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Over 1 million Australians download virus app
Australian officials are pleased that more than 1 million people have downloaded an app designed to accelerate contact tracing for coronavirus despite some privacy concerns.
Within 12 hours of the Australian-developed COVIDsafe app becoming available late Sunday, 1.13 million of Australia’s 26 million population had downloaded it onto their smart phones.
Chief Health Officer Damian Murphy said Monday he was “really excited†by the app’s early popularity.
Government officials intend to rush legislation through Parliament to outlaw use of collected data for purposes other than tracing people who might have COVID-19. Officials have also promised to release the app’s source code within two weeks so that independent analysts can better understand how to works and its privacy implications.
The government says at least 40% of the Australian population needs to take up the technology based on Singapore’s TraceTogether app for it to be effective.
If users of COVIDsafe are diagnosed with the virus, they can upload the app’s encrypted data logs which identify other users who have been in close proximity for 15 minutes or more in the previous three week.
The government hopes the app will enable Australia to safely reopen the economy by enabling health officials to quickly identify and contain new outbreaks. Australia will resume non-urgent surgeries this week for the first time since March 27 as confidence grows that hospitals won’t be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases.
Australia has recorded 6,720 cases of the virus, 83 patients have died and 27 remained critically ill in hospitals on ventilators on Monday.
Spain’s kids celebrate freedom from 44-day lockdown
BARCELONA, Spain — After six weeks cooped up with her 3-year-old twins, Susana Sabaté was finally able to release her energy-filled boys onto Spain’s sunny streets.
On Sunday, Spain’s government lifted a home-confinement rule for children under 14 years old after 44 days, ending one of the most restrictive measures of its national lockdown. The coronavirus outbreak has claimed more than 22,000 lives in the European country. Even Italy, with more deaths than Spain, has not kept its youngsters completely secluded.
“This is wonderful! I can’t believe it has been six weeks,†the 44-year-old Sabaté said in Barcelona. “My boys are very active. Today when they saw the front door and we gave them their scooters, they were thrilled.â€
Census delay could put off new voting districts, primaries
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Census Bureau needs more time to wrap up the once-a-decade count because of the coronavirus, opening the possibility of delays in drawing new legislative districts that could help determine what political party is in power, what laws pass or fail and whether communities of color get a voice in their states.
The number of people counted and their demographics guide how voting districts for the U.S. House and state legislatures are redrawn every 10 years. The monthslong delay in census data could make a divisive process more complicated, potentially forcing lawmakers into costly special sessions to complete the work or postponing some primary elections.
Governors say they’ll ease virus restrictions, with an abundance of caution
A pair of U.S. governors on Sunday outlined plans to ease stay-at-home orders in the days and weeks ahead but cautioned constituents that the coronavirus remained a threat in their communities.
“What matters a lot more than the date that the stay-at-home ends is what we do going forward, and how we have an ongoing, sustainable way — psychologically, economically and from the health perspective — to have the social distancing we need,†said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, on CNN’s “State of the Union.â€
Dr. Fauci gets his wish as Brad Pitt plays him in ‘SNL’ cold open
“Saturday Night Live†aired its second at-home episode Saturday night, kicking off the remotely produced show with a cold open featuring Brad Pitt as Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In a CNN interview earlier this month, Fauci jokingly requested Pitt to portray him on “SNL,†which returned to television with its first at-home episode two weeks ago. Donning a wig, glasses and a Brooklyn accent, Pitt as Fauci pointed out the misinformation President Trump had spread about the coronavirus and offered his own clarifications.
Dutch teens home after coronavirus forced unexpected Atlantic crossing
HARLINGEN, Netherlands — Greeted by relieved parents, pet dogs, flares and a cloud of orange smoke, a group of 25 Dutch high school students with very little sailing experience ended a trans-Atlantic voyage Sunday that was forced on them by coronavirus restrictions.
The children, ages 14 to 17, watched over by 12 experienced crew members and three teachers, were on an educational cruise of the Caribbean when the pandemic forced them to radically change their plans for returning home in March.
Instead of flying back from Cuba as originally planned, the crew and students stocked up on supplies and warm clothes and set sail for the northern Dutch port of Harlingen, a five-week voyage of about 4,350 miles, on board the 200-foot top sail schooner Wylde Swan. They monitored their health along the way to make sure nobody was infected with the coronavirus.
As they arrived home, the students hung up a self-made banner saying “Bucket List†with ticks in boxes for Atlantic Ocean crossing, mid-ocean swim and surviving the so-called Bermuda Triangle.
The teens hugged and chanted one another’s names as they walked off the ship and into the arms of their families, who drove their cars alongside the yacht one by one to adhere to social-distancing rules.
Floor Hurkmans, 17, said there was no social distancing aboard the Swan.
“At home you just have some moments for yourself,†she said, but on the boat, you eat, sleep and are “just doing everything†together, “so you can’t really just relax.â€
But her mom, Renee Scholtemeijer, predicted her daughter would miss life on the open sea once she encountered coronavirus containment measures in the Netherlands. It’s boring, she said: “I think that after two days she’ll want to go back on the boat.â€
What has to happen before front-line medical workers enter their own homes
SAN DIEGO — Critical care nurse Erin Jenkins starts her COVID-19 catharsis in the locker room at UC San Diego Medical Center.
It is not enough to simply head home after 12-hour shifts working in the presence of the virus responsible for the global pandemic. Hard work is necessary to gain the kind of physical and emotional space needed for front-line workers to feel safe walking through their own front doors.
Changing into a fresh set of scrubs starts the ritual. Then it’s time for the scrub down. Everything — ID badge, shoes, smartphone screen — gets a swipe with an alcohol wipe as does every door handle on her path to the outside world.
Already sanitized, her work shoes nonetheless get special covers before they enter her vehicle, and they stay outside once Jenkins makes it home. Everything that was cleaned at the hospital gets cleaned again at the back door. Only then does it feel safe to move quickly through the house, touching nothing, and slip her clothes into the washing machine.
Pentagon focusing on most vital personnel for virus testing
With limited supplies of coronavirus tests available, the Pentagon is focusing first on testing those performing duties deemed most vital to national security. Atop the list are the men and women who operate the nation’s nuclear forces, some counterterrorism forces, and the crew of a soon-to-deploy aircraft carrier.
Defense leaders hope to increase testing from the current rate of about 7,000 a day to 60,000 by June. This will enable them to test those showing symptoms as well as those who do not.
The current tight supply forced the Pentagon to take a phased approach, which includes testing sailors aboard the USS Nimitz, the Bremerton, Washington-based Navy carrier next in line to head to the Pacific. Officials hope to avoid a repeat of problems that plagued the virus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt. On Friday the Navy disclosed a virus outbreak aboard another ship at sea, the USS Kidd.
Despite President Donald Trump’s assertion that testing capacity is not an issue in the United States, Pentagon officials don’t expect to have enough tests for all service members until sometime this summer.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper recently approved the tiered approach. It expands the Pentagon’s practice of testing mainly those who show symptoms of the virus to eventually testing everyone. Many virus carriers show no symptoms but can be contagious, as was discovered aboard the Roosevelt.
The aim is to allocate testing materials to protect what the military considers its most important missions, while not depleting supplies for high-risk groups in the civilian population, including the elderly at nursing homes and health care professionals on the front lines of battling the virus.
The first tier of U.S. troops are being tested this month, followed in May and June by the second-highest priority group: forces in combat zones such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Next will be those abroad outside of war zones, like troops in Europe and aboard ships at sea, as well as those returning to the United States from overseas deployments.
Last in line: the remainder of the force.
Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the first three groups could be fully tested by June. By then the Pentagon hopes to reach its goal of being able to conduct 60,000 tests per day. To complete testing of the entire force will take “into the summer,†he said without being specific.
Hyten said that testing under this tiered approach started to step up in mid-April, and that it included a plan to fully test the crew of the Nimitz. The complications that come with trying to test for coronavirus aboard a ship while it’s already underway were made clear with the Roosevelt, which pulled into port at Guam in late March after discovering its first infections. It wasn’t able to test 100% of the crew until a few days ago.
Beyond its desire to limit the spread of the virus, the Pentagon views testing and associated measures such as isolating and quarantining troops as tools to keep the force viable and to ensure it can perform its central function: to defend the nation. At least 3,900 members of the military had tested positive, including more than 850 from the Roosevelt.
Military members, being fitter and younger than the general U.S. population, are thought to be less vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. So far only two military members have died from it.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
The military’s staggered approach to testing is necessary, officials said, because of limited supplies and incomplete knowledge about the virus.
“It is a supply issue right now, which is causing us not to be able to go down the full spectrum of all of the forces,†Hyten said. “So we’ll have to -- that’s why we came up with the tiered approach.â€
Keeping coronavirus out of the nuclear force has been a high priority from the earliest days of this crisis. There are several reasons for that, including the Pentagon’s view that operating those forces 24/7 is central to deterring an attack on the United States. Also, there are limited numbers of military personnel certified to perform those missions, which include controlling Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles from cramped underground modules and operating nuclear-armed Ohio-class submarines.
Since early in the outbreak crisis, Minuteman 3 launch officers have been operating in the missile fields for 14 days at a time, an extraordinary arrangement for personnel who for years had done 24-hour shifts and then returned to base.
Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said Wednesday there are no COVID-positive cases in the nuclear force. That’s a “no fail†mission, he said, that will have to work around the virus indefinitely.
Other first-tier forces, Goldfein said, are elements of the new Space Force, including those who operate Global Positioning System navigation satellites as well as the satellites that would provide early warning of a missile attack on the United States or its allies.
The Air Force and the other services are prioritizing testing in their own ranks, he said, “to make sure that as test kits become available, we’re able to put them where they are most needed.â€
Goldfein said the military understands that the limited national supply of test kits means it cannot have all that it would like.
“One of the top priorities right now across the nation is nursing homes,†he said. “I would not want to take tests away from that top national priority for my younger and healthier force. As tests become available, we’ve tiered them out and we know where we need to put them.â€
First oil prices went negative. Now the shale oil industry is going to shut down
Negative oil prices, ships dawdling off California ports with unwanted cargoes, and traders getting creative about where to stash oil. The next chapter in the oil crisis is now inevitable: Large sections of the petroleum industry are about to start shutting down.
The economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak have ripped through the oil industry in dramatic phases. First it destroyed demand as stay-at-home restrictions shut factories and kept drivers at home. Then storage started filling up and traders resorted to oceangoing tankers to store crude in the hope of better prices ahead.
Now shipping prices are surging to stratospheric levels as the industry runs out of tankers — a sign of just how distorted the market has become.
Protesters, Trump want businesses open; White House virus coordinator sounds note of caution
Social distancing will need to continue through the summer months, White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx said Sunday, even as some states began moving to ease shutdown guidelines.
The governors of states that are beginning to reopen some businesses defended their decisions on Sunday, but their counterparts from other states as well as public-health experts warned that abandoning stay-at-home guidelines too soon could trigger a painful resurgence of the virus.
Although President Trump has said he will leave it up to governors how soon to allow businesses to reopen, he also has made clear his support for protesters in a handful of states who have demanded a speedy end to restrictions meant to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Vice President Mike Pence also spurred hopes for a revival of business activity, predicting last week that the pandemic would be “behind us†by Memorial Day weekend.
Appearing on “Meet the Press,†Birx did not directly address that prediction but said any public and business activity would have to be coupled with physical separation between individuals.
“Social distancing will be with us through the summer,†Birx said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,†“to really ensure that we protect one another as we move through these phases.â€
Other public health experts, including Tom Inglesby, the director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, expressed skepticism about Pence’s timeline.
“I don’t think it’s likely that we will be at that position by Memorial Day,†Inglesby said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,†citing rising rates of infection in about half of the country.
Meanwhile, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned that Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, for one, was moving too fast in giving the go-ahead for some businesses to reopen.
“Georgia’s certainly jumping the gun I think, getting started too early relative to where they are in their epidemic,†Gottlieb said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.â€
Boris Johnson, back from sick leave, faces growing divisions in U.K. over virus
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, returning to work after recovering from a coronavirus infection that put him in intensive care, faces growing criticism over the deaths and disruption the virus has caused.
Johnson’s office said he would be back at his desk in 10 Downing St. on Monday, two weeks after he was released from a London hospital. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been standing in for the prime minister, said Sunday that Johnson — the only world leader to be diagnosed with the coronavirus — was “raring to go.â€
While Johnson convalesced, Britain’s coronavirus death toll has mounted, with 413 more virus-related deaths announced Sunday.
Britain has recorded 20,732 deaths among people hospitalized with COVID-19, the fifth country in the world to surpass 20,000 deaths. Thousands more are thought to have died in nursing homes.
Opposition politicians say Britain’s death toll could have been lower if Johnson’s Conservative government had imposed a nationwide lockdown sooner. But they are also demanding to know when and how the government will ease the restrictions that were imposed March 23 and run to at least May 7.
Some people and businesses are growing impatient with the restrictions, which have brought much of the economy and daily life to a halt. Road traffic has begun to creep up after plummeting when the lockdown first was imposed, and some businesses have begun to reopen after implementing social-distancing measures.
“Decisions need to be taken quicker and communication with the public needs to be clearer,†opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer said in a letter to Johnson.
But Johnson’s government, facing criticism for being too slow to impose the lockdown, appears in no hurry to end it. Raab said there would be no dramatic sudden change to the restrictions.
Many flock to open beaches in Orange and Ventura counties
On the first warm weekend of spring, the beach in Santa Monica was deserted — an apocalyptic emptiness unimaginable just a few months ago.
Down the coast in Huntington Beach, the novel coronavirus pandemic seemed far away. Colorful umbrellas and bikini-clad sunbathers dotted the sand.
As temperatures soared into the upper 80s in some parts of the region on Saturday, crossing county lines was like entering different worlds. Some beaches in Orange and Ventura counties were open even as the coronavirus crisis continued, with scores of new cases and fatalities daily.
Despite orders from state and local officials to stay home except for necessary errands and to exercise in one’s own neighborhood, people flocked to the beaches.
Building dense cities was California’s cure for the housing crisis. Then came the coronavirus
For more than a decade, California lawmakers have pushed with increasing urgency to build more housing near transit stops and job centers. Density, they’ve reasoned, is the best way to control the exploding cost of living and reduce residents’ reliance on carbon-spewing vehicles in a state best known for its sprawling suburbs.
But now density has a new foe: the coronavirus.
Skeptics of greater urbanization say the pandemic has proved that they were right all along, pointing to orders from public health officials to use social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. Even some ardent urbanists worry that the speed with which the virus devastated packed neighborhoods could lead to a backlash against cities.
New York City, the nation’s densest major city, is a hotbed of the outbreak in the United States with more than 150,000 confirmed cases and 11,100 deaths.
3 arrested at California beach protest against stay-at-home order
Three people protesting California’s stay-at-home order Saturday in an Encinitas protest were arrested on suspicion of violating San Diego County health orders, marking the latest in a series of rallies along the coast.
About 75 to 100 people gathered near the San Diego County beach to express their disaffection with ongoing stay-at-home orders that also limit access to public parks and beaches.
Several participants were said to have ventured past police tape onto the sand. Three attendees refused to comply with multiple verbal warnings and were arrested, the department said. Others marched without incident toward Swami’s Beach Park and dispersed around noon.
Isolation and boredom of staying at home can be harmful in their own way, doctors say
Dr. Steven Siegel wakes every morning at 5, feeds his dogs, makes a fresh cup of coffee and begins exercising. By 7:30 a.m., he’s had breakfast, a shower, has dressed and is at work in his office.
Never mind that office is just a spare bedroom in his Glendale home. Routine, Siegel says, is the best way to combat the monotony and stress of the coronavirus stay-home restrictions, now stretching into its sixth week.
“We do have more control over this than may otherwise be apparent,†argued Siegel, a psychiatrist with Keck Medicine of USC and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “Whatever your routine is, do it. Then go to work, even if that means that the kitchen counter becomes your desk between the hours of 8 and 5.
“You can’t control the rest of the world but you can control what you do. I have no power over when COVID ends as an individual, but I have a lot of power about how I respond to this.â€
Concerns about the coronavirus infecting us or our loved ones has fueled anxiety and fear, but the isolation and boredom of sheltering at home can be harmful in their own way. And the psychological harm of the stay-at-home restrictions is harder to measure and likely to last longer, driving up the rate of domestic violence, depression and other mental conditions.
“That is a reality,†said Ellen Bradley-Windell, a licensed clinical social worker and co-founder and director of the Valencia Relationship Institute. “We’re already seeing the fallout with families being home, kids be quarantined and home schooling.
“So I’m concerned about suicide, people with social isolation, that people are living by themselves. I’m also concerned about the delayed response with family conflict, marital conflict and behavioral issues with kids.â€
L.A. County reports 48 new COVID-19 deaths and more than 600 additional cases
Los Angeles County reported 48 new deaths and 607 additional cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. Long Beach, which has its own health department, reported 26 new cases, bringing the county total to 895 deaths and more than 19,100 cases.
“This past week in L.A. County, we doubled the number of deaths from COVID-19 and diagnosed more than 7,000 new cases,†Barbara Ferrer, director of the county Department of Public Health, said in a statement.
Of the people who most recently died, 37 were older than 65, and nine were ages 41-65, officials said. Thirty-eight had underlying health conditions.
“Because we are still seeing a significant increase in new cases and deaths, we ask that you continue to stay home as much as possible,†Ferrer said.
After appearing to level off for a time, the number of COVID-19 cases reported by the county has risen at a rapid clip over the past week.
Some of that is due to increased testing, as well as the clearing of a backlog of pending test results, officials said.
How I broke my VR skepticism and found emotional escape during coronavirus sheltering
All it took to make me a believer of virtual reality was for reality to break.
This was the thought I had after about 45 minutes inside my VR headset on a Monday afternoon. I had barely moved. A forest surrounded me. A bird sat perched on a tree branch. My hand held a video game controller. But what I saw was a futuristic airbrush, a laser-like paint sprayer that looked like a prop from a 1940s sci-fi film.
A touch of a button and I could color the world. The bird before me was purple. Then it was pink. Then blue. Then pink again. I shot the feathered creature with random color as if I were Flora, Fauna and Merryweather all in one, toying with the chroma of the universe as if I alone possessed the power of the fairy godmothers of “Sleeping Beauty.â€
Soon the alarm on my smartphone sounded. This was my cue to remove the VR headset and flip on the radio to listen to another sobering address from Mayor Eric Garcetti. I sat and stared as L.A.’s mayor spoke, my eyes tracing a scratch on my coffee table. Illuminated by the late afternoon sun, the wear had long escaped my vision. Having spent the day in a heightened version of reality, I was suddenly more attuned to my very real, very dusty surroundings. The enchanted world of “Color Space†seemed very far away.
During the first few weeks under stay-at-home orders, I tried to get re-acquainted with my apartment. When I’d chase my cat and lie around with her, I pretended to view furniture as she might, as blocky skyscrapers.
I was trying to turn my home into a playing field, and that helped (and is still helping) ease my anxiety. But I must be honest with myself. I am not in a good place emotionally. I view everything that lies outside my door — be it the mailbox on the first floor of my 12-story apartment complex or the recycling bins at the end of the hall — as places to fear.
A Los Angeles artist gives her neighbors a walk-by gallery
The mask-clad dog walkers stop and look. So do the kids on bikes. And the joggers. And the couples out for a stroll with a glass of wine.
In a leafy Sherman Oaks neighborhood, a little red easel by the curb, with a new watercolor painting every day, has provided something much needed as the formless days of the coronavirus stay-at-home orders stretch into weeks: something to look forward to.
Every morning, artist Kathryn Pitt sets out a new piece by her driveway, then goes back inside. It’s contactless art in the age of social distance. She calls it the Passers By Gallery.
