Daily Archives: April 11, 2020

2020-04-11: News Headlines

RT (2020-04-11). Cuba enraged over 'cruel & genocidal' US blockade impeding anti-coronavirus efforts. rt.com The suffocating sanctions in place for almost six decades make it extremely difficult for the island nation to import essential supplies needed to battle the coronavirus, Cuban health officials say. | "The United States' economic-financial blockade is the most unfair, severe, prolonged system of sanctions of all time by one country against another," Nestor Marimon, the Cuban Health Ministry's international relations director,

Kelli Stidham Hall, Goleen Samari, Samantha Garbers, Sara E Casey, Dazon Dixon Diallo, Miriam Orcutt, Rachel T Moresky, Micaela Elvira Martinez, Terry McGovern (2020-04-11). [Comment] Centring sexual and reproductive health and justice in the global COVID-19 response. thelancet.com Global responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are converging with pervasive, existing sexual and reproductive health and justice inequities to disproportionately impact the health, wellbeing, and economic stability of women, girls, and vulnerable populations. People whose human rights are least protected are likely to experience unique difficulties from COVID-19.1 Women, girls, and marginalised groups are likely to carry a heavier burden of what will be the devastating downstream economic and social consequences of this pandemic.

teleSUR (2020-04-11). Venezuela Donates COVID-19 Tests to Caribbean Countries. telesurenglish.net Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez reported Friday that the Bolivarian Government donated rapid and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to several Caribbean countries to help them in the fight against COVID-19. | RELATED: | Rodríguez said that, by order of President Nicolas Maduro, tests were sent to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua, and Barbuda, as well as Dominica and Grenada. | "To our brothers in…

teleSUR (2020-04-11). St. Vincent & Grenadines, Grenada Thank Venezuela for Donations. telesurenglish.net Saint Vincent & the Grenadines RELATED: | "We have received 3,000 rapid test kits for the COVID-19 and a relevant quantity of reagents for the PCR test,"

teleSUR (2020-04-11). Cuban Doctors Arrive in Angola to Train 1500 Health Technicians. telesurenglish.net Angola's Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta informed that 1,500 health technicians will be trained by Cuban doctors in matters of family medicine for community epidemiological surveillance. | RELATED: | "The training will take place at Girassol Hospital… because it has excellent simulators for practical classes, which is an indispensable condition," local outlet SAPO reported. | With that training, "Angolan doctors will…

sputniknews (2020-04-11). Robots, Joggers and Homeless: How the Streets of Washington DC Look Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic. sputniknews.com So far, at least 1,500 of the 700,000-plus population of Washington DC have contracted the COVID-19 infection.

sputniknews (2020-04-11). Fidel's Legacy: What's Behind the Proficiency of Cuba's Medical Teams Fighting COVID-19 Abroad? sputniknews.com Cuba's Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade is highly in demand across the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Manuel Limonta, vice president of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and one of the founders of Cuba's biotechnology has explained how the nation managed to create an efficient disaster healthcare team despite the embargo burden.

Helen Yaffe (2020-04-10). Cuban Medical Science in the Service of Humanity. counterpunch.org By 21 March, Cuba had sent healthcare professionals to 37 countries to collaborate in combating the pandemic. Italy received 53 Cuban medics who had previously worked in West Africa during the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2014. Cuba also stepped into the breach in mid-March when a cruise ship with over 600 mostly British passengers and

Charles McKelvey (2020-04-10). Cuban Development of Biomedical High Technology. counterpunch.org As the United States and the nations of Europe experience the sad tragedy of an uncontrolled pandemic, they for the most part have not noticed the well-organized and coherent plan of the Cuban government against Covid-19, being carried out with the determined and patriotic support of the people; nor the availability of a Cuban created

Fight Back (2020-04-10). Interview with Italian communists on COVID-19 impact and the working class. fightbacknews.org Fight Back! interviews Guido Salza, the head of the International Relations Department of the Italian communist organization Fronte Popolare. | Fight Back!: How are the working people of Italy being impacted by the pandemic? | Guido Salza: A clear picture of the dynamics of the infection are not yet apparent. However, it is likely that the working class is paying the highest price. Similar to what happened in China, COVID has spread very fast in the most industrial areas of our country. The more concentrated the production and population are (as it is in Lombardia, Piemonte, Veneto and Emilia Romagna), the more t…

teleSUR (2020-04-10). New York Homeless People Is Unprotected Against the Pandemic. telesurenglish.net In New York City, the homeless population is facing the COVID-19 pandemic without governmental guarantees, no sanitary assistance, and no appropriate shelters. | RELATED: | In January 2020, there were 62,679 homeless people, including 14,682 families with 22,013 children, all of them depending on the NYC shelters to spend the night. ‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã&…

