Coronavirus may have been a 'cell-culture experiment' gone wrong

Sharri Markson|24/05/2020|SKYNEWS

EXCLUSIVE: The coronavirus that has become a world-wide pandemic may have been created in a “cell-culture experiment” in a laboratory, according to prominent scientists who have conducted ground-breaking research into the origins of the virus. Flinders University Professor Nikolai Petrovsky has completed a scientific study, currently undergoing peer review, in conjunction with La Trobe University in Victoria, which found COVID-19 was uniquely adapted for transmission to humans, far more than any other animal, including bats. Professor Petrovsky, from the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University who has spent the past 20 years developing vaccines against pandemic influenza, Ebola and animal SARS, said this highly unusual finding left open the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory. “The two possibilities which I think are both still open is that it was a chance transmission of a virus from an as yet unidentified animal to human. The other possibility is that it was an accidental release of the virus from a laboratory,” he said. “Certainly we can’t exclude the possibility that this came from a laboratory experiment rather than from an animal. They are both open possibilities.” Professor Petrovsky, who is the Chairman and Research Director of Vaxine Pty Ltd, said COVID-19 has genetic elements similar to bat coronaviruses as well as other coronaviruses. The way coronavirus enters human cells is by binding to a protein on the surface of lung-cells called ACE2. The study showed the virus bound more tightly to human-ACE2 than to any of the other animals they tested. “It was like it was designed to infect humans,” he said. “One of the possibilities is that an animal host was infected by two coronaviruses at the same time and COVID-19 is the progeny of that interaction between the two viruses. “The same process can happen in a petri-dish. If you have cells in culture and you have human cells in that culture which the viruses are infecting, then if there are two viruses in that dish, they can swap genetic information and you can accidentally or deliberately create a whole third new virus out of that system. “In other words COVID-19 could have been created from that recombination event in an animal host or it could have occurred in a cell-culture experiment.” Professor Petrovsky was originally modelling the virus in January to prepare a vaccine candidate. He then turned his attention to “explore what animal species might have been involved in the transmission to humans” to understand the origins of the virus - and had a “surprising” result when none were well-adapted. “We found that the COVID-19 virus was particularly well-adapted to bind to human cells and that was far superior to its ability to bind to the cells of any other animal species which is quite unusual because typically when a virus is well-adapted to an animal and then it by chance crosses to a human, typically, you would expect it to have lower-binding to human cells than to the original host animal. We found the opposite so that was a big surprise,” he said. Scientists worldwide have, to date, overwhelmingly said the virus was more likely originated in a wet-market and was not created in a laboratory. Even the United States Office of National Intelligence ruled out COVID-19 being created in a laboratory. Asked why scientists have had this view, Professor Petrovsky said scientists “try not to be political” and do not want their research impacted adversely by tighter laboratory controls. “We just try to base our findings on facts rather than taking particular political positions but sometimes obviously the alternatives may have unintended consequences,” he said. “For instance, if it was to turn out that this virus may have come about because of an accidental lab release that would have implications for how we do viral research in laboratories all around the world which could make doing research much harder. “So I think the inclination of virus researchers would be to presume that it came from an animal until proven otherwise because that would have less ramifications for how we are able to do research in the future. The alternative obviously has quite major implications for science and science on viruses, not just obviously political ramifications which we’re all well aware of.” Professor Petrovsky said an inquiry needs to start straight away, not when the pandemic is finished. “The idea of putting it off to the pandemic is over, it would be a mistake,” he said. “I’m certainly very much in favour of a scientific investigation. It’s only objective should be to get to the bottom of how did this pandemic happen and how do we prevent a future pandemic…. not to have a witch-hunt.” Image: AP

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Professor Nikolai Petrovsky - Flinders University

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Jan 30, 2020 - director of endocrinology at flinders medical centre with a conjoint position as professor of medicine at flinders university, nikolai petrovsky is ...

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director of endocrinology at flinders medical centre with a conjoint position as professor of medicine at flinders university, nikolai petrovsky is also vice-president ...

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Apr 3, 2020 - Flinders University Professor Nikolai Petrovsky is Chairman and Research Director of Vaxine Pty Ltd. Flinders University Associate Professor ...

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Bible found opened to Psalm 106 and 107 one of few objects to survive deadliest fire in US history

By Chaffin Mitchell, AccuWeather staff writer

Updated Oct. 14, 2019 4:22 PM

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The Northwoods of the Great Lakes is often a summer and fall retreat from the concrete and urban settings of inner-city life. Natural beauty prevails here, but they also conceal a dark chapter in our nation’s history with wildfires, the worst ravaging a small community in America’s dairy land.

When the smoke cleared, little was left intact. It was almost as if a town had never even existed there. Some broken China and a tabernacle survived the inferno. So did a Bible. The Good Book was charred by the flames and petrified by the intense heat, but found intact -- and opened to Psalms 106 and 107.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!" the beginning of Psalm 106 and 107 reads, a haunting declaration that may seem to contradict the tragedy that unfolded one fateful night in northeastern Wisconsin but serves as a reminder of a dark chapter in American history almost 150 years ago, the country's deadliest fire.

On the night of Oct. 8, 1871, a rapidly approaching fire engulfed the small town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, a lumber boomtown in America's dairyland. The blaze tore through the town at an astonishing pace, spreading hellish flames and plumes of thick smoke. According to historical accounts, horrific sounds filled the air under an ominous orange sky that night as chaos ensued.

In the span of about one hour, the fire incinerated anything and everything in its path, including numerous settlements and villages, ravaging 2,400 square miles -- an area roughly the size of Delaware.