“So many more people are walking by these days,†said, Pitt, 47. “They’re cycling, they’re jogging. Family units are out and people are strolling. ... I just thought this was something I could do to make people a little bit happy in these times.â€
Gaza factories roar back to life to make protective wear
For the first time in years, sewing factories in the Gaza Strip are back to working at full capacity — producing masks, gloves and protective gowns, some of which are bound for Israel.
It’s a rare economic lifeline in the coastal territory, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since the Hamas militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in the strip in 2007. The blockade, and three wars between Hamas and Israel, have devastated the local economy, with unemployment hovering around 50%.
But the sudden opportunity also shows how Gaza’s economy is at the mercy of those enforcing the blockade — and how depressed wages have become. Workers earn as little as $8 a day.
So far, Gaza appears to have been largely spared from the coronavirus pandemic, with only 17 cases detected, all within quarantine facilities set up for those returning from abroad. Many still fear an outbreak in the impoverished territory, which is home to 2 million people and where the health care system has been battered by years of conflict. But for now, authorities are cautiously allowing most businesses to stay open.
Rizq al-Madhoun, owner of the Bahaa garment company, said he has produced more than 1 million masks in the past three weeks, “all for the Israeli market.â€
Gaza may not have the advanced machinery seen in other places, but he said residents’ sewing skills are unmatched. “Gaza workers are distinguished in handiwork and they are better than workers in China or Turkey,†he said.
Another factory, Unipal 2000, is able to employ 800 workers across two shifts to produce protective equipment around the clock.
Both factories import fabric and other materials from customers in Israel and then produce items like masks, gloves and surgical gowns. Unipal makes about 150,000 pieces a day, and demand is high as countries around the world grapple with shortages.
Asked about doing business with Israeli customers, both factory owners said they did not want to discuss politics and framed their work in terms of business and humanitarian needs.
“Despite the siege in Gaza, we export these masks and protective clothes to the whole world without exception,†Bashir Bawab, the owner of Unipal 2000, said. “We feel we are doing a humanitarian duty.â€
Senior official cited by Trump on coronavirus and temperature is the subject of an investigation
The senior Department of Homeland Security official who was thrust into the spotlight by President Trump to describe the effects of temperature on the coronavirus has been the subject of misconduct allegations for his previous government work.
A Department of Energy Inspector General investigation was still pending Friday based on evidence submitted by a whistle-blower that William Bryan abused his government position with energy consulting work in Ukraine.
It’s unclear if Trump was aware of that investigation when he called on Bryan at his daily briefing Thursday to explain DHS research that prompted a presidential riff on the potential to cure the virus with disinfectant and kill it with sunlight.
Bryan has been acting undersecretary for the DHS Science and Technology Directorate since May 2017. Before that, he was president of ValueBridge International’s Energy Group, a consulting firm in Virginia, following previous work with the Department of Energy.
Trump nominated him to be the undersecretary of the directorate, which is tasked with developing technology for the components of DHS. But days after his Senate hearing in August, a government whistle-blower and his attorneys received a letter from the Office of the Special Counsel that information they provided about Bryan showed a “substantial likelihood of wrongdoing.â€
The letter, first reported by the Hill newspaper in September, said the Office of the Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency, had referred the matter to the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General, which opened an investigation.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press, said the IG would conduct an investigation to see if his allegations could be substantiated and would inform Congress and the president.
The allegations against Bryan, which were reported by the New York Times in October 2018, center on his time as a senior advisor in the Office of International Affairs in 2016. He was designated a “special government employee,†which allowed him to do limited private sector work.
The whistle-blower, Robert Ivy, alleged that Bryan used his DOE position to develop his business interests with ValueBridge, including by providing money to foreign officials with the goal of influencing their actions and improperly sharing proprietary information.
The allegations reference players who featured prominently in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.
The complaint, which was also obtained by AP, describes Bryan’s dealings with Rinat Akhmetov, the Ukrainian energy oligarch who hired Paul Manafort as an advisor years before Manafort became chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign. According to the complaint, Bryan denied ever interacting with Manafort, who was convicted in Mueller’s Russia investigation related to Manafort’s work in Ukraine — though they did stay at the same Hyatt Hotel in Kyiv on one occasion recounted by the whistle-blower.
It says Bryan, as the head of an Energy Department team that traveled to Ukraine with the goal of stabilizing the country’s energy security, aligned himself with Akhmetov, became “ensnared in Ukraine’s high-stakes power rivalries†and cashed in “personally on the cowboy capitalism that has driven so much of the former Soviet Union.â€
Ivy, a former DOE official who now works in the private sector, and his attorney said Friday that they provided information to the IG investigation but have not received any notice of a conclusion. Both expressed surprise that Bryan, who has a military background but is not a scientist, was called upon by the Trump to discuss the research.
“Bill Bryan should not be in that position in the first place,†said John Tye, Ivy’s attorney and the founder and CEO of Whistleblower Aid. “The U.S. government found a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing by him on both the corruption and security violation matters.â€
The Department of Energy referred questions about the investigation, which remains open, to its Inspector General’s office, which did not respond to a request for information. DHS also did not respond to questions or make Bryan available for an interview.
Bryan presides over an organization that has had its budget cut by the Trump administration, despite the prominent role the president gave it during his briefing to discuss how work done at an agency lab in Maryland showed the virus breaking down when exposed to light and humidity.
Under the final year of President Obama, the agency had a budget of $841 million, more than half of which was for research and development. The Trump administration cut that to around $583 million in its first budget to fund other priorities. It proposed restoring some of that this year and raising it to $643 million.
Around the world, countries take steps toward easing lockdown orders
A tentative easing around the world of coronavirus lockdowns gathered pace Saturday with the reopening in India of neighborhood stores that many of the country’s 1.3 billion people rely on for everything from cold drinks to mobile phone data cards.
The relaxation of the super-strict Indian lockdown came with major caveats. It did not apply to hundreds of quarantined towns and other hot spots that have been hit hardest by the outbreak that has killed at least 775 people in India and terrified its multitudes of poor who live hand-to-mouth in slum conditions too crowded for social distancing.
Shopping malls also remained closed across the country. Still, for families that run small stores, being able to earn again brought relief.
“This is a good decision,†said Amit Sharma, an architect. “We have to open a few things and let the economy start moving. The poor people should have some source of income. This virus is going to be a long-term problem.â€
Last week, India also allowed manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to ease the economic plight of millions of daily wage-earners left without work by the country’s lockdown imposed March 24. India’s stay-home restrictions have allowed people out of their homes only to buy food, medicine or other essentials.
Elsewhere in Asia, authorities Saturday reported no new deaths for the 10th straight day in China, where the virus originated.
And South Korea reported just 10 fresh cases, the eighth day in a row its daily jump came below 20. There were no new deaths for the second straight day.
In Sri Lanka, however, the lockdown was tightened, not eased, confirming a pattern of one-step-forward, one-step-back also seen elsewhere as countries battle the pandemic, trying to juggle public health against the health of shutdown economies.
Sri Lanka had partially lifted a month-long curfew during daytime hours in more than two thirds of the country. But it reimposed a 24-hour lockdown countrywide after a surge Friday of 46 new infections, the highest increase in a day on the Indian Ocean island. The new curfew remains in effect until Monday.
The global death toll climbed Saturday toward 200,000, according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University from government figures. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher.
Pope Francis appealed to people to pray for funeral home workers, saying: “What they do is so heavy and sad. They really feel the pain of this pandemic.â€
Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska also began loosening lockdown orders on their pandemic-wounded businesses, even as the confirmed U.S. death toll from the coronavirus soared past 50,000 and despite warnings from health experts that such steps may be coming too early.
In Europe, Belgium sketched out plans for a progressive lockdown relaxation, starting May 4 with the resumption of nonessential treatment in hospitals and the reopening of textile and sewing shops so people can make face masks. Bars and restaurants would be allowed to start reopening June 8, although Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes also cautioned that a surge in infections could alter the timeline and that “nothing is set in stone.â€
Kids in Spain will get their first fresh air in weeks on Sunday when a total ban on letting them outside is relaxed. After 44 days indoors, they’ll be allowed to take one toy or scooter with them but not play together for the adult-supervised one-hour excursions no farther than 0.6 mile from home.
Italy announced Saturday that free protective masks will be distributed to nursing homes, police, public officials and transport workers, preparing for the return to work of millions of Italians when lockdown restrictions are eased from May 4.
Britain was still holding off on changes to its lockdown as the coronavirus-related death toll in hospitals was on target to surge past 20,000. It’s the fourth highest in Europe, behind Italy, Spain and France, each of which has reported more than 20,000 deaths.
In France, the government is preparing to gingerly ease one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns on May 11. The health minister detailed plans Saturday to scale up testing to help contain any new flare-ups.
Testing shortages are a critical problem elsewhere, too, including in Brazil, Latin America’s largest nation, which is veering closer to becoming a pandemic hot spot.
Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and four other major cities warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse or already overwhelmed. In Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon, officials said a cemetery has been forced to dig mass graves because there have been so many deaths. Workers have been burying 100 corpses a day — triple the pre-coronavirus average.
Italy to ease lockdown restrictions on May 4
Italy will start distributing free protective masks to nursing homes, many of which have been devastated by coronavirus infections and deaths.
Domenico Arcuri, the government’s commissioner for the pandemic, says doing so is a “gesture of solidarity and nearness and support to these places ever more at the epicenter of this great crisis.â€
Arcuri says free masks also will be distributed to public officials, transport workers and police. Millions of Italians will be allowed to return to workplaces starting on May 4, when lockdown restrictions will be considerably eased.
Italy, with some 26,000 reported deaths, most of them of elderly persons, has Europe’s highest toll from COVID-19. In Lombardy, Italy’s most stricken region, prosecutors are investigating about two dozen homes, including one in Milan where some 200 residents died.
Assemblywoman with mask donation is turned away from San Diego immigration detention center
SAN DIEGO — Staff at Otay Mesa Detention Center did not allow Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to donate masks to help protect detainees from the COVID-19 outbreak when she showed up at the facility’s gate Friday.
