Category: Corona Virus

CDC DirectorRobert Redfield said Thursday that he's "very concerned" the agency's public health message on the coronavirus isn't "resonating" with the public as the number of cases continues to rise across the U.S.

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee,Redfield said he sees "a lot of people" not wearing masks in Washington, D.C., where he works, while many people do wear masks in his hometown of Baltimore. Crowds of people have been seen in recent weeks at protests, over the Memorial Day holiday and, Redfield noted, at the SpaceX launch Saturday.

Huge crowds gathered at Florida's space coast Wednesday to watch SpaceX's first attempt at launching astronauts to space.

During the hearing, House Democrats grilled Redfield onPresident Donald Trump's push for states to reopen after shutting down as part of social distancing measures meant to curb the spread of the virus.

All 50 states have begun easing quarantine restrictions even though Redfield said "not all states" have met the White House criteria for reopening businesses.

"We will continue to message as well we can," said Redfield, who's on the White House coronavirus task force. "We're going to encourage people that have the ability to require to wear masks when they are in their environment to continue to do that."

The coronavirus, which emerged about five months ago, has sickened more than1.8 million people and killed at least 107,175 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. While cases have slowed in hot spots such as New York state, the U.S. is still seeing roughly 20,000 new Covid-19 cases a day.

When asked byRep. Rosa DeLauro,D-Conn., if there was any evidence the virus has become less contagious, Redfield simply said, "No."

The hearing comes as the CDC's response to the pandemic comes under scrutiny by former officials and infectious disease experts. ANew York Times reportpublished Wednesday detailed some of the CDC's early missteps, including the delay of coronavirus test kits. The CDC declined The New York Times' requests to interview top CDC officials, the Times said.

The CDC has remained largely quiet on the pandemic. Agency officials haven't held a coronavirus-related briefing in more than two months. Last month, the agencyquietly released detailed guidancefor reopening schools, mass transit and nonessential businesses that had been shut down in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S.

Redfield also warned Thursday that protests across the U.S. and other parts of the world over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police could be a "seeding event" for more coronavirus outbreaks.

He said he would like to see people who took part in the protests get tested for the virus in the next few days.

"I do think there is a potential, unfortunately, for this to be a seeding event," he said. "And the way to minimize that is to have each individual to recognize it is an advantage of them to protect their loved ones, to [say] 'hey, I was out, I need to go get tested.'"

Public health specialists warnthat a slow burn of infection through the summercould lead to a massive resurgence this fall.

Redfield told lawmakers the U.S. is likely to have a "difficult time" during the fall and winter seasons as the coronavirus and flu circulate at the same time.

In April, Redfieldfirst warnedabout the colder seasons, saying, "we're going to have to distinguish between which is flu and which is the coronavirus."

Link:

CDC is worried Americans aren't following its advice as the number of U.S. coronavirus cases continues to rise - CNBC

New CarsUsed Cars

MakeAcuraAston MartinAudiBentleyBMWBuickCadillacChevroletChryslerDodgeFerrariFiatFordGMCHondaHyundaiInfinitiJaguarJeepKiaLamborghiniLand RoverLexusLincolnLotusMaseratiMaybachMazdaMcLarenMercedes-BenzMINIMitsubishiNissanPorscheRAMRolls-RoyceScionSmartSubaruTeslaToyotaVolkswagenVolvo

Model

Price$1,000$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000$6,000$7,000$8,000$9,000$10,000$11,000$12,000$13,000$14,000$15,000$16,000$17,000$18,000$19,000$20,000$21,000$22,000$23,000$24,000$25,000$30,000$35,000$40,000$45,000$50,000$75,000$99,000$99,000+

Distance10 Miles20 Miles30 Miles40 Miles50 Miles75 Miles100 Miles150 Miles250 Miles500 Miles

of

Search Cars

Powered by Cars.com

See original here:

Coronavirus news and updates: Trump heads to Maine; 'superspreaders'; what to expect at the dentist - USA TODAY

Uncertainty about the future seems to be the one sure thing in the coronavirus pandemic. No one knows if COVID-19 will persist at its current pace or if recent increased interactions among people will spawn an onslaught of smaller outbreaks or a larger second wave. But a few things are clear: The virus that causes the disease is likely to continue circulating through the population until there is a vaccine. And flu season is only a few months away.

