Coronavirus Breakthrough as Scientists Discover a Drug Used to Treat Head Lice Can Kill COVID-19 Cells; Warning Issued About Potential Treatment

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By Daily Mail. An anti-parasitic head lice drug available around the world has been found to kill COVID-19 in the lab within 48 hours.

A Monash University-led study has shown a single dose of the drug Ivermectin could stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus growing in cell culture.

‘We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA (effectively removed all genetic material of the virus) by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it,’ Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute’s Dr Kylie Wagstaff said on Friday.

While it’s not known how Ivermectin works on the virus, the drug likely stops the virus dampening the host cells’ ability to clear it. (Read more from “Coronavirus Breakthrough as Scientists Discover a Drug Used to Treat Head Lice Can Kill COVID-19 Cells” HERE)

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Warning Issued as Researchers Reveal Another Potential Treatment for Coronavirus

By ABC News. Health authorities are warning people against self-medicating with a drug which is traditionally used to treat head lice and scabies but is now showing promise as a coronavirus treatment, saying it could be fatal.

A collaborative study led by the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Doherty Institute found the drug Ivermectin stops coronavirus growing in cell culture.

The next step is to determine whether it can effectively treat coronavirus in humans, and learn what a safe dosage would be.

Ivermectin has been used around the world for years as a treatment for a range of conditions including head lice and scabies, and it is available as a pill, lotion and shampoo.

While today praising the work of the researchers involved in the study, Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos urged people not to misuse the substance. (Read more from “Warning Issued as Researchers Reveal Another Potential Treatment for Coronavirus” HERE)

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HUH?! Feds Issue Tens of Thousands of New Work Visas to Foreigners as Americans Lose Jobs by Millions; UPDATE: DHS Suspension

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By WND. Amid record unemployment claims and predictions of a staggering 32% unemployment rate, the federal government is issuing thousands of visas to guest workers.

Among them are 20,000 new H2B visas announced Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security for seasonal jobs in industries such as landscaping, food processing and resorts, noted Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show Wednesday night. . .

But these are “bonus visas,” Carlson explains, in addition to the 66,000 H2B visas the federal government must allow each year by law.

A total of 35,000 visas were added at the discretion of DHS Secretary Chad Wolf.

“That’s a total of 100,000 workers coming to this country to take jobs during the single biggest unemployment crisis in a century,” he said. “It’s demented.” (Read more from “Feds Issue Large Numbers of Work Visas as Americans Lose Jobs by Millions” HERE)

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In Wake of National Outrage, DHS Suspends Visa Lottery

By Jason Hopkins. The increased media scrutiny and surging unemployment claims appeared to be too much for DHS. The department on Thursday announced it was suspending the release of the planned 20,000 H-2B visas.

“To clear up various misreporting — DHS’s rule on the H-2B cap is on hold pending review due to present economic circumstances. No additional H-2B visas will be released until further notice,” read a statement from the DHS Twitter account.

H2-B visas are set aside for foreign workers to come temporarily into the U.S. and work in numerous non-agricultural industries, such as service and landscaping jobs.

Congress set the annual cap on H-2B visas at 66,000, giving temporary legal status to non-agricultural workers. At the same time, lawmakers gave DHS the authority to raise this cap by as much as 64,000 a year. In early March, right before COVID-19 grabbed the nation, DHS chief raised the cap by 35,000. (Read more about the work visa suspension HERE)

However, the 20,000 H-2B visas to be released in April is no longer a go — at least for now.

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Jewish GOP Group Targets Congress’s Strongest Constitutionalist For Defeat

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The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) — specifically its political action committee — has had it with Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. And he’s a Republican.

Massie infuriated both his own party and US Democrats last week by exercising a procedural motion that might have delayed the vote on the $2 trillion stimulus in the wake of the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. US President Donald Trump, a Republican, called Massie a “third-rate grandstander.”

Now the RJC said it will be backing Massie’s opponent in the Republican primary, which is scheduled for June 23, coronavirus willing. It’s a rare foray for a group that usually focuses on Democrats, plus partisan Jewish groups rarely get involved in primaries.

“After Rep. Massie recklessly decided to hold up the stimulus bill designed to help Americans who are struggling because of the coronavirus, the RJC PAC has decided to endorse and fund-raise for his GOP primary opponent, Todd McMurtry, and the RJC will be activating its nationwide team of volunteers to contact voters in the 4th congressional district of Kentucky to explain why it is so important to support McMurtry,” the group said in a news release last week.

Massie insisted that Congress adhere to a rule that a majority of House members are present to do business. Most members had returned home in order to avoid contracting or spreading the coronavirus. (Read more from “Jewish GOP Group Targets Congress’s Strongest Constitutionalist Representative for Defeat” HERE)

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FBI Says Skyrocketing Demand for Guns Has Broken Record for Background Checks; Gun Control Activists Freak Out at Trump

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By The Blaze. The panic over the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in such a demand for gun purchases that the FBI has noted a record-breaking number of gun background checks.

The FBI says they fulfilled 3.7 million background checks for the month of March, the largest monthly number they have ever seen.

