https://news.yahoo.com/covid-toes-could-skin-conditions-offer-coronavirus-clues-172700745.html
LAURA ROMERO, SOO RIN KIM and DR. MARK ABDELMALEK
,ABC News•April 20, 2020
•••••
Italian doctors published a series of cases signaling a trend about the skin in late March. In that study, one in five patients had a skin issue, most commonly a red rash or a hive-like eruption.
Dubbed “COVID toes” by the dermatology community, frostbite-like areas of typically red or purple discoloration can appear on the feet can also be seen on the fingers as well,
•••••
Symptoms more commonly associated with coronavirus include fevers, upper respiratory problems like coughing, and fatigue. But more unusual symptoms have been seen in some cases, such as a lost of taste, kidney issues and blood clotting. Experts suggested the blood clotting could be related to the skin issues.
Besides “COVID toes," Rosenbach says dermatologists should be paying attention to a particular skin pattern called livedo reticularis, seen in some hospitalized COVID-19 patients. This appears as a purplish net-like discoloration of the skin and it is often a result of blood clotting abnormalities.
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Tuesday, April 21, 2020
5-year-old daughter of first responders dies from coronavirus
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/us/detroit-girl-dies-coronavirus/index.html
DALE GREENSTEIN
Published: Apr 21st, 2020 - 12:10pm (EDT)
Updated: Apr 21st, 2020 - 12:13pm (EDT)
The 5-year-old daughter of two Detroit first responders has died of complications from coronavirus.
Skylar Herbert died Sunday at Beaumont Royal Oak Hospital after being on a ventilator for two weeks, CNN affiliate WXYZ reported. She tested positive for coronavirus last month and developed a rare form of meningitis and swelling on the brain, according to WXYZ.
•••••
Skylar's mother has been a Detroit Police officer for 25 years and her father has worked as a firefighter with the Detroit Fire Department for 18 years, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a Monday news conference.
•••••
DALE GREENSTEIN
Published: Apr 21st, 2020 - 12:10pm (EDT)
Updated: Apr 21st, 2020 - 12:13pm (EDT)
The 5-year-old daughter of two Detroit first responders has died of complications from coronavirus.
Skylar Herbert died Sunday at Beaumont Royal Oak Hospital after being on a ventilator for two weeks, CNN affiliate WXYZ reported. She tested positive for coronavirus last month and developed a rare form of meningitis and swelling on the brain, according to WXYZ.
•••••
Skylar's mother has been a Detroit Police officer for 25 years and her father has worked as a firefighter with the Detroit Fire Department for 18 years, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a Monday news conference.
•••••
Most rate Trump’s coronavirus response negatively and expect crowds to be unsafe until summer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/most-rate-trumps-coronavirus-response-negatively-and-expect-crowds-will-be-unsafe-until-summer-post-u-md-poll-finds/2020/04/20/0b436dda-833b-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html
No surprise Trump would announce immigration restrictions, even though we already have restrictions, and his order has exceptions. It's his go-to to manipulate his followers when his poll results go down.
By Scott Clement and
Dan Balz
April 21, 2020 at 6:30 a.m. EDT
Most Americans expect no immediate easing of the health risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic, despite calls by President Trump and others to begin reopening the economy quickly. A majority say it could be June or later before it will be safe for larger gatherings to take place again, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.
Most Americans — 54 percent — give the president negative marks for his handling of the outbreak in this country and offer mixed reviews for the federal government as a whole. By contrast, 72 percent of Americans give positive ratings to the governors of their states for the way they have dealt with the crisis, with workers also rating their employers positively.
•••••
Personal health concerns are widespread, with 57 percent saying they are “very” or “somewhat” worried about becoming infected and seriously ill from the coronavirus, including at least 40 percent of people in every major demographic and political group. For those most concerned — particularly Republicans — the fear is enough to override partisanship when it comes to the safety of public gatherings.
•••••
The latest Post-U. Md. poll finds that about 1 in 3 Americans are concerned about their household being able to pay bills over the next month, while a similar percentage are worried about affording food and basic household items. Some 48 percent of Hispanics are concerned about affording food or other basic items, as are 39 percent of blacks and 23 percent of whites.
•••••
A rapidly growing share of Americans have personal connections to the outbreak’s victims. The poll finds that 26 percent of adults know someone who has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, up sharply from 11 percent in mid- to late March. Today, 14 percent report knowing someone who has been hospitalized because of the virus, while 9 percent know someone who has died of it.
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Why you should avoid buying wet wipes
https://www.treehugger.com/health/why-you-should-avoid-buying-wet-wipes.html?fbclid=IwAR0P1eUJyp23ma56xfuPmFVF33apRVAqtid7qDM674wdD4WdaxRSHn7mnKY
Katherine Martinko feistyredhair
June 16, 2015
Wet wipes have been labeled “the biggest villain of 2015” by The Guardian. These disposable wipes, which are essentially an instant soapy washcloth that doesn’t require rinsing, promises to disinfect, and gets tossed after use, have become extremely popular – too popular, in fact.
•••••
Just because wet wipes are technically ‘disposable’ doesn’t mean they magically disintegrate; instead, they are simply shuffled off somewhere else, out of sight, where they proceed to wreak environmental havoc.
Most contain plastic fibers that are not biodegradable. When the wipes make their way into the ocean, they get ingested by sea creatures, such as turtles, who mistake them for jellyfish and eventually die. (The same thing happens with plastic bags.)
“When marine wildlife eats that plastic, which they quite often do, it just stays in the stomach of the animal and quite often they just die of starvation,” says Charlotte Coombs of the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).
•••••
Many users erroneously choose to flush wipes down the toilet, clogging and causing it to overflow. The Guardian reports that New York City has spent $18 million on “wipe-related equipment problems” in the past five years, and residents of Kent, a county in the UK, were dumping an estimated 2,000 tons of wet wipes into sewers.
When wipes clog city sewers, overflow occurs, or, at the very least, a serious blockage made from accumulating fat. “In 2013 a lump of congealed fat the size of a bus was found in sewers beneath London.” Yuck. So much for convenience.
•••••
Several years ago, Reuters reported that wipes cause rashes in uncomfortable places. A Mayo Clinic report cited the experience of one man, a postman, who “had a rash around his anus so painful that he couldn’t walk for months… It wasn’t until he stopped using Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle moist wipes, some of which contain MCI [methylchloroisothiazolinone, a chemical of concern], that the problem cleared up.”
Baby wipes contain preservatives and fragrances that should not come into contact with human skin, particularly that of infants and small children. (See the Environmental Working Group's report on the hidden hazards of antibacterial wipes.)
