Journalists face growing threats in Europe: NGOs

Intimidation, imprisonment or even death are growing threats to journalists in Europe today, new data from 2019 has shown. Over 30 journalists were assaulted in Europe last year, and over 100 are currently behind bars.



Freedom of the press in Europe is facing increasingly greater threats, according to new data released Wednesday showing that intimidation is a growing trend.

"The condition of media freedom in Europe today is deeply unsatisfying," wrote the authors of a report published by the Council of Europe's Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists. There is "a growing trend of intimidating journalists into staying silent," the report said.

The report analyzed alerts registered in 2019 with the platform, which is run by the Council in conjunction with 14 international press freedom groups and journalists' organizations as a way to process and share information on threats to media freedom in Europe.

Threats of deadly violence in Europe

The platform recorded 142 serious threats to press freedom in Europe last year, including 33 instances of journalists being physically attacked, 17 new cases of detention or imprisonment, 43 instances of harassment and intimidation and two cases of impunity for murder.

"Attacks, intimidations and persecutions of journalists are increasing during elections, referendums and other important political events," the authors wrote.

The report also referenced the deaths of two journalists in 2019: Irish journalist Lyra McKee, who was killed during riots in Northern Ireland, and Ukrainian journalist Wadim Komarow, who died after being beaten outside of his home in central Ukraine.

At the end of 2019, at least 105 journalists were being held behind bars in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia and Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory of Crimea, the report said.

In particular, the report called out Russia and Turkey as well EU member states Hungary, Poland, Malta, Bulgaria and France for questionable behavior in terms of press freedom.

Read more: How a journalist's murder haunts Malta's ruling elite

The problem with state-run media

The nationalization of media is also problematic in countries that regularly experience violations to their constitutions, which often leads to the harassment of journalists, the report said. In Bulgaria, for example, a large share of the country's newspapers are "under the control of a single conglomerate, which belongs to a politician."

The text also cited the 2017 death of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, a case in which prominent national authorities were implicated.

France, as well, saw an uptick last year in violence against journalists that reported on anti-government protests, the report said.

"Many journalists have become victims of intimidation and attacks from security authorities," the report said, adding that the use of tear gas and rubber bullets contributed to the problem.

The authors called on European decision-makers to use the figures as a "wake-up" call to act and provide greater support for journalists in Europe.

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Date 29.04.2020
Author Kristie Pladson

GERMANY 

Doctors Are Posting Nudes To Protest What They Say Is A Shortage Of Coronavirus Masks

"The nudity should symbolize that we are vulnerable without protection," said one German doctor taking part in the protest.

HEY THEY USED TO MOUNTAIN CLIMB IN THE NUDE 

Matthew Champion BuzzFeed News Reporter Posted on April 28, 2020

blankebedenken.org

Doctors in Germany treating coronavirus patients are protesting what they say are shortages of masks, gloves, and visors by posing naked.

The group of doctors calls its protest Blanke Bedenken, which roughly translates as Bare Concerns.








blankebedenken.org


They hope their nudes will draw attention to what they say is a lack of available personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies like disinfectants.

They are also encouraging other doctors and health care workers to join in by submitting their own pictures.


A spokesperson for the group said the page had been live since April 22 but had received a big influx in pictures since it was covered by the German newspaper Bild on Monday.

The response to the protest had been “absolutely positive” so far, the spokesperson said, adding that the German government had to not only buy more PPE but make better use of its existing supplies.


Ruben Bernau, one of the doctors taking part in the protest, said the group was inspired by the French doctor Alain Colombié, who posted a picture of himself sitting in his office naked apart from an armband with the words “cannon fodder” on it.

Facebook: alain.colombie.5
In a message directed at French President Emmanuel Macron, Colombié wrote that French doctors were being asked “to go to the front without weapons and no defenses.”

"The nudity should symbolize that we are vulnerable without protection," Bernau said.

Jana Husemann, another doctor taking part in the protest, said, "We want to and must continue to take good care of our patients, especially those who need a personal examination.






blankebedenken.org

"This includes those with chronic diseases, acute wounds, as well as coronavirus patients.”

According to a study from an association of German health insurers cited by the Guardian, doctors in Germany are lacking more than a 100 million single-use masks.

Germany has also been praised for its response to the pandemic, with a considerably lower death rate than other countries with large numbers of cases.

Mike Pence Didn't Wear A Face Mask To The Mayo Clinic Even Though It's Required

The Mayo Clinic has required all visitors to wear a face mask since April 13, but the vice president didn't wear one on Tuesday.

