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Apr 09, 2020
Iran's supreme leader suggested Thursday that mass gatherings in the Islamic Republic may be barred through the holy Muslim fasting month Ramadan amid the coronavirus pandemic. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comment in a televised address as Iran prepares to restart its economic activity while suffering one of the world's worst outbreaks. "We are going to be deprived of public gatherings of the month of Ramadan," Khamenei said during a speech marking the birth of Imam Mahdi.
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Apr 09, 2020
Researchers also found the coronavirus was circulating in the city as early as mid-February, weeks before a European travel ban was implemented.
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Apr 08, 2020
Under the guidance, people who are exposed to someone infected are allowed back on the job if they are asymptomatic.
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Apr 08, 2020
A case study traced the cases from one infected individual after they attended a funeral and birthday party, infecting 16 people and killing three.
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Apr 08, 2020
Politico reported Tuesday that a sailor on board the carrier Nimitz (CVN 68) has tested positive for COVID-19.
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Apr 08, 2020
Acting Navy chief Thomas Modly's Guam trip to see sailors on the stricken USS Roosevelt cost $243,000. He's now in coronavirus isolation, out of a job.
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Apr 08, 2020
The cruise line industry faces a long journey back from the coronavirus pandemic.
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Apr 08, 2020
Fauci added that "the real challenge" is getting back to normal life without secondary waves of coronavirus cases.
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Apr 08, 2020
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., says he is considering using the teleconferencing software Zoom to hold hearings into foreign election interference and other key issues, including the firing of intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson, while social distancing restrictions remain in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Apr 08, 2020
Crew members are having just as trouble as passengers in getting off ships once their skills are no longer needed.
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Apr 08, 2020
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that it is too soon to talk about the consequences for China for what U.S. officials believe is Beijing's slow reporting of the extent of the coronavirus crisis in China. Pompeo, addressing a White House news briefing with President Donald Trump, said the United States has repatriated 50,000 American citizens stranded around the world by various shutdowns related to the virus and that there are still several thousand more to bring back. China reported only about 3,000 deaths from the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, a figure Trump and other officials doubt given high death tolls in other countries.
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Apr 08, 2020
Just as medical workers need face masks more than ever to fight coronavirus, imports dropped. Why can't America get enough?
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Apr 08, 2020
The poll found Biden is the top choice among 49% of registered voters and Trump the top choice of 41%. Biden is boosted by self-identified independent voters.
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Apr 08, 2020
Majorities on both sides of the aisle said they were satisfied with the information from Dr. Anthony Fauci.
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Apr 08, 2020
(Bloomberg) -- Senator Kelly Loeffler said Wednesday she and her husband are liquidating their investment portfolio following criticism of their sales and purchases of millions of dollars worth of stocks amid the coronavirus outbreak.The Georgia Republican, who is running to keep her Senate seat in a Nov. 3 nonpartisan primary, announced in a Wall Street Journal opinion-page article that the couple's stock holdings will be converted to mutual funds and exchange-traded funds to be controlled by third-party advisers.She and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, the chief executive of Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, have a net worth estimated at more than $500 million."While the American people are enduring the impact of Covid-19, I have become a top target of baseless attacks from political adversaries and the media," wrote Loeffler in the article headlined "I Never Traded on Confidential Coronavirus Information."In an effort to move on past "these distractions," said Loeffler, she and her husband's holdings would be converted.Loeffler was appointed in December by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to finish the term of Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, who retired.Loeffler has been criticized about her sales and purchases of stocks following government briefings to Congress on the virus. She and her husband sold $46,027 worth of stock in an online travel company in the day leading up to President Donald Trump's announcement of a ban on most European travel to the U.S.
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Apr 08, 2020
Brazil's health minister said on Wednesday that the country's attempts to purchase thousands of ventilators from China to fight a growing coronavirus epidemic had fallen through and the government is now looking to Brazilian companies to build the devices. "Practically all our purchases of equipment in China are not being confirmed," Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said at a news conference. An attempt to buy 15,000 ventilators in China did not go through and Brazil was making a new bid, he said, but the outcome is uncertain in the intense competition for medical supplies in the global pandemic.
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Apr 08, 2020
A girl with a rare form of epilepsy whose recovery inspired the name of a medical marijuana oil that drew families of children with similar health problems to Colorado for treatment has died after being hospitalized and treated as a likely coronavirus patient, her mother said Wednesday. Charlotte, who lived in Colorado Springs, died Tuesday after suffering a seizure that resulted in cardiac arrest and respiratory failure, her mother, Paige Figi, said in a statement. Charlotte tested negative for the coronavirus when she was initially admitted to a hospital on Friday but was still treated as a likely COVID-19 case when she was returned to the hospital Tuesday after the seizure because her whole family had been sick for a month with suspected coronavirus symptoms, Figi said.
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Apr 08, 2020
Maradiaga claimed in a series of Snapchat videos to have tested positive and threatened to willfully spread COVID-19, according to police.
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Apr 08, 2020
Marine Corps Systems Command recently invited defense firms to submit ideas for creating the Direct Fire Defeat System.
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Apr 08, 2020
As COVID-19 spreads around the world, white supremacist groups are seizing onto it to recruit and spread misinformation
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Apr 08, 2020
The decision to forge ahead with Wisconsin's election amid a pandemic has stirred fears about a possible spike in the state's coronavirus cases in the face of stay-at-home orders and efforts to limit contact with others. Public health experts, elected officials, poll workers and many voters pushed to delay the election. After the Republican-controlled Legislature refused to cancel in-person voting, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order to do so.