The overlap of COVID-19 and influenza has epidemiologists and some policy makers concerned. The U.S. may soon face two epidemics at the same time, they worry, and this combination could precipitate a crisis unlike any other. The worst-case scenario is both [the coronavirus and the flu] are spreading fast and causing severe disease, complicating diagnoses and presenting a double burden on the health care system, says Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard University. A few states are planning for extra capacity in hospitals to deal with both illnesses.

Yet another, more favorable future also might be possible as these viruses cross paths, Lipsitch and other infectious disease forecasters say. The behavioral changes people have already adopted to flatten the curve of COVID-19such as social distancing, hand washing, and mask wearingcould lessen the impact of the flu.

It is hard to predict, says Sarah Cobey, an epidemiologist at the University of Chicago. Not only is it unknown whether the coronavirus will ebb and flow as seasons change, but what's really hard is that I dont have a good forecast for human behavior and policy decisions that are going to be made over the next couple of months, she says.

Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, says if SARS-CoV-2 follows seasonal patterns like some other coronaviruses and influenza viruses do, it could subside in the summer. But that could come back to haunt us, he adds. We might get complacent; we might not be prepared. Four flu virus pandemics over the past 100 yearsH1N1 in 1918, H2N2 in 1957, H3N2 in 1968 and H1N1 in 2009had a deadly second wave around the fall and early winter. COVID-19 could do the same. The concern that we might have a double whammy of flu and coronavirus is legitimate, Shaman says.

[Both indoor and outdoor factors influence how viruses wax and wane with the seasons.]

Every year, influenza sickens millions of people in the U.S. In particularly bad years, flu surges overwhelm hospitals and health care systems. During the 20172018 flu season, local news outlets reported that hospitals across the country flew in nurses from other states, erected tents in parking lots and sent incoming ambulances to other facilities because of the overload of patients. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 46,000 and 95,000 Americans died from the illness that season.

Though the new coronavirus and influenza viruses can cause some of the same symptomssuch as fever, cough and fatiguethese similarities are mostly superficial. The pathogens use different receptors on cells to gain access to our bodies. As a result, SARS-CoV-2 could enter one way, while a flu virus slips in another. A study of about 1,200 patients, conducted in northern California and published in JAMA in April, found that one in five people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 were coinfected with another respiratory virus. The risk of such coinfections is typically low, says Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, but it gets higher when two viruses are circulating heavily in the same region. Its possible you could get infected with both at the exact same timeif you're having a really bad day, he says.

Cowling and some other epidemiologists think the way viruses interact and interfere with each other could reduce the impact of any coronavirus-influenza collision, however. They have tracked epidemics for decades and have found that outbreaks of respiratory viruses usually do not reach their peaks during the same time period. Though no one knows exactly why, a study published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA hypothesized that temporary bursts of immunity to different viruses on the cellular level could shift the course of future epidemics. For example, an outbreak of a rhinoviruswhich causes a common coldappears to have delayed the arrival of the 2009 influenza pandemic in Europe. And that effect, in turn, likely postponed epidemics of another disease: respiratory syncytial virus.

Right now COVID-19 has a huge fraction of the population susceptible to it, Cobey says. Assuming that were not incredibly diligent about stopping transmission, its going to continue burning through populations, leaving this wake of immunity that might be slightly effective against other viruses. She admits this idea sits on the speculative side of hypotheses. And the theoretical immunity would not be strong enough for, say, someone who has recovered from a coronavirus to shrug off the flu, or vice versa. But on a population level, it could mean that other viruses might not spread as quickly as normal, so their epidemic peaks could be delayed.

Another reason why the collision might not be dramatic has less to do with virology and more to do with human behavior: both COVID-19 and the flu are transmitted, for the most part, by respiratory droplets, so the same prevention strategies used to reduce the spread of the former will also work for the latter.

[How does the coronavirus spread through the air? Scientists explain what they know about transmission.]

In a study in the Lancetin April,Cowling showed that the public health measures introduced in Hong Kong to contain the coronavirussuch as border restrictions, quarantine and isolation, social distancing, mask wearing and hand washingled to a rapid decline in flu activity. In the U.S., new flu cases plummeted a few weeks after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. The 20192020 flu season, once headed to be among the worst in decades, ended six weeks early.