Salvador Hernandez BuzzFeed News Reporter April 28, 2020

Jim Mone / AP
Vice President Mike Pence visits the molecular testing lab at the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday.

Vice President Mike Pence ignored a Mayo Clinic policy that requires everyone to wear a face covering during a visit to the Rochester, Minnesota, hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Photos and video of Pence's visit, which included meeting health care workers and a roundtable on the response to the coronavirus pandemic, showed that the vice president was the only person not wearing a face mask. Shortly after the images began to circulate on social media, the Mayo Clinic said on Twitter that Pence had been told about its mask policy before he arrived.

In addition to clinic staffers, all members of Pence's entourage also wore face masks.

The Mayo Clinic deleted its tweet minutes after it was posted.


Twitter

Despite the deleted tweet, a spokesperson with the Mayo Clinic told BuzzFeed News the vice president's office was informed about its mask policy. The spokesperson did not say why the tweet was deleted.

MODELING BAD BEHAVIOUR
Asked by reporters why he did not wear a mask, Pence said he is tested for the coronavirus "on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus.""Since I don't have the coronavirus, I thought it'd be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel and look them in the eye and say thank you," he said.

Since April 13, the Mayo Clinic has been requiring all patients and visitors at its campuses to wear a mask or face covering in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"Patients and visitors are asked to bring their own face covering or mask to wear," the clinic stated in a statement announcing the policy. "If a patient or visitor does not have a mask, Mayo Clinic will provide one."

Pence, who chairs the White House coronavirus task force, was touring the facility to learn more about Mayo's research on and treatment of COVID-19. He was accompanied by Dr. Stephen Hahn from the FDA.


In one video, he can be seen greeting multiple people by touching elbows instead of shaking hands.



Dan Diamond@ddiamond
PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient.05:55 PM - 28 Apr 2020
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Video from C-SPAN shows Pence meeting with at least 10 people in one large room, including a clinic employee who has recovered from COVID-19. Pence is the only person not wearing a mask.

In the roundtable discussion later in the day, officials including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Mayo Clinic leaders still wore face coverings, while Pence did not.


Jim Mone / AP Vice President Mike Pence visits the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday.

The vice president's office did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' inquiries about why Pence was not wearing a mask during his visit.

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

Pence flouts hospital policy, goes maskless in Mayo Clinic visit

Vice president follows Trump's lead in refusing to wear masks, despite public-health recommendations to do so.

By DAN DIAMOND 04/28/2020

Vice President Mike Pence refused to wear a mask on Tuesday as he toured the Mayo Clinic and met with hospital staff and a patient, rejecting the famed hospital’s policy that all visitors cover their faces to reduce Covid-19 risks.

Pence last week made plans to visit the Rochester, Minn., institution after it announced a coronavirus testing “moonshot” to combat the current outbreak. His decision not to wear a mask — even as he was surrounded by others who followed the policy — was widely condemned on social media, including by public health experts, on Tuesday afternoon.

Pence told reporters after the visit that he believed that he was following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and he asserted that he was not infected by Covid-19.

"As vice president of the United States, I'm tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus," Pence said, according to a pool report.

However, the CDC has recommended that all Americans wear cloth face masks in public settings where other social distancing measures may be difficult to maintain. Photos and video of Pence's visit to Mayo Clinic show him in close conversation with other individuals.

Scientists also have stressed that Covid-19 tests may produce incorrect results and that it is possible to carry the virus and not know it.

Some officials — like Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), who greeted Pence upon his arrival in the state on Tuesday — have worn masks in public appearances. But many Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have rejected those recommendations for themselves. Pence declined to wear masks in previous public appearances, including visits to the Air Force Academy and a GE Healthcare site last week. After discussing recommendations to wear masks, Trump said at a press briefing on April 3 that “I don't see it for myself.”

Mayo Clinic on April 13 announced its own policy to require all visitors to wear masks in order to slow the spread of Covid-19, based on the CDC guidance.

A Mayo Clinic spokesperson told POLITICO that Pence and his team had been briefed about the mask policy prior to arriving on campus. “We made the Vice President and his staff aware of our policy regarding masking,” the spokesperson said, referring other questions to Pence’s office. Masks were made available to Pence on Tuesday, said two individuals.
Mayo Clinic also took down a tweet that had said "Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today." The clinic did not immediately respond to a question about why the tweet was deleted.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, who accompanied Pence on the trip, did wear a mask as he toured Mayo Clinic. “He set a good example as a public health official,” said a senior administration official.
Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota, criticized Pence for setting a dangerous example, saying his failure to abide by hospital rules "jeopardizes the health and well-being of those around him and encourages others to engage in the same selfish and irresponsible behavior."