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Apr 08, 2020
Throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump's decisions and stances have seemingly been influenced by the unofficial advisers he treasures most: Fox News primetime hosts.After downplaying for weeks the threat of the virus, just as many on Fox News did the same, the president began taking it seriously last month after Tucker Carlson personally confronted him before delivering an on-air monologue calling for action. Elsewhere, Fox stars have been the primary driving force behind Trump's incessant promotion of an unproven anti-malarial drug as the miracle COVID-19 cure.And in recent days, it seems, the president has been receiving his newest coronavirus intel briefing from Fox News. This time, they say, the pandemic is over and it's time to move on.Throughout Tuesday night's primetime stretch, Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham were in lockstep in telegraphing to Trump a message that the pandemic's threat has been overstated, death counts have been inflated, and the U.S. is already on the downside of the curve.Carlson, who received mainstream plaudits for his "admirable" early coronavirus coverage, kicked off his show by declaring that the crisis "may have passed," noting that health-care systems across the country haven't come close to collapsing—"except in a handful of places.""Patients are not dying alone in the hallways of emergency rooms with physicians too overwhelmed to treat them," he asserted. "That was the concern. It happens in other countries, it's not happening here.
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Apr 08, 2020
As the coronavirus bore down on New York, Dr. Doug Bass' family begged him to work from home. "He said he was on the front lines and they needed him," his brother, Jonathan Bass, told The Associated Press. It happened so quickly he was never tested for COVID-19, but his brother believes he was among the hundreds of undiagnosed cases that, for weeks, have been excluded from the official coronavirus death toll.
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Apr 08, 2020
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had made a few phone calls to the last administration before making his big dropout decision.Sanders suspended his 2020 run on Wednesday, saying his "path toward victory is virtually impossible" but pledging to stay on primary ballots through the Democratic National Convention to gain influence in the party. And shortly after making that announcement, Sanders reportedly made a call to Joe Biden, who he left as the presumptive Democratic nominee, CBS News reports. Former Vice President @JoeBiden and Sen. @BernieSanders spoke around midday today about the senator's decision to suspend his campaign, a source familiar with the call tells me. This was one of several calls between the two opponents in recent weeks. -- Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) April 8, 2020Sanders also consulted former President Barack Obama "several times" before making his decision, NBC News reports. Obama reportedly still isn't ready to hop into the 2020 fray just yet, but Sanders' suspension surely makes it easier for him to do so. Source close to @BarackObama tells me: "When the moment is right and when he feels he can have maximum impact, the country will be hearing more from him." Source notes Obama has spoken to @SenSanders "several times" over the past few weeks. -- Kristen Welker (@kwelkernbc) April 8, 2020Hillary Clinton, 2016's Democratic nominee, meanwhile had no comment on Sanders' exit. Not too shocking: Hillary Clinton has no comment on Bernie Sanders suspending his preside
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Apr 08, 2020
As the coronavirus tightens its grip across the country, it is cutting a particularly devastating swath through an already vulnerable population — black Americans. Democratic lawmakers and community leaders in cities hard-hit by the pandemic have been sounding the alarm over what they see as a disturbing trend of the virus killing African Americans at a higher rate, along with a lack of overall information about the race of victims as the nation's death toll mounts. Among the cities where black residents have been hard-hit: New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago and Milwaukee.
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Apr 08, 2020
Some American Airlines flight attendants who spoke with Business Insider said gloves and disinfectant are not always available.
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Apr 08, 2020
As the WHO prepares to mark 100 days on Thursday since it was first notified of the outbreak in China, director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hit back at accusations that it had been too close to Beijing. The UN's health agency has faced criticism in the past both for overreacting and for moving too slowly in fighting epidemics, but it has rarely faced as much scrutiny as with the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump piled in on Tuesday, accusing the WHO having "called it wrong" and months too late, while taking US money but favouring China.
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Apr 08, 2020
China ended the near-11-week lockdown of the city of Wuhan at midnight on Wednesday, sending floods of people out of the city.
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Apr 08, 2020
The United States will seize exports of key protective medical gear until it determines whether the equipment should be kept in the country to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, two federal agencies announced on Wednesday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will hold exports of respirators, surgical masks and surgical gloves, according to a joint announcement made with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA will then determine if the equipment should be returned for use in the United States, purchased by the U.S. government or exported.
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Apr 08, 2020
The novel coronavirus began spreading in New York City in February, before widespread testing began, and the strain so far identified in local samples came from Europe, a scientist said Wednesday. Adriana Heguy, a geneticist at NYU Grossman School of Medicine who led the research, told AFP that tracing back the virus' chain of transmission will help policy makers make better informed social interventions in the future. "It's very interesting that so far, the majority seem to be coming from Europe, and this is in part I think because there was a focus on stopping travel from China," she said.