Edward Curtin (2020-04-10). Phantoms of "The Operation" dissidentvoice.org Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the blind. — Shakespeare, King Lear Many thousands of New Yorkers have temporarily moved into the small Massachusetts town (permanent population approximately 7,000) where I live because of fear and panic created by fraudulent disease and death data gathered and disseminated under the umbrella term Covid-19. Such deceitful, …

Helen Yaffe (2020-04-10). Cuban Medical Science in the Service of Humanity. counterpunch.org By 21 March, Cuba had sent healthcare professionals to 37 countries to collaborate in combating the pandemic. Italy received 53 Cuban medics who had previously worked in West Africa during the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2014. Cuba also stepped into the breach in mid-March when a cruise ship with over 600 mostly British passengers and

teleSUR (2020-04-10). Cuba: Government Implements New Measures to Prevent COVID-19. telesurenglish.net Cuba's Transport Minister Eduardo Rodriguez decided to suspend public and private passenger transportation within urban and rural areas. However, institutions offering essential services must guarantee the mobility of their workers.. | RELATED: | Private carriers would have their operating license suspended and are free from tax payment until the restrictions cease. Means of transportation contracted by the Defense Councils fo…

Charles McKelvey (2020-04-10). Cuban Development of Biomedical High Technology. counterpunch.org As the United States and the nations of Europe experience the sad tragedy of an uncontrolled pandemic, they for the most part have not noticed the well-organized and coherent plan of the Cuban government against Covid-19, being carried out with the determined and patriotic support of the people; nor the availability of a Cuban created

teleSUR (2020-04-10). Colombia's Gustavo Petro Diagnosed with Cancer. telesurenglish.net Senator Gustavo Petro, one of the most prominent leftist leaders of the Colombian government, said Friday that he was recently diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. | RELATED: | "I decided to travel to Cuba to complete health tests, and they diagnosed on March 2, an early stage of cancer of the lining between the esophagus and stomach," Petro confirmed. | Petro, who lost the presidential elections in 2018 against i…

Eds. (2020-04-09). Adolf Trump goes for Venezuela: A jump into nothingness? mronline.org In the midst of a desolate scenario, when the United States has become the country with the highest number of those infected by the Coronavirus, President Donald Trump and his team of serial criminals like Elliott Abrams, Cuban-American Mauricio Claver-Carone, Marco Rubio and others, announced that their country and 22 other nations would launch a …

Anya Parampil (2020-04-09). Colonialism & coronavirus: 800,000 Haitians may die of COVID-19. thegrayzone.com Gutted by US-allied, neoliberal governments which have controlled the country since 2004, Haiti's healthcare sector braces for a potential catastrophe….

Chris Gelardi (2020-04-09). Colonialism Made Puerto Rico Vulnerable to Coronavirus Catastrophe. thenation.com Colonialism Made Puerto Rico Vulnerable to Coronavirus Catastrophe…

teleSUR (2020-04-09). UN Seeks $130 Million To Prevent Hunger Catastrophe in Zimbabwe. telesurenglish.net The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it needed US$130 million to fund emergency operations in Zimbabwe until August and prevent a catastrophe in the southern African nation, as climate- and recession-induced food shortages deepened. | RELATED: | The WFP added 7.7 million Zimbabweans, half the population, need food aid after a devastating drought and cyclone last year. A lack of predictable…

graham (2020-04-09). Covid-19 to plunge half a billion people into poverty. truepublica.org.uk New research published by UNU-WIDER today warns that the economic fallout from the global pandemic could increase global poverty by as much as half a billion people, or 8% of the total human population. This would be the first time that poverty has increased globally in thirty years, since 1990. The authors of the UNU-WIDER study — Andy Sumner and Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez …

Staff (2020-04-08). "A Systematic Issue of Disparity": Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths. democracynow.org Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary — known as Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the United States [mdas…

