‘It’s ridiculous’: CNN reporter stunned after listening to Trump ranting about ‘haters’


During an exchange with reporters this Tuesday, President Trump was asked why he won’t allow Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before the House. According to Trump, it’s because the House “is a set-up” that’s full of a “bunch of Trump haters.”

REPORTER: Why won't you let Fauci testify before the House?

TRUMP: "Because the House is a set up. The House is a bunch of Trump haters … they, frankly, want our situation to be unsuccessful, which means death." pic.twitter.com/G3G5OoV5IV
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 5, 2020


Trump went on to accuse the Democrats of wanting him to fail at battling the coronavirus, “which means death.”

CNN’s Dana Bash and Jim Sciutto discussed the spectacle, with Bash saying that Trump’s refusal to allow Fauci and other administration officials to testify before the House is “ridiculous and it flies in the face of the Constitution, what is required of Congress.”

“The idea that even now the president just doesn’t care about basic checks and balances in the Constitution is remarkable,” Bash said. “Elections have consequences — Democrats took control of the House, period.”

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"I want to be a nurse," she says. "But I didn't sign up to be a nurse to die.

An Ontario nurse explains how COVID-19 gets into care homes, then hits health-care workers

16% of all COVID-19 cases are now health-care workers, provincial data shows

Lauren Pelley · CBC News · Posted: May 05, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 5

© Evan Mitsui/CBC 

Pamella, a registered practical nurse in Whiby, Ont., whose identity CBC News agreed to conceal, started experiencing a strange set of symptoms, from dizziness to a bitter taste in her mouth, after contracting COVID-19. She believes she was…

As the weeks went by in March, and COVID-19 cases in Canada kept ticking upwards, Pamella started to worry about residents coming and going from the long-term care facility where she worked.

The registered practical nurse had been caring for elderly residents at the 126-bed Rekai Centre at Sherbourne Place in Toronto for 16 years, administering their medications, hooking them up to dialysis machines, and answering calls from their loved ones.

It was common for those clients to leave for therapy sessions or medical appointments. Amid a pandemic, Pamella feared the constant back and forth could put everyone at risk.

By mid-March, the no-nonsense 54-year-old — whose identity CBC News is protecting due to concerns about her job security — started warning her colleagues COVID-19 was clearly spreading through the city. She felt the home should cancel outside appointments for a while, and stop taking new admissions too.

Instead, Pamella says a resident was sent across the downtown core for his regular therapy appointment at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health — a facility which has since reported multiple outbreaks.

The man later started coughing on March 19. Just over a week later, test results showed he had the virus.

"In the back of my head, I'm thinking, 'Oh Christ,'" Pamella recalls.

A married mother of three, she didn't want to risk catching the potentially deadly illness and bringing it home to her family — but it was already too late. The man had mingled with fellow residents at Rekai Centre for days before his cough started, and staff members didn't wear full protective gear while caring for him until after he showed symptoms.

As Pamella puts it: "We were already exposed."

Soon after the resident's results came back, Pamella started to feel feverish, with a bit of a headache. Maybe it was nothing, she thought. Then she started sneezing, too.

On the last Sunday in March, she drove to St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto to get tested.

Four days later, the results came back positive. Pamella had COVID-19.
More than 2,700 healthcare workers infected

It's now early May, and the COVID-19 crisis in Canada is still in full swing. Here in Ontario, roughly 18,000 people have fallen ill and 1,300 have died, while others could be infected without even knowing it.

Health-care advocates warned front-line workers were among those most at risk early on in the pandemic, amid concerns over personal protective equipment shortages and memories of the staggering toll on hospital staff during the SARS epidemic in 2003.

The predictions are proving accurate. While it's not clear where each health-care worker is getting infected, the number of positive cases keeps on rising — hitting 2,761 confirmed cases by May 4, according to the province.

So far, at least five of those infected front-line workers have died, and front-line staff are increasingly making up a greater chunk of the grand total of cases.

In early April, roughly 10 per cent of Ontario's cases were people working in the health-care field, including physicians, nurses, and personal support workers, as CBC News first reported on April 2 (the province did not start reporting this detail in its daily epidemiological summary until April 5).

Now, a month later, health-care workers make up 15.4 per cent of all cases.
Nurse felt ill 'from head to toe'

After joining the rising number of workers testing positive, Pamella stayed in isolation, avoiding any contact with her husband and her youngest teenage son, who still lives at the couple's Whitby home.

Alone in a bedroom as March turned into April, Pamella coped with headaches and the occasional cough as her mind filled with all the news reports she'd seen about patients succumbing to the disease.

She also noticed her mild, cold-like symptoms were evolving into something more strange.