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Apr 08, 2020
The Vermont senator's presidential bid got off to a strong start but took a turn south in South Carolina and on Super Tuesday. His campaign never recovered
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Apr 08, 2020
Minutes after Bernie Sanders announced the suspension of his presidential campaign and congratulated his primary rival Joe Biden, saying he would "work with" the ex-veep going forward, CNN anchor John King claimed Sanders "didn't say anything nice" about Biden or offer to "work with him."In a live-streamed message to supporters on Wednesday, which was carried by CNN, Sanders noted that Biden had an overwhelming delegate lead and therefore is the presumptive Democratic nominee."The fight for justice is what our campaign has been about," he declared. "The fight for justice is what our movement remains about. Today I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward."Sanders also noted that he would keep his name on the ballot in the remaining primary states and continue to gather delegates so that he could "exert significant influence over the party platform and other functions," adding that after the Democratic convention they will "stand united" to defeat President Donald Trump.Just three minutes after Sanders called Biden a "very decent man" who he would "work with to move our progressive ideas forward" on CNN airwaves, King insisted that we did not hear what we all had just heard."What struck me the most there is Senator Sanders, in saying goodbye, did acknowledge that Joe Biden had an insurmountable lead, but he didn't say anything nice about Joe Biden," King declared. "He did not say he'd spo
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Apr 08, 2020
California Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday he is working on a plan with the state legislature to provide economic relief for California residents who are in the country illegally."Californians care deeply about undocumented residents in this state," Newsom said.About 2 million people in California are likely residing in the country illegally, according to the California Latino Legislative Caucus, which has asked the governor to provide cash assistance to those without citizenship status, since they are not eligible for the stimulus checks and other benefits provided in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by Congress.The $30 billion the federal government is sending to about 14 million California households this month — $1,200 for each adult earning under $75,000 and $2,400 for couples making under $150,000 — will only be sent to U.S. citizens.Newsom said that proposal is under consideration, as well as "some economic stimulus strategies at a state level, not just waiting for the federal government to do that for us."The plan will be released in May, the governor said.Some state Republicans criticized the proposal, saying it raises budget issues."I see the state of California and its budget as a house of cards and with this coronavirus-induced recession, I'm just trying to figure out where the money would come from," Republican state Senator John Moorlach, who represents part of Orange County, told the Associated Press. "I would say helping undocumented would be
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Apr 08, 2020
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has hit back at Donald Trump after he threatened to stop US funding to the body as he seeks a scapegoat for the disaster wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, saying the WHO had "missed the call" -- despite himself ignoring a memo from trade adviser Peter Navarro in February warning of the coming storm.Mr Trump doubled down on his attacks of the WHO during the White House press briefing on Wednesday, saying his administering would "study" if it should pull funding from the group. The US is the largest contributor to the WHO's budget.
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Apr 08, 2020
Throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump's decisions and stances have seemingly been influenced by the unofficial advisers he treasures most: Fox News primetime hosts.After downplaying for weeks the threat of the virus, just as many on Fox News did the same, the president began taking it seriously last month after Tucker Carlson personally confronted him before delivering an on-air monologue calling for action. Elsewhere, Fox stars have been the primary driving force behind Trump's incessant promotion of an unproven anti-malarial drug as the miracle COVID-19 cure.And in recent days, it seems, the president has been receiving his newest coronavirus intel briefing from Fox News. This time, they say, the pandemic is over and it's time to move on.Throughout Tuesday night's primetime stretch, Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham were in lockstep in telegraphing to Trump a message that the pandemic's threat has been overstated, death counts have been inflated, and the U.S. is already on the downside of the curve.Carlson, who received mainstream plaudits for his "admirable" early coronavirus coverage, kicked off his show by declaring that the crisis "may have passed," noting that health-care systems across the country haven't come close to collapsing—"except in a handful of places.""Patients are not dying alone in the hallways of emergency rooms with physicians too overwhelmed to treat them," he asserted. "That was the concern. It happens in other countries, it's not happening here.
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Apr 08, 2020
Nation's top infectious diseases expert said he is "cautiously optimistic" that worst projections may be avoided "if we keep our foot on the accelerator."
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Apr 08, 2020
"I've never seen what I've been seeing lately with the speed, intensity, and spread of the virus itself," Derrick Smith said.
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Apr 08, 2020
The coronavirus death count in New York City, already unfathomable, is expected to surge in the coming days as officials begin including people who have been dropping dead at home without an official diagnosis.Emergency Medical Service data first reported by Gothamist suggests the undercount of individuals who have likely died from the virus is massive. On Tuesday alone, 256 people were pronounced dead at home across the five boroughs. Until this month, about 25 people in New York City were found dead in their homes on a typical day, suggesting that most of Tuesday's calls were related to the outbreak that has already killed over 5,400 people across the state and infected 140,386 more. According to New York City Fire Department data obtained by The Daily Beast, first responders have reported 2,192 "dead-on-arrival" calls over the last two weeks. On average, the department handled about 453 of those calls over the same period last year. That data also showed that the number of cardiac or respiratory arrest calls has exploded, from 20 to 30 a day at the end of March and the beginning of April in 2019, to 322 on one day in April in 2020—with more than 100 calls every day since March 28. While 30 to 50 percent of those calls ended in a death in 2019, more than 50 percent of those calls have ended in a death every day since March 22 this year, with the percentage steadily rising to 75 percent as of April 5.‘New York Is in Crisis': Cuomo Pleads for Help as State Suffers Worst Si
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Apr 08, 2020
At a press conference on Wednesday, New York state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded to a question about whether coronavirus patients may need another form of treatment instead of ventilators.
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Apr 08, 2020
Jews marked the start of a "strange" Passover holiday on Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic prevented the large family gatherings usually organised for the traditional Seder meal. In Israel, which has more than 9,000 confirmed cases of the deadly virus, a nationwide curfew was in effect, with security forces deployed on the streets to prevent anyone seeking to visit relatives in violation of social-distancing measures. In an English language message to Jews across the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that this year's Passover was "strange" and "different from all other Passovers."