“The least we can do to thank the essential workers who risk infection to keep us fed, healthy, and safe during this crisis is to take the proper precautions to keep them safe as well," Martin said. "By refusing to lead by example and help protect essential workers, Vice President Pence is telling the American people that his public image matters more than the lives of those on the frontlines of this pandemic.”

Does nicotine help against the new coronavirus?

According to a new French study, smokers could be better protected than others from the novel coronavirus because nicotine blocks its docking sites. Another study, however, suggests exactly the opposite.
Face mask for smokers with an opening for the cigarette

Smokers are generally considered a risk group for infections with the novel coronavirus. According to a study published in the Chinese Medical Journal, they usually contract more severe and protracted forms of the disease it causes, COVID-19, than non-smokers and die more often as a result.

However, French researchers led by Jean-Pierre Changeux, a neurobiologist at the Institut Pasteur, suspect that nicotine patches could help prevent infections with the dangerous virus. They have published a corresponding hypothesis on the science portal Qeios.

They came to this conclusion because their data, which contradicts that of the Chinese study, shows that there seems to be only a small number of smokers among COVID-19 patients.

The virus cannot enter the cell and cannot spread in the organism if nicotine blocks it, the researchers conclude.

The study looked at around 500 COVID-19 patients, of whom 350 had been treated in hospital and 150 had a mild disease progression. Only 5% were smokers, Zahir Amoura, head of the study and professor of internal medicine, told the news agency AFP. This in turn meant there were 80% fewer smokers among the COVID-19 patients than in the general population of the same age and gender cohort.

Read more: Nanomachines to be deployed to fight next viral pandemic

An earlier metastudy by researchers led by Giuseppe Lippi from Verona, Italy, published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, came to a similar conclusion: that smokers are no more likely to contract COVID-19 than others.

Nicotine as protection?

The French study assumes that nicotine can protect against the new coronavirus. It is based on the hypothesis "that nicotine attaches to cell receptors (ACE2) used by the coronavirus, thereby preventing the virus from attaching," explains Changeux, who also holds a chair at the College de France.

The virus cannot enter the cell and cannot spread in the organism if nicotine blocks it, the researchers conclude. The Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris is now to investigate this finding in more detail.

What role do ACE2 receptors really play?

However, there is no consensus among researchers that the ACE2 receptors have a blocking effect. Neurologists James L. Olds and Nadine Kabbani from Fairfax in the US state of Virginia had already published a study on the topic in The FEBS Journal on March 18.

This study suggests that nicotine, in fact, stimulates the cell receptors, meaning that viruses have even better opportunities to penetrate the cells. This could explain the particularly severe courses of the disease in smokers, the study says.

Smoking is not a solution

Only further research can show whether the French researchers or their US colleagues are right. Virtually all medical doctors, however, agree that tobacco smoking carries an additional risk in cases of COVID-19 disease.

They advise smokers to quit smoking as soon as possible, because the coronavirus primarily attacks the lungs, which are already damaged in smokers anyway.

Taking nicotine is by no means harmless, because it is a toxic substance

Unlike when pure nicotine is assimilated — for example, through nicotine patches such as those used by people who want to quit smoking — smoking additionally burdens the body with many harmful substances, including carcinogenic agents.

Numerous studies and tests are still needed with nicotine patches of different dosages. If the French study proves to be correct, nicotine might even be able to protect people who come into contact with COVID-19 patients and are therefore at higher risk of infection.

However, taking nicotine is by no means harmless, because it is a toxic substance. When smoking a cigarette, the smoker absorbs about 1 to 3 milligrams of nicotine. One cigarette contains about 12 milligrams of nicotine.

More harm than good?

In the past, scientists had already looked at the possibility that nicotine might also have positive effects on the body. For example, researchers studied the effect of nicotine-like substances on the treatment of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. For people with serious conditions like dementia, the benefits of nicotine were found to outweigh its disadvantages.

The results of the French study so far do not mean, however, that everyone should try to have a smoke as quickly and as often as possible.

Opinion: Faith, COVID-19 and the push for a healthy environment

Faith is helping many through the coronavirus pandemic — and it can also be instrumental in climate protection, say UNEP's Inger Andersen and Azza Karam of Religions for Peace in a guest commentary.