But as states in the U.S. ease restrictions on activity and travel, peoples behaviors could change in ways that ease virus transmission, so a double threat is still possible. And it is not clear what, if any, federal response is being mounted to prepare for it. In April Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, told the Washington Post that were going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time. After President Donald Trump claimed that Redfield was misquoted, the director walked his statement back, saying he did not mean the current crisis would be worse, just more difficult and potentially complicated. (The CDC did not respond to Scientific Americans requests for further comment.)

In late May a group of Democratic senators sent a letter to the White House asking it to prepare for the worst overlap scenario. We urge you to begin planning for and activating the resources of the federal government now, they wrote, to increase capacity, supplies, and vaccinations to prevent public health and medical systems from being overwhelmed by simultaneous peaks of both of these deadly infectious diseases in the fall.

On the state level, some are updating hospital surge plans and expanding infectious disease surveillance programs to include both the flu and COVID-19. North Carolinas state health director Elizabeth Tilson, who co-chairs the states coronavirus task force, has been working with health systems to develop plans for increasing their surge capacity by converting unused facilities, procuring extra beds or hiring extra staff. Thankfully, we havent had to pull the trigger on any of our emergency med surge plans. But we have all those plans in place, whether it be COVID-19 or COVID-19 and flu, she says.

Cobey has been trying to convince the government of her home state of Illinois to set up a sentinel surveillance plan that could alert officials to coming surges of COVID-19 and flu cases. But she says her suggestions have received little traction. Such surveillance systems already exist in other states, including North Carolina and Michigan. The CDC also tracks both illnesses on the national level and releases a weekly surveillance report on the viruses that cause them.

Tilson points out that whatever happens, there is one basic step people can take that may alter the trajectory of either epidemic. Look, we dont have a vaccine for COVID-19, she says. We do have a vaccine for flu. Get the vaccine.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak from Scientific American here. And read coverage from our international network of magazines here.

Here is the original post:

Coronavirus and the Flu: A Looming Double Threat - Scientific American

The cuts came after UN appeals for $2.42 billion in funding fell short by about 50% this week.

"In the countdown to closure there will have to be much wider cuts to Yemen at a time when the country is now facing the growing impact of the virus pandemic on people who are already badly malnourished and ill equipped to cope with it," Lise Grande, the head of the UN's humanitarian operations in Yemen told CNN, in a phone call from Sana'a on Wednesday, the capital of the divided nation.

"General health services in 189 of the country's 369 hospitals start to close in three weeks. Water and sanitation services for 8.5 million people, including 3 million children, close in three weeks. Nutrition support for 2.5 million malnourished starving children will start to close in eight to 10 weeks," she warned.

On Tuesday this week donors pledged $1.35 billion of the $2.42 billion the UN said Yemen needed in a virtual conference. "The worst-case scenario -- which is the one we're facing now -- means that the death toll from the virus could exceed the combined toll of war, disease and hunger over the last five years [in Yemen]," Grande told CNN.

According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, just over 112,000 people have been killed in Yemen's civil war over five years -- among the dead are 12,690 civilians.

Estimates for the numbers of people who have died from disease and malnutrition in the country have varied widely. But the UN and other aid organizations are delivering humanitarian assistance to 10 million Yemenis. A cholera epidemic has, the UN believes, already infected 110,000 people this year.

Four out of five Yemenis need "lifesaving aid," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the conference on Tuesday, adding that Yemen faced one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19. The country has a negligible capacity to test for coronavirus but medical aid agencies also believe the scale of infections could be vast.

This week health services for women giving birth in 150 hospitals supported by the UN were closed in the first wave of the cuts after the funding conference.

Yemen's five-year civil war has pitted Houthi rebels against the internationally recognized government, which has been backed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this year the Emiratis pulled their military out of the conflict but continues to back the government, which is in exile in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, meanwhile, has continued to back and fund tribal militias and its air force has had a punishing effect on the ground.

Much of the shortfall in new funding is being blamed on the apparent failure of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to come forward with a combined pledge which, in previous years, has been for about $1.5 billion. This year the UAE and Kuwait did not offer any funds to the UN effort and Saudi Arabia offered $500 million of which $300 million was to be earmarked specifically for the UN.