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Apr 08, 2020
Russia's defense minister called on law enforcement officials Wednesday to consider filing criminal charges against representatives of other countries where World War II memorials commemorating the actions of the Soviet Union are demolished. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the appeal to the head of the Investigative Committee, Russia's top criminal investigation body. Russia takes offense at any criticism of the Soviet role in the war.
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Apr 08, 2020
New York Police Department has released footage of the moments before a $1.3 million jewellery burglary in the Bronx.Four individuals broke into 50 East Fordham Road on the 31 March at around 1am, police said.
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Apr 08, 2020
Canonica d'Adda (Italie) (AFP) - Men and women have the same rights in the small municipality of Canonica d'Adda in Italy's north - except when it comes to shopping for food. To lower the number of people in supermarkets and reduce the risk of coronavirus contagion, the mayor has decreed that men and women will not shop together. Canonica d'Adda is not far from Bergamo, considered the most affected area in the region of Lombardy, where more than 9,000 people have died of coronavirus -- more than half of the total deaths in the country.
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Apr 08, 2020
The U.S. state has 149,316 reported cases compared with Spain at 146,690. Italy is now in third place with 139,422 cases reported on Wednesday. In total, the United States has recorded over 417,000 cases and 14,100 deaths, according to the Reuters tally.
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Apr 08, 2020
A girl with a rare form of epilepsy whose recovery inspired the name of a medical marijuana oil that drew families of children with similar health problems to Colorado for treatment has died after being hospitalized and treated as a likely coronavirus patient, her mother said Wednesday. Charlotte, who lived in Colorado Springs, died Tuesday after suffering a seizure that resulted in cardiac arrest and respiratory failure, her mother, Paige Figi, said in a statement. Charlotte tested negative for the coronavirus when she was initially admitted to a hospital on Friday but was still treated as a likely COVID-19 case when she was returned to the hospital Tuesday after the seizure because her whole family had been sick for a month with suspected coronavirus symptoms, Figi said.
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Apr 08, 2020
In many ways, Bernie Sanders is the anti-Trump. And, in important ways, he ran his campaign as the anti-Biden.Sanders bowed out of the Democratic nomination race on April 8, repeating his runner-up status from four years earlier. His two runs at the White House have cemented his legacy as a consistent standard-bearer for progressive policies. The veteran democratic socialist possessed a rare quality for a political candidate in this age of Trumpian fickleness. He is a politician whose actions and beliefs have remained steadfast over time and across campaigns. But in the current political moment, it appears the Democratic electorate longs less for a politician who is consistent from day to day than one who can provide pragmatic leadership to unseat the vacillating Trump. Same ol' SandersSanders ran his campaign as the antithesis of a political showman, who says one thing today and another tomorrow with little regard for facts and consistency. He has exhibited throughout his career what anthropologist Alessandro Duranti calls "existential coherence" - he is a political figure "whose past, present, and future actions, beliefs, and evaluations follow some clear basic principles, none of which contradicts another." As a linguistic anthropologist who studies language and politics, I know that traditionally, candidates have worried about how to project a consistent political persona, and they have often gone to great pains to do so. But Trump shattered that expectation, excelling in self-contradic
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Apr 08, 2020
Victims died of a combination of a lack of oxygen and overheating in an enclosed space, police said.
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Apr 08, 2020
Sweden is resisting international trends by not implementing a lockdown or strict social distancing measures to fight the coronavirus.
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Apr 08, 2020
California Sen. Kamala Harris made two notable fundraising moves Wednesday that are sure to fuel speculation about her prospects to be Joe Biden's running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket. Harris, who dropped out of the White House race in December, set up a joint fundraising operation with the Democratic National Committee, an arrangement that is typically reserved for nominees trying to attract large donations from the party's biggest boosters. Hours later, she made a surprise appearance on a virtual fundraiser, introducing Biden to donors.
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Apr 08, 2020
The race to supply hospitals with more ventilators has been a defining characteristic of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, but not every doctor believes the devices are the best way to treat patients, Stat News reports.Normally, the decision to put patients on ventilators who are suffering from respiratory problems is driven by how low blood oxygen levels are. But some doctors are wondering if they should rely so heavily on those figures after noticing, per Stat, that many patients who have very low oxygen levels, which could often be considered near-fatal, aren't gasping air or showing other signs lung impairment.Some patients are reportedly maintaining low carbon dioxide levels, which means their lungs are still performing the critical task of removing it despite struggling to absorb oxygen. This, doctors say, is more reminiscent of altitude sickness than pneumonia, and could be reason wait longer before deciding to move to a ventilator. Some small studies have backed the theory up.If that's the case, some physicians believe that non-invasive breathing aids are superior to ventilators even in more severe cases (though some provide a greater risk of transmission to health care workers). They also come with fewer risks; many older patients who survive sedation and forceful intubation reportedly can suffer permanent cognitive and respiratory damage.Dr. Scott Weingart, a critical care physician in New York, said he thinks patients do "much, much worse" on ventilators than non-i
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Apr 08, 2020
Top congressional Democrats are all for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) next coronavirus relief bill — with a few additions.On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced their party was asking for an additional $250 billion in a so-called "CARES 2" act, doubling the size of the package McConnell had introduced. Their proposal would allocate more money to local and state governments and health care facilities, and ensure at least half McConnell's proposed funding goes toward "community-based financial institutions."Pelosi and Schumer repeated McConnell's call for $250 billion in small business assistance in their Wednesday proposal, but wanted to make sure $125 billion of it will "serve farmers, family, women, and minority and veteran-owned small businesses and nonprofits in rural, tribal, suburban, and urban communities." In addition, they'd like $100 billion for hospitals, community health centers, and health systems; $150 billion for state and local governments; and an additional 15 percent support added to SNAP food stamp benefits. Pelosi/Schumer demands in Phase 4 — $250B for small biz — $100B for hospitals, health centers — $150B for state/local gov'ts — 15% boost in SNAP benefits pic.twitter.com/prUYYXOgfd — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 8, 2020McConnell hoped to pass his $250 billion plan with a unanimous voice vote on Thursday, as that's the only way for Congress to vote right now
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Apr 08, 2020
The Chinese city where the new coronavirus emerged ended its more-than two-month lockdown on Wednesday, even as a small northern city ordered restrictions on residents amid concern about a second wave of infections.
