Study: N95 masks without valves most effective against COVID-19

N95 masks without valves are most effective at protecting against the new coronavirus, followed by surgical or polypropylene masks, researchers say. Photo by RevsReels/Pixabay

When it comes to face masks, not all are equally effective, a new study finds.

Duke University researchers developed a way of testing various types of masks to see which did the best job of stopping droplets coming from people's mouths, preventing spread of the new coronavirus.


They relied on a makeshift apparatus consisting of a box, a laser, a lens and a cellphone camera.

"We confirmed that when people speak, small droplets get expelled, so disease can be spread by talking, without coughing or sneezing," said Martin Fischer, a chemist and physicist at the Durham, N.C., campus. "We could also see that some face coverings performed much better than others in blocking expelled particles."

RELATED Masks safe for most people with lung diseases, experts say

What masks do the best job? That would be N95 masks without valves, followed by surgical or polypropylene masks.

Handmade cotton masks also stop a lot of droplets from normal speech, researchers said.

But bandanas and neck fleeces like balaclavas didn't block saliva spray much at all.

RELATED Testing every two days, masks, distancing may limit COVID-19 spread at college

"This was just a demonstration -- more work is required to investigate variations in masks, speakers, and how people wear them," Fischer said in a university news release. He added it demonstrates that businesses and others that are providing masks to employees or patrons could do similar testing.

"If everyone wore a mask, we could stop up to 99% of these droplets before they reach someone else," said Dr. Eric Westman, an associate professor of medicine at Duke. "In the absence of a vaccine or antiviral medicine, it's the one proven way to protect others as well as yourself."

The report was published online Aug. 7 in the journal Science Advances.

HE GOT FINED 

FOR NOT WEARING A MASK

Study: High levels of mercury, plastic toxins found in stranded whales, dolphins



A Gervais' beaked whale, stranded in St. Lucie County in Florida in 2019, was part of a study that examined tissue from stranded dolphins and whales for toxins. Photo courtesy of Dr. Annie Page-Karjian/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Dolphins and whales stranded on beaches in the southeastern United States had high levels of toxins, including mercury and chemicals found in plastic, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

Scientists who led the study said the data provides new, troubling information about the impact of pollution on marine mammals -- knowledge that could help save vulnerable and declining species.


The findings also could be a warning for humans, because whales and dolphins eat seafood that people also eat, researchers said.

"We must do our part to reduce the amount of toxicants that enter into our marine environment, which have important health and environmental implications not just for marine life, but for humans," lead author Dr. Annie Page-Karjian said.

"Dolphins eat a variety of fish and shrimp in these marine environments and so do humans," said Page-Karjian, an assistant research professor of marine wildlife at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, Fla.

Besides plastic chemicals, the study found toxins in the animals that included mercury, triclosan -- an antibacterial agent used consumer products like in soap and toothpaste -- and atrazine, a herbicide.

The study, published last week, examined tissue from 83 dolphins and whales that became stranded from North Carolina to south Florida and died from 2012 to 2018. Eleven animal species were tested for 17 toxins.

RELATED Florida scientists study health effects from exposure to toxic algae

The study is the first to report concentrations of toxicants in a white-beaked dolphin and in Gervais' beaked whales, species for which the scientific literature remains sparse.

The researchers involved in the study are licensed to retrieve bodies of marine mammals nationally and internationally as part of a network to respond to the stranding of marine animals.

Such science collected from the dead animals is difficult to collect from live animals, and the stranded animals often are in stages of sickness or decay, said Justin Perrault, another study participant, who is director of research at Loggerhead Marinelife Center Juno Beach, Fla., 12 miles north of West Palm Beach.

RELATED Scientists 'alarmed' to find 220 pounds of plastic in dead whale's stomach

"Some of the mercury levels we found were the highest found anywhere in the world," Perrault said. "It is eye-opening. To see the levels of some of these contaminants is alarming," Perrault said.

Despite those high levels, the study was unable to determine if the toxins caused the animals to beach themselves, said James Sullivan, executive director at Harbor Branch.

"It's really hard to judge, when an animal strands, if the toxins in the animal were related to why it stranded," Sullivan said. "But these health problems do stack up. The animal is much more susceptible to succumbing to natural disease and environmental problems, just like humans are more likely to get ill from coronavirus if they have underlying conditions."