Saudi Arabia has been keen to get out of the quicksand since late last year. The war has undermined support for Saudi Arabia in Washington, where renewed arms supplies to the Kingdom from the US have only been possible as a result of the Trump administration's use of emergency powers to get around a block on arms exports to Saudi Arabia imposed by Congress.

Some diplomats believe that the cut in funding to the UN by Gulf countries may be, in part, an attempt to force the Houthis to peace talks.

Aid to areas under Houthi control has frequently been diverted and manipulated by the rebel administration in Sanaa. The UN's World Food Programme has frequently complained about the Houthis' diversion of food -- and the US cut funding to the program to force improvement.

The US support, $225 million, to the WFP was only returned recently after the Houthis agreed to stop aid workers from being harassed and a wide range of "taxes" on aid coming into the area under their control.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE say they want to continue to help Yemen with aid -- but insist it should not be diverted to the Houthi war effort. In the Emirates it is understood that the government is trying to find ways to continue to fund aid operations.

"The UAE has spared no effort in providing medical assistance to support countries affected by Covid-19 by cooperating with international organizations, wherein UAE assistance amounted to $135 million from the beginning of March until the end of May," Reem al Hashimy, the Emirati minister for international cooperation said in a statement to CNN.

"Moreover, the UAE Red Crescent continues to work in Yemen to provide a helping hand to our Yemeni brothers, and we deeply regret the loss of two of its staff killed by terrorists in March. However, this will not deter us from delivering upon our mission and humanitarian duty," al Hashimy added.

But it is not clear to UN officials how that "duty" can be fulfilled while, as one senior UN official put it, "our operations go into near collapse."

This story has been updated to correct Lise Grande's job title.

Read this article:

Experts fear Yemen could suffer one of the world's worst coronavirus outbreaks - CNN

Kevin Rathel deals with vision problems and memory issues even after beating coronavirus. USA TODAY

7 a.m., Friday, June 5

Two more Shasta County residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, raising the total known case count to 42.

One of them is a woman in her 70s who is isolated at home and had no symptoms. The other is a man in his 70s who also is isolated at home and did have symptoms, Shasta County public health officials said Thursday in the incident updates they releasedaily.

Health experts are encouraging people to get tested for COVID-19 as the stay-home restrictions are lifted and they spend more time out in the public.

The county reported the number of people who are now in isolation is seven, while 20 people are under quarantine.

More: 'Strategic' well-orchestrated heists seen amid protest chaos

In other developments on Thursday:

Tehama County confirmed one more of its residents has the coronavirus bringing the total caseloadto seven. The latest case involves a man in his 20s. The county released no other information.

Butte County reported five new cases. The total count there now is 60, nearly triple the number of cases reported May 16 22 cases.

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

To date, the county estimates 1,771 tests have been conducted, with 108 still waiting for results.

There have been no deaths reported in Siskiyou related to the virus.

The county reported no new cases on Thursday. Of the nine confirmed cases, two are active.

More: 530 Crime Watch: New scam steals unemployment benefits

In far Northern California, here's where COVID-19 case totals stand:

Coastal counties:

America hit a somber benchmark in the coronavirus pandemic, with the U.S. death toll reaching 100,000. USA TODAY

Statewide, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increasedto 119,807 as of Wednesday, the California Department of Health reported Thursday afternoon.

At least 4,422 people in the state have died from the virus and 3,109 people were hospitalized withthe disease. Another 1,346 peoplesuspected to have the illness were in the hospital.

Here's how California's coronavirus cases break down by age:

Health-care workers made up10,519 of California's confirmed cases, according to state health officials. Of that number, 64have died.

More: Redding's inclusivity book club offers a forum to discuss inequality, racism

On Friday morning, the number of known coronavirus cases in the U.S. was at 1.87million, according toJohns Hopkins University.

That number includes 108,278 people who have died as a result of the virus in the U.S.

Worldwide, the number of confirmed cases was almost 6.67million. Of that total, 391,848 people have died.

