Amazon workers stage 'sick out' rally to push for warehouse changes
The rally was organized through an all-day livestream broadcast on YouTube and Facebook Live.

An Amazon worker delivers packages amid the coronavirus outbreak

in Denver on April 22, 2020.Kevin Mohatt / Reuters

April 24, 2020, By April Glaser
Hundreds of Amazon tech and fulfillment center employees called out sick Friday, rallying together — virtually — to protest what they say are unsafe and unethical working conditions for the more than 800,000 people the company employs in its network of fulfillment centers around the world,as the highly contagious coronavirus continues to spread.

The "sick out" was organized through an all-day livestream broadcast on YouTube and Facebook Live. The event kicked off with speeches from recently fired Amazon workers, followed by two Amazon warehouse workers in Poland who said their working conditions have also been unsafe during the global pandemic. The writers and activists Bill McKibbon and Naomi Klein joined the event.


Friday’s protest was spearheaded by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group of Amazon tech workers formed in 2018 to pressure their employer to commit to reducing its fossil fuel emissions. For the “sick-out,” Amazon Employees for Climate Justice asked tech workers at the company to take a day off to signal their support for warehouse workers.

The protest adds to growing unrest among some of the company's front-line workers as well as scrutiny from labor activists and Democratic politicians who have called on Amazon to change its policies.

VIDEO Amazon workers plan to protest lack of coronavirus protections APRIL 21, 2020

“There are departments and spots where you can’t keep the two meters social distance,” one of the Amazon warehouse workers from Poland said during the online rally. She stressed that it’s taking Amazon days to inform workers if there was a positive case in their facility and employees are afraid to come into the work because they’re unsure if it’s safe.

As part of the action, warehouse and tech workers at Amazon issued a list of demands, including reinstating workers who were fired based on selective enforcement policies; providing more information on infections at warehouses; and making the increase in hourly rates for warehouse workers and paid sick days permanent after the pandemic is over.

A spokesperson for Amazon said that the company does not inform workers of the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in fulfillment centers. But it says it does alert workers immediately by word of mouth, calls and texts if an employee has tested positive.

“The fact is that today all but a handful of our 800,000+ employees around the world came to work as usual to continue delivering on behalf of customers,” Amazon said in a statement, calling employees “heroes” for continuing to pack and ship orders during the pandemic.

Scores of Amazon warehouse workers have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The company has continued to keep warehouses open after employees tested positive. Two warehouse workers told NBC News last month that when positive cases have been confirmed at their jobsite, they were only alerted upon showing up to work.

Two leaders from Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, were fired from Amazon this month after publicly criticizing the company for not keeping warehouse employees safe during the pandemic.
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“We terminated these employees for repeatedly violating internal policies,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email.

Two warehouse workers — Bashir Mohamed in Minnesota and Christopher Smalls in New York — were also fired this month after raising alarms among fellow employees about unsafe working conditions during the global health crisis.

Amazon said Smalls and Mohamed were fired for violating social distancing guidelines. Mohamed was also cited for using inappropriate language.

Smalls organized a work stoppage outside the facility where he worked in Staten Island, New York, after learning there was a positive case of the coronavirus there. Amazon failed to alert workers at the fulfillment center, Smalls wrote in an op-ed in The Guardian, and he says that moved him to organize co-workers to demand for hazard pay and better protective gear.

Since the pandemic, Amazon’s fulfillment center workers have been going to work as the majority of Americans have stayed at home under statewide shelter-in-place orders, with many relying on internet shopping for basic goods. But employees have still been contracting the infectious disease, despite measures by the company to keep them safe, like maintaining social distancing, wearing masks and raising pay by $2 an hour.

The company is also providing unlimited unpaid time off for employees who want to keep their job but who fear coming to work during the pandemic. The company is providing two weeks of paid time off for people who test positive for COVID-19.

The company will eliminate its option for unlimited unpaid time off at the end of April, but will remain flexible to accommodate workers in case of COVID-19-related needs, an Amazon spokesperson said in an email.

April Glaser is a reporter on the tech investigations team for NBC News in San Francisco.
Ezra Kaplan contributed.

JAIR JAIR THE BOZO BOLSONARO

Brazilian President Bolsonaro sides with anti-democracy protesters

At a recent rally, President Jair Bolsonaro joined radical protesters calling for Brazilian democracy to be abolished. Other institutions, including the country's military, are speaking out against his rhetoric


Speaking at a rally with hundreds of supporters in the Brazilian capital Brasilia on April 19, President Jair Bolsonaro told his backers: "I am here because I believe in you — and you are here, because you believe in Brazil." They had gathered to protest coronavirus lockdown measures imposed by the country's governors and mayors.

The protesters also called for Brazil's Congress and Supreme Court to be shut down, and for decree AI-5 – issued by the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1968 — to be reinstated. It had allowed the junta, which governed the country from 1964 to 1985, to shut down parliament and scrap civil liberties. Protesters also carried signs demanding a military intervention with Bolsonaro at the helm.

Such a move would constitute a clear violation of the constitution. "It irritated the military, in particular because Bolsonaro held his speech in front of the armed forces headquarters," says Carlos Fico, a professor of history at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

The next morning, Bolsonaro somewhat reversed his position, arguing he is in favor of Brazilian democracy and the constitution after all. Press reports indicate military figures close to him had urged Bolsonaro to row back. This flip-flopping is nothing unusual for the former army captain, Fico explains. "Bolsonaro has made such criminal statements several times before, and then taken them back again. But this time, the military figures advising him have seemingly become involved."