Although the study focused on the Southeast, it has broader implications for marine mammal conservation, said John Calambokidis, senior research biologist with Olympia, Wash.-based Cascadia Research.

"There are many things we do not know about how many contaminants accumulate and might impact marine mammals," Calambokidis said. "This is valuable especially because there are so many chemicals that are used by humans and enter the environment and many are not tested for."

UPDATE
Warming shatters Canada's last Arctic ice shelf
AP 2020-08-10 

Reuters

The collapse of the Milne Ice Shelf, the last fully intact ice shelf in Canada, is seen reducing its size by about 43 percent according to Environment and Climate Change Canada in a combination of satellite images taken from July 30 to August 4, 2020 over Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Much of Canada’s remaining intact ice shelf has broken apart into hulking iceberg islands due to a hot summer and global warming, scientists said.

Canada’s 4,000-year-old Milne Ice Shelf on the northwestern edge of Ellesmere Island had been the country’s last intact ice shelf until the end of July when ice analyst Adrienne White of the Canadian Ice Service noticed that satellite photos showed that about 43 percent of it had broken off. She said it happened around July 30 or 31.

Two giant icebergs formed along with lots of smaller ones, and they have already started drifting away, White said. The biggest is nearly the size of Manhattan — 55 square kilometers and 11.5 kilometers long. They are 70 to 80 meters thick.

“This is a huge, huge block of ice,” White said. “If one of these is moving toward an oil rig, there’s nothing you can really do aside from move your oil rig.”

The 187-square-kilometer undulating white ice shelf of ridges and troughs dotted with blue meltwater had been larger than the District of Columbia but now is down to 106 square kilometers.

Temperatures from May to early August in the region have been 5 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1980 to 2010 average, University of Ottawa glaciology professor Luke Copland said.

This is on top of an Arctic that already had been warming much faster than the rest of globe, with this region warming even faster.

“Without a doubt, it’s climate change,” Copland said, noting the ice shelf is melting from both hotter air above and warmer water below.

“The Milne was very special. It’s an amazingly pretty location.”

Ice shelves are hundreds to thousands of years old, thicker than long-term sea ice, but not as big and old as glaciers, Copland said. Canada had a large continuous ice shelf across the northern coast of Ellesmere Island in the territory of Nunavut, but it has been breaking apart over recent decades because of global warming. By 2005 it was down to six remaining ice shelves but “the Milne was really the last complete ice shelf.”

“There aren’t very many ice shelves around the Arctic any more,” Copland added. “It seems we’ve lost pretty much all of them from northern Greenland and the Russian Arctic. There may be a few in a few protected fjords.”

UPDATE
Mauritius battles devastating fuel spill
AFP 2020-08-10

AFP

A large patch of leaked oil and the vessel MV Wakashio that ran aground near Blue Bay Marine Park off the coast of south-east Mauritius.

Thousands of Mauritians raced to contain a catastrophic oil spill swamping its pristine ocean and beaches on Sunday as frustration mounts over why more wasn’t done to prevent the ecological disaster.

The bulk carrier MV Wakashio has been seeping fuel into a protected marine park boasting unspoiled coral reefs, mangrove forests and endangered species, prompting the government to declare an unprecedented environmental emergency.

Attempts to stabilize the stricken vessel, which ran aground on July 25 but only started leaking oil last week, and to pump 4,000 tons of fuel from its hold have failed. Local authorities fear rough seas could rupture the tanker.

Japan said on Sunday it would send a six-member expert team to assist, joining France which dispatched a naval vessel and military aircraft from nearby Reunion Island after Mauritius issued an appeal for international help.

Thousands of volunteers, many smeared head-to-toe in black sludge, are marshaling along the coastline, stringing together miles of improvised floating barriers made of straw in a desperate attempt to hold back the oily tide.

Mitsui OSK Lines, which operates the vessel owned by a Japanese company, said yesterday that 1,000 tons of fuel oil had escaped so far.

“We are terribly sorry,” the shipping firm’s vice-president, Akihiko Ono, told reporters in Tokyo, promising to “make all-out efforts to resolve the case.” But conservationists say the damage could already be done.

Aerial images show the enormous scale of the disaster, with huge stretches of azure seas around the marooned cargo ship stained a deep inky black, and the region’s fabled lagoons and inlets clouded over.

