Read here (BBC, May 18, 2020)
Monday 18 May 2020
What are President Trump's charges against the WHO? A fact check
Read here (BBC, May 18, 2020)
Guide for Covid-19 prevention in aged residential care facilities — Amar-Singh HSS, Vivienne Yong and Liew Tuan Hock
‘The guide covers the areas to consider with suggestions for improving Covid-19 prevention. It looks at policy, staff, residents, healthcare workers/therapists and visitors policies. The guide will be useful for nursing homes, old folks homes, retirement villages, palliative care facilities and also relevant to other residential care facilities for any age. It is relevant to non-governmental, private and governmental facilities.’
The full Aged Residential Care Facilities Guide is available for download and use from this link.
Read here (Malay Mail, May 18, 2020)
What does recovery from Covid-19 look like?
“Generally speaking, most patients can be managed outside of the hospital,” Dr. Sofair says. “But if you start to get sicker, early treatment can prevent complications. If you do need to be admitted to the hospital, that does not mean you will get really sick. Only a minority of patients end up in the ICU. We have had many good outcomes, and our doctors and nurses now have experience treating this.”
Read here (Yale Medicine, May 18, 2020)
Sunday 17 May 2020
China’s aggressive approach to coronavirus criticism ‘not working’
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 17, 2020)
There’s a hidden cost to coronavirus, and China is about to pay dearly
‘As the US does not want to do business with China, its staunch allies, like Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have all followed suit. The US, EU and Japan are all planning to lure their companies out of China.’
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 17, 2020)
Coronavirus: Inside Wales’ largest hospital during pandemic
Read and view video here (BBC May 17, 2018)
The Covid-19 Chronicles: The changes we should aim to keep
Read here (The Star, May 17, 2020)
Australia has dug itself into a hole in its relationship with China. It’s time to find a way out
‘What Australia should be doing – and should have done in the first place – is support international efforts to bring about an inquiry. It will have early opportunity next week when the World Health Assembly considers a European Commission resolution along those lines.’
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 17, 2020)
‘Normal’ life failed us. The coronavirus crisis gives us the chance to rethink a new economy
Read here (The Guardian, May 17, 2020)
Saturday 16 May 2020
Coronavirus and the prospect of mass involuntary euthanasia
‘The once subconscious, now blunt and vulgar, desire to murder one's elders is the logical conclusion of a culture of perpetual consumerist youth. The elders of the tribe have long passed their usefulness and have become a burden on the economy.’
Read here (Al Jazeera, May 16, 2020)
Has the coronavirus crisis killed neoliberalism? Don't bet on it
Read here (The Guardian, May 16, 2020)
China trying to divide and rule in Europe, EU foreign policy chief says
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 16, 2020)
Antimicrobial surface coating kills coronavirus for 90 days: US study
‘The paper by researchers at the University of Arizona (UA), which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the amount of virus on coated surfaces reduced by 90 per cent in 10 minutes and by 99.9 per cent in two hours.’
Read here (Straits Times, May 16, 2020)
Coronavirus leaves China to rule the world? Truth is, it’s neither ready nor willing
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 16, 2020)
Reviving the US CDC
Read here (The Lancet, May 16, 2020)
When it’s time to go back to the office, will it still be there?
Read here (Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2020)
Covid 19 coronavirus 'cure'? US biotech company claims it's found antibody to block virus
Read here (NZ Herald, May 16, 2020)
Friday 15 May 2020
Asymptomatic spread makes testing key for Covid-19 fight
‘Here, Gigi Gronvall, an immunologist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discusses the challenges of tracing the spread of coronavirus, the importance of testing, and the dangerous appeal of “immunity passports”.’