Bolsonaro supporters have demanded a return to military rule

Military vows to honor constitution

The same day, Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva, himself a high-ranking general, announced that Brazil's armed forces would "always honor the constitution." Fico says such general statements show a vague support for democracy. "But this is more of an impression than a certainty," he adds.

According to the historian, it remains unclear how Brazil's army now views the military junta that once ruled the country. "They never asked for forgiveness or recognized the serious human rights violations [of this period] — on the contrary, the military defends the dictatorship to this very day," he explains.

Read more: Opinion: Jair Bolsonaro celebrates Brazil's dictatorship

Indeed, the country in general has never really processed and reflected on its military dictatorship, argues Annette von Schönfeld, who runs the Heinrich Böll Foundation's Rio de Janeiro office. "However, I doubt if the protesters would be open to confronting the past and potentially revising their position," she says.

Bolsonaro testing his strength

She believes since coming into power, Bolsonaro has been systematically pushing boundaries. "Bolsonaro says unspeakable things, which he then takes back a day later — but this establishes a certain discourse and that is highly dangerous," she says.

She is deeply concerned about the military's half-hearted response to Bolsonaro's position. "It is not quite certain how clear the rejection of authoritarian structures is in some parts of society, and what side the military would take. Clearly distancing itself [from the president's stance] would have been better."

The fact that Bolsonaro can test moral boundaries without suffering any serious consequences is a clear demonstration of his power, according to von Schönfeld. Some politicians and civil society actors have lambasted the president's authoritarian tendencies on social media, yet this has not diminished his political clout. "In other countries there would be demands for his resignation, but not here," she adds.

Other institutions working for democracy

Anja Czymmeck, who heads the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Brazil branch, says she has great confidence in the stability of the country's democratic system. The reasons for her confidence, she says, are that individual governors and mayors have the power to enact their own measures to tackle to pandemic, and that Congress is entirely independent.

"The defense minister's reaction shows that the military wants peace and stability as enshrined in the constitution," she claims. "And the military in the cabinet have been working as such. The institutions are working."

Indeed, on April 21, the Supreme Court launched an investigation into the anti-democracy protests. Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that "the democratic state of Brazilian law and its republican institutions" had been violated, in a note released by the court.

Statements a sign of Bolsonaro's weakness

Historian Fico believes only a small minority of Bolsonaro's supporters are genuine radicals. "Even so it has a certain symbolic dimension when the president repeatedly meets with protesters who hold up such [anti-democratic] banners," he adds.

Fico is convinced that Bolsonaro's radicalization shows how fragile his grip on power actually is. "I think the president is very concerned that he could be impeached, which is a very real possibility today."

This prospect could become even more likely if his approval ratings continue to fall. Currently Fico puts them around the 30% mark. A deep economic recession, which looks probable with the COVID-19 crisis persisting, would harm him too. Experts believe the economy could shrink by up to 5% and lead to several million more unemployed this year alone.

"Military figures would not intervene to stop such [an impeachment] process," Fico says. If Bolsonaro were removed from office, Vice President Hamilton Mourao — incidentally a high-ranking general — would succeed him.


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Brazil's Justice Minister Sergio Moro quits, says Bolsonaro was meddling

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Coronavirus studies: Chloroquine is ineffective and dangerous

Too high a dose of the anti-malarial agent chloroquine can cause severe cardiac arrhythmia in certain patients. Tests on COVID-19 patients in the United States and Brazil have shown increased fatalities. (22.04.2020)

Date 24.04.2020 Author Thomas Milz (Rio de Janeiro)

KAPITALISM IS KRISIS

The global economy was shattered before the coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the existing cracks in the global economy: rampant consumption, a race to the bottom and growing inequality. Now is the time for radical change, says Kate Ferguson.


For some, it will be the moment the call ended. The white blur of the nurse's glove across the screen. The last thing to come between them and their loved one. Others will recall the long wait in the nursing home car park. The closest they could get.

The lucky ones will say: Remember when people wore masks to go grocery shopping? What year was that again? 2020? Yeah. Wow. Everything closed for months. I got so good at baking! Learned to play the piano, too. They were crazy times!

But we are not there yet. We are not yet reminiscing. There is still time to learn from this mess. We must seize the opportunity with all the strength we've got.

Economy in focus

Like most crises, this one too is about the economy. About the haves and the have-nots. The should-haves and the should-not-haves.

This week, the oil industry gifted us with a metaphor to illustrate the worthless abundance that characterizes the global economy. As producers of West Texas Intermediate ran out of storage space, they were left with no option but to pay others to take it off their hands. As a result, the price of the US benchmark plunged to below zero for the first time in history.

The barrels may have been overflowing but the people were getting poorer.

Meanwhile the grounded planes, shuttered factories and closed offices have enabled a far more precious commodity to emerge: time. Time at home. Time spent in nature. Time with your family. Time to cook. Time for art. Time to think.

More time for yourself?

In 1930, the British economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that technological advancement would lead to a dramatic reduction in labor time. He envisioned a 15-hour work week, with the surplus time devoted to intellectual advancement, leisure and the arts.