•••••
Katherine Martinko feistyredhair
June 16, 2015
Wet wipes have been labeled “the biggest villain of 2015” by The Guardian. These disposable wipes, which are essentially an instant soapy washcloth that doesn’t require rinsing, promises to disinfect, and gets tossed after use, have become extremely popular – too popular, in fact.
•••••
Just because wet wipes are technically ‘disposable’ doesn’t mean they magically disintegrate; instead, they are simply shuffled off somewhere else, out of sight, where they proceed to wreak environmental havoc.
Most contain plastic fibers that are not biodegradable. When the wipes make their way into the ocean, they get ingested by sea creatures, such as turtles, who mistake them for jellyfish and eventually die. (The same thing happens with plastic bags.)
“When marine wildlife eats that plastic, which they quite often do, it just stays in the stomach of the animal and quite often they just die of starvation,” says Charlotte Coombs of the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).
•••••
Many users erroneously choose to flush wipes down the toilet, clogging and causing it to overflow. The Guardian reports that New York City has spent $18 million on “wipe-related equipment problems” in the past five years, and residents of Kent, a county in the UK, were dumping an estimated 2,000 tons of wet wipes into sewers.
When wipes clog city sewers, overflow occurs, or, at the very least, a serious blockage made from accumulating fat. “In 2013 a lump of congealed fat the size of a bus was found in sewers beneath London.” Yuck. So much for convenience.
•••••
Several years ago, Reuters reported that wipes cause rashes in uncomfortable places. A Mayo Clinic report cited the experience of one man, a postman, who “had a rash around his anus so painful that he couldn’t walk for months… It wasn’t until he stopped using Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle moist wipes, some of which contain MCI [methylchloroisothiazolinone, a chemical of concern], that the problem cleared up.”
Baby wipes contain preservatives and fragrances that should not come into contact with human skin, particularly that of infants and small children. (See the Environmental Working Group's report on the hidden hazards of antibacterial wipes.)
•••••
IRS says Social Security recipients with children must take action to ensure full coronavirus payment now
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/493779-irs-says-social-security-recipients-with-children-must-take-action-to-ensure
By Naomi Jagoda - 04/20/20 07:11 PM EDT
Recipients of Social Security and railroad retirement benefits who have children should act by Wednesday in order to quickly receive the full amount of their coronavirus relief payments, the IRS said Monday afternoon.
The announcement gives non-filers who receive certain federal benefits only a short amount of time to get the payments for their children added to their automatic payments.
•••••
The agency is instructing Social Security and railroad retirement beneficiaries to use the IRS's "Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here" web tool by Wednesday at noon EDT to provide the IRS with information about their children. The agency said that SSI and VA beneficiaries have some additional time beyond that deadline because their automatic payments will be made at a later date.
People who do not promptly provide the IRS with information about their eligible children will receive only $1,200 in the near future and would receive the additional amount amount of $500 per child upon filing a 2020 tax return next year, the agency said.
•••••
By Naomi Jagoda - 04/20/20 07:11 PM EDT
Recipients of Social Security and railroad retirement benefits who have children should act by Wednesday in order to quickly receive the full amount of their coronavirus relief payments, the IRS said Monday afternoon.
The announcement gives non-filers who receive certain federal benefits only a short amount of time to get the payments for their children added to their automatic payments.
•••••
The agency is instructing Social Security and railroad retirement beneficiaries to use the IRS's "Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here" web tool by Wednesday at noon EDT to provide the IRS with information about their children. The agency said that SSI and VA beneficiaries have some additional time beyond that deadline because their automatic payments will be made at a later date.
People who do not promptly provide the IRS with information about their eligible children will receive only $1,200 in the near future and would receive the additional amount amount of $500 per child upon filing a 2020 tax return next year, the agency said.
•••••
Cochrane Review confirms effectiveness of MMR vaccines
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/w-crc042020.php
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Wiley
New evidence published in the Cochrane Library today finds MMR, MMRV and MMR+V vaccines are effective and that they are not associated with increased risk of autism.
Measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (also known as chickenpox) are infectious diseases caused by viruses. They are most common in children and young adults, and can lead to potentially fatal illnesses, disabilities and death. Measles remains one of the leading causes of childhood death around the globe. Rubella is also dangerous for pregnant women, as it can cause miscarriage or harm to unborn babies.
The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) is a combined vaccine that protects against all three infections. Clinicians can vaccinate against varicella (chickenpox) by a combined MMR and varicella vaccine (MMRV) or giving it separately at the same time (MMR+V).
•••••
In terms of effectiveness the review found:
Measles: one dose of vaccine was 95% effective in preventing measles. Based on the data analysed in the review, the number of cases would fall from 7% in unvaccinated children to under 0.5% in children who receive one dose of the vaccine. After two doses, effectiveness was similar at around 96%.
Mumps: one dose of vaccine was 72% effective in preventing mumps. This rose to 86% after two doses. From data analysed in the review. the number of cases would fall from 7.4% in unvaccinated children to 1% in children were vaccinated with two doses.
The results for rubella and chickenpox also showed that that vaccines are effective. After one dose of vaccine was 89% effective in preventing rubella, and one study found that after 10 years the MMRV vaccine was 95% effective at preventing chickenpox infection. If exposed to chickenpox, 5 out of 100 vaccinated children would catch it.
"In terms of safety, we know from previous studies all around the world that the risks posed by these diseases far outweigh those of the vaccines administered to prevent them," says Dr Di Pietrantonj. "In this review, we wanted to look at evidence for specific harms that have been linked with these vaccines in public debate - often without rigorous scientific evidence as a basis."
In relation to the controversy arising from false claims linking vaccination and autism, the review summarises evidence from two studies with 1,194,764 children. Diagnosed cases of autism were similar in vaccinated and unvaccinated children (1.)
Two further studies with 1,071,088 children find no evidence for any association between the MMR vaccines and encephalitis, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, cognitive delay, type 1 diabetes, asthma, dermatitis/eczema, hay fever, leukaemia, multiple sclerosis, gait disturbance and bacterial or viral infections.
•••••
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Wiley
New evidence published in the Cochrane Library today finds MMR, MMRV and MMR+V vaccines are effective and that they are not associated with increased risk of autism.
Measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (also known as chickenpox) are infectious diseases caused by viruses. They are most common in children and young adults, and can lead to potentially fatal illnesses, disabilities and death. Measles remains one of the leading causes of childhood death around the globe. Rubella is also dangerous for pregnant women, as it can cause miscarriage or harm to unborn babies.
