Posts

Doctor Dies of Coronavirus After Leaving Retirement to Fight the Pandemic

/0 Comments/in , /by

A retired British doctor who returned to work to help battle the country’s coronavirus outbreak died of the disease this week, according to new reports.

Dr. Alfa Saadu, 68, died Tuesday morning after suffering from the infection for two weeks, his son Dani said in a social media post, Metro UK reported.

He worked at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, until his passing.

“‘My dad was a living legend, worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years saving people’s lives here and in Africa,” Dani wrote. “Up until he got sick, he was still working part-time saving people.”

Dani told Huffington Post UK that his father was “a very passionate man, who cared about saving people.” (Read more from “Doctor Dies of Coronavirus After Leaving Retirement to Fight the Pandemic” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Chinese Scientists Seeking Potential COVID-19 Treatment Find ‘Effective’ Antibodies

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Reuters. A team of Chinese scientists has isolated several antibodies that it says are “extremely effective” at blocking the ability of the new coronavirus to enter cells, which eventually could be helpful in treating or preventing COVID-19.

There is currently no proven effective treatment for the disease, which originated in China and is spreading across the world in a pandemic that has infected more than 850,000 and killed 42,000.

Zhang Linqi at Tsinghua University in Beijing said a drug made with antibodies like the ones his team have found could be used more effectively than the current approaches, including what he called “borderline” treatment such as plasma.

Plasma contains antibodies but is restricted by blood type.

In early January, Zhang’s team and a group at the 3rd People’s Hospital in Shenzhen began analysing antibodies from blood taken from recovered COVID-19 patients, isolating 206 monoclonal antibodies which showed what he described as a “strong” ability to bind with the virus’ proteins. (Read more from “Chinese Scientists Seeking Potential COVID-19 Treatment Find ‘Effective’ Antibodies” HERE)

_________________________________________________________

Top NY Blood Center Doctor Says Plasma Coronavirus Treatment Looking ‘Promising’

By Fox News. r. Beth Shaz, chief medical and scientific officer at the New York Blood Center, joined “The Story” Wednesday night to discuss “promising” efforts to treat coronavirus using the blood plasma of recovered patients.

“Right now we have a handful [of donors],” Shaz told host Martha MacCallum. “You have to be at least 14 days after [having] symptoms. With the first cases in the New York area [confirmed] on March 1, we are just beginning to get there.”

Prior to bringing Shaz on the show, MacCallum spotlighted a New York Post report about Long Island mother Diana Berrent, who became one of the first people in New York to donate her blood plasma for treatment efforts.

“Take my blood. Take my plasma,” Berrent said in the first-person story. “Swab my nasal passage over and over again. If it can potentially save a single life it would be nothing less than a miracle. (Read more from “Top NY Blood Center Doctor Says Plasma Coronavirus Treatment Looking ‘Promising'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Recovering Fairbanks COVID-19 Patient Speaks out as a Cautionary Tale

/0 Comments/in , /by

A Fairbanksan who is recovering from the novel coronavirus is speaking out about her experience. Miriam Braun was one in the first handful of cases in Fairbanks, and is now on the mend. Those who get the virus can have a range of symptoms and experiences and Braun talked about what it was like for her.

She says on March 13, she started to have a bad headache and neck ache that felt like the flu. “I have some other health conditions so I wasn’t sure if I was having a flare or if it was just a bad head and neck ache, and it just kept getting worse. Then about three days later I developed a fever and the fever was relentless, I mean it lasted for a long time,” said Braun. She said the fever lasted from March 16 to March 27.

Braun says she went to urgent care and they were able to give her fluids, which helped since she was having difficulty drinking and eating. She says they tested her for the flu, but that came back negative and about a week after she started having symptoms, someone from the state’s health department called telling her she had been exposed to COVID-19 when she had gone to a previous doctor’s appointment. After five days, the test came back positive. (Read more from “Recovering Fairbanks COVID-19 Patient Speaks out as a Cautionary Tale” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Jobs Melting Away Fast as Coronavirus Wreaks Havoc on Economy

/0 Comments/in , /by

. . .Layoffs have skyrocketed, nearly half of all U.S. companies expect to announce furloughs, and 37% have begun a hiring freeze as the virus reaches into every nook and cranny of commercial life.

Gap on Monday announced that it was shutting its doors across North America and Europe on April 1 and would furlough their workers. The company will halt wages but pay “applicable benefits” until stores reopen, it said.

Other prominent retailers announced massive layoffs in recent days. Macy’s and Kohl’s announced Monday that they furloughed staff and closed their doors.

