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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
May 15, 2020
F.D.A. Halts Coronavirus Testing Program Backed by Bill Gates
The program allows people in the Seattle area to easily take a coronavirus test at home. Researchers say such testing is essential for future monitoring of the virus.
By Mike Baker
May 15, 2020
Updated 4:06 p.m. ET
SEATTLE — An innovative coronavirus testing program in the Seattle area — promoted by the billionaire Bill Gates and local public health officials as a way of conducting wider surveillance on the invisible spread of the virus — has been ordered by the federal government to stop its work pending additional reviews.
The program involved sending home test kits to both healthy and sick people in the hope of conducting the kind of widespread monitoring that could help communities safely reopen from lockdowns. Researchers and public health authorities already had tested thousands of samples, finding dozens of previously undetected cases.
But the program, a partnership between research groups and the Seattle and King County public health department that had been operating under authorization from the state, was notified this week that it now needs approval directly from the federal government. Officials with the Food and Drug Administration told the partnership to cease its testing and reporting until the agency grants further approval.
The delay is the latest evidence of how a splintered national effort to develop, distribute and ramp up testing has left federal regulators struggling to keep up. Amid concerns about the reliability of a burgeoning number of coronavirus antibody tests — which check whether someone may have previously had the virus — the F.D.A. responded last week by ordering companies to submit data proving the tests’ accuracy.
But the Seattle program does not test for antibodies and has wide backing, including from public health leaders, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Mr. Gates, whose foundation has been deeply involved in fighting the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provided an in-person technical adviser to the project.
more...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/us/coronavirus-testing-seattle-bill-gates.html
F.D.A. Halts Coronavirus Testing Program Backed by Bill Gates
F.D.A. Halts Coronavirus Testing Program Backed by Bill Gates
The program allows people in the Seattle area to easily take a coronavirus test at home. Researchers say such testing is essential for future monitoring of the virus.
By Mike Baker
May 15, 2020
Updated 4:06 p.m. ET
SEATTLE — An innovative coronavirus testing program in the Seattle area — promoted by the billionaire Bill Gates and local public health officials as a way of conducting wider surveillance on the invisible spread of the virus — has been ordered by the federal government to stop its work pending additional reviews.
The program involved sending home test kits to both healthy and sick people in the hope of conducting the kind of widespread monitoring that could help communities safely reopen from lockdowns. Researchers and public health authorities already had tested thousands of samples, finding dozens of previously undetected cases.
But the program, a partnership between research groups and the Seattle and King County public health department that had been operating under authorization from the state, was notified this week that it now needs approval directly from the federal government. Officials with the Food and Drug Administration told the partnership to cease its testing and reporting until the agency grants further approval.
“Please discontinue patient testing and return of diagnostic results to patients until proper authorization is obtained,” the F.D.A. wrote in a memo.
The delay is the latest evidence of how a splintered national effort to develop, distribute and ramp up testing has left federal regulators struggling to keep up. Amid concerns about the reliability of a burgeoning number of coronavirus antibody tests — which check whether someone may have previously had the virus — the F.D.A. responded last week by ordering companies to submit data proving the tests’ accuracy.
But the Seattle program does not test for antibodies and has wide backing, including from public health leaders, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Mr. Gates, whose foundation has been deeply involved in fighting the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provided an in-person technical adviser to the project.
more...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/us/coronavirus-testing-seattle-bill-gates.html
May 15, 2020
GOP congressman on why he's not wearing a mask: 'There's just no need'
By Manu Raju, CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent
Updated 3:10 PM ET, Fri May 15, 2020
Washington (CNN)Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida was spotted Friday walking around the Capitol and on the House floor without wearing a mask.
Asked why not, he told CNN: "There's just no need."
Told that the Capitol physician suggests wearing a mask when social distancing is not possible, Yoho cited no need because of "herd immunity."
CNN noted to Yoho that medical experts haven't determined that herd immunity applies to the novel coronavirus. Yoho responded: "Viruses do what viruses do."
Asked if he thinks he's protected by herd immunity, Yoho said: "I think the only way you're going to get it is to get exposed."