Gonzalez, whose district includes the detention center, joined with several immigrant rights organizations to gather about 1,000 masks to give to detainees who said they weren’t receiving adequate protection from the novel coronavirus.
“It’s rare that I feel so powerless to change something in my community and my district,†said Gonzalez (D-San Diego).
“These are human beings,†she said. “We don’t have mass deaths, but we know where this is going.â€
Bay Area likely to extend stay-at-home order, San Francisco mayor says
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor London Breed said it was likely the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order would get extended beyond the current expiration date of May 3.
“People are asking about this: Will the public health order get extended? The likelihood that that will happen is very likely. And what that means is another few weeks, or even a month, of asking you all to comply and to remain at home and to continue to follow the social distancing orders that we put forth,†Breed said.
Her statements echoed what Gov. Gavin Newsom and others have said — that stay-at-home must be maintained until it’s clear that easing restrictions won’t cause greater illness and economic disruption in the battle against the coronavirus..
“How we reopen is going to be important to ensuring that we do it responsibly so that we don’t go backward,†he said.
San Diego County eases restrictions on ocean access, mandates face coverings
SAN DIEGO — San Diego County officials Friday announced that restrictions limiting ocean access will be lifted, paving the way for cities across the region to reopen beaches as soon as Monday.
The decision was made as the county logged 183 more cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths. The higher case total was partly attributed to a higher number of tests conducted the day before. Officials said 3,122 tests were conducted Thursday — 867 more than the day before.
County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher stressed that individual jurisdictions will need to decide for themselves when and how they open their beaches. Cities can also choose to be more restrictive.
U.S. states build stockpiles of malaria drug touted by Trump
SALT LAKE CITY — State and local governments across the United States have obtained more than 30 million doses of a malaria drug touted by President Trump to treat patients with COVID-19, despite warnings from doctors that more research is needed.
At least 22 states and Washington, D.C., secured shipments of the drug, hydroxychloroquine, according to information compiled from state and federal officials by the Associated Press. Sixteen of those states were won by Trump in 2016, although five of them, including North Carolina and Louisiana, are now led by Democratic governors.
Supporters say having a supply on hand makes sense in case the drug is shown to be effective against the pandemic that has devastated the global economy and killed nearly 200,000 people worldwide, and to ensure a steady supply for people who need it for other conditions like lupus.
No fair! California cancels state fair; some county ones still up in the air
California, still deep in the fight to fend off the coronavirus, has canceled its state fair, which was to run July 17-Aug. 2 in Sacramento.
Organizers of the California State Fair and Food Festival said Friday that the event, which goes back 166 years, would resume in 2021. The event typically employs about 800 seasonal workers and last year drew more than 600,000 visitors. Organizers said pandemic health risks were too great.
Cal Expo’s general manager and chief executive, Rick Pickering, said in a statement that the event’s venue, Cal Expo, is already part of the fight against the virus, “serving as a drive-through testing site, as well as a temporary emergency isolation trailer facility for homeless individuals who have been exposed or infected.â€
Trump’s message to Central America: Want ventilators? Help us with immigration
WASHINGTON — When it comes to supplying ventilators and other coronavirus aid to Central America, Trump administration officials say they are not playing favorites.
But countries that have been more cooperative on immigration and other issues seem to have moved to the front of the line.
The presidents of El Salvador and Honduras have both promised to try to keep their citizens at home and away from the trails of migration toward the United States.
And on Friday, Trump promised that both countries would receive ventilators.
Small-business loan program restarts Monday with fresh hopes and $320 billion
The U.S. Small Business Administration will restart a government coronavirus relief loan program for small businesses next week with an additional $320 billion, after the first round of funding was exhausted in just 13 days.
The SBA will resume accepting applications for its Paycheck Protection Program at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, the agency and the U.S. Treasury Department said in a joint release.
“We encourage all approved lenders to process loan applications previously submitted by eligible borrowers and disburse funds expeditiously,†Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said in the statement.
This is what it will take for L.A. County to lift stay-at-home orders, officials say
Los Angeles County officials are developing a plan to slowly ease stay-at-home orders, but four key benchmarks must first be met in the battle against the coronavirus.
“We don’t want to undo all the good we’ve done and accomplished so far,†Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Friday. “We are not yet on the other side of this pandemic and we don’t want to prematurely ease restrictions.â€
She said that the county will first need to make sure that its hospitals maintain capacity to treat both people who are sick and those with standard medical needs. That includes ensuring the hospitals are adequately staffed, have enough resources to perform testing, and have a sufficient number of ventilators and other medical supplies to handle routine care as well as possible influxes of COVID-19 patients.
Second, the county will need to make sure that protections are in place for those who are most vulnerable, including the elderly, homeless people and those who live in institutional settings or don’t have access to services.
Emergency cooling centers open, with COVID-19 restrictions
Los Angeles County officials opened emergency cooling centers at noon Friday as a respite for residents who need a safe place to go to escape this weekend’s hot weather.
In their news release Friday, officials stressed that the cooling centers are for vulnerable populations, including older residents and those without air conditioning.
“Emergency cooling centers are free of charge and intended for people who urgently need relief from the heat,†officials noted.
Visitors are required to bring and wear a face covering at the centers. Centers will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
While everyone visiting the centers is required to practice social distancing, remaining six feet from staff and other guests, they are allowed to sit closer to members of their household.
Visitors who have COVID-19 symptoms — cough, fever or difficulty breathing — or are actively following isolation or quarantine orders are not allowed in the centers. Hand sanitizer, soap and water, or other disinfectant will be available at each location. Get more information here.
Locations:
- Whittier Community Center (7630 Washington Ave., Whittier)
- Jocelyn Center (210 N. Chapel Ave., Alhambra)
- Buena Vista Library (300 N. Buena Vista St., Burbank)
- Robinson Park Community Center (1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena)
- Lincoln Heights Senior Center (2323 Workman St., Los Angeles)
- Mid-Valley Senior Center (8801 Kester Ave., Panorama City)
- Robert M. Wilkinson Multipurpose Center (8956 Vanalden Ave., Northridge)
- Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center (5056 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks)
- El Cariso Community Regional Park (13100 Hubbard St., Sylmar)
- Col. Leon Washington Park (8908 S. Maie Ave., Los Angeles)
Millions have received electronic stimulus payments. When will checks be mailed?
After a first wave of stimulus payments topping out at $1,200 hit bank accounts mid-April, many were left wondering when — or if — their piece of the federal government’s $2-trillion coronavirus relief package would arrive.
More than 88 million people already received payments totaling $125 billion in the program’s first three weeks, according to an IRS statement Friday. A total of 150 million payments are expected to be made.
Beginning Friday, the IRS is slated to send out its first paper checks to millions more Americans for whom the government didn’t have direct deposit information, according to an IRS timeline reported by the Washington Post.
Latin pop star Becky G on life in quarantine: ‘I’m in survival mindset’
Pop singer Becky G earned some of her earliest success with 2013’s “Becky From the Block,†which celebrated the specifics of her Inglewood roots through map-point shout-outs. “Yo, first grade, Oak Street Elementary / A few blocks from the Inglewood Cemetery.â€
In the seven years since, the artist born Rebecca Gomez has become one of the city’s most bankable musical exports. Mixing Latin American pop, reggaeton and dance-pop, the 23-year-old singer, who is signed to Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe imprint, has charted both as a solo artist and in collaboration with superstars such as Bad Bunny, Pitbull, Zayn, Kane Brown and David Guetta.
In 2019, she issued her debut album, “Mala Santa,†which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Latin albums chart. She’s hit No. 1 twice on Billboard’s Latin airplay chart, starred in the movie “Power Rangers†and guest-starred on Fox’s “Empire†series.
Staggering shutdown in the meat industry raises concerns of a global shortfall
It’s no longer just the U.S. that’s facing a meat scare. With shutdowns spreading in the world’s biggest exporters, serious questions are being raised over global shortfalls.
Brazil, the top supplier of chicken and beef, saw its first major closure after local authorities ordered a halt of a poultry plant owned by JBS SA, the world’s top meat company.
That comes amid more shutdowns in the U.S., which is also a key shipper. Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s No. 1 pork producer, said Friday it was closing another pork plant, this one in Illinois. That news hit less than an hour after Hormel Foods Corp. said it was idling two of its Jennie-O turkey plants in Minnesota.
Florida cases accelerate as governor plans reopening
Florida reported 30,174 cases on Friday, up 4.7% from a day earlier. Deaths among Florida residents reached 1,012, an increase of 5.4%. The increase in cases marked a slight acceleration over upticks in previous days. From Wednesday to Thursday, the increase was about 1.8%.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Reopen Florida Task Force has been meeting all week, as it considers the best time to restart the economy.
Italy looks at new spending
ROME — The Italian government is asking Parliament to authorize staggering sums of new spending, drastically driving up the national public debt, after the COVID-19 outbreak made the country one of the most stricken by the pandemic.
Premier Giuseppe Conte’s Cabinet has decided on a revised budget for this year, one that calls for $60 billion in debt, $27.5 billion next year, and similarly high debt for several more years. The budget must be approved by parliament.
The government says it must beef up the national health system, whose intensive care units were sorely tested by huge numbers of coronavirus patients, as well as provide additional funds for law enforcement and civil protection agencies to deal with the emergency. More funds will also be earmarked for private and public economic sectors and to provide safety measures for workers heading back to work after the national lockdown, now in its seventh week.
MGM Studios lays off 7% of staff
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, the entertainment company behind the James Bond franchise, is making permanent cuts to its workforce as the coronavirus crisis continues to hit employment in Hollywood.
Executives at Beverly Hills-based MGM disclosed the cuts in a Friday memo to staff, citing the COVID-19 pandemic that has shuttered film and TV productions and forced studios to delay movie releases as theaters remain shut down.
MGM is cutting 7% of its 750-person workforce, resulting in roughly 50 layoffs across multiple divisions, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment. Variety first reported the cuts.