Previously the record for monthly background checks was 3.3 million in December of 2015.

The record set for March is more than one million higher than that from a year previous in March, when the FBI said they fulfilled 2.64 million checks.

Gun store owners have reported a skyrocketing demand for firearms, and many have sold out their inventory. Long lines delay new gun owners, many of which are frustrated by the gun control laws they face. (Read more from “FBI Says Skyrocketing Demand for Guns Has Broken Record for Background Checks” HERE)

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Trump Coronavirus Guidance on Keeping Gun Stores Open Draws Criticism

By Reuters. Gun control activists on Monday criticized guidance issued by President Donald Trump’s administration recommending that states find that gun stores are critical businesses that can stay open during the coronavirus crisis.

The new guidance, issued on Saturday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, offers the administration’s views on which workers are essential during the pandemic at a time when state governors have ordered numerous “non-essential” businesses to close to try to limit the spread of the virus. The agency is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Gun control advocates said gun rights groups are sowing fear during the pandemic in order to boost firearms sales, adding that increased gun ownership during the crisis could lead to more domestic violence.

“Adding more guns to more homes during a time of more anxiety could lead to more deaths. And that’s the last thing we need when our hospitals are already bursting at the seams,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a leading gun control group. (Read more from “Trump Coronavirus Guidance on Keeping Gun Stores Open Draws Criticism” HERE)

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90 Suspects Identified in Major Online Child Sexual Abuse Operation

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Police around the world have taken down a global child abuse ring with links to over 40 countries through a Belgian investigation supported by Europol. 4 suspects have been convicted today by a Belgian court.

This case was sparked by the Belgian East Flanders Federal Judicial Police (Federale Gerechtelijke Politie Oost-Vlaanderen) after more than 9 million pictures and videos of the abuse of thousands of children from around the world were found there during a house search.

The vast majority of this footage had never been seen in circulation before by law enforcement. Suspecting they were producing their own, the Belgian investigators launched Operation GARGAMEL together with Europol across Europe and beyond . The image and video data seized during this investigation has been used for Victim Identification Task Forces hosted by Europol through which 70 children and 30 suspects have been identified. The Belgian Federal Judicial Police succeeded in identifying 60 suspects (of which 24 in Belgium) and 40 victims, which brings the actual total to 90 suspects and 110 victims.

Some suspects have already appeared before court in a number of other countries. In Australia, a suspect was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

More arrests and rescues are expected globally as police in over 40 countries examine the intelligence packages compiled by Europol and information from the Belgian Federal Judicial Police.

(Press release originally appeared HERE)

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‘Shocking’ List of What’s Killed the Most People in 2020

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With millions of Americans concerned about coronavirus, radio host Rush Limbaugh is providing some perspective on the actual number of fatalities from COVID-19 compared to those from other causes.

On his Wednesday broadcast, Limbaugh cited a list from worldometers.info that rounded up the worldwide deaths from Jan. 1 through March 25 of 2020:

“Coronavirus: 21,000 deaths.

Seasonal flu: 113,000.

Malaria: 228,000.

Suicide: 249,000.

Traffic fatalities, 313, almost 314,000 deaths.

HIV/AIDS, 391,000 deaths.

Alcohol related deaths, 581,000.

Smoking-related deaths, 1,162,000.

Cancer deaths, 1,909,000 deaths.

Deaths attributed to starvation, 2,382,000 deaths.

And death by abortion, 9,900,000.”

(Read more from “‘Shocking’ List of What’s Killed the Most People in 2020” HERE)

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Donald Trump Responds to Illegals Not Getting Stimulus Checks; Trump Administration Urged to Release Illegal Aliens

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter on Wednesday about “undocumented” immigrants not getting a stimulus check from the government as part of the coronavirus economic rescue package.

“Well, you know, you are saying undocumented, meaning they came in illegally,” Trump said. “A lot of people would say that we have a lot of citizens right now that won’t be working, so what are you going to do?” . . .

“It’s a very sad question, I must be honest with you, but they came in illegally and we have a lot of people that are citizens in our country that won’t be able to have jobs,” Trump said. (Read more from “Donald Trump Responds to Illegals Not Getting Stimulus Checks” HERE)

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Trump Administration Urged to Release Illegal Aliens Amid Coronavirus

By New York Post. The Trump administration is facing a looming deadline to figure out whether it will continue to hold illegal immigrant detainees at migrant detention centers amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus.

Over the weekend, a federal judge ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to either release illegal migrant minors in their custody or explain why they must remain detained amid the virus outbreak.

The judge also warned that ICE officials will be given a week to show the court that three specific family detention centers are providing adequately hygienic conditions for migrants being housed there.

The judge described conditions at those centers as “hotbeds of contagion.” (Read more from “Trump Administration Urged to Release Illegal Aliens Amid Coronavirus” HERE)

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Hospital Workers Threatened With ‘Termination’ for Voicing Coronavirus Shortages

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By Washington Examiner. Reminiscent of steps taken by the Chinese Communist Party after doctors attempted to warn the world about the coronavirus, some American hospitals are instructing workers to keep quiet about conditions at the facilities or face termination.