Read here (Futurity, May 15, 2020)
Singapore study finds overweight Asians three times as likely to need intensive care
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 15, 2020)
Why China won’t be paying the West coronavirus reparations any time soon
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 15, 2020)
CDC publishes flowcharts to help communities and businesses weighing whether to reopen
Read here (CNN, May 15, 2020)
- For workplace, download here
- For schools, download here
- For restaurants, download here
- For mass transit, download here
- For camps, download here
- For daycare, download here
Amsterdam trials ‘Covid-safe’ restaurant
View here (BBC, May 15, 2020)
Coronavirus contact-tracing apps put users at risk, EU lawmaker says
Read here (DW, May 15, 2020)
Preventing a Covid-19 food crisis
Read here (Project Syndicate, May 15, 2020)
Trump Administration announces framework and leadership for ‘Operation Warp Speed’
Read here (HHS, US Department of Health & Human Services, May 15, 2020)
US ‘Warp Speed’ vaccine effort comes out of the shadows
Read here (Science Magazine, May 15, 2020)
Thursday 14 May 2020
‘A license for neglect.’ Nursing homes are seeking — and winning — immunity amid the coronavirus pandemic
Read here (Time, May 14, 2020)
You should have an advance directive
Read here (The Atlantic, May 14, 2020)
Experiment shows human speech generates droplets that linger in the air for more than 8 minutes
‘The report, from researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the University of Pennsylvania, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal. It is based on an experiment that used laser light to study the number of small respiratory droplets emitted through human speech.’
Read here (The Washington Post, May 14, 2020)
Coronavirus: How exposed is your job?
Read here (BBC, May 14, 2020)
The coronavirus slayer! How Kerala's rock star health minister helped save it from Covid-19
‘Four months later, Kerala has reported only 524 cases of Covid-19, four deaths and – according to Shailaja – no community transmission. The state has a population of about 35 million and a GDP per capita of only £2,200. By contrast, the UK (double the population, GDP per capita of £33,100) has reported more than 40,000 deaths, while the US (10 times the population, GDP per capita of £51,000) has reported more than 82,000 deaths; both countries have rampant community transmission.’
Read here (The Guardian, May 14, 2020)
A quarter of Covid-19 patients who died in England had diabetes
Read here (Sky News, May 14, 2020)
Genetic engineering could make a Covid-19 vaccine in months rather than years
‘Instead labs are turning to gene-based vaccines. Scientists use information from the genome of the virus to create a blueprint of select antigens. The blueprint is made of DNA or RNA—molecules that hold genetic instructions. The researchers then inject the DNA or RNA into human cells. The cell’s machinery uses the instructions to make virus antigens that the immune system reacts to. Cells respond to the instructions as a normal part of their daily existence. This is the same trait infectious viruses exploit; they cannot reproduce on their own, so they use a cell’s machinery to make copies of themselves. They burst out of the cell and infect more cells, widening the infection.’
Read here (Scientific American, May 14, preview of June 1, 2020 issue)
From green backlash to reimposition of border controls, pandemic is accelerating tensions that could unravel the EU
Read here (The Guardian, May 14, 2020)
Too soon, too loud: Chinese foreign policy advisers tell ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomats to tone it down
“But the problem is, [these efforts] have failed to recognise the complexities that have emerged on the global stage during the pandemic, and they are being done too hastily, too soon and too loudly in tone, so there is a huge gap between what is intended and what is achieved,” he said.
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 14, 2020)
Where are all the patients? Addressing Covid-19 fear to encourage sick patients to seek emergency care
‘Here, the authors describe efforts taken in a community hospital to understand and combat this public health concern by using human-centered design. They share interview themes, the brainstorming process, and implementation of prototypes, as well as challenges faced in the early stages of implementation. They show that addressing patient fears by dividing the emergency department into respiratory and non-respiratory pods and through targeted messaging can result in increased visits to the emergency room. Time will tell if this results in improved health outcomes for community members.’
Read here (New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst, May 14, 2020)
Coronavirus may never go away, World Health Organization warns
Read here (BBC, May 14, 2020)
Expect more cases of strange coronavirus syndrome in kids, doctors warn
Read here (CNN, May 14, 2020)
Wednesday 13 May 2020
How to make sense of all the Covid-19 projections? A new model combines them
‘The projections vary substantially — with the most pessimistic forecasting a total death toll of 120,000 by June 6 and the most optimistic forecasting 103,000 deaths by that date. But the models have been inching closer to each other. Over the past several weeks, the distance between the highest and lowest estimates has halved from a gap of 36,000 deaths two weeks ago to a gap of 17,000 deaths in the most recent update released Tuesday.’