Faith provides spiritual and practical support to billions of people, especially in times of crisis. We are seeing this in action yet again as churches, mosques, temples, other places of worship and faith-based organizations around the world offer support, food, housing, donations and medical services during the pandemic. Such solidarity is sorely needed as millions suffer the physical, economic and emotional toll of COVID-19.

But faiths, and those who lead them, have a greater role to play. They can and must help prevent worse crises from happening in the future by wielding their huge influence to improve humanity's stewardship of the planet.



Inger Andersen, UNEP's executive director, says the pandemic response needs to fix our relationship with the planet

COVID-19, along with many previous diseases that were transmitted from animals to humans, is a result of how we mismanage our natural habitat and the living beings in it. Whether you look at this pandemic, the recent Australian bushfires, the hottest January on record or the worst locust outbreak in the Horn of Africa in decades, the planet is sending us an urgent message: if we do not take care of nature, we cannot take care of ourselves.

Read more: Coronavirus: European solidarity comes at a price

We would be wise to heed this call. Our long-term response to COVID-19 must be to fix our relationship with the planet. This repair job should be a whole-system response made up of many parts.

Economic recovery stimulus packages must support investments in renewable energy, smart buildings and infrastructure, green and public transport.

In the last few years, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has surged to its highest rate in more than a decade


The worldwide animal market, where thousands of species are bought and sold every year, is a serious threat to biodiversity

We must shift our production and consumption habits — buying less, wasting less and repurposing more — as many of us are doing during lockdown restrictions. We must restore our forests and invest in protected areas. And we must tackle the illegal trade in wildlife and forest resources and improve hygiene conditions in the legal trade.

Pushing for proactive engagement

Faith leaders and communities are proving to be crucial to all of these systemic changes because they have the authority to impact the behavior and attitudes of billions of people. Their institutions are among the oldest and most long-standing and provide essential services to billions of people around the globe, making them essential partners in normal times as well as in an emergency.

Faith-based organizations own a large number of educational institutions, so they can lead on efforts to raise awareness about the linkages between human health and planetary health. In all parts of the world, they own and manage health institutions that are fighting the current pandemic by providing medical care to the hardest-to-reach communities.



Azza Karam, of Religions for Peace, says faith leaders and communities can influence how people treat the planet

One example of proactive engagement and inter-country collaboration is the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, a global partnership that includes the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and Religions for Peace working to protect the world's remaining rainforests and the rights of the indigenous peoples that serve as their guardians.

Such initiatives are a good start, but we can do more.

Read more: Yuval Noah Harari on COVID-19: 'The biggest danger is not the virus itself'

As things stand, humanity, in its hubris, is tearing down the house that so many believe their creator provided. Faith leaders need to continue to use their considerable influence to push for a healthy planet, just as believers must heed the call to care for creation contained in the scriptures of every religion and in the tradition of every faith.

The response to COVID-19 is showing the power of faith. Now we must harness this power, together, to create a sustainable future for ourselves and for all other species that share this planet.

Inger Andersen is UN under-secretary-general and executive director of the UN Environment Program. Azza Karam is the secretary general of Religions for Peace, an international multi-religious organization, and a professor at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
CORONAVIRUS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: 7 CHANGES TO EXPECT

Better air quality
As the world grinds to a halt, the sudden shutdown of most industrial activities has dramatically reduced air pollution levels. Satellite images have even revealed a clear drop in global levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a gas which is primarily emitted from car engines and commercial manufacturing plants and is responsible for poor air quality in many major cities.

CO2 emissions fall

Like NO2, carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) have also been slashed in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. When economic activity stalls, so do CO2 emissions — in fact, the last time this happened was during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In China alone, emissions have fallen by around 25% when the country entered lockdown, according to Carbon Brief. But this change is likely to only be temporary.

A new world for urban wildlife

As everyone retreats to their homes, some animals have been taking advantage of our absence. Reduced road traffic means little critters like hedgehogs emerging from hibernation are less likely to be hit by cars. Meanwhile, other species like ducks may be wondering where all the people have gone and will need to find other sources of food besides breadcrumbs in the park.

Drawing attention to the global wildlife trade

Conservationists hope the coronavirus outbreak will help curb global wildlife trade, which is responsible for pushing a number of species to the brink of extinction. COVID-19 likely originated in a Wuhan wet market, which sells live produce and is a hub for both legal and illegally trafficked wildlife. A crackdown on trading live wildlife may be one positive thing to come out of the crisis.  

