The US Owes $23.5 Trillion – But Can Still Afford A Big Coronavirus Stimulus Package

THE USA CAN AFFORD DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM

MEDICARE FOR ALL, UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME, LIVING WAGE, ETC.




By William D. Lastrapes 03/19/20



The U.S. government now owes over $23.5 trillion in debt, or about $71,000 for every man, woman and child living within its borders. It has risen $3 trillion since President Trump took office in 2017 and is almost double what it was just 10 years ago.

U.S. government officials are discussing another expensive stimulus package – possibly as much as $1 trillion and bigger than the one enacted in 2009 during the midst of the financial crisis – to help the U.S. economy make it through the coronavirus pandemic.

But in light of its large debt, can the federal government really afford more spending?

The national debt represents the accumulation of past deficits that the federal government has run, pretty much continuously, since 1931. Prior to that, surpluses were much more common, apart from the years following the Civil War.


But its size is not a problem. The amount of government debt simply reflects the timing of taxes. Higher spending and lower taxes today mean more borrowing that will need to be paid off by higher taxes in the future.

The US budget deficit is expected to average $1.3 trillion through 2030 as the debt grows to 98% of GDP Photo: GETTY / MARK WILSON

Not everyone will be happy about that, and the government’s resources are not unlimited. But because the economy grows over time, collecting those future taxes make spending today affordable.

In addition, the $23.5 trillion figure, while large, is a bit misleading because $6 trillion of this is owed to other government agencies like Social Security. While that’s real money, it’s a bit like owing your spouse.

As long as U.S. fiscal institutions are strong and effective, and the long-run productive capacity of the nation’s economy is secure, there is no economic reason to worry the government can’t afford a large stimulus package.

To remain solvent and ultimately pay what it owes, the Treasury – which sells notes and bonds to investors frequently to raise money to finance the deficit – need only balance its books over the long run, rather than over an arbitrary unit of time like a year. So annual national deficits are not always a cause for concern.

Historically low interest rates on government debt suggest that bond market participants agree with this view.

And in times of crisis, U.S. debt is seen as a haven, pushing borrowing costs even lower. Indeed, with these low rates, sufficient economic growth can allow the government to borrow indefinitely.

Many economists, including me, argue that fiscal stimulus is needed now because the disruptions from social distancing and other necessary precautions against the coronavirus will likely drive the economy into recession. The state of the nation’s public health is a valid concern of the federal government, as is mitigating the harm recessions can do to workers and small business.

The pandemic will end – that we can be sure of – and the economy will get back on track over time. But worries about the debt should not prevent government actions from helping people now. We can afford it.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on Feb. 14, 2019.

William D. Lastrapes is Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia.

This article originally appeared in The Conversation. Read the original article here.

The Mighty Nile, Threatened By Waste, Warming, Mega-dam


By Farid Farid 03/19/20 


Early one morning in Cairo, volunteers paddle their kayaks across the Nile, fishing out garbage from the mighty waterway that gave birth to Egyptian civilisation but now faces multiple threats.

Egypt's lifeline since Pharaonic days and the source of 97 percent of its water is under massive strain from pollution and climate change and now the threat of a colossal dam being built far upstream in Ethiopia.

Undeterred, the flotilla of some 300 environmental activists do what they can -- in the past three years they say they have picked some 37 tonnes of cans, plastic bottles, disposable bags and other trash from the waters and shores along the Nile in Egypt.

The Nile is under massive strain from pollution and climate change and now the threat of a colossal dam being built far upstream in Ethiopia Photo: AFP / Khaled DESOUKI

"People have to understand that the Nile is as important -- if not more -- than the pyramids," said Mostafa Habib, 29, co-founder of the environmental group Very Nile.

"The generations coming after us will depend on it."

His fears echo those that millions worldwide share about other over-taxed and polluted rivers from the Mekong to the Mississippi -- an issue to be marked on World Water Day on March 22.

In the past three years, the environmental activists say they have picked some 37 tonnes of rubbish from the waters and shores along the Nile in Egypt Photo: AFP / Khaled DESOUKI

But few waterways face greater strain than the 6,600-kilometre (4,100-mile) Nile, the basin of which stretches across 11 countries -- Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.



No country is more reliant on the Nile than Egypt, whose teeming population has just passed 100 million people -- over 90 percent of whom live along the river's banks.

Surrounded by a green valley full of palm trees, the north-flowing river is awash with boats of all sizes for tourism, fishing and leisure.