(NOAA)

The story of Peshtigo is a lesser-known one, however, as it occurred the same night of the Great Chicago Fire, a disaster that overshadowed what happened in Peshtigo, 250 miles due north of the Second City. In fact, over a 48-hour period beginning on Oct. 8, a series of wildfires swept across portions of Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan and they collectively remain among the worst disasters in American history.

AccuWeather National Reporter Blake Naftel recently traveled to the Great Lakes region and interviewed Sally Kahl, the curator for the Peshtigo Fire Museum.

Sally Kahl, the Peshtigo Fire Museum curator. (AccuWeather / Blake Naftel)

“You can’t work at this museum and not feel the pain that these people must have gone through," Kahl, a lifelong Peshtigo resident, told Naftel. "I can’t."

Kahl became almost overwhelmed with emotion as she talked with Naftel and gestured toward some of the exhibits in the museum -- glass cases that hold the charred bible, plates and a pristine tabernacle that was found in a river, some of the few artifacts that were recovered after the inferno.

The museum houses a charred bible found after the Peshtigo Fire of 1871. It was petrified from the intense heat and found opened to the pages containing Psalms 106 and 107. (AccuWeather / Blake Naftal)

For weeks smoke from ongoing fires to the west cast a grey haze into the atmosphere, suggesting that dangerous fire weather and extensive grass fires were already occurring upstream of the region in the Plains.

Only two weeks before the Peshtigo inferno, another fire had encircled the town but was extinguished before it did serious harm.

“The residents got [the fire] out and everybody celebrated,” Kahl said, adding that a sense of hubris had set in after the townsfolk averted that would-be disaster.

Residents were aware of a looming threat, but no one was prepared for what that terrible October evening would bring. The fires began north of Green Bay and surged northeastward.

“All of a sudden they noticed the sky is not grey anymore. It's orange and red. They knew something was coming. Then the wind started and they heard an awful noise like a train was coming,” Kahl said.

These broken plates in the Peshtigo Fire Museum are some of the only remnants left after the devastating blaze.

As the firestorm charged through the town, residents only had one place to take refuge, so they fled into the Peshtigo River. In October, the water temperature of Peshtigo River is usually between 50 to 60 degrees. In water of that temperature, it only takes 10 to 15 minutes for humans to lose the ability to use their hands.

“[The fire] snapped off the top of trees and the trees kind of exploded. About an hour and Peshtigo was gone. There was nothing left,” Kahl said of the aftermath.

A local town minister, Reverend Peter Pernin, wrote an eyewitness account of what it was like to live through and survive the horror of that night:

“The air was no longer fit to breathe, full as it was of sand, dust, ashes, cinders, sparks, smoke, and fire. It was almost impossible to keep one's eyes unclosed, to distinguish the road, or to recognize people, though the way was crowded with pedestrians, as well as vehicles crossing and crashing against each other in the general flight. Some were hastening toward the river, others from it, whilst all were struggling alike in the grasp of the hurricane. A thousand discordant deafening noises rose on the air together. The neighing of horses, falling of chimneys, crashing of uprooted trees, roaring and whistling of the wind, crackling of fire as it ran with lightning-like rapidity from house to house—all sounds were there save that of human voice. People seemed stricken dumb by terror. They jostled each other without exchanging look, word, or counsel. The silence of the tomb reigned among the living; nature alone lifted up its voice and spoke.”

Word of the fire did not reach government officials in Wisconsin's capital for days, Kahl said. However, help finally began making its way to those in need when Francis Fairchild, the wife of Wisconsin governor Lucius Fairchild, received word of the tragedy.

The blazes were a wake-up call about the land-use practices of the time as communities searched for answers in the wake of the tragedy. Slash-and-burn lumbering, construction from the expanding railroads and daily use of flame all contributed to the cause of the fires that proved so destructive. But the weather in the months leading up to the blaze also played a crucial factor in creating dangerous conditions that allowed for the disastrous outcome.

Meteorologists explain that a long period of drought, fierce winds and high temperatures all created fuel for flames -- dry trees, leaves and grass.

The fire expanded exponentially when a powerful storm over the Plains unleashed strong, warm southwesterly winds of up to 50 mph. The storm was not accompanied by much rainfall and the strong gusts fanned the flames, causing everything in its path to ignite.

"A powerful area of low pressure in the Plains ushered strong southwesterly winds and they gusted up to 50 mph in some areas, fanning the already ongoing fires and hot spots," AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Geoff Cornish explained.

These winds also brought very warm and dry air across the region, providing ideal conditions for the spread of pre-existing wildfires and any new infernos that ignited.

AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Geoff Cornish explains the weather conditions that preceded and exacerbated the 1871 Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin.

Some may wonder how meteorologists can be certain of the weather conditions that preceded the wildfires nearly 150 years ago. Cornish explained that meteorologists' modern weather analysis is based on data gathered by NOAA, and that in the mid-19th century, the U.S. began seeing the emergence of more reliable weather record-keeping in bigger cities.

"It became common for weather observers to write down daily weather data such as high and low temps, precipitation amounts and descriptions of the sky," Cornish said, adding that the 1871 data is particularly reliable because official weather records for Chicago were kept starting that very year.

When all the fires finally stopped burning that year, 1.5 million acres of forest were left charred, and a dozen rural communities were devastated -- a catastrophe of biblical proportions that left a petrified Bible behind, showing a passage that tells of a punishing fire:

"When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked," Psalm 107 reads in part, recounting a tale of a people's fading faith in God.

Whether there is meaning to those Psalms and that passage being immortalized by that terrible fire, or whether it is anything more than an interesting coincidence, is up for debate. But what's not up for debate is that what those people suffered that night still echoes to this day with those who visit the museum in Peshtigo.

“We get people from so many countries and states that can’t believe that something like this has happened,” Kahl said of visitors to the museum who are often aghast to learn of the Peshtigo story.

