Category: Corona Virus

After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began letting businesses reopen on May 1, medical experts and government officials expected new coronavirus cases to rise as more people ventured outside their homes.

A steep surge didnt materialize right away in North Texas, according to data from county health departments and hospitals. Emerging evidence suggests thats partly because many North Texans continued sticking close to home and took precautions when they went out.

Still, experts said, the region is in a delicate balance right now, and could quickly tip into dangerous territory.

Last week, Dallas County reported a series of record-high daily cases of COVID-19. Medical experts said those high numbers could come from expanded testing and do not necessarily signal a new wave of infections. In a news conference Thursday, Dr. Philip Huang, director of the Dallas County Health Department, said some of the recent increases may be tied to an effort to test every nursing home resident and staffer for COVID-19.

Backing up Huangs explanation are forecasts from local experts that project flat or declining COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the area in coming weeks.

The current uncertainty shows how difficult it is to predict even the near term with a brand-new virus. Disease experts know the basics still hold true: More contact means more chance for disease.

But conditions that affect transmission of the coronavirus are changing constantly. Some people wear masks; others dont. Businesses are not back to normal operations, but are gradually letting in more customers.

And its tough for health experts to track the true burden of disease in the community at any given time. Some people dont realize they have COVID-19 symptoms; others dont want to get tested, and the results can take more than a week. Blurring the picture even further is the fact that state data on the number of tests conducted by each county is not up to date.

The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 stayed relatively flat in May. Hospitalizations are considered the most solid indicator of the course of the epidemic, experts said. Thats because hospitals are sure which patients have the disease. But hospital data reflects only how many people became infected two or three weeks earlier.

Forecasts are more reliable when new infections are rising or falling, said Rajesh Nandy, a statistician at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.

But once things become stagnant, the models are not that good at predicting, he said.

Part of the reason there wasnt a sudden surge in cases may be that lifting the lockdown didnt suddenly change behaviors. Thats according to an analysis Nandy did using cellphone data that reflects peoples mobility.

Even before Abbott issued stay-at-home orders, Nandy found, people began to put themselves on lockdown: Visits to retail locations dropped and time spent at home climbed.

In the middle of April, halfway through the statewide lockdown, North Texans started to venture out more. That trend didnt suddenly change when the lockdown ended at the end of April it simply continued on the same trajectory. Still, as of last week, visits to retail establishments and restaurants were about 17 percent lower than pre-epidemic levels.

In fact, Nandy said, mobility patterns across the country all look similar over the past few months, no matter when or whether governors issued statewide lockdowns.

What that tells me is that as soon as people realized this was a serious public health issue, they took measures themselves, he said. People are making collective decisions based on how safe they feel.

Its unclear whether the gradually increasing mobility is a harbinger of more infections, Nandy said. Much depends on how people behave when they are out and about. He thinks, however, that people will respond to media coverage of cases and will adjust their behavior. How much that will help limit new infections remains to be seen.

Some worry that the general public is not getting a clear message about the continued importance of social distancing.

Ive noticed a lot of confusion with our patients, because they think that because the state has reopened that means that everything is fine, said Dr. Sharon Davis, chief medical officer of the West Dallas-based Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic. We try to communicate with patients, saying that we still need to wear masks, and we still need to socially distance.

Davis also is concerned about the recent protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, which brought hundreds of people into the streets at a time when health officials recommend people avoid gathering in groups, could trigger new infections.

My heart is broken for whats happened in the first place, said Davis. [Peoples] voices need to be heard, but its such a terrible time to be out right now.

She said there should be more public messaging around the importance of wearing masks and keeping ones distance from others. I feel like there should be billboards everywhere. It should just become the new normal," Davis said.

Despite the record case counts in Dallas County, medical experts in North Texas continue to project flattened disease curves for now.

We continue to see a flattening or plateau in terms of the number of patients being admitted or requiring ICU care, said Dr. Miguel Benet, chief medical officer of the Medical City Healthcare hospital chain. Projections from those facilities show a plateau with a slight decreasing slope over the next two weeks, he said.

Medical City Healthcares forecast incorporates daily new positive COVID-19 cases reported by county health departments, internal hospital data on admissions, use of intensive care beds, ventilator demand and other data points. The projections cover four D-FW counties Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin and are based on data from the 16 North Texas-based hospitals in Medical City Healthcares network.

Benet attributes the recent increase in positive cases reported by Dallas County to expanded testing. Medical City HealthCare has begun testing all of its surgical and obstetrics patients for the virus as well as residents coming in or out of nursing homes. Its CareNow Urgent Care clinics have expanded testing as well.

Dallas County officials also have said that expanded testing, primarily in nursing homes, could account for the rising cases. Dallas County epidemiologist Wendy Chung said that between May 31 and June 4, about 130 nursing home residents and 70 staff were reported as new cases. New cases in Dallas County have averaged 260 a day over the past seven.

In mid-May, experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center projected that new daily cases could surge more than threefold, to 800 per day, by July in Dallas County. Their latest forecast, updated May 29, shows daily case counts falling to just below 200 by July.

This is good news, said Dr. Trish Perl, chief of the division of infectious diseases at UT Southwestern. She credited government stay-at-home orders and individual social distancing measures for helping keep the disease from skyrocketing so far. But she cautioned that cases could start climbing again quickly as businesses continue to open and if people let down their guard.

The UT Southwestern forecast is based on estimates of how rapidly the disease is spreading from person to person in Dallas County. Social distancing affects how quickly the disease is transmitted.

When the researchers released their forecast, cellphone mobility data showed that encounters between people were climbing steeply. Those interactions had leveled off as of the latest forecast, which was released before the recent protests.

Perl cautioned that North Texas may not have seen the full effects of loosened restrictions. The opening has been done very carefully and slowly, she said. So I just think its going to take a little while.

An analysis of deaths from COVID-19 also signals that the disease is not currently exploding. According to scientists with the UT-Austin COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, Texas deaths peaked in late April or early May and are predicted to decline at least through late June.

Consortium director Lauren Ancel Meyers said in an email that the projections are no guarantee of what lies ahead.

We dont have a crystal ball to predict the decisions that people and policymakers are going to make in the coming weeks and months, she said. If people continue to take steps to protect themselves and others from infections, then Texas cities may not experience a second wave this summer. If we dont, then the virus will begin to spread more rapidly.