“We are reconfiguring certain divisions of the studio to allow MGM to operate more effectively in a changing media landscape, both during this pandemic, and beyond,†MGM’s leadership wrote. “Unfortunately, these changes necessitate some permanent reductions of our workforce.â€
Here’s when stay-at-home orders are expiring in each of California’s 58 counties
While all Californians are currently living under a statewide stay-at-home order implemented in response to the coronavirus outbreak, some counties have also crafted additional or more-targeted local regulations aimed at stemming the disease’s spread.
The county-level orders vary, as do their expiration dates. Some of the measures are in place until a specified date, others until further notice.
Generally, local health officials can issue guidance that’s stricter, but not more lenient, than the state’s.
As COVID-19 continues to spread in California, some communities are itching to open things back up and allow residents to resume some semblance of pre-pandemic activity.
California effort will employ restaurant workers to provide meals for seniors
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will launch a far-reaching program to provide three meals a day to California senior citizens in need during the coronavirus pandemic, employing out-of-work restaurant workers and funded largely by the federal government.
“It’s not just about the meals,†Newsom said during his midday news briefing. “It’s about a human connection, about someone just checking in as they’re delivering those meals and making sure people are OK.â€
The program will provide $66 a day in funding for the daily meals. Newsom said the effort will launch immediately, focused on seniors who are either at risk for COVID-19 or have limited income. He said payments for the food will generate sales tax revenues to help support local government budgets that have been hit hard by the closure of retail businesses and restaurants.
Trump’s improvised medicine show prompts frantic health warnings
WASHINGTON — A slew of federal and state agencies — and the makers of laundry bleach — rebuked President Trump on Friday, warning the public that his off-the-cuff medical advice and off-the-wall musings in his nightly White House briefings could endanger even more lives as the country’s coronavirus death toll passed 50,000.
A day after Trump sparked a furor when he incorrectly suggested that common household disinfectants could be used as “injection inside or almost a cleaning†to kill COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the makers of Clorox bleach warned Americans not to use cleaning products as medicine.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a similar warning against ingesting products such as bleach.
China reports no new deaths for ninth straight day
BEIJING — China on Friday reported no new COVID-19 deaths for the ninth straight day, and just six new cases of the virus.
Two of those were brought from overseas, with three domestic cases in Heilongjiang on the Russian border and one in the southern business hub of Guangdong.
Hospitals are still treating 915 cases, 57 listed as serious, while 999 people are being isolated and monitored as either suspected cases or for having tested positive without showing symptoms. The country’s death toll from the global pandemic first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year remains at 4,632 among 82,804 cases.
Amazon asks workers sheltering at home to return or seek leave
Amazon is asking warehouse workers who have stayed away from work during the pandemic to return for scheduled shifts beginning May 1, or request a leave of absence.
As Amazon worked to contain outbreaks of COVID-19 cases within its ranks, it said workers who weren’t comfortable coming in could take unpaid time off without penalty through the end of April. Amazon also offered hundreds of thousands of hourly warehouse staffers an additional $2 an hour in hazard pay.
In a blog post published Friday, Seattle-based Amazon said it would extend the raise through May 16 but made no mention of unlimited unpaid time off. Amazon said it was “providing flexibility with leave of absence options, including expanding the policy to cover COVID-19 circumstances, such as high-risk individuals or school closures.â€
An Amazon spokeswoman didn’t immediately offer more details about changes to the leave policies, or which employees were eligible. Amazon has previously said that employees diagnosed with COVID-19, or quarantined because of exposure to someone with the disease, were eligible for two weeks of sick pay.
Nation’s largest egg producer accused of price gouging up to 300% during pandemic
HOUSTON — Texas’ attorney general has accused the nation’s largest egg producer of price gouging during the coronavirus pandemic.
A lawsuit filed Thursday by Republican Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton alleges that Cal-Maine Foods raised generic egg prices by 300% even though the pandemic hasn’t disrupted its supply chain, the Houston Chronicle reported. Texas is seeking more than $100,000 in damages.
Cal-Maine denies the allegations, saying its prices are based on independent market quotes.
“We have been consistent in our pricing practices whether we sell at a profit or at a loss,†a spokesman said in an email.
More than 50,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 50,000 on Friday as states and municipalities increasingly are starting to reopen their economies, many over the warnings of public health experts.
In Atlanta, protesters drove around the governor’s mansion on Friday, honking their horns in protest of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to aggressively reopen the state’s economy. Kemp made the move over the objections of health experts, the White House, the NAACP and some of his state’s mayors.
Gyms, tattoo parlors, hair salons and bowling alleys were allowed to reopen Friday. Restaurants and movie theaters will follow suit on Monday. More than 890 people in Georgia have died from COVID-19, according to the state’s Department of Health.
In a poor corner of the Bay Area, pandemic has yet to rage. Is that due to little testing?
RICHMOND, Calif. — By all accounts amid this pandemic, the city of Richmond should be sitting at the precipice of disaster.
Situated between the Berkeley Hills and the San Francisco Bay, Richmond is a densely populated community predominated largely by people of color, high unemployment and a large transient population.
Its roughly 110,000 residents have limited access to emergency healthcare, and they live in the shadow of a Chevron refinery and just down the road from four others — increasing their chances of respiratory distress, a risk factor for people sick with COVID-19.
So far, however, Richmond hasn’t seen the kind of outbreaks documented in other parts of Contra Costa County. Community advocates think there is a reason for that. There’s been little testing in Richmond and other economically challenged, isolated cities and towns around the state.
France keeping new ICUs ready for second wave
PARIS — France plans to keep thousands of newly built intensive care units ready for a second wave of coronavirus cases, even though the first wave is now receding.
Health authorities say France doubled its number of intensive care beds to more than 10,000 as the virus raced across the country.
“We need to keep the beds in case of a return of the epidemic,†national health agency director Jerome Salomon says. “We need to maintain a vigilant posture.â€
Now fewer than 5,000 people are in intensive care with the virus, but people with other severe illnesses also need the beds.
France has reported more virus deaths than any country but the U.S., Italy and Spain. Salomon has announced more than 22,000 virus deaths so far in French hospitals and nursing homes.
Reports of child, elder abuse fall by nearly half, L.A. City attorney says
Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer said reports of child and elder abuse have fallen by nearly half amid the coronavirus pandemic, expressing concern that attacks on some of the city’s most vulnerable populations are going unseen as residents follow state and county orders to stay home.
Feuer and Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey described the data while announcing an awareness campaign aimed at increasing reporting of domestic violence, called “Behind Closed Doors.†The partnership with the California Grocers Association will include the distribution of fliers and information about aid hotlines and shelters for victims.
“We in law enforcement are especially concerned right now with protecting the people who live, work and visit Los Angeles County from domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse,†Lacey said in a statement. “It’s up to all of us to make sure that our family, friends, neighbors and colleagues get through this public health emergency without becoming a victim of crime.â€Feuer said Friday that reports of physical child abuse to the Los Angeles Police Department had fallen 47%. Reports of sexual abuse against children were down 67%, according to Feuer, who also said elder abuse reports were down about 50%.Earlier this week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villaneuva offered similar concerns and said reports of child abuse to his agency were also down as much as 50%. He said the drop coincided with stay-at-home orders, and Villanueva plans to have deputies conduct welfare checks at the homes of high-risk children.
U.S. meat processing plants face huge challenge in curbing the spread
OMAHA, Neb. —Daily reports of giant meat processing plants closing because workers tested positive for the coronavirus have called into question whether slaughterhouses can remain virus-free.
According to experts, the answer may be no.
Given that the plants employ thousands of people who often work side by side carving meat, social distancing is all but impossible. Because of that, the risk of catching the virus will likely remain even as companies take numerous steps to increase protections for workers.
“It’s not that people aren’t trying. It’s just that it is very difficult to control this illness,†said Dennis Burson, an animal science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Keep California stay-at-home order for as long as needed, vast majority say in new poll
Despite several protests over California’s stay-at-home order to slow the spread of coronavirus, a new poll shows the vast majority of residents support the restrictions.
Among those polled, 75% want the order to continue as long as it’s needed, according to a California Health Care Foundation/Ipsos survey. Only 11% wanted to stop the stay-at-home order, while 13% had no opinion. Among low-income residents, support was even stronger: 78% support the stay-at-home order and only 3% oppose it.
California cases near 40,000 as officials warn against crowding beaches
The number of coronavirus cases in California neared 40,000 on Friday as a weekend heat wave threatened to drive crowds to the state’s beaches.
The state saw its worst one-day fatality total on Wednesday, and the rate of new cases, after seeming to flatten, is rising amid more widely available testing. More than 39,600 cases have been reported and more than 1,500 people have died across the state.
“It’s a reminder we’re not out of the woods yet,†Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.
Restaurants and shops offering weekly flights and virtual tastings
If you’re stuck imbibing at home, why not learn a little something while you drink? The following is a list of places offering virtual classes and tastings. So keep those pajamas on (or not) and indulge in some distance learning.
Tom Hanks to bullied 8-year-old named Corona: ‘You got a friend in me’
When the road looked rough ahead for an 8-year-old named Corona, Tom Hanks said, “You got a friend in me.â€
Tormented by bullies who used the coronavirus crisis as a cruel excuse to mock him, an Australian boy recently wrote a fan letter to Hanks upon learning he and Rita Wilson had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Hanks,†read the boy’s letter, obtained by Australia’s Nine News. “My name is Corona. … I heard on the news you and your wife have caught the coronavirus. Are you OK?â€
Soon after, the young Gold Coast resident received a special delivery from none other than his “Toy Story†hero.
Trumps says suggesting people ingest disinfectants was an attempt at sarcasm
WASHINGTON — President Trump says his comments suggesting people can ingest or inject disinfectant to fight COVID-19 was an attempt at sarcasm.
Trump noted Thursday that researchers were looking at the effects of disinfectants on the virus and wondered aloud if they could be injected into people, saying the virus “does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.â€
But speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump insisted his comments were misconstrued. “I was asking the question sarcastically to reporters like you, just to see what would happen,†Trump said.