“The Chicago Fire overshadowed us," Kahl added, "but when you lose 800 people in an hour ... that’s a lot of life gone.”

RELATED:

California wildfire’s rapid growth left one family minutes to flee burning homeFollow these tips to learn how to prepare for wildfires‘It’s just a matter of time:’ Despite fewer wildfires so far in 2019, California braces for another busy fire season

Additional reporting by AccuWeather National Reporter Blake Naftel.

Trump anti-reg push likely to end up in court

BY REBECCA BEITSCH - 05/25/20

An executive order signed by President Trump directing agencies to slash regulations in order to boost the economy is likely to lead to a number of court challenges.

The Tuesday order directs agency heads to “identify regulatory standards that may inhibit economic recovery,” highlighting that regulations could be permanently or temporarily lifted in order to fight the economic fallout of the coronavirus.

But experts say speeding up the regulatory process or nixing public comment periods would likely be slammed in court unless the Trump administration can demonstrate their actions were necessary due to the pandemic.

“The problem there is those measures have to be directly related to addressing the pandemic. They can't just be political priorities the Trump administration wants to speed up and get across the finish line in the first term,” said Amit Narang, a regulatory policy advocate with Public Citizen, pointing to the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act.

“They’re not going to be able to claim that their ideological rollbacks are needed urgently to address the coronavirus just because they’re going to create economic growth. It’s not an argument that’s going to carry water on the policy side but certainly on the legal side in court either,” Narang said.

The order may be as likely to spur eye rolls as it is to spur lawsuits, however, as some say the directive is more about messaging than affecting regulation.

Critics say even with the accelerated timeline the administration seems to be pushing, the White House has little time to accomplish much else this term.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to review the whole suite of statutes and regulations that you implement and that you've spent three-and-a-half years rolling back and then you’re going to try and get more blood from a stone? And then try to accomplish that feat by 2021? It's not going to be possible,” said John Walke with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The Trump administration told The Hill they believe the order will withstand legal challenge.

“Statutes frequently allow an expedited regulatory process during urgent circumstances. The heart of what this administration is working to accomplish is clear: get our economy back to historic levels and get millions of Americans back to work,” the White House said by email.

The Trump administration has prided itself on pushing deregulation since nearly day one, with the president signing orders to nix two regulations for every new rule they want to issue and another requiring agencies to offset the costs of any new rules by scrapping old ones.

But Walke and others argue the administration will face hurdles with its approach.

“Trump does not want to appear helpless so he’s directing agencies to pin blame for the economy on regulations that have nothing to do with the economy. It’s plain to see that the pandemic and shelter-in-place orders are the reasons for the economic downturn,” Walke said.

The Trump order encourages the temporary suspension of regulations, a move already in use by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The agency in late March issued a temporary order, though it has no set end date, announcing it would not fine companies that stop monitoring their pollution emissions — something required by both the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

The EPA says companies must document when they stopped monitoring and why the coronavirus was the cause to avoid fines down the road, but environmental groups and states have already sued, arguing the damage will have already been done, risking the health of residents near industrial operations.

It’s a playbook that could easily be adopted by other agencies, who might consider lifting private lending restrictions, regulations on food safety like inspection line requirements at meat packing plants or suspending contract rules that require agencies to pick the most competitive bid.

Trump, however, appears hopeful that those temporary suspensions might be permanent.

“We want to leave it that way,” he said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “In some cases we won’t be able to, but in other cases we will.”

Opponents say that would be illegal.

“That's rulemaking 101 that you cannot just make these things permanent,” Narang said.

Sean Moulton, a senior policy analyst with the Project on Government Oversight, said Trump’s attempt to issue a “get out of jail free card” won’t be able to bypass the lengthy rulemaking process, even in the name of economic recovery.

“You have to go through the rulemaking process, do research, issue a proposal, offer a public comment period, read the public comments, you have to respond to the public comments, you have to explain the changes you’re making, and if you ignore data just because you don't like it, people can take you to court,” he said.

What worries critics the most is that agencies will suspend enforcement of regulations, much like the EPA has done with its temporary order.

A number of studies have found agencies under the Trump administration have been less aggressive about going after companies that break the law by issuing fines or enforcement actions. That has been the case at the Food and Drug Administration, the EPA, the Consumer Finance Protection Board and many others.

“That’s the part that gives me the greatest concern, the idea of nonenforcement and telling agencies without any real basis or explanation that more lax enforcement will help us economically,” Moulton said. “That’s not to say you can’t drag them into court but it takes time.”

Conservatives groups have praised the memo.

“Many of the problems we’re experiencing today are decades in the making. They stem from well-meaning but tragically harmful laws and regulations that have accumulated over many years. This isn’t about politics, it’s about breaking barriers,” the Charles Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity wrote in a statement, saying the order would “empower the country to recover stronger.”

But critics of the executive order said the White House should be focused on addressing the core health issues that underlie the economic fallout.

“This crisis needs to be addressed through the administration with real public health measures,” Narang said. “Instead we get deregulation as an answer to the pandemic that makes no sense and is a complete distraction.”

Women suffering steeper job losses in COVID-19 economy

BY NIV ELIS - 05/25/20 

The economic devastation caused by the coronavirus has hit women particularly hard, a contrast to the 2009 downturn that was known as "the men's recession."

The latest employment figures show that women, by a 10-point margin, have seen the majority of the job losses as large parts of the economy have shut down.

The difference could have implications for the recovery and what policymakers need to do to ensure it’s not drawn out.

One primary reason that women are seeing higher unemployment rates is that the pandemic and the lockdowns have hit sectors of the economy that disproportionately employ women.

