UPDATE

World's most powerful radar telescope at Arecibo will be scrapped

Among the vital science conducted at the facility is the tracking of near-Earth objects -- comets or asteroids that could collide with Earth and destroy large regions.

Photo courtesy of University of Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The iconic 18-acre radar telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico cannot be salvaged after it was damaged by broken cables and will be demolished, the National Science Foundation announced Thursday.

The damage from cable breaks in August and early November has left the radar dish and surrounding structures unsafe and subject to further collapse at any time, foundation officials said.

"We're actually taking measures to preserve their people and assets to ensure the facility does move forward in some fashion," said Ashley Zauderer, program director in the Division of Astronomical Sciences at the foundation.

Ancillary facilities at Arecibo that also conduct astronomical observations may be salvaged, but the central structure, the large radar telescope, will either fail on its own or be demolished as safely as possible, Zauderer said.

RELATED Arecibo Observatory incurs more damage as another support cable snaps


"The decision comes after [the foundation] evaluated multiple assessments by independent engineering companies that found the telescope structure is in danger of a catastrophic failure and its cables may no longer be capable of carrying the loads they were designed to support," a statement from the foundation said.

The telescope has been the scene of ground-breaking science and astronomy discoveries for 57 years. Two scientists using data from the dish have won Nobel Prizes. It was also the scene of popular movies like 1995's GoldenEye and Species, and 1997's Contact.

The University of Central Florida, which manages the facility, had recently submitted a request to the foundation for $10.5 million to begin repairs on the August damage. That work would include at least six massive cables, which range in thickness from 3 inches to 6 inches.

RELATED Arecibo Observatory seeks $10.5M for cable repairs after accident

But that work hadn't begun when a second larger cable broke.

"Our team has worked tirelessly...looking for ways to stabilize the telescope with minimal risk," UCF President Alexander Cartwright said Thursday in a statement.

"While this outcome is not what we had been working toward, and we are disheartened to see such an important scientific resource decommissioned, safety is our top priority," Cartwright said.

RELATED Iconic space observatory in Puerto Rico recovers after Hurricane Maria

The cables support a six-story structure and platform suspended above the dish, which houses the world's most powerful radio telescope transmitter and other instruments. When functioning properly, the observatory can beam radio waves at asteroids and other space objects, obtaining images and data as the waves bounce back to Earth.

Among the vital science conducted at the facility is the tracking of near-Earth objects -- comets or asteroids that could collide with Earth and destroy large regions.

The telescope "has allowed NASA to fully characterize the precise orbits, sizes and shapes" of such objects after they are discovered by a different technology, known as a wide-field optical telescope survey, the agency said Thursday in a statement.

"NASA respects the National Science Foundation's decision to put the safety of those who work, visit and study at the historic observatory above all else," NASA stated.

NASA's Goldstone Observatory in California, another planetary radar, recently returned to operation after equipment upgrades and can also characterize near-Earth objects.

The observatory has been a tourist attraction and education center for decades on the Caribbean island. The foundation intends to continue funding certain aspects of the facility, including its visitor center.

The Arecibo location has a unique bowl-shaped valley that was considered ideal for the construction of a large dish when scientists with Cornell University scouted for a telescope site in the 1950s.

The observatory, the foundation and UCF should consider possible future uses for the site, leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology said in a statement.

"Moving forward, we encourage [the foundation] to continue its support for the Angel Ramos Foundation Science and Visitor Center as an active hub of ... education and outreach programming in Puerto Rico, and to explore opportunities to use the site for exciting new science in the future," committee Chairwoman Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, and ranking member Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., wrote.

GOING GOING GONE

The famous Arecibo telescope that worked to make the James Bond movie GOLDEN EYE
by Raven Weber November 21, 2020 Science

The Arecibo Observatory reflector dish is damaged by a broken cable.
University of Central Florida

This is a sad day for the world of astronomy. The Arecibo Observatory In Puerto Rico, the home of an epic telescopic bowl, saying goodbye. The Observatory suffered serious injuries Damage due to a cable failure in August, And the situation only got worse.

The The National Science Foundation (NSF) made the announcement on Thursday That it will launch a 305-meter (1000-foot) telescope, ending the device’s 57 years of service.

The NSF said in a statement: “This decision follows an assessment by a number of independent engineering companies which found that the telescopic structure was in danger of a catastrophic failure and that its cables were no longer capable of carrying that weight. They may have been designed to support, “the NSF said in a statement. .



