Jacksonville Beach Bar Infects Woman And 15 Friends With Coronavirus

One Jacksonville Beach bar has been attributed as the source of at least two dozen coronavirus cases, including one woman and 15 of her friends.
— Read on www.dailydot.com/irl/jacksonville-beach-bar-woman-friends-coronavirus/

Soldiers fell to their deaths as India and China’s troops fought with rocks

1875.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=8

India shocked by Himalayan border clash in which unarmed troops fought in the dark

The hand-to-hand combat lasted hours, on steep, jagged terrain, with iron bars, rocks and fists. Neither side carried guns. Most of the soldiers killed in the worst fighting between India and China in 60 years lost their footing or were knocked from the narrow Himalayan ridge, plunging to their deaths.

India has reacted with shock and caution to the loss of at least 20 soldiers on its disputed border with China, with images of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, burned in Indian cities even as senior leaders including prime minister Narendra Modi had issued no public comment by Wednesday afternoon in Delhi.

Continue reading…

Dexamethasone may be part of the Covid-19 puzzle but it’s no magic bullet | Devi Sridhar

3500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=8

If this cheap steroid reduces deaths in critically ill patients that’s great news, and one small step towards managing coronavirus

Right now, we could all use some good news, and it came yesterday in the form of dexamethasone. This cheap steroid could significantly reduce deaths in critically ill Covid-19 patients by one-third for those on ventilators and by one-fifth for those on oxygen alone. The drug appears to stop the damage from the severe immune reaction, called a “cytokine storm”, that researchers increasingly believe is responsible for causing some patients to have multiple organ failure and ultimately die. Had we been able to use dexamethasone from the start of the epidemic in the UK, scientists estimate up to 5,000 lives could have been saved.

Off the back of these results, the NHS has announced that treatment protocols for Covid-19 patients will now include this drug, which is widely and easily available. This will also have a major impact in low- and middle-income countries as, unlike an expensive new patent drug that would be beyond their financial reach, dexamethasone costs just £5 per patient in the UK, and even less in other countries.

Continue reading…

Avian Flu Diary: Beijing Cancels Hundreds Of Flights & Reports 31 New COVID-19 Cases

15 prevention and control measures After upgrading to the second-level response, the 15 prevention and control measures that must be strengthened include:  Strictly prevent and control measures for farmers’ markets, vegetable markets, restaurants, units, canteens, etc., comprehensively standardize the implementation of environmental killings, and strengthen monitoring. All cold and wet underground business sites are closed. Employees of the above business sites must wear Masks and gloves. Strict inspection and quarantine of food at ports, improve the quarantine standards for imported food, and strengthen traceability management. Relevant personnel in the middle and high-risk streets and new markets are strictly prohibited from leaving Beijing. Others insist on not leaving Beijing if necessary, and those who do need to leave Beijing must hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 7 days. The closed-end management of the community shall be restored, and measures such as temperature measurement, verification, code inspection and registration shall be implemented before entering. Foreigners and vehicles in communities and villages under the jurisdiction of towns and villages

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Beijing Cancels Hundreds Of Flights & Reports 31 New COVID-19 Cases

Selah (A Collaborative Poem) — The Yellow Brick Ave

The following is my first collaborative poem that I wrote with Ismael Mansoor from This Engrained Heart! Ismael’s contributions are in tomato red and mine are in dark gray (which probably just looks black). I think that the final product of this poem is very much a mixture of our two different writing styles, and I’m very excited to share it with all of you!

Selah (A Collaborative Poem) — The Yellow Brick Ave

Researchers uncover six-year Russian misinformation campaign across Facebook and Reddit

Cybersecurity Facebook crop

For six years, a mysterious group has used forged documents and a network of burner accounts to spread misinformation promoting Russian national interests, according to a new report from Graphika.

Dubbed “Secondary Infektion,” the campaign spanned a number of online platforms, beginning on the Russia-based LiveJournal in 2014, and moving to Twitter and YouTube later that year. In the years that followed, the campaign shifted to Reddit, Medium, and even the user-generated portion of BuzzFeed. All told, the report spans more than 2,500 pieces of content, posted across seven languages and more than 300 different forums, websites, and social networks.

“By April 21, 2020, Graphika had identified some 250 images that the operation had planted…

Continue reading…

Coronavirus: Chinese firm says its vaccine candidate passes phase two clinical trials

e01aea4a-aff2-11ea-a77b-87dc2115315d_ima

A potential Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, which has completed phase one and phase two human trials, is generally safe and can an generate immune response in test subjects, the vaccine’s developer, China National Biotec Group, said on Tuesday.The vaccine candidate, developed by a CNBG subsidiary, the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, began human trials in Henan province in April. Volunteers 18 to 59 years old were inoculated with low, medium and high doses and were given a second shot two…

Council votes to keep monuments honouring explorer linked to mass murders

The most barbaric act McMillan is associated with is the massacre at Warrigal Creek in which up to 180 Indigenous men, women and children were shot down in their camp in retribution for the killing of a white man.

12362770-4x3-140x105.jpg

Wellington Shire Council in central Gippsland votes in favour of keeping historical markers honouring explorer Angus McMillan, linked to the mass murders of Gunai Kurnai people.