He could not have predicted that the trend would go toward fetishized productivity and obsessive consumption. That time would become the scarcest commodity of them all.

More and more superproductive industrial robots should actually enable us to reduce our working hours step by step. But it's just not happening

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[PDF]

The Fragment on Machines

thenewobjectivity.com › pdf › marx

The Fragment on Machines. Karl Marx – from The Grundrisse (pp. 690-712). [690]. 

The labour process. -- Fixed capital. Means of labour. Machine.

A population with little time and next-to-no job security is a gift to populists and a threat to democracy. It leads to mindlessness and fatigue and mobilization in all the wrong directions. It is what we have today.

Just look at the United States, where the president — as usual — has twisted and commodified the crisis for his own gain. Many lives have been lost as a result. Despite this, protesters gather in the streets to oppose measures that more sage governors have implemented to protect them.

In China, where the virus originated, doctor Li Wenliang who spoke out about it, was brutally silenced. Once the wind changed, he was exonerated but by then it was too late. He was already dead.

In Britain, Brazil and the Philippines, the arrogance and ignorance displayed by leaders has cost lives. In New Zealand, Germany and Taiwan, in contrast, humility has proven to be a life-saving force.

Something was rotten before
In much of the world, the labor market is now divided between those who are essential and those who are not. Many of those upon whom our survival depends are not paid accordingly. Care workers, cleaners, nurses, truck drivers, supermarket cashiers and fruit pickers continue their work as advertising executives, marketers, stockbrokers and football players stay at home.

All of this is indication that the global economy was sick long before the coronavirus struck. Thankfully, there are remedies available. Many of them begin at home. We can buy less and buy local so that the race toward the cheapest labor in the poorest conditions can finally come to an end.

We can enact laws that require essential workers to be paid no less than a country's median salary and ideally, considerably more.

We can refuse to accept leaders who sew hatred and spite and instead celebrate those who display compassion and sagaciousness. We can reclaim our time by demanding flexibility from our employers and by abandoning ladders that aren't worth climbing. We can stop worshipping wealth and start cherishing the arts instead.

We must acknowledge that the only bailout for the moral bankruptcy this crisis has exposed is a functioning democracy. We must be mindful that this requires informed, engaged citizens who have the time and the means to act locally on the basis of what they want to see globally. This is the only way to restore health to an economy whose ailments far predate the coronavirus.


Date 24.04.2020

FDA warns against using hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus outside of hospitals
Clinical trials can continue, but the drug's heart risks are too great to be used outside of controlled settings.

Tablets on a blister pack of hydroxychloroquine on April 10, 2020,

in Rio de Janeiro.Buda Mendes / Getty Images

April 24, 2020 By Erika Edwards

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday cautioned against prescribing hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients outside of hospital settings or clinical trials. The drug, an antimalarial, was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump as a possible treatment for the coronavirus.

"The FDA is aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with COVID-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, often in combination with azithromycin," the FDA wrote on its website.


"We are also aware of increased use of these medicines through outpatient prescriptions. Therefore, we would like to remind health care professionals and patients of the known risks associated with both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine," the FDA said.

The agency said hydroxychloroquine can still be used in hospital settings or in clinical trials, but it was not immediately clear whether some planned trials would be stopped.

Cardiologists have been sounding the alarm about hydroxychloroquine's heart risks for weeks, saying the drug could be deadly in a small number of patients who are susceptible to heart conditions.

Study finds no benefit to Trump-touted drug for COVID-19 patients

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Hydroxychloroquine, and a related compound called chloroquine, is a medication that's been around for decades. It's used to treat malaria, as well as certain autoimmune diseases, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Enthusiasm for its potential as a treatment for the coronavirus began to build in March, when a French study suggested hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin (the antibiotic known as a Z-Pak) might benefit COVID-19 patients. The journal that published the French study, however, later said that the article did not meet its expected standard.
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A week later, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine, allowing health care providers to use the medicine for COVID-19 in hospitalized patients with severe disease, even though the drug had not been approved as a specific treatment for the illness, and was known to increase the risk for irregular heartbeat.

But the previous fervor for hydroxychloroquine has diminished. In one case, a New York woman with coronavirus symptoms died after her family said a doctor prescribed her a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin without confirming she had COVID-19 or testing her for heart problems ahead of time. The exact cause of death for the woman has not yet been determined

'No miraculous recovery': Some ICU doctors say malaria drug not helping

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also pulled back on its guidance for using hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 and no longer offers recommendations for dosage. And earlier this week, a National Institutes of Health panel of experts said doctors should not use hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat the illness, citing lack of evidence.

Erika Edwards is a health and medical news writer and reporter for NBC News and "TODAY."

Smithfield Foods sued over working conditions in Missouri, closes Illinois plant

Faced with a lawsuit and numerous coronavirus infections, the company says it is "proactively" 

suspending operations at one plant after being sued over working conditions at a different facility
The closed Smithfield Foods pork plant is seen as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Sioux Falls, S.D., on April 16, 2020.Shannon Stapleton / REUTERS

April 24, 2020, By Alicia Victoria Lozano and Reuters

Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's largest pork processor, announced Friday it is indefinitely closing an Illinois plant next week after a "small portion" of its 1,700 employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Employees will be paid during the closure, the company said in a statement.

The Monmouth plant represents approximately 3 percent of U.S. fresh pork supplies, according to Smithfield, and also produces bacon.