The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) is a combined vaccine that protects against all three infections. Clinicians can vaccinate against varicella (chickenpox) by a combined MMR and varicella vaccine (MMRV) or giving it separately at the same time (MMR+V).
•••••
In terms of effectiveness the review found:
Measles: one dose of vaccine was 95% effective in preventing measles. Based on the data analysed in the review, the number of cases would fall from 7% in unvaccinated children to under 0.5% in children who receive one dose of the vaccine. After two doses, effectiveness was similar at around 96%.
Mumps: one dose of vaccine was 72% effective in preventing mumps. This rose to 86% after two doses. From data analysed in the review. the number of cases would fall from 7.4% in unvaccinated children to 1% in children were vaccinated with two doses.
The results for rubella and chickenpox also showed that that vaccines are effective. After one dose of vaccine was 89% effective in preventing rubella, and one study found that after 10 years the MMRV vaccine was 95% effective at preventing chickenpox infection. If exposed to chickenpox, 5 out of 100 vaccinated children would catch it.
"In terms of safety, we know from previous studies all around the world that the risks posed by these diseases far outweigh those of the vaccines administered to prevent them," says Dr Di Pietrantonj. "In this review, we wanted to look at evidence for specific harms that have been linked with these vaccines in public debate - often without rigorous scientific evidence as a basis."
In relation to the controversy arising from false claims linking vaccination and autism, the review summarises evidence from two studies with 1,194,764 children. Diagnosed cases of autism were similar in vaccinated and unvaccinated children (1.)
Two further studies with 1,071,088 children find no evidence for any association between the MMR vaccines and encephalitis, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, cognitive delay, type 1 diabetes, asthma, dermatitis/eczema, hay fever, leukaemia, multiple sclerosis, gait disturbance and bacterial or viral infections.
•••••
Nearly half of US breathing unhealthy air; record-breaking air pollution in nine cities
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/ala-nho041720.php
News Release 21-Apr-2020
American Lung Association
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, which is responsible for dramatic improvements in air quality. Despite this, a new report from the American Lung Association finds nearly half of the nation's population - 150 million people - lived with and breathed polluted air, placing their health and lives at risk. The 21st annual "State of the Air" report finds that climate change continues to make air pollution worse, with many western communities again experiencing record-breaking spikes in particle pollution due to wildfires. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of air pollution on lung health is of heightened concern.
The 2020 "State of the Air" report analyzed data from 2016, 2017 and 2018, the three years with the most recent quality-assured air pollution data. Notably, those three years were among the five hottest recorded in global history. When it comes to air quality, changing climate patterns fuel wildfires and their dangerous smoke, and lead to worsened particle and ozone pollution. This degraded air quality threatens everyone, especially children, older adults and people living with a lung disease.
•••••
"Air pollution is linked to greater risk of lung infection," Wimmer added. "Protecting everyone from COVID-19 and other lung infections is an urgent reminder of the importance of clean air."
•••••
The "State of the Air" also recognizes the nation's four cleanest cities. To make the list, a city must experience no high ozone or high particle pollution days and must rank among the 25 cities with the lowest year-round particle pollution levels.
Cleanest U.S. Cities (listed in alphabetical order)
Bangor, Maine
Burlington-South Burlington-Barre, Vermont
Honolulu, Hawaii
Wilmington, North Carolina
•••••
News Release 21-Apr-2020
American Lung Association
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, which is responsible for dramatic improvements in air quality. Despite this, a new report from the American Lung Association finds nearly half of the nation's population - 150 million people - lived with and breathed polluted air, placing their health and lives at risk. The 21st annual "State of the Air" report finds that climate change continues to make air pollution worse, with many western communities again experiencing record-breaking spikes in particle pollution due to wildfires. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of air pollution on lung health is of heightened concern.
The 2020 "State of the Air" report analyzed data from 2016, 2017 and 2018, the three years with the most recent quality-assured air pollution data. Notably, those three years were among the five hottest recorded in global history. When it comes to air quality, changing climate patterns fuel wildfires and their dangerous smoke, and lead to worsened particle and ozone pollution. This degraded air quality threatens everyone, especially children, older adults and people living with a lung disease.
•••••
"Air pollution is linked to greater risk of lung infection," Wimmer added. "Protecting everyone from COVID-19 and other lung infections is an urgent reminder of the importance of clean air."
•••••
The "State of the Air" also recognizes the nation's four cleanest cities. To make the list, a city must experience no high ozone or high particle pollution days and must rank among the 25 cities with the lowest year-round particle pollution levels.
Cleanest U.S. Cities (listed in alphabetical order)
Bangor, Maine
Burlington-South Burlington-Barre, Vermont
Honolulu, Hawaii
Wilmington, North Carolina
•••••
Survey: Food insecurity in Vermont rose 33% during pandemic
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/uov-sfi042020.php
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Strong connection to job losses
Food insecurity in Vermont has increased by one-third during the coronavirus pandemic, from 18.3% to 24.3%, according to a statewide survey conducted by the University of Vermont at the end of March and announced in a series of briefs today.
The increase in food insecurity was strongly correlated with employment status.
•••••
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Strong connection to job losses
Food insecurity in Vermont has increased by one-third during the coronavirus pandemic, from 18.3% to 24.3%, according to a statewide survey conducted by the University of Vermont at the end of March and announced in a series of briefs today.
The increase in food insecurity was strongly correlated with employment status.
•••••
Extra payments motivate sobriety and employment among people recovering from addiction
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/jhm-epm041820.php
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Johns Hopkins Medicine
After a yearlong study of people with opioid dependence, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report evidence that adding $8 an hour to their paychecks may help those in recovery stay drug free longer, as well as encourage them to get and hold regular jobs.
The researchers say poverty is an independent risk factor for drug abuse that treatment plans largely ignore.
In a report on the study, described in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health online Feb. 21, the investigators say their intervention could be used widely in low-income neighborhoods as a way to promote employment, reduce drug use and help those ravaged by the opioid crisis better integrate back into their communities.
•••••
All participants underwent regular urine screens three times each week that became more intermittent if the person remained drug-free. If a participant receiving the wage supplement tested positive for cocaine or opioids, the wage supplement was reduced to $1 and more frequent testing resumed. For each day participants were drug free, the wage supplement rose $1 per hour until reaching the maximum of $8 per hour.
During the yearlong intervention, 65% of people with wage supplements provided urine samples free of opioids and cocaine, compared to 45% of those without wage supplements.
People with wage supplements were also 2.9 times more likely to get a job and 2.7 times more likely to rise out of poverty by the end of the year than those without wage supplements.