Stansfield Smith (2020-04-08). Open Letter to Condemn Trump Administration's Hypocritical Indictment on Drug Charges of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and High-Ranking Venezuelan Officials. dissidentvoice.org We, the undersigned organizations and prominent individuals, condemn the false claims of criminal charges by the US government against the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other high-ranking officials with the pretext of their alleged involvement in international drug trafficking. The US government is offering a $15 million bounty for information that would …

Ben Norton (2020-04-08). Billionaire-backed Human Rights Watch lobbies for lethal US sanctions on leftist governments as Covid crisis rages. thegrayzone.com Regime change-hungry HRW is proudly taking credit for crushing new US sanctions on Nicaragua while pushing to escalate Washington's economic…

Staff (2020-04-07). Headlines for April 7, 2020. democracynow.org Boris Johnson in Intensive Care for COVID-19, U.K.'s Foreign Secretary Deputized | , Most of U.S. Population Told to Stay Home as Medical Equipment Shortages Continue to Mar Response, Trump Ignored Coronavirus Warnings from His Own Administration as Early as January | , Grocery Stores Report Coronavirus Deaths as Workers Say They Are Not Receiving Adequate Protection, WI Primary Vote Goes Ahead After Ruling by State Supreme Court; SCOTUS Throws Out Mail-in Ballot Extension, New York Appears to Flatten COVID-19 Curve as Cuomo Tightens Preventive Measures, Gov't Called to Release Data on Racial Makeup of COVID-19 D…

Lebwohl B, Green PR, Sà∂derling J, et al. (2020-04-07). Celiac Disease and Mortality Risk in a Swedish Population. jamanetwork.com This population epidemiology study used Swedish histopathology registry data to estimate mortality risk in patients with vs without celiac disease.

Lewis AL, Laurent LC. (2020-04-07). USPSTF 2020 Recommendations on Screening for Asymptomatic Bacterial Vaginosis in Pregnancy. jamanetwork.com Bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy is associated with higher risks of pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, whether or not symptoms are reported. Bacterial vaginosis is currently considered to be a microbial imbalance of the lower genital tract characterized by low levels of "healthy" Lactobacillus and overgrowth of a mixed population of other bacterial genera, including Gardnerella, Atopobium, Prevotella, Mobiluncus, Sneathia, and other taxa. Many of these microbes are also common isolates from sites of intrauterine infection, including the placenta and amniotic fluid. These findings have motivated…

Matt Sedlar (2020-04-06). Sanctioning the Way for COVID-19. cepr.net MarketWatch See article on original site While the United States is fighting COVID-19 here at home, US sanctions against other governments are aiding the virus' spread abroad. They've already likely contributed to many unnecessary deaths in Iran, and Venezuela's experience with the pandemic may also be much more deadly due to these punitive measures. COVID-19 …

Shaoqing Lei, Fang Jiang, Wating Su, Chang Chen, Jingli Chen, Wei Mei, Li-Ying Zhan, Yifan Jia, Liangqing Zhang, Danyong Liu, Zhong-Yuan Xia, Zhengyuan Xia (2020-04-04). [Research Paper] Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19 infection. thelancet.com In this retrospective cohort study of 34 operative patients with confirmed COVID-19, 15 (44 ∑1%) patients needed ICU care, and the mortality rate was 20 ∑5%.

Anya Parampil (2020-04-03). Ex UN anti-narcotics chief & mob expert says US Treasury running 'mafia racket' against Venezuela. thegrayzone.com Pino Arlacchi, the former Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Prevention, says US is behaving…

Jeb Sprague (2020-04-03). Haití en el precipicio mientras el coronavirus y el liderazgo impuesto por EEUU hacen estragos. thegrayzone.com Mientras que Haití es ampliamente despreciado, el gobierno respaldado por Estados Unidos promueve oficialmente el distanciamiento social para reprimir al…

Aaron Maté (2020-04-01). Pompeo's 'transition' plan tells Venezuela to suffer into submission. thegrayzone.com Declaring that "Nicolas Maduro will never again govern Venezuela," Mike Pompeo unveils a so-called "transition" plan that tells Venezuelans to…

Huali Wang, Tao Li, Paola Barbarino, Serge Gauthier, Henry Brodaty, José Luis Molinuevo, Hengge Xie, Yongan Sun, Enyan Yu, Yanqing Tang, Wendy Weidner, Xin Yu (2020-03-30). [Correspondence] Dementia care during COVID-19. thelancet.com Older adults are vulnerable at the onset of natural disasters and crisis, and this has been especially true during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.1 With the aggressive spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the death toll has risen worldwide. According to an interactive online tool that estimates the potential number of deaths from COVID-19 in a population, by age group, in individual countries and regional groupings worldwide under a range of scenarios, most of those who have died were older adults, most of whom had underlying health problems.