Read or Share this story: https://www.redding.com/story/news/2020/06/05/california-coronavirus-updates-redding-shasta-county-covid-19/3152868001/

Read more from the original source:

Coronavirus live updates: What you need to know Friday about COVID-19 in the North State - Record Searchlight

FORT MYERS

Most people have mild symptoms or none at all but that wasnt the case for Fort Myers resident Dana Walsh, who had to battle for more than two months to beat the virus.

She has an important message for all of us as Florida moves to phase 2 of reopening.

Walsh was in the fight for her life and the ordeal lasted ten weeks.

Now she is urging everyone to continue to take this virus seriouslyand get tested.

I was pretty much showing every single symptom you can read about, said Walsh.

Walsh tested positive for COVID-19 in March and shortly after when she was showing no symptoms she made the decision to donate plasma.

I went to get another test in order to get a negative result to donate And it came back positive, said Walsh. The results left her shocked.

And the results to follow were even more confusing. The third test was inconclusive and after that, a fourth test said she was still positive.

Walsh said on the fifth test she finally tested negative. Now she has a strong message for those who had the virus.

Get tested, make sure that youre healthy, make sure youre negative before you go back because youre putting somebody else at risk, said Walsh.

Walsh did have the opportunity to finally donate plasma and she said she was happy to be able to potentially save lives through her experience.

Visit link:

Fort Myers woman battled coronavirus for 2 months before receiving a negative test - Wink News

Have you ever heard that taking vitamin D supplements or following a ketogenic (keto) diet will protect you from the new coronavirus? In this Special Feature, we explain why these and other persistent myths are not grounded in science.

Even before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, their director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned of the danger associated with spreading false information about the virus.

At a conference on February 15, 2020, he declared that were not just fighting an epidemic; were fighting an infodemic.

Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus and is just as dangerous, he emphasized.

However, it can be difficult to tell what is credible and what is not given the sheer quantity of information that people are sharing both on and offline.

Previously on Medical News Today, we compiled a list of 28 myths surrounding the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). In this Special Feature, we will take an in-depth look at five more persistent myths and explain why people should not take them at face value.

Some articles claim that if a person takes vitamin D supplements, they will be less likely to contract SARS-CoV-2.

In part, people have based these claims on a controversial paper that appears in the journal Aging Clinical and Experimental Research.

The papers authors claim to have found a correlation between low mean levels of vitamin D in the populations of certain countries and higher rates of COVID-19 cases and related deaths in those same countries.

Based on this correlation, the authors hypothesize that supplementing the diet with vitamin D may help protect against COVID-19. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this would actually be the case.

In a rapid review of the evidence published on May 1, 2020, researchers from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom unequivocally conclude: We found no clinical evidence on vitamin D in [the prevention or treatment of] COVID-19.

They also write that [t]here was no evidence related to vitamin D deficiency predisposing to COVID-19, nor were there studies of supplementation for preventing or treating COVID-19.

Other researchers who have conducted reviews of the existing data surrounding a potential relationship between vitamin D and COVID-19 agree.

One report by specialists from various institutions in the U.K., Ireland, Belgium, and the United States which appeared in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health in May 2020 also points to a lack of supporting evidence in favor of taking vitamin D supplements to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2.

The reports authors warn that:

[C]alls [for high dose vitamin D supplementation as a preventive strategy against COVID-19] are without support from pertinent studies in humans at this time, but rather based on speculations about presumed mechanisms.

They also note that although sufficient vitamin D can contribute to overall good health on a day-to-day basis, taking supplements without first seeking medical advice can be harmful.

For example, taking too much vitamin D in the form of a dietary supplement could actually jeopardize health, especially among people with certain underlying chronic conditions.

Another widespread rumor is that taking zinc supplements could help prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 or treat COVID-19.

It is true that zinc is an essential mineral that helps support the functioning of the human immune system.

Starting from this notion, a team of researchers from Russia, Germany, and Greece hypothesized that zinc might be able to act as a preventive and adjuvant therapeutic for COVID-19. Their results appear in the International Journal of Molecular Medicine.

The researchers refer to in vitro experiments that apparently showed that zinc ions were able to inhibit the action of a certain enzyme that facilitates the viral activity of SARS-CoV-2.

However, they also point out the lack of actual clinical evidence that zinc might have an effect against SARS-CoV-2 in humans.

