Tag Archives: WorldNews

How far do COVID-19 testing swabs go up your nose?

a little more than 1 inch at most

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Some say coronavirus test swabs feel like they go right into the back of their heads, but Australia’s national guidelines recommend swabs are only inserted a few centimetres deep.

Coronavirus: Humidity key to minimize virus transmission — study

“Authorities should include the humidity factor in future indoor guidelines,” said CSIR’s Mishra.

“Based on research findings, for future scenarios, setting a minimum RH standard in public buildings” said the report, “will not only reduce the impact of COVID-19, but it will also reduce the impact of further viral outbreaks.”

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Dry rooms and air-conditioned indoor spaces hike Covid-viral infection, conclude Indian and German researchers in their meta-study. They’re urging optimum humidity standards for building interiors and public transport.

Getting Tested For COVID And Want Results Fast? It’s Still A Crapshoot

People wait on a line to receive a COVID-19 test at a temporary test site in Sunset Park on Aug. 13th, 2020.

One Brooklyn woman got tested two weeks ago in preparation for a visit with her mother. She’s still waiting for the results. People wait on a line outside in the a city park to receive a COVID-19 test at a temporary test site in Sunset Park on Aug. 13th, 2020.

People wait on a line to receive a COVID-19 test at a temporary test site in Sunset Park on Aug. 13th, 2020.

One Brooklyn woman got tested two weeks ago in preparation for a visit with her mother. She’s still waiting for the results. [ more › ]

A cup of tea, then screams of agony: how Alexei Navalny was left fighting for his life

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The Russian opposition activist became violently ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow

For Alexei Navalny it was another routine trip to the regions. Specifically to Siberia’s biggest city, Novosibirsk, and to its alluring neighbour, Tomsk. “An excellent city. One of the most beautiful in our country,” Navalny enthused on Instagram, posting a photo from Tomsk on Wednesday with a group of young supporters.

Navalny is Russia’s most prominent opposition activist. He made no secret of why he had flown to Tomsk, known for its wooden mansions and enlightened university. The goal, he wrote, was to back independent candidates ahead of local elections next month. And, of course, to kick out the “crooks” from Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party.

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Four Vietnamese arrested for coronavirus PPE scam targeting US buyers

Vietnamese police have arrested four men accused of defrauding more than 5,000 Americans trying to buy Covid-19 protective equipment online out of nearly US$1 million (S$1.3 million), the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday (Aug 20).

The arrests of the four, aged between 22 and 36, were made following a joint investigation by the ministry and US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Homeland Security Investigations, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

In March, the four began operating 110 websites that offered personal protection equipment (PPE), including hand sanitisers, masks and disinfectant wipes, and received money from the Americans via their Paypal accounts, the ministry said.

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HANOI (REUTERS) – Vietnamese police have arrested four men accused of defrauding more than 5,000 Americans trying to buy Covid-19 protective equipment online out of nearly US$1 million (S$1.3 million), the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday (Aug 20).

The arrests of the four, aged between 22 and 36, were made following a joint investigation by the ministry and US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Homeland Security Investigations, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

In March, the four began operating 110 websites that offered personal protection equipment (PPE), including hand sanitisers, masks and disinfectant wipes, and received money from the Americans via their Paypal accounts, the ministry said.

The four never had the products offered on the websites and their victims never received what they paid for, the ministry said.

“This investigation resulted in significant financial losses to people who were already facing enormous challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink said in a statement on the embassy’s website.

Speaking at a regular press briefing on Thursday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Vietnam was determined to “prevent and strictly deal with any trade fraud” and highly appreciated the coordination from the United States.

The ministry said the four had been charged with”appropriation of property using a computer network, telecommunications network or electronic device”, a crime that carries a prison term of up to 20 years.

Reuters could not immediately reach their lawyers for comment.

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India sees record daily jump in Covid-19 infections

India reported a record daily jump of 69,652 coronavirus infections yesterday, taking the total case count in the country to 2.84 million, data from the Health Ministry showed.

As of last night, the number had pushed past 2.85 million and the death toll stood at over 54,000. India is the worst-hit country in Asia and third globally behind the US and Brazil in terms of case numbers.

BENGALURU/NEW DELHI • India reported a record daily jump of 69,652 coronavirus infections yesterday, taking the total case count in the country to 2.84 million, data from the Health Ministry showed.

As of last night, the number had pushed past 2.85 million and the death toll stood at over 54,000. India is the worst-hit country in Asia and third globally behind the US and Brazil in terms of case numbers.

India is also staring at a protracted slowdown as infections reach the countryside, with signs of recovery in the rural economy hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi being “at best a mitigating factor”, said government officials and analysts.

The world’s No. 5 economy will report first-quarter gross domestic product data on Aug 31. According to a Reuters poll, there was likely a 20 per cent contraction in the April to June period. The economy is also forecast to shrink 5.1 per cent in the year to March next year, the weakest performance since 1979.

Nearly half of India’s 1.38 billion people rely on agriculture to survive, with the sector accounting for 15 per cent of economic output.

Mr Modi has been citing higher fertiliser demand and the sowing of monsoon crops, both key signs of rural activity, to show there are “green shoots” in the economy.