CounterSpin (2020-03-13). Julio López Varona on Puerto Rico's Disaster Capitalism. fair.org Media…

Joe Emersberger (2020-03-13). No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy. zcomm.org I respect UK journalist Andrew Buncombe. As I noted for FAIR last year, he was one of the few corporate journalists who reported on a study linking Trump's financial sanctions on Venezuela to thousands of deaths by the end of 2018. Since 2018, Trump has repeatedly intensified the sanctions and threatened Venezuela with military action,

Rodgers R Ayebare, Robert Flick, Solome Okware, Bongomin Bodo, Mohammed Lamorde (2020-03-11). [Correspondence] Adoption of COVID-19 triage strategies for low-income settings. thelancet.com Despite major advances in epidemic preparedness, Africa remains uniquely susceptible to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). According to the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index,1 22 of the 25 countries most susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak are in Africa. The high prevalence of HIV, tuberculosis, and other pathogens might potentiate the severity of COVID-19 and contribute to diagnostic uncertainty. Health-care systems and human resources are already spread thin. And although the young age of the population (with more than half aged younger than 20 years) might prove protective, it also means…

Dorothy Shaw (2020-03-09). [Comment] Patchy progress on the ICPD: are we asking the right questions? thelancet.com The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agenda, set in 1994 in Cairo and revisited 25 years later in Nairobi in 2019, included goals for equitable education of women, reduction of infant and child mortality, reduction of maternal mortality, and access to reproductive and sexual health services, including family planning, through its well known Programme of Action.1 The ICPD was ground-breaking in recognising the benefits that empowerment of women and girls would have for themselves, their families, and, ultimately, their countries.

Ranu S Dhillon, Devabhaktuni Srikrishna, Gerardo Chowell (2020-03-09). [Comment] Getting to zero in the DR Congo Ebola outbreak. thelancet.com Any plan to stop the ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo must be based on a quantitative understanding of the proportion of the at-risk population that needs to be protected by effective control measures for transmission to decline sufficiently and quickly enough for the outbreak to end.

Venezuela Analysis (2020-02-06). Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law" theantimedia.com In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

Larisa Rudenko, Irina Isakova-Sivak (2020-01-21). [Comment] Oral influenza vaccination—a possible solution for the next pandemic? thelancet.com Influenza is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by a constantly mutating virus, which means that the vaccine composition must be updated almost every year. The burden of seasonal influenza is high,1 but the emergence of a pandemic virus can cause substantially more damage to both populations and health-care systems.2 When a pandemic starts, demand for the specific vaccine soars, leading to a global shortage.

Miranda I Teboh-Ewungkem, Gideon A Ngwa (2020-01-13). [Comment] Fighting malaria with ivermectin: a novel malaria control tool. thelancet.com Malaria is a complex disease involving three interacting living populations, each with its own evolutionary pathway and need of survival: the parasite of genus Plasmodium, which causes the disease in humans; the humans that can be infected by the malaria parasite; and the Anopheles spp mosquito (the vector), which transmits the parasite from human to human. Malaria control strategies targeting these different populations exist. These include mosquitocidal agents that target the aquatic and terrestrial life forms of the mosquito vector,1 prophylactic use of intermittent preventive treatment,2,3 early disease diagn…

Walter T McNicholas (2019-12-02). [Comment] Active management of mild obstructive sleep apnoea: the evidence grows. thelancet.com Obstructive sleep apnoea is highly prevalent and reports indicate a prevalence for mild obstructive sleep apnoea of up to 35% in the general population.1 However, a lower prevalence of about 5% is reported in the general population for the clinical syndrome when sleep disordered breathing, as determined by the apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI), is combined with relevant daytime manifestations such as excessive sleepiness.1,2 Because many patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, even in the mild category, report debilitating symptoms of sleepiness and other measures of impaired quality of life, the active management of…