Trump’s comments on disinfectants at Thursday’s briefing came after William Bryan, who leads the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security, spoke about how researchers are testing the effect of disinfectants on virus-laden saliva and respiratory fluids on surfaces.
New York reports lowest number of daily deaths in weeks
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York on Friday reported its lowest number of daily COVID-19 deaths in weeks.
The state recorded 422 deaths as of the day before. That’s the fewest since March 31, when it recorded 391 deaths. More than 16,000 people have died in the state from the outbreak.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the figures are still at “an unimaginable level, and it’s dropping somewhat,†but says it is still “devastating news.â€
The total number of people hospitalized statewide continues to drop slowly, hitting about 14,000. But Cuomo says the number of new patients coming into hospitals is basically flat.
Should kids wear masks? We asked a pediatrician
As parents, we tend to want to make things better for our kids. But the seriousness of the novel coronavirus has forced us to talk to our children seriously about their safety and the safety of others.
Now that the CDC is recommending people wear cloth face coverings when venturing out in public, many parents are wondering if their children should wear masks when they go outside.
If they are over the age of 2, the answer is yes.
But that can be really hard for parents when kids don’t understand why masks are important, and why they can’t just go play outdoors and see their friends and grandparents.
$8-billion effort aims to speed development of vaccines and treatments
The World Health Organization joined with global leaders Friday to speed up the development and production of vaccines and therapeutics that can stamp out the coronavirus pandemic, and to insure that they distributed quickly and equitably across the globe.
“Past experience has taught us that even when tools are available, they have not been available equally to all,†Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said during a virtual meeting to launch the international initiative. “We cannot allow that to happen.â€
The new program, called Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, or the ACT Accelerator, is a collaboration between the WHO and dozens of governments, nonprofit organizations and industry leaders.
Friday’s launch event was co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates.
Georgia reopens hair salons and gyms, offering a preview of life after lockdown
MARIETTA, Ga. — Before 8 a.m., the women wearing masks and bandannas began to line up gingerly outside the Three-13 Salon, Spa and Boutique, taking care to keep a six-foot distance.
In the middle of a deadly viral pandemic, some needed trims and root touch-ups. Others craved pedicures, blowouts and face waxes.
Outside the double glass doors, an employee took their temperatures with an infrared thermometer, asked if they had had a cough or fever, and then handed them a small sticker with a red check mark.
Trump signs $484-billion bill to aid employers and hospitals
WASHINGTON — President Trump signed a $484-billion bill Friday to aid employers and hospitals under stress from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 50,000 Americans and devastated broad swaths of the economy.
The bill is the latest effort by the federal government to help keep afloat businesses that have had to close or dramatically alter their operations as states try to slow the spread of the virus. Over the past five weeks, roughly 26 million people have filed for jobless aid, or about 1 in 6 U.S. workers.
Trump thanked Congress for “answering my call†to provide the critical assistance and said it was “a tremendous victory.†But easy passage of this aid installment belies a potentially bumpier path ahead for future legislation to address the crisis.
The measure passed Congress almost unanimously Thursday as lawmakers gathered in Washington for the first time since March 27. They followed stricter social distancing rules while seeking to prove they can do their work despite the COVID-19 crisis.
Lawmakers’ masks and bandannas added a somber tone to their effort to aid a nation staggered by the health crisis and devastating economic costs of the pandemic.
Kentucky governor’s order allows voting by mail in primary
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear signed an order Friday allowing Kentucky residents to vote by mail in the upcoming primary election, which had already been pushed back to June because of the coronavirus.
State elections officials also are working on a plan for limited in-person voting and possible drive-thru voting for the June 23 primary, the governor’s office said.
The Democratic governor’s order allowing mail-in voting came a day after Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams offered his recommendations on how to proceed with the primary in midst of a public health crisis. Beshear’s order outlines procedures to be in place for the primary.
Michigan governor lengthens stay-at-home-order, lifts some restrictions
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lengthened her stay-at-home order through May 15, while lifting some restrictions so certain businesses can reopen.
Michigan has nearly 3,000 reported deaths related to COVID-19, behind only New York and New Jersey among U.S. states.
People are now required, rather than encouraged, to wear face coverings in enclosed public spaces such as grocery stores.
Landscapers, lawn-service companies, plant nurseries and bike repair shops can resume operating, subject to social-distancing rules. Stores selling nonessential supplies can reopen for curbside pickup and delivery. Big-box retailers no longer need to close off garden centers and areas dedicated to selling paint, flooring and carpet.
Whitmer says people with multiple in-state homes can resume traveling between them, though it is strongly discouraged.
Britain reports nearly 20,000 deaths
LONDON — The British government says 684 more people with the coronavirus have died in U.K. hospitals, increasing the total reported to 19,506.
That’s higher than 616 deaths in the previous 24-hour period. There has been increasing scrutiny of the U.K. figures for understating the actual number of coronavirus-related deaths because they don’t include deaths in care homes or elsewhere in the community.
The U.K.’s death toll is the fourth highest in Europe, behind Italy, Spain and France, all of whom have reported more than 20,000 deaths.
The government also says the number of daily tests increased by around 5,000 to 28,532.
On Friday, an online link to an expanded testing program for essential workers stopped accepting applications after a few hours because of “significant demand.â€
EPA reminds people to use disinfectant only on surfaces
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is reminding people to use disinfectant only on surfaces.
The EPA issued the statement in a release before President Trump suggested on Thursday it might be helpful to inject disinfectant to combat the coronavirus.
The EPA says, “Never apply the product to yourself or others. Do not ingest disinfectant products.â€
William Bryan of the Department of Homeland Security said at a White House briefing on Thursday that “emerging results†from new research suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air.
But he said there was no consideration of internal use of disinfectants. Trump’s hypothesis drew a flood of comments on Twitter.
Defense secretary to meet about Capt. Brett Crozier
WASHINGTON — A spokesman for Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the Pentagon chief will meet Friday with the Navy’s top admiral for a briefing on a report that is expected to determine the fate of Capt. Brett Crozier.
Crozier was relieved of command of the vessel Theodore Roosevelt after he pleaded for more urgent help with a coronavirus outbreak among his crew. Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesman, says Esper is keeping an open mind about Crozier, and the Navy has said it would not rule out reinstating him.
Just days after the acting Navy secretary, Thomas Modly, fired Crozier, Modly resigned amid strong criticism of his handling of the matter. More than 800 members of the Roosevelt crew have tested positive for coronavirus and one has died.
New York City reports declining hospital admissions
New York City reported declines in hospital admissions, public hospital intensive-care patients and the percentage of people who tested positive for the coronavirus.
The city reported 176 people admitted to hospitals, down from 227 as of April 21, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday at his daily press briefing.
The number of people in ICUs for COVID-19 declined to 786 from 796, and the percentage of people with positive tests citywide declined to 30% from 32%.
Drive-in games? Sparse crowds? They could be part of sports’ new normal
When pro soccer returns to Denmark, ending its COVID-19 hiatus as early as next month, games will be played in empty stadiums, but the FC Midtjylland team has devised a way to get fans involved.
The club will erect massive video boards outside its MCH Arena, facing a parking lot where more than 2,000 designated spots will serve as a sporting version of the old-fashioned drive-in movie.
Fans will watch the game together — or, at least, in close proximity — chanting and singing from their cars. Images of this unorthodox crowd will be shown inside the venue so players won’t feel so alone.
If that sounds odd, the U.S. should take note. When American sports return, and spectators are eventually allowed back in, there could be big changes.
Joe Biden is struggling to reach Latinos. The crisis isn’t helping.
WASHINGTON —Joe Biden is trying to build bridges to Latino voters, but the coronavirus crisis is getting in the way.
Early in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Biden lost the Latino vote to rival Sen. Bernie Sanders in many states, and had just begun to reverse that trend when the coronavirus crisis froze the campaign in place.
A new poll suggests that, in the shadow of the public health emergency, Latino support for Biden is softening and their interest in the election is waning.
The survey released Friday by Latino Decisions, a Democratic firm, found that 59% of Latino registered voters supported Biden or were leaning toward him, while 22% favored Trump -- a lead for Biden that is narrower than the 67%-22% margin he scored in a mid-February survey by the same firm.
Biden backs mail vote, suggests Trump will try to postpone election
ATLANTA —Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is calling on Congress to provide enough money for every state to allow voters to cast a ballot by mail this November amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden blasted President Trump for working to block emergency funding for the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service, which would handle tens of millions of ballots this fall. Biden, speaking during an online fundraiser Thursday night, said it’s evidence that Trump already is trying to “undermine†the election and make it more difficult for Americans to vote.
“We have to make it easier for everybody to be able to vote, particularly if we are still basically in the kind of lockdown circumstances we are in now,†Biden told about 650 donors. “But that takes a lot of money, and it’s going to require us to provide money for states and insist they provide mail-in ballots.â€
FDA warns against using Trump-touted drugs
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned patients against taking two malaria medications that have been touted by President Trump for COVID-19, unless carefully monitored in a hospital or as part of a clinical trial.
The FDA said it was issuing the warning after reports that patients taking the drugs, especially in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, had experienced heart issues.
“The FDA is aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with COVID-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, often in combination with azithromycin,†the FDA said in the warning.
U.S. hits 50,000 COVID-19 deaths
The United States has surpassed 50,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The grim milestone comes as the national case count reaches 869,172, as of early morning Pacific time. Globally, there are 2,735,117 confirmed cases, 192,019 deaths and 751,501 recoveries. The U.S. leads the world in total caseload, though officials believe China and some governments may be underreporting case numbers.
Why face shields may be better protection than masks alone
SAN FRANCISCO —Officials hope the widespread wearing of face coverings will help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Scientists say the masks are intended more to protect other people, rather than the wearer, keeping saliva from possibly infecting strangers.
But health officials say more can be done to protect essential workers. Dr. James Cherry, a UCLA infectious diseases expert, said supermarket cashiers and bus drivers who aren’t otherwise protected from the public by plexiglass barriers should actually be wearing face shields.
Face shields are more effective than masks in protecting the wearer from viral infection, Cherry said.