There was a bitter taste in her mouth. And her appetite disappeared. As someone with diabetes, Pamella kept drinking juice while remaining mostly bedridden, hoping to make sure her sugar levels didn't drop since she wasn't eating regular meals.

The most frightening symptom, she says, was an all-consuming feeling of lightheadedness.

Around the clock, Pamella had to keep herself upright on her bed, otherwise it would feel like the room was spinning around her.

"All I kept thinking was: 'My god. I believe I'm too young to die. I have my kids,'" she recalls.

During those moments of private misery, she also learned some grim news from relatives in New York City, where hospitals were overrun with COVID-19 patients. One older family member in Brooklyn had battled the disease and survived, Pamella found out. A second relative, only in their 30s, wound up being on a ventilator in intensive care and later died.

Pamella kept reminding herself to stay strong, to have a sip of juice or eat a small snack if her body felt weak — anything to maintain some sense of control over the virus that made her feel ill "from head to toe."

Her husband also took time off work to keep an eye on her, and found he couldn't sleep while she was holed up in another room. Most nights, he told her later, he'd quietly open her door while she was sleeping just to make sure their worst fears hadn't been realized.

"Sometimes, I would turn and look," Pamella says, "and he would just ask: 'Are you okay?'"
17 residents have died at Rekai Centre

While Pamella was ill at home, the situation at the Rekai Centre at Sherbourne Place was deteriorating rapidly.

The novel coronavirus spread throughout the downtown facility, infecting at least nine staff members and 52 residents in just over a month, according to data from the Rekai Centres and Toronto Public Health.

So far, 17 of those clients have died, including the first ill resident who tested positive on March 27.

Sue Graham-Nutter, CEO of the Rekai Centres, stresses that first resident who showed COVID-19 symptoms was immediately placed in isolation, tested, and "monitored around the clock."

In a statement to CBC News, she also says all staff wear full personal protect equipment while caring for residents who have tested positive.

Since mid-March, Graham-Nutter adds, "only one resident" has left the facility, and that trip was for "critical medical appointments."

© Jon Castell/CBC News So far, 17 residents of the Rekai Centre at Sherbourne 
Place have died of COVID-19 since the first ill resident tested positive back on March 27.

When asked about whether the province could have done more earlier to protect front-line workers, amid concerns over issues like residents going back and forth between facilities, chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said the notion of residents coming back to a home carrying COVID-19 is "an interesting assertion."

If long-term care residents are having health issues, on-site physicians may need to order tests that can't be found in the facility, he noted.

Others stress there are many interconnected issues that go far beyond any one policy or facility, given the hundreds of outbreaks now reported in long-term care homes and hospital sites across the province.

Pandemic planning not 'enacted quickly enough'

"Pandemic planning and infection control principles weren't enacted quickly enough," says Vicki McKenna, provincial president of the Ontario Nurses' Association.

Some front-line workers in various hospitals have been urged to ration and re-use personal protective equipment, while others working in long-term care have experienced extreme staffing shortages.

In contrast, McKenna notes, front-line staff at many care homes without outbreaks have documented some common approaches. Most stopped visitors from entering early on, and reviewed whether residents needed to leave for outside appointments. Many also ordered extra supplies, ensuring they'd have a stockpile of personal protective gear if things took a turn for the worse.

On a broader level, and particularly in the case of privately run homes, she says it's crucial that the province starts ramping up inspections to protect not only residents, but the staff struggling to care for them safely
.
© Evan Mitsui/CBC A staff member at an Ontario long-term care home is wearing full personal protective equipment amid an outbreak among the residents.

As CBC News recently reported, only nine out of 626 homes in Ontario received annual, proactive quality inspections in 2019 — down from just over half of the province's homes the year before, and most of them in previous years.

Those full inspections need to happen alongside complaint-based checks, McKenna stresses, adding: "I don't think they should be notified in advance."

Amid the ongoing pandemic, other advocates say provincial officials need to mandate universal testing protocols for healthcare workers, and those in their care, to catch cases earlier.

"Remove the long-term care residents with COVID. Take them to hospital. Protect the people who don't have it in those facilities. Test like crazy to make sure other residents and staff are free from the disease," stresses Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions.

"All health-care workers in hospitals, long-term care, in retirement homes, community care, need to be tested," echoes Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition, an advocacy group representing dozens of community organizations in support of public healthcare.

Currently, health-care workers are given priority at COVID-19 test sites, and the province is pursuing "proactive surveillance testing" in long-term care homes, including testing residents and staff without symptoms — though that directive was not sent from the Ministry of Health until April 21.