Read here (NPR or National Public Radio, US, May 13, 2020)
Covid-19: The second wave (12-minute video)
View here (DW, May 13, 2020)
‘Dangerous, damaging’: China trade dispute triggers national division
‘Australia-China Business Council chief executive Helen Sawczak said the inquiry had been politicised for domestic point scoring and warned more Australian industries to prepare for trade strikes if the government could not negotiate with China.’
Meanwhile... ‘Beijing is also pushing new beef and resources deals with Brazil and barley trade with Canada and eastern Europe. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro recently spoke with China's President Xi Jinping after China supplied medical equipment. The country is one of Australia's top rivals in the critical iron ore, coal and LNG sectors.’
Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, May 13, 2020)
‘2020 will be the darkest winter in modern history’
Read here (CNN, May 13, 2020)
Naomi Klein: How big tech plans to profit from the pandemic
‘The same questions need to be asked about health. Avoiding doctor’s offices and hospitals during a pandemic makes good sense. But telehealth misses a huge amount. So we need to have an evidence-based debate about the pros and cons of spending scarce public resources on telehealth – rather than on more trained nurses, equipped with all the necessary protective equipment, who are able to make house calls to diagnose and treat patients in their homes.’
Read here (The Guardian, May 13, 2020)
Launch of the WHO Academy and the WHO info mobile applications
Real-time info for everyone: 'WHO will launch the WHO Info app which will give millions of people real-time mobile access to the latest news and developments. WHO has developed the app from the ground up with an intuitive user-interface and a clean, smart design. From the COVID-19 front, the WHO Info app will provide the latest WHO initiatives, partnerships, and to up-to-date information on the race to find medicines and vaccines for fighting the disease. The number of COVID-19 cases, organized by country, and by timelines, are continually updated in the app from the official WHO COVID-19 data streams.’
Read here (WHO, May 13, 2020)
COVID-19 and the need for action on mental health
Download here (United Nations, May 13, 2020)
US CDC had ‘very good interaction’ with China after coronavirus outbreak, says director Robert Redfield
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 13, 2020)
How has Vietnam, a developing nation in South-East Asia, done so well to combat coronavirus?
Read here (ABC News, May 13, 2020)
Learning how to dance - Part 5: Prevent seeding and spreading
‘The bad news first: (1) We will likely need to heavily slow down national and international tourism for months, (2) Big events like business fairs or music concerts will need to remain closed for now
‘The good news: (1) We should still be able to travel for one-way or very long trips (2) There are ways we can accelerate the reopening of tourism (3) We can probably reopen schools (4) A clear order is emerging for which businesses should reopen. The most important to keep open are likely banks, grocery, and general stores, and the least important are likely cafés, dessert parlors, and gyms’.
Read here (Medium, May 13, 2020)
Tuesday 12 May 2020
Ominous warning for world governments as South Korea hit by ‘super spreader’ after lockdowns lifted
Read here (News.com, May 12, 2020)
Covid-19: A doctor’s concerns
‘Another concern is the lack of public consultation. Like what happens with our annual haze (who knows, we may, thanks to Covid-19 and the movement control order escape the haze this year!), the voices of the public are not being solicited by the authorities. We see this happening at federal, state and local council levels. Why this “us” vs “them” mindset which pervades our country?’
Dato’ Seri Dr T Devaraj is a retired physician who has been involved in hospice work for many years.
Read here (Aliran, May 12, 2020)
China, Denmark and Singapore expand testing
‘Singapore also said it aimed to test all 323,000 migrant workers living in cramped, often unsanitary dormitories that have become a hotbed of infections in recent weeks, accounting for the vast majority of the city-state’s total of 24,671 cases.’
Read here (The Guardian, May 12, 2020)
‘The past six weeks have been unlike anything I’ve known’: A GP on how the pandemic has changed his work
Read here (The Guardian, May 12, 2020)
‘Passing the buck’ becomes reckless ‘conspiracy blame game’
‘Ferguson eventually conceded that he had wrongly alleged that regular flights abroad left Wuhan after 23 January, but retaliated by questioning Bell’s other scholarship, including his recent book on China, and insisting that China should have cancelled all international flights in an updated blog.’