“This is a really atypical recession, in that we’ve proactively shut down major sectors of the economy and there’s a dropoff in demand that we’ve never seen before, both caused by the global health crisis,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Whereas the Great Recession that started in 2008 hit male-dominated industries such as construction and manufacturing first, the total lockdowns that characterized the past few months have been tougher on certain retail sectors.

For example, women represent 73 percent of employees in clothing stores, 71 percent in gift, novelty, souvenir stores, and 75 percent of retail florists. In accommodation and food services, they have a slight edge at 53 percent employment representation, and also dominate beauty salons, nail salons and personal care services that social distancing has made prohibitive.

But Elise Gould, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said there’s more to the story.

“Even in the male-dominated industries, women are losing their jobs at greater rates,” she said.

For example, in February and March, women accounted for three-quarters of job losses in retail trade, even though they make up about half of the workforce. In professional and business services, where women account for just 46 percent of all employees, they lost 56 percent of the jobs.

“I think that has to do with the occupations within the sectors,” Gould said. Women, she notes, are generally less likely to be well-represented in middle- and high-level positions, so they may be the first to go when the crunch hits.

“Women have been less likely to be promoted into the positions that are more likely to be protected,” she added.

More alarmingly, in some fields, women lost jobs even as male employment surged.

For example, in the category of transportation and warehouses, which covers anything from train conductors to Amazon fulfillment center workers, women account for 26 percent of workers, but count for a seemingly impossible 146 percent of job losses. That’s because the field added male employees (46 percent of the jobs) to replace the women.

The likely culprit in that case is the disproportionate degree to which women are responsible for child care in the United States.

“Schools are closed, and we know that women typically take on more house work, home work, and child responsibilities in the home,” Gould noted.

The expanded unemployment insurance in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March made people who had to quit their jobs to take care of children eligible for benefits through Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Single-parent families, which are disproportionately headed by women, face tough choices between working and child care.

The effect on women is only amplified because the vast majority of child care businesses are run by women.

“In a sense it’s a double whammy in the sense that the people being paid to do the child care were women and then the women at home are more likely to stay home with the children, so now neither of these women have income,” said Akabas.

The trend could mean that the current downturn, already unprecedented in recent history, could have more lasting implications for children and child poverty.

“Broadly, this is concerning from the standpoint that we already knew there was an issue about women’s financial security relative to men’s,” Akabas said.


“If a lot of these women are bread-winners for the family, it could mean an increase in things like child poverty,” he added.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) highlighted the issue on Wednesday in a "Dear Colleague" letter, urging adoption of anti-hunger programs.

“The coronavirus has made this challenge worse, as millions of families struggle to put food on the table due to this unprecedented threat to their lives and livelihoods,” she wrote.

“Surveys show that 1 in 5 mothers of children under 12 say that their children are not getting enough food during the coronavirus crisis — three times the rate during the depths of the Great Recession,” she noted.

But experts say that what comes next could be just as important.

In the last recession, Gould notes, a lack of state and local funding over time led to major pullbacks in services, including downsizing in local education.
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“The public sector funding is really important, and disproportionately affects women workers,” she said.

Efforts to keep state and local governments well-funded will make a major difference in the outcomes for women, she said.

Last week, the Democratic-controlled House passed a bill that included $1 trillion for state and local governments, but the issue is a major bone of contention in the GOP-controlled Senate, which has called for more targeted aid.

A study from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that states would likely need a minimum of $600 billion over the next three years.

"Without substantial federal help during this crisis, they very likely will deeply cut areas such as education and health care, lay off teachers and other workers in large numbers, and cancel contracts with many businesses," said Michael Leachman, the group's vice president for state fiscal policy and author of the study.

Pixar debuts short film featuring the studio's first gay main character
BY MORGAN GSTALTER - 05/23/20 

© Pixar


Pixar on Friday released a short film called “Out” that features the studio’s first gay main character.

The film, which was released on Disney+ as part of its SparkShorts series, follows the story of Greg, a gay man who is excited to move in with his boyfriend but is anxious about not being out to his parents.

When his mom and dad arrive on his doorstep to visit his new place, he frantically tries to hide evidence of his relationship with Manuel because he thinks they will not be accepting.
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But after he magically switches bodies with his dog — thanks to help from a pair of fairy god-pets — he learns he has nothing to hide after all.




The latest heartwarming tale from @Pixar’s #SparkShorts. Start streaming Out tomorrow on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/iHXonwoG8x— Pixar (@Pixar) May 21, 2020



The short was directed by Steven Clay Hunter, known for animating Pixar films like "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E.” It was produced by Max Sachar, who worked on “Coco” and “Toy Story 3.”

GLAAD, the national LGBTQ advocacy group, said in a statement the film represents Pixar and parent company Disney’s “legacy as a place for heartwarming stories about finding one’s own inner strength in the face of life’s challenges.”
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“The release of ‘Out’ on Disney+ represents a huge step forward for The Walt Disney Company in establishing itself as a welcoming home for stories about all loving couples and families, including LGBTQ ones,” said Jeremy Blacklow, GLAAD’s director of entertainment media.

Disney has been slowly working toward more on-screen LGBTQ representation since 2012.

In March, Lena Waithe voiced a cyclops cop named Office Spector in Pixar’s “Onward.” That character makes mention of her girlfriend, the first time an easily identifiable LGBTQ character was included in a Pixar film.

However, several Middle Eastern countries banned screenings of the film as a result.

The “Star Wars” franchise also made history in 2019 when “Rise of Skywalker” included the company’s first same-sex kiss.

There were also brief LGBTQ storylines included in “Avengers: Endgame” and “Beauty and The Beast.”

Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek in March shut down a critic who claimed that the company is losing money because its products "promote LGBT ideology."

"We believe we want to tell stories that our audience wants to hear that reflects their lives," Chapek said.