Waterways run clear

Shortly after Italy entered lockdown, images of crystal clear canals in Venice were shared around the world — the pristine blue waters are a far cry from their usual muddy appearance. And with cruise ships docked for the time being, our oceans are also experiencing a drop in noise pollution, lowering the stress levels of marine creatures like whales and making for a much more peaceful migration.

Plastic waste on the rise

But it's not all good news. One of the worst environmental side-effects of the coronavirus pandemic is the rapid increase in the use of disposable plastic — from medical equipment like disposable gloves, to plastic packaging as more people opt for prepackaged foods. Even cafes that remain open no longer accept reusable cups from customers in a bid to stop the virus from spreading.

Climate crisis goes ignored (for now)

With the coronavirus dominating, the climate crisis has been pushed to the sidelines. But that doesn't make it any less urgent. Experts are warning that important decisions regarding the climate should not be delayed — even with the UN climate conference postponed until 2021. While emissions have dropped since the pandemic began, we're unlikely to see widespread and long-term change as a result.

Author: Ineke Mules

Date 29.04.2020
Related Subjects Environment, Deforestation, Wildlife, Biodiversity, Coronavirus
Keywords COVID-19, Inger Andersen, faith, coronavirus, environment, biodiversity, deforestation, wildlife, Azza Karam, pandemic

AMERICAN PENTECOSTAL COLONIALISM
Uganda Is Using Coronavirus Rules To Raid An LGBTQ Shelter And Jail Residents

The LGBTQ shelter had more than 10 residents, so the group was charged with facilitating the spread of an infectious disease.

J. Lester Feder BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on April 28, 2020

Rebecca Vassie / AP Ugandans take part in an LGBTQ pride parade in April 2014.
Uganda is using social distancing rules as a reason to detain 19 people for a month without access to lawyers, following a raid on an LGBTQ shelter.

The group was arrested on March 29 on the outskirts of Kampala, after local officials raided a shelter operated by an NGO called the Children of the Sun Foundation. They were due in court on Tuesday, said their attorney, Patricia Kimera of the NGO called the Human Rights Awareness and Protection Forum (HRAPF). But officials did not bring them to court, nor did the government’s attorneys show up to the hearing. Uganda’s coronavirus restrictions have made it nearly impossible for people to travel on public roads, and courts and attorneys are not considered essential services under the order.

“We can’t access our clients. We don’t know how they are in prison,” Kimera said in a phone interview with BuzzFeed News. She received such little notice of their first appearance before a court the day after their arrest that the courthouse was shuttered by the time she arrived. “We’ve tried all we can.”

They’ve been charged with violating social distancing orders and were formally accused of committing a “negligent act likely to spread an infectious disease” because they had so many people under one roof. Thirteen of those arrested lived in the four-room shelter, but a few more people were staying temporarily because they’d been visiting the shelter when the government restricted public transportation and they had no way to get home. The shelter had tried to address coronavirus concerns by making a rule that anyone who went out would not be able to return.

It’s not uncommon for many people to live under one roof in Uganda, but there have not been widespread arrests of people in crowded houses. Kimera said she believes local government officials are just using the coronavirus restrictions to punish LGBTQ people they could not otherwise prosecute. Official harassment of LGBTQ people is a longstanding problem in Uganda, but they are almost never prosecuted for charges directly related to their sexual orientation. A sweeping “Anti-Homosexuality Act” that caused an international uproar when it was adopted in 2014 was quickly struck down by the courts on a technicality. There is a much older sodomy law on the books, but it requires so much evidence of a specific act of intercourse that it has never been successfully prosecuted in court.

The Children of the Sun Foundation shelter was actually raided two days before Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni issued a sweeping lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus that limited gatherings to no more than 10 people. But the country, which now has officially confirmed 79 coronavirus cases, began phasing in some restrictions in early March as the country shifted to a crisis mode. This gave an opening to community leaders in the town of Wakiso to call in the police to shut down a facility that has operated in the area for nine months with permission of local police.

“This gave them an opportunity to get rid of us,” said Charles, the Children of the Sun Foundation’s program director, who asked that his last name not be published out of concern for his safety.

Charles arrived at the shelter shortly after a local militia burst into the compound and rounded up the residents, and he was also immediately detained. The local mayor, Hajj Abdul Kiyimba, soon arrived on the scene and called in a local news station, which filmed him interrogating the residents and beating them with a large stick. Kiyimba demanded residents give him their parents’ phone numbers, Charles said, which the mayor then used to out the residents to their families. (Kiyimba did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via Facebook.)