The news comes one day after Smithfield was accused in a lawsuit of failing to adequately protect workers at a Missouri plant who have been forced to work "shoulder to shoulder" during the coronavirus pandemic.

Virginia-based Smithfield, owned by China's WH Group, would not say how many Illinois employees were infected with coronavirus.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Missouri federal court claims Smithfield has created a "public nuisance" by providing inadequate protective equipment to workers at the plant in the town of Milan, refusing to give them time to wash their hands and discouraging workers who are ill from taking sick leave.

Workers have also been disciplined for covering their mouths while coughing or sneezing, because it could cause them to miss pieces of meat coming down the processing line, according to the complaint.

"Put simply, workers, their family members, and many others who live in Milan and in the broader community may die — all because Smithfield refused to change its practices in the face of this pandemic," the Rural Community Workers Alliance, a Missouri-based worker advocacy group, said in the complaint.

VIDEO Some workers sounding alarm over coronavirus concerns at meat facilities

APRIL 10, 2020 01:49

The group in the complaint said that conditions at the Milan plant have worsened since Smithfield shuttered other pork-processing plants in Missouri, Wisconsin and South Dakota.

Keira Lombardo, executive vice president of corporate affairs and compliance at Smithfield, denied the allegations and said "the health and safety of our employees is our top priority at all times."

"The allegations contained in the complaint are without factual or legal merit and include claims previously made against the company that have been investigated and determined to be unfounded," Lombardo said. "We look forward to aggressively defending the company in court.”

More than 200 employees became infected with the coronavirus at the South Dakota slaughterhouse, which produces 4 percent to 5 percent of the nation's pork.

The group, which was joined in the lawsuit by an anonymous employee at the Milan plant, is seeking a court order requiring Smithfield to change its practices to comply with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and orders from state public health officials.

Tyson Foods Inc last week extended the closure of a pork slaughterhouse in Columbus Junction, Iowa, that it had shuttered due to coronavirus cases among employees. Companies like Cargill Inc, JBS USA and National Beef Packing Co have also shut U.S. meat plants.

The complaint against Smithfield says that rather than taking additional steps to protect workers at the Milan plant, the company actually sped up the processing lines and forced employees to work in cramped conditions.

Language barriers helped turn Smithfield Foods meat plant into COVID-19 hotspot

The CDC found 40 languages are spoken at the South Dakota plant where 783 workers tested positive and two died but workers were only given informational packets in English.

 Workers walk out of Smithfield Foods pork plant as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Sioux Falls, S.D., on April 16, 2020.Shannon Stapleton / Reuters file

April 23, 2020, By Corky Siemaszko

Forty different languages are spoken at the South Dakota pork processing plant that has become a coronavirus hot spot, but workers who showed symptoms were sent home with informational packets that were written only in English, federal investigators revealed Thursday.

That failure to communicate may be part of the reason why 783 workers at Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls have tested positive and two have died from COVID-19, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a 15-page memo.

“We understand that if an employee was found to have a fever or symptoms consistent with COVID-19, they were given an informational packet (in English) and instructed to return home,” the CDC report stated.

But “plant management reported that there were approximately 40 different languages spoken by employees at the plant.”



Inside meat processing plant linked to nearly 900 coronavirus cases APRIL 20, 2020

While English is one of “the top 10 languages,” so too are “Spanish, Kunama, Swahili, Nepali, Tigrinya, Amharic, French, Oromo and Vietnamese.”

The language barrier also stymied the CDC team of veterinary epidemiologists, industrial hygienists and others who toured the plant on April 16 and 17.

“Our team was unable to identify important demographic information about this workforce, limiting our ability to understand the diversity of the employees,” the CDC report said.

“We were also unable to obtain information about the workstations of confirmed positive cases. This type of information could provide a better understanding of what workplace factors contributed to the spread of COVID-19 among employees.”

The first plant worker tested positive on March 24, but the plant was not shut down until April 14. But before that happened, the CDC reported that workers were promised extra money if they showed up for work during the pandemic.

“Additionally we learned of a ‘responsibility bonus’ of $500 being offered to employees who did not miss time (e.g. were not late or sick) during the time period of April 1, 2020 through May 1, 2020," the report stated.

There was no immediate response from Smithfield’s CEO, Kenneth Sullivan, to the findings. The company's chief spokesperson, Keira Lombardo, said in a statement: "We will thoroughly and carefully examine the report point by point and respond in full once our assessment is complete."

VIDEO Are meat workers facing choice between health and livelihood?

 APRIL 18, 2020 07:37

Smithfield Foods is one of the biggest clusters of coronavirus cases in the country and has put an unwanted spotlight on Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican who has been criticized for not issuing a shelter-at-home order in a state where as of Thursday nine deaths and 1,956 cases have been reported.

Noem has, however, urged residents to practice social distancing and avoid large gatherings.

“I want to thank Vice President Pence, Secretary of Agriculture Perdue, and the CDC for prioritizing the situation at Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls,” Noem said in a statement. “Their partnership has been critical to the work that we’ve done to get this cluster under control and safeguard the health of this workforce.”

Noem also pledged that the South Dakota health department “will continue to work with Smithfield and offer any assistance we can to help them implement these CDC recommendations, so they can safely reopen this plant as soon as possible.”