View post:

Experts warned of a second wave of coronavirus cases as reopenings swept Texas in May - The Dallas Morning News

ROME For years, Gildo Negri visited schools to share his stories about blowing up bridges and cutting electrical wires to sabotage Nazis and fascists during World War II. In January, the 89-year-old made another visit, leaving his nursing home outside Milan to help students plant trees in honor of Italians deported to concentration camps.

But at the end of February, as Europes first outbreak of the coronavirus spread through Mr. Negris nursing home, it infected him, too.

Shut inside, he grew despondent about missing the usual parades and public speeches on Italys Liberation Day, grander this year to mark the 75th anniversary. But the virus canceled the April 25 commemorations. Mr. Negri died that night.

The memory is vanishing, and the coronavirus is accelerating this process, said Rita Magnani, who worked with Mr. Negri, at the local chapter of the National Association of Italian Partisans. We are losing the people who can tell us in first person what happened. And its a shame, because when we lose the historical memory we lose ourselves.

Time and its ravages have already cut down the lives and blurred the memories of a generation that saw close up the ideologies and crimes that turned Europe into a killing field.

The virus, which is so lethal to the old, has hastened the departure of these last witnesses and forced the cancellation of anniversary commemorations that offered a final chance to tell their stories to large audiences. It has also created an opportunity for rising political forces who seek to recast the history of the last century in order to play a greater role in remaking the present one.

Throughout Europe, radical right-wing parties with histories of Holocaust denial, Mussolini infatuation and fascist motifs have gained traction in recent years, moving from the fringes and into parliaments and even governing coalitions.

The Alternative for Germany is looking to capitalize on the economic frustration the coronavirus crisis has triggered. In France, the hard-right National Rally had the countrys strongest showing in the last European Parliament elections. And in Italy, the birthplace of fascism, the descendants of post-fascist parties have grown popular as the stigma around Mussolini and strongman politics has faded.

Italy is especially vulnerable to the loss of memory. It has endured a severe epidemic and has the oldest population in Europe. It is also a politically polarized place where areas of consensus in other countries are constantly relitigated, with recollections of Nazi and fascist atrocities countered with retorts of summary executions by Communist partisans.

In the three-quarters of a century following Italys defeat and de facto civil war with Mussolinis short-lived Nazi puppet state in the north, the people who lived through the war and fascism have offered a living testimony that shined through the muddle. That generation was to get a final close-up and megaphone on the 75th anniversary of the wars end, in Italy and throughout Europe.

To mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, Germany had spent more than a year booking flights and hotels and organizing wheelchairs and oxygen tanks for 72 survivors and 20 American soldiers who liberated the camps. For five days starting on April 29, they were to meet one another and tell their stories. The pandemic made that impossible.

Instead, only four officials took part in the event.

Many survivors had been living for the day, said Gabriele Hammermann, who runs the Dachau concentration camp memorial, and was one of the four participants. In these times of change in which fewer and fewer survivors are able to come to the memorial site, it was of particular importance that the baton of remembrance be handed to the next generations.

On May 8, Victory in Europe day, the BBC broadcast parts of Winston Churchills speech 75 years before (We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing), and Prime Minister Boris Johnson lamented the lack of parades but said that fighting the virus demands the same spirit of national endeavor as the war effort did.

In France, Genevive Darrieussecq, the secretary of state to the Minister of the Armed Forces, said regional ceremonies were canceled especially as former fighters and flag bearers are particularly exposed.

Some veterans groups have said they understood that memorials for the past needed to take a back seat to immediate health risks. Others found the absence devastating.

In Russia, which lost tens of millions of soldiers during a war that forged its national identity, President Vladimir V. Putin had planned a major military parade for May 9, to be attended by President Emmanuel Macron of France and possibly other world leaders in Moscow. Instead he made phone calls of solidarity and rescheduled the event for June 24. We will do this, he said.

In the meantime, as the virus upsets all of modern life, it is also severing connections to the past.

In Spain, Jos Mara Galante, 71, suffered during the regime of the dictator Francisco Franco and spent recent years trying to bring his torturer, Antonio Gonzlez Pacheco, a police officer known as Billy the Kid, to justice. But in March, Mr. Galante died of the virus. Weeks later, the virus also killed Mr. Gonzlez Pacheco, 73.

Its a huge loss for all those who believed that Spain should not silence its past, said Mr. Galantes longtime partner, Justa Montero.

When the virus killed Henry Kichka, a 94-year-old Belgian writer and Auschwitz survivor, on April 25, the Belgian politician Charles Picqu wrote that a great witness of Shoah left us and that it was now up to the young generations to continue his battle against hate.

In Italy, its more than just the memory of the fascist era that risks being shut away, as the country debates what to do with its vulnerable elders.

For months, officials have debated what policy to adopt for the countrys older at-risk population, including those who rebuilt the country after the war, fueled its boom and endured the domestic terrorism of the 1970s itself an echo of the civil war. In a gerontocracy like Italy, proposals to encourage the elderly to stay inside would mean shutting away much of the political, academic, industrial and business elite.

At the beginning of March, the leading health official in Lombardy asked people over 65 to stay home, a suggestion echoed by the national government in a decree.

Grandfathers published open letters to their grandchildren, urging them not to stash away the protagonists of the 1940s as useless burdens. A former president of the countrys highest court noted that the Constitution assures freedom of movement to all citizens. (I know 80- year-olds who are in great shape, he wrote.)

Who can make a society without models taken from the past? said Lia Levi, 88, an Italian writer, who is Jewish and suffered under Italys racial laws as a child. She said that many of the partisans who fought the fascists never wrote a word or became political, but simply lived their lives and told their children and grandchildren what they saw.

I can tell you when I was kicked out of school, and that I couldnt understand why, that humanizes historical facts, she said, adding, We see each other.

Unlike Germany, which has forced itself to look unflinchingly at its crimes, Italy has often looked away.

Updated June 5, 2020

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nations job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid, says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. When you havent been exercising, you lose muscle mass. Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you arent being told to stay at home, its still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus whether its surface transmission or close human contact is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people dont need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks dont replace hand washing and social distancing.

If youve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Post-fascist parties sprouted after the war, and their direct political descendants are still vibrant, and growing. Nationalism is back in vogue, with leaders purposely echoing Mussolini, whom many here openly admire.

In May, Giorgia Meloni, a rising star on the Italian right and the leader of the increasingly popular Brothers of Italy, the descendant of Italys post-fascist parties, paid tribute to a right-wing politician who once avidly supported Mussolinis racial laws.