Read here (IPS News, May 12, 2020)
Study warns 1.1 million children, 56,000 mothers, could die as pandemic interrupts access to food & medical care
Read here (The Lancet, May 12, 2020)
The lost six weeks when US failed to contain outbreak: BBC video
View here (BBC, May 12, 2020)
Monday 11 May 2020
How the novel coronavirus attacks our entire body
Read here (DW, May 11, 2020)
Covid-19: Transmission scenarios explained
‘The reason to highlight these different outbreaks is to show you the commonality of outbreaks of COVID-19. All these infection events were indoors, with people closely-spaced, with lots of talking, singing, or yelling. The main sources for infection are home, workplace, public transport, social gatherings, and restaurants. This accounts for 90% of all transmission events. In contrast, outbreaks spread from shopping appear to be responsible for a small percentage of traced infections.’
Read here (Government Technology, May 11, 2020)
Johns Hopkins and Bloomberg Philanthropies, with New York State, launch online course to train army of contact tracers to slow spread of COVID-19
Read here (John Hopkins, May 11, 2020)
Sunday 10 May 2020
Damage to the kidneys, heart, brain — even ‘covid toes’ — prompts reassessment of the disease and how to treat it
‘Research and therapies are focused on these phenomena. Blood thinners are being more widely used in some hospitals. A review of records for 2,733 patients, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, indicates they may help the most seriously ill.’
Read here (Washington Post, May 10, 2020)
Can Malaysia cope with a ‘triple whammy’ economic shock?
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 10, 2020)
It’s no accident Britain and America are the world's biggest coronavirus losers
Read here (The Guardian, May 10, 2020)
How pandemics end (NYT)
“I think there is this sort of social psychological issue of exhaustion and frustration,” the Yale historian Naomi Rogers said. “We may be in a moment when people are just saying: ‘That’s enough. I deserve to be able to return to my regular life”.’
Read here (New York Times, May 10, 2020)
Saturday 9 May 2020
We need a Covid-19 law right now
Read here (FocusMalaysia, May 9, 2020)
Friday 8 May 2020
France had Covid-19 in November, hospital says after analysis of chest scans
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 8, 2020)
Study shows most people carry antibodies after recovery from coronavirus
Read here (Straits Times, May 8, 2020)
University of Hong Kong study finds eyes are ‘important route’ for coronavirus, up to 100 times more infectious than Sars
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 8, 2020)
Mixed reactions as SOPs rule the day
Read here (New Straits Times, May 8, 2020)
‘Finally, a virus got me.’ Scientist who fought Ebola and HIV reflects on facing death from COVID-19
Read here (Science, May 8, 2020)
How coronavirus spreads and why it affects countries differently
- Close and prolonged contact is required for transmission of the virus.
- Risk is highest in enclosed environments such as houses, care facilities, public transport, bars and other indoor spaces where people congregate.
- Casual, short interactions are not the main driver of the epidemic.
- Susceptibility to infection increases with age.
Read here (The Telegraph, May 8, 2020)
The coronavirus was an emergency until Trump found out who was dying
Read here (The Atlantic, May 8, 2020)
‘I thought stage IV cancer was bad enough... Then came a pandemic during the presidency of Donald Trump.’
Read here (The Atlantic, May 8, 2020. Pre-published for June issue)
Thursday 7 May 2020
Would you report people who break the rules?
Read here (BBC, May 7, 2020)
Young women among worst hit by coronavirus job cuts
Read here (UUTISET, May 7, 2020)
How swamped preprint servers are blocking bad coronavirus research
‘To address the need for rapid review, a group of publishers and scholarly-communication organizations announced an initiative last month to accelerate the publication of COVID-19 papers using measures such as asking people with relevant expertise to join a list of rapid reviewers. The initiative’s members include Outbreak Science Rapid PREreview, a platform where researchers can request or provide swift reviews of outbreak-related preprints.’