Later, at a press conference, Noem said she is "anticipating" Smithfield will act on the CDC's recommendations.

Meanwhile, Tyson Foods Inc. announced it was closing a meat processing plant in Pasco, Washington that produces enough beef in one day to feed four million people.

“We’re working with local health officials to bring the plant back to full operation as soon as we believe it to be safe,” Steve Stouffer, head of Tyson Fresh Meats, said in a statement.

Tyson has already closed two pork processing plants and a chicken processing plant in Tennessee because of the coronavirus.

Experts warned that all these closures could result in meat shortages.

“Meat shortages will be occurring two weeks from now in the retail outlets,” Dennis Smith, a senior account executive at Archer Financial Services, told Bloomberg News.

More than 5,000 meat and food processing workers have been infected of exposed to COVID-19 and 13 have died since the pandemic struck, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union reported Thursday.

At Smithfield Foods in South Dakota, the CDC report suggested 11 recommendations for the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, including speeding up the installation of plexiglass barriers on production lines, adding 100 more time clocks to prevent bottlenecks, boosting the number of hand sanitizer stations to 3,500 so there is at least one per worker, and designating staffers to roam the floor and provide hand sanitizer to workers on the line every 30 minutes.

“A combination of control measures with ongoing education and training will be useful in reducing or eliminating transmission in the workplace,” the report said. “These recommendations are intended for this specific Smithfield plant, but broader interim recommendations for meat and poultry processing industries are in development.”

The South Dakota Department of Health is requiring the company to submit a plan of action before it reopens and expects it to follow the CDC recommendations.

“For each recommendation, please indicate a timeframe for implementation,” Health Department secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon and state epidemiologist Dr. Joshua Clayton wrote in a letter dated Thursday to Sullivan.

”If a recommendation cannot be implemented or a different solution is proposed, please provide the justification,” it said.

They also asked for a date when the plant, which processes fresh pork, bacon, hot dogs, deli and smoked meats, will re-open.

Smithfield is owned by Hong Kong-based WH Group, which is the largest pork processor in the world and which also operates plants in Wisconsin, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Two of the U.S. plants were closed after workers there tested positive for the coronavirus.

Trump skips questions at coronavirus briefing after disinfectant debacle

Friday's coronavirus task force briefing, which have sometimes gone as long as two hours, lasted just over 20 minutes.


April 24, 2020, By Dareh Gregorian

A day after he floated the idea of using disinfectants and light to treat COVID-19, President Donald Trump declined to take any questions at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House.

The briefing — which can sometimes last about two hours — was over in just over 20 minutes, following remarks from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and FDA head Stephen Hahn. The two top government doctors charged with combating the coronavirus crisis, Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, were not in attendance.


On Thursday, Trump drew widespread criticism for suggesting light, heat and injecting disinfectants could be used to treat coronavirus patients.

"So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting," Trump said then, addressing a Homeland Security official who'd said tests show the virus dies on surfaces more quickly in the heat.

"And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds, it sounds interesting to me.”

Doctors called the idea dangerous and irresponsible, while state and local government agencies and disinfectant manufacturers warned the products should not be ingested or injected.

Trump tried walking back the comments earlier Friday, claiming his suggestions had been "sarcastic."

"I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters just like you, just to see what would happen," Trump said during a bill signing for the coronavirus aid package.

But asked some more about the comments, he again suggested light could be used to kill the virus in the body.

"I'd like them now to look as it pertains to the human body, not just sitting on a railing or sitting on a wall. I'd like them to look as it pertains — because maybe there's something there. They have to work with the doc — I’m not a doctor. They have to work with the doctors. But maybe there is something to light and the human body and helping people that are dying," Trump said.

Asked if he was encouraging people to ingest disinfectant, he said, "No, of course — no."

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News

Facebook ads, conspiracy theorists pushed bleach consumption and UV ray cures

UV rays or disinfectants as treatments have been rejected by health and science communities — and embraced by conspiracy theorists and extreme alternative medicine communities.

DISINFECTANTS ARE SURFACE CLEANERS NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

President Trump suggested Thursday that beaming ultraviolet light “inside the body” should be tested as a coronavirus treatment. Health experts says UV radiation can cause skin irritation.Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

April 24, 2020,  By Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny


Unfounded and harmful coronavirus treatments — including those that were floated by President Donald Trump — continue to spread online, evading efforts to crack down on misinformation.

Trump suggested at a White House news briefing Thursday that scientists should test beaming ultraviolet light “inside the body” and injecting disinfectants in an effort to find new coronavirus remedies.

“Supposing you hit the body with ultraviolet or just very powerful light," Trump said. "And I think you said that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it? Then I said supposing that you brought the light inside the body, either through the skin or some other way. And I think you said, you’re going to test that, too."

Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

A recent Homeland Security study found that the coronavirus on surfaces may be killed by humidity and high exposure to UV rays through sunlight, indicating that the outbreak may subside in the coming summer months. The study was featured during Thursday's news briefing.

But the use of UV rays or disinfectants for human treatment has been roundly rejected by the health and science communities — and embraced by conspiracy theorists and extreme alternative medicine communities. Bleach and most household disinfectants are highly toxic, and exposure to UV light has been linked to skin cancer.