More than 31,900 cumulative tests have been completed in long-term care homes so far, with close to 38 per cent of the resident population tested, according to the Ministry of Long-Term Care.
'Some people have it really bad'

While officials in the outside world braced for new outbreaks and rising case counts, Pamella slowly began to feel like herself again.

The dizziness faded, and her appetite returned. She even started to experience unusual food cravings, like a sudden desire to munch on pickles.

"If you're pregnant, it's not mine!" her husband joked, a moment of levity like the couple hadn't experienced for weeks.

Fully recovering from COVID-19 took roughly a month for Pamella. Meanwhile, many of her infected colleagues are still enduring the whole terrifying spectrum of symptoms.

"A lot of the staff members I've been in touch with — some people have it really bad," she says. "Some people are not able to keep down anything. Vomiting. Body aches."
© Evan Mitsui/CBC Pamella, whose identity CBC News agreed to conceal, says in the future, all health-care facilities and long-term care homes need to store ample personal protective gear, isolate infected residents quickly, and put stronger plans in place for infection control.

Standing on her home's wraparound porch, the space she'd come to get a few minutes of fresh air while enduring at-home isolation, Pamella announces with a broad smile that she's officially among those who "conquered" COVID-19, after recently testing negative twice in a row.

She's now eager to get back to work in the long-term care sector, despite the risks. But she maintains her employer failed to protect front-line workers like her by allowing residents to come and go during the pandemic, potentially carrying back the virus that has since infected dozens of the home's residents and staff.

"From the minute this pandemic started... we should've stopped all the appointments. They're not urgent. They're not necessary," she says.

In the future, all health-care facilities and long-term care homes need to store ample personal protective gear, isolate infected residents quickly, and put stronger plans in place for infection control, whether it's for this ongoing pandemic or the next flu season, just months down the line, Pamella says.

"I want to be a nurse," she says. "But I didn't sign up to be a nurse to die.

Stormtrooper with a gun: Alberta police take down restaurant worker in costume

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

© Provided by The Canadian Press


LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Police in southern Alberta are being investigated after a restaurant worker in a "Star Wars" stormtrooper costume who was carrying a plastic gun was forced to the ground and ended up with a bloody nose.

"All the signs say 'Star Wars.' The music that was playing in the parking lot was 'Star Wars,'" said Brad Whalen, owner of the Coco Vanilla Galactic Cantina in Lethbridge.

"If a duck's a duck, it's a duck, right. It should have been common sense and it should have stopped there.

Whalen said the 19-year-old employee of the "Star Wars"-themed restaurant had agreed to carry a toy blaster and wear the elaborate white uniform of the soldier of the Galactic Empire to get the attention of people celebrating May 4. The day is popular among fans of the movie franchise because of the famous line, "may the force be with you."

The restaurant, which serves Jabba the Gut pizza and Yoda soda, opened at the end of January and has been struggling due to restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently open again, Whalen was hoping to get some attention by having a stormtrooper walking out front of the business.

It got attention, just not the kind he was looking for.

The Lethbridge Police Service said officers were called to the restaurant Monday morning for reports of a person in a stormtrooper costume carrying a firearm. A news release Tuesday said when officers arrived, the person dropped the weapon but didn't initially comply with directions to get down on the ground

Whalen disputes the account that his employee didn't obey police commands. When officers arrived, she immediately dropped the weapon and put her hands up, he said

But Whalen said that the stormtrooper helmet makes it hard to hear and to be heard. It also makes it difficult to move, let alone to kneel or get down on your stomach. Whalen said this may have caused a delay in the employee getting on the ground.

"It's not the easiest thing to kneel down in. You can't even sit down in it. It takes 20 minutes to put on."

Whalen said by that time, police should have been aware that the gun was wasn't real and went with the costume.

A video of the encounter, shared on social media, shows an officer standing by the blaster while Whalen yells from the restaurant door that it's fake.

"It should have been common sense and it should have stopped there. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. The police chose to escalate it," Whalen said.

Officers forced the employee on to her stomach and she hit her face and her nose started to bleed, said Whalen. In the video, a woman can be heard crying.

Police Chief Scott Woods has reviewed the file and received additional information, including the online video, the police release said. He has directed a service investigation into the officers' conduct and whether they acted appropriately

The woman in the costume was not charged.

Whalen said he's been contacted by lawyers and is looking at different options.

He said something needs to change in police training to ensure situations aren't unnecessarily escalated.

All employees of the restaurant have been impacted by the encounter, he said, none more so than the woman in the costume

"Ironically enough, she wasn't a 'Star Wars' fan," Whalen said. "I don't think she will be a 'Star Wars' fan ... if we had any chance to convert her."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2020

— By Kelly Geraldine Malone in Winnipeg

Lethbridge police criticized for takedown of Star Wars stormtroope


© Screenshot A woman dressed in a Star Wars stormtrooper costume was arrested by Lethbridge police on May 4, 2020.