This November 2020 image shows a giant gas in the Arecibo Observatory dish.
University of Central Florida


A. The second cable failed In early November. It was a main cable and broke and fell into the reflector dish, damaging both the dish and the surrounding cable. The cables were designed to support a 900-ton platform 450 feet above the dish.

“Every remaining cable in the trench is now supporting a heavier weight than before, increasing the likelihood of another cable failing, which is likely to result in the entire structure tumbling,” he said. The University of Central Florida said in a statement On November 13. UCF manages the facility for the National Science Foundation.


The Observatory was set against a dramatic battle scene in the 1995 James Bond film Golden New With Pierce Brosnan. She also appeared in the 1997 film Jody Foster Contact. But in the real legacy of Arecibo Lots of scientific discoveries It was possible. It examined pulsars, expanded our knowledge of Mercury, observed exoplanets, and exploded high-speed radios.

Scientists took to Twitter to mourn for the observatory. “It’s such a big scientific gut punch. The end of an era.” Said astronomer Tania Harrison.



This is a great scientific intestinal punch. The end of an era. 😢

Looking at last night’s contact at the memorial is definitely going to be a pour for Arecibo.https://t.co/KWs1AOPzCl

– Dr. Tania Harrison (TenyOfMars) November 19, 2020

Field geophysicist Mika McKinnon tweeted“I’m surprised we’re losing Arcibo. Even if you don’t pay much attention to ground-based astronomy, you know this telescope from pop culture and movies. It’s something special.”

I’m surprised we’re losing Arsibo.

Even if you don’t pay much attention to ground-based astronomy, you know this telescope from pop culture and movies. This is very special. https://t.co/hNYFKI4lcg

– Mika McKinnon (MikMikkinen) November 19, 2020

The NSF’s condemnation plan will focus on binoculars in an effort to protect surrounding surveillance structures. “Once all the necessary preparations have been made, the binoculars will be subjected to deregulation,” the foundation said.

GOOD NEWS

Back from the brink of extinction, blue whales return to South Georgia

During an expedition in February, scientist spotted a few dozen blue whales off the coast of South Georgia. Photo by Russell Leaper





Nov. 19 (UPI) -- After being nearly completely wiped out by whalers, new research suggests Antarctic blue whales have returned to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.

Researchers were able to confirm the dramatic comeback with the help of documented sightings, photographs and underwater sound recordings collected over the last three decades.

Scientists detailed the discovery in a new paper, published Thursday in the journal Endangered Species Research.

Blue whales were abundant off the coast of South Georgia, but between 1904 and 1971, the industrial whaling industry killed 42,698 whales.

RELATED Blue whale singing patterns reverse when they start to migrate

Between 1998 and 2018, whaling surveys turned up only a single sighting.

However, in February, scientists documented 58 blue whale sightings and recorded dozens of blue whale calls.

"The continued absence of blue whales at South Georgia has been seen as an iconic example of a population that was locally exploited beyond the point where it could recover," lead study author Susannah Calderan said in a news release.

"But over the past few years we've been working at South Georgia, we have become quite optimistic about the numbers of blue whales seen and heard around the island, which hadn't been happening until very recently," said Calderan, a researcher at the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

In addition to relying on their own visual and sonic observations, scientists surveyed blue whale sightings by sailors and tourist ship passengers reported to the South Georgia Museum.

Over the last few years, the museum has also fielded photographs of blue whales snapped by seafarers.

So far, 41 blue whales in South Georgia have been photo-identified between 2011 and 2020. None of the South Georgia whales matched the profiles of the 517 whales in the Antarctic blue whale photographic catalogue.

"We don't quite know why it has taken the blue whales so long to come back," Calderan said. "It may be that so many of them were killed at South Georgia that there was a loss of cultural memory in the population that the area was a foraging ground, and that it is only now being rediscovered."

Conducting whale surveys in South Georgia, where the seas are often rough and the weather unforgiving, is difficult work, researchers said. But for conservationists, knowing where blue whales are is essential the task of safeguarding the species.

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

"This is an exciting discovery and a really positive step forward for conservation of the Antarctic blue whale," said study co-author Jennifer Jackson, researcher with the British Antarctic Survey.

"With South Georgia waters designated as a Marine Protected Area by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, we hope that these increased numbers of blue whales are a sign of things to come and that our research can continue to contribute to effective management of the area," said Jackson, a researcher with the British Antarctic Survey.