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Apr 08, 2020
Donald Trump used an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News on Tuesday night to whine about the ingratitude of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, again push his preferred but unproven remedy for Covid-19, hydroxychloroquine, and attack the "lame stream media" for its coverage of his administration's response to the crisis.The World Health Organisation (WHO) has hit back at the president after he threatened to stop US funding to the body as he seeks a scapegoat for the disaster wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, saying the WHO had "missed the call" - despite himself ignoring a memo from trade adviser Peter Navarro in February warning of the coming storm.
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Apr 08, 2020
The US experienced its deadliest day due to COVID-19 so far on Tuesday, with nearly 2,000 reported deaths in a 24-hour period.
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Apr 08, 2020
Americans have turned some of their bipartisan ire amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic toward Beijing, a new Harris Poll survey released Wednesday shows.Per the poll, nearly 90 percent of Republicans believe China, where the coronavirus originated, is responsible for the spread while two-thirds of Democrats surveyed said the same. There's a little more discrepancy across party lines when it comes to how Chinese President Xi Jinping and his government should reckon with their role in exacerbating crisis, but more than half of Americans believe Beijing should pay some form of reparations to other countries. NEW: -77% blame China for coronavirus including more than two-thirds (67%) of Democrats -71% say American companies should pull back manufacturing in China -69% support Trump's tougher trade policies with China -54% say China should pay reparationshttps://t.co/ExK5hf0Lrd — Alberto E. Martinez (@albertemartinez) April 8, 2020Among GOP voters, 71 percent think China has a responsibility to compensate other countries for the damage the pandemic has caused. Fewer than half of Democrats agree with that sentiment, but the 41 percent who do is not an insignificant amount.The Harris Poll was conducted online between between April 3-April 5. A nationally representative sample of 1,993 U.S. adults was surveyed. No margin of error was reported. Read more at The Washington Post and take a look at the full poll results here.More stories from theweek.com Sanders'
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Apr 08, 2020
At least someone was paying attention.
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Apr 08, 2020
A truck driver accused in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants whose bodies were found inside a refrigerated container that had been hauled to England pleaded guilty to manslaughter Wednesday. Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, entered the plea at Central London Criminal Court.
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Apr 08, 2020
(Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin offered more aid to beleaguered Russians and businesses as he urged them to maintain a shutdown and warned the country is nearing a critical point in the coronavirus epidemic."The next 2-3 weeks will be key" to reining in Covid-19, Putin said Wednesday in a televised address to the nation during a meeting of the government's task force for managing the health crisis. "For most, being constantly confined by four walls is the definition of dreary and nauseating. But there is no choice now."He announced new measures to assist those affected by the shutdown to stop the spread of the infection, including a monthly payment of 3,000 rubles ($40) per child to families whose breadwinners have lost their jobs. He also promised state aid to companies which refrain from lay-offs, and pledged government support to those who do lose their jobs.Authorities in Moscow on March 30 required the capital's almost 13 million inhabitants to stay at home apart from essential workers. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin quickly told other Russian regions to follow suit. Putin last week extended an order for most Russians to observe a non-working period until April 30, though on Tuesday he asked his scientific advisers whether he could shorten its length.The assistance Putin has announced to date pales in comparison to some spending packages around the globe, with ING Bank estimating that his support measures only amount to about 2% of gross domestic product. Sergei Guriev, the former chief eco
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Apr 08, 2020
Federal agencies are concerned that domestic extremists could use the coronavirus pandemic to attack Asians and Jews, according to a joint intelligence bulletin obtained by Yahoo News. That bulletin mirrors what organizations that monitor online hate content are also finding.
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Apr 08, 2020
The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle headed back to port Wednesday due to a possible virus on-board outbreak of the new coronavirus, France's Defense Ministry said. The Defense Ministry said in a statement that around 40 sailors showed symptoms compatible with COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. French government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said.