Read here (Nature, May 7, 2020)
Access to lifesaving medical resources for African countries: COVID-19 testing and response, ethics, and politics
Read here (The Lancet, May 7, 2020)
US FDA grants an EUA for the first CRISPR-based diagnostic test
Download here (US FDA, May 6, 2020)
Guides to the other side: The problem-solvers working to get us through the pandemic
‘They don’t offer easy answers or miracle cures; they know there is no resurrecting the lives they once had. Still, they’re giving what they can to a moment that demands it. When it is most difficult to imagine the world getting better, they’ve summoned the creativity — and the courage — to invent the world anew.’
Read here (Washington Post, May 7, 2020)
US mayor says he had coronavirus last year, worried people dismissed it as bad flu
‘The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on January 21 the first case was a man who had returned to the Seattle area after visiting Wuhan.
‘Within five minutes of the blood test, the doctor shared the positive antibody results with the mayor, prompting Melham to think back to the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City in November, when he recalled driving back up the Garden State Parkway on Thursday, November 21 not feeling well, suspecting the reason was a mix of exhaustion and dehydration from the three-day event.’
Read here (Global Times, May 7, 2020)
Patterns of pain: What Covid-19 can teach us about how to be human
‘I conclude with Freud: “The aim of psychoanalysis is to turn hysteria into ordinary human unhappiness.” That is an accomplishment for an individual and for a society. We cannot escape unhappiness. It is constitutive of being human, just as are creativity, courage, ambition, attachment and love. Let’s embrace the complexity of what it means to be human in this time of sorrow as we think and feel our way to come out of this, wiser, humbler and more connected.’
Read here (The Guardian, May 7, 2020)
COVID-19 death rate sinking? Data reveals a complex reality
Read here (DW, May 7, 2020)
Wednesday 6 May 2020
Lianhua Qingwen (TCM product) approved for sale in Singapore
‘Lianhua Qingwen, a recommended medicine for treating patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms, has been approved as a Chinese proprietary medicine by the Health Sciences Authority in Singapore. The designation means the product can be sold in the country as a medicine, the drug’s manufacturer said.’
Read here (GMP News, May 7, 2020)
Five ways the pandemic is changing the world for the better: An interview with UCI philosopher Aaron James
(1) Telecommuting and flexible work schedules are being normalised. (2) Universal basic income is gaining bipartisan support. (3) Contributing to society is about more than making money. (4) Climate change progress is being driven by renewable energy capitalism. (5) Turns out the pandemic may be a vaccine against assholes.
Read here (University of California, Irvine, May 7, 2020)
China could cut US debt holdings in response to White House Covid-19 compensation threats, analysts say
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 6, 2020)
Genetic mutation study finds new coronavirus spread swiftly around the world in late 2019
Read here (Straits Times, May 6, 2020)
Virus outbreak in India market could cause cases to snowball
‘The market, which had remained open during India's six-week virus lockdown, is central to the region’s food supply chain. The challenge for public health officials is to track the many traders, workers and shoppers who visited the market. Experts said the virus cluster has exposed India’s poor surveillance during the pandemic. They said the country’s long denial of how prevalent the virus was resulted in people not taking precautions, and warned that the market cluster could result in cases in India snowballing.’
Read here (ABC News, May 6, 2020)
World faces rare ‘inflationary depression,’ says Keynes scholar
Read here (Bloomberg, May 6, 2020)
For the record: Are Gates and Rockefeller using their influence to set agenda in poor states?
Read here (The Guardian, Jan 15, 2016)
Download report here (Global Policy Forum, November 2015)
The problem with stories about dangerous coronavirus mutations
‘As if the pandemic weren’t bad enough, on April 30, a team led by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory released a paper that purportedly described “the emergence of a more transmissible form” of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. This new form, the team wrote, “began spreading in Europe in early February.” Whenever it appeared in a new place, including the U.S., it rapidly rose to dominance. Its success, the team suggested, is likely due to a single mutation, which is now “of urgent concern.”
‘The paper has not yet been formally published or reviewed by other scientists. But on May 5, the Los Angeles Times wrote about it, claiming that “a now-dominant strain of the coronavirus could be more contagious than [the] original.” That story quickly went … well … viral.