Trump suggests disinfectant to kill virus inside the body APRIL 24, 2020

Advocating for the consumption of disinfectants like bleach and the use of ultraviolet beams as medical treatments has been commonplace for years on fringe parts of the internet, and false viral rumors about curing COVID-19 by drinking industrial alcohol have proven deadly across the world in recent weeks.

Trump's comments come as health policy experts continue to warn about the spread of coronavirus misinformation — an "infodemic," as the World Health Organization has warned.

Around that misinformation, a cottage industry of fake coronavirus treatments has emerged.

Facebook pages created in late March sold UV “sanitizer” lights, promising “a proven impact on COVID-19” and to be the “most effective way to kill viruses.” The companies, which had names like “Beam Sanitizer,” ran ads on Instagram and Facebook in March, according to Facebook's ad library. Some ads, including ones from companies including UV Sanitizers, and Uvlizer, were still active as of Friday morning. The products apparently evaded the company’s ban of ads for coronavirus miracle cures instituted last month.

In an effort to quell the impact of viral social media posts, the World Health Organization released a warning in March stating that “UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.”

Conspiracy theorists, including those that center around the QAnon conspiracy, have also advocated for drinking a diluted form of bleach called Medical Mineral Solution, or MMS.

QAnon adherents falsely believe Donald Trump is secretly running a military operation to rid the government of satanic, child-eating cannibals, and many QAnon followers believe those same people are responsible for the virus. Prominent QAnon accounts celebrated Trump’s apparent nod to bleach consumption or injection, with one prominent QAnon YouTuber and MMS reseller calling it “a good ‘lung cleaner’” on Thursday night.
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VIDEOWatch: Dr. Birx reacts as Trump suggests ‘injection’ of disinfectant to beat coronavirus

Last week, the Department of Justice announced a crackdown on the online sale of MMS, which it said “is a chemical product which, when combined with the included activator, creates a powerful bleach product that the defendants market for oral ingestion.”

“The Department of Justice will take swift action to protect consumers from illegal and potentially harmful products being offered to treat COVID-19,” Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said in a press release for the DOJ’s injunction against Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, which was selling the product online.

Viral misinformation claiming isopropyl alcohol cures coronavirus led to the deaths of hundreds and sickened thousands of Iranians in March alone. Text messages, forwarded on messaging services like WhatsApp, pushed an urban legend that some people had cured themselves of the virus with whiskey or industrial-strength alcohol.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

In the U.S., some pro-Trump media sources began noting a section about isopropyl alcohol in a Department of Homeland Security memo that was leaked to Yahoo News last week. One day after the memo was leaked, The Epoch Times, a pro-Trump media outlet, highlighted a section of the PDF about isopropyl alcohol and bleach’s effect on the virus in saliva.

The leaked document does not recommend ingesting or injecting bleach at any point.

Five days later, Trump referred to disinfectants and ultraviolet light in his news briefing, citing “the way it kills it in one minute.”

Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and global health policy expert who is an NBC News and MSNBC contributor, told NBC News on Thursday that “injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible, and it's dangerous.”

"It's a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves," Gupta said.

Ben Collins covers disinformation, extremism and the internet for NBC News.

Brandy Zadrozny is an investigative reporter for NBC News.

Lysol maker warns against internal use of disinfectants after Trump comments

A spokesperson for the cleaning product company said it had a responsibility to give accurate information to the public.
Lysol makers warns it's not safe to treat coronavirus with disinfectant APRIL 24, 2020
By Lauren Egan

WASHINGTON — The manufacturer of Lysol, a disinfectant spray and cleaning product, issued a statement warning against any internal use after President Donald Trump suggested that people could get an "injection" of "the disinfectant that knocks (coronavirus) out in a minute."

"As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)," a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser, the United Kingdom-based owner of Lysol, said in a statement to NBC News.


"As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information," the statement continued, adding that the company believes it has a "responsibility in providing consumers with access to accurate, up-to-date information as advised by leading public health experts."

Watch: Dr. Birx reacts as Trump suggests ‘injection’ of disinfectant to beat coronavirus APRIL 24, 2020 

MORE CORRECTLY WATCH HOW SHE DOES NOT

ACT, BY CORRECTLY DENOUNCING THE STUPIDITY OF TRUMPS COMMENTS
SHE IS ENABLING HIM TO KILL AMERICANS

The Environmental Protection Agency also is reminding people to only use disinfectant on surfaces.

In a statement issued several hours before Trump spoke, the EPA said, "Never apply the product to yourself or others. Do not ingest disinfectant products."

The Trump administration's Surgeon General, Jerome Adams, also warned Americans, urging people to "always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one.

A reminder to all Americans- PLEASE always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one.

Your safety is paramount, and doctors and nurses are have years of training to recommend what’s safe and effective.— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) April 24, 2020

William Bryan of the Department of Homeland Security said at a White House briefing Thursday that "emerging results" from new research suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air.

But, he said, there was no consideration of internal use of disinfectants.

Top Democrats slammed Trump for the comment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the president and other Republicans "reject science" and said Trump must be disregarding the advice of his medical experts.

And Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a member of House Democratic leadership, tweeted Friday morning that "something is very wrong" with the president.

Please don’t poison yourself because Donald Trump thinks it could be a good idea.— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 24, 2020

The President suggested injecting Lysol into the human body to treat #COVID19.

Something is very wrong with this guy.

No really.

We should be very concerned.