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Apr 08, 2020
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Sometime late last month the bodies began to turn up on the streets of Guayaquil. Some of the dead were abandoned in dumpsters. Others had been bundled in plastic and left on the sidewalks of this seaside Ecuadoran city, the yellow and black plastic cordon suggesting an unsolved crime scene.While most of Latin America is bracing for the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, Ecuador is already overwhelmed. The Andean nation of 17.5 million people is proportionately South America's most afflicted: Only Brazil has a higher death count, with three times the fatalities for a population 12 times larger than Ecuador's. (But as Bloomberg News reports, the continent is woefully behind in testing populations for the virus.) In Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, with 70% of the nation's stricken, coffins are scarce, families wait days for funeral homes to collect their dead and morgues are overflowing, forcing city authorities to store the bodies in industrial refrigerators. This is not just a tragedy of human health. As Covid-19 claims lives, it also menaces an economy that is already failing. While emerging markets everywhere are in trouble, Ecuador comes to the pandemic with some serious co-morbidities: a huge foreign debt, sinking oil prices, deepening poverty and political fratricide. The only question is whether public health or the economy is in a more precarious state.The slump in oil prices has gutted winnings from Ecuador's signature commodity even as public debt has risen to nearly 52% of gross domestic produ
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Apr 08, 2020
A plurality of Americans prefer the leadership of President Trump to that of former vice president Joe Biden amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.Trump led Biden by an eight-point margin, with 44 percent of voters seeing Trump as a better leader during the crisis than Biden (36 percent), though the two evenly divided opinion when voters were asked whom they would trust to handle the issue.A majority of voters — 52 percent — prefer former president Barack Obama to Trump, with 38 percent saying Trump would be the stronger of the two leaders during the crisis. Ten percent did not have an opinion.Biden slammed Trump last month for a "colossal" failure in ramping up testing, and said that the stock market's volatility was a reflection of Trump's poor leadership. The Trump campaign responded by criticizing Biden in a statement over past "terrible judgment and incompetence in the face of public health issues."The president spoke to Biden, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, over the phone on Monday to discuss the government's coronavirus response, after Trump suggested Biden's initial proposition for a phone call had never materialized. Joe Biden wanted the date for the Democrat National Convention moved to a later time period. Now he wants a "Virtual" Convention, one where he doesn't have to show up. Gee, I wonder why? Also, what ever happened to that phone call he told the Fake News he wanted to make to m
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Apr 08, 2020
Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned people he said were exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to turn a quick profit and decried the "hypocrisy" of how some politicians are dealing with the crisis. The pandemic has killed 81,400 people worldwide. More than 16,500 of them have been in Italy, one of the countries where authorities have been trying to clamp down on price gouging and other forms of illegal profiteering.
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Apr 08, 2020
The number of coronavirus cases in New York state alone approached 150,000 on Wednesday, surpassing Spain for the most infections anywhere in the world, even as authorities warned the state's official death tally may understate the true toll. New York, the state considered the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, and neighboring New Jersey again reported new single-day highs for coronavirus deaths. "Every number is a face, " said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ordered flags to be flown at half-staff across New York in recognition of the toll.
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Apr 08, 2020
New York, the hardest-hit state in America, on Wednesday reported its highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day with even veteran doctors and nurses expressing shock at the speed with which patients were declining and dying. The number of coronavirus cases in New York state alone approached 150,000 on Wednesday, even as authorities warned the state's official death tally may understate the true number. "Every number is a face, " said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ordered flags flown at half-staff across New York in recognition of the toll.
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Apr 08, 2020
The military branches are requiring troops to make their own cloth face masks after the Pentagon's latest policy.
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Apr 08, 2020
African-Americans are more affected by the coronavirus than other groups, according to data emerging from some states.
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Apr 08, 2020
The White House is requesting an additional $251 billion for additional small business lending as part of the government's coronavirus response, eliciting a counter from congressional Democrats asking for $125 billion in targeted aid for farmers, women, minorities, and veteran-owned businesses."I'll be asking Congress to provide an additional $250 billion for the paycheck protection, which will help keep Americans employed, to facilitate a quick and full recovery," President Trump said on Tuesday at the White House during a coronavirus task force briefing.The Senate's phase-three package, which passed last month, earmarked $350 billion to make small business loans through commercial banks to companies with 500 or fewer employees, provided the companies agree to keep workers on the payroll. As part of the "Paycheck Protection Program," most or all of the loan would be written off if the borrower retained its workers and didn't cut their wages, with the government repaying the banks for the forgiven portions of the loans.In a letter to Capitol Hill, the White House Office of Management and Budget said that the program, conducted through the Small Business Administration (SBA), has administered over 220,000 loans — totaling approximately $66 billion. "Given the level of demand for the program, the Administration believes the funds appropriated for this program will soon be exhausted," the letter reads.Senate
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Apr 08, 2020
New data shows New York City's death toll from COVID-19 has been disproportionately high in black and Hispanic communities. New York City's death toll from the coronavirus has been disproportionately high in black and Hispanic communities, and the city is starting an outreach campaign for those residents, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. "We're seeing folks who have struggled before really being hit particularly hard," de Blasio said at a City Hall briefing.
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Apr 08, 2020
A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against Costa Cruises, a Carnival subsidiary. Such a lawsuit likely won't gain much traction.
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Apr 08, 2020
Azul Rojas Marín was beaten and raped in custody in Peru, a top human rights court rules.
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Apr 08, 2020
A gun attack in a mining area in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed three Chinese nationals, China's official Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Chinese embassy in the mineral-rich central African country.
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Apr 08, 2020
After 11 weeks of lockdown, residents of China's Wuhan were allowed out, and tens of thousands prepared to leave the city.
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Apr 08, 2020
A Hawaiian mayor has labeled a Florida man a "covidiot" after he was accused of trying to avoid a mandatory traveler quarantine.
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Apr 08, 2020
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Tuesday that donations of medical equipment by foreign companies like Huawei in the fight against the coronavirus will have no influence on future government policy. The prime minister was asked if donations to Canada by Huawei could influence his government's policies toward the Chinese telecoms giant, which is at the center of a protracted diplomatic crisis between Ottawa and Beijing. At a time when the world faces a shortage of masks, Huawei gave Canada more than a million masks, 30,000 face shields and 50,000 pairs of gloves, according to the Globe and Mail daily.
