Saturday, May 09, 2020
4.1 million U.S. homeowners past due on their mortgage, data show
May 8 (UPI) -- More than 4 million American homeowners are past due on their mortgage, a figure that's been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed Friday.
The analysis by Black Knight's McDash Flash Forbearance Tracker said the figure is now 4.1 million U.S. homeowners.
Forbearance is a term indicating a special agreement between lenders and borrowers to delay a foreclosure. Payments were missed last month on 7.7 percent of all active mortgages.
The numbers are higher than federal regulators expected, but requests for forbearance have temporarily slowed, dropping in the fourth week of April to 0.6 percent of borrowers from 1.1 percent the week before.
RELATED U.S. mortgage applications rise, indicate market rebound
"The share of loans in forbearance increased once again in the last full week of April, but the pace of new requests slowed," said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. "With millions more Americans filing for unemployment over the week, the level of job market distress continues to worsen. That is why we expect that the share of loans in forbearance will continue to grow, particularly as new mortgage payments come due in May."
In the past week, 225,000 more borrowers sought forbearance programs, Black Knight said.
"What remains an open question at this point is to what degree forbearance requests will look like at the beginning of May, when the next round of mortgage payments become due, and with nearly 30 million Americans newly unemployed in the last month," said Ben Graboske of Black Knight.
RELATED Poll: More Americans say now is not a good time to buy home in U.S.
The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs in the month of April.
Pakistan's fight against COVID-19 threatens polio, measles vaccine programs
Authorities and international organizations have halted vaccination programs for diseases like polio and measles, and redirected the resources to tackle the pandemic. Experts warn of a surge in other infectious diseases.
The decision of global health organizations to suspend mass vaccination campaigns amid the coronavirus pandemic could result in a new wave of polio and other highly infectious diseases in Pakistan, health experts have warned.
In an unprecedented move, the Geneva-based Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) recommended suspending polio vaccination campaigns worldwide to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus. As of Friday, Pakistan registered 25,837 coronavirus infections — one of the highest rates in the region after Iran — with 594 deaths.
However, the decision to suspend the inoculation campaigns was not without its criticism. "I fear the post-coronavirus situation in Pakistan will be worse due to the looming threats of other diseases that have been totally neglected," Qaisar Sajjad, the secretary-general of Pakistan Medical Association, told DW.
Subscribe to Corona Compact — DW's newsletter tracking coronavirus in Asia
Sajjad stressed that preventive measures such as vaccines are vital in a country with an already overburdened health system and a rapidly growing population. He said that preventative measures would avert a "huge burden" on Pakistan's health sector in the coming months.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, are the only remaining countries found with cases of the polio virus. The disease, which mainly affects children under the age of five, can infect the spinal cord, causing paralysis.
'Two terrible situations'
On March 24 — with the endorsement of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the approval of the Center for Global Health at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — the GPEI called on all countries to postpone mass campaigns to boost immunity to the polio virus up until at least the second half of 2020.
The GPEI is a public-private partnership led by national governments with five partners — the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, CDC, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the vaccine alliance.
"We are caught between two terrible situations," said GPEI chief Michel Zaffran of the WHO. "We have no choice … We did not want to have the program be responsible for worsening the situation with COVID-19."
On March 26, WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) also recommended all preventive mass vaccination campaigns for other diseases, including measles and yellow fever, to be temporarily put on hold.
Read more: COVID-19: Why Ramadan could be a disastrous month for Pakistan
Zaffran said suspending polio campaigns will enable GPEI to free up its resources and tens of thousands of frontline health workers to aid in the COVID-19 fight, adding that going door-to-door delivering oral polio vaccine would put both communities and health workers at risk of infection with the coronavirus.
Ahsan Ali, an official with the polio eradication program in the southern port city of Karachi, told DW that his vaccination work had not been well received amid the pandemic. "My role has been changed and people are not tolerating us out of fear that we are potential carriers of the coronavirus due to our door-to-door work," he said. Ali warned that it could take months before anti-polio vaccination programs resume in Pakistan.
In response to an enquiry regarding the suspension of vaccine campaigns in Pakistan, GPEI spokesperson Sona Bari told DW: "WHO has noted several times that services such as immunization are suffering from the impacts of COVID-19 on health systems."
Hundreds of thousands of children at risk
Pakistan's polio numbers already drastically increased last year with 146 reported cases. This year, there have been 47 registered cases to date. Health experts warn that the side effects of the pandemic such as the disruption of regular life-saving immunization services could ultimately put hundreds of thousands of children at risk.
Zaffran and his expert group had stressed that despite the suspension on vaccination campaigns, routine immunization at clinics and doctor's offices against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases should continue.
Read more: COVID-19 in Pakistan: Why the government and doctors are at odds
However, an official with the Pakistan Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication (EOCPE), who spoke to DW on condition of anonymity, said that more than 40 million children missed routine polio vaccinations in April alone, including other routine vaccinations.
Pakistan has a long history of tackling infectious diseases, including polio, hepatitis and tuberculosis, under severe financial constraints. But Ashfaq Hassan Khan, an economist and adviser for various Pakistani government agencies, is worried that the coronavirus pandemic is pushing the country's already weakened and underfinanced health system over the brink.
"Pakistan is spending less than 1% of its GDP on the health sector, which is quite alarming. Pandemics such as COVID-19, polio and measles require reasonable financial means to handle it properly," Khan said, calling for greater public financing to serve Pakistan's poorer populations.
More than 1.5 million people worldwide die annually from diseases that could easily be prevented by vaccinations, according to figures from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
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Coronavirus and Islam: Pakistani clerics refuse to shut down mosques
As Islamic clerics refuse to stop allowing religious congregations, Prime Minister Imran Khan continues to downplay the coronavirus threat to his country. Could this be a "recipe for disaster" for Pakistan? (31.03.2020)
Pakistan: Imran Khan's government is 'muffling critical voices'
In an interview with DW, Harris Khalique, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said that PM Imran Khan's government is undermining the supremacy of parliament and democratic norms. (03.05.2020)
Date 08.05.2020
Author Haroon Janjua (Islamabad)
Related Subjects Health, Asia, Pakistan, Coronavirus
Keywords Asia, Pakistan, coronavirus, COVID-19, Health, polio
Feedback: Send us your feedback.
Print Print this page
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3buJy
Authorities and international organizations have halted vaccination programs for diseases like polio and measles, and redirected the resources to tackle the pandemic. Experts warn of a surge in other infectious diseases.
The decision of global health organizations to suspend mass vaccination campaigns amid the coronavirus pandemic could result in a new wave of polio and other highly infectious diseases in Pakistan, health experts have warned.
In an unprecedented move, the Geneva-based Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) recommended suspending polio vaccination campaigns worldwide to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus. As of Friday, Pakistan registered 25,837 coronavirus infections — one of the highest rates in the region after Iran — with 594 deaths.
However, the decision to suspend the inoculation campaigns was not without its criticism. "I fear the post-coronavirus situation in Pakistan will be worse due to the looming threats of other diseases that have been totally neglected," Qaisar Sajjad, the secretary-general of Pakistan Medical Association, told DW.
Subscribe to Corona Compact — DW's newsletter tracking coronavirus in Asia
Sajjad stressed that preventive measures such as vaccines are vital in a country with an already overburdened health system and a rapidly growing population. He said that preventative measures would avert a "huge burden" on Pakistan's health sector in the coming months.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, are the only remaining countries found with cases of the polio virus. The disease, which mainly affects children under the age of five, can infect the spinal cord, causing paralysis.
'Two terrible situations'
On March 24 — with the endorsement of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the approval of the Center for Global Health at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — the GPEI called on all countries to postpone mass campaigns to boost immunity to the polio virus up until at least the second half of 2020.
The GPEI is a public-private partnership led by national governments with five partners — the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, CDC, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the vaccine alliance.
"We are caught between two terrible situations," said GPEI chief Michel Zaffran of the WHO. "We have no choice … We did not want to have the program be responsible for worsening the situation with COVID-19."