WHO halts study of ‘coronavirus’ drug touted by Trump

May 25, 2020 By Agence France-Presse


The World Health Organization said Monday it had temporarily suspended clinical trials of hydroxychloriquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19 being carried out across a range of countries as a precautionary measure.

The decision came after publication last week of a study in The Lancet which indicated that using the drug on COVID-19 patients could increase their chances of dying, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference.

Tedros said that the executive group of the so-called Solidarity Trial, in which hundreds of hospitals across several countries have enrolled patients to test several possible treatments for the novel coronavirus, had as a precaution suspended trials using that drug.
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“The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the safety data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board,” Tedros sai

“The other arms of the trial are continuing,” he stressed.

Hydroxychloroquine is normally used to treat arthritis but pronouncement from public figures including US President Donald Trump — who announced last week he is taking the drug — has prompted governments to bulk buy the medicine.

Brazil’s health minister also recommended last week using hydroxychloroquine, as well as the anti-malarial chloroquine, to treat even mild COVID-19 cases.


The Lancet study found that both drugs can produce potentially serious side effects, particularly heart arrhythmia.

And neither drug benefitted patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a Lancet study, which looked at the records of 96,000 patients across hundreds of hospitals.

Tedros stressed Monday that the two drugs “are accepted as generally safe for use in patients with autoimmune diseases or malaria.”


WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told Monday’s briefing that the WHO-backed Solidarity Trial had been looking only at the effects of hydroxychloroquine and not chloroquine.

The decision on suspending enrollment for trials using hydroxychloroquine was “a temporary measure”, she said.


“We’re just acting by precaution,” WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan agreed.

‘Dangerous assumption’?

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began late last year in China, has killed nearly 350,000 people worldwide and infected almost 5.5 million, according to an AFP tally using official sources.

While there is still no approved treatment or vaccine for the novel coronavirus, drastic measures that at one point saw half of humanity under lockdown have pushed down transmission rates in a number of countries.

As many nations begin to gradually lift restrictions, the WHO on Monday stressed the need to keep up with physical distancing measures and to scale up efforts to test and detect cases.

“All countries need to remain on high alert,” WHO expert Maria Van Kerkhove said, stressing that “even countries that have seen a decline in cases must remain ready.”

She warned that studies using antibody tests to determine how many people have been infected and might have some level of immunity “indicate that a large proportion of the population remains susceptible.”

“The virus will take the opportunity to amplify if it can,” she said.

Ryan agreed, urging countries to “continue to put in place … a comprehensive strategy to ensure that we continue on a downward trajectory and that we don’t have an immediate second peak.”

He warned against the idea that the pandemic might move in natural seasonal waves, stressing that the reason transmission is going down in a number of countries was the drastic measures put in place.

“My concern right now is that people might be assuming that the current rapid infections represents a natural seasonality,” he said.

“Making an assumption that it is on a downward trajectory, and the next danger point is sometime in October or November, I think that would be a dangerous assumption.”

“If we take the pressure off the virus then the virus can bounce back,” he said.

(AFP)

Australian PM calls for economic overhaul to fuel post-coronavirus recovery

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday called for an ideological truce between employers and workers to revive the country's A$2 trillion ($1.3 trillion) economy, which has been badly damaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

Australia's more than 7,100 COVID-19 infections and 102 deaths are low compared to many other developed countries, but the measures imposed to contain the disease have pushed the economy to the brink of its first recession in 30 years.

Morrison said that with the virus now under control and the government's A$250 billion ($164.5 billion) stimulus spending package winding down, the economy needed to stand on its own feet.

"At some point you've got to get your economy out of intensive care," Morrison said in a speech in Canberra.

The conservative leader promised to bring together unions and business chiefs to discuss industrial relations reform, a move reminiscent of the 1983 Prices and Incomes Accord which modernised the economy under Labor prime minister Bob Hawke.

Hawke, a union leader before he entered parliament, won support from the political left to float the Australian dollar, remove controls on foreign exchange and interest rates and lower tariffs on imports.

The divide between employers and workers within Australia has grown in recent years amid stagnant wage growth, but with unemployment set to top 10% this year, Morrison said the time was right for a conciliatory approach.

"We need people to get together and sort this stuff out. As I say, they've been caught in grooves for too long, and grooves going in parallel lines and not coming together. And that's why I'm hoping this process will achieve," he said.

Morrison also said Australia would streamline its vocational training programmes to ensure trades are valued paths of employment for young people.

TENSIONS WITH THE STATES

When Morrison announced last week a three-staged plan to ease social distancing restrictions by July, he warned further coronavirus outbreaks were likely.

Western Australia (WA) state on Tuesday said six people aboard a livestock vessel that docked last week from the United Arab Emirates had tested positive for COVID-19, an outbreak the state government blamed on Morrison's government.

WA Premier Mark McGowan said Australia's Department of Agriculture gave permission for the vessel - carrying 48 people - to dock despite being aware some crew members were sick.

None of the crew had left the ship, he added.

Tensions between McGowan and Morrison are already high as WA refuses to open state borders - which risks delaying the opening of a travel link between Australia and New Zealand.

Life for many Australians is beginning to return to normal with schools returning to face-to-face learning and the National Rugby League competition set this week to become the world's first contact sport to resume.

U.S. biotechnology company Novavax Inc said it had begun the first phase of a clinical trial of a novel coronavirus vaccine candidate in Australia. Preliminary results are expected in July.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Sam Holmes and Stephen Coates)

COVID-19 lawsuit takes on McDonald's like it was a rowdy bar



By Tom Hals

(Reuters) - As U.S. businesses reopen, worried workers and their advocates are borrowing a legal strategy commonly used to shut down rowdy topless bars to try and force employers to strengthen protection against further spread of the coronavirus.