Charles said he and the others were forced to make a “walk of shame” down to the police station while bound together by rope. He managed to win release by convincing the authorities that he did not actually work for the foundation. A nurse working at the site was also released a short time after the arrests, along with two residents who were released for health reasons and one more who appeared to be a minor. But the group’s executive director and 18 others are still behind bars.

The coronavirus restrictions, which were put in place with little planning or notice, have caused a host of problems. Around 1 million people in Uganda rely on antiretroviral therapy for HIV, but no provisions were made to allow them to travel to clinics or get a sufficient supply of drugs in some other way, said Asia Russell, the Kampala-based executive director of Health Gap, an American NGO that advocates for global access to HIV treatment. There have also been several reports of women dying in childbirth because they could not reach a hospital.




This raid on Children of the Sun Foundation is just one example of how Uganda’s sweeping coronavirus lockdown is being used for political purposes said Nicholas Opiyo, a human rights lawyer who helped get the Anti-Homosexuality Act struck down in 2014. The pandemic arrived in Uganda when the country was already moving into campaign mode ahead of elections next year. Opposition politicians have been arrested for handing out food in their districts, Opiyo said, while members of the ruling party have made a show of distributing aid in their areas.

The lockdown, Opiyo said, “was intended to create this atmosphere of fear and have a ... plausible excuse for arresting and locking people up.”

A spokesperson for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TRUMP MINI ME
“So What?” How Brazil’s President’s Responded To The Record Daily Increase In Coronavirus Deaths

Brazil’s official death toll now stands at more than 5,000, and the president’s handling of it makes him a global pariah.

Karla Zabludovsky BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on April 29, 2020,

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuter   Jair-Jair Bolsonaro
As Brazil’s official death toll from the coronavirus surpassed China’s, where the virus first emerged, President Jair Bolsonaro did little more than shrug.

“So what?” he said to reporters who asked him about the day’s record number of deaths on Tuesday night. “What do you want me to do?”

This might seem like a strange response from the man who is in charge of Latin America’s biggest country. Bolsonaro, a right-wing former military officer, has become a global pariah, minimizing the impact of the pandemic even as most world leaders have locked their countries down, warning about the dangers of returning too soon to life as we once knew it.

Bolsonaro’s political strategy is not dissimilar to President Donald Trump’s: undermine governors who are implementing shutdowns while calling to jumpstart the economy.

“It is clearly bad policy, but it might end up being good politics,” said Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, a magazine about politics in Latin America, noting that Bolsonaro’s base continues to stand by him in large part. His approval rating grew to 33%, up from 30% in December, according to pollster Datafolha.

In Brazil, where 71,886 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 5,017 have died, according to the health ministry, there is no national lockdown. Bolsonaro has repeatedly urged Brazilians to return to work rather than run from the virus “like cowards.” And he has continued to visit public places, like pharmacies and supermarkets, shaking hands with supporters.


Michael Dantas / Getty Images
Aerial view of coffins being buried in the Parque Taruma cemetery in Manaus, Amazonas state, April 21.\

Earlier this month, Bolsonaro fired his health minister, who had advocated for social distancing measures.

In a country of 210 million people, health experts predict that contagions will multiply rapidly as the virus begins to hit favelas, or impoverished neighborhoods, hard. There, families crowd together into single, small rooms, often without running water. Isolation is impossible. And already, Brazilians are growing tired of social isolation measures. Approval for these practices fell to 52% from 60% the first week of April.

Still, outrage in the country is reaching a fever pitch, with people frequently banging pots from their windows to protest Bolsonaro. On Wednesday, a local newspaper, Estado de Minas, ran a black front page with the death toll and Bolsonaro’s words from the previous day: “My name’s Messiah, but I can’t work miracles,” a reference to his middle name, Messias.



Estado de Minas@em_com

Bom dia, veja os destaques da edição impressa do Estado de Minas desta quarta-feira, 29 de abril de 2020. Leia mais: https://t.co/p3FTkGOYc8 #CapaEM #EstadoDeMinas #FrontPage #News #Notícias #PrimeiraPágina #coronavirus #coronavirusbrasil909:48 AM - 29 Apr 2020

Calls to impeach Bolsonaro have also been growing. According to Datafolha, 45% of Brazilians support his impeachment.

“Bolsonaro’s disrespect for coronavirus victims and their families shows how much we need to talk about this government’s change,” tweeted former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday. “It's serious.”