Herd immunity refers to when a large segment of the population is immune from a specific disease -- and the more contagious a disease, the more people generally have to get vaccinated for herd immunity to occur.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/15/politics/ted-yoho-mask-capitol-hill/index.html
GOP congressman on why he's not wearing a mask: 'There's just no need'
GOP congressman on why he's not wearing a mask: 'There's just no need'
By Manu Raju, CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent
Updated 3:10 PM ET, Fri May 15, 2020
Washington (CNN)Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida was spotted Friday walking around the Capitol and on the House floor without wearing a mask.
Asked why not, he told CNN: "There's just no need."
Told that the Capitol physician suggests wearing a mask when social distancing is not possible, Yoho cited no need because of "herd immunity."
CNN noted to Yoho that medical experts haven't determined that herd immunity applies to the novel coronavirus. Yoho responded: "Viruses do what viruses do."
Asked if he thinks he's protected by herd immunity, Yoho said: "I think the only way you're going to get it is to get exposed."
Herd immunity refers to when a large segment of the population is immune from a specific disease -- and the more contagious a disease, the more people generally have to get vaccinated for herd immunity to occur.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/15/politics/ted-yoho-mask-capitol-hill/index.html
May 15, 2020
5 hours ago
A New Report Shows What Really Happened With China’s Coronavirus Response
It’s not good for the regime—or for Trump.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow
snip//
Moreover, Chinese officials intimidated and censored doctors and others who sought to share with the public information about the epidemic. One example from the CRS report: “The day after the team of scientists led by Prof. Yong-zhen Zhang of Fudan University in Shanghai became the first to share the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with the world, Shanghai authorities closed down Professor Zhang’s laboratory for ‘rectification,’ implying it is being investigated for unspecified wrongdoing.” And in January, China turned down offers from the US government to send a team of experts from the Centers for Disease Control to Wuhan.
“It remains unclear who was responsible for decisions to withhold information in the early weeks,” the CRS report says. But things did get better.
As the report puts it:
After three weeks of not assiduously reporting and sharing information on this new killer threat, the Chinese government finally moved in the right direction. It certainly deserves criticism for sitting on important data—and Trump defenders can latch onto this. But in some ways, the Chinese story, as told by the CRS timeline, highlights Trump’s own inadequate response. It notes that Trump was first briefed on the epidemic on January 18 by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and that on January 23 National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien informed Trump about the potential pandemic threat posed by the coronavirus. Yet Trump did not take immediate action. He issued tweets praising China’s management of the crisis and hailed its “transparency.” On January 30, he did create a White House task force and the next day he ordered the travel ban blocking entry into the United States of foreigners who had been in China (a ban of limited effectiveness). But he spent much of January and February discounting the coronavirus threat and taking few concrete steps to prepare for a possible pandemic.
China, in the opening weeks of this pandemic, did not sufficiently share with its people and the world important information about the coronavirus crisis, and that might have impeded the global response. Yet Trump took longer than the Chinese government to acknowledge the threat and adopt serious measures. (Months later, he still has not done enough to create a testing and tracing regimen or to provide protective equipment to health care workers.) So Trump and his henchmen, searching for a distraction, can try to scapegoat the Chinese government as the number-one culprit, but as Confucius said, “Don’t complain about the snow on your neighbor’s roof when your own doorstep is unclean.”
David Corn: A New Report Shows What Really Happened With China's Coronavirus Response
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/05/a-new-report-shows-what-really-happened-with-chinas-coronavirus-response/5 hours ago
A New Report Shows What Really Happened With China’s Coronavirus Response
It’s not good for the regime—or for Trump.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow
snip//
Moreover, Chinese officials intimidated and censored doctors and others who sought to share with the public information about the epidemic. One example from the CRS report: “The day after the team of scientists led by Prof. Yong-zhen Zhang of Fudan University in Shanghai became the first to share the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with the world, Shanghai authorities closed down Professor Zhang’s laboratory for ‘rectification,’ implying it is being investigated for unspecified wrongdoing.” And in January, China turned down offers from the US government to send a team of experts from the Centers for Disease Control to Wuhan.
“It remains unclear who was responsible for decisions to withhold information in the early weeks,” the CRS report says. But things did get better.