No country is more reliant on the Nile than Egypt -- over 90 percent of its population live along the river's banks Photo: AFP / KHALED DESOUKI

"All of us Egyptians benefit from the Nile, so cleaning it up is a way of giving back to my country," said one of the volunteers, Walied Mohamed, a 21-year-old university student.


"The Nile is the main source of drinking water for Egypt. We have no other major rivers flowing in our country."

Despite its importance, the Nile is still heavily polluted in Egypt Photo: AFP / Khaled DESOUKI

Around seven percent of Egyptians lack access to clean drinking water and over eight million go without proper sanitation Photo: AFP / KHALED DESOUKI

Despite its importance, the Nile is still heavily polluted in Egypt by waste water and rubbish poured directly in to it, as well as agricultural runoff and industrial waste, with consequences for biodiversity, especially fishing, and human health, experts say.

Around 150 million tonnes of industrial waste are dumped into it every year, according to the state-run Environmental Affairs Agency.

Climate change spells another threat as rising sea levels are set to push Mediterranean salt water deep into the fertile Nile river delta, the nation's bread basket.

Fears about the Nile echo those that millions worldwide share about other over-taxed and polluted rivers -- an issue to be marked on World Water Day on March 22 Photo: AFP / KHALED DESOUKI

Researchers predict the country's already stretched agricultural sector could shrink by as much as 47 percent by 2060 as a result of saltwater intrusion.

Cotton, one of the most widely cultivated plants along the Nile, requires a lot of water.

Egypt also faces a nationwide fresh water shortage by 2025, according to the UN.

The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, set to be Africa's largest, is also raising fears in downstream countries Egypt and Sudan Photo: AFP / EDUARDO SOTERAS

Already around seven percent of Egyptians lack access to clean drinking water and over eight million go without proper sanitation.

Hydrologists say people face water scarcity when their supply drops below 1,000 cubic metres per person annually.

Egyptian officials say in 2018 the individual share was 570 cubic metres and that this is expected to further drop to 500 cubic metres by 2025.

But aside from all the existing threats, there is another issue that terrifies Egypt's national planners and has even sparked fears of war.

Sudan and Egypt worry the new dam's high wall will trap their essential water supplies when the giant reservoir starts to be filled Photo: AFP / OZAN KOSE

More than 3,000 kilometres (2,000 miles) upstream on the Blue Nile, the main tributary, thousands of workers have toiled for almost a decade to build the $4.5-billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, set to be Africa's largest.

Downstream countries, mainly Egypt but also drought-plagued Sudan, fear that the dam's 145-metre (475-foot) high wall will trap their essential water supplies once the giant reservoir, the size of London, starts being filled this summer.

Years of tensions between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa have even seen Washington jump in to mediate rounds of crisis diplomacy.

For Ethiopia, one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, the dam is a prestige project and source of national pride.

In a country of 110 million where even the capital is plagued by blackouts, it promises to provide electricity by 2025 to the more than half of the population that now lives without it.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has insisted the project will not be stopped, warning that if necessary "we can deploy many millions".

In less belligerent but equally dramatic language, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the United Nations last year that "the Nile is a question of life, a matter of existence to Egypt".

For some farmers in Sudan, the dam promises to tame rainy season floods that inundate farms with silt and destroy crops and houses.

One Blue Nile farmer whom AFP visited in November, Osman Idris, said "it's a renegade river, it rises so fast".

If its flow is regulated, "we can plant crops through the year", explained the 60-year-old farmer.

"It will be better for the environment and for marketing our products, which means more income for us."

For Egypt, the crucial question now is at what rate Ethiopia plans to fill the 74-billion-cubic-metre reservoir -- Cairo demands it at least triple its proposed period of three to four years.

But experts also warn that Egypt must change its own water management practices.

"Egypt needs to invest in non-Nile sources of water," said Jeannie Sowers, a political science professor at University of New Hampshire who authored a book on Egypt's environmental policies.

"This means prioritising desalination plants on the coasts... and improving irrigation and drainage networks," she told AFP.

While steps have got under way on this, progress has been hampered by bureaucratic problems and economic woes linked to the Arab Spring protests of 2011.

Justin Mankin, a Dartmouth University geographer who wrote a study on climate change impacting the Nile, told AFP that "water stress will become widespread in the region, irrespective of rainfall increases".

He emphasised that the "region's governments must take steps to create water sharing schemes and practices that can ensure a sufficient and equitable distribution of water over the coming decades."

Meanwhile, the Egyptian volunteers push on in their kayaks and row boats doing what they can to reduce the garbage piled up on the Nile's banks.

"We have a treasure and we really haven't taken care of it," said Nour Serry, a Cairo graphic designer and avid volunteer.