Thick muck has inundated unspoiled marine habitats and white-sand beaches, causing what experts say is irreparable damage to the fragile coastal ecosystem upon which Mauritius and its economy relies.

Pressure is mounting on the government to explain why more wasn’t done in the two weeks since the bulk carrier ran aground.

The opposition has called for the resignation of the environment and fisheries ministers, while volunteers have ignored an official order to leave the clean-up operation to local authorities, donning rubber gloves to sift through the sludge.

“People by the thousands are coming together. No one is listening to the government anymore,” said Ashok Subron, an environmental activist at Mahebourg, one of the worst-hit areas.

“People have realized that they need to take things into their hands. We are here to protect our fauna and flora.”

Police said on Sunday they would execute a search warrant to board the Wakashio and seize items of interest, including the ship’s log.

Mauritius and its 1.3 million inhabitants depend crucially on the sea for eco-tourism, fostering a reputation as a conservation success story and a world-class destination for nature lovers.

SEE
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/locals-in-mauritius-are-going-to-great.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/mauritian-prime-minister-seeks.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-oil-spill-at-mauritius-is-disaster.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/update-mauritius-battles-devastating.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/mauritius-oil-spill-locals-scramble-to.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/oil-spill-off-mauritius-is-visible-from.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/france-offers-aid-as-mauritius-declares.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/mauritius-facing-catastrophe-as-oil.html

Europe stunned by US coronavirus bungling
AP 2020-08-09

AFP
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders extending coronavirus economic relief, during a news conference in Bedminster, New Jersey on Saturday. The United States has registered over five million cases in the coronavirus pandemic, Johns Hopkins University's tally showed on Sunday, as well as over 162,000 deaths as the country struggles to control the disease.The United States’ failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe, as the world’s most powerful country registered over 5 million confirmed infections as of Sunday.

Perhaps nowhere outside the US is America’s bungled virus response viewed with more consternation than in Italy. Italians were unprepared when the outbreak exploded in February and the country still has one of the world’s highest official death tolls at 35,000.

But after a strict nationwide 10-week lockdown, vigilant tracing of new clusters and general acceptance of mask mandates and social distancing, Italy has become a model of virus containment.

“Don’t they care about their health?” a mask-clad Patrizia Antonini asked about people in the United States as she walked with friends along the banks of Lake Bracciano, north of Rome. “They need to take our precautions ... They need a real lockdown.”

Much of the incredulity in Europe stems from the fact that America had the benefit of time, European experience and medical know-how to treat the virus that the continent itself didn’t have when the first COVID-19 patients started filling intensive care units.

Yet, more than four months into a sustained outbreak, the US has already hit an astonishing milestone of 5 million confirmed infections, easily the highest in the world. Health officials believe the actual number is closer to 50 million, given testing limitations and the fact that as many as 40 percent of all cases are asymptomatic.

“We Italians always saw America as a model,” said Massimo Franco, columnist with daily Corriere della Sera. “But with this virus we’ve discovered a country that is very fragile, with bad infrastructure and a public health system that is non-existent.”

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza hasn’t shied away from criticizing the US, officially condemning as “wrong” Washington’s decision to withhold funding from the World Health Organization and marveling personally at US President Donald Trump’s virus response.

After Trump finally donned a protective mask last month, Speranza told La7 television: “I’m not surprised by Trump’s behavior now. I’m profoundly surprised by his behavior before.”

With America’s list-leading 160,000 dead, politicized resistance to masks and rising caseload, European nations have barred American tourists and visitors from other countries with growing cases from freely traveling to the bloc.

France and Germany are now imposing tests on arrival for travelers from “at risk” countries, the US included.

“I am very well aware that this impinges on individual freedoms, but I believe that this is a justifiable intervention,” German Health Minister Jens Spahn said in announcing the tests last week.

In the US, new cases run at about 54,000 a day — an immensely higher number even when taking into account its larger population. And while that’s down from a peak of well over 70,000 last month, cases are rising in nearly 20 states, and deaths are climbing. In contrast, at least for now Europe appears to have the virus somewhat under control.

“Had the medical professionals been allowed to operate in the States, you would have belatedly gotten to a point of getting to grips with this back in March,” said Scott Lucas, professor of international studies at the University of Birmingham, England.

“But of course, the medical and public health professionals were not allowed to proceed unchecked,” he said, referring to Trump’s frequent undercutting of his own experts.