On March 26, WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) also recommended all preventive mass vaccination campaigns for other diseases, including measles and yellow fever, to be temporarily put on hold.
Read more: COVID-19: Why Ramadan could be a disastrous month for Pakistan
Zaffran said suspending polio campaigns will enable GPEI to free up its resources and tens of thousands of frontline health workers to aid in the COVID-19 fight, adding that going door-to-door delivering oral polio vaccine would put both communities and health workers at risk of infection with the coronavirus.
Ahsan Ali, an official with the polio eradication program in the southern port city of Karachi, told DW that his vaccination work had not been well received amid the pandemic. "My role has been changed and people are not tolerating us out of fear that we are potential carriers of the coronavirus due to our door-to-door work," he said. Ali warned that it could take months before anti-polio vaccination programs resume in Pakistan.
In response to an enquiry regarding the suspension of vaccine campaigns in Pakistan, GPEI spokesperson Sona Bari told DW: "WHO has noted several times that services such as immunization are suffering from the impacts of COVID-19 on health systems."
Hundreds of thousands of children at risk
Pakistan's polio numbers already drastically increased last year with 146 reported cases. This year, there have been 47 registered cases to date. Health experts warn that the side effects of the pandemic such as the disruption of regular life-saving immunization services could ultimately put hundreds of thousands of children at risk.
Zaffran and his expert group had stressed that despite the suspension on vaccination campaigns, routine immunization at clinics and doctor's offices against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases should continue.
Read more: COVID-19 in Pakistan: Why the government and doctors are at odds
However, an official with the Pakistan Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication (EOCPE), who spoke to DW on condition of anonymity, said that more than 40 million children missed routine polio vaccinations in April alone, including other routine vaccinations.
Pakistan has a long history of tackling infectious diseases, including polio, hepatitis and tuberculosis, under severe financial constraints. But Ashfaq Hassan Khan, an economist and adviser for various Pakistani government agencies, is worried that the coronavirus pandemic is pushing the country's already weakened and underfinanced health system over the brink.
"Pakistan is spending less than 1% of its GDP on the health sector, which is quite alarming. Pandemics such as COVID-19, polio and measles require reasonable financial means to handle it properly," Khan said, calling for greater public financing to serve Pakistan's poorer populations.
More than 1.5 million people worldwide die annually from diseases that could easily be prevented by vaccinations, according to figures from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
DW RECOMMENDS
Coronavirus and Islam: Pakistani clerics refuse to shut down mosques
As Islamic clerics refuse to stop allowing religious congregations, Prime Minister Imran Khan continues to downplay the coronavirus threat to his country. Could this be a "recipe for disaster" for Pakistan? (31.03.2020)
Pakistan: Imran Khan's government is 'muffling critical voices'
In an interview with DW, Harris Khalique, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said that PM Imran Khan's government is undermining the supremacy of parliament and democratic norms. (03.05.2020)
Date 08.05.2020
Author Haroon Janjua (Islamabad)
Related Subjects Health, Asia, Pakistan, Coronavirus
Keywords Asia, Pakistan, coronavirus, COVID-19, Health, polio
Feedback: Send us your feedback.
Print Print this page
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3buJy
Indian pharmacist dies after drinking coronavirus 'cure'
A 47-year-old man in Chennai has died after consuming the concoction he helped create with his boss in an effort to beat the novel virus. His employer is recovering in hospital after also drinking the corrosive chemical.
An Indian pharmacist died after drinking a chemical concoction he helped develop in an effort to beat COVID-19, police confirmed Saturday.
The pharmacist's boss was left hospitalised after he, too, consumed what the pair had hoped would be an effective treatment for the virus that has infected four million people across the globe.
According to The Indian Express, the owner of Sujatha Bio Tech, along with his employee, tried to invent a cure for the deadly virus, but ingested a "corrosive chemical used to refine petroleum during testing." This led to the death of the employee, K. Sivanesan.
The 47-year-old died instantly, local police chief Ashok Kumar said.
The two men worked for a herbal medicine firm and were testing their remedy, a mix of nitric oxide and sodium nitrate, at a home in southern Chennai city, in effort to defeat the infection that has resulted in at least 2,000 deaths in India.
Read more: How crowdfunding is helping India's poor in the age of COVID-19
Police chief Kumar said Sivanesan bought the chemicals from a local market and created the formula after carrying out research on the internet.
Vaccine hunt
There are no approved medicines or vaccines for treating the novel coronavirus, sparking a race for a new drug for the disease that has killed nearly 300,000 people worldwide.
Roughly 60,000 cases have been registered so far in India, which has imposed a strict lockdown measures in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading.
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Lessons learned: The eradication of smallpox 40 years ago
It took a flexible yet consistent vaccination campaign by the World Health Organization to systematically contain and eradicate smallpox. Could the success story be a model in the fight against the new coronavirus? (07.05.2020)
India: Deadly gas leak at chemical plant
Several people have died and thousands more have fallen sick after a gas leak at a chemical plant in southeastern India. Many near the site fainted, others reported burning eyes and difficulty in breathing. (07.05.2020)
Coronavirus: India's contact tracing app comes under fire
Data privacy advocates have launched a legal challenge against the mandatory use of a state-backed contact tracing app. The Indian government has called it a tool in the fight against the novel coronavirus. (06.05.2020)
A 47-year-old man in Chennai has died after consuming the concoction he helped create with his boss in an effort to beat the novel virus. His employer is recovering in hospital after also drinking the corrosive chemical.
An Indian pharmacist died after drinking a chemical concoction he helped develop in an effort to beat COVID-19, police confirmed Saturday.
The pharmacist's boss was left hospitalised after he, too, consumed what the pair had hoped would be an effective treatment for the virus that has infected four million people across the globe.
According to The Indian Express, the owner of Sujatha Bio Tech, along with his employee, tried to invent a cure for the deadly virus, but ingested a "corrosive chemical used to refine petroleum during testing." This led to the death of the employee, K. Sivanesan.
The 47-year-old died instantly, local police chief Ashok Kumar said.
The two men worked for a herbal medicine firm and were testing their remedy, a mix of nitric oxide and sodium nitrate, at a home in southern Chennai city, in effort to defeat the infection that has resulted in at least 2,000 deaths in India.
Read more: How crowdfunding is helping India's poor in the age of COVID-19
Police chief Kumar said Sivanesan bought the chemicals from a local market and created the formula after carrying out research on the internet.
Vaccine hunt
There are no approved medicines or vaccines for treating the novel coronavirus, sparking a race for a new drug for the disease that has killed nearly 300,000 people worldwide.
Roughly 60,000 cases have been registered so far in India, which has imposed a strict lockdown measures in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading.
DW RECOMMENDS
Lessons learned: The eradication of smallpox 40 years ago
It took a flexible yet consistent vaccination campaign by the World Health Organization to systematically contain and eradicate smallpox. Could the success story be a model in the fight against the new coronavirus? (07.05.2020)
India: Deadly gas leak at chemical plant
Several people have died and thousands more have fallen sick after a gas leak at a chemical plant in southeastern India. Many near the site fainted, others reported burning eyes and difficulty in breathing. (07.05.2020)
Coronavirus: India's contact tracing app comes under fire
Data privacy advocates have launched a legal challenge against the mandatory use of a state-backed contact tracing app. The Indian government has called it a tool in the fight against the novel coronavirus. (06.05.2020)
Afro-German politicians are pushing for change
In January, unknown assailants shot at the office of Senegalese-born German politician Karamba Diaby.
"Back then, there were people who were enthusiastic, but most were very skeptical,"
These issues are well received by her voters, she says. Especially among the young people. "The current generation is different from 20 years ago," she explains. "They accept a lot of things that were considered strange at that time."
However, she's aware that Afro-German politicians aren't considered the norm. "If someone comes to me and asks me three times, 'Are you a German politician?' then the person is insisting on [another answer]," she says. "If someone asks where we come from and how long we've been here — these are the kinds of things we experience as politicians, as well as citizens who have a different origin."
Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana is one of just five black women in the European Parliament "Five women for 500 million European citizens," Herzberger-Fofana says. More than 1 million people of African origin live in Germany, but very few of them are in political office.
Aminata Touré is one of the most well-known Afro-German politicians. She was elected to the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein in 2019 at the age of 26 as a representative of the Greens party, becoming the youngest state deputy speaker in German history.
In the current parliamentary term, the Social Democratic (SPD) MP Karamba Diaby is the only Afro-German among the 709 members of the Bundestag. "I don't want to be famous for being black," he once told Die Zeit. But he is still rarely asked about education policy – his area of expertise.
Racism a part of everyday life
In January, strangers opened fire on Diaby's office in the eastern city of Halle. His fellow politicians expressed their shock and outrage at the attack: Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and numerous other MPs made it clear that they stood behind Diaby. But insults and threats from the right-wing are part of everyday life for the 58-year-old politician, who was born in Senegal and came to former East Germany to study chemistry.
Sylvie Nantcha has also had to deal with multiple threats during her political career. In 2009, she was elected to the municipal council in the southern city of Freiburg, making her the first African-born CDU councilor in Germany.
"I decided that our society may be diverse, but this diversity is not reflected in our parliaments and committees," she told DW. "I am a person who likes to get things moving and I saw this political commitment as an opportunity to shape our future."
Read more: From hair care to racism, Afro-Germans share experiences online
'It was absolutely amazing'
Nantcha was born in Cameroon and came to Germany at the age of 17 to study. After earning her degree, she worked at the university, started a family and founded a consulting company with her husband. In 2009, she became a member of the CDU regional board in Baden-Württemberg — becoming the first African-born woman to hold such a position in Germany.
"How the population was able to reach that point was absolutely amazing," she recalls today. "A friend of mine told me to search my name on Google — there were 89,000 results!"
Sylvie Nantcha faced some booing when she stood for the position on the CDU state executive committee
After 10 years in the Freiburg municipal council, Nantcha decided not to stand again for the position. She is now fighting for the issues which matter most to her as the chairwoman of the African Network of Germany (TANG), which claims to represent around 800 African-German organizations. She advises the federal government on issues concerning migration and works to support the Afro-German community.
"I am very happy and proud of my home country Germany that I have the opportunity to use my history, my experience and my knowledge to advance these topics," she says.
But she also knows how ugly things can get: "Our society has a problem: racism," she said at the federal government's integration summit in March. Chancellor Merkel was sitting next to her at the time (top photo). When Nantcha was first elected to the CDU state executive committee in 2009, she was bombarded with threatening letters, hate mail and even death threats.
"I was afraid, especially for my children," she says. For a time they were no longer allowed to play outside and her family moved to a new address that was kept secret.
Read more: Young Afro-Germans look for role models
Njeri Kiyanjui hopes other migrants to Germany will follow her into politics
'Many migrants are afraid to go into politics'
Njeri Kiyanjui is probably the only German city councilor to have been interviewed on Kenyan TV during prime time. Kiyanjui came to Germany in 1983 when she was 20 years old. She studied economics in Berlin and the southern city of Tübingen. But after she graduated, she struggled to find a job. So she went freelance. She now sells homemade chutneys, spreads and jams through her company, Hottpott-Saucesmanufaktur.
She has also been a member of the Reutlingen city council representing the Greens since 2014 as the first councilor to have been born outside of Europe. She sits on the Integration Council and the Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs.
"I have a lot of skills," she told DW. "I am perceived as someone who is not only here for integration purposes, but who can have a say in lots of different areas. After all, I am an entrepreneur, so I see a lot of things differently."
But as an Afro-German, does she have a different view of local politics? "I've been living here for a long time," she laughs. "I don't get up in the morning and think 'Oh, I'm African. How am I going to be perceived?' I have my own agenda in my head, what I want to change."
She has one big wish for the future of politics in Germany: "Many migrants are afraid to go into politics. I hope that they become more politically involved. Politics in Germany affect every stage of life for everyone who lives here. From the cradle to the grave."
Rap against racism: Samy Deluxe in "Afro.Germany"
Samy Deluxe encountered racism at an early age due to the color of his skin. The rapper from northern Germany talks about his experiences in the documentary "Afro.Germany," now on DW. (24.03.2017)
First Afro-German detective on Germany's oldest TV crime show
Florence Kasumba has acted in blockbusters including "The Avengers" and "Black Panther." As she picks up the lead as a detective in "Tatort," we revisit 10 things you need to know about Germany's longest-running TV show. (06.07.2018)
African entrepreneurs hard hit by Germany's COVID-19 crisis
Africans who own stores and hairdressers or produce music in Germany also make for a vibrant subculture. As the country now faces the COVID-19, the outlook is bleak for the Afro-German business community. (02.04.2020)
AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC
Germany's only African-born MP faces racism
Date 10.05.2020
Author Daniel Pelz
Related Subjects European Parliament
Keywords Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Sylvie Nantcha, Njeri Kiyanjui, Aminata Touré, Karamba Diaby, Afro-Germans, German politics, racism, European Parliament
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3bybK
In January, unknown assailants shot at the office of Senegalese-born German politician Karamba Diaby.
Germany was shocked by the brazen attack.
But Afro-German politicians are otherwise rarely in the spotlight.
IN THE HEART OF THE BEAST; THE HOMELAND OF ARYAN SUPREMACY
AS WELL AS BEING AFRO GERMANS THREE OF THE FOUR ARE WOMEN
Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana is used to being the first. The first Afro-German city councilor. The first Afro-German member of the European Parliament. She was born in Mali, grew up in Senegal and came to Germany to study for her doctorate degree. She worked as a teacher and lecturer at the university in Erlangen and entered politics 20 years ago. But not everyone was supportive of her chosen career path.
IN THE HEART OF THE BEAST; THE HOMELAND OF ARYAN SUPREMACY
AS WELL AS BEING AFRO GERMANS THREE OF THE FOUR ARE WOMEN
Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana is used to being the first. The first Afro-German city councilor. The first Afro-German member of the European Parliament. She was born in Mali, grew up in Senegal and came to Germany to study for her doctorate degree. She worked as a teacher and lecturer at the university in Erlangen and entered politics 20 years ago. But not everyone was supportive of her chosen career path.
"Back then, there were people who were enthusiastic, but most were very skeptical,"
Herzberger-Fofana told DW. But her decision paid off. She was elected to the European Parliament a year ago — at the age of 70. Many other people her age take a step back from their careers to focus more on family or traveling the world. But Herzberger-Fofana wants to fight for the issues that are close to her heart: education, development and bringing an end to female genital mutilation (FGM).
These issues are well received by her voters, she says. Especially among the young people. "The current generation is different from 20 years ago," she explains. "They accept a lot of things that were considered strange at that time."
However, she's aware that Afro-German politicians aren't considered the norm. "If someone comes to me and asks me three times, 'Are you a German politician?' then the person is insisting on [another answer]," she says. "If someone asks where we come from and how long we've been here — these are the kinds of things we experience as politicians, as well as citizens who have a different origin."
Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana is one of just five black women in the European Parliament "Five women for 500 million European citizens," Herzberger-Fofana says. More than 1 million people of African origin live in Germany, but very few of them are in political office.
Aminata Touré is one of the most well-known Afro-German politicians. She was elected to the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein in 2019 at the age of 26 as a representative of the Greens party, becoming the youngest state deputy speaker in German history.
In the current parliamentary term, the Social Democratic (SPD) MP Karamba Diaby is the only Afro-German among the 709 members of the Bundestag. "I don't want to be famous for being black," he once told Die Zeit. But he is still rarely asked about education policy – his area of expertise.
Racism a part of everyday life
In January, strangers opened fire on Diaby's office in the eastern city of Halle. His fellow politicians expressed their shock and outrage at the attack: Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and numerous other MPs made it clear that they stood behind Diaby. But insults and threats from the right-wing are part of everyday life for the 58-year-old politician, who was born in Senegal and came to former East Germany to study chemistry.