2020-04-11: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

[Comment] Centring sexual and reproductive health and justice in the global COVID-19 response
Kelli Stidham Hall, Goleen Samari, Samantha Garbers, Sara E Casey, Dazon Dixon Diallo, Miriam Orcutt, Rachel T Moresky, Micaela Elvira Martinez, Terry McGovern | thelancet.com | 2020-04-11
Global responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are converging with pervasive, existing sexual and reproductive health and justice inequities to disproportionately impact the health, wellbeing, and economic stability of women, girls, and vulnerable populations. People whose human rights are least protected are likely to experience unique difficulties from COVID-19.1 Women, girls, and marginalised groups are likely to carry a heavier burden of what will be the devastating downstream economic and social consequences of this pandemic.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30801-1/fulltext?rss=yes

St. Vincent & Grenadines, Grenada Thank Venezuela for Donations
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-11
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves appreciated the COVID-19 screening tests that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro sent to his country on Saturday. | RELATED: | Venezuela Donates COVID-19 Tests to Caribbean Countries | "We have received 3,000 rapid test kits for the COVID-19 and a relevant quantity of reagents for the PCR test,"
telesurenglish.net/news/St.-Vincent–Grenadines-Grenada-Thank-Venezuela-for-Donations-20200411-0006.html

Venezuela Donates COVID-19 Tests to Caribbean Countries
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-11
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez reported Friday that the Bolivarian Government donated rapid and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to several Caribbean countries to help them in the fight against COVID-19. | RELATED: | COVID-19 in the Caribbean: Overview of the Situation, Outbreak | Rodríguez said that, by order of President Nicolas Maduro, tests were sent to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua, and Barbuda, as well as Dominica and Grenada. | "To our brothers in…
telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Donates-COVID-19-Tests-to-Caribbean-Countries-20200410-0017.html

Cuba enraged over 'cruel & genocidal' US blockade impeding anti-coronavirus efforts
rt.com | 2020-04-11
The suffocating sanctions in place for almost six decades make it extremely difficult for the island nation to import essential supplies needed to battle the coronavirus, Cuban health officials say. | "The United States' economic-financial blockade is the most unfair, severe, prolonged system of sanctions of all time by one country against another," Nestor Marimon, the Cuban Health Ministry's international relations director, told re…
rt.com/news/485557-cuba-us-sanctions-covid/

Cuban Doctors Arrive in Angola to Train 1500 Health Technicians
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-11
Angola's Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta informed that 1,500 health technicians will be trained by Cuban doctors in matters of family medicine for community epidemiological surveillance. | RELATED: | Cuba: Government Implements New Measures to Prevent COVID-19 | "The training will take place at Girassol Hospital… because it has excellent simulators for practical classes, which is an indispensable condition," local outlet SAPO reported. | With that training, "Angolan doctors will…
telesurenglish.net/news/Cuban-Doctors-Arrive-in-Angola-to-Train-1500-Health-Technicians-20200411-0002.html

Fidel's Legacy: What's Behind the Proficiency of Cuba's Medical Teams Fighting COVID-19 Abroad?
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-11
Cuba's Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade is highly in demand across the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Manuel Limonta, vice president of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and one of the founders of Cuba's biotechnology has explained how the nation managed to create an efficient disaster healthcare team despite the embargo burden.
sputniknews.com/analysis/202004111078917814-fidels-legacy-whats-behind-the-proficiency-of-cubas-medical-teams-fighting-covid-19-abroad/

Robots, Joggers and Homeless: How the Streets of Washington DC Look Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-11
So far, at least 1,500 of the 700,000-plus population of Washington DC have contracted the COVID-19 infection.
sputniknews.com/us/202004111078919313-robots-joggers-and-homeless-how-the-streets-of-washington-dc-look-amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic/

Colombia's Gustavo Petro Diagnosed with Cancer
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-10
Senator Gustavo Petro, one of the most prominent leftist leaders of the Colombian government, said Friday that he was recently diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. | RELATED: | Colombia Partakes in US-Led Military Operation in the Caribbean | "I decided to travel to Cuba to complete health tests, and they diagnosed on March 2, an early stage of cancer of the lining between the esophagus and stomach," Petro confirmed. | Petro, who lost the presidential elections in 2018 against i…
telesurenglish.net/news/Colombias-Gustavo-Petro-Diagnosed-with-Cancer-20200410-0015.html