The deaths from the virus of those who fought fascism have gotten less attention.

Piera Pattani worked clandestinely as a trusted confidante and liaison for local resistance leaders around Milan during the war. She helped allies escape from fascist Italian guards and watched the German SS take her comrades away.

Into her 90s, she remained healthy and lucid and willing to tell her stories in classrooms. She ended up in a nursing home. But in March she was infected with the virus. She died alone in the hospital at 93.

The virus did what fascism couldnt, said Primo Minelli, 72, the president of Legnano partisan association and her friend. It has brought a lot of people away who could have stayed longer.

That mattered especially now, he said, because of a political climate that he found threatening. Firsthand testimony is valued over indirect testimony, he said. There is already an attempt underway to remove the history of resistance. That effort will be sped up when the witnesses are gone.

The families of other partisans said they themselves only felt the full weight of that history now that the people who lived it had died.

You know how it is, when someones well, it seems like a fable, what they say about the past, said Teresa Baroni, 86, who lost her husband, Savino, to the virus in March. And then they are gone and it doesnt seem like a fable anymore.

She said her husband, 94, hardly ever talked about his time escaping fascists and fighting with the Mazzini brigade in San Leo, on Italys eastern coast. He turned down invitations to speak in classrooms, embarrassed about his bad Italian, and spent his life farming with his wife.

When he tested positive for the virus and ambulance workers prepared to take him to the hospital in March, his wife kept him at home, saying she had slept next to him for 66 years and wouldnt stop now. He died beside her days later, she said, taking his stories with him.

Memory goes away when those directly involved go away, and we are all old, said William Marconi, a partisan who fought Nazis in Tirano in northern Italy. And this virus is killing the old.

Mr. Marconi, 95, still lives in Tirano, where he said his inability to walk has kept him at home and away from the threat of a virus that killed one of his former comrades, Gino Ricetti, on April 26.

Mr. Marconi had written about his experiences, but had grown less than sanguine about the prospect of younger generations learning the lessons of the past.

Im not convinced memory serves, he said. Even those who know history, they do it again and again and again.

Reporting was contributed by Emma Bubola from Milan, Raphael Minder from Madrid, Christopher Schuetze from Berlin, and Monika Pronczuk from Brussels.

Originally posted here:

Coronavirus Depletes the Keepers of Europes Memory - The New York Times

PARIS President Emmanuel Macrons government has beaten back the coronavirus, prevented mass layoffs, propped up the salaries of the unemployed, staved off long food lines, and achieved a lower death rate than its neighbors, Germany excepted.

Mr. Macron ordered a strict lockdown that lasted nearly two months, and when it was over the virus was barely circulating. But while the early response could be faulted for some sluggishness and a shortage of masks, and more than 29,000 people died, France has fared better than many in the pandemic, especially when compared with the United States, Italy, Spain and especially Britain.

Just dont tell that to the French, who resent Mr. Macron for it more than ever.

The French expect much of their leaders, and almost always find them wanting. Mr. Macron is no exception. In fact, the better the results, the less willing, it seems, the French are to applaud their president. That pattern has held virtually since Mr. Macron took office in 2017, casting a shadow over a term expiring in two years.

Mr. Macron reduced unemployment and created more jobs, but the French resented him for loosening labor protections. He evened out the countrys helter-skelter pension system, and there were months of strikes by aggrieved unions and citizens distrustful of his intentions.

Even as the French celebrated their provisional release from lockdown this week with the much-anticipated partial reopening of cafes and restaurants, the coronavirus has only reinforced the paradox of the presidents uneasy relationship with his own citizens.

Deconfinement is going pretty well, said Olivier Galland, a sociologist at the National Center for Scientific Research. But the French dont seem satisfied. But I dont think they can ever be satisfied.

On Friday the head of the governments scientific council, the immunologist Jean-Franois Delfraissy, declared the epidemic under control in France, in an interview on French radio. Still, the French, far more than their European neighbors, have judged the governments performance in response to the health crisis harshly.

Distrust is a structural element of French society, stable and well-established, Mr. Galland wrote in a recent paper on The Great Depression of the French for Telos, a widely followed political science website.

On average, over half of Europes citizens, outside of France, view their governments performance in response to the virus favorably, even in countries with far worse records. In France, 66 percent have an unfavorable view, according to a recent Figaro poll.

Mr. Macron stiffened and looked impatient when he was asked recently on French television about his unpopularity.

Look, I dont sit around feeling sorry for myself, he said. Im looking ahead.

For decades this country has known doubt and division, Mr. Macron added. I dont believe in miracles. This distrustful France exists. It hasnt changed.

Whatever credit Frances government gets from its success in dealing with the virus has gone instead to Mr. Macrons understated prime minister, douard Philippe.

The news is pretty good, Mr. Philippe said simply last week, after looking at the post-lockdown results. Over 60 percent found him convincing in a poll by the independent Odoxa polling firm for Le Figaro and France-Info.

In a sign of his political ascendancy, Mr. Philippe was on the cover of this weeks LObs, a popular weekly newsmagazine, with the headline, The Tough Guy.

Can Macron do without douard Philippe? the magazine asked, alighting on speculation that Mr. Macron would jettison a prime minister who has stolen the spotlight once the crisis ended.

Yet the governments measures a tightly enforced lockdown, mobilization of French technology like high-speed trains to save patients, and closely followed counsel from scientists were Mr. Macrons. That is the French way: the president decides, and the nation follows.

But that means Mr. Macron takes the blame, too, for the early shortage of masks, which the government did not initially admit to and a spokeswoman minimized. The affair riled the French media for several weeks, but has since largely dropped from view. On the streets some wear masks but many do not.

Whats most problematic is that were actually being lied to, said Marie Balaril, 27, a social-sciences instructor at a Paris university, as she recalled the governments refusal to acknowledge that the country had faced a mask shortage.

The president has vigorously defended his record. Lets be honest, Mr. Macron said in the recent television interview. At the beginning of March nobody was talking about masks.

When I look around, nobody was ready, he said. Nobody. Nobody.

The per capita death rate in France is higher than the United States, with more than 100,000 deaths. But France has a population density a key variable in the epidemic more than three times greater. Frances hospitalization and death curves have been in sharp decline since about the second week of April.

In contrast to those on the street, many experts and others interviewed gave the government good marks.