"Following this study, the vast majority of unemployed people that participated entered into the workforce with minimum wage positions, so we think the wage supplement is helpful in providing motivation to keep jobs that at times can be stressful and difficult," says Holtyn. She says participants worked in construction, grocery stores, the food service industry, house cleaning and delivery.
The researchers caution that because the wage supplements and drug testing stopped after the study period, they will continue to follow participants for another year to see if the reduced drug use and consistent employment effects persist. They are also testing their wage supplement intervention with homeless adults who have alcohol use disorder.
tags: drug use, drug abuse
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Johns Hopkins Medicine
After a yearlong study of people with opioid dependence, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report evidence that adding $8 an hour to their paychecks may help those in recovery stay drug free longer, as well as encourage them to get and hold regular jobs.
The researchers say poverty is an independent risk factor for drug abuse that treatment plans largely ignore.
In a report on the study, described in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health online Feb. 21, the investigators say their intervention could be used widely in low-income neighborhoods as a way to promote employment, reduce drug use and help those ravaged by the opioid crisis better integrate back into their communities.
•••••
All participants underwent regular urine screens three times each week that became more intermittent if the person remained drug-free. If a participant receiving the wage supplement tested positive for cocaine or opioids, the wage supplement was reduced to $1 and more frequent testing resumed. For each day participants were drug free, the wage supplement rose $1 per hour until reaching the maximum of $8 per hour.
During the yearlong intervention, 65% of people with wage supplements provided urine samples free of opioids and cocaine, compared to 45% of those without wage supplements.
People with wage supplements were also 2.9 times more likely to get a job and 2.7 times more likely to rise out of poverty by the end of the year than those without wage supplements.
"Following this study, the vast majority of unemployed people that participated entered into the workforce with minimum wage positions, so we think the wage supplement is helpful in providing motivation to keep jobs that at times can be stressful and difficult," says Holtyn. She says participants worked in construction, grocery stores, the food service industry, house cleaning and delivery.
The researchers caution that because the wage supplements and drug testing stopped after the study period, they will continue to follow participants for another year to see if the reduced drug use and consistent employment effects persist. They are also testing their wage supplement intervention with homeless adults who have alcohol use disorder.
tags: drug use, drug abuse
Screen time for babies linked to higher risk of autism-like symptoms later in childhood
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/du-stf041620.php
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Drexel University
Sitting a baby in front of a tablet or television, as well as less parent-child play time, are associated with developing greater autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-like symptoms later in childhood. These findings, from the first prospective study on the subject, are published today in JAMA Pediatrics from researchers at Drexel University's College of Medicine and Dornsife School of Public Health.
The authors suggest that these findings come at a critical time during this coronavirus pandemic with many children at home all day and parents juggling working from home or other new responsibilities while watching their children.
"The literature is rich with studies showing the benefits of parent-infant interaction on later child development, as well as the association of greater screen viewing with developmental delays," said lead author Karen F. Heffler, MD, a researcher in the College of Medicine. Our study expands on this previous research by associating early social and screen media experiences with later ASD-like symptoms."
•••••
The authors note that their study did not find an association with ASD risk, but rather with ASD-like symptoms. Future studies should explore whether this relationship is determined by children predisposed to ASD being drawn to the screens or screens contributing to ASD-like symptoms. In the meantime, the authors suggest that parents adhere to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to avoid screen time in children younger than 18 months and limit screens to one hour daily through age 5 years, co-viewed to help children understand what they are seeing.
News Release 20-Apr-2020
Drexel University
Sitting a baby in front of a tablet or television, as well as less parent-child play time, are associated with developing greater autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-like symptoms later in childhood. These findings, from the first prospective study on the subject, are published today in JAMA Pediatrics from researchers at Drexel University's College of Medicine and Dornsife School of Public Health.
The authors suggest that these findings come at a critical time during this coronavirus pandemic with many children at home all day and parents juggling working from home or other new responsibilities while watching their children.
"The literature is rich with studies showing the benefits of parent-infant interaction on later child development, as well as the association of greater screen viewing with developmental delays," said lead author Karen F. Heffler, MD, a researcher in the College of Medicine. Our study expands on this previous research by associating early social and screen media experiences with later ASD-like symptoms."
•••••
The authors note that their study did not find an association with ASD risk, but rather with ASD-like symptoms. Future studies should explore whether this relationship is determined by children predisposed to ASD being drawn to the screens or screens contributing to ASD-like symptoms. In the meantime, the authors suggest that parents adhere to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to avoid screen time in children younger than 18 months and limit screens to one hour daily through age 5 years, co-viewed to help children understand what they are seeing.
COVID-19 possibly striking more children than expected
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/uosf-cps041720.php
News Release 17-Apr-2020
University of South Florida (USF Innovation)
The number of children infected with the coronavirus is far more extensive than what is currently reported -- a hidden detail that could vastly underestimate the demand on health care systems and pediatric intensive care units (PICUs).
A new study published in the "Journal of Public Health Management and Practice" from the University of South Florida (USF) and the Women's Institute for Independent Social Enquiry (WiiSE), estimates that for each child who requires intensive care for COVID-19, there are 2,381 children infected with the virus. This calculation follows a report from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention regarding its clinical study of over 2,100 children in China with COVID-19.
•••••
News Release 17-Apr-2020
University of South Florida (USF Innovation)
The number of children infected with the coronavirus is far more extensive than what is currently reported -- a hidden detail that could vastly underestimate the demand on health care systems and pediatric intensive care units (PICUs).
A new study published in the "Journal of Public Health Management and Practice" from the University of South Florida (USF) and the Women's Institute for Independent Social Enquiry (WiiSE), estimates that for each child who requires intensive care for COVID-19, there are 2,381 children infected with the virus. This calculation follows a report from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention regarding its clinical study of over 2,100 children in China with COVID-19.
•••••
Increased rate of infections may indicate a future cancer diagnosis
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/aafc-iro041520.php
News Release 17-Apr-2020
American Association for Cancer Research
Bottom Line: Patients experienced a greater occurrence of infections in the years preceding a cancer diagnosis.
Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
Author: Shinako Inaida, PhD, a visiting researcher at the Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto University in Japan
Background: "Cancer can develop in an inflammatory environment caused by infections, immunity disruption, exposure to chemical carcinogens, or chronic or genetic conditions," said Inaida. "An individual's immunity is thought to be a factor in the development of cancer, but additional research is needed to understand the relationship among precancerous immunity, infections, and cancer development," added Inaida. "This information may contribute to efforts to prevent or detect cancer."
Studies have suggested an increase in infections prior to the development of non-solid tumors, such as lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and myeloma, explained Inaida. However, fewer studies have examined infection prior to the development of solid tumors.