Intervention? pic.twitter.com/hOyy8S0wSi— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) April 24, 2020

At the briefing, Trump also suggested that people could be treated with "ultraviolet or just a very powerful light" to kill the virus after Bryan's presentation showed that the virus might not live as long in warmer and more humid temperatures.

Trump then also mentioned an "injection" of "disinfectant" to deter the virus.
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"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute," the president said. "And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that."

Trump did not specify the kind of disinfectant.

Medical professionals were quick to dispute Trump's claims as "irresponsible" and "dangerous."

“This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it’s dangerous," said Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist, global health policy expert and an NBC News and MSNBC contributor.

"It’s a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves," he added.

Maryland's Emergency Management Agency tweeted a warning Friday not to administer disinfectants into the body, saying it had received several calls about use of the products and COVID-19.

ALERT🚨: We have received several calls regarding questions about disinfectant use and #COVID19.

This is a reminder that under no circumstances should any disinfectant product be administered into the body through injection, ingestion or any other route.— Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MDMEMA) (@MDMEMA) April 24, 2020

The White House claimed Friday morning that the media was mischaracterizing Trump's comments regarding coronavirus treatment.

"President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday’s briefing," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. "Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines."

Lauren Egan is a reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

The EPA is reminding people to use disinfectant only on surfaces

The agency issued the update shortly before the president suggested Thursday that it might be helpful to inject disinfectant to combat the coronavirus.

Disinfectant products on a store shelf. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

April 24, 2020, By Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is reminding people to only use disinfectant on surfaces.

The agency issued the update shortly before President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that it might be helpful to inject disinfectant to combat the coronavirus.


The EPA says, “Never apply the product to yourself or others. Do not ingest disinfectant products.”

William Bryan of the Department of Homeland Security said at a White House briefing on Thursday that “emerging results” from new research suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air.

But he said there was no consideration of internal use of disinfectants

VIDEO Trump suggests light and disinfectant treatments for coronavirus 

APRIL 24, 2020 02:34



Without specifying the kind of disinfectant, Trump said after Bryan's presentation, "I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that."

Medical professionals, including Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist, global health policy expert and an NBC News and MSNBC contributor. were quick to challenge the president's "improper health messaging."
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“This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it’s dangerous," said Gupta. "It’s a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves."

The maker of Lysol also issued a statement warning against any internal use of the cleaning product.

"As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)," said a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser, the United Kingdom-based owner of Lysol, in a statement to NBC News.

The president has repeatedly touted unproven treatments during the daily briefings on COVID-19, the disease associated with the coronavirus. For instance, he has touted hydroxychloroquine as a potential "game changer," but health officials have strongly cautioned against it.
Associated Press

OONI: An app for detecting Internet censorship

Developers have done a lot to ensure that we can use the Internet freely. Now the programmers need our help: If as many users as possible install the app OONI, it will come to light who is censoring where.


Free Internet is not a given. Many undemocratic governments block unwanted websites or control what their citizens do online. The fear of being discovered, in turn, slows down the creativity of Internet users and their will to express themselves freely.

To make detection more difficult for authorities, resourceful hackers have developed systems such as the Tor network, or search engines that allow users to use the Internet largely anonymously.

Services such as Psiphon or VPN connections are available to enable users in censored media markets to have free access to blocked information.

Read more: Tor, Psiphon, Signal and Co.: How to move unrecognized on the internet

Watch video01:44

How does the great firewall of China work?

https://www.dw.com/en/ooni-an-app-for-detecting-internet-censorship/a-53224221

Making Internet censorship public with OONI

However, the fight against Internet censorship is a constant game of hide and seek and software developers sometimes need the help of the users, for whom they program the software.

On April 21, the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) therefore launched the OONI Probe App.

The app allows users to discover various forms of Internet censorship and at the same time, to control network speed and performance as well as video streaming performance.

"The goal is to detect website blocking worldwide," says DW IT-expert Oliver Linow.

"So far, this has been available as an Android app. Now it's available as a desktop app for Windows and Mac OS."

OONI automatically makes the results public, unless the user doesn't want that, and changes the settings of the device accordingly.

Publicity creates pressure

The creators of OONI want to collect and publish as much data as possible on internet censorship in the hope of generating political pressure.

In concrete terms, the app checks whether someone is blocking websites or access to social media and similar communication tools such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or Telegram. OONI does the same for the Tor network and Psiphon.

Read more: DW defies tighter Internet censorship in China

"Sovereign internet" - a euphemism for an intranet controlled by the government. Cartoon by Sergey Elkin.
In addition, the app detects whether telecommunication providers or governments have installed so-called middleboxes. These are mechanisms that control Internet traffic. Middleboxes are an important tool for internet censors to find out which websites should be blocked.

Besides English, the OONI app is also available in Chinese, Russian, Spanish, French, Turkish, Thai, Italian, Greek, Catalan, Slovak, Portuguese and German.

Many participants, great impact

"Anyone can download the app and run scans with it. Then the app checks whether the services can be accessed from the respective computer," says DW expert Linow. So OONI needs as many volunteers as possible to participate. "The data is then collected and processed by OONI."

If you run a website yourself and suspect that someone is blocking your site, you can register your site with OONI. Then the app will check if this suspicion is true. "This is a very long list, which is processed by the app. You will find your desired URL somewhere in the list, and then it will be checked", says Linow.