Guillaume Chiche, a parliamentarian who recently deserted Mr. Macrons party another sign of the French presidents waning popularity said the governments actions were very strong.

Now, they seem logical. But at the time they were anything but neutral, Mr. Chiche said, pointing to the moves to prop up salaries, ban religious ceremonies, and impose the lockdown. I think they made choices that were optimal.

Updated June 5, 2020

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nations job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid, says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. When you havent been exercising, you lose muscle mass. Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you arent being told to stay at home, its still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus whether its surface transmission or close human contact is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people dont need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks dont replace hand washing and social distancing.

If youve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Still, he joined 13 other members of parliament who deserted the French presidents party in May, depriving it of its majority a symbolic blow widely interpreted in the French media as an ominous sign for Mr. Macrons future.

Mr. Chiche, an ex-Socialist, has been one of the presidents critics on the left, a group judging him too favorable to business and urging him to define a new horizon, as Mr. Chiche put it.

Frederic Keck, an anthropologist and biosecurity expert, also at the National Center for Scientific Research, called Mr. Macrons handling of the pandemic pretty good.

Very centralized management around the president. Very French, but also relatively efficient, he said.

This dissatisfaction is the reflection of an excessive demand for security, Mr. Keck added. But he, too, noted that Mr. Macron was not getting much credit.

Over half the French approve of the governments reopening plan. But they dont approve of Mr. Macron: Just 30 to 40 percent judged him up to dealing with the epidemic. In another Figaro poll, 62 percent of respondents found Mr. Macrons manner arrogant and authoritarian.

In some ways Mr. Macron is his own worst enemy, with a style that can come off as imperious. His speeches during the crisis were lengthy and literary, both trademarks. He first reproached the French for lacking a sense of responsibilities, then later praised them for their discipline.

He likes these lyrical effusions, and people just arent keen on that, Mr. Galland said.

In the recent television appearance, Mr. Macron was shown meeting a group of unhappy top chefs by videoconference from the lyse Palace.

The chefs some of the most famous names in French cuisine, including Alain Ducasse didnt conceal their frustration at being forced to stay closed during the lockdown.

Were not optimistic about the survival of about half of our restaurants, Mr. Ducasse said.

Mr. Macron was not impressed. He smiled slightly at the grumbling, then administered a lesson to the complaining chefs.

Look, I like liberty as much as you, Mr. Macron said. But what youve got to remember is that its good to exercise this liberty in a country like France. Its good to live in a country where the state is strong.

He added, pointedly, There are other countries where the state is letting people fail.

Constant Meheut contributed reporting.

The rest is here:

Macron Beat Back the Coronavirus. France Is Not Impressed. - The New York Times

Two nurses in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., communicate via walkie-talkie, as one helps on floor with COVID-19 patients and her colleague stands by to assist. Eman Mohammed for NPR hide caption

Two nurses in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., communicate via walkie-talkie, as one helps on floor with COVID-19 patients and her colleague stands by to assist.

The first sign that something was wrong came with stomach pains. It was April 30, and 9-year-old Kyree McBride wasn't feeling well.

His mother, Tammie Hairston, thought it might have been something that he ate. But soon, young McBride was battling a 102-degree fever.

Worried he may have contracted the coronavirus, Hairston took her son to the hospital. "It was a quick in and out of the emergency room," she said. Doctors told her to take him home and monitor him.

The fever, though, didn't break. In a telemedicine call with McBride's doctor a few days later, Hairston was told to hang tight. Then the stomach pains came back, stronger this time. Then vomiting. Later, Kyree's skin began to develop a reddish hue.

By the time he was finally admitted to Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., more than a week later, doctors determined that although he was negative for COVID-19, he had developed antibodies for the coronavirus.

It was a sign he'd already been infected and recovered from COVID-19. And it mirrored what they had been seeing in dozens of young patients who since the start of the pandemic have been diagnosed with a condition known as Multisystem-Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C.

Since April, when cases of the syndrome were first detected in Europe, doctors have been puzzling over the mysterious new condition, one they're attributing to complications linked to COVID-19. While early research suggests the condition is rare, experts are still racing to answer even the most basic questions about the illness, such as why some children are more susceptible than others, how to safely treat it and what it might mean for their long-term health.

The connection to COVID-19

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, young children have been the least likely of all age groups to become seriously ill with the virus, though they can still become infected and spread it.

When they do become infected, they often don't exhibit symptoms, making it nearly impossible for parents to know whether they have the coronavirus or may be at risk for MIS-C.

The majority of known cases have been concentrated on the East Coast. New York state has reported more than 150 cases. Washington has seen more than 30 cases, according to Children's National. Cases have also been reported in a handful of other states, including California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Washington state.

The youngest confirmed patient was just a few weeks old. At least four children one in Louisiana and three in New York are reported to have died from the condition.

"A new phenomenon for us"

Children's National has been one of the leading hospitals in the nation treating patients with MIS-C. Doctors there have seen 35 patients with the syndrome since the end of April, according to a hospital spokesperson. But the exact number has been difficult to pinpoint, in part because the condition is so new and because the diagnostic guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are still loosely defined.

"It's definitely a new phenomenon for us, and it definitely has a lot of implications that we are all quite concerned about," said Dr. Michael Bell, the chief of critical care medicine at Children's National.

Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, the hospital's chief of pediatric infectious diseases, says staff has seen the syndrome manifest itself in a variety ways.

The first, which has drawn the most attention, appears to mimic Kawasaki disease, an inflammatory illness that causes inflammation in the blood vessels, particularly the coronary arteries.

Patients showing these symptoms are "the most obvious type" of cases, said DeBiasi. "They may have very high fevers, red eyes, red lips, red tongue. They may have a rash over their body. They may have a swollen lymph node, swelling of their hands and feet."

In other cases, patients might exhibit "lots of inflammation," according to DeBiasi. Like McBride, they may also experience severe abdominal pain.

The many unknowns

The good news at Children's National is that they have not had a child die from MIS-C.

"We really have a way of ... identifying them early, treating them early so that kids don't get sicker," said Karen Smith, the chief of hospitalist medicine at Children's.

Despite that success, doctors are still trying to understand a key question about the condition: when children are getting it.

"Is this acute viral? Is this post-infectious? Is it a combination? We've got to figure this out in our patient cohort," DeBiasi said.