•••••
Results: The authors found that individuals in the case group had experienced higher rates of infection over the six years prior to their cancer diagnoses than those in the control group over the same time period. The largest differences in annual infection prevalence rates occurred in the sixth year, which was one year prior to cancer diagnosis. During this year, the infection prevalence rates for the case group were higher than the control group by 18 percent for influenza, 46.1 percent for gastroenteritis, 232.1 percent for hepatitis, and 135.9 percent for pneumonia.
•••••
The authors also found that certain infections appeared to have a greater association with certain cancer types. The odds of influenza infection just before cancer detection, for example, were highest for those who developed male germ cell cancers. Additionally, the odds of pneumonia were highest in those who went on to develop stomach cancer, and the odds of hepatitis infection were highest in those who developed hematologic, blood, bone, or bone marrow cancers. "Interestingly, we found that infection afflicting a specific organ did not necessarily correlate with increased risk of cancer in the same organ," noted Inaida.
Study Limitations: A limitation of the study was the lack of information about environmental exposures, lifestyles, or underlying genetic or medical conditions, which could have contributed to increased infection in addition to causing cancer. Another limitation was that information regarding infection was based solely on diagnoses recorded in the database; thus, there may be variability in diagnoses across different clinicians, and some infections may not have been diagnosed or recorded. The small sample size for rare cancers was an additional limitation.
News Release 17-Apr-2020
American Association for Cancer Research
Bottom Line: Patients experienced a greater occurrence of infections in the years preceding a cancer diagnosis.
Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
Author: Shinako Inaida, PhD, a visiting researcher at the Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto University in Japan
Background: "Cancer can develop in an inflammatory environment caused by infections, immunity disruption, exposure to chemical carcinogens, or chronic or genetic conditions," said Inaida. "An individual's immunity is thought to be a factor in the development of cancer, but additional research is needed to understand the relationship among precancerous immunity, infections, and cancer development," added Inaida. "This information may contribute to efforts to prevent or detect cancer."
Studies have suggested an increase in infections prior to the development of non-solid tumors, such as lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and myeloma, explained Inaida. However, fewer studies have examined infection prior to the development of solid tumors.
•••••
Results: The authors found that individuals in the case group had experienced higher rates of infection over the six years prior to their cancer diagnoses than those in the control group over the same time period. The largest differences in annual infection prevalence rates occurred in the sixth year, which was one year prior to cancer diagnosis. During this year, the infection prevalence rates for the case group were higher than the control group by 18 percent for influenza, 46.1 percent for gastroenteritis, 232.1 percent for hepatitis, and 135.9 percent for pneumonia.
•••••
The authors also found that certain infections appeared to have a greater association with certain cancer types. The odds of influenza infection just before cancer detection, for example, were highest for those who developed male germ cell cancers. Additionally, the odds of pneumonia were highest in those who went on to develop stomach cancer, and the odds of hepatitis infection were highest in those who developed hematologic, blood, bone, or bone marrow cancers. "Interestingly, we found that infection afflicting a specific organ did not necessarily correlate with increased risk of cancer in the same organ," noted Inaida.
Study Limitations: A limitation of the study was the lack of information about environmental exposures, lifestyles, or underlying genetic or medical conditions, which could have contributed to increased infection in addition to causing cancer. Another limitation was that information regarding infection was based solely on diagnoses recorded in the database; thus, there may be variability in diagnoses across different clinicians, and some infections may not have been diagnosed or recorded. The small sample size for rare cancers was an additional limitation.
Monday, April 20, 2020
Air pollution may be ‘key contributor’ to Covid-19 deaths
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/20/air-pollution-may-be-key-contributor-to-covid-19-deaths-study
While the Trump administration is rolling back pollution standards.
Damian Carrington Environment editor
Mon 20 Apr 2020 08.17 EDT
High levels of air pollution may be “one of the most important contributors” to deaths from Covid-19, according to research.
The analysis shows that of the coronavirus deaths across 66 administrative regions in Italy, Spain, France and Germany, 78% of them occurred in just five regions, and these were the most polluted.
The research examined levels of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant produced mostly by diesel vehicles, and weather conditions that can prevent dirty air from dispersing away from a city. Many studies have linked NO2 exposure to health damage, and particularly lung disease, which could make people more likely to die if they contract Covid-19.
“The results indicate that long-term exposure to this pollutant may be one of the most important contributors to fatality caused by the Covid-19 virus in these regions and maybe across the whole world,” said Yaron Ogen, at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, who conducted the research. “Poisoning our environment means poisoning our own body, and when it experiences chronic respiratory stress its ability to defend itself from infections is limited.”
The analysis is only able to show a strong correlation, not a causal link. “It is now necessary to examine whether the presence of an initial inflammatory condition is related to the response of the immune system to the coronavirus,” Ogen said.
A separate study published on 7 April looked at fine particle pollution in the US and found that even small increases in levels in the years before the pandemic were associated with far higher Covid-19 death rates. Another recent paper noted that the high death rates seen in the north of Italy correlated with the highest levels of air pollution.
•••••
Widespread lockdowns around the world have led to reduced vehicle traffic and air pollution. However, long-term exposure to dirty air before the pandemic may be more important than current levels of pollution.
•••••
Russian fighter jet executes 'unsafe' intercept of US Navy aircraft, coming within 25 feet of an American plane
https://news.yahoo.com/russian-fighter-jet-executes-unsafe-220808085.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/video-russian-fighter-jet-unsafe-intercept-of-us-navy-aircraft-2020-4
Ryan Pickrell
,Business Insider•April 19, 2020
For the second time in four days, a Russian fighter jet conducted an "unsafe" intercept of a US aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea, the US Navy said on Sunday.
The Navy said in a press release that over roughly an hour and a half on Sunday, a Russian Su-35 fighter twice intercepted a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft operating in international airspace over the Mediterranean. While the first intercept was acceptable, the Navy considered the second "unsafe and unprofessional."
During the risky intercept, the Russian fighter executed a "high-speed, high-powered maneuver that decreased aircraft separation to within 25 feet, directly in front of the P-8A, exposing the US aircraft to wake turbulence and jet exhaust," the Navy said. The P-8A descended to create space between it and the Russian fighter jet.
The Navy accused the Russian pilot of "seriously jeopardizing the safety of flight of both aircraft."
•••••
Sunday's intercept followed a similar incident on Wednesday, when a Russian Su-35 intercepted a P-8A over the Mediterranean, conducting "a high-speed, inverted maneuver, 25 ft. directly in front of the mission aircraft," the Navy said in a statement at the time.