As the report puts it:
The Chinese leadership’s approach to the epidemic changed dramatically on January 20. On that day, a medical expert lauded for his role in the SARS epidemic, Zhong Nanshan, officially confirmed human-to-human transmission and medical worker infections. China’s National Health Commission declared novel coronavirus-caused pneumonia a statutory notifiable infectious disease under the PRC Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases. China also amended the PRC Health and Quarantine Law, opening the way for mandatory quarantines and lock-downs. The day ended with General Secretary Xi issuing an “important instruction,” carried in all major media, to prioritize novel coronavirus prevention and control work.
After three weeks of not assiduously reporting and sharing information on this new killer threat, the Chinese government finally moved in the right direction. It certainly deserves criticism for sitting on important data—and Trump defenders can latch onto this. But in some ways, the Chinese story, as told by the CRS timeline, highlights Trump’s own inadequate response. It notes that Trump was first briefed on the epidemic on January 18 by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and that on January 23 National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien informed Trump about the potential pandemic threat posed by the coronavirus. Yet Trump did not take immediate action. He issued tweets praising China’s management of the crisis and hailed its “transparency.” On January 30, he did create a White House task force and the next day he ordered the travel ban blocking entry into the United States of foreigners who had been in China (a ban of limited effectiveness). But he spent much of January and February discounting the coronavirus threat and taking few concrete steps to prepare for a possible pandemic.
China, in the opening weeks of this pandemic, did not sufficiently share with its people and the world important information about the coronavirus crisis, and that might have impeded the global response. Yet Trump took longer than the Chinese government to acknowledge the threat and adopt serious measures. (Months later, he still has not done enough to create a testing and tracing regimen or to provide protective equipment to health care workers.) So Trump and his henchmen, searching for a distraction, can try to scapegoat the Chinese government as the number-one culprit, but as Confucius said, “Don’t complain about the snow on your neighbor’s roof when your own doorstep is unclean.”
May 15, 2020
US medical mask maker: 'I've been ignored for so long'
By Caroline Kelly, Amanda Watts and Cat Gloria, CNN
4 hrs ago
An executive for a US mask producer bemoaned, in heated and emotional testimony Thursday to Congress, how his warnings of insufficient domestic medical mask production had been ignored by the federal government for years until the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mike Bowen, the vice president of the Texas-based medical supply company Prestige Ameritech, said the US dependence on foreign masks has been a national security issue for years.
Bowen described conversations over the past 13 years in which he had offered manufacturing deals to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included "mak(ing) sure that the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration always has masks," adding that "I couldn't get anybody interested in it."
"Forgive me for being angry; I'm angry because I've done this for so, so long," Bowen said, appearing to fight back tears. "And I've been ignored for so long. And I apologize."
"Well, Mr. Bowen, I don't think you need to apologize," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat who's the chairwoman of the committee, who called his testimony "some of the most important testimony that Congress could be hearing."
Bowen joins others -- including the hearing's other witness, Rick Bright, the ousted director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine -- who have alleged that relevant experience and expertise in health care and supply chains were not prioritized in the federal coronavirus response.
more...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/us-medical-mask-maker-ive-been-ignored-for-so-long/ar-BB145V9o?ocid=sf2
US medical mask maker: 'I've been ignored for so long'
US medical mask maker: 'I've been ignored for so long'
By Caroline Kelly, Amanda Watts and Cat Gloria, CNN
4 hrs ago
An executive for a US mask producer bemoaned, in heated and emotional testimony Thursday to Congress, how his warnings of insufficient domestic medical mask production had been ignored by the federal government for years until the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mike Bowen, the vice president of the Texas-based medical supply company Prestige Ameritech, said the US dependence on foreign masks has been a national security issue for years.
Bowen described conversations over the past 13 years in which he had offered manufacturing deals to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included "mak(ing) sure that the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration always has masks," adding that "I couldn't get anybody interested in it."
"Forgive me for being angry; I'm angry because I've done this for so, so long," Bowen said, appearing to fight back tears. "And I've been ignored for so long. And I apologize."
"Well, Mr. Bowen, I don't think you need to apologize," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat who's the chairwoman of the committee, who called his testimony "some of the most important testimony that Congress could be hearing."