Diaby reacted remarkably calmly to the attacks and thanked his supporters for their many good wishes. "We are not living in an age of anger, but one of solidarity and compassion," he said in a speech to the Bundestag.
Bullet holes can be seen in the office of Bundestag MP Karamba Diaby
Bullet holes can be seen in the office of Bundestag MP Karamba Diaby
Sylvie Nantcha has also had to deal with multiple threats during her political career. In 2009, she was elected to the municipal council in the southern city of Freiburg, making her the first African-born CDU councilor in Germany.
"I decided that our society may be diverse, but this diversity is not reflected in our parliaments and committees," she told DW. "I am a person who likes to get things moving and I saw this political commitment as an opportunity to shape our future."
Read more: From hair care to racism, Afro-Germans share experiences online
'It was absolutely amazing'
Nantcha was born in Cameroon and came to Germany at the age of 17 to study. After earning her degree, she worked at the university, started a family and founded a consulting company with her husband. In 2009, she became a member of the CDU regional board in Baden-Württemberg — becoming the first African-born woman to hold such a position in Germany.
"How the population was able to reach that point was absolutely amazing," she recalls today. "A friend of mine told me to search my name on Google — there were 89,000 results!"
Sylvie Nantcha faced some booing when she stood for the position on the CDU state executive committee
NOT UNEXPECTED THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS CDU ARE RIGHT WING
After 10 years in the Freiburg municipal council, Nantcha decided not to stand again for the position. She is now fighting for the issues which matter most to her as the chairwoman of the African Network of Germany (TANG), which claims to represent around 800 African-German organizations. She advises the federal government on issues concerning migration and works to support the Afro-German community.
"I am very happy and proud of my home country Germany that I have the opportunity to use my history, my experience and my knowledge to advance these topics," she says.
But she also knows how ugly things can get: "Our society has a problem: racism," she said at the federal government's integration summit in March. Chancellor Merkel was sitting next to her at the time (top photo). When Nantcha was first elected to the CDU state executive committee in 2009, she was bombarded with threatening letters, hate mail and even death threats.
"I was afraid, especially for my children," she says. For a time they were no longer allowed to play outside and her family moved to a new address that was kept secret.
Read more: Young Afro-Germans look for role models
Njeri Kiyanjui hopes other migrants to Germany will follow her into politics
'Many migrants are afraid to go into politics'
Njeri Kiyanjui is probably the only German city councilor to have been interviewed on Kenyan TV during prime time. Kiyanjui came to Germany in 1983 when she was 20 years old. She studied economics in Berlin and the southern city of Tübingen. But after she graduated, she struggled to find a job. So she went freelance. She now sells homemade chutneys, spreads and jams through her company, Hottpott-Saucesmanufaktur.
She has also been a member of the Reutlingen city council representing the Greens since 2014 as the first councilor to have been born outside of Europe. She sits on the Integration Council and the Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs.
"I have a lot of skills," she told DW. "I am perceived as someone who is not only here for integration purposes, but who can have a say in lots of different areas. After all, I am an entrepreneur, so I see a lot of things differently."
But as an Afro-German, does she have a different view of local politics? "I've been living here for a long time," she laughs. "I don't get up in the morning and think 'Oh, I'm African. How am I going to be perceived?' I have my own agenda in my head, what I want to change."
She has one big wish for the future of politics in Germany: "Many migrants are afraid to go into politics. I hope that they become more politically involved. Politics in Germany affect every stage of life for everyone who lives here. From the cradle to the grave."
Rap against racism: Samy Deluxe in "Afro.Germany"
Samy Deluxe encountered racism at an early age due to the color of his skin. The rapper from northern Germany talks about his experiences in the documentary "Afro.Germany," now on DW. (24.03.2017)
First Afro-German detective on Germany's oldest TV crime show
Florence Kasumba has acted in blockbusters including "The Avengers" and "Black Panther." As she picks up the lead as a detective in "Tatort," we revisit 10 things you need to know about Germany's longest-running TV show. (06.07.2018)
African entrepreneurs hard hit by Germany's COVID-19 crisis
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AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC
Germany's only African-born MP faces racism
Date 10.05.2020
Author Daniel Pelz
Related Subjects European Parliament
Keywords Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Sylvie Nantcha, Njeri Kiyanjui, Aminata Touré, Karamba Diaby, Afro-Germans, German politics, racism, European Parliament
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3bybK
TRUMPETTE'S IN GERMANY
Germany: Thousands of protesters slam isolation measures
Demonstrators gathered in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and other German cities to decry coronavirus-triggered restrictions imposed by the government. A right-wing protester attacked a team of reporters in Dortmund.
Over 3,000 people rallied in Munich and thousands more gathered in Stuttgart and across Germany on Saturday to demand the lifting of restrictions ordered by the German authorities. Many of the protesters defied the guidelines which call for a limited number of participants and for social distancing to be maintained during such events.
The protesters accuse politicians and medical workers of spreading panic and infringing on the population's rights with the prolonged lockdown. Some of the rallies included anti-vaccination activists.
In Munich, police used loudspeakers to urge the protesters to minimize the infection risk. While the participants failed to heed the instructions, the police decided not to disperse the gathering "on the grounds of proportionality" as the participants were not violent. However, the authorities dispersed a separate right-wing demonstration which gathered around 25 people in the same city, according to the Germany's public broadcaster ARD.
The Stuttgart event also saw thousands of participants take part. Most of them respected the distancing rules, according to the police. Two separate protests were recorded in Berlin, including a smaller one in front of Germany's parliament that ended with the security forces detaining around 30 protesters in order to determine their identity. The larger one saw hundreds of people gather at the Alexanderplatz, in spite of the order which limits the maximum of 50 protesters per rally.
Stuttgart protester holds a sign reading: 'Dictatorship in the guise of health. Wake up.'
Journalists attacked — again
About 150 people, including a group of known right wing extremists, also gathered in the western city of Dortmund, according to the DPA news agency. One of the right-wingers insulted and subsequently attacked a team of reporters, lightly injuring one of them, according to the police. The 23-year-old was arrested. This assault follows an attack of on a crew working for the satirical Heute-Show at a similar protest on May 1 in Berlin, and a separate attack on another team of journalists on May 6 in the same city.
Germany has been slowly easing restrictions introduced in mid-March, with states opening various businesses and public sites starting this Monday. However, a new report by the country's official Robert Koch Institute indicated a steep rise in infection rates on Saturday, possibly prompting the politicians to respond with even more caution.
Over two-thirds of German residents support the need for social distancing, according to the latest research published by the official BfR Institute. However, this still marks a sharp drop from the numbers reported in March, when 92% supported the restrictions.
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Stuck on cruise ships during pandemic, crews beg to go home
By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and GUILLERMO GARAT May 8, 2020
In this undated photo made available by Dr. Mauricio Usme, he is on board the Greg Mortimer, a ship operated by the Australian firm Aurora Expeditions and owned by a Miami company. Dr. Usme said he was pressured by the captain and other executives from the cruise operator and owners to change the health declaration to be admitted into ports. More than half of the passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19, including Dr. Usme. (Mauricio Usme via AP)
MIAMI (AP) — Carolina Vásquez lost track of days and nights, unable to see the sunlight while stuck for two weeks in a windowless cruise ship cabin as a fever took hold of her body.
On the worst night of her encounter with COVID-19, the Chilean woman, a line cook on the Greg Mortimer ship, summoned the strength to take a cold shower fearing the worst: losing consciousness while isolated from others.
Vásquez, 36, and tens of thousands of other crew members have been trapped for weeks aboard dozens of cruise ships around the world — long after governments and cruise lines negotiated their passengers’ disembarkation. Some have gotten ill and died; others have survived but are no longer getting paid.