•••••
The US is battling a serious coronavirus outbreak, but US adversaries continue to cause headaches for the military.
Last week, the US Navy also had an unpleasant run-in with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
On Wednesday, 11 Iranian vessels "conducted dangerous and harassing approaches" against US Navy and Coast Guard vessels operating in the Persian Gulf, repeatedly crossing the bows and sterns of the US ships and at one point coming within 10 yards of a US vessel, the Navy said.
•••••
https://www.businessinsider.com/video-russian-fighter-jet-unsafe-intercept-of-us-navy-aircraft-2020-4
Ryan Pickrell
,Business Insider•April 19, 2020
For the second time in four days, a Russian fighter jet conducted an "unsafe" intercept of a US aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea, the US Navy said on Sunday.
The Navy said in a press release that over roughly an hour and a half on Sunday, a Russian Su-35 fighter twice intercepted a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft operating in international airspace over the Mediterranean. While the first intercept was acceptable, the Navy considered the second "unsafe and unprofessional."
During the risky intercept, the Russian fighter executed a "high-speed, high-powered maneuver that decreased aircraft separation to within 25 feet, directly in front of the P-8A, exposing the US aircraft to wake turbulence and jet exhaust," the Navy said. The P-8A descended to create space between it and the Russian fighter jet.
The Navy accused the Russian pilot of "seriously jeopardizing the safety of flight of both aircraft."
•••••
Sunday's intercept followed a similar incident on Wednesday, when a Russian Su-35 intercepted a P-8A over the Mediterranean, conducting "a high-speed, inverted maneuver, 25 ft. directly in front of the mission aircraft," the Navy said in a statement at the time.
•••••
The US is battling a serious coronavirus outbreak, but US adversaries continue to cause headaches for the military.
Last week, the US Navy also had an unpleasant run-in with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
On Wednesday, 11 Iranian vessels "conducted dangerous and harassing approaches" against US Navy and Coast Guard vessels operating in the Persian Gulf, repeatedly crossing the bows and sterns of the US ships and at one point coming within 10 yards of a US vessel, the Navy said.
•••••
Poisonings linked to cleaning supplies spike in US during pandemic
https://news.yahoo.com/poisonings-linked-cleaning-supplies-spike-us-during-pandemic-205018615.html
AFP•April 20, 2020
Calls to US poison centers have risen 20 percent this year because of exposure to bleach and other disinfectants, health authorities said Monday, linking the surge to COVID-19 cleaning recommendations.
From January to March 2020, poison centers received 45,550 calls about dangerous exposure to cleaning chemicals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report, up from 37,822 the year before.
The number of calls rose sharply in March -- around the time that most state lockdowns went into effect -- with exposures to children under the age of five years accounting for the biggest percentage.
Exposure to bleaches, non-alcoholic disinfectants and hand sanitizers all saw sharp rises, with the main route being inhalation.
•••••
The health agency recommended that to avoid such exposures, people using cleaning products should always read and follow instructions on labels, only use water at room temperature for dilution, and avoid mixing chemicals.
They should also wear eye and skin protection, ensure they are cleaning with adequate ventilation, and keep chemicals out of reach of children.
AFP•April 20, 2020
Calls to US poison centers have risen 20 percent this year because of exposure to bleach and other disinfectants, health authorities said Monday, linking the surge to COVID-19 cleaning recommendations.
From January to March 2020, poison centers received 45,550 calls about dangerous exposure to cleaning chemicals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report, up from 37,822 the year before.
The number of calls rose sharply in March -- around the time that most state lockdowns went into effect -- with exposures to children under the age of five years accounting for the biggest percentage.
Exposure to bleaches, non-alcoholic disinfectants and hand sanitizers all saw sharp rises, with the main route being inhalation.
•••••
The health agency recommended that to avoid such exposures, people using cleaning products should always read and follow instructions on labels, only use water at room temperature for dilution, and avoid mixing chemicals.
They should also wear eye and skin protection, ensure they are cleaning with adequate ventilation, and keep chemicals out of reach of children.
Tapping Into the Power of Humble Narcissism
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/tapping-into-the-power-of-humble-narcissism?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Adam Grant
March 14, 2018
Who would you rather work for: a narcissistic leader or a humble leader?
The answer is more complicated than you think.
In a Fortune 100 company, researchers studied whether customer service employees were more productive under narcissistic or humble leaders. The least effective bosses were narcissists — their employees were more likely to spend time surfing the Internet and taking long breaks. Employees with humble bosses were a bit more productive: they fielded more customer service calls and took fewer breaks. But the best leaders weren’t humble or narcissistic.
How can you be narcissistic and humble at the same time? The two qualities sound like opposites, but they can go hand in hand. Narcissists believe they’re special and superior; humble leaders know they’re fallible and flawed. Humble narcissists bring the best of both worlds: they have bold visions, but they’re also willing to acknowledge their weaknesses and learn from their mistakes.
Humble narcissists don’t just have more productive employees — they’re rated as more effective too. It’s not just true in the US: new research also shows that humble narcissists make the best leaders in China. They’re more charismatic, and their companies are more likely to innovate.
•••••
alone, narcissism is dangerous. Studies show that tech companies with narcissistic CEOs have more fluctuating, volatile performance. Narcissists tend to be overconfident. They’re prone to dismissing criticism and falling victim to flattery. They surround themselves with yes-men and take unnecessary risks.
•••••
Adding humility prevents capriciousness and complacency. It helps you remember that you’re human. Humble narcissists have grand ambitions, but they don’t feel entitled to them. They don’t deny their weaknesses; they work to overcome them.
As an organizational psychologist, I study leaders and teams, and I’ve been struck that there are three kinds of humility that matter.
The first kind of humility is humility about your ideas.
•••••
If you ever took a debate class, you were taught to identify the weaknesses in your argument and address them out loud. But we forget to do this when we pitch our ideas: we worry that they’re fragile and we don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot. We overlook the fact that we’ll actually seem more credible and trustworthy — and other people will see more potential in our ideas — if we have the humility to acknowledge their limitations.
•••••
The second kind of humility is performance humility. It means admitting that we fall short of our goals, we make mistakes, sometimes we even fall flat on our faces.
•••••
The evidence is clear: employees who seek negative feedback get better performance reviews. They signal that want to learn, and they put themselves in a stronger position to learn.
•••••
The third kind of humility is cultural humility. In many workplaces, there’s a strong focus on hiring people who fit the culture. In Silicon Valley, startups that prize culture fit are significantly less likely to fail and significantly more likely to go public. But post-IPO, they grow at slower rates than firms that hire on skills or potential.