Trump’s frequent complaints about Dr Anthony Fauci have regularly made headlines in Europe, where the US infectious diseases expert is a respected eminence grise. Italy’s leading COVID-19 hospital offered Fauci a job if Trump fired him.

Source: AP

Watching that ‘mushroom cloud’ over Beirut on Hiroshima's anniversary…Is someone sending us a message?

İbrahim Karagül
TURKEY https://www.yenisafak.com/en/
07 August 2020


Thousands of people injured, more than a hundred dead, 250,000 homeless, billions of dollars in damages, and the collapse of a country’s economy. Israel, a hostile country in the south, Syrian war in the East, the closure of Lebanon’s sea gate, a country whose entire economy depends on the sea.

A total of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was kept at the harbor for six years. Who kept it there, why, whose was the secret hand that kept it there, what was the purpose for keeping it there? The resulting blast, the explosion that was felt 250 kilometers away, even from the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC).

Hiroshima’s anniversary, similar mushroom cloud: Does this mean ‘Watch your step’?

The image of that horrific explosion, that mushroom cloud, and two days before Hiroshima’s anniversary (Aug. 2, 1945), 75 years later, the world having to watch a similar scene unfold all over again.

Did Israel, which possesses nuclear weapons, or another power, make the Arab/Islamic world watch the scene of a micronuclear attack? Was the message they were trying to relay: “Watch your step”? Was a memory shock staged? Does this imply, “I will take over you as the U.S. took over Japan with two nuclear bombs”?

It is an ‘accident’ but… Unexpected things always happen in this region

So many ideas come to one’s mind. When the location of the explosion is Lebanon, Israel’s occupation and attacks aimed at Lebanon is known to all, the plans to spill the Syria war over to Lebanon are no secret, and Israel’s recent pressures on Lebanon are well documented, all possibilities must be considered.

According to official statements, this is not an unexpected accident. There is currently no finding to prove that it is an attack. However, the truth will be revealed in time. Unexpected things always happen in this region. Unpredictable evils are exhibited.

When the dust cloud settles, the second step is taken…

All sorts of unrest, plots, covert operations, dark messages, ruthless showdowns are exhibited. This region is the playing field of all powers. Lebanon is the laboratory of these games.

You will see the truth once the dust cloud settles. You will understand the picture when the next step is taken. The murderer is there, very close, and, most of the time, teary-eyed.

We will never forget these photographs, images carved into our minds

Grave chaoses have taken place in our region and continue to do so. A new photograph has been added to the shots we have not been able to forget and will not forget for the last three decades. It was like the war of symbols.

One cannot forget the pictures of the father and son after the invasion of Iraq, in the desert surrounded by barbwires, with sacks over their heads, that father using his hand as a shield to protect his son from the sun.

Abu Ghraib cannot be forgotten. The people of Baghdad remaining in their houses while outsiders were looting the city when Baghdad was invaded, that silent protest cannot be forgotten. Saddam Hussein’s execution, especially on the morning of eid, and the presentation of this execution to the world cannot be forgotten.

Sheberghan, Ahmad Yasin, enslaved Muslim youth

Images from Sheberghan prison in Afghanistan, the torture centers at Bagram airbase, the killing of the people brought from Mazar-e Sharif by raining bullets on the train carriages carrying them, their suffocation cannot be forgotten.

The CIA buying and selling the images of the Muslim youth in chains on the slave trade aircraft, that slave trade cannot be forgotten.

Sheikh Ahmad Yasin’s martyrdom by a missile during morning prayer, the participants in the assassination meetings held at Ariel Sharon’s farm cannot be forgotten.

Mushroom cloud over Beirut cannot be forgotten either.Are fears being instilled in our minds?

These were not only acts of violence. These were not only attacks. They were not only massacres/slaughters. These were messages given to the people of the region, to the Muslim world. Each of these were well planned mind operations.

That mushroom cloud rising from Beirut on the anniversary of Hiroshima is like this. It is unforgettable. It seems as though it was planned to carve fear into our minds, to imply something.

Let us say it is an accident and let it slide. Yet, if we do not question these, much worse events will occur. The new photograph operations of those planning unimaginable evils will be carved into our minds.

Everything was planned based on our weaknesses.