Both national and local governments have stopped crews from disembarking in order to prevent new cases of COVID-19 in their territories. Some of the ships, including 20 in U.S. waters, have seen infections and deaths among the crew. But most ships have had no confirmed cases.
“I never thought this would turn into a tragic and terrifying horror story,” Vásquez told The Associated Press in an interview through a cellphone app from the Greg Mortimer, an Antarctic cruise ship floating off Uruguay. Thirty-six crew members have fallen ill on the ship.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that about 80,000 crew members remained on board ships off the U.S. coast after most passengers had disembarked. The Coast Guard said Friday that there were still 70,000 crew members in 102 ships either anchored near or at U.S. ports or underway in U.S. waters.
The total number of crew members stranded worldwide was not immediately available. But thousands more are trapped on ships outside the U.S., including in Uruguay and the Manila Bay, where 16 cruise ships are waiting to test about 5,000 crew members before they will be allowed to disembark.
As coronavirus cases and deaths have risen worldwide, the CDC and health officials in other countries have expanded the list of conditions that must be met before crews may disembark.
Cruise companies must take each crew member straight home via charter plane or private car without using rental vehicles or taxis. Complicating that mission, the CDC requires company executives to agree to criminal penalties if crew members fail to obey health authorities’ orders to steer clear of public transportation and restaurants on their way home.
“The criminal penalties gave us (and our lawyers) pause,” Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley wrote in a letter to crew members earlier this week, but he added that company executives ultimately agreed to sign.
Melinda Mann, 25, a youth program manager for Holland America, spent more than 50 days without stepping on dry land before finally disembarking from the Koningsdam ship Friday in Los Angeles. Before she was transferred to the Koningsdam, she tried to walk off another ship with other U.S. crew members last week but the ship’s security guards stopped them.
For 21 hours a day, Mann remained isolated in a 150-square-foot (14-square- meter) cruise cabin that is smaller than her bedroom in her Midland, Georgia, home. She read 30 books and was only able to leave her room three times a day to walk around the ship. Her contract ended April 18, so she was not paid for weeks.
“Keeping me in close captivity for so long is absolutely ridiculous,” Mann said in a telephone interview.
Earlier this week in Nassau, Bahamas, crew members from Canada aboard the Emerald Princess were told to prepare to be flown home in a charter plane. But the Bahamian government did not allow the ship to dock in the end.
Leah Prasad’s husband is among the stranded crew members. Prasad said she has spent hours tracking down government agencies to help her husband, a Maitre D’Hotel for Carnival.
“He is getting discouraged. He is stuck in a cabin,” Prasad said. “It is not good for his mental health.”
Angela Savard, a spokeswoman for Canada’s foreign affairs, said the government was continuing to explore options to bring Canadians home.
For those aboard the Greg Mortimer in Montevideo, desperation is setting in, crew members told the AP.
The Antarctic cruise set sail from Argentina on March 15, after a pandemic had already been declared. The ship’s physician, Dr. Mauricio Usme, said that when the first passenger fell ill, on March 22, he was pressured by the captain, the cruise operator and owners to modify the health conditions that had to be met for the ship to be admitted into ports.
Dr. Usme refused. The boat anchored in the port of Montevideo on March 27. More than half of its passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19. Finally, on April 10, 127 passengers, including some who were infected, were allowed to disembark and fly home to Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Canada and Europe. Crew members were told to stay on board.
The doctor was hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Montevideo, along with a Filipino crew member, who later died.
“People are exhausted and mentally drained,” said Dr. Usme, now recovered and back on the Greg Mortimer. “It’s a complex situation. You feel very vulnerable and at imminent risk of death.”
CMI, the Miami-based company that manages the boat, said it has been “unable to get the necessary permissions” to let crew members of 22 nationalities go home, but said they were all still under contract receiving pay.
Marvin Paz Medina, a Honduran man who works as the ship’s storekeeper, sent a video to the AP of his tiny cabin of about 70 square feet (6.5 square meters), where he has been confined for more than 35 days. “It’s hard being locked up all day, staring at the same four walls,” he said.
Paz Medina says his children keep asking him when he’s coming home, but he doesn’t have an answer.
“We are trapped, feeling this anxiety that at any moment we can get seriously ill,” said Paz Medina. “We do not want this anymore. We want to go home.”
In this May 8, 2020 photo, people aboard the Norwegian Epic cruise ship docked at Port Miami in Miami, sit on their balconies. Tens of thousands of crew members, including U.S. citizens, remain confined to cabins aboard cruise ships, weeks after governments and companies negotiated disembarkation for passengers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Most crew members are stuck in ships with no confirmed cases but are rejected by governments because of new rules to avoid importing more virus cases. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
_____
Garat reported from Montevideo, Uruguay. Associated Press writers Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, and Rob Gillies in Toronto, contributed to this report.
By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and GUILLERMO GARAT May 8, 2020
In this undated photo made available by Dr. Mauricio Usme, he is on board the Greg Mortimer, a ship operated by the Australian firm Aurora Expeditions and owned by a Miami company. Dr. Usme said he was pressured by the captain and other executives from the cruise operator and owners to change the health declaration to be admitted into ports. More than half of the passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19, including Dr. Usme. (Mauricio Usme via AP)
MIAMI (AP) — Carolina Vásquez lost track of days and nights, unable to see the sunlight while stuck for two weeks in a windowless cruise ship cabin as a fever took hold of her body.
On the worst night of her encounter with COVID-19, the Chilean woman, a line cook on the Greg Mortimer ship, summoned the strength to take a cold shower fearing the worst: losing consciousness while isolated from others.
Vásquez, 36, and tens of thousands of other crew members have been trapped for weeks aboard dozens of cruise ships around the world — long after governments and cruise lines negotiated their passengers’ disembarkation. Some have gotten ill and died; others have survived but are no longer getting paid.
In this April 28, 2020 photo provided by Melinda Mann, she shows the empty deck on board the Koningsdam, a Holland America cruise ship off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico. Mann, a youth program manager for the cruise line, has been stuck on board for 50 days as the CDC and the cruise ship companies negotiate terms to disembark crew and passengers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (Melinda Mann via AP)
Both national and local governments have stopped crews from disembarking in order to prevent new cases of COVID-19 in their territories. Some of the ships, including 20 in U.S. waters, have seen infections and deaths among the crew. But most ships have had no confirmed cases.
“I never thought this would turn into a tragic and terrifying horror story,” Vásquez told The Associated Press in an interview through a cellphone app from the Greg Mortimer, an Antarctic cruise ship floating off Uruguay. Thirty-six crew members have fallen ill on the ship.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that about 80,000 crew members remained on board ships off the U.S. coast after most passengers had disembarked. The Coast Guard said Friday that there were still 70,000 crew members in 102 ships either anchored near or at U.S. ports or underway in U.S. waters.
The total number of crew members stranded worldwide was not immediately available. But thousands more are trapped on ships outside the U.S., including in Uruguay and the Manila Bay, where 16 cruise ships are waiting to test about 5,000 crew members before they will be allowed to disembark.
As coronavirus cases and deaths have risen worldwide, the CDC and health officials in other countries have expanded the list of conditions that must be met before crews may disembark.
In this undated photo provided by Carolina Vasquez, she rides a tender in the Falkland Islands, as a crew member on board the Greg Mortimer, a ship operated by the Australian firm Aurora Expeditions and owned by a Miami company. Vasquez has been stuck in a cruise cabin with no windows and COVID-19. The ship is floating off the coast of Uruguay. Vasquez, 36, and tens of thousands of other crew members worldwide, including U.S. citizens, have been confined to cabins aboard ships, weeks after governments and cruise lines negotiated disembarkation for passengers arriving in vessels with infections. (Carolina Vasquez via AP)
Cruise companies must take each crew member straight home via charter plane or private car without using rental vehicles or taxis. Complicating that mission, the CDC requires company executives to agree to criminal penalties if crew members fail to obey health authorities’ orders to steer clear of public transportation and restaurants on their way home.