"As Egyptians, we should be more attuned to cleaning up our Nile and the surrounding environment. This is our source of life."

Copyright AFP. All rights reserved.

The World Is More Dissatisfied With Democracy Than Ever, Research Says

By Dominic Nicosia 01/28/20

Donald Trump Embraces Dictators And Is A Threat To Democracy - Elizabeth Warren

KEY POINTS

Over 57 percent of the world is not satisfied with democracy 

The figure includes over half of all Americans

Satisfaction is at an all-time high in many European countries

Global dissatisfaction with democracy has reached an all-time high, according to new research from Cambridge University. Despite what many might be quick to believe, these negative sentiment actually predates the current acrimonious political climate.

A massive 25-year study of 154 countries and over four million people released on Wednesday revealed that 57.5 percent of respondents are dissatisfied with democracy. Additional research indicated that 2019 marked “the highest level of democratic discontent” on record. The findings were reported by CNBC.

Over the last 25 years, global discontent toward the once-celebrated system of government grew from a little over a third to more than half of all respondents. Shifts in satisfaction levels were often a response to “objective circumstances and events” such as economic shocks and corruption scandals, the report said.


THE DISSATISFACTION IS WITH CAPITALISM NOT DEMOCRACY
One of the largest and most notable jumps in dissatisfaction came after the 2008 financial crisis, a spike of over 6.5 percent. Another alarming revelation of the report is that many large democracies, including the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and Brazil, were now at their highest-ever level of dissatisfaction with democracy. According to the report, the U.S. in particular had seen a “dramatic and unexpected” decline in satisfaction with the system.


At the study’s inception in 1995, more than 75 percent of U.S. citizens were satisfied with American democracy. Confidence was dramatically shaken after the 2008 financial crash and has been dipping ever since. Today, fewer than 50 percent of Americans are satisfied with the democracy in their country. “Such levels of democratic dissatisfaction would not be unusual elsewhere,” the report said. “But for the United States, it marks an ‘end of exceptionalism’ — a profound shift in America’s view of itself, and therefore, of its place in the world.”

Meanwhile, in Europe, satisfaction with democracy is at an all-time high, particularly in countries like Denmark, Switzerland and Norway.

Workplace Culture: How Team 'Recess' Translates To A Better Product


By Oskar Konstantyner 02/29/20

Who says recess is just for schoolchildren?

A short break of (somewhat) unstructured, yet supervised play, recess is easily dismissed as something we outgrow, even if research shows it is incredibly beneficial. However, when applied correctly, the concept of recess offers a beneficial tool for any team. In the same way that recess gives kids a chance to use different parts of their brains and take a physical break from mental work, unstructured time can be transformative for your teams.

This “recess”-like block of time can take many forms. For engineers, it might occur on a Friday after a long development sprint. Or a marketing team might pause after a product launch to unwind and reset before preparing for the next campaign. But whatever structure or name it may take, a specific period of less structured time during the workday can bring tangible, measurable improvements to your product and your business.

I’ve personally experienced the benefits of this system. At my company, “Friday Projects” have become part of our development team’s culture. At the end of every sprint, we block off time to use as we wish. Of course, this free time has its boundaries (it’s not time to run errands or take the team axe throwing), but the arrival of Friday Projects is always highly anticipated.


In the end, real product improvements and major cross-team collaborations occur, along with a host of other intangible benefits. All of it reinvigorates the team for the next sprint, often equipping team members with new ways of thinking or an improved set of tools.

If you’re wondering if this kind of break might benefit your team, the short answer is “yes.” But there are several lessons and best practices my team has learned that can help you achieve the benefits of this concept even faster.


Encourage teams to break boundaries. The idea behind Friday Projects is to pursue something we are personally passionate about. As engineers, we now take greater ownership over the end product and are more able to see projects we develop through to completion. And pursuing these passion projects sometimes means breaking out of our own professional silos and working with departments we don’t often interact with. As a result, this added free time has allowed us to push out countless “nice-to-have” features to our product that would not have happened otherwise.

Make sure good work gets noticed. A passion project is only rewarding if it actually gets done. For our team, we have a rule that any new product feature or update gets released publicly. This ensures a level of accountability, but also makes sure our work doesn’t get lost. When applying this in your organization, encourage your teams to champion the work they do during unstructured time. This can be a happy hour celebrating a feature launch or ordering T-shirts celebrating a new product update — whatever it is, don’t let good work go unused or unrecognized.