Hiring on culture fit reflects a lack of humility. It suggests that culture is already perfect — all we need to do is bring in people who will perpetuate it. Sociologists find that when we prize culture fit, we end up hiring people who are similar to us. That weeds out diversity of thought and background, and it’s a surefire recipe for groupthink.
Cultural humility is about recognizing that your culture always has room for growth, just like we do.
•••••
Even if you don’t start your career as a narcissist, success can go to your head. Maintaining humility requires you to surround yourself with people who keep you honest, who tell you the truth you may not want to hear but need to hear, and who hold you accountable if you don’t listen to them.
•••••
That’s what a humble narcissist sounds like:. “I believe I can do extraordinary things, but I always have something to learn.”
So if you work with a narcissist, don’t try to lower their confidence. Just temper it with humility. Don’t tell them they’re not great. Instead, remind them that they’re human, they haven’t succeeded alone, and what sets the best apart is that they’re always striving to get better.
Adam Grant
March 14, 2018
Who would you rather work for: a narcissistic leader or a humble leader?
The answer is more complicated than you think.
In a Fortune 100 company, researchers studied whether customer service employees were more productive under narcissistic or humble leaders. The least effective bosses were narcissists — their employees were more likely to spend time surfing the Internet and taking long breaks. Employees with humble bosses were a bit more productive: they fielded more customer service calls and took fewer breaks. But the best leaders weren’t humble or narcissistic.
How can you be narcissistic and humble at the same time? The two qualities sound like opposites, but they can go hand in hand. Narcissists believe they’re special and superior; humble leaders know they’re fallible and flawed. Humble narcissists bring the best of both worlds: they have bold visions, but they’re also willing to acknowledge their weaknesses and learn from their mistakes.
Humble narcissists don’t just have more productive employees — they’re rated as more effective too. It’s not just true in the US: new research also shows that humble narcissists make the best leaders in China. They’re more charismatic, and their companies are more likely to innovate.
•••••
alone, narcissism is dangerous. Studies show that tech companies with narcissistic CEOs have more fluctuating, volatile performance. Narcissists tend to be overconfident. They’re prone to dismissing criticism and falling victim to flattery. They surround themselves with yes-men and take unnecessary risks.
•••••
Adding humility prevents capriciousness and complacency. It helps you remember that you’re human. Humble narcissists have grand ambitions, but they don’t feel entitled to them. They don’t deny their weaknesses; they work to overcome them.
As an organizational psychologist, I study leaders and teams, and I’ve been struck that there are three kinds of humility that matter.
The first kind of humility is humility about your ideas.
•••••
If you ever took a debate class, you were taught to identify the weaknesses in your argument and address them out loud. But we forget to do this when we pitch our ideas: we worry that they’re fragile and we don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot. We overlook the fact that we’ll actually seem more credible and trustworthy — and other people will see more potential in our ideas — if we have the humility to acknowledge their limitations.
•••••
The second kind of humility is performance humility. It means admitting that we fall short of our goals, we make mistakes, sometimes we even fall flat on our faces.
•••••
The evidence is clear: employees who seek negative feedback get better performance reviews. They signal that want to learn, and they put themselves in a stronger position to learn.
•••••
The third kind of humility is cultural humility. In many workplaces, there’s a strong focus on hiring people who fit the culture. In Silicon Valley, startups that prize culture fit are significantly less likely to fail and significantly more likely to go public. But post-IPO, they grow at slower rates than firms that hire on skills or potential.
Hiring on culture fit reflects a lack of humility. It suggests that culture is already perfect — all we need to do is bring in people who will perpetuate it. Sociologists find that when we prize culture fit, we end up hiring people who are similar to us. That weeds out diversity of thought and background, and it’s a surefire recipe for groupthink.
Cultural humility is about recognizing that your culture always has room for growth, just like we do.
•••••
Even if you don’t start your career as a narcissist, success can go to your head. Maintaining humility requires you to surround yourself with people who keep you honest, who tell you the truth you may not want to hear but need to hear, and who hold you accountable if you don’t listen to them.
•••••
That’s what a humble narcissist sounds like:. “I believe I can do extraordinary things, but I always have something to learn.”
So if you work with a narcissist, don’t try to lower their confidence. Just temper it with humility. Don’t tell them they’re not great. Instead, remind them that they’re human, they haven’t succeeded alone, and what sets the best apart is that they’re always striving to get better.
How the Coronavirus Could Create a New Working Class
Because so many people died, there were fewer workers, so they had more leverage. Supply & demand. Why the power elite want to make it harder for workers to limit family size, they want a lot of workers competing with each other to keep wages down.https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/coronavirus-class-war-just-beginning/609919/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Olga Khazan
April 15, 2020
•••••
The past few weeks have exposed just how much a person’s risk of infection hinges on class. Though people of all incomes are at risk of being laid off, those who can work from home are at least less likely to get sick. The low-income workers who do still have jobs, meanwhile, are likely to be stuck in close quarters with other humans. For example, grocery-store clerks face some of the greatest exposure to the coronavirus, aside from health-care workers. “Essential” businesses—grocery stores, pharmacies—are about the only places Americans are still permitted to go, and their cashiers stand less than an arm’s length from hundreds of people a day.
•••••
My inboxes have filled up with outcries from workers at big-box retailers, grocery stores, and shipping giants who say their companies are not protecting them. They say people are being sent into work despite having been in contact with people infected with the virus. They say the company promised to pay for their quarantine leave, but the payment has been delayed for weeks and they are running out of money. Or the company denied their medical leave because they don’t have proof of a nearly impossible-to-get COVID-19 test. Or the company doesn’t offer paid medical leave at all, and they’re wondering how they’ll pay for gas once they recover from the disease.
Masks are in short supply nationwide, and some managers have resisted allowing workers to wear them, fearing it will disrupt the appearance of normalcy. Some companies have rolled out “hazard pay” for employees, but in many cases it amounts to about $2 more an hour.
•••••
Wealthier people also have fewer underlying health conditions that exacerbate COVID-19. And they are more likely to be practicing social distancing effectively, according to Gallup. Perhaps this is because they don’t need to leave the house as much for their livelihood: Gallup also found that 71 percent of people making more than $180,000 can work from home during the pandemic, compared with just 41 percent of those making less than $24,000. According to a recent analysis by The New York Times, the well-off are staying home the most, especially during the workweek, and they also began practicing social distancing earlier than low-income workers did.
“Self-isolation is an economic luxury,” says Justin Gest, a public-policy professor at George Mason University and the author of The New Minority. For those working-class people who do still have jobs, “it probably requires a physical presence somewhere that exposes them to the virus.”