Karla Zabludovsky is the Mexico bureau chief and Latin America correspondent for BuzzFeed News and is based in Mexico City.

Google searches for malaria drug spiked after Trump, Musk endorsements

Searches for two anti-malarial drugs touted by public officials as treatment for COVID-19 shot up nearly 500 percent and 1,400 percent, researchers report.

April 29 (UPI) -- Google searches for the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine increased by nearly 1,400 percent after high-profile endorsements of possible benefits in treating COVID-19, an analysis published Wednesday in JAMA Internal Medicine said.

Similar searches for chloroquine, another drug that treats malaria, jumped more than 440 percent, the researchers reported.

The analysis of search traffic from the beginning of February through the end of March covers the period from the start of the outbreak of the disease caused by the new coronavirus in the United States, which through Wednesday has infected more than 1 million Americans.

The two drugs were touted as possible treatments for COVID-19 by President Donald Trump and billionaire businessman Elon Musk in mid-March, despite a lack of evidence to support the claims.

RELATED FDA issues warning on side effects of malaria drug for COVID-19

"We hear a lot of talk about misinformation all the time, but it's very nebulous," study co-author Dr. John W. Ayers, a behavioral scientist at San Diego State University, told UPI on Tuesday night. Researchers at the University of California, Harvard, Johns Hopkins and the University of Oxford worked on the study.

"It's like pornography in the Supreme Court in the 1970s: We don't know it until we see it, and even then you don't agree on it," Ayers said. "But with misinformation during the pandemic, there is an acute danger. The stakes are high. We need to address it before it adds to the public health problem we're already facing."

For the study, researchers reviewed daily Google search data from Feb. 1 to March 29 of this year, comparing it to historic trends. Search terms such as "buy," "order," "Amazon," "eBay" and"Walmart," combined with the names of the drugs, were checked.

Musk endorsed chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine -- drugs used historically to treat autoimmune disorders and malaria -- on Twitter on March 16 and Trump first mentioned them in a press briefing three days later.

The researchers found that the "first and largest" spike in searches for purchasing the drugs corresponded directly with Musk's tweet, with 100,000 additional searches the next day. On March 20, the day after Trump's comments, more than 250,000 additional searches were conducted.

Overall, Google search activity for purchasing chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine increased 442 percent and 1,389 percent, respectively, researchers found. They also noted that even after news reports of a fatal poisoning in Arizona, searches to buy chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine remained 212 percent and 1,167 percent, respectively, above expected levels.
Consumers turning to the internet for health information is not a new phenomenon. Research has shown that people frequently research their symptoms online before visiting a healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment.

A study published last month in PLOS Computational Biology found that, during the Zika pandemic in 2016, Wikipedia page-views increased as much as 10 times, and that the rise corresponded directly with media mentions of the mosquito-borne virus.

"Wikipedia represents an important source of information during the current pandemic and its editors are doing their best to provide the most up-to-date information regarding COVID-19," Michele Tizzoni, lead author on the Zika study and research leader at the ISI Foundation in Torino, Italy, told UPI on Wednesday.





"However, as is stated by Wikipedia itself, Wikipedia or other Web sites cannot substitute for the advice of a medical professional," Tizzoni said.

Tizzoni and her colleagues focused on the role of media, especially television, in shaping public opinion.

She noted that during a pandemic, "the diffusion of accurate and reliable information on TV becomes even more important," as public attention -- and fear -- can be "explained by exposure to online and TV coverage, rather than the magnitude or extent of the epidemic itself."

The researchers behind the JAMA Internal Medicine study suggested that regulatory agencies and companies like Google and Bing need to "actively mitigate the negative consequences" of misinformation.

They specifically pointed to Google's integration of educational information into search results related to the outbreak -- an approach they would like to see expanded to and embraced by other platforms.

They also advised retailers to draft warnings or even withhold products that might be linked to use for COVID-19 treatment, as online retailer eBay did when it removed chloroquine products from its site.

The FDA last Friday also imposed restrictions on prescriptions for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the new coronavirus, after research indicated potential dangers associated with their use.

"We thought if we could identify the outbreak of the misinformation and learn how widespread it was, we could start to learn about ways we can correct it and stop it from spreading," Ayers, co-author of the JAMA Internal Medicine study, said.

