Here's what Joe Biden can do about the Covid-19 pandemic starting on his first day as US president

‘If the pandemic unfolded in stages so too must it be contained that way. During the campaign, Biden promised swift action on such steps as testing, vaccine manufacture and distribution, and preventive measures like mask mandates. That, he’s said, will be followed by other steps like improving surveillance of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, extending unemployment benefits to people whose jobs were lost as a result of quarantining and lockdowns, extending the moratorium on evictions, and ensuring that people who contract COVID-19 and survive don’t face discrimination in insurance benefits. It would, the candidate promised, be nothing short of a stepwise, war-like mobilization...

‘If there’s a certainty in exactly how the Biden plan will unfold over the next 24 or 12 or even three months, it’s that there’s no certainty at all. Viruses are at once both mindless and clever—infecting and eluding, spreading and shape-shifting. It takes a set of policies that are equally adaptable, equally nimble to defeat them. The new president’s plan is an ambitious first step. A lot of sure-footed steps remain before the pandemic is defeated.’

Read here (Time magazine, Jan 20, 2021)

Five things you need to know about living with a disability during Covid-19

1. Risk of contracting COVID-19 is higher for persons with disabilities
2. Risk of severe symptoms and death is higher
3. Living in institutions increases the risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19
4. Discrimination in accessibility of healthcare and life-saving procedures
5. The broader COVID-19 crisis affects persons with disabilities more

Read here (UN DESA Voice, December 2020)

Health workers silenced, exposed and attacked

‘Governments must be held accountable for the deaths of health and essential workers who they have failed to protect from COVID-19, Amnesty International said today, as it released a new report documenting the experiences of health workers around the world.

‘The organization’s analysis of available data has revealed that more than 3000 health workers are known to have died from COVID-19 worldwide - a figure which is likely to be a significant underestimate.

‘Alarmingly, Amnesty International documented cases where health workers who raise safety concerns in the context of the COVID-19 response have faced retaliation, ranging from arrest and detention to threats and dismissal.’

Read here (Amnesty International, July 13, 2020)

Do not discriminate against migrant workers, Health DG warns

‘With Covid-19 infection clusters emerging in three immigration detention centres, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has said that negative sentiments against detainees must not be amplified and must not be a catalyst for discrimination in saving lives. The Health director-general said that the whole of government and whole community approach should work together to fight the virus.’

Read here (The Star, May 25, 2020)

MMA voices concern on discrimination against healthcare workers

‘The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has raised concerns over what it says are discriminatory practices against healthcare workers due to Covid-19. The MMA said it was informed that a condominium in Petaling Jaya had segregated the use of its lifts to "protect other residents from getting infected with Covid-19".

‘While we welcome the regular cleaning of common areas and temperatures of residents being taken upon entry as precautionary steps, the segregation of residents for shared facilities such as lifts is unnecessary and smacks of discrimination against our healthcare workers,’ says MMA president Dr N Ganabaskaran said in a statement.

Read here (Malaysiakini, April 25, 2020)

African nations demand answers from China over mistreatment of their citizens in Guangzhou

Chairman of African Union Commission calls for ‘immediate remedial measures’ after Africans are racially targeted following investigation into Covid-19 infections in city’s Yuexiu district. ‘I regret and highly condemn this act of ill treatment and racial discrimination,’ Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey says.

Read here (South China Morning Post, April 12, 2020)

UK government urged to investigate coronavirus deaths of BAME doctors with ‘disproportionate severity of infection’: They often feel 'bullied and harassed'

‘Among the factors he speculated could be contributing was whether BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] doctors felt less able to complain about inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) – a recurring complaint among healthcare workers during the crisis – thereby putting themselves in danger.

“BAME doctors often feel bullied and harassed at higher levels compared to their white counterparts,” he said. “They are twice as likely not to raise concerns because of fears of recrimination”.’

Read here (The Guardian, April 10, 2020)