Bowen joins others -- including the hearing's other witness, Rick Bright, the ousted director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine -- who have alleged that relevant experience and expertise in health care and supply chains were not prioritized in the federal coronavirus response.
more...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/us-medical-mask-maker-ive-been-ignored-for-so-long/ar-BB145V9o?ocid=sf2
May 15, 2020
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
5/14/2020
At the Bright Hearing, Republicans Tell Scientists: You May Have Your Fancy Studies, But We Have Anecdotes
Dr. Rick Bright, who has spent his adult life working to make vaccines to prevent terrible diseases and who desperately tried to get the louche, evil frauds in the Trump administration to do something about the goddamn coronavirus that was about to fuck our shit up and then got fired for his efforts, was the star witness at the hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's health subcommittee today. And you gotta pity Bright as he faced down the goobers, goons, crackers, and crazies in the Republican Party who either wanted to peddle some batshit ideas about how to treat COVID-19 or prop up the saggy tits of President Trump by discrediting Bright.
The look on Bright's face every time he had to answer GOP questions was one of "Jesus, these delusional fucks are getting people killed."
Honestly, it was like the Republican Party has invested in stock in the company that makes hydroxychloroquine (and, you know, many of its members probably have). They asked repeatedly about the drug that Trump and the entire right-wing media machine touted as the miracle to end the plague. Right out of the gate, GOP Rep. Michael Burgess, who represents the Walmarts and malls of the north Dallas suburbs, and is an honest-to-fuck physician, went all in on hydroxychloroquine: "I’m hearing from a lot of doctors in my state, around the country, who have experience using hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine coupled with as erythromycin and zinc, and they’re reporting significant benefit if it is used early enough in the course and may eliminate the need for hospitalization." He heard some stories. I've had people tell me they saw Bigfoot. They didn't fuckin' see Bigfoot. They saw something and decided it was Bigfoot because they wanted to fuckin' see Bigfoot. That's not how medical research works. Hell, that's not even how genuine Bigfoot research works.
Bright answered, essentially, "Are you fucking serious with this shit?" but much more even-handedly: "I’ve heard those anecdotal stories, as well, and they were not conducted in the context of a randomized, controlled clinical study. It’s very difficult to understand data from those types of observational studies or anecdotal stories." In other words, if you want to state a scientific conclusion, do some fucking science.
snip//
Bright was not the firebrand they were hoping for. Instead, he was a goddamned authority, someone who knows so clearly what the fuck they're talking about that they don't need to yell or preen or pretend. As Bright said, "We need to unleash the voices of the scientists in our public health system in the United States so they can be heard and their guidances need to be listened to, and we need to be able to convey that information to the American public so they have the truth about the real risk and dire consequences of this virus, and they have the truth about the consequences of their actions if they don’t follow those guidances."
Listen to the man. He knows what he's talking about.
The Rude Pundit On Dr. Bright Hearing
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/05/republicans-to-scientists-you-may-have.htmlThe Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
5/14/2020
At the Bright Hearing, Republicans Tell Scientists: You May Have Your Fancy Studies, But We Have Anecdotes
Dr. Rick Bright, who has spent his adult life working to make vaccines to prevent terrible diseases and who desperately tried to get the louche, evil frauds in the Trump administration to do something about the goddamn coronavirus that was about to fuck our shit up and then got fired for his efforts, was the star witness at the hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's health subcommittee today. And you gotta pity Bright as he faced down the goobers, goons, crackers, and crazies in the Republican Party who either wanted to peddle some batshit ideas about how to treat COVID-19 or prop up the saggy tits of President Trump by discrediting Bright.
The look on Bright's face every time he had to answer GOP questions was one of "Jesus, these delusional fucks are getting people killed."
Honestly, it was like the Republican Party has invested in stock in the company that makes hydroxychloroquine (and, you know, many of its members probably have). They asked repeatedly about the drug that Trump and the entire right-wing media machine touted as the miracle to end the plague. Right out of the gate, GOP Rep. Michael Burgess, who represents the Walmarts and malls of the north Dallas suburbs, and is an honest-to-fuck physician, went all in on hydroxychloroquine: "I’m hearing from a lot of doctors in my state, around the country, who have experience using hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine coupled with as erythromycin and zinc, and they’re reporting significant benefit if it is used early enough in the course and may eliminate the need for hospitalization." He heard some stories. I've had people tell me they saw Bigfoot. They didn't fuckin' see Bigfoot. They saw something and decided it was Bigfoot because they wanted to fuckin' see Bigfoot. That's not how medical research works. Hell, that's not even how genuine Bigfoot research works.