Torment in Ecuador: virus dead piled up in bathrooms

AFP/File / Jose SANCHEZHealth ministry personnel test a woman for the novel coronavirus in northern Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 19, 2020

Front line medics in one of Latin America's coronavirus epicenters are lifting the lid on the daily horrors they face in an Ecuadoran city whose health system has collapsed.

In one hospital in Guayaquil overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, staff have had to pile up bodies in bathrooms because the morgues are full, health workers say.

In another, a medic told AFP that doctors have been forced to wrap up and store corpses to be able to reuse the beds they died on.

Ecuador has recorded close to 23,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 600 deaths, with Guayaquil by far its worst affected city. But the real toll is thought to be far higher.

A 35-year-old nurse at the first hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the trauma of what he saw had affected him professionally and personally.

When the health emergency broke out in March, every nurse went from caring for 15 patients to 30 in the space of just 24 hours, he added.

"So many people arrived that... they were practically dying in our hands," said the nurse.

Patients were discharged or referred to other facilities "to free up all these beds" for coronavirus patients, he told AFP.

"They took out anesthesia machines from operating rooms to replace them with ventilators.

"People are alone, sad, the treatment wreaks havoc on the gastrointestinal tract, some defecate; they feel bad and think they will always feel that way, and they see that the person next to them starts to suffocate and scream that they need oxygen."

It isn't just hospitals that have been overwhelmed, but morgues too.

"The morgue staff wouldn't take any more, so many times we had to wrap up bodies and store them in the bathrooms," the nurse said.

Only when the bodies were "stacked up six or seven high did they come to collect them."

A 26-year-old colleague, also a nurse, confirmed the chaotic scenes.

"There were many dead in the bathrooms, many lying on the floors, many dead in armchairs," she told AFP.

- 'Sanitary disaster' -

Guayaquil's health system has collapsed under the pressure of the coronavirus, and it seems to be having catastrophic knock-on effects.

In the first half of April, the province of Guayas, whose capital is Guayaquil, recorded 6,700 deaths, more than three times the monthly average.

AFP/File / Jose SánchezWorkers make coffins at the Angel Maria Canals cemetery in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 9, 2020

The disparity suggests that the real COVID-19 death toll is far greater than the official nationwide tally of fewer than 600.

President Lenin Moreno has acknowledged that Ecuador's official coronavirus tallies "are short" of the true figures.

A 28-year-old doctor at a second Guayaquil hospital, who also insisted on anonymity, conjured a similarly grim picture of health services in crisis.

"Bodies were in the corridors of the emergency ward because the morgue was full," the medic told AFP, describing "20 to 25 corpses" waiting to be taken away.

"It was up to us to collect and wrap the corpse and store it so we could disinfect the bed for the next patient," he added.

At the first hospital, refrigerated containers were brought in to store bodies, some of which remained for up to 10 days.

Some family members "break the covers... so the fluids come out. It's a sanitary disaster," said the 35-year-old male nurse.

- 'It kills you psychologically' -

The number of daily deaths fell last week but that was scant consolation for this nurse, who says he is tormented by what he has experienced.

AFP/File / RODRIGO BUENDIAA paramedic enters the disinfection booth outside the emergency room of the IESS Sur Hospital in Quito on April 18, 2020

When he goes home, after a 24-hour shift, his feet hurting, he tries to rest but then the "nightmare" strikes.

He dreams of running until he falls and knocks "open the bathroom door with the number of bodies... and you can't go back to sleep."

His home life has also changed. He is following strict isolation so cannot see his parents or brother.

When he goes home he begins his ritual of disinfecting his car and shoes, hosing himself down on the patio before washing his clothes in hot water.

"I eat on a plastic table away from everyone. I leave my home with a mask, I can't hug anyone, not even the pets," he said.

Every now and then he thinks about the psychological mark left on him every time he has to make do with hooking them up to cannula tubes when what they really need is a ventilator.

"They tell you, 'It's okay -- give them oxygen and a slow drip serum and leave them,'" he told AFP.

"But what if that was my mom? What if it was my dad? That kills you. It kills you psychologically."

AFP sought comment from health authorities in Guayaquil but did not get a reply.

A national public health authority official said he had been in an emergency unit in Guayaquil where bodies were piled up.

"A morgue for eight deceased persons and you have to manage 150 bodies, what can you do? You have to put them anywhere nearby that you have space," he told AFP.

The official said the number of cases in Guayaquil rose dramatically and rapidly in a matter of days, overwhelming an inadequate emergency healthcare system.

"There was such a speed of contagion that it reflected a large number of seriously ill and a large number of deaths at a specific time," he said.