RELATED Whales are disturbed by engine noise from boats

WHO advises against using antiviral drug remdesivir for COVID-19

The Gilead campus in Foster City, Calif., is seen on April 23. The company said Friday it is "disappointed" with the conclusion of the World Health Organization. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

THE CEO SANG THE PRAISES OF REMDESIVIR ; ON CNBC WITH JIM CRAMER ON SQUAWK ON THE STREET, DESPITE THIS FINDING 

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization has recommended against using the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients, regardless of the severity of their illness.

The WHO's Guideline Development Group panel of international experts made the recommendation Thursday in updated medical guidelines published in the British medical journal The BMJ.

"After thoroughly reviewing this evidence, the WHO GDG expert panel, which includes experts from around the world including four patients who have had COVID-19, concluded that remdesivir has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients, such as the need for mechanical ventilation or time to clinical improvement," they wrote.

Remdesivir, a costly experimental antiviral drug and one of the first treatments to emerge for COVID-19, is produced in a collaboration between Gilead Sciences, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

RELATED Hospital trial of Eli Lilly's COVID-19 treatment ends


After first being used to against the Ebola virus in 2014, remdesivir was tested in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. Early evidence suggested that it could shorten recovery times for severely ill hospitalized patients.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved an emergency use authorization to a combination of remdesivir and the rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib to treat COVID-19. President Donald Trump was given multiple doses after he was hospitalized in October.

Treatment with the drug, however, has not yet been proven to save significantly more lives than standard medical care, and evidence is mixed on whether it leads to any clinical improvement, The BMJ study said.

RELATED FDA approves remdesivir to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Interim results from WHO's 30-country "Solidarity" clinical trial have shown remdesivir has no significant impact on mortality, length of hospital stay or need for ventilation among hospitalized patients.

"[Remdesivir] is recognized as a standard of care for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in guidelines from numerous credible national organizations, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Infectious Diseases Society of America, Japan, U.K. and Germany," Gilead Sciences told CNBC.

"We are disappointed the WHO guidelines appear to ignore this evidence at a time when cases are dramatically increasing," added Gilead spokesman Chris Ridley.

RELATED WHO study says remdesivir has 'little or no effect' on COVID-19

GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS

CDC: HIV-related deaths dropped 48% over past decade

New CDC data suggests deaths among those with HIV have declined over the past 10 years, with the increased number of people who know their diagnostic status playing a large role. Photo by Equality Michigan/Wikimedia Commons

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Deaths related to HIV in the United States have declined 48% over the past decade, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, mortality rates for the virus are about 40% higher among Black people than for White and Latinx people, the CDC said.

The trends are based on an analysis of deaths among HIV patients in the United States between 2010 and 2018. Knowledge of their status and effective antiviral therapies are among the reasons researchers found patients are living longer.

Historically, many people with HIV didn't know they had it -- and thus didn't receive treatment. The new data shows 86% of those age 13 and older knew their HIV status, up from 82% in 2010.

RELATED HIV-positive adults show early signs of aging, even after antiretroviral therapy

Overall, death rates among HIV-positive people -- of all causes -- dropped 37% between 2010 and 2018, to 12 per 1,000 persons, the data shows.But deaths related to the patients' HIV fell 48%, to 4.7 per 1,000 persons with diagnosed HIV in 2017 from 9.1 per 1,000 in 2010.

Meanwhile, deaths from non-HIV-related causes declined 8.6% over the same period, to 8.5 per 1,000 persons with HIV from 9.3 per 1,000 persons, the data showed.

Black patients had a higher death rate -- 5.6 per 1,000 persons with HIV -- compared to White and Latinx patients with 3.9 per 1,000 persons, according to the CDC.

RELATED Fauci sees similarities between HIV, COVID-19 in public health response

Death rates were also 20% higher among women, at 5.4 per 1,000 persons, than men, at 4.5 per 1,000, the data showed.

Many people with HIV are living longer thanks to effective antiviral therapies, the CDC said.

"Deaths caused by HIV infection have likely decreased because of improvements in diagnosing infections and in treatment and medical care," the researchers wrote.

RELATED Timothy Ray Brown, first person cured of HIV/AIDS, dies at 54

THIRD WORLD USA

Cancer takes heavy toll on women's work, finances, study shows

Young women with cancer are at a high risk for employment and financial consequences, a new study finds.