Take time to look inward. Free time can also be a great time to reflect on work life outside of sprint deadlines and product launches. What tools are we using? Why? Is there a better way to do this? These strategic questions are often pushed aside by day-to-day concerns, but it doesn’t make them any less important. Many of us have used our Friday Projects time to form working groups that tackle these questions. On several occasions, we have used the time to research and purchase better development tools and integrations for our engineers. In other instances, we have deployed internal code updates and protocols that greatly improved the inner workings of our product. It’s important to keep in mind that while these kinds of projects may never be public, they vastly improve the way your team works on a daily basis.

Establish rules of play. Our team is very clear about what “Friday Projects” are for. It’s not a “hackathon” where we build whatever we want, and most importantly, pursuing our own projects doesn’t free us from our normal roles. If a project conflicts with something in another department, we run it by that department first. If a new feature idea is a little quirky, we make sure to get the product owners’ blessing before investing any work time on it. Our Friday Projects have been successful because of rules and boundaries, not despite them. Keep this in mind as your teams experiment with unstructured time.
Measure success. Passion projects offer the intrinsic reward of launching something you love, but celebrating the birth of an idea is only the beginning. New features, ideas or updates that created during your version of “recess” should be measured and analyzed just like any on-the-clock project. This legitimizes the work accomplished during this period, but also prolongs the rush of launching something new — now your team can celebrate every new milestone that occurs.

It’s easy to see why we haven’t looked to the playground sooner as a way to inspire teams. From the outside, recess looks like unregulated chaos or play for the sake of play. But in reality, this break allows a peer group to take a mental and physical break from the task at hand and helps them reset their brains for the next long sprint of work. They make new connections and may bring a new idea or two with them to the next project.



Friday Projects have improved our product and morale. It’s a tradition the team looks forward to, and also serves as a great perk to brag about when trying to lure new team members.

Given the low overhead cost, unstructured time has the potential to deliver impressive ROI. It’s just a matter of imagining what incredible things your team can accomplish during “recess.”

Oskar Konstantyner is a Product Owner and Team Lead at Templafy, focusing on document creation, external services integrations, compliance and process automation features

This chart shows GDP per hour worked in selected countries in 2018.  Photo: Statista/IBT 

Figures from the OECD reveal the countries in which the average hour of work contributes the most to GDP.

As our infographic shows, no matter how hard the average worker in Chile works, they won't be as productive (in GDP terms) as the average person toiling away in Ireland.

An hour's work in the South American country contributed $29.0 to the economy while in Ireland this contribution is on average $102.3.

High Seas Piracy Is Alive And Well. Can We Kill It?


By Yarden Gross 02/25/20 

VIDEO
Somali pirates release hijacked Aris 13 oil tanker without ransom

Sea piracy, the stuff of kids stories and swashbuckling Hollywood classics, is still with us – but modern pirates have none of the charm of their storybook predecessors. In 2009, for example, the MV Maersk Alabama was taken over by pirates (as portrayed in the movie 'Captain Phillips'), leading to the kidnapping of the captain and a bloody shootout involving U.S. Navy Seals.

At any given time, there are about 100,000 vessels at sea. Oil tankers, cargo vessels, fishing boats, cruise ships, and patrol boats crowd the seas, and many of them are loaded with riches that prove to be too tempting for seagoing criminals to pass up.

Although most ships won't be hit by them, pirates – especially in areas where enforcement is weak – play the seas as well, looking for easy targets, specifically among cargo ships and oil tankers. So far in 2020, there have been fewer than 20 incidents of piracy on the high seas, most of them concentrated in specific areas. No ships have been outright seajacked; in most cases, pirates who boarded ships were overcome by the crew.

However, shippers don't take chances – they invest a great deal of effort and money in protecting vessels. The shipping industry annually lays out billions in insurance and in rerouting ships away from danger zones, and then there are the expenses for the deployment of naval forces to protect ships, the “hit” to local ports for lost business, etc. The total annual cost of piracy prevention is as much as $12 billion.


One reason pirates are able to get away with attacks is their stealthiness. They sneak up on cargo ships and quickly board them before their victims have an opportunity to defend themselves, put some distance between themselves and potential attackers, or inform authorities that they are likely to become victims of a forced boarding.

A quick perusal of attacks shows that stealth is indeed the modern pirate's modus operandi. One attack off the coast of Nigeria saw “robbers in a small boat approach an anchored tanker during STS cargo operations. Two of the robbers attempted to board the tanker via the anchor chain. Duty crew on routine rounds noticed the robbers and raised the alarm.”