Cuban Development of Biomedical High Technology
Charles McKelvey | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-10
As the United States and the nations of Europe experience the sad tragedy of an uncontrolled pandemic, they for the most part have not noticed the well-organized and coherent plan of the Cuban government against Covid-19, being carried out with the determined and patriotic support of the people; nor the availability of a Cuban created…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/10/cuban-development-of-biomedical-high-technology/

Greg Mortimer Cruise Passengers to Be Repatriated From Uruguay
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-10
Uruguay will evacuate this Friday part of the passengers on board the Australian cruise ship Greg Mortimer, most of them infected by COVID-19. | RELATED: | British Cruise Ship With COVID-19 Cases Docks in Cuban Port | Authorities will deploy a humanitarian corridor to transport 112 passengers from the ship to the airport in Montevideo, according to the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. | The humanitarian plane is expected to arrive the airport at 5 a.m. However, the cruise sh…
telesurenglish.net/news/uruguay-to-repatriate-part-of-australian-cruise-passengers-20200410-0007.html

Cuban Medical Science in the Service of Humanity
Helen Yaffe | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-10
By 21 March, Cuba had sent healthcare professionals to 37 countries to collaborate in combating the pandemic. Italy received 53 Cuban medics who had previously worked in West Africa during the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2014. Cuba also stepped into the breach in mid-March when a cruise ship with over 600 mostly British passengers and…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/10/cuban-medical-science-in-the-service-of-humanity/

Cuba: Government Implements New Measures to Prevent COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-10
Cuba's Transport Minister Eduardo Rodriguez decided to suspend public and private passenger transportation within urban and rural areas. However, institutions offering essential services must guarantee the mobility of their workers.. | RELATED: | Cuba has Reached Limited Local Transmission Stage of COVID-19 | Private carriers would have their operating license suspended and are free from tax payment until the restrictions cease. Means of transportation contracted by the Defense Councils fo…
telesurenglish.net/news/cuba-government-implements-new-measures-to-prevent-covid19-20200410-0003.html

Phantoms of "The Operation"
Edward Curtin | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-10
Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the blind.

New York Homeless People Is Unprotected Against the Pandemic
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-10
In New York City, the homeless population is facing the COVID-19 pandemic without governmental guarantees, no sanitary assistance, and no appropriate shelters. | RELATED: | New York Lives Its Deadliest Day With 799 Deaths by COVID-19 | In January 2020, there were 62,679 homeless people, including 14,682 families with 22,013 children, all of them depending on the NYC shelters to spend the night. ‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã&…
telesurenglish.net/news/new-york-homeless-population–facing-covid-alone-20200410-0010.html

Interview with Italian communists on COVID-19 impact and the working class
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-10
Fight Back! interviews Guido Salza, the head of the International Relations Department of the Italian communist organization Fronte Popolare. | Fight Back!: How are the working people of Italy being impacted by the pandemic? | Guido Salza: A clear picture of the dynamics of the infection are not yet apparent. However, it is likely that the working class is paying the highest price. Similar to what happened in China, COVID has spread very fast in the most industrial areas of our country. The more concentrated the production and population are (as it is in Lombardia, Piemonte, Veneto and Emilia Romagna), the more t…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/9/interview-italian-communists-covid-19-impact-and-working-class

Colonialism & coronavirus: 800,000 Haitians may die of COVID-19
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-09
Gutted by US-allied, neoliberal governments which have controlled the country since 2004, Haiti's healthcare sector braces for a potential catastrophe….
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/09/colonialism-coronavirus-haitians-covid/

Adolf Trump goes for Venezuela: A jump into nothingness?
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-04-09
In the midst of a desolate scenario, when the United States has become the country with the highest number of those infected by the Coronavirus, President Donald Trump and his team of serial criminals like Elliott Abrams, Cuban-American Mauricio Claver-Carone, Marco Rubio and others, announced that their country and 22 other nations would launch a …
mronline.org/2020/04/09/adolf-trump-goes-for-venezuela-a-jump-into-nothingness/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=adolf-trump-goes-for-venezuela-a-jump-into-nothingness

Covid-19 to plunge half a billion people into poverty
graham | truepublica.org.uk | 2020-04-09
New research published by UNU-WIDER today warns that the economic fallout from the global pandemic could increase global poverty by as much as half a billion people, or 8% of the total human population. This would be the first time that poverty has increased globally in thirty years, since 1990. The authors of the UNU-WIDER study