"Our study addresses the burden of employment disruption and financial hardship among young women with cancer -- a group who may be at particular risk for poor financial outcomes after cancer given their age and gender," said researcher Clare Meernik, a fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

She and her colleagues surveyed more than 1,300 women in North Carolina and California a median of seven years after diagnosis. Their cancer was diagnosed when they were 15 to 39 years of age and working.

Following their diagnosis, 32% of the women had to stop working or cut back on their hours. Twenty-seven percent said they had to borrow money, go into debt or file for bankruptcy because of cancer treatment.

RELATED Pregnant women with COVID-19 don't pass the virus to their newborns, study finds

Women with disrupted employment were more likely -- by 17 percentage points -- to have these problems than women who were able to keep working.

Half of the women said they were stressed about their big medical bills, and women with disrupted employment were more likely to suffer psychological distress by 8 percentage points than women who were able to keep working.

The findings were published online Oct. 12 in the journal Cancer.

RELATED Irregular, long periods linked to shorter life span

"Our findings highlight the need for effective interventions to promote job maintenance and transition back to the workforce after cancer treatment, as well as increased workplace accommodations and benefits, to improve cancer outcomes for young women," Meernik said in a journal news release.

More information

To learn more about work and financial effects of cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

RELATED Tough menopause may signal future heart issues, study says

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. 


RELATED Sex remains important to women through middle age, survey shows

BIO

New Marlins GM Kim Ng inspired by women in NFL, NBA

New Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng said she was inspired by the dozens of women who have been hired in recent years to serve as front office executives, coaches and officials in the NBA and NFL before she was hired on Friday. Photo by Joseph Guzy/Miami Marlins

MIAMI, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Kim Ng's resume is as impressive as it gets, but the Miami Marlins' newest executive said she looked outside Major League Baseball front offices to gain the persistence needed to become the first female general manager in MLB history.

"It's a tribute to the idea that you just have to keep plowing through," said Ng, who was passed over for at least a half-dozen general manager jobs during her 30-year MLB career. She gave her perspective at a news conference Monday.
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"That's what this is. It's like what we tell the players, 'You can mope and sulk for a few days, but that's it. You have to come back,'" said Ng, who turns 52 on Tuesday.

"Yes I've been defeated and deflated numerous times, but you always still keep hoping."
RELATED Kim Ng becomes MLB's first female GM in joining Miami Marlins



Ng -- pronounced "Ang" -- began her MLB career in the early 1990s as an intern with the Chicago White Sox. She moved up to various front office roles with the White Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. She helped to construct three World Series teams before she moved on to serve as senior vice president of baseball operations for MLB.

The Indianapolis native grew up in Queens, N.Y., and idolized Billie Jean King and fellow tennis icon Martina Navratilova through her youth. She also played stickball in the streets as a child, using manhole covers and cars for bases, and then became a successful college softball player at the University of Chicago.

"Billie Jean King fought for equality throughout her career and is still fighting today," Ng said. "Navratilova really changed the women's game and how it was played. She changed the idea of what it looked like to be a female athlete."

Ng didn't see women hired as MLB general managers when she took aim at the role, so she took inspiration from other sports leagues. She says it's now her role to be the one little girls can look up to for an attainable goal after breaking the gender barrier for MLB front offices.

"There is an adage that you can't be it if you can't see it. I guess I would suggest to them now, now you can see it," Ng said.


Congratulations Kim Ng for being named GM of the @Marlins. Having worked with Kim all these years, I'm excited to see her get this opportunity. Go Get 'Em!!! pic.twitter.com/Xz1dyXonyF— Joe Torre (@JoeTorre) November 16, 2020

Ng has seen the increase in women hired for more significant roles in other men's sports leagues.

In February, San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers became the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl. In October, Jeanie Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers became the first woman controlling owner to win an NBA championship.

Dozens of women serve as assistant coaches in the NBA, NFL and MLB and many serve as officials.

"Any of the women that are out on the court, on the field or in the locker room as coaches, those are the women who are really in the trenches and have gained so much respect from the players," Ng said.

"The ones down there every single day, my admiration for them is immense. From the football coaches, the basketball coaches, they have been tremendous."

Marlins co-owner Derek Jeter also gave Ng inspiration from the field from when she watched the former Yankees captain play during her tenure with the franchise.