‘But “the conclusions are overblown,” says Lisa Gralinski of the University of North Carolina, who is one of the few scientists in the world who specializes in coronaviruses. “To say that you’ve revealed the emergence of a more transmissible form of SARS-CoV-2 without ever actually testing it isn’t the type of thing that makes me feel comfortable as a scientist.” She and other virologists I’ve spoken with who were not involved in the Los Alamos research agree that the paper’s claims are plausible, but not justified by the evidence it presents. More important, they’re not convinced different strains of the coronavirus exist at all.’
Read here (The Atlantic, May 6, 2020)
These are the ‘10 plain truths’ about the coronavirus pandemic, according to former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden
2. It’s “just the beginning”
3. Data is a “very powerful weapon against this virus”
4. We need to “box the virus in”
5. We must find the balance
6. Protect the “frontline heroes”
7. Protect our most vulnerable people, too
8. Governments and private companies need to work together
9. We must not neglect non-Covid health issues
10. Preparedness is paramount
Read here (CNN, May 6, 2020)
Singaporeans to be given improved reusable masks in third nationwide mask distribution exercise
Read here (Straits Times, May 6, 2020)
The coming post-Covid anarchy: Kevin Rudd
Read here (Foreign Affairs, May 6, 2020)
From Hong Kong to Britain, governments ranked poorly for their response to Covid-19
Read here (South China Morning Post, May 6, 2020)
When did Covid-19 first appear in the US?
View here (CGTN, Youtube, May 6, 2020)
Six flaws in the arguments for reopening
Read here (Washington Post, May 6, 2020)
We can beat the virus only by protecting human rights
Read here (Washington Post, May 6, 2020)
Experts differ over states’ CMCO non-compliance
‘While lawyer Derek Fernandez said the states have a constitutional obligation to follow what has been gazetted as law by the Federal Government (if the states have yet to have their own laws on Covid-19), former judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said it is not so simple.’
Read here (The Star, May 6, 2020)
Tuesday 5 May 2020
National action plan for expanding and adapting the healthcare system for the duration of the Covid pandemic
- How can we improve infection prevention in hospitals and maintain a robust supply chain for personal protective equipment (PPE)?
- What approach should we take to restarting deferred healthcare services?
- What financial support is needed for hospitals and healthcare providers?
- How should the healthcare workforce be sustained and augmented?
- How can we provide mental health support for healthcare workers in this crisis?
- How can we provide medical care and sick leave for all people in the United States?
- How can we make telemedicine a new normal?
- How can we reduce the number of undiagnosed infectious diseases in our hospitals?
- How can we better protect emergency medical services (EMS) personnel from infectious diseases?
- How can we better coordinate the healthcare response to COVID and the next pandemic?
Read and download here (Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, May 5, 2020)
S’pore’s youngest Covid-19 casualty was declared virus-free a week before she died
‘Ms Salha, 58, had been declared virus-free nine days earlier, but the infection had already taken a toll on her body, her daughter told The Straits Times. Her vital organs, including her kidneys and liver, were failing and she was in a bad shape.’
Read here (Straits Times, May 5, 2020)
Sympathy for the epidemiologists: Paul Krugman
‘So let me give a shout-out to the hard-working, much-criticized epidemiologists trying to get this pandemic right. You may take a lot of abuse when you get it wrong, which you unavoidably will on occasion. But you’re doing what must be done. Also, welcome to my world.’
Read here (New York Times, May 5, 2020)
Yuval Noah Harari talks about governance, surveillance, misinformation and the significance of Covid-19
View here (BBC, Youtube, May 5, 2020)
What Covid-19 antibody tests can and cannot tell us
‘Antibody tests could help scientists understand the extent of COVID-19’s spread in populations. Because of limitations in testing accuracy and a plethora of unknowns about immunity itself, however, they are less informative about an individual’s past exposure or protection against future infection.’
Read here (Scientific American, May 5, 2020)
Shocking draft FEMA report sees 200,000 Covid-19 cases, 3,000 deaths daily by June 1
Read here (Huffington Post, May 5, 2020). Download here
Argentina responds boldly to coronavirus crisis
‘Meanwhile, the armed forces are building triage centres in case of a surge in infections while social, religious and business groups work together to deliver food to more than two million in the greater Buenos Aires area alone.’
