Category Archives: pandemic

Cuba’s Improbable Medical Prowess in Asia

Tom Fawthrop (The Diplomat) writes that Cuba is developing a foothold in Asia with its biotechnology. “COVID-19 is likely to expand that cooperation …

Cuba’s Improbable Medical Prowess in Asia

Nursing Homes Violated Basic Health Standards, Allowing… — ProPublica

Our analysis of federal inspection reports found that nine nursing homes put residents in “immediate jeopardy,” including a case where a nursing assistant…
— Read on www.propublica.org/article/nursing-homes-violated-basic-health-standards-allowing-the-coronavirus-to-explode

No one was ready or able/allowed to act quickly and appropriately- so many died.

Britain is ignorant on health inequalities. And now black people are dying from it | Afua Hirsch | Opinion | The Guardian

It’s impossible to take the measures needed to protect people of different ethnicities without understanding their differential treatment, not just from coronavirus, but from the society in which we live and die. This should have happened decades ago. And like everything this disease touches, the outcomes of failing to act are now exposed for all to see.

Source: Britain is ignorant on health inequalities. And now black people are dying from it | Afua Hirsch | Opinion | The Guardian

Earth Day: Greta Thunberg calls for ‘new path’ after pandemic | Environment | The Guardian

“Whether we like it or not, the world has changed. It looks completely different now from how it did a few months ago. It may never look the same again. We have to choose a new way forward,” she told a YouTube audience in a virtual meeting to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. “If the coronavirus crisis has shown us one thing, it is that our society is not sustainable. If one single virus can destroy economies in a couple of weeks, it shows we are not thinking long-term and taking risks into account.”

Source: Earth Day: Greta Thunberg calls for ‘new path’ after pandemic | Environment | The Guardian

Reopening the Economy Will Send Us to Hell | Labor Notes

People desperately need to go back to work and save what they can of their lives. But heeding the siren call of the MAGA demonstrators, puppets on strings manipulated by hedge funds and billionaire casino owners, to “reopen the economy” would only result in tragedy. Consider these points: Sending millions of people back to work without protection or testing would be a death sentence for thousands. Thirty-four million workers are over 55; 10 million of them over 65. Millions more suffer from diabetes, chronic respiratory problems, and so on. Straight from home to work to ICU to morgue. Millions of our “essential workers” face intolerable hazards because of the shortage of protective equipment. It will be weeks, at best, before there will be an adequate supply for medical workers. Workers in warehouses, markets, and fast food have no guarantee of ever receiving masks, unless legislation compels it. If this is a war, Trump’s refusal to use existing laws to federalize the manufacture of masks and ventilators is a war crime. The proposal to test people’s blood and then issue back-to-work certificates if they have the right antibodies is mere fantasy at the moment. Washington has allowe

Source: Reopening the Economy Will Send Us to Hell | Labor Notes