Coronavirus: Hong Kong residents to begin receiving reusable masks from Monday | South China Morning Post

Scheme embroiled in controversy after the government refused to tender the contract and links later revealed between developer and manufacturers. Hongkong Post will deliver the masks to 2.78 million locals who have already signed up to the programme.
— Read on www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3083726/coronavirus-hong-kong-residents-begin-receiving

Every country in the United Nations agreed to a global ceasefire during the pandemic — except the United States

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After six weeks of negotiating, the UN Security Council was close to agreeing on a resolution for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seems fair, right? Let’s agree to stop killing each other for a while, so we can focus on the virus that’s killing us instead?

China proposed that the text explicitly mention a commitment by member nations to support the efforts of the World Health Organization — who Donald Trump has blamed (without evidence) for withholding information on the coronavirus outbreak.

So the US looked at the resolution and said “LOL no,” despite last minute efforts to reach a compromise. As The Guardian reports:

On Thursday night, French diplomats thought they had engineered a compromise in which the resolution would mention UN “specialized health agencies” (an indirect, if clear, reference to the WHO).

The Russian mission signaled that it wanted a clause calling for the lifting of sanctions that affected the delivery of medical supplies, a reference to US punitive measures imposed on Iran and Venezuela. However, most security council diplomats believed Moscow would withdraw the objection or abstain in a vote rather than risk isolation as the sole veto on the ceasefire resolution.

While everyone else seemed game to go along with these compromises, the US insisted it was one big Chinese trick. As one diplomat told CNN:  “This discussion has been taken hostage by issues that do not have to do with the real issues at stake. Instead it has been transformed into a fight between the US and China. We are back to square one.”

A spokesperson for the US State Department offered this as an explanation:

In our view, the goal should be to support the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire. Unfortunately, the PRC has been determined to use this resolution to advance false narratives about its response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. In our view, the Council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of COVID-19.

Which still, to me, sounds like the Trump administration would rather millions of people die to stroke Trump’s ego and his petty need for revenge.

US blocks vote on UN’s bid for global ceasefire over reference to WHO [Julian Borger / The Guardian]

US blocks UN resolution on global coronavirus ceasefire after China pushes WHO mention [Kylie Atwood / CNN]

Image: Public Domain via the Obama White House

 

Coronavirus leaves Turkey’s president with nobody else to blame

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Collapsing economy and rising death toll could prove downfall of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is a populist juggernaut, fond of suggesting that his leadership is the only way to protect the country from enemies both real and imagined. The coronavirus pandemic, however, is an existential crisis unlike anything he has faced before.

“Erdoğan has gradually managed to reform Turkey’s constitution, consolidating power into the presidency’s hands,” said Nate Schenkkan, the director for special research at Freedom House, a US-based democracy watchdog.

Continue reading…

‘You can’t recover from death’: Argentina’s Covid-19 response has been the opposite of Brazil’s

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Argentina closed swiftly, while Brazil downplayed the crisis. The difference is reflected in their pandemic figures

When Alberto Fernández took office as Argentina’s president in December, his inauguration was boycotted by Brazil’s hard-right leader, who dismissed Fernández and his vice-president, the two-time former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as “leftwing bandits”.

Related: Brazil: largest rise in Covid-19 deaths follows Bolsonaro ‘worst is over’ claim

Continue reading…

Up to 43m Americans could lose health insurance amid pandemic, report says

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Prior to pandemic, 160 million got insurance through their job – but up to 7 million are unlikely to find new plans, say researchers

As many as 43 million Americans could lose their health insurance in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute.

Prior to the pandemic, 160 million Americans, or roughly half the population, received their medical insurance through their job. The tidal wave of layoffs triggered by quarantine measures now threatens that coverage for millions.

Continue reading…

‘We can’t stay home’: how America’s poorest state is trying to reopen | World news | The Guardian

“It’s irresponsible and it’s unproductive,” she said.

Campbell is a physical therapist at a hospital, working exclusively with Covid-19 patients, some of whom are recovering from critical illness. She acknowledged the caseload had gone down in recent days, but argued that the lull should reinforce the need to keep the city closed down.

“People are making a willful decision to put other people at risk, and I have seen the consequences of doing that,” Campbell said, as a gentle breeze wafted over her garden. “If they had seen what I have, I think their behaviour would be different.”

Source: ‘We can’t stay home’: how America’s poorest state is trying to reopen | World news | The Guardian

“The biggest threat to Brazil’s ability to successfully combat the spread of the coronavirus and tackle the unfolding public health crisis is the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro” says @TheLancet @richardhorton1 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/09/brazils-president-bolsonaro-must-drastically-change-course-on-covid-19-says-the-lancet?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other …pic.twitter.com/eo59UFGzA5

via aleksey godin

“The biggest threat to Brazil’s ability to successfully combat the spread of the coronavirus and tackle the unfolding public health crisis is the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro” says @TheLancet @richardhorton1 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/09/brazils-president-bolsonaro-must-drastically-change-course-on-covid-19-says-the-lancet?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other … pic.twitter.com/eo59UFGzA5

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