“The criminal penalties gave us (and our lawyers) pause,” Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley wrote in a letter to crew members earlier this week, but he added that company executives ultimately agreed to sign.
Melinda Mann, 25, a youth program manager for Holland America, spent more than 50 days without stepping on dry land before finally disembarking from the Koningsdam ship Friday in Los Angeles. Before she was transferred to the Koningsdam, she tried to walk off another ship with other U.S. crew members last week but the ship’s security guards stopped them.
For 21 hours a day, Mann remained isolated in a 150-square-foot (14-square- meter) cruise cabin that is smaller than her bedroom in her Midland, Georgia, home. She read 30 books and was only able to leave her room three times a day to walk around the ship. Her contract ended April 18, so she was not paid for weeks.
“Keeping me in close captivity for so long is absolutely ridiculous,” Mann said in a telephone interview.
Earlier this week in Nassau, Bahamas, crew members from Canada aboard the Emerald Princess were told to prepare to be flown home in a charter plane. But the Bahamian government did not allow the ship to dock in the end.
Leah Prasad’s husband is among the stranded crew members. Prasad said she has spent hours tracking down government agencies to help her husband, a Maitre D’Hotel for Carnival.
“He is getting discouraged. He is stuck in a cabin,” Prasad said. “It is not good for his mental health.”
Angela Savard, a spokeswoman for Canada’s foreign affairs, said the government was continuing to explore options to bring Canadians home.
For those aboard the Greg Mortimer in Montevideo, desperation is setting in, crew members told the AP.
The Antarctic cruise set sail from Argentina on March 15, after a pandemic had already been declared. The ship’s physician, Dr. Mauricio Usme, said that when the first passenger fell ill, on March 22, he was pressured by the captain, the cruise operator and owners to modify the health conditions that had to be met for the ship to be admitted into ports.
Dr. Usme refused. The boat anchored in the port of Montevideo on March 27. More than half of its passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19. Finally, on April 10, 127 passengers, including some who were infected, were allowed to disembark and fly home to Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Canada and Europe. Crew members were told to stay on board.
The doctor was hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Montevideo, along with a Filipino crew member, who later died.
“People are exhausted and mentally drained,” said Dr. Usme, now recovered and back on the Greg Mortimer. “It’s a complex situation. You feel very vulnerable and at imminent risk of death.”
CMI, the Miami-based company that manages the boat, said it has been “unable to get the necessary permissions” to let crew members of 22 nationalities go home, but said they were all still under contract receiving pay.
Marvin Paz Medina, a Honduran man who works as the ship’s storekeeper, sent a video to the AP of his tiny cabin of about 70 square feet (6.5 square meters), where he has been confined for more than 35 days. “It’s hard being locked up all day, staring at the same four walls,” he said.
Paz Medina says his children keep asking him when he’s coming home, but he doesn’t have an answer.
“We are trapped, feeling this anxiety that at any moment we can get seriously ill,” said Paz Medina. “We do not want this anymore. We want to go home.”
In this May 8, 2020 photo, people aboard the Norwegian Epic cruise ship docked at Port Miami in Miami, sit on their balconies. Tens of thousands of crew members, including U.S. citizens, remain confined to cabins aboard cruise ships, weeks after governments and companies negotiated disembarkation for passengers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Most crew members are stuck in ships with no confirmed cases but are rejected by governments because of new rules to avoid importing more virus cases. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
_____
Garat reported from Montevideo, Uruguay. Associated Press writers Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, and Rob Gillies in Toronto, contributed to this report.
President Trump congratulates UFC for restarting sports
White didn’t want to postpone any fights. He tried to host the event on tribal land in California and still hopes to create a “Fight Island” for future cards.
He settled for Jacksonville for at least a week — with no fans and social-distancing rules in place.
Judges and broadcasters were separated. Fighters, trainers, referees, judges, UFC staff and even outside media had to undergo COVID-19 testing to get inside Veterans Memorial Arena.
GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP / Michael ReavesBrazil's Ronaldo Souza was dumped from the UFC's Florida event after the middleweight tested positive for Covid-19
AFP/File / JIM WATSONThe card is UFC chief Dana White's attempt to drag the mixed martial arts series out of coronavirus quarantine
GLADIATOR SPORTS SHADES OF ANCIENT ROME
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — President Trump congratulated UFC for restarting the sports world Saturday night after a nearly two-month hiatus.
Trump’s taped message was played during ESPN’s broadcast of the UFC 249 undercard from a fan-free arena in Jacksonville.
“I want to congratulate (UFC President) Dana White and the UFC,” Trump said. “They’re going to have a big match. We love it. We think it’s important. Get the sports leagues back. Let’s play. Do the social distancing and whatever else you have to do. We need sports. We want our sports back. Congratulations to Dana White and UFC.”
BUT NARY A WORD FOR THE DEAD FROM COVID-19 HIS SO CALLED WARRIORS IN THE WAR COMMANDER IN CHIEF BONE SPURS IS CONDUCTING ON THIS INVISIBLE ENEMY (YOU CAN SEE IT WITH AN ELECTRONIC MICROSCOPE)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — President Trump congratulated UFC for restarting the sports world Saturday night after a nearly two-month hiatus.
Trump’s taped message was played during ESPN’s broadcast of the UFC 249 undercard from a fan-free arena in Jacksonville.
“I want to congratulate (UFC President) Dana White and the UFC,” Trump said. “They’re going to have a big match. We love it. We think it’s important. Get the sports leagues back. Let’s play. Do the social distancing and whatever else you have to do. We need sports. We want our sports back. Congratulations to Dana White and UFC.”
BUT NARY A WORD FOR THE DEAD FROM COVID-19 HIS SO CALLED WARRIORS IN THE WAR COMMANDER IN CHIEF BONE SPURS IS CONDUCTING ON THIS INVISIBLE ENEMY (YOU CAN SEE IT WITH AN ELECTRONIC MICROSCOPE)
UFC 249 served as the first major sporting event to take place since the global pandemic shut down much of the country nearly eight weeks ago. It was originally scheduled for April 18 in New York, but was postponed in hopes of helping slow the spread of COVID-19.
The mixed martial arts behemoth is holding three shows in eight days in Jacksonville, where state officials deemed professional sports with a national audience exempt from a stay-at-home order as long as “the location is closed to the general public.
The mixed martial arts behemoth is holding three shows in eight days in Jacksonville, where state officials deemed professional sports with a national audience exempt from a stay-at-home order as long as “the location is closed to the general public.
”The UFC came up with a 25-page document to address health and safety protocols, procedures that led to Jacaré Souza testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday. His middleweight bout against Uriah Hall was canceled late Friday. Souza’s two cornermen also tested as positive, the UFC said in a statement.
“All three men have left the host hotel and will be self-isolating off premises, where UFC’s medical team will monitor their conditions remotely and will provide assistance with any necessary treatment,” the UFC said.
The positive results surely increased the focus on the event. Every other sport is watching closely to see how it plays out.White previously said Trump wants the event to serve as a blueprint for the return of live sports.
“All three men have left the host hotel and will be self-isolating off premises, where UFC’s medical team will monitor their conditions remotely and will provide assistance with any necessary treatment,” the UFC said.
The positive results surely increased the focus on the event. Every other sport is watching closely to see how it plays out.White previously said Trump wants the event to serve as a blueprint for the return of live sports.
White didn’t want to postpone any fights. He tried to host the event on tribal land in California and still hopes to create a “Fight Island” for future cards.
He settled for Jacksonville for at least a week — with no fans and social-distancing rules in place.
Judges and broadcasters were separated. Fighters, trainers, referees, judges, UFC staff and even outside media had to undergo COVID-19 testing to get inside Veterans Memorial Arena.
But not everyone followed the rules. White mingled and bumped fists with nearly every fighter during official weigh-ins held inside a hotel ballroom Friday.
Ronaldo Souza's positive coronavirus test hangs over controversial UFC return
GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP / Michael ReavesBrazil's Ronaldo Souza was dumped from the UFC's Florida event after the middleweight tested positive for Covid-19
The controversial mixed martial arts card scheduled for Saturday in Florida will go ahead as planned despite one of the undercard fighters testing positive for coronavirus.
Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza was dropped from the Jacksonville event after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Friday. He arrived in Florida earlier in the week.
Two of Souza's cornermen also tested positive.
"UFC's medical team examined Souza and his two cornermen and found them to be currently asymptomatic, or not exhibiting the common symptoms of COVID-19," organizers said in a statement late Friday night.
"All three men have left the host hotel and will be self-isolating off premises."
Middleweight Souza, of Brazil, was scheduled to fight Uriah Hall on the undercard of the televised Ultimate Fighting Championship 249 event which is being held without spectators.
Souza attended the weigh-in wearing a protective mask and was kept at a distance from Hall who also had a mask and gloves on.
Although Souza -- who is not showing symptoms -- will not fight, the other 11 bouts will go ahead. Officials said the other 23 fighters on the card have tested negative.
"Brother I know it sucks. I'm sorry you have to go through this. I am beyond devastated for the missed opportunity," Hall tweeted on Friday night.
The card is UFC chief Dana White's attempt to drag the mixed martial arts series out of coronavirus quarantine.
White, who has also announced cards for May 13 and 16 in Jacksonville, insisted before Souza tested positive the production won't put anyone at risk.
"Listen, we have families, too," White told CNN Sport. "I have a family; I don't want to hurt my family. I don't want to die.
"This isn't just some crazy, this is a well thought-out plan. We've had very, very smart people, doctors and people that have been involved with the UFC for a very long time working on this thing non-stop since it started.
"We believe that we have this thing in a place where it can be as safe as it can possibly be."
AFP/File / JIM WATSONThe card is UFC chief Dana White's attempt to drag the mixed martial arts series out of coronavirus quarantine
White's controversial plans to stage a fight card in April on an Indian tribal reservation in California were thwarted.
But he got the green light in Florida to hold bouts without spectators from Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jacksonville, headlined by an interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.
Both fighters made weight on Friday at a weigh-in where media members and most UFC staff were kept at a distance, those closer to the fighters wore masks and the scale was sanitized.
Bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo and former champ Dominick Cruz both made weight for their title bout as well.
With the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer all on hold -- along with the US PGA Tour and LPGA -- White touts the return of UFC as a step toward normalcy and a boon for sport-starved fans.
And he said US President Donald Trump would be watching, in a conference call with US sports league leaders back in April.
"The president's take on it was we have to get live sports back first," White told the Los Angeles Times.
"Show everybody how to do it safely. Give people who have to stay home some entertainment so they're not bouncing off the walls."
"From there, we can figure out how we get people back to work and how we get kids back to schools," he added.
He said by going first, he hoped other leagues might also reopen.
White attempted to avoid California's lockdown measures when he planned the April 18 event on Indian casino land, but Walt Disney Co -- owner of UFC broadcaster ESPN -- later asked him to postpone.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis opened the door when he gave "essential services" status to employees at pro sports and media productions with a national audience.
USA
Small tribes seal borders, push testing to keep out virus
Small tribes seal borders, push testing to keep out virus
GENOCIDE BY ANY OTHER NAME By MORGAN LEE 5/9/2020
1 of 14
Ashley Pyne, right, helps her son, Elijah, complete a nasal swipe for COVID-19 testing in Picuris Pueblo, N.M., Thursday, April 24, 2020. Small Native American pueblo tribes across New Mexico are embracing extraordinary social distancing measures that include guarded roadblocks and universal testing for the coronavirus in efforts to insulate themselves from a contagion with frightening echoes of the past. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
PICURIS PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — On a dusty plaza in a Native American village that dates back nearly a millennium, a steady trickle of vehicles inched through a pop-up coronavirus testing site.
From the bed of a pickup truck and backseats of cars, wide-eyed children stared from behind hand-sewn masks and then sobbed as testing crews in hospital gowns swabbed their noses. The workers packed the samples into a plastic travel cooler for a return trip past the tribe’s guarded roadblock to a state lab.
The mandatory testing — under the threat of fines by the tribal council in Picuris Pueblo — was being performed by the state Health Department and U.S. Indian Health Service as they strive to identify potential infection hot spots and contain the virus that’s ravaged other Native American communities. The order covered everyone from visiting construction workers and homebound seniors to the clerks at the pueblo’s sole general store, where candy, jerky, liquor and cigarettes are now sold only through a slot in the front door.
Small Native American pueblos across New Mexico are embracing extraordinary isolation measures that turn away outsiders as well as near-universal testing to try to insulate themselves from a contagion with frightening echoes of the past.
“If the virus does reach us, that could be the end of Picuris,” said Wayne Yazza, the pueblo’s lieutenant governor.
A hundred miles (160 kilometers) west, the coronavirus has rampaged across the vast Navajo Nation, one the most populous tribes in the U.S. whose boundaries extend from northwestern New Mexico through portions of Arizona and Utah. That outbreak has public health officials concerned that Native American communities may be especially susceptible to the pandemic because of underlying health issues, including high rates of diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
Vaughn Tootsie helps the Native American community of Picuris Pueblo, N.M., screen vehicles as they enter and exit tribal property on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Small Native Americs that include guarded roadblocks and universal testing for the coronavirus in efforts to insuan pueblo tribes across New Mexico are embracing extraordinary social distancing measurelate themselves from a contagion with frightening echoes of the past. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
For most, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
New Mexico’s 19 indigenous pueblos — communities that range from several thousand members to just 300 — view the coronavirus as an existential threat after early infections raced through San Felipe and Zia pueblos, propagated in one instance by people attending a funeral.
“You hear about all these other big towns that are losing 10, 50, 100 — that’s already half of our whole tribe,” Picuris Gov. Craig Quanchello said. “We’ve got to do everything we can to protect our race here.”
Native Americans accounted for more than 55% of confirmed COVID-19 infections in New Mexico as of Friday, though they’re only 11% of the general population.
The stark discrepancy in part reflects extensive testing in the heavily Native American northwest part of the state, a hot spot for infections. Tribal leaders also say the surge of Native American infections and related deaths reflects chronic underfunding of health care services and basic infrastructure such as household plumbing.
A sign at the Native American community of San Idefonso Pueblo, N.M., urges visitors to stay away as small Indian pueblos throughout the state seek to shield themselves from COVID-19 infection, Thursday, April 23, 2020. San Ildefonso was invited to participate in universal testing by state health officials. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
The pueblos, whose homelands trace the upper Rio Grande as the river descends for 150 miles (241 kilometers) from Taos to Albuquerque and extend west near the Arizona line, have closed down cultural attractions, casinos and hotels.
Roadblocks against nonessential visitors extend to villages atop mesas in Acoma Pueblo’s “sky city” and on the Hopi reservation in Arizona, which is encircled by the Navajo Nation.
In Picuris Pueblo, roughly 200 residents in the core settlement have all tested negative for the virus. It’s been more than a month since the tribe erected a roadblock and guardhouse with video surveillance to intercept unannounced tourists. Tribal members also are screened for coronavirus symptoms, such as fever, by taking body temperature readings from each passing car and the occasional bicycle.
Among New Mexico’s pueblos, ceremonial rites and political meetings in compact subterranean kiva rooms have been upended, as have preparations for annual feast days — mass gatherings with traditional dancing and regalia.
Members of the Native American community of Picuris Pueblo, N.M., including Vaughn Tootsie, right, screen vehicles as they enter and exit tribal property Thursday, April 23, 2020. Pueblo leaders including Gov. Craig Quanchello see COVID-19 as a potentially existential threat to the tribe of roughly 300 members and have implemented universal testing for infection. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
In Picuris, preschool lessons in the native Tiwa language are on hold and children can’t exit the pueblo’s boundaries, even with parents. Families are encouraged to send one person for groceries — a 50-mile (80-kilometer) round trip.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has extended through mid-May an aggressive stay-at-home order that bans gatherings larger than five people and requires arriving air travelers to self-quarantine, while allowing some nonessential businesses to start offering curbside service after a weekslong closure. The northwest part of the state is on full-fledged lockdown as infections increase.