In another attack, “Two unauthorized persons from two skiffs came alongside and boarded an anchored tanker. Duty watchman on security rounds noticed the persons on the forecastle deck. Alarm raised and crew mustered. Seeing the alerted crew, the persons jumped overboard and escaped.” In a third attack, “Five armed pirates in a small craft approached a tanker underway. Alarm raised and evasive maneuvers commenced. Armed security team onboard the tanker fired warning shots resulting in the pirates returning fire and then aborting the approach and moving away.”

A cargo ship passes through the Panama Canal's Pedro Miguel Locks on the outskirts of Panama City in February 2018 Photo: AFP / Rodrigo ARANGUA

In each of these and many other reported attacks, pirates were able to approach their targets using small boats that evaded detection, using odd maneuvers and roundabout routes, often under cover of darkness. While crews successfully fended off the attack in each case, the danger of someone getting hit in the crossfire – or the pirates actually succeeding – always exists. Those stealth tactics, for example, were what enabled Somali pirates to hijack the Aris 13 oil tanker in 2017.

So how can ships avoid pirates? One way is to stick with the crowd. It's unlikely that a pirate skiff will be able to sneak up on a ship in crowded waterways, but there are going to be times and places where a ship may be alone.

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In those situations, ships would likely rely on radar, which would give them insight into vessels and objects in the area. Unfortunately, most radar systems are designed to detect large objects that a ship is at risk of colliding with; they often miss small boats and skiffs, the vessels that have become the preferred method of pirate invasion.

A third possibility is to keep in constant touch with naval patrols and other security groups while in dangerous waters. But, often a patrol boat will be tens of kilometers away from a ship, too far to navigate to the scene of the crime when called upon for help.

Fortunately, new developments in vision and sensor technology are available to help deal with the piracy problem. Ships equipped with sensors that take in data about everything surrounding the ship, large and small, can alert crew and patrols that a pirate invasion is on the way.

Using machine learning, for example, a sensor-based system that detects a skiff would analyze its movements, and based on data from previous encounters, it would alert the crew that the kinds of maneuvers the skiff is making indicate that it is likely a pirate vessel. Crew members could then take their positions to defend the vessel, or even take pre-emptive action against the offenders.

Using advanced vision technology, systems could more easily identify offending vessels. By recording speed and trajectory and matching the data with a map of the surrounding area, for example, a system could provide authorities with information on the likely whereabouts of offenders, making it easier to catch them before they strike again.

Long John Silver is long gone, but his criminal heirs are still plying the high seas – quite successfully, unfortunately. Pirates who steal cargo or, increasingly, kidnap crews and hold them for ransom “earn” tens of millions of dollars a year. New developments in technology will hopefully put this scourge to a stop once and for all.

(Yarden Gross is CEO and Co-founder of Orca AI)

Down The Rabbit Hole: How YouTube Comments Help In Radicalizing Viewers

By JR Ventura  01/30/20

Who Is Count Dankula? YouTuber Convicted Over Offensive Nazi Salute Video

KEY POINTS
Researchers from Switzerland and Brazil universities are pointing to YouTube as the gateway to radicalization

YouTube's "algorithmic recommendations" are guiding viewers to more extreme content
Researchers argued that as host to extremist channels, YouTube is partly responsible for the radical transformation

From fake news to fake comments, the rise of social media and the side effects of YouTube's free-for-all video publishing are acting as gateways to radicalize users into the Dark Side.

In a recent study presented by university researchers in Switzerland and Brazil at the 2020 Conference on Fairness, Accountability and Transparency in Barcelona, Google's YouTube “algorithmic recommendations” are somewhat guiding viewers to more radical videos. Along the way, median content slowly transforms into those with extreme information that, among others, indulge in racism, anti-Semitic and white supremacist ideologies, said Fox Business.

The researchers based their findings on a ton of YouTube videos, channels and comments and came up with a paper entitled, “Auditing Radicalization Pathways on YouTube.” As part of their study, the team analyzed more than 330,000 videos that were posted on 349 channels plus an outstanding 72 million comments. Here, they classified the videos as Media, Alt-lite, the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW) and the Alt-right, according to Tech Crunch.

YouTube policies already ban explicit threats, but now "veiled or implied" threats will be barred as well Photo: AFP / NICOLAS ASFOURI


The outlet further suggested that the paper discovered that users who started as patrons on Alt-lite and IDW channels went down the proverbial rabbit hole and began commenting on extreme far-right videos over the years.

“A significant amount of commenting users systematically migrates from commenting exclusively on milder content to commenting on more extreme content,” the paper said, via Tech Crunch.