Yes, those who were keeping the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate there are guilty. This is a weakness. If you notice, in every event experienced in this region throughout the years, “weaknesses” have been used as a camouflage. In Iraq, Saddam was bad, Afghanistan had al-Qaida, Syria had Daesh. They were all weaknesses, and all scenarios were plotted based on these weaknesses.

While we were busy discussing these only, they were dividing the region, splitting it between them, building thick walls between our cities, and plundering our resources and fortunes.

Harbors, airports, warehouses, silos, agricultural areas are targeted.

The pandemic changed the world in such a drastic way and it is going to continue to change it. The instruments of the war, the showdown are also changing and will continue to change. We are discussing bioterrorism, biological wars today.

We are discussing how humanity can survive, whether this will be continued, if yes, how we can fight it, which power and state will exploit it.

The explosion in Beirut is teaching new lessons: Harbors, airports, logistics centers, warehouses, grain reserves, agricultural areas, fields that are strategic for civilian life may be targeted now.

Nations may be punished with starvation

Countries, nations and communities may be punished with starvation. Wars or attacks may shift from the military domain to civilian domains, urban centers may be destroyed and nations collapsed.

Everything is starting all over again – such as new rights, new wrongs, new habits, new ways to settle scores.

Turkey must take into consideration new sorts of threats post-pandemic.

Turkey, which ran to Lebanon’s aid, which supported this country with all its might, must urgently identify the “new sorts of threats” and take measures after the explosion in Beirut.

New protection shields must be formed in the fields mentioned above, in fields related to food, health, and life sources.

It appears that the energy conflict in the East Mediterranean is going to further grow. Lebanon is perhaps going to be scapegoated in this fight. We will see this when the “second step” is taken.

Shipyard, Union Reach Tentative Deal to End Strike in Maine

A striking shipbuilder walks outside Bath Iron Works, June 22, 2020, in Bath, Maine. Production workers at one of the Navy's largest shipbuilders overwhelmingly voted to strike, rejecting the company's three-year contract offer Sunday and threatening to further delay delivery of ships. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

9 Aug 2020

The Associated Press | By David Sharp

BATH, Maine (AP) — Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works and production workers reached a tentative agreement to end a strike that has stretched on for more than a month during a pandemic, officials announced Saturday.

The proposal, which was unanimously endorsed by the union's negotiating team, will be put forth to the 4,300 members of Machinists Local S6 later this month, said Jay Wadleigh, a district union official.

A federal mediator helped to bring the two sides together on subcontracting, seniority and work rules. The tentative agreement, reached late Friday, retains the company’s proposal for annual wage increases of 3% over three years, along with some health care improvements, Wadleigh said.

“It preserves our subcontracting process, protects seniority provisions and calls for a collaborative effort to get back on schedule,” he said.

The tentative agreement positions the shipyard and workers “to partner together to improve schedule performance, restore the yard’s competitiveness and ensure ‘Bath Built’ remains ‘Best Built’ for generations to come,” said Dirk Lesko, the shipyard's president, referencing the shipyard slogan “Bath built is best built.”

Voting on the proposal will take place online and via telephone from Aug. 21-23.

Production workers went on strike June 22 after overwhelmingly rejecting the company’s final offer. The strike dragged on for more than six weeks against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic — during which workers lost their company-paid insurance — and an election year in which some politicians sought to get involved on behalf of workers.

Frustration at the shipyard — a subsidiary of General Dynamics that builds guided-missile destroyers for the U.S. Navy — had been building among workers since the last contract in which the Machinists accepted concessions that were deemed necessary to win a U.S. Coast Guard contract — and save shipbuilding jobs.

Bath Iron Works lost that contract to another shipyard in 2016. It also lost a lucrative competition for Navy frigates in late April. Shipbuilders contended production workers shouldn’t shoulder the cost for problems they blame on mismanagement.

The pandemic exacerbated the tensions at the shipyard. Some workers were angry when the shipyard rebuffed requests to shut down for two weeks. The shipyard was considered essential and production continued even though hundreds of workers stayed home.

The strike threatened to put production further behind schedule at a time of growing competition from China and Russia. Bath Iron Works was already six months behind before the strike, partly because of the pandemic.

The shipyard, a major employer in Maine with 6,800 workers, has been undergoing a transition as aging workers reach retirement. The shipyard hired 1,800 workers last year and expects to hire 1,000 workers this year. Despite all of the new workers, who must be trained, the shipyard said it needs the flexibility of hiring subcontractors.