Bright answered, essentially, "Are you fucking serious with this shit?" but much more even-handedly: "I’ve heard those anecdotal stories, as well, and they were not conducted in the context of a randomized, controlled clinical study. It’s very difficult to understand data from those types of observational studies or anecdotal stories." In other words, if you want to state a scientific conclusion, do some fucking science.
snip//
Bright was not the firebrand they were hoping for. Instead, he was a goddamned authority, someone who knows so clearly what the fuck they're talking about that they don't need to yell or preen or pretend. As Bright said, "We need to unleash the voices of the scientists in our public health system in the United States so they can be heard and their guidances need to be listened to, and we need to be able to convey that information to the American public so they have the truth about the real risk and dire consequences of this virus, and they have the truth about the consequences of their actions if they don’t follow those guidances."
Listen to the man. He knows what he's talking about.
May 15, 2020
'They are angry': Pandemic and economic collapse slam Trump across Rust Belt
Coronavirus infections and unemployment filings are spiraling in parts of the industrial Midwest where Donald Trump cleaned up in 2016.
By CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO, MEGAN CASSELLA and NOLAN D. MCCASKILL
05/14/2020 06:50 PM EDT
Updated: 05/14/2020 08:44 PM EDT
The Industrial Midwest was always going to be a battleground in November.
The region is now becoming a new front line for Americans’ lives and livelihoods as coronavirus hot spots proliferate and jobless rates spiral. The confluence of a ferocious pandemic, deepening economic turmoil and rising political tensions is more pronounced here than anywhere else in the country. And it sets the stage for a combustible campaign season that is testing President Donald Trump’s efforts to move on and insulate himself from the crisis—and Joe Biden’s ability to blame him for the fallout.
On Thursday, Trump ventured to a swing county in Pennsylvania, stopping off at a Lehigh Valley medical equipment distributor where he used an official speech to mock “Sleepy Joe,” chastise governors for moving too slowly to reopen and assail the news media as a “disaster” while touting American workers.
The numbers and interviews, however, paint a much grimmer picture. The virus has moved from urban centers like Detroit and Chicago into suburbs and more sparsely populated counties, a trend seen from western Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Iowa. In Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania—Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall”—19 counties report coronavirus cases doubling in less than 14 days. Trump won all but one of those counties, by an average of 65 percent.
more...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/coronavirus-economic-collapse-rust-belt-trump-259657
'They are angry': Pandemic and economic collapse slam Trump across Rust Belt
'They are angry': Pandemic and economic collapse slam Trump across Rust Belt
Coronavirus infections and unemployment filings are spiraling in parts of the industrial Midwest where Donald Trump cleaned up in 2016.
By CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO, MEGAN CASSELLA and NOLAN D. MCCASKILL
05/14/2020 06:50 PM EDT
Updated: 05/14/2020 08:44 PM EDT
The Industrial Midwest was always going to be a battleground in November.
The region is now becoming a new front line for Americans’ lives and livelihoods as coronavirus hot spots proliferate and jobless rates spiral. The confluence of a ferocious pandemic, deepening economic turmoil and rising political tensions is more pronounced here than anywhere else in the country. And it sets the stage for a combustible campaign season that is testing President Donald Trump’s efforts to move on and insulate himself from the crisis—and Joe Biden’s ability to blame him for the fallout.
On Thursday, Trump ventured to a swing county in Pennsylvania, stopping off at a Lehigh Valley medical equipment distributor where he used an official speech to mock “Sleepy Joe,” chastise governors for moving too slowly to reopen and assail the news media as a “disaster” while touting American workers.
“I say it’s the ‘transition to greatness.’ The transition is the third quarter," Trump said. "The fourth quarter is going to do very well. And next year is going to be through the roof.”