The majority of the hospital's MIS-C patients do not test positive for the coronavirus, yet they have the antibodies that signal they've recovered from the virus. That implies a post-infection response in which kids' immune systems are overreacting to the coronavirus after fighting off an active infection, DeBiasi said.

A nurse prepares to process a COVID-19 testing kit for results at the laboratory at Children's National. Eman Mohammed for NPR hide caption

A nurse prepares to process a COVID-19 testing kit for results at the laboratory at Children's National.

A rapid-testing device is used to test patient's samples for COVID-19 at a laboratory at Children's National. Eman Mohammed for NPR hide caption

A rapid-testing device is used to test patient's samples for COVID-19 at a laboratory at Children's National.

Doctors are also trying to figure out which children are getting MIS-C. Initially, there were no reported cases of the condition in China or on America's West Coast. One possible explanation for the regional disparity in the U.S., DeBiasi said, could stem from the theory that the West Coast was hit by a variant of the coronavirus from China, while the East Coast was hit by one from Europe

DeBiasi also wonders whether some kids, as with adult populations, are more vulnerable as a result of health disparities.

"There does seem to be more infection and severity in some of the racial or ethnic groups or perhaps even genetic predispositions," she said.

But she suspects the answer might be simpler. Children could be getting sick as a result of continued exposure to the coronavirus spreading in their community.

"I think what's happening here is these kids that are being re-exposed out in the community to a virus that they saw and made an appropriate immune response to, initially," she said, adding that now, "that immune response is just inappropriately revved up."

However, given the uncertainty, doctors at Children's say they are trying to be conservative when it comes to diagnosing MIS-C because the treatments involved can strain young, growing bodies.

Nurses from the pediatric intensive care unit put away protective equipment in order to sanitize it after being used by a staff member at the Children's National Hospital. Eman Mohammed for NPR hide caption

Nurses from the pediatric intensive care unit put away protective equipment in order to sanitize it after being used by a staff member at the Children's National Hospital.

There are also concerns about possible long-term risks from the illness.

The children with MIS-C who end up in critical care often have inflammation in their heart and in other organs, said Bell of the hospital's critical care division. He considers, as one example, the lifelong effects on a 5-year-old who has MIS-C.

"If she has some terrible swelling from it, which could be coronary arteries that get dilated, and might have heart attacks when she's 6, that's going to affect her for 70 years of life expectancy," he said. "Yes, fewer kids get this. Fewer kids get critically ill with it. But it's not like there's not a huge impact to child's health."

"I try to keep an eye on him"

Kyree McBride is feeling better, but he's still low energy. At a recent checkup, doctors gave him a heart monitor because his heart is arrhythmic.

Hairston, his mother, continues to frantically monitor him.

"I'm always feeling his head and making sure he don't have any more fevers and asking him, you know, every hour on the hour, 'Are you OK? Are you feeling OK? Let me feel your head,' " she said.

The hospital was a scary time for McBride, and she worries that he'll be hesitant to tell her if something else goes wrong.

"I try to keep an eye on him," Hairston said.

She advises other parents to be watchful, and, if in doubt, to take their child to the hospital.

Read the original here:

Doctors Race To Understand MIS-C, A Rare New Condition Affecting Kids - NPR

Care home residents are on course to make up more than half the deaths caused directly or indirectly by the coronavirus crisis in England, according to a new analysis.

The study warns that the death toll by the end of June from Covid-19 infections and other excess deaths is likely to approach 59,000 across the entire English population, of which about 34,000 (57%) will have been care home residents.

The estimate, produced by the major healthcare business consultancy LaingBuisson, includes people who list a care home as their primary residence, wherever they died including those who died in hospital.

It is based on data from the Office for National Statistics, as well as the analysts own modelling of the number of care home resident deaths likely to have occurred in the absence of the pandemic.

The new study coincides with mounting concerns over the failure to protect care homes earlier in the pandemic. Senior care industry figures point to the decision to move some hospital patients back to care homes in mid-March. There have also been complaints that non-Covid-related healthcare became less accessible to homes during the height of the pandemic, leading to extra deaths.

It also emerged last week that Public Health England (PHE) warned in February that elderly people should not be discharged from hospitals to care homes if there was a serious risk of passing on the virus.

However, a letter sent to care providers from NHS England and the government on 19 March, which aimed to free up hospital capacity, ordered the safe and rapid discharge of those people who no longer need to be in a hospital bed. The new default will be discharge home today.

Figures released by NHS England show 25,060 patients were moved from hospitals to care homes between 17 March and mid-April, when guidance was formally changed to ensure testing took place.

[The treatment of care home residents is a] scandal which is just emerging

William Laing, the author of the new analysis on excess deaths among care home residents, said their treatment was a scandal which is just emerging. He said he believed a series of failings were behind the high number of excess deaths.

At the peak of the crisis, there were widespread reports of normal medical support simply being removed from care homes, he said. Ambulances would not turn up to take emergencies to hospital, since capacity had to be kept clear for Covid cases.

In-person GP house calls were replaced with occasional telephone calls. In the absence of any expectation of active medical support, care home residents were encouraged to consider what instructions they should give in the case of serious illness from whatever cause, with many opting for DNR (Do Not Resuscitate).

At the same time, care homes were being asked by NHS Trusts to accept discharges without knowing the coronavirus status of the patient concerned. Meanwhile, shortages of PPE [personal protective equipment] must have aided transmission.

The scenario described here absence of normal medical care exacerbated by PPE shortages - is the only one that can satisfactorily explain the concentration of collateral damage (non-Covid excess deaths) as well as Covid deaths within the care home population.

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: I saw letters from GPs sent to care homes saying we will not be doing consultations, we will not be sending people to hospital. I think theres a real issue that lots of people just were denied access to hospital.

Things are now getting better, but it just wont be about how we maintain that position. As the lockdown starts to ease in other parts of the society, people would expect it to ease in care homes, and care homes are desperate to be able to get families back in contact with residents, and there are serious risks there. Youre going to have to have testing on a very regular basis. You might be having to test once a week in care homes.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents trusts, said that while there was an issue around the transfer of some patients over a small number of days in March, there was no mass movement of patients into care homes without tests and that hospitals worked closely with homes. They were trying to balance two priorities - how on the one hand do we get patients discharged [to create capacity for possible Covid-19 patients], but also, how do we protect the care sector?

Layla Moran, the Lib Dem MP, warned: Vulnerable care home residents and workers were effectively abandoned without adequate access to testing or PPE. This has become the biggest scandal of the whole pandemic. Those responsible will need to be held to account in an inquiry once the crisis is over.