Other papers that cite the potential of zinc as an adjuvant in COVID-19 therapy including one that appears in Medical Hypotheses are more speculative and not based on any clinical data.

In a Practice patterns and guidelines paper from April 2020 which appears in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health nutritionist Emma Derbyshire, Ph.D., and biochemist Joanne Delange, Ph.D., reviewed existing data about zinc (alongside other nutrients) in relation to viral respiratory infections.

They found that, according to available research in humans, zinc supplementation may help prevent pneumonia in young children, and that zinc insufficiency may impair immune responses in older adults.

However, they note that there is not enough evidence about the role of zinc supplementation in preventing viral infections in general.

Rigorous trials [] are yet to determine the efficacy of zinc supplementation, they write.

Vitamin C is another essential nutrient that has received a lot of attention. Many people believe that it can prevent or even cure the flu or common cold.

Although it is true that sufficient vitamin C can help support immune function, current evidence regarding its effectiveness in treating or preventing colds and influenza is limited and often contradictory.

Despite this, there have been claims that this vitamin might help fight infections with the new coronavirus.

It is possible that people are basing these claims on an existing ongoing clinical trial in China, which is looking at the effects of high dose intravenous (IV) vitamin C on hospitalized patients receiving care for severe COVID-19.

The researchers expect to complete the trial by the end of September 2020. No results are available in the interim.

Commenting on the trial, experts from the Linus Pauling Institute which focuses on health and nutrition at Oregon State University in Corvallis explain that although high dose IV vitamin C might help alleviate COVID-19 symptoms in severely ill patients, regular vitamin C supplements are very unlikely to help people fight off infections with SARS-CoV-2.

The experts warn that IV vitamin C is not the same as taking vitamin C supplements, as they would never raise blood levels of this vitamin as highly as an IV infusion would.

They also warn people who may be tempted to up their dosage of vitamin C of the fact they could end up taking too much and experiencing adverse side effects.

Keto diets, which are high in fats and low in carbohydrates, have also received some attention in the context of treating or preventing COVID-19.

This may be because there is some evidence to suggest that keto diets could help boost the immune system. However, much of that evidence is based on animal studies rather than human trials.

Also, an upcoming clinical trial from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, proposes to look at whether or not a ketogenic intervention might help intubated COVID-19 patients by reducing inflammation.

The intervention would necessitate the administration of a specially devised ketogenic formula through enteral feeding. It would be a last-resort procedure for those in a critical condition.

There is currently no evidence to suggest that following a keto diet could help a healthy person prevent or treat infection with SARS-CoV-2.

However, there is evidence to suggest that keto diets can expose people to certain health risks such as by raising cholesterol levels. Keto diets may also have side effects, such as flu-like symptoms, headaches, nausea, and changes in blood pressure.

There are also claims suggesting that various herbal medicines might be able to fight off the new coronavirus.

This may partly be based on a statement issued by a Chinese official in April 2020, suggesting that certain herbal drugs could help treat COVID-19, as a communication in The Lancet on May 15, 2020, reports.

Author Yichang Yang from the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China warns that people should take encouragements to use herbal remedies in the treatment of COVID-19 with a pinch of salt.

Yang warns that herbal remedies including the drugs that the Chinese official names can have unexpected risks and may not be as effective as some people claim. Also, evidence from human trials is very limited.

For similar reasons, he also notes that the mechanisms through which herbal drugs work on the body are often unclear, which may mean that they are not always safe.

A mystery herbal cure for COVID-19 on sale in Madagascar a herbal tea made from artemisia plants has also spurred worry among specialists, who say that the remedy may do more harm than good.

Matshidiso Moeti, director of WHO Africa, has also commented on this:

We [the WHO] would caution and advise countries against adopting a product that has not been taken through tests to see its efficacy.

Although people may be tempted to try anything and everything in the face of such a threat to health as SARS-CoV-2, the most important preventive step is to follow official national and international guidelines for public health, as well as individual health advice from doctors and other healthcare professionals.

For more information on the new coronavirus and how to stay safe during the pandemic, take a look at the information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO.

For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.

Read more:

5 false claims about coronavirus remedies and why they are wrong - Medical News Today

I think it was more about whether that risk was justified, considering what we were seeing clearly with our own eyes, Thayer said referring to the video of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee into George Floyds neck.