Ng sat alongside Jeter and fellow Marlins owner Bruce Sherman on Monday at Marlins Park for her first news conference. Her position once granted her authority over the former Yankees star, but now the roles are reversed with Jeter as Ng's boss.

"It's an exciting and special [time] for us," Jeter said Monday. "When I first reached out to Kim, through our first couple of conversations, it became evident that this was a perfect fit."

Jeter and Ng have maintained a relationship since their careers diverted from New York and they reunited in Miami. Ng said she was always inspired by Jeter's fearless playing style and sees him using that same mentality in the Marlins front office.

"I've reflected on what it took to get here," Ng said. "Something that shouldn't go unnoticed is fearlessness. Derek embodies that word.

"I was privileged and fortunate enough to watch Derek every day for four years. That was his approach to the game. He left it all out there every single day. Now with this [hire] we see it off the field."

Disease experts skeptical on safety of indoor dining at restaurants

Many restaurants have moved to outdoor dining during the COVID-19 pandemic -- including the one pictured in New York City in June -- but winter is coming, and experts question whether indoor dining can be made safe when it's too cold to sit outside. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Phot


Restaurants are under increasing pressure to provide a safe dining environment as winter approaches and the United States enters what could be the worst wave yet of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some eateries are attempting to extend outdoor dining into the colder winter months, setting up heated tents that might allow patrons to enjoy a meal without fear of contracting the coronavirus. Others are beefing up infection control measures for their indoor spaces, with better air filtration and improved ventilation.

But infectious disease experts are skeptical that dining out can be made safe during a winter COVID-19 surge without either ruining the experience for patrons or undermining the economics for the business owner.

"The fact is that anything that's done between walls indoors is high-risk, no matter how you slice it, no matter how you tent it," said Dr. Peter Katona, chair of the Infection Control Working Group at the UCLA Schools of Medicine and Public Health.

But indoor protective measures, which include mask wearing and social distancing between tables, have earned a solid track record keeping patrons safe during the pandemic, said Larry Lynch, the National Restaurant Association's senior vice president for science and industry.

"We can't find any evidence of systemic outbreaks coming from these restaurants that do follow the guidance, that are making sure their employees all wear face coverings, that their customers are wearing face coverings until they eat," Lynch said. "When we look at those restaurants that are doing it right, we aren't seeing the outbreaks taking place there."

However, the very nature of dining out makes it a risky proposition from an infection control perspective, said Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

"Restaurants and bars present the obvious problem that we lose one major and important control, and that is masks," Allen said. "During the act of eating and drinking, people aren't wearing their masks, so we lose source control."Taking a financial beating

Restaurants have been under severe economic strain since the start of the pandemic.

The food service industry is on track to lose $240 billion in revenue this year, according to the National Restaurant Association, and staffing remains more than 2 million jobs below pre-pandemic levels. Two out of 5 restaurant operators think they'll be out of business by February without additional federal stimulus, a September survey found.

Restaurants survived through the summer in part by providing outdoor dining areas, where the risk of infection is much lower.

"You've got a concentration of viral particles indoors. Outdoors it tends to dissipate more," Katona said. "Little air currents take the particles away. UV light probably kills the bug, to some degree."

Now restaurants are looking at enclosing those outdoor areas in heated tents, which would be a bad move, Allen said.

"That is no different than indoor dining," Allen said. "In fact it's worse because it gives the false sense that it's safe, and it's probably not even meeting the minimum ventilation rate because it hasn't been inspected or designed to code."

Lynch agrees.

"The irony of it is, you've just taken the indoor experience and moved it outdoors, and you contained it more and continued to add more risk than keeping it indoors with higher ceilings and better circulation with the HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] systems," Lynch said.

An outdoor dining area tented on three sides with one wall left open would "get pretty good air exchange," Allen said, but "it's probably a little colder in there."

The best bet would be to provide individual tents for each outdoor table, so that groups quarantined together could be kept separate from all other diners, Allen said.

"If you have separate pods, then at least then my family might be separated from your family," Allen said. "But if people are getting together with five or six friends they don't normally see, that's a risk."

Tented outdoor areas also could be made safer through the use of portable air filters, Lynch added.