See the article here:

More than half of Englands coronavirus-related deaths will be people from care homes - The Guardian

The 50 wealthiest people in America have publicly donated about $1 billion for coronavirus relief that's a big number, but it adds up to a very small fraction of their combined net worth: less than 0.1%, according to a new survey from the Washington Post.

The survey also found that nearly a third of these billionaires haven't announced any donations, though some who haven't contributed personally point to donations given through their corporations.

"Even many of the billionaires who have announced donations to Covid-19 relief efforts have given amounts that are relatively paltry when compared to the median net worth of an American household, which registers at $97,300," write Roxanne Roberts and Will Hobson of the Post.

Roberts and Hobson used this number to calculate what these billionaires' donations would equate to for the median American. For example, Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world with a net worth of $143 billion, has donated $125 million. That's equivalent to about $85 for the median American donor, according to the Post's calculations.

Leading the way in terms of amount of personal donations are Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey.

Gates, who's been one of the most outspoken public figures from the beginning of the pandemic, has donated roughly $300 million through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That translates into about $283 for the median American.

Dorsey isn't among the 50th wealthiest Americans (he ranks No. 147), but he has pledged $1 billion in equity from Square. That's a large chunk of his net worth, about 28%, and equates to more than $27,000 for the median American. You can see exactly where his money is going on this spreadsheet he created.

Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio has been the most generous among America's 50th wealthiest individuals in terms of donations relative to net worth. He's given more than $100 million of his $18 billion fortune, or about $589 for the median American.

But when it comes to billionaire donations for coronavirus relief, Gates, Dorsey and Dalio are "the exception, not the rule," the Post reports, pointing out that donations from some billionaires, including business magnate Donald Newhouse and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, are equivalent to less than $10 for the median American.

Critics of the nation's wealthiest individuals are quick to point out that they're the ones getting richer during the pandemic: American billionaires saw their fortunes climb $434 billion between mid-March and mid-May, according to a new report from Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies' Program for Inequality.

The five richest Americans Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison saw their combined fortunes soar by $76 billion.

Don't miss:5 books Bill Gates recommends reading right now

Check out:The best credit cards of 2020 could earn you over $1,000 in 5 years

Excerpt from:

Survey shows that America's richest people have donated less than 0.1% of their wealth for coronavirus relief - CNBC

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published.

When Amira Chowdhury joined a protest in Philadelphia against police violence on Monday, she wore a mask to protect herself and others against the coronavirus. But when officers launched tear gas into the crowd, Chowdhury pulled off her mask as she gasped for air. I couldnt breathe, she said. I felt like I was choking to death.

Chowdhury was on a part of the Vine Street Expressway that ran underground. Everyone panicked as gas drifted into the dark, semi-enclosed space, she said. People stomped over her as they scrambled away. Bruised, she scaled a fence to escape. But the tear gas found her later that evening, inside her own house; as police unleashed it on protesters in her predominantly black neighborhood in West Philadelphia, it seeped in.

I cant even be in my own house without escaping the violence of the state, said Chowdhury, a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, she said her throat still felt dry, like it was clogged with ash.

Are you a public health worker, medical provider, elected official, patient or other COVID-19 expert? Help make sure our journalism is responsible and focused on the right issues.

Note: If you develop emergency warning signs for COVID-19, such as difficulty breathing or bluish lips, get medical attention immediately. The CDC has more information on what to do if you are sick.

The Philadelphia protest was one of many instances in recent days in which police launched tear gas a toxic substance that can cause lung damage into crowds. In a statement, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that officers had no choice but to release it after protesters threw rocks at them and refused to disperse, and that officers also used nonchemical white smoke to minimize the amount of the irritant while maintaining a deterrent visual effect. She called it a means to safely [defuse] a volatile and dangerous situation.

But tear gas is not safe, according to a number of experts interviewed by ProPublica. It has been found to cause long-term health consequences and can hurt those who arent the intended targets, including people inside their homes.

This would be enough of a problem in normal times, but now, experts say, the widespread, sometimes indiscriminate use of tear gas on American civilians in the midst of a respiratory pandemic threatens to worsen the coronavirus, along with racial disparities in its spread and who dies from it.

Subscribe to the Big Story newsletter.

As an immunologist, it scares me, said Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergy and immunology doctor at NYU Langone Health. We just got through a brutal two months, and Im really scared this will bring a second wave [of COVID-19] sooner.

It puts black communities in an impossible situation, said Dr. Joseph Nwadiuko, an internist and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Thirteen of the 15 coronavirus patients in the intensive care unit where he works are black, he said. I worry that one of the compounding effects of structural racism is youll see a second wave of black patients, including those who were out there defending their lives.

On Tuesday, an open letter signed by nearly 1,300 medical and public health professionals urged the police to stop using tear gas, smoke, or other respiratory irritants, which could increase risk for COVID-19 by making the respiratory tract more susceptible to infection, exacerbating existing inflammation, and inducing coughing.

Heres what you need to know about tear gas and how its being used by law enforcement in recent days.

Tear gas can cause long-term harm, by making people more susceptible to contracting influenza, pneumonia and other illnesses.

Tear gas is the generic term for a class of compounds that cause a burning sensation. Most law enforcement agencies in the U.S., including the Philadelphia Police Department this week, use a chemical called CS, short for 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile.

CS activates a specific pain receptor, one thats also triggered by eating wasabi, said Sven-Eric Jordt, a professor of anesthesiology at Duke University. But CS is much more powerful, up to 100,000 times stronger than the sting from wasabi, he said.

They are really pain nerve gases. They are designed to induce pain.

CS is particularly painful when it gets on your skin or in your eyes. (Doctors have advised protesters not to wear contact lenses.) When inhaled, the pain induces people to cough. The compound degrades the mucus membranes in your eyes, nose, mouth and lungs the layers of cells that help protect people from viruses and bacteria.

Scientists know little about how CS affects the general public. The most comprehensive studies were conducted by the U.S. military on thousands of recruits who were exposed to tear gas during training exercises. Afterward, it left them at higher risk for contracting influenza, pneumonia, bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses.

The soldiers were generally healthier than the average person, with fewer underlying conditions like asthma or heart disease. Studies of civilians in Turkey found that people who are repeatedly exposed to tear gas are more likely to have chronic bronchitis or chest pains and coughing that can last for weeks. It may also be linked to miscarriages.