Read here (IPS News, May 5, 2020)
Paul Garner: For 7 weeks I have been through a roller coaster of ill health, extreme emotions, and utter exhaustion
‘The aim of this piece is to get this message out: for some people the illness goes on for a few weeks. Symptoms come and go, are strange and frightening. The exhaustion is severe, real, and part of the illness. And we all need support and love from the community around us.’
Read here (BMJ Opinion, May 5, 2020)
The invisible pandemic: Our most important task is not to stop spread but to concentrate on giving the unfortunate victims optimal care
Read here (The Lancet, May 5, 2020)
Why has eastern Europe suffered less from coronavirus than the west?
Read here (The Guardian, May 5, 2020)
Cook County searching for overlooked COVID-19 deaths as far back as November just ‘to cover our bases’
Read here (Chicago Sun Times, May 5, 2020)
Preparing for post-COVID-19 from the lens of sustainable development goals (SDGs): Insight from Malaysia
- Disaster preparedness: Build on the strengths of the Malaysian public healthcare system which has shown tremendous robustness and resilience in this crisis. Raise the level of disaster preparedness (SDG 3.d) through the use of Big Data for predictions and alerts, and maintain a ready stockpile of emergency supplies. Ensure that the provision of public goods like healthcare remains the responsibility of the government (SDG 3.8)
- Culture of civic responsibility: Keep up campaigns to promote personal hygiene, public cleanliness, and health and safety awareness as mutual responsibilities (SDG 4). Ensure an efficient system of participation and involvement by non-government organisations to alleviate the negative impacts on all people and ensure a better quality of life (SDG 16& SDG 17).
- Sustainable risk-resilient game plan: Business and the broader economy need increased resiliency. In the short term, the Malaysian government needs to develop a comprehensive and sustainable social protection system to help the M/SMEs to cope with unprecedented economic situations (SDG10.4). Going forward, the country needs a people-centred economic policy; for instance, better policies on flexible work for both women and men...
- High-speed cost-effective connectivity: Many daily activities have moved online – business functions, school, and university classes, and purchasing food and other essentials – but gaps do exist. We need to identify the gaps in our preparedness and connectivity so that all organisations are fully prepared for this eventuality (SDG 9.1). Connectivity needs to be cost-effective and available even in remote areas (SDG 9.c).
- Research & innovation: Research and innovation are crucial for Malaysia to progress in this highly competitive world. Funding for high-quality research and innovation is a key part of that and the COVID-19 crisis makes such research and development more imperative and urgent. While financial resources are not easy to come by with the looming global economic recession, Malaysia should at least maintain its present level of R&D expenditure (1.44% of GDP) and increase it later when the situation allows ( SDG 4.7 and SDG 9.5).
Read here (United Nations University, May 5, 2020)
State v Federal impasse over lockdown relaxation order
Read here (The Edge, May 5, 2020)
As some countries ease up, others are reimposing lockdowns amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections
Such a resurgence of cases had been widely predicted by experts, but these increasing numbers come as a sobering reminder of the challenges ahead as countries chafing under the social and economic burdens of keeping their citizens indoors weigh the pros and cons of allowing people to move around again.
Read here (Washington Post, May 5, 2020)
Preparing a safe return to work
Read here (The Edge, May 5, 2020)
Chow: No feedback was collected from the states on CMCO
Read here (The Star, May 5, 2020)
Monday 4 May 2020
Defiance of the 9 States – The whirling wheels of Malaysian federalism
‘In a stunning development, as many as 9 states have said they will not be following or complying fully with the Federal Government’s ease of movement and resumption of businesses at 100% capacity under the CMCO.
‘Is it unconstitutional for these States to not follow or fully comply with the Federal Government’s CMCO?’
Read here (Malaysian Public Law, May 2, 2020)
MITI urges state governments to follow Putrajaya's decision to relax the MCO
‘Failure to do so may result in the state governments facing the possibility of legal action from various parties, particularly industry players, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali cautioned in a statement today.
‘As it is, Mohamed Azmin said various industry associations, including the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Malay Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia, have issued statements calling for state governments not to stop companies from resuming their operations from today, the first day of the CMCO.’