The Lethbridge Police Service has started an internal investigation after officers drew their guns on a teenager dressed as a Star Wars stormtrooper carrying a toy gun.

The arrest happened around 11 a.m. on Monday. Police say they received two 911 calls about a person in a stormtrooper costume with a weapon.

The person was a 19-year-old female employee of Coco Vanilla Galactic Cantina, a Star Wars-themed restaurant, according to business owner Bradley Whalen. The teen was holding a prop plastic gun as part of her costume.

He said he’d asked his employee to wear the costume and wave to passersby because it was Star Wars Day. The date, May the 4th, is a pun on the film franchise slogan “may the force be with you.”

“We don’t have an issue with the fact that police responded,” said Whalen. “We have an issue with how they responded.”

A partial video of the arrest circulating on social media shows the employee with her hands up and on her knees while police have their guns drawn. Police can be heard yelling at her to get on the ground, although she does not immediately comply. Later the employee can be heard crying.

Editor’s note: The video below contains strong language.

Unbelievable, just got video of this.

*What the hell happened to common sense:

Girl dressed up as a stormtrooper on may4th facing 3 cops with weapons drawn. You can hear her sobbing. I USED TO dress up with the 501st. Probably not anymore @KinelRyan @DDayCobra #FandomMenace https://t.co/x2HrNLMtOL pic.twitter.com/YrS9bBFJVn— X E V I U S S 💬 (@xeviuss) May 5, 2020

Whalen said officers continued to treat the woman aggressively, even after they had determined the weapon was a costume prop.

“You could tell by looking at it, even 10 feet away, that it was a plastic toy,” said Whalen.

He said the woman was handcuffed and forced to the ground, but was later released at the scene of the incident without charges.

On Tuesday, the Lethbridge Police Service issued a news release announcing an internal investigation into the incident.

“Upon reviewing the file and additional information, including video circulating on social media, Chief Scott Woods has directed a service investigation under the Alberta Police Act that will look into whether the officers acted appropriately within the scope of their training and LPS policies and procedures.”

LPS has initiated a service investigation into the actions of several officers who responded to a report of a firearms complaint Monday morning. A public update will be provided after the investigation has been completed and reviewed. #yql https://t.co/hny6aoHYyo— Lethbridge Police (@lethpolice) May 5, 2020

The news release said the girl sustained a minor injury that didn’t require medical attention.

According to police, the employee did not comply with requests to get on the ground. Whalen finds that difficult to believe given her background.

“What a lot of people don’t understand is that this girl is in a criminal justice training program to be a police officer,” he said.

Whalen said the employee is taking a few days to recover from the stress of having guns pointed at her.

He said the incident has led to calls from media organizations across the U.S., and messages of support from as far away as Europe and New Zealand.

“Something has to happen,” said Whalen. “We have been contacted by lawyers who are wanting to help us.”

Lethbridge police say they won’t comment further on the incident until the investigation is complete.

brthomas@postmedia.com

China says faulty masks a 'contractual' matter that has been fixed
Canada however is thus far saying nothing about the matter.

MARKHAM, ON- APRIL 16 - Erin Landry, patient care manager, in scrubs, and Jo-anne Marr, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Markham Stouffville Hospital on the loading dock pull in a donation from Klick Health of 10,000 N95 masks, with 2,000 of them earmarked for Participation House in Markham. April 16, 2020. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

OTTAWA — The Chinese embassy in Ottawa claimed Monday that the one million faulty N95 masks that arrived in Canada from China last month were the result of a "contractual" issue that has now been fixed.

Both Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Health Minister Patty Hajdu looked perplexed Monday when asked at their daily briefing about a statement posted to the Chinese embassy's Twitter account Monday morning.

"It's reported that (one) million face masks exported to Canada from China failed to meet proper standards for health-care professionals," the tweet said.

"The latest thing we've found out from communication with Global Affairs Canada is that the problem was a contractual matter and has been resolved."

Freeland looked puzzled and turned to Hajdu beside her shaking her head.

"We'll have to get details back to you," Hajdu said. "I'm sorry we don't have that technical information right now."

It was inspectors in Hajdu's department who rejected the shipment of N95 masks, which arrived in Canada in the third week of April.

Neither her office, nor Global Affairs Canada had provided any explanation as of Monday evening.

China and Canada disagreed recently on why two Canadian planes returned from China without the medical supplies they were sent to pick up. Trudeau said it was due to congestion at the Shanghai airport and strict limits on time crews spend on the ground. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry then said that was "inaccurate."