Workers and their families at McDonald's Corp's Chicago restaurants have filed a class-action lawsuit against the fast-food chain that does not seek money for sick staff, but compliance with health guidance such as providing clean face masks.

The strategy was unsuccessful against a meatpacking plant but experts said it could work against McDonald's and other companies, and a business group warned about a flood of cases.

"The damage done by inadequate safety practices is not confined to the walls of a restaurant but instead has broader public health consequences," Tuesday's lawsuit said.

Like an April lawsuit against a meatpacking plant, the case targets McDonald's as a public nuisance, a legal strategy previously used to shutter strip clubs and the famed Limelight nightclub in Manhattan.

Typically, workplace safety is a matter for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which has the authority to inspect businesses and issue citations. By focusing on community health, the lawsuit attempts to move outside OSHA's jurisdiction and into the courts.

McDonald's workers around the country have protested and demanded safety gear.

In Chicago, workers filed at least four complaints with OSHA, but the agency declined to inspect work sites, according to the lawsuit.

OSHA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Unions have criticized the agency for lax enforcement and failing to issue mandatory standards for businesses to stem the spread of COVID-19.

"When you don't have an assertive OSHA you get these creative approaches," said Michael Duff, a professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law.

McDonald's called the allegations inaccurate. The company criticized the SEIU service union that is supporting the plaintiffs and said the chain has issued a 59-page guide its restaurants must follow to protect staff and customers.


The Fight for $15 group, which campaigns to raise the U.S. minimum wage to $15 an hour, is also helping the workers.

OSHA has said it is investigating thousands of complaints nationwide and that flexible guidance is better than rigid standards.

The public nuisance doctrine stems from medieval England, where it was used to promote safer roads and to fight infectious diseases.

To prevail, plaintiffs must prove a defendant interfered with a public good, like the community's health. Unlike a typical lawsuit, it does not generally require proof that the defendant directly injured someone.

Rather than prove someone was infected with the coronavirus at McDonald's, the workers must instead show the company created an unsafe workplace that posed an imminent threat of contributing to its spread.

A similar public nuisance lawsuit filed in April against a Smithfield Foods Inc meat processing plant in Missouri was dismissed because the judge said workplace safety was a matter for OSHA.

But Smithfield was already being investigated by OSHA and unlike McDonald's, there were no confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Missouri plant.

The Institute for Legal Reform, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group, has warned the pandemic could prompt a flood of "abusive" lawsuits, and cited the McDonald's public nuisance case in a call with reporters this week.

"The danger is one case survives and like moths to light you’ll see cases all over the place," said Michelle Richards, a law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Richard Ausness, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, downplayed the risk of a flood of cases, but said the mere filing of such a lawsuit could push a business to help its workers.

"Who wants to be accused of maintaining a public nuisance? It just sounds awful," he said.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; editing by Noeleen Walder in New York)

Special Report: Bolsonaro brought in his generals to fight coronavirus. Brazil is losing the battle

By Stephen Eisenhammer and Gabriel Stargardter

SÃO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - In mid-March, Brazil took what seemed to be a forceful early strike against the coronavirus pandemic.

The Health Ministry mandated that cruises be canceled. It advised local authorities to scrap large-scale events. And it urged travelers arriving from abroad to go into isolation for a week. Although Brazil had yet to report a single death from COVID-19, public health officials appeared to be getting out in front of the virus. They acted on March 13, just two days after the World Health Organization called the disease a pandemic.

Less than 24 hours later, the ministry watered down its own advice, citing "criticism and suggestions" it had received from local communities.

In fact, four people familiar with the incident told Reuters, the change came after intervention from the chief of staff's office for Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro.


"That correction was due to pressure," said Julio Croda, an epidemiologist who was then the head of the Health Ministry's department of immunization and transmissible diseases. The intervention by the chief of staff's office has not been previously reported.

The about-face, given scant attention at the time, marked a turning point in the federal government's handling of the crisis, according to the four people. Behind the scenes, they said, power was shifting from the Health Ministry, the traditional leader on public health matters, to the office of the president's chief of staff, known as Casa Civil, led by Walter Souza Braga Netto, an Army general.

Brazil has lost two health ministers in the past six weeks - one was fired, the other resigned - after they disagreed publicly with Bolsonaro over how best to combat the virus. The interim leader now in charge of the Health Ministry is another Army general.

More importantly, the revisions underlined the hardening of Bolsonaro's view that keeping Brazil's economy running was paramount, the people said. Bolsonaro, a far-right former Army captain, has never wavered on that stance formulated during a crucial few days in mid-March, despite domestic and international criticism of his handling of the crisis, and a snowballing death toll.

Brazil now has the world's second-worst outbreak behind the United States, with more than 374,000 confirmed cases. More than 23,000 Brazilians have died from COVID-19.

"So what?" Bolsonaro said recently when asked by reporters about Brazil's mounting fatalities. "What do you want me to do?"

Casa Civil said changes to the March 13 guidance were made by the Health Ministry, following input from states and municipalities.

The Health Ministry said there had been a divergence of views due to differing situations in states and cities nationwide. It said the implementation of physical distancing measures was the responsibility of local health authorities.

"The strategy of the Brazilian response to COVID-19 was not impaired at any point," the ministry said.

Bolsonaro's office declined to comment for this story.

Reuters interviewed more than two dozen current and former government officials, medical experts, healthcare industry representatives and doctors to paint the most complete picture yet of Brazil's missteps in containing the coronavirus outbreak in South America's largest country.

They described a response that began promisingly, but which was soon hobbled by the president's clashes with Health Ministry and cabinet officials who could not persuade him that Brazil's economic fortunes ultimately hinged on how effectively it tackled its public health emergency.