After the researchers presented their paper, author Manoel Horta Ribeiro was asked if they solely based their study on pure YouTube content and if the people that they were discussing were already “radicalized” in the first place.

For his part – as well as the researchers – Ribeiro didn't put all the blame on YouTube. However, he made it a point to detail that as host to these channels, the platform is responsible to the transformation.

“We do find evident traces of user radicalization, and I guess the question asks why is YouTube responsible for this? And I guess the answer would be because many of these communities they live on YouTube and they have a lot of their content on YouTube and that's why YouTube is so deeply associated with it,” he said, according to Tech Crunch.

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Ribeiro also said that “it's very hard” to point all radicalization transformation are made by YouTube or some “recommender system,” but their analysis – a solid evidence, at that – exposes the truth that there are people who only visited milder channels in the past have transcended in their ideologies and ventured on a more extreme path.

TRADES UNION CONGRESS TUC
BBC QT: ‘Tell the truth!’ TUC chief raises important point about NHS ventilator shortage

THE TUC Chief has urged the government to be honest with the public about how long it will take for the NHS to be restocked with ventilators and other medical equipment before supplies run low due to the coronavirus epidemic.

By HOLLY FLEET PUBLISHED: Fri, Mar 20, 2020

Fiona Bruce hosted the first-ever Question Time panel without a live audience in Weston Super Mare last night. Junior doctor Jess asked a question in a video call to the panel, made up of Matt Hancock, Andy Burnham, Tom Solomon, Frances O’Grady, and Angela Hartnett.

Jess asked how will the government help to ration ventilators and provide adequate equipment for NHS staff.

She warned that without the necessary means provided the UK could “end up like Italy.”

Jess said: “The situation with the coronavirus is a worrying time for us all, an unprecedented circumstance for the health service

THE TUC Chief has urged the government to be honest with the public about ventilator shortage. (Image: BBC QT)

Fiona Bruce hosted the first-ever Question Time panel without a live audience in Weston Super Mare . (Image: BBC QT)


“Many junior doctors are frightened we will be in the same position as Italy in a few weeks time, “

Before she asked: “How are you going to ration ventilators for patients and equipment for the staff when the NHS becomes overwhelmed for the staff?”

TUC Chief Frances O’Grady admitted that there is a worry over necessary tools in hospital for all staff, not just the nurses and doctors, but cleaning staff who require sanitising products.

She said: “We're not just talking about doctors and nurses, were talking about cleaners and porters and all the other support staff. Without them, our hospitals can’t function.

READ MORE:'It's broken my heart' Fiona Bruce reads plea from OAP

“Many junior doctors are frightened we will be in the same

 position as Italy in a few weeks time, “ (Image: BBC QT)

“Were hearing people need masks, soap, equipment to fight this pandemic.” Ms O’Grady added.

Fiona Bruce exclaimed: "They’re telling you they haven’t got enough soap!?”

The TUC chief responded: “We have had that too. This is a team, in the NHS people see themselves as a team, they know they depend on each other, in order to do the job they need to do. So there are real worries. We need to get that sorted fast.”

She then added: “I'm really interested in the ventilators point, it's fantastic if we have got manufacturing companies prepared to switch production, are unions representing manufacturing workers?

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“How are you going to ration ventilators for patients and equipment for the staff when the NHS comes overwhelmed for the staff?” (Image: BBC QT)

The first QT in its history to be held without a live audience. (Image: BBC QT)


“Let’s be straight with people it's not as simple as its sometimes portrayed. switching manufacturing, getting the parts, sometimes from China, it’s not always easy.

“So let’s tell people the truth, we're grow-ups I think we can take it, we want to know how long will this take.

“In the meantime, how do we get that international cooperation, to get the ventilators to where they need to be most and that takes co-operation. Not point-scoring across nations, but helping each other.

Coronavirus Battle Plan (Image: EXPRESS)

“Those private healthcare companies need to pull their weight.”

It comes the New York Times reported that American and European ventilators manufacturers say they can’t keep up with the demand for their products.

“The reality is there is absolutely not enough,” said Andreas Wieland, the chief executive of Hamilton Medical in Switzerland, one of the world’s largest makers of ventilators.

“Those private healthcare companies need to pull their weight.” (Image: BBC QT)

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“We see that in Italy, we saw that in China, we see it in France and other countries. We could sell I don’t know how many.” He added.

“Italy wanted to order 4,000, but there’s not a chance, we sent them something like 400.”

IGNAZ Semmelweis is being honoured in today's Google Doodle. But why is the Hungarian physician being mentioned in a hand-washing video?