Canada is heavily reliant on China for securing enough personal protective equipment for health-care workers in the COVID-19 pandemic. It has set up a special supply chain system in Shanghai to secure the products in what Freeland has referred to as the "Wild West" of medical supplies.

Millions of N95 masks, surgical masks, gowns, swabs for COVID-19 tests, and other equipment have arrived in Canada from China already, and many have passed muster.

But on more than one occasion, in both Canada and elsewhere, including Finland, the Netherlands and Spain, Chinese-made products were returned when they failed to meet national standards. In addition to the N95 masks, Canada rejected a shipment of swabs for use in COVID-19 tests from China because they were mouldy.

N95 masks are so-named because they are supposed to protect against 95 per cent of small particles. Bill Matthews, the deputy minister for Public Services and Procurement told a House of Commons committee on April 24 the problem was mainly with the elastics that are used to secure the masks, not the filtration. He said it was possible they might be able to be used by workers not directly in contact with COVID-19 patients.

Matthews said the two companies involved in both the masks and the swabs were standing by their product and intended to make things right, but it is not clear whether those masks were replaced or if they were sent to other health-care workers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press

IT CAME FROM CANADA

'Murder Hornets,’ with sting that can kill, land in US

4 of 6
In this Dec. 30, 2019, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, a dead Asian giant hornet is photographed in a lab in Olympia, Wash. The world's largest hornet, a 2-inch long killer with an appetite for honey bees, has been found in Washington state and entomologists are making plans to wipe it out. Dubbed the "Murder Hornet" by some, the Asian giant hornet has a sting that could be fatal to some humans. It is just now starting to emerge from hibernation. (Quinlyn Baine/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The world’s largest hornet, a 2-inch killer dubbed the “Murder Hornet” with an appetite for honey bees, has been found in Washington state, where entomologists were making plans to wipe it out.

The giant Asian insect, with a sting that could be fatal to some people, is just now starting to emerge from winter hibernation.

“They’re like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face,” said Susan Cobey, a bee breeder at Washington State University.

“It’s a shockingly large hornet,” said Todd Murray, a WSU Extension entomologist and invasive species specialist. “It’s a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honey bees.”

The hornet was sighted for the first time in the U.S. last December, when the state Department of Agriculture verified two reports near Blaine, Washington, close to the Canadian border. It also received two probable, but unconfirmed reports from sites in Custer, Washington, south of Blaine.


In this Dec. 30, 2019, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, the stinger of a dead Asian giant hornet is photographed in a lab in Olympia, Wash. The world's largest hornet, a 2-inch long killer with an appetite for honey bees, has been found in Washington state and entomologists are making plans to wipe it out. Dubbed the "Murder Hornet" by some, the Asian giant hornet has a sting that could be fatal to some humans. It is just now starting to emerge from hibernation. (Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)


The hornet can sting through most beekeeper suits, deliver nearly seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee, and sting multiple times, the department said, adding that it ordered special reinforced suits from China.

The university said it isn’t known how or where the hornets arrived in North America. It normally lives in the forests and low mountains of eastern and southeast Asia and feeds on large insects, including wasps and bees. It was dubbed the “Murder Hornet” in Japan, where it is known to kill people.

The hornet’s life cycle begins in April, when queens emerge from hibernation, feed on plant sap and fruit, and look for underground dens to build their nests. Hornets are most destructive in the late summer and early fall. Like a marauding army, they attack honey bee hives, killing adult bees and devouring larvae and pupae, WSU said.

BFH!
In this April 23, 2020, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, dead Asian giant hornets sit on a researcher's field notebook in Blaine, Wash. The world's largest hornet, a 2-inch long killer with an appetite for honey bees, has been found in Washington state and entomologists are making plans to wipe it out. Dubbed the "Murder Hornet" by some, the Asian giant hornet has a sting that could be fatal to some humans. It is just now starting to emerge from hibernation. (Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)

Their stings are big and painful, with a potent neurotoxin. Multiple stings can kill humans, even if they are not allergic, the university said.

Farmers depend on honey bees to pollinate many important northwest crops such as apples, blueberries and cherries. With the threat from giant hornets, “beekeepers may be reluctant to bring their hives here,” said Island County Extension scientist Tim Lawrence.

An invasive species can dramatically change growing conditions, Murray said, adding that now is the time to deal with the predators.


In this April 23, 2020, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, a researcher holds a dead Asian giant hornet in Blaine, Wash. The world's largest hornet, a 2-inch long killer with an appetite for honey bees, has been found in Washington state and entomologists are making plans to wipe it out. Dubbed the "Murder Hornet" by some, the Asian giant hornet has a sting that could be fatal to some humans. It is just now starting to emerge from hibernation. (Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)

“We need to teach people how to recognize and identify this hornet while populations are small, so that we can eradicate it while we still have a chance,″ Murray said.