Health experts were sidelined, the people said, and Bolsonaro embraced an unproven remedy to treat COVID-19 infections. Federal coordination foundered. State governors – some of whom Bolsonaro regards as re-election rivals – were left to set their own physical distancing policies and secure much of their own tests and equipment, the sources said.

Some experts said Brazil's stumbles are all the more shocking because of its previous success containing malaria, Zika and HIV.

"One thing that has been a shining light in Brazil has been their public health system," said Albert Ko, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health who has decades of experience in Brazil. "To see that all disintegrate so quickly, it's just been very sad."

'THE FRIDGE IS EMPTY'

When Brazil's first coronavirus case was confirmed on February 26, the Health Ministry had been preparing for nearly two months.

Its personnel were running models to estimate when and how to implement stay-at-home orders in collaboration with state and local officials, sources said. The ministry was the command center for an emergency committee coordinating the federal response across multiple agencies.

Brazil's vast size, underfunded public hospitals and widespread poverty were vulnerabilities. But the country boasts top medical scientists and a competent private healthcare sector. It had weeks of advance warning, as the virus hit countries like China and Italy first. Those on the frontline thought Brazil was in good shape to respond.

But the people who spoke with Reuters said things began to unravel along two main fronts: Bolsonaro's opposition to shutdown measures favored by the Health Ministry and the government's inability to scale up testing quickly.

Cabinet members tried numerous times to persuade Bolsonaro to endorse a nationwide lockdown, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions. Bolsonaro refused, the person said, believing the virus would soon pass and that health officials were exaggerating the need for physical distancing that had proved effective in other parts of the world.

"The masses aren't able to stay at home because the fridge is empty," Bolsonaro said to the media on April 20 outside his official residence in Brasília.

Bolsonaro's office declined to comment on why he prioritized the economy. He faced pressure to do so, however. Members of his conservative base have protested in cities across Brazil against lockdowns that threaten his promise to rekindle economic growth.

Yet Bolsonaro's economic advisors appeared slow to grasp the scale of the crisis. Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, a hardline free-market advocate, in mid-March told CNN Brasil that the nation's economy in 2020 could "reasonably grow 2% or 2.5% with the world falling" because of coronavirus.

That prediction was far off the mark. Manufacturing activity has collapsed, unemployment is rising and Brazil's currency is down around 30% against the dollar this year. On May 15, Barclays cut its 2020 gross domestic product forecast for Brazil to -5.7% from -3.0%. It cited Brazil's "ineffective" policy in dealing with the pandemic.

The Economy Ministry now projects GDP will contract by 4.7% this year. In an emailed statement, it said its forecasts have evolved in line with the gravity of the situation.

Guedes declined a request to comment on his earlier prediction.

A Guedes ally, Solange Vieira, who was involved in the government's landmark pension reform last year, likewise showed little urgency when presented with forecasts in mid-March from the Health Ministry, according to epidemiologist Croda. The ministry predicted widespread fatalities among Brazil's elderly if the virus wasn't contained.

"'It's good that deaths are concentrated among the old," Croda recalled Vieira saying. "'That will improve our economic performance as it will reduce our pension deficit.'"

Croda's account was backed by another official, speaking on condition of anonymity, who was told what happened but was not in attendance.

Vieira did not respond to a message on LinkedIn. The Superintendence of Private Insurance, which she leads, said in response to questions about her comments that she attended the mid-March meeting at the invitation of then-Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta to understand the ministry's projections.

Vieira observed the impacts of various scenarios "always with a focus on the preservation of lives," it said in a statement.

PRESSURE FROM ABOVE

For a few days in March, it looked like the fallout from a trip to Florida to meet U.S. President Donald Trump might have altered Bolsonaro's thinking on coronavirus.

Just after returning from the visit, on March 12, Bolsonaro's press secretary tested positive for COVID-19. In the following days, nearly two dozen Brazilians who had made the trip would test positive, embarrassing the government and sparking fears that both Bolsonaro and Trump might have been infected.

After undergoing a coronavirus test on March 12, Bolsonaro called on his supporters to suspend nationwide rallies planned for March 15 for fear of worsening the spread. The following day, he said his test came back negative. The Health Ministry, meanwhile, announced its initial social distancing recommendations at a press conference in the capital.

Then things changed.

Shortly after the new guidelines were issued on March 13, Croda said he got a call from his former boss, Health Surveillance Secretary Wanderson Oliveira, who said he was "under lots of pressure from Casa Civil and had to change the communique" published by the ministry outlining the measures. Croda said Oliveira did not say specifically who at Casa Civil had demanded the guidelines be weakened.

Within 24 hours, the ministry had changed the recommendations on its website. It removed guidance on self-quarantines for travelers and the cancellation of cruises, saying those measures were up "for review." And it revised the cancellation of large events to apply only to areas with local transmission.

Oliveira did not respond to requests for comment. He recently left the Health Ministry.

On March 15, Bolsonaro ignored his own pronouncement from three days earlier discouraging mass rallies by his supporters. He met with a friendly crowd of demonstrators outside the presidential palace. Wearing the Brazil national soccer jersey, the president bumped fists and posed for selfies.

"It was the first time we saw that totally different stance," then-Health Minister Mandetta told Reuters.

The next day, on March 16, Bolsonaro formalized the shift of power away from the Health Ministry, creating an inter-governmental "crisis cabinet" led by Braga Netto, the Army general heading Casa Civil. Brazil registered its first coronavirus death on March 17.

In a response to Reuters' questions, Braga Netto's office said the group was formed because the pandemic "transcended" public health.

Three people familiar with the situation told Reuters the new cabinet effectively superseded the cross-agency group that had already been set up inside the Health Ministry. The big difference, they said, was that Braga Netto now had the final say, instead of public health experts, and that economic concerns were given more weight.