Ignaz Semmelweis reminds us to wash our hands (Image: GETTY)

By RACHEL RUSSELL PUBLISHED Fri, Mar 20, 2020

Coronavirus: GP demonstrates 'correct' hand washing procedure

The latest Google Doodle video features a 50 second clip of the six different stages of washing your hands. The video is accompanied by a jaunty jazz tune. And Dr Semmelweis appears to give support on the correct method of ensuring germs are no longer lingering on your hands after you scrub them with soap and water.

Why is Google honouring Hungarian physician in hand-washing Doodle?

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the world, it is no wonder people are being advised on how to keep germs at bay.

Thoroughly washing your hands regularly throughout the day has been a key piece of advice from all health professionals on how to protect yourself and others from catching the deadly virus.

People can carry coronavirus without realising, putting elderly people and those with underlying health problems at risk.

That is why it is vital to ensure you do not have any lingering traces of coronavirus on you.

Google Doodle: Ignaz Semmelweis is honoured in the Doodle on March 20 (Image: GETTY)

Dr Ignaz Semmelweis was famously known as the “father of infection control”.

The Hungarian physician was known for being the first person to discover the medical benefits of hand washing. 

He demonstrated the importance of clean hands when he was appointed chief resident in the maternity clinic of the Vienna General Hospital on 20 March 1847.

After this, he began requiring all physicians to disinfect their hands with a solution of chlorinated lime.

Google Doodle: Ignaz Semmelweis was famously known as the “father of infection control” (Image: GETTY)

He was appointed after concerns grew over new mothers dying at high rates of an infection.

This was referred to at the time as “childbed fever” in hospital.

After launching an investigation, Semmelweis worked out that the cause was doctors carrying infectious diseases on their hands.

They most likely got this from operating rooms to the new mothers.

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Hand sanitiser use: How to use hand sanitiser properly - WHO top tips [EXPLAINED]


Coronavirus can linger on a person without them realising (Image: EXPRESS)


After his hand disinfection initiative, “mortality rates in the first division dropped from 18.27 to 1.27 percent, and in March and August of 1848 no woman died in childbirth in his division,” according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

However, it wasn't until after Semmelweis’s death that his beliefs were validated by other medical professionals.

This occured through the widespread acceptance of the “germ theory of disease.

And now the Google Doodle is offering more adivce from the World Health Organisation on this issue.

Coronavirus spread can be contained by washing your hands (Image: GETTY)


Boris Johnson is confident the UK will contain the virus in 12 weeks (Image: GETTY)

The WHO recommends people wash their hands for 20 seconds.

This will ensure all germs are thoroughly removed and your hands will hopefully be free of disease.

It comes as the number of deaths continue to rise across the world.

The UK death toll has hit more than 144 so far.

READ MORE: Is liquid soap better than a bar of soap? Is there a difference? 

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Coronavirus bombshell: Study finds ‘origin of virus that enabled take-off'

CORONAVIRUS is sweeping across Europe, placing the likes of Italy, France, Spain and Germany in lockdown, but a group of scientists think they have a "plausible explanation" for the outbreak.

By CALLUM HOARE PUBLISHED Fri, Mar 20,2020

There have now been a quarter-of-a-million cases of COVID-19 worldwide, as the number of fatalities in Italy has now surpassed China, who introduced strict measures early to curb the effects. Scientists around the world have been working day and night in the hope of finding a vaccine that will be ready before next year. Now, an international study, published in Virological, may help prevent future devastation, by mapping out the likely origin of COVID-19.


The researchers looked at the genome sequencing of the virus, in comparison to other strands of SARS, to understand its mutation.

It reads: “It is improbable that COVID-19 emerged through laboratory manipulation of an existing SARS-related coronavirus.

“The receptor binding of COVID-19 is optimised for humans with an efficient binding solution different to that which would have been predicted.

“Further, if genetic manipulation had been performed, one would expect that one of the several reverse genetic systems available for coronaviruses would have been used.

A study found the likely origin of COVID-19 (Image: GETTY

Italy has the highest death toll (Image: GETTY)

We propose two scenarios that can plausibly explain the origin of COVID-19
Scientific paper

“However, this is not the case as the genetic data shows that COVID-19 is not derived from any previously used virus backbone.”

The scientists believe that, by looking at previous cases of coronavirus, they can better understand how this new strain mutated.

The paper continues: “Instead, we propose two scenarios that can plausibly explain the origin of COVID-19.

“Firstly, natural selection in a non-human animal host prior to animal-human transfer, and secondly, natural selection in humans following animal-human transfer.