"We've suggested if you're going down that path you've got to have at the very least portable air circulation units," Lynch continued. "The good news is they are coming out with units now that are relatively inexpensive that include not only the higher-level filters but also UV light built in."Controlling the indoor environment

As far as indoor dining, there are many environmental controls available that could reduce risk of transmission, said Oscar Alleyne, chief of programs and services for the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

Restaurants can increase the rate of ventilation in their buildings and install high-quality air filters that can filter viruses out of HVAC-circulated air, Alleyne said.

They also can invest in supplemental portable air cleaners with HEPA filters, cut down on occupancy, increase space between tables and strictly enforce social distancing, he said.

"If there's an intense approach on addressing environmental controls, that in and of itself would make things safer," Alleyne said.

Stepped-up environmental controls also won't break the bank, Allen added.

"Upgrading the filters costs a couple extra dollars. A good portable cleaner with a HEPA filter could be a couple hundred dollars," Allen said. "I'm not talking about million-dollar fixes."

However, reducing the restaurant's level of occupancy to acceptable levels will severely challenge its profitability, Allen said.

"If you got to the level of de-densification that would be necessary to lower risk, I don't know if that is economically viable for a restaurant," Allen said.

Restaurants have been making financial changes to deal with lower capacity, Lynch said. They've tightened their menus to reduce food waste, and have held off bringing back staff laid off during the first lockdown.

The industry continues to look for new ways to make indoor dining safer, Lynch said.

For example, the National Restaurant Association is working with a leading HVAC association about ways to further improve ventilation and air filtration in buildings, Lynch said. One idea being explored is retrofitting virus-killing UV light filters into a building's existing HVAC system, so that air is further sanitized as it is circulated.

But even if all of these measures are successfully undertaken, the human element remains a significant impediment to safety, Allen said.

"The risk levels are many in a restaurant," Allen said. "It's not just that people aren't wearing masks at their tables. It's volume and loud talking, which increases emission rates. It's alcohol consumption, which lowers inhibition. It's mixing of multiple groups at tables, if you go out with friends you're not normally quarantined with.

"It's not as simple as saying just ventilation or just masking. It's all of these, and that's what makes it such a challenge," Allen concluded.More Information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on dining out during the pandemic.

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Bars, restaurants are COVID-19 infection hotspots, study confirms
By E.J. Mundell, HealthDay News

A new study found newly ill people without any known contact with a person with COVID-19 were almost three times as likely to have patronized a restaurant over the prior two weeks

Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Relaxation of face mask requirements in restaurants, coffee shops and bars could make those venues prime areas for transmission of the new coronavirus, research shows.

The new study compared the behaviors of people diagnosed with COVID-19 and those without such diagnoses.

It uncovered one clear difference: Newly ill people without any known contact with a person with COVID-19 were almost three times as likely to have patronized a restaurant over the prior two weeks, and almost four times as likely to have visited a bar or coffee shop, compared to uninfected people.

The study suggests that situations "where mask use and social distancing are difficult to maintain, including going to places that offer on-site eating or drinking, might be important risk factors for acquiring COVID-19," the research team said.

The findings come at a moment when more locales are allowing eating establishments and bars to reopen. Just this week, officials announced that restaurants in New York City could serve customers again starting Sept. 30, albeit with a 25% occupancy limit.

"As we learn more about transmission, it is not surprising that activities that cannot maintain social distancing and are not amenable to mask wearing -- such as eating and drinking in close proximity to others -- would result in a higher transmission rate," said Dr. Teresa Murray Amato, who heads emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, a hospital in New York City.

She wasn't involved in the new study, which was led by Kiva Fisher of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 Response Team. Fisher and her colleagues conducted detailed interviews with 314 U.S. adults during the month of July, about half of whom were diagnosed with COVID-19.

Comparing the activities of people who did and did not have COVID-19, the investigators found no significant differences in their patronage of venues where the use of face masks at all times was required -- activities such as taking public transportation, shopping or attending church.

Mask use was common among most of the study participants. A similar number of people with or without COVID-19 said they always wore some kind of mask or face covering when out in public -- 71% and 74%, respectively.

The only big difference in terms of behavior between the infected and uninfected groups was a visit over the prior two weeks to a bar, restaurant or coffee shop, Fisher's group found.

More than half -- 58% -- of study participants diagnosed with COVID-19 said that they'd had no close contact with a person known to have been infected with the new coronavirus. But these individuals did have 2.8 times the odds of having patronized a restaurant over the prior two weeks, and 3.9 times the odds of having been at a bar or coffee shop, compared to uninfected people.