California’s reopening slowed by rising cases, deaths
With the economy continuing to crater, there is intense pressure to begin to open California businesses.
But even though the state has been bending the coronavirus curve, and seeing a far less dire toll than places like New York and New Jersey, a continuing spike in cases and deaths this week is one of several factors keeping officials from moving toward easing any of the social distancing rules.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week that most of the six milestones he set to consider loosening the stay-home order he issued last month have not been met. The only change the governor has made is to allow some elective surgeries to again be scheduled in hospitals, citing sufficient capacity.
“It will be those indicators that drive our decision-making,†he said Thursday. “Not dates. We don’t debate dates. We look at the facts objectively.â€
France won’t reopen its restaurants, bars and cafes before June
PARIS — France won’t reopen its restaurants, bars and cafes before June. Authorities also announced reinforced financial support for the sector amid the virus crisis.
Finance minister Bruno Le Maire says the government is deferring tax payments and extending short-term unemployment to businesses that won’t be allowed to reopen next month. He says small companies of less than 20 employees can apply for emergency aid of up to 10,000 euros ($10,786).
Most French businesses are set to reopen on May 11. However, the schedule for restaurants, bars and cafes won’t be decided before the end of May, Le Maire said.
France, one of the most popular tourist destinations with more than 80 million foreign visitors each year, is planning an investment fund to help relaunch that sector.
Getting people into rehab can be hard. Try doing it during the crisis
They hid the car keys in a safe and stashed away their son’s shoes. At night, they took turns sleeping on the living room couch so they could hear if he slipped out of his bedroom. They implemented a no-candle policy, knowing their son used the small flame to heat up crushed fentanyl on a piece of tin foil.
On March 17 — hours after the shelter-in-place order took effect in the Bay Area, where they live — Marie, 60, and Paul, 63, who asked to be identified by their middle names to protect their son’s privacy, discovered that, after 78 days sober, the 23-year-old had relapsed.
The timing felt impossible.
New survey asked artists what COVID-19 did to their jobs. The results are devastating
Artists in America are suffering greatly amid the closures and cancellations triggered nationwide by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the sheer scope of their plight is just beginning to become clear.
A new national coalition of arts organizations called Artist Relief announced Friday that in its first 15 days, the group received nearly 52,000 applications for its first 200 grants. Every week, from the group’s April 8 launch and into at least September, Artist Relief is giving $5,000 grants to 100 artists — and the staggering demand for that limited funding has revealed other stark statistics on the economic pain of the pandemic.
About 11,000 of the Artist Relief applicants completed a survey co-sponsored by the nonprofit advocacy group Americans for the Arts. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said they are now unemployed (a number that rose to 67% for California respondents), and 80% do not yet have a plan for how to recover from the crisis.
No layoffs coming for L.A. County Department of Health Services workers
The director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services said Thursday that, despite a potential budget crisis in which the county could lose billions of dollars because of the coronavirus outbreak, her agency will not see any layoffs or workforce reductions.
Dr. Christina Ghaly, who previously served as the agency’s chief operations officer, said in a virtual staff-wide meeting that she’d received several questions from employees about the fiscal status of the department, the second largest municipal health system in the nation.
Ghaly said the county is projecting a shortfall, noting that Los Angeles County could see a $1-billion decline in sales tax revenue this fiscal year, which ends June 30, because of the massive economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
That decline is expected to surpass $2 billion by the end of fiscal 2021, according to county estimates released last week.
Government scientist felt pressured to approve contract for work on drug Trump touted
WASHINGTON —The federal scientist recently ousted from a senior position overseeing research on coronavirus vaccines felt pressured by Trump administration officials to award a $21-million contract to a Florida laboratory to study an anti-malaria drug touted by the president as a COVID-19 treatment, according to a person familiar with the incident.
Rick Bright, who was abruptly removed this week from his senior post at the Department of Health and Human Services, was told by officials to approve the contract for a clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine to Alchem Laboratories, a small drug-development firm, the person said.
“He was very concerned and was ordered to do it,†said the person.
From warehouse to table: A look inside the L.A. school district’s huge meal distribution operation
Although campuses are closed, the Los Angeles school district has become the largest distributor of meals for the hungry in the state, giving food not only to students, but to anyone who shows up — no questions asked, except: How much do you need?
The mammoth operation has given out about 10 million “grab-and-go†meals since March 18 from 63 campuses in the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, partnering with the Red Cross and the regional food bank.
In one day more than 26,000 gallons of milk, 219,000 boxes of cereal, 27,525 pounds of carrots, 50 tons of fruit and countless turkey sausages will be given away, a nearly round-the-clock effort that begins in warehouses and ends in ever-growing lines.
Morning drop-off lanes have been transformed into food pickup drive-throughs that can stretch more than half a mile. Families stand clustered outside campuses in walk-up lines, spaced six feet apart by cones. L.A. Unified is spending more than $2 million per day in food costs — about $40 million so far, funds it believes will be reimbursed by the federal government.
Don’t inject disinfectants, Lysol warns as Trump raises idea
WASHINGTON —The parent company of Lysol and another disinfectant warned Friday that its products should not be used as an internal treatment for the coronavirus after President Trump wondered about the prospect during a White House briefing.
Trump noted Thursday that researchers were looking at the effects of disinfectants on the virus and wondered aloud if they could be injected into people, saying the virus “does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.â€
That prompted a strong warning from the maker of disinfectants Lysol and Dettol, which said it was issuing a statement to combat “recent speculation.â€
“As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),†said the statement from Reckitt Benckiser.
L.A. hunkered down. But it hasn’t stopped building mansions, stadiums and apartments
The sounds of electric saws and hammering filled a narrow street in Pacific Palisades on a recent morning.
Crews wearing protective masks worked on the roof and patio of a sprawling home under construction on the corner. Building permits show it will be about 17,000 square feet and include a sport court, swimming pool and a 1,500-square-foot auxiliary residence.
On a nearby lot, workers scurried around the dirt yard and scaffolding of another imposing home underway. And across the street, excavation continued on the basement for a planned “resort-inspired†home with two swimming pools that’s on the market for $14.8 million.
L.A. street vendors fought 10 years for the right to sell. Then COVID-19 came along
If you live near Broadway and Vernon Avenue in South L.A., you’ve probably heard the familiar cry of Don Faustino Martinez.
“Bolis, topoyiyos, charamuscas, hielitos, congeladas, ahidil, marcianos!†the 65-year-old Martinez chants as he wheels a cooler packed with fruit-filled frozen treats up and down the neighborhood’s car-lined streets.
April would normally mark the beginning of the high season for Martinez, who has been selling homemade strawberry, coconut and tamarindo ice pops from his roving street operation called Bolis El Oaxaco since 2016.
Now, with his cart temporarily grounded due to coronavirus restrictions, the neighborhood is unnaturally quiet.
Parents soon may be desperate for day care. That means new job opportunities
Sandy Smith has been working from home handling payroll for an international company and “social distancing†to avoid the coronavirus since late February. Hunkered down with her husband and toddler in Long Island, N.Y., there’s only one thing she knows for certain. When all of this is over, the demand for child care is going to soar.
“Baby sitters are going to have more business than they ever imagined,†she said. Even though centers are closed now, “there are already people trying to steal slots.â€
Within days of coronavirus-related school closures, stories about parental meltdowns and odes to teachers and day-care providers started popping up on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
His mother received a stimulus check. But she died last year
Mary Nakamura of Hawaii was among the first Americans to receive one of the federal government’s $1,200 stimulus payments designed to help revive an economy flagging from the COVID-19 pandemic.
There’s just one problem: She’s been dead for more than a year.
Her son, Mason Nakamura, a Santa Ana resident, immediately thought it was a mistake when he saw the April 15 payment in his mother’s account.
“How are dead people going to stimulate the economy?†he thought to himself. “This just doesn’t make any sense.â€
Judge orders ICE to reduce number of immigrant detainees at California facility
A federal judge on Thursday ordered immigration officials to significantly reduce the number of detainees held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility northeast of Los Angeles in order to protect them from the coronavirus.
U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter did not specify a number, but said that the population at Adelanto, one of the largest immigrant detention facilities in the country, must decrease “to such a level that would allow the remaining detainees to maintain a social distance of six feet from each other at all times.â€
The ruling — the first of its kind in California — came in response to a lawsuit filed April 14 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and the law firm Latham & Watkins. A federal judge in Miami issued a similar ruling Wednesday but stopped short of the strict distancing requirement ordered by Hatter.
“Holding people in civil immigration detention in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic without taking basic steps to protect them from infection from this deadly virus is, as the court found, ‘inconsistent with contemporary standards of human decency,’ †said ACLU attorney Jessica Bansal.
An impromptu drive-through at a Sikh temple to feed neighbors now helps thousands daily
It started with 175 meals being served from a drive-through created outside the Riverside Sikh Temple.
Now, the United Sikh Mission and the Sikh community of Riverside are giving out thousands of meals a day, have provided thousands of masks to the local community and are handing out groceries on the weekend.
Serving up to 1,400 meals a day at the Sikh temple, the group has provided more than 40,000 meals over the past month to healthcare professionals and people in need.
“We have seen more people every day, people that lost their jobs and wages and can’t afford a hot meal for themselves and their families†said Gurpreet Singh, COVID-19 coordinator at United Sikh Mission.
Your local farm in a box: How farmers are coping with the crisis
A recent line to get into the Wednesday Santa Monica farmers market stretched down Wilshire Boulevard, giving shoppers — masked and six feet apart — a splendid morning view of the Pacific. Life at the market, for buyers and sellers at the almost 40-year-old city institution, is now a waiting game.
Inside, farmers — masked and gloved — and their rows of produce are separated from the public (who has regrouped into new lines) by barricade tape stretched around their individual stands. It’s a sun-drenched, fragrant agricultural crime scene.
Specialty farms, like those at this market, have, over the last 15 years, come to rely on a model where they sell the large majority of their produce to restaurants rather than home cooks. When COVID-19 hit, that market dried up.