The effects worsen as people are repeatedly exposed to higher doses, Jordt said, but its hard to measure the concentrations of tear gas during chaotic protests, and many who are affected will be reluctant or afraid to seek medical help.

Parikh, the Langone Health doctor, is particularly worried about children at the protests. Their lungs and immune system are still developing, and tear gas could lead to neurological problems or permanent skin or eye damage if its not washed off quickly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, severe tear gas poisoning, particularly if the gas was released in an enclosed space can blind or kill people through chemical burns and respiratory failure. Prisoners with respiratory conditions have died after inhaling tear gas in poorly ventilated areas. On Wednesday, an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn died after guards sprayed him with pepper spray, another kind of tear gas that causes similar health effects as CS.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Justices Bureau of Prisons said the inmate, Jamel Floyd, was caught breaking the cell door window with a metal object and became increasingly disruptive and potentially harmful to himself and others. Medical staff immediately responded to assess the inmate, found Mr. Floyd to be unresponsive, and instantly initiated life-saving measures. An investigation is underway.

Tear gas can increase the spread of the coronavirus and might make some people more vulnerable to catching it.

Its too early to know exactly how tear gas affects coronavirus patients. But Parikh said they both cause lung inflammation. Anything thats an irritant can cause that same inflammatory response, she said. Your lungs can fill with mucus and it can be very difficult to breathe. The muscles narrow; its almost like breathing through a straw.

People with asthma and other respiratory illnesses already have higher baseline inflammation that makes them more susceptible to catching infections like the flu or the common cold, Parikh said, so tear gas could trigger an asthma attack or weaken the bodys ability to stave off COVID-19.

If your lungs are already wheezing and coughing, working hard to expel this tear gas or this irritant, its unable to have that reserve to fight off any infection, whether a virus or bacteria, she said.

Talia Smith, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska, said it only took a whiff of tear gas to trigger an asthma attack when she was protesting in Omaha last Friday. She could barely feel it in her eyes, but her throat just immediately started closing, she said. Smith had brought her inhaler, but the medication inside was running low. Shed only had one asthma attack in her life before this. Smith had a burning feeling in her chest for days afterward, and she went to get tested for the coronavirus; the results are pending. She worries that if she catches the virus while still feeling the effects of the gas, shed be fighting off the disease while her lungs arent at full capacity.

Parikh said theres not enough data on asthma and the coronavirus in general. While asthmatics are at higher risk for all respiratory infections, asthma isnt among the top chronic conditions for the most severe coronavirus patients. We are still seeing many asthmatics get it, so its too soon to say theres no risk at all, she said.

Tear gas weakens the demonstrators protections against the coronavirus, said Dr. Abraar Karan, a physician at Harvard Medical School whos working on the coronavirus response. Infections increase when people cough or talk loudly, he said, and even if someone is wearing a mask, when theyre hit with tear gas, theyll take off the mask as theyre coughing. Not only are you vigorously coughing, youre vigorously inhaling to try and get more air in. Panic can cause a stampede, forcing people into close proximity as theyre expelling large droplets from their mouths, he said, perfectly describing the situation that Chowdhury experienced on Monday.

Karan said hes worried that protests could turn into superspreading events, yet he also understands why people feel they must be there. At the same time, Im worried about my patients whove been destroyed by systemic racism. So racism is killing them as much as a pandemic is.

It will take at least another week before researchers can study whether the protests led to outbreaks. Even then, it will be hard to tell whether the infections were caused solely by the large gatherings or whether tear gas contributed to the increase.

Protesters arent the only people at risk. Tear gas is entering homes and businesses.

Jordt said he was surprised by the sheer quantity of tear gas used by police in recent days, based on what hes seen in online videos and news clips. Instead of reserving it for the most extreme situations, its more like fumigating and flushing people out, he said. Tear gas has become a 1st line response, not a last resort, he added in an email.

Because many protests are occurring in residential neighborhoods, tear gas is now seeping into homes. Parikh compared it to secondhand smoke. Its a terrible situation, she said. To be honest theres not much you can do.

Chowdhury, the UPenn student who participated in the Philadelphia protest, said she couldnt keep out the gas, even when she stuffed T-shirts and towels under the doors and windows. She could still smell it the next morning.

If the gas gets indoors, people should wipe down their countertops and other surfaces with large amounts of water and soap, Jordt said. Any food that wasnt in a closed container could be contaminated and should be thrown out, and in extreme cases with large amounts of tear gas, residents and business owners may need to contact fire departments for recommendations of professional cleaning services, he added.

Companies like Aftermath offer services for biohazard and infection control. Its websites section on tear gas removal says the chemical leaves behind residue that can present serious health hazards if not properly treated. ... Tear gas residue can seep into porous materials like furniture, mattresses, clothing, carpet and even hardwood floors, and continue to irritate the mucous membranes of anyone residing in or visiting the property long after the incident.

Police tactics and tools can make matters worse.

There are many different forms of tear gas and many ways to use it, said Anna Feigenbaum, the author of a recent book on the history of tear gas and an associate professor of communication and digital media at Bournemouth University in England.

Police can spray it from cans, shoot canisters or throw grenades. Manufacturers sell grenades that produce light and noise as they expel tear gas and triple-chaser canisters that break into multiple pieces when they land so the gas can cover a larger area.

The technology for deploying tear gas is advancing far more quickly than scientists understanding of the impacts, Jordt said. While use of these [compounds] is escalating, there is a vacuum of research to back up the safety of high-level use.

Feigenbaum said the current situation is dangerous because law enforcement has used tear gas at close range, in enclosed spaces, in large quantities, fired directly at people, used [it] offensively as a weapon and in conjunction with rubber-coated bullets as a force multiplier.

Last weekend, a college student in Indiana lost his eye when a tear gas canister hit his face.

Tear gas is banned in international warfare, but it is classified as a riot control agent that law enforcement can use for crowd control. Yet instead of calming the situation, tear gas can sometimes cause counter aggression, Jordt said. It just doesnt work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them.

One of the most controversial events occurred on Monday, when law enforcement in Washington, D.C., used tear gas on peaceful demonstrators to clear the way so President Donald Trump could walk to a nearby church for a photo op. A statement from the U.S. Park Police said they used pepper balls with an unspecified irritant powder and smoke canisters. (A reporter with WUSA9 tweeted photos on Thursday of CS containers that he and his team said they found at the site.) The CDC uses tear gas as the catch-all term for many riot control compounds with similar effects.