The state Department of Agriculture will begin trapping queens this spring, with a focus on Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, and Island counties.

Hunting the hornets is no job for ordinary people.

“Don’t try to take them out yourself if you see them,” Looney said. “If you get into them, run away, then call us!″


In this April 23, 2020, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Chris Looney, a Washington State entomologist, places a trap used to search for the Asian giant hornet in Blaine, Wash. The world's largest hornet, a 2-inch long killer with an appetite for honey bees, has been found in Washington state and entomologists are making plans to wipe it out. Dubbed the "Murder Hornet" by some, the Asian giant hornet has a sting that could be fatal to some humans. It is just now starting to emerge from hibernation. (Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)


Invasive Asian giant hornet discovered in Washington state


Invasive Asian giant hornets, a honeybee-killing wasp with a dangerous sting, have been discovered in Washington. Photo courtesy of the Washington State Department of Agriculture

DENVER, May 2 (UPI) -- Washington agriculture authorities are asking residents to be on the lookout for an invasive giant wasp with an "excruciating" sting that attacks honeybee colonies, leaving thousands of bees without heads.

"The Asian giant hornet been called the most venomous, intimidating insect in the world, and it even scares away other hornets," said Timothy Lawrence, director of the Island County extension office at Washington State University.

Asian giant hornets originating in South Korea were first reported last fall near Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Then, residents in Blaine, Wash., near the Canadian border, used an invasive species app to report wasps that were confirmed to be Asian giant hornets from Japan, the state agriculture department said.


An infestation of the new giant wasps could be devastating for beekeepers who bring their hives to the state to pollinate Northwest Pacific crops like cherries, blueberries and apples.

"Commercial beekeepers have 300 to 400 hives in the area. They may not want to go to certain counties if this infestation takes hold," Lawrence said.

In Europe, the invasive yellow-legged Asian hornets, which also kill honeybees and other pollinators, has caused millions of dollars' worth of damage to crops in France and elsewhere after they gained a foothold.

The Asian giant hornets, also called "yak-killer hornets," measure about 2 inches long and have an orangeish-yellow face with large black eyes.

"They're like something out of a monster cartoon," Susan Cobey, a bee breeder with WSU's Department of Entomology, said in a statement.

The Asian giant hornet's sting is described as excruciating, and they can sting repeatedly. Their quarter-inch stinger can penetrate beekeeping protective clothing, a state agriculture department warning said.

The wasps are dangerous if their underground nests are disturbed, or if a food source is threatened. Their venom, seven-times stronger than that of honeybees, can cause anaphylactic shock, but also can be lethal to people who are not allergic if victims are stung repeatedly.


"They give a warning before they sting. They snap their mandibles and make a clicking sound," Lawrence said. "But if you stick around to notice that, you're probably already in a world of hurt."

The wasps might have hitched a ride to the Pacific Coast in a container ship, but also could have been imported intentionally as an ingredient for a folk recipe for wasp venom in alcohol, made popular by Internet bodybuilders, entomologists think.

The life cycle of the Asian giant hornet begins when a queen emerges from hibernation in April and feeds on plant sap and fruit, looking for a spot to build an underground nest, according to state fact sheets. By summer, queens have created a colony of worker wasps that spread out to seek food.

RELATED Invasive Asian hornet could cost Europe millions in damages

At the end of the summer, the hornets enter a "high-protein demand" phase when they attack honeybee colonies, killing off the adults to feast on the immature brood of pupa and larva, scientists say.

The hornets will leave piles of dead bees, most of them headless, outside their beehive. A few dozen hornets can kill an entire colony of 30,000 bees in a few hours.

Scientists will be hunting for queens this spring, wearing special reinforced suits from China, said Rian Wojahn, eradication coordinator for the pest program at the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

"The suits are made out of thick foam material with everything -- boots, gloves, hat -- attached," Wojahn said.

Trappers have set out bait bottles, filled with orange juice and rice wine, in coordination with state beekeeper clubs.

The trappers will use heat cameras to find underground nests, Wojahn said. Wasps will be sedated with carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, and pest workers will dig out the nests.