Id rather die as a result of catching the virus this way than because I had to go back to work, Thayer said of the protests.

She tried her best to take precautions at the demonstrations, such as wearing a mask, but social distancing became impossible when police set off flash-bang grenades and sprayed tear gas into crowds.

Thayer isnt alone. For the past week, thousands of protesters around the country have been weighing their passion for social justice with fears related to the coronavirus, whichhas killed more than 100,000 people in the U.S. Even some public health officials have said that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, these protests are too important to skip.

Crowds have been banned throughout COVID-19 because of the danger of spreading the virus. But there are other health concerns related to attending protests, such as the deleterious effect of tear gas. This is especially true for the elderly. Health officials have also warned those who are already sick should get tested and stay at home.

Some advocates have officially expressed fear around the idea of protesting during the coronavirus threat. On the Friday protests first started in Seattle, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County released a statement that may have come as a surprise to some.

Our board of directors was initially conflicted about whether to boost these demonstrations, the advocacy group said in a statement. Ultimately, we decided that the situation is too dangerous for us to encourage greater attendance at these in-person protests.

The statement pointed out that COVID-19 had already hit communities of color particularly hard. Here in King County, Latinos now account for 40% of COVID-19 cases, even though they make up only 13% of the population. African Americans have also been disproportionately affected.

We refuse to encourage our community members to needlessly risk their lives and their health during this time when other avenues of action are available, the statement read.

Zawadi Chege, a 20-year-old resident of Tacoma who just finished community college, said as a former student with limited funds, she couldnt think of other meaningful actions to participate in.

I was really scared, and so was my mom, Chege said of the protest she attended in Tacoma. But I think its different being Black and undocumented. Ididnt feel like I had a choice.

Black lives being murdered by policeor people who are supposed to protect usis not OK, Chege said.

Chege layered on protection: gloves, a T-shirt turned into a makeshift mask and a bandana. Chege said her face was so covered in clothing that only her eyes were exposed. She also carried a backpack full of essentials, includinghand sanitizer.

If I was going to be arrested, thats what I would want to be arrested for out of anything else, Chege said of attending the protest.

Despite the apparent danger, many public health officials have encouraged participation indemonstrations during the pandemic. Infectious disease experts at the University of Washington circulatedan open letter supporting the proteststhat ultimately drew more than 1,200 signatures. Officials havenoted that standing up to police brutality means fighting an equally serious public health concern: racism.

The actions of these police officers are unconscionable and so blatantly racist, the outrage is justified, Patty Hayes, director of Public Health Seattle & King County, said in a statement. We cant let COVID-19 distract us from our resolve.

Let us join together in King County and show how it is possible to break down the historical institutional racism that affects our communities every day, Hayes said.

Racism is a public health threat that cant be ignored, Washington state Health Secretary John Wiesman said in a statement. I want our Black community members and all people of color to know that the Department of Health is standing with you in solidarity, support and love.

Read the original:

Coronavirus is still real. Protesters say they're fighting a worse pandemic - Crosscut

Mark Adani, a car salesman in suburban Detroit, spent weeks working from home to avoid the coronavirus. He is 71 and has high blood pressure and a wife with heart trouble. But he recently got an ultimatum from his dealership: Come back to the office or consider a new job.

Im damned if I come to work, damned if I dont come to work, he said.

Mr. Adani said one worker had already died of Covid-19, and he flirted with letting his bosses dismiss him when he was called back to the office.

Ultimately, he decided to go back. He was unable to reach anyone from Michigans overwhelmed unemployment system to answer whether he could refuse to go back and still retain his benefits.

With customers scarce, Mr. Adani said he spent much of the day at his desk, chasing online leads and worrying about bringing home the virus to his wife. Most of his co-workers slip on masks when they head to the break room for coffee.

I really dont feel this place is safe, Mr. Adani said.

Nurses, grocery store workers, fast-food cashiers, slaughterhouse workers and others deemed essential have been navigating these fears throughout the pandemic because they never stopped working. Now, the concern is spreading to wider areas of the economy.