California stay-at-home faces its biggest test: A heat wave driving people to the beach
The natural air conditioner created some 13 million years ago with the formation of Santa Monica Bay has helped charm and cool Angelenos from the time people first inhabited this land. The chance to enjoy ocean breezes, and perhaps a swim, seemed like a Los Angeles birthright.
But the coronavirus pandemic has upended many truths of earlier eras. Now the people of Los Angeles will enter their sixth week under a stay-at-home order, facing a weekend of 90-degree-plus temperatures, with all 72 miles of the Los Angeles County coast closed to one and all.
The people appear prepared to abide. At least most of them. At least for now.
How to dress to save your life: L.A. Times photojournalists take on a whole new danger
Through 36 years at the Los Angeles Times, I’ve covered earthquakes, riots, fires, mass shootings and conflict in foreign nations, but the coronavirus is different.
I’ve documented the pandemic from Los Angeles International Airport to Union Station, and from the crowded Los Angeles Produce Market to crowds vying for access to grocery stores. I have photographed empty beaches to boarded-up stores in Beverly Hills. I’ve documented the nation’s second-largest school district scramble to reinvent education and feed students with knowledge and food. I have feared for my safety from a microscopic enemy that will cling to everything you wear or the camera equipment you use, from the soles of your shoes to the face mask you pray won’t fail in the process of taking photographs in the emergency rooms at UCLA or on the streets of skid row. But what makes this event different from others in my years as a photojournalist is that it threatens my family.
NYPD depot that used to distribute office supplies now hands out masks and gloves
NEW YORK — Before the coronavirus pandemic, a trip to the New York Police Department’s quartermaster section promised all the excitement of a visit to Home Depot.
The three-story brick building, tucked between the Grand Central Parkway and a cemetery in Queens, is the department’s central warehouse for pens, legal pads, paper towels, American flags and the other supplies of everyday police office work.
COVID-19 has transformed it into the first line of defense for a city that has come to feel like a war zone.
New York is the epicenter of the pandemic, with a death toll that grows by hundreds each day and now exceeds 15,000, more than any other city in the world.
The NYPD, a force of 55,000 essential workers whose duties often expose them to the virus, has been hit hard, suffering nearly 4,500 infections and 31 deaths.
Anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown movements are converging, refusing to be ‘enslaved’
While most of the world hungers for a vaccine to put an end to the death and economic destruction wrought by COVID-19, some anti-vaccine groups are joining with anti-lockdown demonstrators to challenge restrictions aimed at protecting public health.
Vaccine critics suffered serious setbacks in the last year, as states strengthened immunization laws in response to measles outbreaks sparked by vaccine refusers. California tightened its vaccine requirements last fall despite protests during which anti-vaccine activists threw blood on state senators, assaulted the vaccine bill’s sponsor and shut down the Legislature.
Now, many of these same vaccine critics are joining a fight against stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns intended to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which had killed more than 48,800 Americans as of Thursday afternoon.
“This is just a fresh coat of paint for the anti-vaccine movement in America, and an exploitative means for them to try to remain relevant,†said Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
For the first time, Spain records more recoveries than deaths in a day
MADRID — More people are being diagnosed as cured than those falling sick with COVID-19 in Spain for the first time since the beginning of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, authorities said.
On Friday, there were 2,796 new infections confirmed while 3,105 overcame the infection.
“With all the effort that we have done, the evolution of the epidemic is obviously beginning to be where it should be,†said Fernando Simón, the ministry’s health emergency center coordinator.
Spain has recorded 367 new deaths of patients with the coronavirus, for a total of 22,524, as the government mulls a way out of a strict national confinement that has extended for more than 40 days.
Health officials from Spain’s 17 regions and the central government were to meet later on Friday with proposals on how to roll back the six-week lockdown. Authorities have said that future steps will be incremental and depend on how regions meet certain health criteria.
Doctors in Japan warn that the ‘collapse of emergency medicine has already started’
TOKYO — Japanese emergency medicine is starting to collapse amid dire shortages of protective gear and test kits that can quickly identify infected patients, putting medical workers at risk and causing them to refuse to treat suspected COVID-19 patients and even others suffering heart attacks and external injuries, leading emergency doctors said Friday.
The limited number of advanced and critical emergency centers are overburdened with the surging number of patients because many other hospitals are increasingly turning away suspected COVID-19 patients, said Takeshi Shimazu, head of the Japanese Assn. for Acute Medicine, and Tetsuya Sakamoto, chief of the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine.
“We can no longer operate normally, and in that sense I say the collapse of emergency medicine has already started,†Shimazu told reporters. “I’m most concerned about a collapse of healthcare for the critically ill patients.â€
Japan initially seemed to have controlled the outbreak by going after clusters of infections in specific places, but the spread of the coronavirus has outpaced this approach and most new cases are untraceable. Some experts say the infections in Japan are already far more than the number of cases released by the government, which has declared a nationwide state of emergency.
Japan has about 12,400 cases and more than 300 deaths, according to health ministry figures.
Sweden warns its still-open bars and restaurants to follow distancing guidelines
STOCKHOLM — Sweden threatened to close bars and restaurants that do not follow social distancing recommendations by the public health authorities.
“We see worrying reports about full outdoor dining and crowding. Let me be extremely clear. I don’t want to see any crowded outdoor restaurants in Stockholm†or elsewhere, Swedish Interior Minister Mikael Damberg told a news conference.
Sweden has so far opted for relatively liberal policies to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Swedish government Friday asked the country’s 290 municipalities to report on how restaurants and cafes follow the Public Health Authority’s advice.
“These guidelines must be followed. Otherwise, operations will be closed,†Damberg said.
Earlier this week, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said that “it is not the number of hours of sunshine or temperature that decides whether to listen to the advice of the authorities or not.â€
“Don’t think for one moment that we have gone through this crisis yet,†he told a news conference.
China reports ninth day without any COVID-19 deaths
BEIJING — China on Friday reported no new COVID-19 deaths for the ninth straight day, and just six new cases of the coronavirus.
Two of those were brought from overseas, with three domestic cases in Heilongjiang on the Russian border and one in the southern business hub of Guangdong province.
Hospitals are still treating 915 cases, 57 listed as serious, while 999 people are being isolated and monitored as either suspected cases or for having tested positive without showing symptoms.
The country’s death toll from the global pandemic first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year remains at 4,632 out of 82,804 cases.
Pakistan’s Sindh province bans prayers during Ramadan
Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has banned prayers during the Islamic month of Ramadan after the Pakistan Medical Assn. pleaded with Prime Minister Imran Khan and the country’s religious leaders to rethink their refusal to close mosques countrywide.
Even as Pakistan’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 have begun to increase by 600 and 700 a day, compared to earlier daily increases of about 300, Khan has refused to order mosques closed. Instead he has left it to clerics — some of whom have called for adherents to pack mosques trusting their faith to protect them — to police government-ordered social distancing.
Pakistan recorded 642 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of known infections to 11,155 with 237 deaths. Khan has criticized Sindh’s Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah of being too zealous in his restrictions to contain the spread. Shah’s Pakistan People’s Party is politically opposed to Khan’s Justice Party.
Sindh province, whose capital, Karachi, is the country’s financial hub, has the second largest number of virus cases in Pakistan, recording 3,671 positive cases. Karachi is also one of the world’s largest cities, with a population of about 15 million, located on the Arabian Sea.
Government scientist felt pressured to approve contract for work on drug Trump touted
The federal scientist recently ousted from a senior position overseeing research on coronavirus vaccines felt pressured by Trump administration officials to award a $21-million contract to a Florida laboratory to study an anti-malaria drug touted by the president as a COVID-19 treatment, according to a person familiar with the incident.
Rick Bright, who was abruptly removed this week from his senior post at the Department of Health and Human Services, was told by officials to approve the contract for a clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine to Alchem Laboratories, a small drug-development firm, the person said.
“He was very concerned and was ordered to do it,†said the person.
Megan Rapinoe, Gov. Newsom tackle tough subjects during Instagram chat
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, facing discontent in some parts of the state over his COVID-19 policies, received a warm embrace from World Cup soccer champion Megan Rapinoe during a 30-minute Instagram chat Thursday in which he urged people to hold on just a bit longer.
Rapinoe, the reigning world player of the year, grew up in conservative Shasta County, where just 27 people have tested positive for the virus. And her conversation with the governor touched on such hot-button issues as Newsom’s shelter-in-place order, aid to undocumented immigrants, coronavirus testing and the gender-discrimination lawsuit Rapinoe and her teammates have filed against U.S. Soccer, the questions were largely softballs at which Newsom took a healthy hack.
Addressing the stay-at-home order, now ending its fifth week, Rapinoe admitted the edict was “making people a little bit stir crazy,†especially in rural towns such as Redding, where her family lives. But, she added, by acting quickly — California was the first state to require residents to stay home — Newsom “look[ed] like a genius†by slowing the spread of the virus and flattening the curve.
How do cigarettes, pot and vaping affect infections and outcomes?
In times of stress, like living through a global pandemic, it’s natural to fall back on soothing habits — gardening, playing video games or, for some, lighting up a cigarette or taking a pull on a marijuana vape pen.
But what are the risks, given that the novel coronavirus at the center of the current crisis attacks the lungs?
The science is in its early stages, but studies are finding that cigarette smokers are more likely to have severe infections — a fact many lung doctors say doesn’t surprise them.
COVID-19 survivor Daniel Dae Kim donates his plasma to ‘help others in their fight’
The world does not deserve Daniel Dae Kim.
After battling and defeating a nasty case of the novel coronavirus, the “Hawaii Five-0†alum took to Instagram to announce he has donated his plasma “in the hopes that the antibodies I’ve built up will help others in their fight against [COVID-19].â€
“Me and my plasma,†the actor wrote, sharing a photo of himself in a hospital bed, holding a bag of his own blood contents and flashing a hang-loose sign.
“Glad to be able to donate ... If you were sick, but have tested negative and 14 days have passed since you last exhibited symptoms, or you tested positive but have been symptom-free for 28 days, I hope you’ll please consider making a [plasma donation] as well.â€