At the same time, it isn’t as if grocery workers can simply stop coming to work. More self-checkouts could be used and more contact-free deliveries could be made, but someone has to get the Cheerios off the truck and onto the shelves. We are, through this virus, seeing who the truly “essential” workers are. It’s not the people who get paid to write tweets all day, but the people who keep the tweeters in chickpeas and Halo Top.
•••••
Some service workers have taken to Twitter and private messaging groups to lament the fact that while they’re getting coughed on by strangers, their corporate bosses have retreated to their summer houses.
•••••
history offers a precedent for plagues being, perversely, good for workers. Collective anger at low wages and poor working protections can produce lasting social change, and people tend to be more supportive of government benefits during periods of high unemployment. One study that looked at 15 major pandemics found that they increased wages for three decades afterward. The Plague of Justinian, in 541, led to worker incomes doubling. After the Black Death demolished Europe in the 1300s, textile workers in northern France received three raises in a year. Old rules were upended: Workers started wearing red, a color previously associated with nobility.
•••••
“Is this going to be an inflection point where Americans begin to realize that we need government, we need each other, we need social solidarity, we are not all cowboys, who knew?” said Joan Williams, a law professor at UC Hastings and the author of White Working Class.
•••••
Many experts said one likely result of this outbreak will be an increase in populist sentiment. But it is not yet clear whether it will be leftist populism, in the style of Senator Bernie Sanders, or conservative populism, in the style of President Donald Trump. Leftist populism will likely emphasize the common struggle of the laid off, the low-paid, and the workers derided by their bosses as expendable. Meanwhile, “right populism will ask white working-class people to be in race solidarity with rich white Americans,” Betsy Leondar-Wright, a sociologist at Lasell University, said. It will perhaps lead to the scapegoating of Chinese people and other foreigners.
•••••
A Beloved Bar Owner Was Skeptical About the Virus. Then He Took a Cruise.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/nyregion/coronavirus-jjbubbles-joe-joyce.html?fbclid=IwAR26658QsI41yWalOwp9kMmwU5XsKT_Rk5yt5oGi78tFGDoTc0wIIq-6DtA
Of course, we don't know how he got it. Could have been at his bar, from a customer or employee. But he increased his risk by going on the cruise. And viral load makes a difference, so the cruise could have put him over the limit of the amount of virus his body could handle.
By Ginia Bellafante
Published April 18, 2020
Updated April 19, 2020
•••••
On March 1, Joe Joyce and his wife, Jane, set sail for Spain on a cruise, flying first to Florida. His adult children — Kevin, Eddie and Kristen Mider — suggested that the impending doom of the coronavirus made this a bad idea. Joe Joyce was 74, a nonsmoker, healthy; four years after he opened his bar he stopped drinking completely. He didn’t see the problem.
“He watched Fox, and believed it was under control,’’ Kristen told me.
Early in March Sean Hannity went on air proclaiming that he didn’t like the way that the American people were getting scared “unnecessarily.’’ He saw it all, he said, “as like, let’s bludgeon Trump with this new hoax.”
•••••
On March 14, they returned to New York from Barcelona, and the next day, before bars and restaurants were forced to close in the city, Joe Joyce went to work at JJ Bubbles for the last time.
He and his wife then headed to their house in New Hampshire. Their children were checking in from New York and New Jersey, and on March 27, when Kristen got off the phone with her father, she called an ambulance. He was wheezing. His oxygen level turned out to be a dangerously low 70 percent. On April 9, he died of Covid-19. The following day, Artie Nelson, one of his longtime bartenders at JJ Bubbles, and also in his 70s, died of the virus as well.
It is possible, of course, that Joe Joyce did not contract the coronavirus on a trip to Spain, where almost 20,000 have died from complications related to it. Although the combination of being on a cruise ship — a proven petri dish for infections — and visiting a country with a full-blown outbreak is hard to ignore. But there was a way he might have avoided the trip, his daughter speculated. “If Trump had gone on TV with a mask on and said, ‘Hey this is serious,’ I don’t think he would have gone.”
When her father began to feel sick, he resisted getting tested. “He didn’t think that he could have it,” Kristen said, “because he wasn’t 100 percent confident that it was a thing.”
Seven days before he was admitted to the hospital, Joe and Kristen had an argument about the emerging public health crisis, which Kristen described as the only dispute she ever had with her father that she wished she hadn’t won. “He said, ‘Don’t you think this is fishy? Do you know anyone who has it? Do you know anyone who has died from it?’ And I said, ‘Dad, I don’t know anyone now, but give me a week and I bet I will.’”
Violent rival gangs in South Africa call truce to help people during pandemic
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-cape-town-violent-rival-gangs-south-africa-call-truce-pandemic/?ftag=COS-05-10aaa0h&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2eBK-MsRu4f3TQur9v164U5Xv0IK75SmRfNyI3dmxbzsBSb6SojftULu0
Good role models for us.
April 18, 2020, 1:33 PM
Warring gangs in South Africa are working together in an unprecedented truce to deliver much-needed food to people under lockdown. The country has seen a 75% decrease in violent crime since it imposed strict restrictions over the coronavirus pandemic, and normally dangerous streets in Cape Town now see sworn enemies meeting up to collect essential goods to distribute throughout hungry communities.
"What we're seeing happen here is literally a miracle," Pastor Andie Steele-Smith said to BBC News.
Steel-Smith works with gang members in his community, many of whom are convicted killers.
"They are the best distributors in the country," he said. "They are used to distributing other white powders, but still they are distributing things and then, they know everybody."
Preston Jacobs, a member of the "Americans" gang, told CBS News' Debora Patta it "feels nice" to take on a new role and communicate with those in need.
"Now I see there are nice people also, and people want to love what we're doing now," Jacobs said.
Sansi Hassan of the "Clever Kids" gang expressed hope that this current ceasefire in gang violence could be permanent in the post-lockdown future.
"If it can stay like this, then there will be no gang fight," he said. "And every gang will agree with us."
•••••
Hypocritic protesters
April 20, 2020
Saw this comment on Facebook, in regards to the right-wing protesters wanting to lift Covid-19 restrictions on group gatherings:
These are the same people who said Colin Kapernick did not have the freedom/right to take a knee for injustice at a football game. You don’t have a right to politicize the flag, they say.
These are the same people who said, if you obey the law and the commands of a police officer you wouldn’t get shot dead. It’s always your fault, you must obey authority, they say.
These are the same people who claim to be pro life. But now, it’s okay for some people to die, in the name of saving the economy, they say
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