But users should always be careful. Using the app is not completely risk-free. Dictatorial regimes could possibly react with punishment and persecution.

Read more: Iran blocks use of tool to get around online filter

AFRICA
Ugandan journalists 'assaulted by security forces' amid coronavirus lockdowns

A media rights body says Ugandan security personnel have attacked several journalists covering coronavirus lockdown measures. Journalists in other parts of Africa are also facing similar predicaments.


Ugandan security officers "slapped, punched, and kicked" prominent journalist Julius Ocungi as he was taking photos of police officers shutting down a local bar in the northern district of Kitgum, according to the New York-based media rights body Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The incident, one of several such assaults being reported throughout Africa, occurred on March 19, CPJ said. It said police refused to take any formal complaints from Ocungi, who is a bureau chief at the Uganda Radio Network news agency.

"It's incredibly worrying to see security personnel, police officers, military officers cracking down on journalists in this manner," Muthoki Mumo, CPJ's sub-Saharan Africa representative, told DW.

'Outbreak of attacks'

Another journalist, Kenneth Okuru, told DW that police officers beat him after he had taken photos of the officers "manhandling people."

"Three of the local defense unit members followed me and ordered me to delete the photos that I had taken. Actually, one of them beat me with a baton on my leg, and up to now I still feel the pain," Okuru said.

A local rights body, the Ugandan Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ-Uganda), tells DW it has recorded 12 cases of assaults against journalists since the lockdown measures began on March 19.

"We have witnessed an outbreak of attacks on journalists like ... the coronavirus epidemic," Robert Sempala, national coordinator of the group, told DW. "We have only been able to have one of the perpetrators arrested; the rest are still at large."

The reported assaults come despite the fact that Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has declared the work of journalists to be an essential service in the fight to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

Security forces more dangerous than COVID-19?

Cases of police brutality are on the rise in African countries that imposed lockdowns, according to several local and international rights bodies. The mistreatment has been meted out not only to journalists, but also to civilians.

Kenya: Police patrolling streets after curfew in Kibera slum

Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya are some of the countries in which security agencies have used brutal means to keep people off the streets. "There are so many reported cases of human rights abuses, including outright murder and killing of Nigerians in the name of keeping them at home," said Auwal Musa Rafsanjani from the Abuja Civil Society Legislative Advocacy.

"We think this is a shame and outrageous that coronavirus didn't kill Nigerians, but security agents are killing Nigerians," a visibly angry Rafsanjani told DW.

Assaults to delete photos

Media rights groups worry that security agents are making it a common practice to assault journalists who refuse to delete photos and footage of officers caught in the act of beating civilians.

"One of the challenges journalists have been reporting to us is that when they try to interact with authorities at the local level to seek justice for what has happened to them, they are getting frustrated," CPJ's Mumo said.

According to the body, the assaults against journalists continue unabated. "In our most recent report, we spoke to six journalists who, between the period of March 19 and early April, were beaten, were intimidated by security personnel. It's worrying that these cases we documented seem to be the tip of the iceberg," Mumo said.

Read more: HRW: Police brutality thrives under Kenya coronavirus curfew

In Kenya, a cameraman for NTV, Peter Wainaina, was also beaten as he was filming police officers in the coastal town of Mombasa chasing civilians to enforce the nationwide nighttime curfew. Wainaina told the website kenyan.co.ke that he had been surprised by the "brutality" of the policeman, as he had been doing nothing but what he was supposed to do as a journalist.

Group beatings

Zimbabwean journalist Terence Sipuma also told the southern African regional media watchdog MISA that police officers assaulted him while he was on his way to report on Zimbabwe's 21-day lockdown.

"They asked where I was going, and the moment I showed them my journalism accreditation, I was asked to lie down and was beaten. They accused me of exposing them. They took my phone away and promised to beat me more if they found videos or pictures of that operation," Sipuma told MISA Zimbabwe.

The media watchdog also reported another police assault on journalist Panashe Makufa in a suburb of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, earlier this month.

Read more: COVID-19: Security forces in Africa brutalizing civilians under lockdown

"He was taking pictures of a police operation to disperse people in Kuwadzana as part of their enforcement of the national lockdown. When the police approached him, Makufa produced his accreditation card, but they disregarded it as expired. The four police officers instructed Makufa to get into their police vehicle, where he was assaulted by two officers and forced to delete pictures before being dropped off at Kuwadzana 2 shops," MISA Zimbabwe reported.

Journalists' safety 'fragile'

Back in Uganda, President Museveni urged security personnel not to use excessive force to implement his COVID-19 guidelines. Police spokesperson Fred Enanga told DW that individual police officers found guilty of assault would be prosecuted.

"We have said that there is no police officer who is above the law; journalists should always thoroughly document actions against them by police officers," Enanga said. "We have not seen any direct video showing a police officer directly manhandling a journalist that we can authenticate."

However, CPJ's Mumo says out of the six journalists assaulted, "four of them suffered injuries severe enough that they had to go to hospital and at least two of them were hospitalized for several days."

There are several videos published on Twitter of Ugandan police officers and army personnel beating journalists, some made even before the COVID-19 outbreak. Only a few of the officers involved have faced disciplinary action, according to HRNJ-Uganda.

In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, "journalists' safety has become really fragile," HRNJ-Uganda's national coordinator, Robert Sempala, says.

Alex Gitta in Kampala, Uganda, contributed to this report