Pueblos are going further with their own curfews, and Picuris is vowing to stay on lockdown for an additional two weeks before considering any changes.
The pueblos have dealt with devastating contagions in the past. Bouts of smallpox — brought by Spanish conquistadors in the late-1500s — cut the Picuris Pueblo’s population from roughly 2,500 to 500 by 1650 in the first of several close brushes with annihilation, said Michael Adler, a professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University. He leads a satellite campus outside Taos and has worked with Picuris Pueblo to explore its ancestral history.
In the 20th century, the pueblo’s population fell below 150 after brutal raids; it’s unclear whether the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 played a role.
“It’s a story of decimation in spades — and resilience,” Adler said. “It amazes me that they’re still here.”
State officials say the coronavirus crisis was foreshadowed by the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009. Native Americans experienced fatalities at four times the rate of the general public, according to a 12-state study — including New Mexico, Arizona and Utah — published that year in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
“The reason I believe we saw this spike (in coronavirus infections) is that tribal communities live in largely rural areas and they live in large family units, multiple-family units, and they engage in community support, community activities,” New Mexico Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel said at a state PBS forum. “The very qualities that make tribal communities unique are the very qualities that put them at risk.”
Quanchello, the Picuris governor who covers late-night shifts at the roadblock, hopes to keep his people safe, even if it means loneliness, financial hardship and warning potential visitors to keep away.
“We don’t get a second chance here,” he said. “The endgame is death.”
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Ashley Pyne, right, helps her son, Elijah, complete a nasal swipe for COVID-19 testing in Picuris Pueblo, N.M., Thursday, April 24, 2020. Small Native American pueblo tribes across New Mexico are embracing extraordinary social distancing measures that include guarded roadblocks and universal testing for the coronavirus in efforts to insulate themselves from a contagion with frightening echoes of the past. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
PICURIS PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — On a dusty plaza in a Native American village that dates back nearly a millennium, a steady trickle of vehicles inched through a pop-up coronavirus testing site.
From the bed of a pickup truck and backseats of cars, wide-eyed children stared from behind hand-sewn masks and then sobbed as testing crews in hospital gowns swabbed their noses. The workers packed the samples into a plastic travel cooler for a return trip past the tribe’s guarded roadblock to a state lab.
The mandatory testing — under the threat of fines by the tribal council in Picuris Pueblo — was being performed by the state Health Department and U.S. Indian Health Service as they strive to identify potential infection hot spots and contain the virus that’s ravaged other Native American communities. The order covered everyone from visiting construction workers and homebound seniors to the clerks at the pueblo’s sole general store, where candy, jerky, liquor and cigarettes are now sold only through a slot in the front door.
Small Native American pueblos across New Mexico are embracing extraordinary isolation measures that turn away outsiders as well as near-universal testing to try to insulate themselves from a contagion with frightening echoes of the past.
“If the virus does reach us, that could be the end of Picuris,” said Wayne Yazza, the pueblo’s lieutenant governor.
A hundred miles (160 kilometers) west, the coronavirus has rampaged across the vast Navajo Nation, one the most populous tribes in the U.S. whose boundaries extend from northwestern New Mexico through portions of Arizona and Utah. That outbreak has public health officials concerned that Native American communities may be especially susceptible to the pandemic because of underlying health issues, including high rates of diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
Vaughn Tootsie helps the Native American community of Picuris Pueblo, N.M., screen vehicles as they enter and exit tribal property on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Small Native Americs that include guarded roadblocks and universal testing for the coronavirus in efforts to insuan pueblo tribes across New Mexico are embracing extraordinary social distancing measurelate themselves from a contagion with frightening echoes of the past. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
For most, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
New Mexico’s 19 indigenous pueblos — communities that range from several thousand members to just 300 — view the coronavirus as an existential threat after early infections raced through San Felipe and Zia pueblos, propagated in one instance by people attending a funeral.
“You hear about all these other big towns that are losing 10, 50, 100 — that’s already half of our whole tribe,” Picuris Gov. Craig Quanchello said. “We’ve got to do everything we can to protect our race here.”
Native Americans accounted for more than 55% of confirmed COVID-19 infections in New Mexico as of Friday, though they’re only 11% of the general population.
The stark discrepancy in part reflects extensive testing in the heavily Native American northwest part of the state, a hot spot for infections. Tribal leaders also say the surge of Native American infections and related deaths reflects chronic underfunding of health care services and basic infrastructure such as household plumbing.
A sign at the Native American community of San Idefonso Pueblo, N.M., urges visitors to stay away as small Indian pueblos throughout the state seek to shield themselves from COVID-19 infection, Thursday, April 23, 2020. San Ildefonso was invited to participate in universal testing by state health officials. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
The pueblos, whose homelands trace the upper Rio Grande as the river descends for 150 miles (241 kilometers) from Taos to Albuquerque and extend west near the Arizona line, have closed down cultural attractions, casinos and hotels.
Roadblocks against nonessential visitors extend to villages atop mesas in Acoma Pueblo’s “sky city” and on the Hopi reservation in Arizona, which is encircled by the Navajo Nation.
In Picuris Pueblo, roughly 200 residents in the core settlement have all tested negative for the virus. It’s been more than a month since the tribe erected a roadblock and guardhouse with video surveillance to intercept unannounced tourists. Tribal members also are screened for coronavirus symptoms, such as fever, by taking body temperature readings from each passing car and the occasional bicycle.
Among New Mexico’s pueblos, ceremonial rites and political meetings in compact subterranean kiva rooms have been upended, as have preparations for annual feast days — mass gatherings with traditional dancing and regalia.
Members of the Native American community of Picuris Pueblo, N.M., including Vaughn Tootsie, right, screen vehicles as they enter and exit tribal property Thursday, April 23, 2020. Pueblo leaders including Gov. Craig Quanchello see COVID-19 as a potentially existential threat to the tribe of roughly 300 members and have implemented universal testing for infection. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
In Picuris, preschool lessons in the native Tiwa language are on hold and children can’t exit the pueblo’s boundaries, even with parents. Families are encouraged to send one person for groceries — a 50-mile (80-kilometer) round trip.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has extended through mid-May an aggressive stay-at-home order that bans gatherings larger than five people and requires arriving air travelers to self-quarantine, while allowing some nonessential businesses to start offering curbside service after a weekslong closure. The northwest part of the state is on full-fledged lockdown as infections increase.
Pueblos are going further with their own curfews, and Picuris is vowing to stay on lockdown for an additional two weeks before considering any changes.
The pueblos have dealt with devastating contagions in the past. Bouts of smallpox — brought by Spanish conquistadors in the late-1500s — cut the Picuris Pueblo’s population from roughly 2,500 to 500 by 1650 in the first of several close brushes with annihilation, said Michael Adler, a professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University. He leads a satellite campus outside Taos and has worked with Picuris Pueblo to explore its ancestral history.
In the 20th century, the pueblo’s population fell below 150 after brutal raids; it’s unclear whether the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 played a role.
“It’s a story of decimation in spades — and resilience,” Adler said. “It amazes me that they’re still here.”
State officials say the coronavirus crisis was foreshadowed by the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009. Native Americans experienced fatalities at four times the rate of the general public, according to a 12-state study — including New Mexico, Arizona and Utah — published that year in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
“The reason I believe we saw this spike (in coronavirus infections) is that tribal communities live in largely rural areas and they live in large family units, multiple-family units, and they engage in community support, community activities,” New Mexico Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel said at a state PBS forum. “The very qualities that make tribal communities unique are the very qualities that put them at risk.”
Quanchello, the Picuris governor who covers late-night shifts at the roadblock, hopes to keep his people safe, even if it means loneliness, financial hardship and warning potential visitors to keep away.
“We don’t get a second chance here,” he said. “The endgame is death.”
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