“Hospitals are muzzling nurses and other healthcare workers in an attempt to preserve their image,” Ruth Schubert, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Nurses Association, told Bloomberg on Tuesday. “It is outrageous.”

In an email sent to workers at NYU Langone Health on Friday, executive vice president of communications Kathy Lewis said employees cannot speak with the media unless authorized, or else they will be “subject to disciplinary action, including termination.” Jim Mandler, a spokesman for the hospital, followed up by saying the measures follow guidelines already in place that protect the privacy of patients and staff.

The message is similar to those received by healthcare workers in Washington and Illinois, who have been punished for voicing concerns about the lack of protective equipment available to staff.

Lauri Mazurkiewicz, a Chicago nurse who was fired by Northwestern Memorial Hospital after warning colleagues about a lack of protective equipment, is suing the hospital, claiming she was fired for speaking out. (Read more from “Hospital Workers Threatened With ‘Termination’ for Voicing Coronavirus Shortages” HERE)

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Are Hospitals Seeing a Surge of Coronavirus Patients? Some Officials Aren’t Saying

By NPR. With tests scarce, epidemiologists are looking at hospitalizations as an indicator of how the novel coronavirus is spreading. But in some of the areas of the country worst-hit by COVID-19, states and counties aren’t releasing that data.

The result is an incomplete picture of where the pandemic is surging, even in hotspots such as Washington and California.

“So as long as people aren’t being turned away, we must focus on hospitalizations and ICU cases,” says Steven Goodman, an epidemiologist and Stanford University’s associate dean of Clinical and Translational Research. “The more reliable numbers, aside from the number of deaths, are how many people get sick enough to be in the hospital and in the ICU. That’s what we need to know.” . . ,

Still, other hotspots aren’t releasing numbers at all, either because public health officials are overwhelmed by the crisis and are still compiling the numbers or for reasons they declined to explain, even though they are compiling the numbers internally. (Read more from “Are Hospitals Seeing a Surge of Coronavirus Patients? Some Officials Aren’t Saying” HERE)

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New Photos From Wuhan Reignite Doubts That Communist China Is Being Honest About Coronavirus

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By The Blaze. A new development in China is refueling theories that China’s communist government is not being honest with the world about the coronavirus.

This week, families in Wuhan — the Chinese city of about 11 million people where the COVID-19 pandemic originated — were allowed to begin picking up the cremated remains of loved ones who succumbed to COVID-19.

According to reports, some people had to wait in line for five hours to received their loved one’s ashes. But what is especially notable is that thousands of urns were shipped to the city, many thousands more than necessary for the 2,535 people that China claims died in Wuhan due to COVID-19. . .

(CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS)

Despite global suspicions, China lifted the lockdown in Wuhan that had been in place since January. China also claims the area is not seeing any new cases of COVID-19. (Read more from “New Photos From Wuhan Reignite Doubts That Communist China Is Being Honest About Coronavirus” HERE)

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Estimates Show Wuhan Death Toll Far Higher Than Official Figure

By Radio Free Asia. As authorities lifted a two-month coronavirus lockdown in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, residents said they were growing increasingly skeptical that the figure of some 2,500 deaths in the city to date was accurate.

Since the start of the week, seven large funeral homes in Wuhan have been handing out the cremated remains of around 500 people to their families every day, suggesting that far more people died than ever made the official statistics.

“It can’t be right … because the incinerators have been working round the clock, so how can so few people have died?” an Wuhan resident surnamed Zhang told RFA on Friday.

“They started distributing ashes and starting interment ceremonies on
Monday,” he said.

Seven funeral homes currently serve Wuhan — a huge conurbation of three cities: Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang. (Read more from “Estimates Show Wuhan Death Toll Far Higher Than Official Figure” HERE)

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Armed Vigilantes Chop Down Tree, Block Driveway to Force Neighbor to Self-Quarantine Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

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A group of armed vigilantes cut down a tree and dragged it across a man’s driveway in Maine to force him to quarantine in his home amid fears he could be infected with the coronavirus, officials said.

A man residing on Cripple Creek Road in Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Maine, called authorities around 3:35 p.m. Friday to report a group of people with guns had cut down a large tree and dragged it in front of his driveway, blocking access to the main road.

The man said he left his house to check his property when he noticed the cable went out. The unidentified man said he retreated to his home and hailed the Coast Guard for help using a VHF radio after a neighbor began yelling at him to get indoors and remain quarantined.

The armed group had dispersed before authorities arrived. Deputies with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Maine Marine Patrol and a Coast Guard boarding party, responded to the scene. The incident remains under investigation.

“Deputies have learned that there is a general belief by some island residents that the Cripple Creek Residents are supposed to be quarantined because they came here from another state and could have COVID-19,” the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Maine said in a Facebook post. (Read more from “Armed Vigilantes Chop Down Tree, Block Driveway to Force Neighbor to Self-Quarantine Amid Coronavirus Pandemic” HERE)

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