The last strike, in 2000, lasted 55 days.

Robert Martinez Jr., the international president of the Machinists who rallied shipbuilders two weeks ago in Bath, said in a statement that he was proud of the Local S6 “for standing strong in defense of themselves, their families and good Maine jobs.”

In Bath, motorists honked as they drove by pickets in front of the union hall, across from the shipyard.

David Archer, a sand blaster, said he was happy to see the strike coming closer to a resolution. He has a blood disorder that puts him at a higher risk for the coronavirus, and he had to cut back on weekly blood tests during the strike. Each test costs $1,000, he said.

But he remained resolute. “I understand what we’re striking for, and I stand behind my fellow brothers and sisters," he said.

This article was written by DAVID SHARP from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

A BEIRUT CONSPIRACY THEORY 

Investigators Find Labyrinth of Underground Rooms at Epicenter of Beirut Explosions, Report Claims Sputnik RUSSIA

What’s really under the rubble of the Beirut blast? Yeni Şafak TURKEY

Um, why is there a gigantic black cloud circling the globe?
Australia’s epic wildfires — along with freak thunderstorms — rocketed dust particles and ash 15 miles into the atmosphere. The massive 'fire cloud' is drifting around the Pacific Ocean.

By James Burch

The scientific name is cumulonimbus flammagenitus, but the more common nickname is ‘fire cloud.’ NASA calls them the "fire-breathing dragon of clouds," according to their website.

One of the largest fire clouds ever recorded has been drifting around the Southern Hemisphere for over a month. Heat and freak thunderstorms generated by Australia’s massive wildfires sent ash and toxic materials high into the atmosphere, where they formed a massive dark cloud of debris. It’s been measured at 15 miles high at some points, and at one point it covered more than 1 million square miles — about half the size of Canada.

NASA has been tracking the massive cloud from space as it slowly drifted over to South America and then looped back toward Oceania where it hovered over New Zealand, turning glaciers brown, and perhaps hastening their melting.

As Australian firefighters get their blazes under control, the cloud has been dissipating. Health experts say toxic chemicals and debris eventually drop back to Earth, through the air or within raindrops, where they can be inhaled or ingested by humans and animals.

The giant cloud may also impact global weather by blocking sunlight to the Earth’s surface, an effect known as "nuclear winter," named after a hypothesis that the world would become extremely cold due to the firestorms of a nuclear war. The same effect happens in major volcanic eruptions when giant plumes of ash sweep across continents. In 1815 the Mount Tambora volcano in Indonesia created the "year without summer" across much of the globe, including in the United States, where farmers lost crops as seasonal temperatures plummeted.

Right now, scientists aren’t sure when the Australian fire cloud will dissipate or whether it will start moving again.

VIDEO

https://thehill.com/node/481276

Bill Gates: US only country to have coronavirus 'testing insanity'
BY ZACK BUDRYK - 08/09/20

Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Sunday lamented the U.S.’ coronavirus “testing insanity,” which he said had caused the country to fall behind the rest of the world, much of which has begun reopening after flattening infection growth.

“A variety of early missteps by the U.S. and then the political atmosphere meant that we didn’t get our testing going,” Gates said Sunday on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.” “It’s nonsense that any sort of travel ban we did was at all beneficial. That doesn’t pass the common sense test… and now we’ve executed our lockdowns nationwide with less fidelity than other countries.”

Commercial labs, he said, have left customers struggling with long wait-times while “very wealthy people have access to these quick-turnaround tests.”

“It’s mind-blowing that you can’t get the government to improve the testing because they just want to say how great it is,” he continued. “I’ve said to them, look, have a CDC website that prioritizes who gets tested. Don’t reimburse any test where the result goes back after three days. You’re paying billions of dollars in this very inequitable way to get the most worthless testing results in the world.”

“No other country has the testing insanity, because they won’t talk about fixing it, because they think they need to just keep acting like they’ve done a competent job,” he added.

Without sufficiently rapid testing, Gates continued, people with the virus may not be able to self-isolate in time to contain the infection. He added that he believes a vaccine will likely be developed by the end of 2020 or within the first half of 2021.

President Trump has vocally defended the U.S.’ testing for the virus and repeatedly claimed that the country’s numbers are only high due to the testing regimen, despite the fact that the positive percentage rate of the tests remains high as well.