The Health Ministry said it would not comment on economic matters. It said the response to coronavirus cut across government departments.

Croda left shortly after the creation of the new command center. He told Reuters he did not want to be held responsible for "excessive deaths."

In the weeks that followed, policy differences between Bolsonaro and Health Minister Mandetta broke out in the open. Mandetta continued to advocate for stay-at-home measures in defiance of the president. He also urged caution about the malaria drug chloroquine. Bolsonaro, following the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump, was increasingly promoting the drug as a possible cure for COVID-19 despite little evidence of its efficacy.

Mandetta's popularity added to the tension. An early-April survey by pollster Datafolha showed that the Health Ministry under his leadership had a 76% approval rating, more than twice that of Bolsonaro.

On April 16, after days of mounting speculation, Bolsonaro fired Mandetta. He replaced him with Nelson Teich, a respected oncologist and healthcare entrepreneur with no public health experience.

Two recently departed Health Ministry sources said the last half of April was lost while Teich "found his feet." Decisions on testing and new equipment were delayed, they said. More than 15 public health experts, including experienced epidemiologists, left with Mandetta, one of the sources said. Many were replaced by military personnel.

"These changes greatly affect the capacity, speed, and the very quality of the response," said José Temporão, a former health minister who led Brazil's crisis response to the 2009 swine flu epidemic. "It was a disastrous decision."

The Health Ministry denied that its response was hampered by the changes.

On May 15, Teich resigned after less than a month on the job. Bolsonaro had criticized him for being too timid in promoting the re-opening of Brazil's economy and the usage of chloroquine.

Teich did not respond to a request for comment.

In a televised interview with GloboNews on Sunday, Teich said Bolsonaro's desire for a rapid expansion of the use of chloroquine in Brazil was what led him to quit.

Teich's departure accelerated military influence within the Health Ministry. Eduardo Pazuello, an active-duty Army general with no medical background, is now interim health minister. Of the eight people at the top of the ministry, only one had a military background in March. Now three of them do. At least 13 military personnel also have been appointed to lower ministry positions.

Days after Teich's departure, the ministry cleared the way for the widespread use of chloroquine to treat patients with mild cases of COVID-19.

The armed forces are widely respected in Brazil and often help with logistics during emergencies. But Wildo Araujo, a former Health Ministry official who co-authored one of the country's first major COVID-19 studies, said military personnel were being placed in unsuitable roles.

"I have the utmost respect for the armed forces, but I pity those entering now because they have no idea what to do," he said. "They don't know how to deal with the Brazilian public health system."

Brazil's Army declined to comment, referring questions to the Health Ministry, which also declined to comment on the military's role.

TESTING TIMES

Bolsonaro's opposition to social distancing and refusal to support local authorities in their attempts to impose lockdowns have helped erode compliance with those measures, experts said.

A Reuters analysis of Google mobility data, which collates cell phone movement and compares it to a pre-pandemic benchmark, showed a far smaller reduction in people coming and going from transit hubs and places of work in Brazil than in European countries such as Italy, France and the United Kingdom where shelter-in-place measures have been effective.

Reuters also found Brazil's mobility reduction was less than that of other developing nations, for example Argentina, India and South Africa. Reuters analyzed data from 17 countries across Africa, Europe, Latin America and Asia for the month of April.

Like other countries, including the United States, Brazil has also struggled to secure the tests it needs. That's a major failing, some epidemiologists say, which has made it harder to track and control the virus in Brazil.

The shortage of tests is due in part to the Health Ministry's over-reliance on one institution.

According to an internal Health Ministry document viewed by Reuters, the ministry began purchasing diagnostic test kits through the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a respected public health institute, between January and February.

By April 7, however, Fiocruz had only delivered 104,872 - or 3.5% - of the roughly 3 million kits the ministry had ordered, the document said. Croda and others said Fiocruz struggled to acquire crucial reagents on the international market. Industry sources said years of budget cuts may also have been a factor.

The Health Ministry should have established a broad network of private and public labs, one source said, which would have improved the ability to procure reagents and process tests.

In a statement, Fiocruz said it had met all its obligations to the Health Ministry.

It said it surpassed an initial target of 220,000 tests by April 13 and delivered nearly 1.3 million tests by the last week of that month. It said it expects to deliver 11.7 million tests by September.

"The worldwide competition for this type of test was very large," it said, "which caused a shortage of products."

Bureaucracy also hamstrung Brazil. A batch of 500,000 antibody tests, used to determine who has had the virus, got stuck at São Paulo's Guarulhos airport for 9 days as the health regulator processed an exception for them to be distributed without Portuguese labels, two people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The Health Ministry declined to comment on the incident. It said it has increased testing capacity and will conduct 46.2 million tests, without specifying a time frame. "The initiative is part of efforts to find new purchases in the national and international market," it said.

As of May 12, however, Brazil had processed just 482,743 tests. Of the 10 countries with the highest COVID-19 death toll, only the Netherlands had tested fewer people than Brazil - a country with a twelfth of the population.

($1 = 5.4548 reais)

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Stephen Eisenhammer; additional reporting by Ricardo Brito, Pedro Fonseca, Marcela Ayres and Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Marla Dickerson)

DAVID HARVEY Anti-Capitalist Politics in the Time of Covid-19

Democracy At Work

Anti-Capitalist Politics in the Time of Covid-19

To our Patreon community: thank you for supporting David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles on Patreon! Your support helps us compensate the staff and additional workers it takes to put an episode together. Thank you for being a part of the ACC team! If you would like to support this project visit us at https://www.patreon.com/davidharveyacc In this episode, Prof. Harvey talks about the factors and conditions that enables COVID-19 to become a pandemic and the ramifications for the economy and for social life. Read the full transcript here: https://www.democracyatwork.info/acc_...