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Apr 08, 2020
Traffic to the marriage application app on the Alipay platform surged 300%.
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Apr 08, 2020
Ethiopia on Wednesday declared a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected 55 people and resulted in two deaths there. It is the first state of emergency announced under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in 2018 and won last year's Nobel Peace Prize in part for expanding political freedoms in the authoritarian nation. "Because the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse, the Ethiopian government has decided to declare a state of emergency under Article 93 of the constitution," Abiy said in a statement.
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Apr 08, 2020
China is investigating a prominent Communist Party member who criticized leader Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
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Apr 08, 2020
The Philippines on Wednesday expressed solidarity with Vietnam after Hanoi protested what it said was the ramming and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese coast guard ship in the disputed South China Sea. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila expressed deep concern over the reported April 3 sinking of the boat carrying eight fishermen off the Paracel Islands. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has built several islands equipped with military installations in the area, one of world's busiest shipping lanes.
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Apr 08, 2020
Voicing joy and excitement from behind face masks, tens of thousands of people fled Wuhan on Wednesday after a 76-day travel ban was lifted on the Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged. Hao Mei, a single parent from the nearby city of Enshi, said her two children had been home alone since she got stuck in Wuhan, where she works in a school kitchen. Up to 55,000 people are expected to leave Wuhan on Wednesday just by train, according to government estimates.
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Apr 08, 2020
A three-man space crew finished preparations on Wednesday for a mission to the International Space Station, which is going ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic. Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Russia's Roscosmos space agency and NASA's Chris Cassidy will blast off from Kazakhstan for a six-month mission at 08:05 GMT Thursday.
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Apr 08, 2020
When an evangelical Christian pastor was arrested in Florida for flouting a stay-at-home order aimed at curbing the new coronavirus, a conservative religious liberty group was quick to leap to his defense. Other groups, including Alliance Defending Freedom and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty have so far held their fire, saying states have strong interest in protecting public health as long as the government action is limited in time and scope, even as Sunday's Easter holiday approaches. Howard-Browne, who was arrested on March 30 after being accused of presiding over two services attended by hundreds of parishioners, is himself something of an outlier as most houses of worship have closed their doors in the interests of public health.
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Apr 08, 2020
While the pink supermoon comes during a trying time around the globe with the coronavirus pandemic, the full moon may provide comfort for some.
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Apr 08, 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing criticism for creating a new coronavirus relief fund when about $500 million was lying unspent in an older fund, even as top businesses and celebrities pledge millions of dollars in new donations. Modi launched the "PM CARES" fund to provide relief to those affected by the coronavirus that has infected more than 5,000 people in India, and killed 149. The fund is expected to help millions of day labourers, many of whose lives were devastated by a nationwide lockdown ordered by Modi to stem the epidemic.
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Apr 08, 2020
* Coronavirus: world map of deaths and cases * Coronavirus - latest global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageThe number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to grow in the US. Mike Pence, the vice-president, is overseeing the US response to the coronavirus.So far, 80% of patients experience a mild form of the illness, which can include a fever and pneumonia, and many of these cases require little to no medical intervention. That being said, elderly people and those with underlying conditions such as diabetes or heart and lung issues are the most vulnerable. The coronavirus death rate in China for people 80 or over, in the government's study of more than 72,000 cases, was 14.8%.default default default * Due to the unprecedented and ongoing nature of the coronavirus outbreak, this article is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation at the date of publication. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions of the article will continue to be footnoted in line with Guardian editorial policy.
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Apr 08, 2020
Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, and Liberia declared states of emergency on Wednesday to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, a day after cases on the continent surged past 10,000. Various African governments have announced lockdowns or curfews in response to the virus, which was slow to reach many African countries but is now growing exponentially, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). As of Wednesday afternoon, Africa had over 10,900 confirmed infections and 550 deaths from the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters tally based on government statements and WHO data.
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Apr 08, 2020
As debate rages about the true death toll caused by the coronavirus outbreak in Indonesia, Jakarta coffin maker Sahroni has been too busy to pay the issue much attention. "Usually we sell between five to seven coffins a day, but now it is up to 20 to 30 coffins a day," said Sahroni, 38, as he applied base coat onto a wooden coffin. The warehouse where Sahroni works normally specialises in coffins for Indonesia's Christian minority, but now they are providing coffins for all denominations, including Muslims who would usually be buried in a shroud.
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Apr 08, 2020
India's financial hub Mumbai is set to extend lockdown measures until at least April 30 as authorities race to expand testing to stem the spread of coronavirus cases in the city, three senior officials said. A 21-day nationwide lockdown that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in late March to fight the epidemic is officially set to end on April 14. The Mumbai municipal authority and the state government in the western state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, both declined to comment.
