All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Covid-19: NZ today marks 100 days without community transmission

Analysis – New Zealand today marks 100 days without community transmission of Covid-19, so how did this country get rid of a virus that keeps spreading across the world?

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Analysis – New Zealand today marks 100 days without community transmission of Covid-19, so how did this country get rid of a virus that keeps spreading across the world?

Coronavirus: Masks made mandatory in parts of Paris as infections rise – BBC News

Wearing a face mask will be compulsory in busy parts of Paris from Monday amid a rise in coronavirus infections in and around the French capital.

Police said the order would apply to people aged 11 and over in “certain very crowded zones”.

The virus had been circulating more widely in the region since mid-July, they said. Face masks are already compulsory in enclosed public spaces.

Experts have warned that France could lose control of Covid-19 “at any time”.

Several cities, such as Nice and Lille, have introduced their own additional orders making mask-wearing mandatory in certain outdoor areas.

 

Source: Coronavirus: Masks made mandatory in parts of Paris as infections rise – BBC News

Despite NYC’s School Reopening Plan, Teachers Say They’re In The Dark On Details On How To Manage Their Classrooms – Gothamist

Lindsay Melachrinos, a science teacher at a middle school on the Upper West Side, pointed out that the plans also call for students to eat lunch in their classrooms to minimize interactions. “I’m just concerned about being in a small space for a significant period of time with people who don’t have masks on,” she said. “If I’m in the room, and everyone has their masks off and they’re eating, and then we are sitting in that same room for an additional three hours — you know, if I have to do it I have to do it, but it makes me nervous for them and for me.”

Melissa Williams, a speech therapist who works at District 6 public schools in upper Manhattan, said despite the city pledging to supply each school with personal protective equipment and to perform constant deep cleanings, she’s afraid the burden of buying cleaning supplies will fall on teachers. “They’re going to run out quickly, so what happens if they run out? During normal times, we run out of soap, we run out of toilet paper, we buy our own cleaning supplies. So I don’t see what’s going to change,” she said.

 

Source: Despite NYC’s School Reopening Plan, Teachers Say They’re In The Dark On Details On How To Manage Their Classrooms – Gothamist

Canada fires back with $3.6 billion in tariffs after Donald Trump revives trade spat | The Star

“In imposing these tariffs, the United States has taken the absurd decision to harm its own people at a time when its economy is suffering the deepest crisis since the Great Depression,” she said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the world this year.

Canada will now take 30 days to consult with the public on a quickly-released list of American imports it plans to tax in response, Freeland said. The list includes a range of goods that use aluminum, from household washing machines and fridges to bike wheels and golf clubs.

 

Source: Canada fires back with $3.6 billion in tariffs after Donald Trump revives trade spat | The Star

Canada’s Popular Vegan Jamaican Patties Are Now Shipping Worldwide — Repeating Islands

[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] Toronto-based vegan Jamaican patty company Choose Life Foods is now available for shipping nationwide through online vegan retailer VeganSupply.com. Nicole Axworthy (VegNews) reports: Toronto-based vegan Jamaican patty company Choose Life Foods is now available for shipping nationwide through online vegan retailer VeganSupply.com. Choose Life founder Carolyn […]

Canada’s Popular Vegan Jamaican Patties Are Now Shipping Worldwide — Repeating Islands

Doctors and medical students across the US push to register patients to vote

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More than 60 hospital networks are taking part in campaign as some of the usual ways of registering are curbed by the pandemic

An emergency room doctor in Boston is assembling thousands of voter registration kits for distribution at hospitals and doctor’s offices.

Later this month, students at Harvard and Yale’s medical schools are planning a contest to see which of the Ivy League rivals can register the most voters.

Continue reading…

Coronavirus update: Brazil’s COVID-19 deaths to pass 100,000

Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 is expected to hit 100,000 and continue to climb as most Brazilian cities reopen shops and dining even though the pandemic has yet to peak.

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Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 is expected to hit 100,000 and continue to climb as most Brazilian cities reopen shops and dining even though the pandemic has yet to peak.

The Coronavirus Death Toll Is Staggering

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On Friday, officials across the United States reported 1,354 new deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the total number of reported deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, to 161,367. The actual number of deaths, due to reporting issues, is likely to be much greater.

This is just what normal is now and it is likely to be the new normal for quite a while.

Friday’s death toll was not a daily record. It did not show a huge increase or drop. It was roughly the same as the reported weekday death toll for the last two weeks—this is just what normal is now, and as the surge in new cases across the Sun Belt over the last two months takes its toll, it is likely to be the new normal for quite a while.

In the last week, the death toll has surpassed the populations of Jackson, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Virginia. It’s greater than the populations of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Springfield, Illinois. (It will likely surpass the population of Springfield, Missouri, next week.) It’s greater than the populations of Manchester, New Hampshire; Fargo, North Dakota; and Macon, Georgia. It’s greater than the respective populations of Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina; Hartford and Bridgeport, Connecticut; Waco and Midland and Round Rock and Killeen and Pearland and Denton, Texas. Hayward and Pasadena and Berkeley and Lancaster, California;. It could fill the largest football stadium in the country, Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, one and a half times—it is also greater than the population of Ann Arbor. It is bigger than the largest city in eleven states.

“It looks like we’ll be at about a 60,000 mark, which is 40,000 less than the lowest number thought of,” President Donald Trump said in April. We passed that number in May and just kept going. Now, that many people have died in just three states—New York, New Jersey, and California.

There are days when the pandemic can sort of fade into the background of the political discourse. The president would prefer to talk about his beautiful boaters, Republican senators would prefer to talk about Antifa. But take a second today, perhaps, to read about some of the victims of the pandemic—check out the Twitter account Faces of Covid, which posts obituaries of the teachers and barbers and EMTs and siblings and spouses who are dying every day. It never went away. It is just what we live with now.