The study wasn't able to ascertain whether participants had consumed food or drinks in an indoor or outdoor space.

"The bottom line is that many people don't put their mask back on when they aren't eating and drinking, and may be engaged in conversation," said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "This very fact increases the risk of transmission, and is compounded by lack of enforcement by management at eating and drinking establishments."

Glatter also noted that ventilation within restaurants or bars is often less than adequate, and research has shown that "aerosolized droplets containing virus in normal conversation may be transmitted to others in close proximity, but may also remain suspended in air for up to 3 hours and travel as far as 13 feet during normal conversation. Such aerosolized droplets may also travel as far as 26 feet during sneezes and 15 feet during coughs."

Finally, he said, alcohol is often a factor. Drinking "makes people move closer together, speak louder," Glatter said, "thereby generating more aerosolized droplets that may contain infectious viral particles."

The study is published in the Sept. 11 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus.

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. 

G20 nations put $11 trillion into pandemic economic recovery

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- G20 countries have pumped $11 trillion into economic recovery efforts in response to the coronavirus pandemic this year, according to a report by the organization released Thursday ahead of its summit this week in Saudi Arabia.

The G20, made up of many of the strongest economic countries in the world, including the United States, said the money dedicated to help nations fight through the coronavirus and restrictions is more than twice the gross domestic product of Japan.


"The upcoming G20 Leaders' Summit will seek to strengthen international cooperation to support the global economic recovery and lay solid foundations for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth," Saudi Arabia Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Aljadaan said in a statement.

The G20 Summit itself has been affected by the coronavirus. The event will be held mostly online Saturday and Sunday. International leaders participating will focus on continued plans for global economic recovery with the health and humanitarian challenges created by the pandemic.

The countries involved in the G20 represent roughly 80% of the world economic output, two-thirds of its population and three-fourths of international trade.

Along with the United States and Saudi Arabia, members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the European Union.

"We have an opportunity to recover stronger and more sustainably from this pandemic, with greater social and economic inclusion," Aljadaan said. "Through a united global response, the G-20 is determined to continue tackling the major challenges of our time and work towards finding solutions."

COVID-19 crisis expanding gender pay gap, British study finds

Friday's study found that the retail, food services, hospitality and other female-dominated sectors have absorbed some of the largest impacts from the pandemic. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Job discrimination, the collapse of the child-care sector and COVID-19's curtailing of female-dominated work has led to a wider gender pay gap in Britain and likely elsewhere, authors of a study said Friday.

The Fawcett Society marks Friday as Equal Pay Day, an observance that is made on varying dates of the year by nations and organizations. The group said in the study that 43% of all working women and half of working women of color in Britain are worried about how their jobs and promotions are affected by the pandemic, as are 35% of working men.


The report also noted that a third of working women said they have lost work due to child-care issues related to the pandemic.

"To date, there has been limited assessment by the [British] government of the impact of coronavirus policies by gender," the report states.

"There is growing evidence to suggest we may be turning the clock back, but there are also signs of hope that a more gender-equal future is possible. This report calls for action if we want that better future to be realized."

Researchers say that although the British government asked private employers two years ago to reveal gender pay information, only half of them did so.

Available data have shown pregnant women and new mothers saw a greater rate of job discrimination. Friday's report called on the British government to create laws that would give them stronger protections in the workplace.

The study also found that the retail, food services, hospitality and other female-dominated sectors absorbed some of the largest impacts from the pandemic, and women have been furloughed or lost their jobs at a disproportionate rate.

"We know that women working in these sectors are disproportionately low paid, young or migrant women," it said. "While the full redundancy fallout of coronavirus is yet to be felt, many sectors with large female workforces have seen some of the largest falls in the number of jobs."

The Fawcett Society asked the British government to conduct and publish equity impact assessments for new job support or creation plans to better serve women workers.

Managers At A Tyson Pork Plant Placed Bets On How Many Workers Would Get COVID-19, A Lawsuit Alleges

"At least one worker at the facility vomited on the production line and management allowed him to continue working and return to work the next day," the lawsuit alleges.

Salvador Hernandez BuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on November 19, 2020

Charlie Neibergall / AP
Managers at a Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa, rejected pleas from local officials to temporarily shut down during the pandemic and placed bets on how many workers would end up getting COVID-19, according to a recently filed lawsuit.


The family of Isidro Fernandez, a worker at the plant who died of COVID-19, filed the lawsuit, alleging Tyson Foods downplayed the spread of the coronavirus among its workforce and incentivized employees to come in when they were sick.