Gaza Running out of Coronavirus Tests: Health Minister
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-09
The Gaza Strip has no coronavirus testing kits left, Palestinian health authorities said Wednesday, raising the alarm that the enclave, which is facing severe shortages of equipment, may rapidly be overwhelmed by the outbreak. | RELATED: | High Population Density Challenge for Gazans to Fight COVID-19 | "Testing at our central laboratory has stopped, after coronavirus test kits completely ran out," Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. | The Palestinian territo…
telesurenglish.net/news/Gaza-Running-out-of-Coronavirus-Tests-Health-Minister-20200409-0022.html

UN Seeks $130 Million To Prevent Hunger Catastrophe in Zimbabwe
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-09
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it needed US$130 million to fund emergency operations in Zimbabwe until August and prevent a catastrophe in the southern African nation, as climate- and recession-induced food shortages deepened. | RELATED: | Uganda: Unqualified Woman Ran Health Center, 105 Children Died | The WFP added 7.7 million Zimbabweans, half the population, need food aid after a devastating drought and cyclone last year. A lack of predictable…
telesurenglish.net/news/UN-Seeks-130-Million-To-Prevent-Hunger-Catastrophe-in-Zimbabwe-20200409-0020.html

Colonialism Made Puerto Rico Vulnerable to Coronavirus Catastrophe
Chris Gelardi | thenation.com | 2020-04-09
Colonialism Made Puerto Rico Vulnerable to Coronavirus Catastrophe…
thenation.com/article/politics/puerto-rico-coronavirus/

"A Systematic Issue of Disparity": Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-08
Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary

Open Letter to Condemn Trump Administration's Hypocritical Indictment on Drug Charges of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and High-Ranking Venezuelan Officials
Stansfield Smith | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-08
We, the undersigned organizations and prominent individuals, condemn the false claims of criminal charges by the US government against the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other high-ranking officials with the pretext of their alleged involvement in international drug trafficking. The US government is offering a $15 million bounty for information that would …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/open-letter-to-condemn-trump-administrations-hypocritical-indictment-on-drug-charges-of-venezuelan-president-nicolas-maduro-and-high-ranking-venezuelan-officials/

Billionaire-backed Human Rights Watch lobbies for lethal US sanctions on leftist governments as Covid crisis rages
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-08
Regime change-hungry HRW is proudly taking credit for crushing new US sanctions on Nicaragua while pushing to escalate Washington's economic…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/08/billionaire-human-rights-watch-sanctions-nicaragua-venezuela/

Headlines for April 7, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-07
Boris Johnson in Intensive Care for COVID-19, U.K.'s Foreign Secretary Deputized | , Most of U.S. Population Told to Stay Home as Medical Equipment Shortages Continue to Mar Response, Trump Ignored Coronavirus Warnings from His Own Administration as Early as January | , Grocery Stores Report Coronavirus Deaths as Workers Say They Are Not Receiving Adequate Protection, WI Primary Vote Goes Ahead After Ruling by State Supreme Court; SCOTUS Throws Out Mail-in Ballot Extension, New York Appears to Flatten COVID-19 Curve as Cuomo Tightens Preventive Measures, Gov't Called to Release Data on Racial Makeup of COVID-19 D…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/7/headlines

Celiac Disease and Mortality Risk in a Swedish Population
Lebwohl B, Green PR, Sà∂derling J, et al. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-07
This population epidemiology study used Swedish histopathology registry data to estimate mortality risk in patients with vs without celiac disease.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2764182

USPSTF 2020 Recommendations on Screening for Asymptomatic Bacterial Vaginosis in Pregnancy
Lewis AL, Laurent LC. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-07
Bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy is associated with higher risks of pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, whether or not symptoms are reported. Bacterial vaginosis is currently considered to be a microbial imbalance of the lower genital tract characterized by low levels of "healthy" Lactobacillus and overgrowth of a mixed population of other bacterial genera, including Gardnerella, Atopobium, Prevotella, Mobiluncus, Sneathia, and other taxa. Many of these microbes are also common isolates from sites of intrauterine infection, including the placenta and amniotic fluid. These findings have motivated…
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2764163