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Apr 08, 2020
(Bloomberg) -- Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners.The extra budget, compiled to try to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic, includes 220 billion yen ($2 billion) for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, according to details of the plan posted online.The move coincides with what should have been a celebration of friendlier ties between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping was supposed to be on a state visit to Japan early this month. But what would have been the first visit of its sort in a decade was postponed a month ago amid the spread of the virus and no new date has been set.China is Japan's biggest trading partner under normal circumstances, but imports from China slumped by almost half in February as the disease shuttered factories, in turn starving Japanese manufacturers of necessary components.That has renewed talk of Japanese firms reducing their reliance on China as a manufacturing base. The government's panel on future investment last month discussed the need for manufacturing of high-added value products to be shifted back to Japan, and for production of other goods to be diversified across Southeast Asia.Japan exports a far larger share of parts and partially finished goods to China than other major industrial nations, according to data compi
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Apr 08, 2020
HONG KONG—Trains are leaving Wuhan for the first time since January 23, carrying 55,000 people out of the city in one day. Long-haul buses are moving passengers across provinces. Planes are taking off at the airport again. Roadblocks on outbound highways have been removed, and cars have been streaming through since midnight. The lockdown of the first epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic—after doctors who flagged the unusual virus were gagged by authorities—was lifted at midnight local time on Wednesday. U.S. Eyes Second Coronavirus Outbreak in ChinaIt's difficult to look back at the lockdown without feeling like it was an 11-week internment. More than 3,300 people reportedly have died in China due to COVID-19, including nearly 2,600 in the city of Wuhan alone. (The official tallies are deemed by medical professionals in China and abroad to be much lower than the actual count.) Intensive care units were, of course, where the most recorded deaths occurred; the mortality rate in Wuhan's ICUs was between 25 and 30 percent, according to Dr. Peng Zhiyong, who led two ICU teams in the city and maintained the lowest rates of fatalities and hospital transmissions at the facilities where he worked.Now, after daily—hourly, constant—checks on the epidemic curve, there is an uneasy mixture of relief and apprehension as life in Wuhan crawls back to a normal pace and Hubei province reconnects with the rest of the country.There are lessons here for the hard-hit United States, where to date almost four times as many people have died as in China, judging
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Apr 08, 2020
Since China began frantic efforts to curb a coronavirus epidemic in late January, residents in the tiny snake breeding village of Zisiqiao have had to come to terms with a ban on wildlife trading, its lifeline for decades. Zisiqiao employed hundreds of people to breed three million snakes a year. The Chinese character for "snake" has even been removed from the sign on the front wall of a specialty snake meat restaurant on the village's edge.
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Apr 08, 2020
As a candidate, the Trump trade adviser feuding with Fauci was known for his combative ways.
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Apr 08, 2020
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani appealed to the International Monetary Fund Wednesday to approve a $5 billion emergency loan request to combat its novel coronavirus outbreak. "I urge all international organisations to fulfil their duties," Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting. "We are a member of the IMF... if there's going to be any discrimination between Iran and others in giving loans, neither us nor world opinion will tolerate it," he said in televised remarks.
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Apr 08, 2020
Iran demanded on Wednesday that U.S. oil production levels must be known before an upcoming OPEC meeting with Russia and others seeking to boost global energy prices. The meeting of the so-called OPEC is scheduled to be held Thursday after officials delayed it following Saudi Arabia criticizing Russia over its comments about the price collapse. A meeting in March saw OPEC and other nations led by Russia fail to agree to a production cut as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has drastically cut demand for oil.
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Apr 08, 2020
Black Chicagoans account for 70% of coronavirus deaths, despite making up 30% of the population.
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Apr 08, 2020
Being overweight is a major risk for people infected with the new coronavirus and the United States is particularly vulnerable because of high obesity levels there, France's chief epidemiologist said on Wednesday. Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic, said as many as 17 million of France's 67 million citizens were seriously at risk from the coronavirus because of age, pre-existing illness or obesity. "That is why we're worried about our friends in America, where the problem of obesity is well known and where they will probably have the most problems because of obesity."
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Apr 08, 2020
Tokyo recorded 144 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, its biggest daily jump since the start of the pandemic, the city's governor Yuriko Koike said, on the first day of a state of emergency aimed at containing the outbreak. Total infections in the Japanese capital stand at 1,339, said Koike, a rise that helped carry the nationwide tally to 4,768, according to an evening report by public broadcaster NHK. Deaths in Japan as of Wednesday morning stood at 98, said the NHK.
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Apr 08, 2020
The leader of the remote Solomon Islands said Wednesday that 27 people had died after being washed overboard from a crowded ferry last week and the government is conducting a criminal investigation. The ship MV Taimareho left Honiara on the evening of April 2 as a tropical cyclone was approaching. In the Solomon Islands, crews recovered seven bodies of those washed overboard.
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Apr 08, 2020
Mahmood Ahmadu was allegedly involved in a fake recruitment drive, which saw 16 die in a stampede.
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Apr 08, 2020
A reporter at Tuesday's White House coronavirus press briefing raised the question many, many parents want answered: How soon will the kids be going back to school? This school year is probably out in most of the country, but what about summer school? In the fall?Vice President Mike Pence, who was at the lectern, thanked America's teachers for adjusting to remote learning. The coronavirus task force will work on "guidance going forward, whether it be summer school or whether it be returning to school next fall," he said, "but the most important thing we can do is put this epidemic behind us as quickly as possible."Pence turned the stage over to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Well, my daughter is a school teacher, so she asked me the same question," Fauci said. "I fully expect -- though I'm humble enough to know that I can't accurately predict -- that by the time we get to the fall, that we will have this under control enough that it certainly will not be the way it is now, where people are shutting schools. My optimistic side tells me that we'll be able to renew, to a certain extent -- but it's going to be different, remember now, because this is not going to disappear."Assuming the U.S. has the ability to widely test for the disease, determine how many people have built up antibodies after surviving the virus, and trace the contacts of newly infected people, U.S.
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