In Boise, Idaho, Robin Slater, a 65-year-old line cook with chronic shortness of breath from 40 years of smoking, said he was reluctant to answer the call back to work at the sports bar where he constantly bumps up against other cooks in the tiny kitchen. He said he was the only one who wore a mask. The plan, he said, was to limit tables to six people or fewer, though a party of 14 came in to eat last Sunday.

Mr. Slater said he had little choice other than returning to work because he was almost certain to lose his $220 in weekly unemployment, supplemented by the $600 passed as part of the coronavirus relief bill. So far, 147 workers in Idaho have been reported as refusing to work, though the state did not say how many had lost benefits.

Continue reading here:

Workers Fearful of the Coronavirus Are Getting Fired and Losing Their Benefits - The New York Times

Iran is reluctantly confronting the possibility of a renewed political crisis as well as a health one after the latest figures showed the number of new coronavirus infections at a record high.

The government appeared to have brought the virus under control a month ago, but a second wave of the virus has steadily been gathering pace. According to data released by the health ministry on Thursday there were 3,574 confirmed new infections in 24 hours an increase of 440 on the previous day.

The previous daily record in Iran was 3,186 on 30 March. The country was one of the first in the Middle East to be gripped by the disease.

In spite of a steadily rising infection rate, authorities have been progressively lifting controls on shops, mosques, schools, offices and travel. The border with Turkey was also being opened for haulage traffic on Thursday.

In recent days government spokesmen have been increasingly critical of the public, accusing them of ignoring the continued restrictions, especially in workplaces.

Hassan Rouhani, the countrys president, said: If the rules are not obeyed the government would be forced to restore the quarantine situation again, disrupting normal life and inflicting serious damage on the entire national economy.

There was little immediate domestic coverage of the record infection figure.

The chief solace for the health ministry was that the number of daily deaths has not risen at the same rate as new infections, giving some credence to the argument that the increased level of infections is partly a result of more widespread testing and better recording. The number of deaths recorded in the previous 24 hours was 59, taking the death toll to 8,071. The highest number of daily deaths was 158 on 4 April.

Officials now face a dilemma over whether to reimpose controls, a move that will be unpopular and damage the sanction-weakened economy, or hope that the second wave will somehow peter out. Only 10 days ago the number of new infections was below 2,000, and the rapid rise in the last five days cannot be explained solely by widespread testing.

The virus was reported as being worst in the provinces of Khuzestan, Hormozgan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah. All people in those regions were advised to wear face masks in public.

Anecdotal evidence from Hormozgansuggested women were contracting the disease while shopping.Nearly 25% of those with the disease were classified as housewives.

In a sign of the competing pressures facing the government, the Iranian parliament research centre produced figures to show per capita income in the country had fallen by 34% over the last three years, partly because of inflation. Nearly 60% of employees were not covered by social insurance.

In other coronavirus developments around the world:

Spainwants to welcome back British tourists from 1 July, but said that would depend on theUKs 14-day quarantineplan for arrivals, including returning UK citizens, and on the British authorities rescindingadvice on non-essential foreign travel.

France said it would cancel its traditional 14 July Bastille Day military parade and replace it with a ceremony to pay tribute to care workers.

Russias relatively low official death toll was further brought into question after St Petersburg issued 32% more death certificates in May than in the same month last year.

The number of confirmed cases in Afghanistan passed 18,000, with more than 300 deaths,amid a continued surge of transmissions in Kabul.

Pakistanreported a record single-day high in coronavirus deaths (82) and new cases (4,688), saying it was due to increased testing.

The World Health Organizations director forAfricasaid the continents 162,622 confirmed coronavirus cases and 4,604 deaths was broadly accurate, but the African Unionhealth agency said the continent needs to triple its testing.

A further 1.9 million people filed for unemployment benefits in the US last week, bringing the total number of claims to more than 42m since the pandemic hit.

In Japan, Tokyos governor said it may be necessary to stage a simplified Olympics next year owing to the impact of the pandemic.

China said foreign airlines blocked from operating in the country could resume limited flights, a day after Washington suspended all Chinese travel into and out of the US.

InLatin America, Mexico announced more than 1,000 deaths in a day for the first time and Brazil, the regions worst-hit country, reported a record 1,349.

Read more here:

Iran cases hit record high in second wave of coronavirus - The Guardian