The numbers and interviews, however, paint a much grimmer picture. The virus has moved from urban centers like Detroit and Chicago into suburbs and more sparsely populated counties, a trend seen from western Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Iowa. In Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania—Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall”—19 counties report coronavirus cases doubling in less than 14 days. Trump won all but one of those counties, by an average of 65 percent.
more...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/coronavirus-economic-collapse-rust-belt-trump-259657
May 15, 2020
DeVos Showering Wealthy Private and Religious Schools With Coronavirus Aid, Says Report
REGARDLESS OF NEED
Jamie Ross, Reporter
Published May. 15, 2020 6:49AM ET
DeVos Showering Wealthy Private and Religious Schools With Coronavirus Aid, Says Report
https://www.thedailybeast.com/devos-showering-wealthy-private-and-religious-schools-with-coronavirus-aid-says-report?ref=homeDeVos Showering Wealthy Private and Religious Schools With Coronavirus Aid, Says Report
REGARDLESS OF NEED
Jamie Ross, Reporter
Published May. 15, 2020 6:49AM ET
When Congress set aside $30 billion for education institutions facing ruin because of the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, it’s pretty clear this is not what they had in mind. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is reportedly throwing millions of federal dollars that were intended mainly for public schools and colleges at private and religious schools, according to a report from The New York Times. About $350 million of funding has reportedly been allocated to small colleges, many of which are private or religious, regardless of need. For example, the Wright Graduate University for the Realization of Human Potential in Wisconsin, which has a completely normal website that denies claims that it’s a cult, has reportedly received about $495,000. DeVos has reportedly also used $180 million of the relief to encourage states to create “microgrants” that parents can use to pay for educational services, including private-school tuition.
May 15, 2020
Medical Journal Calls for Trump to Be Replaced
May 15, 2020 at 7:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Medical Journal Calls for Trump to Be Replaced
https://politicalwire.com/2020/05/15/medical-journal-calls-for-trump-to-be-replaced/Medical Journal Calls for Trump to Be Replaced
May 15, 2020 at 7:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Lancet, one of the world’s oldest and best-known medical journals, accused President Trump of injecting partisan politics into his response to the coronavirus pandemic and suggests that a change is in order in the White House.
“Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.”
“Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.”
May 15, 2020
Brazil and Mexico report record surge in coronavirus cases as Latin America reels
Reuters•May 14, 2020
Brazil and Mexico report record surge in coronavirus cases as Latin America reels
The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brazil
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Brazil and Mexico on Thursday reported a record one-day rise in new coronavirus cases, just as leaders of both countries intensified attempts to reopen their economies even as the spread of the virus in Latin America is seemingly gathering pace.
Brazilian right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro and Mexico's leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have frequently swum against the tide of scientific opinion since the crisis broke out, first by playing down the threat of the virus and more recently by focusing on reopening their economies despite rising cases.
The surge in virus cases across chunks of Latin America comes at a time when other regions, especially Europe and China, are seeing a downward trajectory of new infections.
Brazil, the hardest-hit country in Latin America, registered a daily record of 13,944 new cases, bringing its total to 202,918 confirmed cases of the virus and 13,933 deaths since the outbreak began, according to health ministry data.
Mexico, the second most impacted nation in the region, reported 2,409 new infections on Thursday, to bring its total confirmed coronavirus cases to 42,595. An additional 257 coronavirus deaths brought total fatalities to 4,477.
more...
https://news.yahoo.com/brazil-mexico-report-record-surge-020955099.html
May 15, 2020
Gregory McMichael, ... charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery, had service weapon suspended in 2019
Gregory McMichael, ex-police officer charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery, had service weapon suspended in 2019
Gregory McMichael repeatedly failed to complete officer training.
By Brandon Baur and Mark Osborne
May 14, 2020, 6:46 PM
Documents show that Gregory McMichael's law enforcement certification was suspended and his firearm was taken away in February 2019 due to repeatedly failing to take mandatory training, one year before the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.
He retired a few months later in June 2019.
McMichael, and his adult son, Travis, were arrested on May 7 and charged with murder and aggravated assault for the Feb. 23 shooting death of Arbery, who was jogging in his Satilla Shores, Georgia, neighborhood when confronted by the two men. The arrest came soon after a video showing the fatal confrontation went viral.
This suspension is outlined in Gregory McMichael's personnel records, obtained by ABC News, from his time working in Glynn County, Georgia, as a police officer and investigator in the district attorney's office.
In February 2019, the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) issued McMichael a suspension order for "failure to maintain training for the year 2018." At that point McMichael lost his powers of arrest.
more...
https://abcnews.go.com/US/gregory-mcmichael-police-officer-charged-killing-ahmaud-arbery/story?id=70690972&fbclid=IwAR1TyxUPcbx8yqhIbHOn77TBSEEFfUSu4Rs3Y3cIcLsBAwN8D-AL1xIJRmE
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: NY
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Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
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