Read here (The Edge, May 4, 2020)
See how a cough travels without a mask and with
View here (CNN, May 4, 2020)
UN humanitarian chief: After COVID-19, it’s in everyone’s interest to help the world's poorest countries
‘Some may be sceptical that additional resources of that magnitude can be generated in the current circumstances. That is not my experience. After the financial crisis of 2008 fundraising for UN-coordinated humanitarian appeals had increased by more than 40 per cent by 2010. That was a result of human generosity and empathy – but also a calculation of national interest in the donor countries.’
Read here (OCHA, May 4, 2020)
Govt needs a U-turn on conditional MCO
‘This is where infection is most likely – the most number of people are there and the ones most likely to ignore SOPs. They include all sorts of businesses – food and beverage, services, shops, workplaces – virtually all can reopen except for those that involve close contact and mass gatherings.’
Read here (FocusMalaysia, May 4, 2020)
‘Advance market commitment for Covid-19 vaccine’ by Gavi, the vaccine alliance
‘The positive news is that the global response in terms of vaccine development has been historic. Today, over 80 preclinical candidates are in development and seven have already progressed to human trials. This could well give us a better chance of getting more than one COVID-19 vaccine introduced in record-breaking time. However it also shines a light on another critical challenge: how to ensure that once a vaccine is available, it is accessible to everyone that needs it. We can only stop the pandemic if it is under control everywhere.’
Read here (Gavi, May 4, 2020)
Read more about Gavi here
Inventive routes back to normal life
‘All these novel schemes, and many more, may help a return to some form of normality. But Ngaire Woods, professor of global economic governance at Oxford University, says easing lockdown requires us all to rethink our lives. "We have got to get testing tracing and isolating up and running fantastically well," she told Radio 4's Briefing Room. "We have to start thinking about preventative measures in public spaces and schools. We have got to manage the import of cases - so think about travel restrictions. That's a clear checklist in order to safely start lifting the lockdown."
‘Prof Woods says thinking will have to go far beyond just re-opening closed-down businesses. We may need to split workforces by age group - an example could be that older teachers must take their classes by video link. "Those are the questions we have to ask - they are not insurmountable problems. The alternative is to stay in a total lockdown."
Read here (BBC, May 4, 2020)
The next Apple Watch could be a powerful COVID-19 early warning system
‘Toward the end of his life, one of Steve Jobs’s hopes for Apple was that it could play a role in helping people stay healthy. After he died, that ambition was most clearly expressed in the Apple Watch. The company has always pushed to make its wearable something more than a fitness tracker—a more powerful, clinically relevant device.’
Read here (Fast Company, March 4, 2020)
Historic financial decline hits doctors, dentists and hospitals — despite covid-19 — threatening overall economy
Read here (Washington Post, May 4, 2020)
French doctors say they found a Covid-19 patient from December
Read here (CNN, May 4, 2020)
FDA steps up scrutiny of coronavirus antibody tests to ensure accuracy
‘The result, they complained, was a flood of products of dubious quality that confused hospitals, doctors and consumers — “a wild, wild West” environment, said Scott Becker, chief executive officer of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local public laboratories.’
Read here (Washington Post, May 4, 2020)
The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis
Read here (Washington Post, May 4, 2020)
Malaysia is beating all these brutal COVID-19 expectations
Read here (Channel News Asia, May 4, 2020)
UrbanFutures: Building a trust economy
‘Developing the trust economy involves three key aspects: (1) An enhanced role for government (2) Hyperlocalism and digital infrastructure (3) Protecting the welfare of the people.’
Read here (The Edge, May 4, 2020)
Nurses are playing a crucial role in this pandemic — as always
Read here (Scientific American, May 4, 2020)
Worst ever Covid variant? Omicron
John Campbell shares his findings on Omicron. View here (Youtube, Nov 27, 2021)
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‘Much was riding on the Oxford vaccine, a British-led endeavour also involving UK drugs firm AstraZeneca. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s gov...
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‘It appears that vaccine hesitancy is due to lack of information and trust. Despite the government's assurances about Covid-19 vaccines,...
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‘It is hard to stare directly at the biggest problems of our age. Pandemics, climate change, the sixth extinction of wildlife, food and wate...