Sanctioning the Way for COVID-19
Matt Sedlar | cepr.net | 2020-04-06
MarketWatch See article on original site While the United States is fighting COVID-19 here at home, US sanctions against other governments are aiding the virus' spread abroad. They've already likely contributed to many unnecessary deaths in Iran, and Venezuela's experience with the pandemic may also be much more deadly due to these punitive measures. COVID-19 …
cepr.net/u-s-sanctions-in-a-time-of-coronavirus-are-morally-depraved-as-well-as-illegal-under-international-law/

[Research Paper] Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19 infection
Shaoqing Lei, Fang Jiang, Wating Su, Chang Chen, Jingli Chen, Wei Mei, Li-Ying Zhan, Yifan Jia, Liangqing Zhang, Danyong Liu, Zhong-Yuan Xia, Zhengyuan Xia | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
In this retrospective cohort study of 34 operative patients with confirmed COVID-19, 15 (44 ∑1%) patients needed ICU care, and the mortality rate was 20 ∑5%.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30075-4/fulltext?rss=yes

Ex UN anti-narcotics chief & mob expert says US Treasury running 'mafia racket' against Venezuela
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-03
Pino Arlacchi, the former Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Prevention, says US is behaving…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/03/un-narcotics-mob-treasury-running-mafia-venezuela/

Haití en el precipicio mientras el coronavirus y el liderazgo impuesto por EEUU hacen estragos
Jeb Sprague | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-03
Mientras que Haití es ampliamente despreciado, el gobierno respaldado por Estados Unidos promueve oficialmente el distanciamiento social para reprimir al…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/03/haiti-coronavirus-eeuu/

Pompeo's 'transition' plan tells Venezuela to suffer into submission
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-01
Declaring that "Nicolas Maduro will never again govern Venezuela," Mike Pompeo unveils a so-called "transition" plan that tells Venezuelans to…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/01/pompeos-transition-plan-tells-venezuela-to-suffer-into-submission/

Pompeo's 'transition' plan tells Venezuela to suffer into submission
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-01
Declaring that "Nicolas Maduro will never again govern Venezuela," Mike Pompeo unveils a so-called "transition" plan that tells Venezuelans to…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/01/pompeos-transition-plan-tells-venezuela-to-suffer-into-submission/

[Correspondence] Dementia care during COVID-19
Huali Wang, Tao Li, Paola Barbarino, Serge Gauthier, Henry Brodaty, José Luis Molinuevo, Hengge Xie, Yongan Sun, Enyan Yu, Yanqing Tang, Wendy Weidner, Xin Yu | thelancet.com | 2020-03-30
Older adults are vulnerable at the onset of natural disasters and crisis, and this has been especially true during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.1 With the aggressive spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the death toll has risen worldwide. According to an interactive online tool that estimates the potential number of deaths from COVID-19 in a population, by age group, in individual countries and regional groupings worldwide under a range of scenarios, most of those who have died were older adults, most of whom had underlying health problems.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30755-8/fulltext?rss=yes

No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2020-03-13
I respect UK journalist Andrew Buncombe. As I noted for FAIR last year, he was one of the few corporate journalists who reported on a study linking Trump's financial sanctions on Venezuela to thousands of deaths by the end of 2018. Since 2018, Trump has repeatedly intensified the sanctions and threatened Venezuela with military action, Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/no-venezuela-does-not-have-a-six-child-per-family-policy/

Julio López Varona on Puerto Rico's Disaster Capitalism
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2020-03-13
Media…
fair.org/home/julio-lopez-varona-on-puerto-ricos-disaster-capitalism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=julio-lopez-varona-on-puerto-ricos-disaster-capitalism

[Correspondence] Adoption of COVID-19 triage strategies for low-income settings
Rodgers R Ayebare, Robert Flick, Solome Okware, Bongomin Bodo, Mohammed Lamorde | thelancet.com | 2020-03-11
Despite major advances in epidemic preparedness, Africa remains uniquely susceptible to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). According to the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index,1 22 of the 25 countries most susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak are in Africa. The high prevalence of HIV, tuberculosis, and other pathogens might potentiate the severity of COVID-19 and contribute to diagnostic uncertainty. Health-care systems and human resources are already spread thin. And although the young age of the population (with more than half aged younger than 20 years) might prove protective, it also means…
thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30114-4/fulltext?rss=yes

Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law"
Venezuela Analysis | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-06
In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law"