"At least one worker at the facility vomited on the production line and management allowed him to continue working and return to work the next day," the complaint alleges.

Then, as workers were being infected with COVID-19, a plant manager organized a "cash buy-in, winner-take-all" betting pool to see how many workers would end up testing positive for the virus, the complaint said.

The working conditions were so dire at the Waterloo plant, attorneys for Fernandez's family allege a local sheriff said they "shook [him] to the core."

Fernandez, who died on April 20, was one of about 2,800 workers at the facility, which processes more than 19,000 pigs a day, according to the complaint.


The company did eventually shut down operations by April 22 — after all of the hog carcasses from its cooler were processed. But by then, the outbreak had spread through the workforce. Five workers at the plant have so far died, and according to the complaint, the Black Hawk County Health Department has recorded more than 1,000 infections of COVID-19 among Tyson Foods employees.

"We're saddened by the loss of any Tyson team member and sympathize with their families," the company said in a statement to BuzzFeed News about the lawsuit. "Our top priority is the health and safety of our workers and we've implemented a host of protective measures at Waterloo and our other facilities that meet or exceed CDC and OSHA guidance for preventing Covid-19."

The company initially declined to address specific allegations in the lawsuit, including the allegations a plant manager organized the betting pool. But in an additional statement Thursday, the company announced the manager, and other workers allegedly involved in the betting pool were suspended without pay.

"We are extremely upset about the accusations involving some of the leadership at our Waterloo plant," Tyson said in the statement. "We expect every team member at Tyson Foods to operate with the utmost integrity and care in everything we do. We have suspended, without pay, the individuals allegedly involved and have retained the law firm Covington & Burling LLP to conduct an independent investigation led by former Attorney General Eric Holder. If these claims are confirmed, we'll take all measures necessary to root out and remove this disturbing behavior from our company."

Tyson Foods also defended its response to the pandemic, saying it implemented a task force to address the impact of the virus, educated employees in multiple languages, and told workers to stay home if they didn't feel well.

Attorneys for Fernandez's family allege that the company did the opposite, including encouraging workers to finish their shifts when they felt sick and offering bonuses to encourage employees not to call in sick.

Fernandez's family filed the lawsuit earlier this year in state court, but the case was moved to federal court after Tyson Foods argued the plant had remained open during the pandemic at the request of President Donald Trump to preserve the food supply chain.


The amended lawsuit, which was first reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, include allegations that the company disregarded worker safety by not providing adequate safety equipment, making them work on a crowded floor, and incentivizing employees with $500 "thank you bonuses" to keep showing up despite being sick.

Tyson Foods said in its statement that it was one of the first companies to take workers' temperatures before coming into work. The company also said it tried to obtain face masks for its workforce before it was mandated by the CDC, and partnered with a medical clinic services company to set up a clinic on site.

Attorneys for Tyson Foods have said in federal court that company managers have "worked from the very beginning of the pandemic to follow federal workplace guidelines and has invested millions of dollars to provide employees with safety and risk-mitigation equipment."

The complaint alleges that the company failed to distribute adequate protection and only started to implement temperature checks of employees on April 6 — but even then it did not check truck drivers or subcontractors.

"By late-March or early April, Supervisory Defendants and most managers at the Waterloo Facility started to avoid the plant floor because they were afraid of contracting the virus," the complaint alleges. Instead, managers started delegating duties to "low-level supervisors."

Supervisors also told employees they had a "responsibility" to keep showing up to work "in order to ensure Americans don't go hungry."

After local inspectors visited the plant on April 10, they asked Tyson Foods officials to temporarily shut down so they could implement measures to stop the spread of the virus.

The company refused and, around that time, the plant manager "organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19," the complaint alleges.

By April 12, two dozen employees were taken to the emergency room of the local hospital, the complaint alleges. Supervisors were told to show up to work even when they exhibited symptoms of COVID-19. When one supervisor was leaving work to get tested another manager allegedly told him to go back to work, saying, "we all have symptoms—you have a job to do."

Tyson Foods said in its statement that officials with the Black Hawk County Health Department had declined to share information about which employees had tested positive for COVID-19. The information was provided after the onsite visit, the company said, and the plant then made the decision to "idle production and work with state and local health officials to conduct facility-wide testing."



Salvador Hernandez is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.