Local entomologists worry about native bees and other pollinators that also might be threatened if the Asian giant hornet gets established, said Todd

RIGHT CLICK TO ENLARGE

The major difference between wasp and hornets is size and colour. ... Hornets (right) are larger. Wasps have black and yellow rings, while hornets have black and white rings. Bees are beneficial to humans because they pollinate plants, whereas wasps and hornets help out by eating other insects

RIGHT CLICK TO ENLARGE

[PDF]
Bees, Wasps and Hornets

RIGHT CLICK TO ENLARGE

https://kottke.org/18/08/a-comprehensive-guide-to-yellow-stripey-things

In Japan, the ‘Murder Hornet’ Is Both a Lethal Threat and a Tasty Treat

© Ted S. Warren/Associated Press Asian giant hornets from Japan in a display case at the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

TOKYO — Long before the Asian giant hornet began terrorizing the honeybees of Washington State, the ferocious insects posed a sometimes lethal threat to hikers and farmers in the mountains of rural Japan.

But in the central Chubu region, these insects — sometimes called “murder hornets” — are known for more than their aggression and excruciating sting. They are seen as a pleasant snack and an invigorating ingredient in drinks.

The giant hornet, along with other varieties of wasps, has traditionally been considered a delicacy in this rugged part of the country. The grubs are often preserved in jars, pan-fried or steamed with rice to make a savory dish called hebo-gohan. The adults, which can be two inches long, are fried on skewers, stinger and all, until the carapace becomes light and crunchy. They leave a warming, tingling sensation when eaten.

The hornets can also give liquor an extra kick. Live specimens are drowned in shochu, a clear distilled beverage. In their death throes, the insects release their venom into the liquid, and it is stored until it turns a dark shade of amber.

The real thrill, however, is not in the eating or drinking of the giant hornet, but in the hunt.

Setting out in the early summer months, intrepid hunters track the insects to their huge nests, which can house as many as a thousand hornets and their larvae, in the boles of rotting trees or underground. They lure a hornet with a streamer attached to a piece of fish, and when it grabs the morsel and takes off, the hunting party goes on a steeplechase through the woods. Upon finding the nest, the hunters stun the insects with smoke, then use chain saws and shovels to extract it.

In other cases, the nests are rooted out by professional exterminators. Torao Suzuki, 75, said he removed 40 to 50 nests a year, getting stung as many as 30 times each season. “It hurts, it swells and it turns red, but that’s about it,” he said about the stings. “I guess I’m immune.”

He does not eat the bugs himself. “Even when I tell people, they’re going to sting you, they still eat them. They say it makes them potent,” he said.

Mr. Suzuki said he also sold the nests, which are popular trophies throughout the region. Lacquered brown hives, sometimes cut open to expose their complex lattice work, adorn vestibules and reception rooms in homes, schools and public offices.

Historians say the insects, which range throughout Asia but are found most commonly in Japan, were once valued along with other wasps as a cheap source of protein in poverty-stricken rural areas.

The cuisine is celebrated each November in Gifu Prefecture at a festival, known as the Kushihara Hebo Matsuri, where prizes are handed out for the largest nests, and gourmands bid for the privilege of taking one home with them.

Even at this insect jubilee, the danger posed by the giant hornet, which has killed dozens of people in Japan in recent years, is evident. A flyer for the 2018 event warned participants to be on the lookout for hornets on the loose near the fairgrounds, advising attendees to “please take ample care to avoid being stung.” Organizers, it added, “bear absolutely no responsibility” for the consequences of ignoring the warnings.

The admonitions go well beyond this single event. Every spring, government offices across the country issue advisories about the bugs, known in Japan as “giant sparrow hornets” because of their size. People venturing into the wild have learned to avoid hair spray and perfume, which can attract the frightening pests.

So it may be no surprise that the practice of hunting and eating the insects, as with many traditions in aging rural Japan, is less common than it used to be.

The Oomachi Wasp Appreciation Society in Nagano once achieved some measure of national fame for making rice crackers with the insects baked in. Production has since stopped, as the group’s members have died or become too old to make the snacks, said Sachiko Murayama, 70, who is on the board of a local business cooperative.

In Japanese cities, however, there has been a small resurgence in interest in eating bugs. Some young people are attracted to the novelty, and to the idea that insects are an environmentally friendly source of protein.

In Tokyo, the giant hornet is on the menu at more than 30 restaurants.

Shota Toguchida, who owns a Chinese restaurant in the city, said he sold shots of homemade hornet liquor for 2,000 yen, or about $19, mostly to middle-aged men.

He keeps a few bottles on the bar. “It looks surprising, but tastes great,” he said.

In the United States, where the first Asian giant hornets were spotted last fall in northwestern Washington State and scientists are urgently trying to hunt them down, no one is thinking about the insects’ culinary potential. The focus is solely on eradicating them before they can spread and wipe out bee populations.

Takatoshi Ueno, an entomologist at Kyushu University, said he was mystified by the hornet’s appearance on the American West Coast.

