struggle for it. Unfortunately, the understanding and acceptance of ‘degrowth’–that is, the primacy of production of use values (social needs, including food) over exchange values (personal wealth)–is poorly understood or accepted due to the sweeping, revolutionary changes in society it requires.].
* America’s farmworkers are now ‘essential’ but are denied the just-enacted benefits for workers, by David Bacon, The American Prospect, Apr 1, 2020
* Tens of thousands of farmworkers in Florida are facing a coronavirus ‘time bomb’ say advocates, Buzzfeed News, Apr 1, 2020