“As many of the early cases of COVID-19 were linked to the Huanan seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan, it is possible that an animal source was present at this location.

The epicentre of the virus was in Wuhan (Image: GETTY)

“Given the similarity of COVID-19 to bat SARS-like COVs, it is plausible that bats serve as hosts for COVID-19.”

However, this theory does pose a worry to the researchers, who add there could be a possibility that other viruses could be circulating in animals, including one in particular.

The paper adds: “It is important, however, to note that previous outbreaks of coronaviruses in humans involved direct exposure to animals other than bats, including civets (SARS) and camels (MERS), that carry viruses that are genetically very similar to SARS or MERS, respectively.

“By analogy, viruses closely related to COVID-19 may be circulating in one or more animal species.

“Initial analyses indicate that Malayan pangolins illegally imported into Guangdong province contain a coronavirus that is similar to COVID-19.

The study found a link between animals and COVID-19 (Image: GETTY)

250,000 people have been infected (Image: GETTY)

“However, no pangolin coronavirus has yet been identified that is sufficiently similar to COVID-19 across its entire genome to support direct human infection.

“Further characterisation of coronavirus in pangolins and other animals that may harbour COCID-19-like viruses should be a public health priority.”

The paper goes on to discuss a second theory, that the virus mutated after animal-human contact.

It continues: “It is also possible that a progenitor to COVID-19 jumped from a non-human animal to humans, with the genomic features described above acquired through adaptation during subsequent human-to-human transmission.

“We surmise that once these adaptations were acquired it would enable the outbreak to take-off, producing a sufficiently large and unusual cluster of pneumonia cases to trigger the surveillance system that ultimately detected it.

“A detailed understanding of how an animal virus jumped species boundaries to infect humans so productively will help in the prevention of future animal-human events.

“For example, if COVID-19 pre-adapted in another animal species then we are at risk of future re-emergence events even if the current epidemic is controlled.

“In contrast, if the adaptive process we describe occurred in humans, then even if we have repeated animal-human transfers they are unlikely to take-off unless the same series of mutations occurs.”

Masks, gloves don't stop coronavirus spread: experts

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Wearing masks and gloves as a precaution against coronavirus is ineffective, unnecessary for the vast majority of people, and may even spread infections faster, experts said Tuesday.

While near-total lockdowns have been imposed in Italy, Spain and now France, the World Health Organization's advice has remained unchanged since the start of the global outbreak: wash your hands, don't touch your face, and keep your distance.

The WHO says it is advisable to wear a protective mask in public if you suspect you are infected or someone you are caring for is, in which case the advice is to stay home whenever possible.

"There are limits to how a mask can protect you from being infected and we've said the most important thing everyone can do is wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face, observe very precise hygiene," said WHO's emergencies director Mike Ryan.

The advice is all the more urgent given the WHO's estimate that health workers worldwide will need at least 89 million masks every month to treat COVID-19 cases.

There are already shortages of masks for medical professionals around the world, a problem that could get worse as the pandemic drags on.

But the message about masks hasn't reached everyone.

"I'm surprised to see through the window in my ministry lots of people in the street wearing masks when that doesn't correspond to our recommendations," French health minister Olivier Veran said Monday.

Mariam, 35, told AFP that she was wearing a mask because she has an elderly mother.

"Just in case," said Mariam, who was also sporting latex gloves.

Mariam, who didn't want to give her last name, she said she got her mask from "a friend's mother who works in a hospital".

Contaminated masks

As well as hoovering up stocks sorely needed by medical professionals, experts say masks can give people who wear them a false sense of security.

For example, many people who wear them don't follow the official advice of washing their hands thoroughly first, ensuring it's air tight and not to touch it once it's on.

"People are always readjusting their masks and that has the potential to contaminate them," said France's head of health, Jerome Salomon.

"If someone has come across the virus, it's surely going to be on the mask."

Gloves, similarly, don't greatly heighten protection and could even end up making you sick.

"If people cannot stop touching their face, gloves will not serve a purpose," Amesh Adalja, from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told AFP.

One 2015 study in the American Journal of Infection Control found that people touch their face on average 20 times an hour.

The novel coronavirus is transmitted via skin contact, transferring infected globules of mucus via the ears, eyes or nose.

"Gloves are not a substitute for washing your hands," said Adalja, adding that surgical gloves should only be used in a medical setting.

Plus, said Veran: "If you're wearing gloves you're not washing your hands."

For one Paris resident, Oriane, 32, this is not a problem.

"I wash my gloves," she said, gesturing to her bright blue surgical mitts.

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