Monica Sanders, who lives across the river in Alexandria, Virginia, said she could see the smoke from her house, like something from a dystopian reality.

A University of Delaware professor who specializes in disaster management, Sanders said shed thought about attending that protest but decided against it because her lungs were still weak from an earlier infection that might have been the coronavirus. Although she never got tested, Sanders said she came down with a respiratory illness in mid-February that almost sent her to the emergency room. She is a triathlete with no history of asthma. Last October, she swam a 5K race. Today, she cant even swim a mile.

She said, There are other ways to do crowd control that dont involve creating respiratory ailments during a pandemic, in a city that doesnt have enough [medical] supplies.

Maya Eliahou and Caroline Chen contributed reporting.

Are you a public health worker, medical provider, elected official, patient or other COVID-19 expert? Help make sure our journalism is responsible and focused on the right issues.

View original post here:

Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On Especially During the Coronavirus Pandemic - ProPublica

In April, new cases never topped 100,000 in one day, but since May 21, there have only been less than 100,000 on five days, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Newly reported cases reached a high of 130,400 on June 3. Different nations' epidemics have followed different trajectories. The number of new cases has slowed in many of the countries that were hit hard earlier on in the pandemic, including China, the US, UK, Italy, Spain and France.But many countries, particularly in South America, the Middle East and Africa, the rate of transmission still appears to be accelerating, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

In Libya, Iraq, Uganda, Mozambique and Haiti, the data shows the number of known cases is doubling every week. In Brazil, India, Chile, Colombia and South Africa, cases are doubling every two weeks.

"We are especially worried about Central and South America, where many countries are witnessing accelerating epidemics."

Brazil recorded more than 30,000 new cases on Thursday, bringing it to almost 615,000 in total, along with 1,473 new deaths, taking its total fatalities to more than 34,000.

Authorities in 214 countries and territories have reported about 6.6 million Covid-19 cases and 391,000 deaths since China reported its first cases to the WHO in December.

Link:

Confirmed coronavirus cases are rising faster than ever - CNN

The biggest mystery: what it will take to trace the coronavirus source  Nature.com

See the article here:

The biggest mystery: what it will take to trace the coronavirus source - Nature.com

George Floyd protests have continued for a full week in Seattle and throughout Washington state, and despite the increased risks of the new coronavirus local public health professionals and leaders have supported the protests, both tacitly and explicitly.

Gov. Jay Inslee, who for months has been both pleading with and ordering people to stay home to slow the spread of the virus, is nowasking that people instead wear masks and try to keep some distance amid the crowds. However, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a House panel Thursday that demonstrators need to get tested for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the city of Seattle and the state of Washington are expanding testing for the coronavirus, the governor and mayors office announced Thursday. In Seattle, two new drive-thru sites are opening soon, one of which will be accessible starting Friday.

Throughout Friday, on this page, well post updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Updates from Thursday can be found here, and all our coronavirus coverage can be found here.

The following graphic includes the most recent numbers from the Washington State Department of Health, released Wednesday.

The largest outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Washingtons prison system is expanding at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Franklin County.

As of Thursday, 40 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19, as well as 12 staff, according to the state Department of Corrections.

A spokesperson for DOC said in an email the facility is trying to contain the outbreak through a 10-day quarantine and contact tracing of persons who may have had close contact with infected individuals.

According to the spokesperson, the prison had tested 74 incarcerated people as of Thursday, in both the medium- and minimum-security units. Thirteen people have been transferred to Monroe Correctional Complexs medical isolation area and 20 to Airway Heights Corrections Center. Three others have been sent to a local medical center.

All inmates at the prison are required to wear a protective mask when they leave cells during the quarantine, and the prison has implemented social-distancing protocols, according to the DOC spokesperson.

In all, 68 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among people incarcerated in state prisons and work-release facilities since the start of the pandemic.

In addition, 53 DOC staff have had confirmed cases of the virus. One corrections officer, Berisford Anthony Morse, died last month due to COVID-19.

Jim Brunner

King County public health officials are worried that the use of tear gas and other respiratory irritants could increase risk of the spread of COVID-19.

As thousands of people have gathered in Seattle over the past week to protest racial injustice and police brutality, Seattle police have several times deployed pepper spray and tear gas into large groups of demonstrators, sending people into fits of coughing and gasping and leaving their eyes and skin burning.

Public Health - Seattle & King County has shared information with the city about the risk of using any agent that would cause coughing, as it increases the risk of transmission, spokeswoman Sharon Bogan said in an email. We did this as part of our advisory role as Public Health.

Research conducted by the U.S. Army in 2012 indicated a risk of acute respiratory illness in the days after exposure to tear gas and has attracted new attention as police deploy gas amid a pandemic. It is also possible that tear gas increases the risk for respiratory infection as reported in the U.S. Army research, Bogan said.

Public Health Seattle & King Co opposes the use of tear gas & other respiratory irritants based on the potential to increase COVID-19 spread, Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health wrote in a tweet Thursday evening.

Heidi Groover

If you have mild symptoms, "please get tested." That's the new guidance as Washington broadens testing to include three new groups of people. Seattle is opening two additional sites for free testing.

Washingtons unemployment fraud may have hit $650 million. Tens of thousands of jobless people are still waiting for benefits as the state scrambles to root out the scammers, clawing back a little more than half of the money so far. Those workers face a tough road: When it comes to new job openings, the Seattle area lags much of the rest of the nation, our daily Coronavirus Economy chart shows. Nationwide, many jobs lost to the virus aren't coming back.

If youre missing libraries, take heart: Gradual reopenings are on the way in Seattle and King County. But you wont be getting lost in the stacks anytime soon. Heres what bookworms can expect, and the latest county-by-county look at when other slices of life are expected to resume. Plus, drive-in theaters are open again, with new limits.

Yakima is moving in the wrong direction as COVID-19 hospitalizations spike. Track the spread of the virus in Washington state and around the globe.

Bad news for the regions seafood industry: Seattle-based American Seafoods has 25 new cases of COVID-19 aboard two factory trawlers, following a bigger outbreak on a third vessel.

Families concerned about COVID-19 protested conditions at a Seattle work-release facility; now they're accusing the state of retaliating by sending six men at the facility back to prison.

Kris Higginson

Excerpt from:

Coronavirus daily news updates, June 5: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world - Seattle Times