“It’s impossible for them to fly over from Asia,” he said, adding that they most likely came over in a shipping container. Even that, though, would be extraordinarily unlikely, he said, given their extreme aggression, which would have almost certainly drawn the attention of a ship’s crew.

They might not have come from Japan, Dr. Ueno said; they could have arrived from another country in the region. But regardless of how they arrived in Washington State, he added, it is critical that they be dealt with before they have a chance to establish themselves.

“When dealing with invasive species, whether a virus or an insect, it’s the same,” he said. “Moving quickly to completely destroy them is the best. Ultimately, it’s the cheapest and least damaging.”

For any adventurous eaters in the Pacific Northwest who might be tempted to track down and sample the species, Dr. Ueno strongly warns against it. Encounters with the insect are not for the faint of heart, he said.

“Americans have probably never seen such a large hornet,” he said, adding that “some of them might faint dead away.”

Hisako Ueno and Makiko Inoue contributed reporting.

Ontario Amazon whistleblower says company didn’t disclose coronavirus case to all


The Amazon, fulfillment centre in Brampton on July 21, 2017. 
(Deborah Baic/The Globe and Mail) (Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail)

An Amazon warehouse employee in Brampton, Ont., says the company failed to tell all employees that a worker at the facility was infected with coronavirus.

"It's COVID-19, it's must-know knowledge. You have to tell your employees if there's a case," the man said.

Global News agreed not to identify the employee because he said he's certain he would be terminated if Amazon knew he had gone public with his concerns.

"You'd lose your job for sure," the veteran Amazon employee said, noting he is not a manager or supervisor with the company.

READ MORE: Employee at Balzac, Alberta Amazon warehouse tests positive for COVID-19

A senior Amazon vice president in the United States resigned last week in support of whistleblowers who have been fired by the company after calling attention to safety complaints at Amazon facilities.

The company defended the termination of user experience designers who criticized Amazon's treatment of warehouse workers. Amazon said the two employees were terminated for "repeatedly violating internal policies."

In Brampton, Amazon didn't announce the news of the new COVID-19 case to everyone, the warehouse employee who contacted Global News said. He said the information was shared with him by a fellow employee who had received a text message from the company.

"He asked me, 'Did you get the message?' I said, 'What message?'" the man recalled.

The employee said he found out about the COVID-19 case at the Amazon facility north of Toronto partway through his 10-hour shift on Friday. He has not returned to work since, citing concern for his safety and his family's.

The text message shared with Global News read in part, "We want to let you know about a confirmed case of COVID-19 at YYZ4. The affected individual was last on site at 4/28."

YYZ4 refers to the Brampton facility where the employee works. The message was received three days after the employee who tested positive for the virus last worked at the plant.

Amazon confirmed the diagnosis of an employee at its facility and said it was "supporting the individual who is recovering."

In a written statement, Amazon spokesperson Timothy Carter said the company is "taking extreme measures to ensure the safety of employees at our site."

The company claimed it makes employees at a site aware of confirmed cases. The employee who came forward insisted he and other employees were not told.

"It's COVID-19: it's a life and death situation," the employee told Global News.

He said he lives with elderly parents, who are not in good health, and is worried about transmitting the virus to them.

"A lot of people are surprised they haven't shut down the building," the employee said.

Upon finding out about the COVID-19 case when he arrived at work, he went home early. He said he would not have gone to work that day had he been advised about the case.

The employee said Amazon communicates with him through texting messaging and email frequently to offer overtime shifts, for example. He said he received no message or email to announce the COVID-19 case.

"A lot of people were angry" when they found out the case from others, not the company itself, the man said.

On the same day that the COVID-19 case was revealed to certain employees, he said Amazon reinstated its employee "points" system.

The Amazon points system penalizes employees based on lateness, absences and other reasons. If someone acquires six points in a short period of time, the employee is asked to explain the reasons, or is terminated, he said.

But from mid-March until the end of April, the employee said Amazon had suspended the management system, giving more flexibility to deal with personal issues like child care.

However, the employee said workers were informed by email that the program would be back in effect.

"While I'm staying home, I'm being pointed by the attendance policy," as well as not being paid, the man said.

Global News asked Amazon why it restarted its points program in the midst of the pandemic, but the company did not respond to the question.

According to the Government of Canada's COVID-19 information page, employees have "the right to know ... the right to refuse dangerous work."

"It should normally be sufficient for health and safety purposes to state that an (unnamed) person was in the workplace and that the person was infected."

The Amazon employee who spoke to Global News said he hopes the company is more transparent if there are future cases.

"You advertise and tell people you're one of the safest companies to work for ... and then it's not communicated," he said.