But four government officials said the uptick in activity may not be as large as believed given a spike in virus cases in rural areas that were initially isolated from the pandemic.

“The economic situation has in fact worsened since April and May, and we are likely moving towards a longer economic slowdown than expected,” a Finance Ministry official said, pointing to sluggish consumer demand and a slowdown in rural lending as causes for concern.

A government adviser with knowledge of India’s budget plans said: “The situation on the economy front is very serious and the government’s hands are tied on the fiscal front.”

Both declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. A ministry spokesman declined to comment.

Separately, Dr A. Velumani, head of leading private laboratory Thyrocare, said at least one in four people in India may have been infected – much higher than official government figures suggest.

An analysis of 270,000 antibody tests done by Thyrocare across India showed the presence of antibodies in an average of 26 per cent of the people, indicating they had already been exposed to the virus, he said.

“This is a much higher percentage than we had expected. The presence of antibodies is uniform across all age groups, including children,” Dr Velumani told Reuters.

Thyrocare’s findings are in line with government surveys done in Indian cities such as Mumbai, which showed that 57 per cent of the population in its crowded slum areas had been exposed to the virus. The Thyrocare survey covered paid and tested patients in 600 cities in India for the last seven weeks.

If the trend continues, the percentage of India’s population having antibodies may hit 40 per cent before the end of December.

REUTERS

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UT-Austin students and employees urge officials to stop in-person classes, lower tuition and offer hazard pay

With less than a week until the first day of the fall semester at University of Texas at Austin, students, employees and alumni urged System officials on Thursday to cancel in-person learning this semester.

“I urge you to make enlightened and courageous decisions during the pandemic that will protect all of us and put the overarching humanitarian concerns ahead of short-term financial stress,” said Anne Lewis, a professor at UT-Austin and an executive member of the Texas State Employees Union, during testimony at the virtual Board of Regents meeting.
The Texas flag flies on the south lawn of The Univerisity of Texas at Austin campus on Dec. 3, 2019.

The south lawn of The University of Texas at Austin campus.

Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

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With less than a week until the first day of the fall semester at University of Texas at Austin, students, employees and alumni urged System officials on Thursday to cancel in-person learning this semester.

“I urge you to make enlightened and courageous decisions during the pandemic that will protect all of us and put the overarching humanitarian concerns ahead of short-term financial stress,” said Anne Lewis, a professor at UT-Austin and an executive member of the Texas State Employees Union, during testimony at the virtual Board of Regents meeting.

During the meeting, the Texas State Employees Union presented a petition that condemns the upcoming return to campus in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic as harmful, especially to people of color, who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and to low-wage earners, who are typically working on the front lines.

The petition calls for moving all face-to-face classes with more than 10 people to remote learning until there’s a downward trajectory in cases. It also calls on the UT System to end furloughs and layoffs and to provide hazard pay of $500 to all essential workers while ensuring unlimited and free access to protective equipment and COVID-19 testing.

UT-Austin is offering students free COVID-19 testing and will proactively test up to 5,000 asymptomatic individuals a week.

Speakers referenced Ural Wade Sr., the custodial services worker at UT-Austin who died earlier this summer after contracting COVID-19. Many warned that UT-Austin’s in-person return, scheduled in less than a week, will lead to more campus deaths.

“We can’t bring him back, but you can prevent others from getting sick and from dying,” said Greg Bosley, a computer support employee at UT-Austin.

UT-Austin has said 75% of its class seats will be online-only, which is an indication of how few people will be on campus at any given time, spokesperson J.B. Bird previously said in an email.

But allowing even a smaller number of in-person classes is dangerous, speakers said.

Employees also said they are already suffering from financial austerity measures the school has put in place. UT-Austin has furloughed at least 260 employees, though many have since returned to work. The school is also considering scaling down academic and administrative departments and has frozen salary increases and university-sponsored travel.

Bosley said because of budget cuts stemming from the pandemic, he’s been doing the jobs of two workers for months without additional pay.

“I’m exhausted,” Bosley said. He said he was praised by UT leadership for his hard work but “we need that praise backed up materially, with hazard pay.”

Student speakers criticized the UT System for endorsing a reopening plan they view as motivated by money over safety. The petition calls for a tuition decrease of 10% for the duration of the pandemic.

“The UT system can’t make any money if all the students are sick, dead or unable to attend because of high tuition costs in a global pandemic,” said Bennett Burke, a sophomore at the UT-Austin.

Students have repeatedly questioned the value of college this fall, leading to at least five lawsuits in Texas against universities for tuition-related grievances according to one law firm’s litigation tracker.

Allison Navejas, another sophomore at UT-Austin, said she and other students shouldn’t be paying thousands of dollars for tuition and fees if they don’t have access to any campus extracurriculars and are dealing with a decrease in the quality of learning.

“Charging $12,000 for what we are getting this semester is, frankly, immoral,” Navejas said. “It isn’t okay to charge us for the luxuries of a large university when most of your students will be doing the equivalent of online community college.”

Both Burke and Navejas also pointed out issues with relying on student behavior and said they have already witnessed large groups of students congregating on campus without masks.

Currently, UT-Austin is reporting 478 total COVID-19 cases among community members since March, with students making up 290 of those.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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