They’re unlikely to open again until late spring or until the virus is checked. It has already infected more than 184,180 people in the United States and killed at least 3,720, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, said Tuesday that the expected peak of infection and death is still some two weeks away.

The White House recommended that everyone practice social distancing for another month, and stay home if possible. More and more states are issuing stay-at-home orders and extending them further into the future, meaning that all nonessential businesses will remain closed. (Read more from “Jobs Melting Away Fast as Coronavirus Wreaks Havoc on Economy” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Hospital Workers Threatened With ‘Termination’ for Voicing Coronavirus Shortages

/0 Comments/in , , /by

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)

___________________________________________________

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)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Chinese Government Finally Acknowledges Underreporting Coronavirus Cases; Coronavirus Is Latest in China’s History of Trying to Cover up Negative Info

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Daily Caller. A top Chinese health official said Wednesday that the government will begin counting coronavirus patients without symptoms in its official tally of cases of the virus, in what is a tacit acknowledgement that Beijing has underreported data on the pandemic.

China’s National Health Commission disclosed that the government is monitoring 1,541 people who have tested positive for coronavirus but have no symptoms.

Chang Jile, the head of the health agency, said at a press conference in Wuhan that the government will start reporting asymptomatic patient numbers Wednesday.

“From April 1, we will publish reports, outcomes and management of asymptomatic people in daily epidemic notifications, and respond to social concerns in a timely manner,” Jile said, according to CCTV.

Jile’s statement is the first time that the government has officially acknowledged that it has undercounted patients. (Read more from “Chinese Government Finally Acknowledges Underreporting Coronavirus Cases” HERE)

____________________________________________________

Coronavirus Is Latest in China’s History of Trying to Cover up Negative Info

By Fox News. Months after the coronavirus began to surface in China, the outbreak has spread across the world, killing thousands and prompting governments to enact unprecedented containment measures.

Beijing says it’s slowly beginning to emerge from the crisis that originated on its soil, while putting its propaganda machine to work to craft a favorable narrative. Weeks after announcing the outbreak, some governments — particularly the United States — are accusing China of purposely failing to inform the public, thereby exacerbating the crisis.

A Chinese doctor who has since died of the virus tried sounding alarms during its early stages. Li Wenliang — who worked in a Wuhan hospital and has since been hailed as a hero — was detained with eight other doctors for posting information about patients with respiratory problems on WeChat, a Chinese messaging platform.

Authorities claimed the doctors were spreading “unverified information” as reason for their detention. Other doctors were reprimanded and told to stop posting online about the virus. Li was released after signing a document admitting he committed “illegal acts.” (Read more from “Coronavirus Is Latest in China’s History of Trying to Cover up Negative Info” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Biden in a Coronavirus Groundhog Day-Like Loop

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Washington Examiner. Joe Biden is living in reminiscent of the 1993 film Groundhog Day, stuck in limbo and answering the same questions over and over while trying to move on to taking his place as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Isolated in his Wilmington, Delaware home, Biden says that his day starts with two meetings with advisers: one on the status of the coronavirus pandemic and government response and one on the economy.

Later in the day, the former vice president heads to his basement recreation room to his newly-constructed professional studio, where he either gives a live-stream address or appears on a television show.

The hits are often very similar to each other. Biden finds ways to mention that he wants up to $10,000 in student loans canceled for those affected by the coronavirus, a temporary month ban on evictions, and for President Trump to use the Defense Production Act to create medical supplies. . .

Biden tries to strike a balance of firm without being so critical that he comes off as opportunistic. As a result, the former vice president is fading away from the public psyche. A Yahoo/YouGov poll released Tuesday found that Biden is one of the least viable public figures during the crisis, with only 17% of respondents saying that they have heard “a lot” from the former vice president. (Read more from “Biden in a Coronavirus Groundhog Day-Like Loop” HERE)

____________________________________________________

Biden Says Coronavirus’ Impact on Health System Hasn’t Changed His Mind on Single-Payer

By CNBC. Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that he was not reconsidering his opposition to single-payer health care despite the strain that the coronavirus pandemic has put on the existing health-care system.

“Single-payer will not solve that at all,” Biden said during an interview on MSNBC.

Biden is running against Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination. Biden is ahead in delegates, 1,181 to 871, out of 1,991 needed to win, according to an NBC News tracker.

Sanders’ “Medicare-for-all” proposal to overhaul the health-care system and implement a single-payer, government-run system was a focus of the race even before the public health crisis erupted in the U.S. and essentially knocked both men off the campaign trail.

Biden has opposed the proposal, citing its costs, and suggested earlier in March that as president he might veto it, though his campaign later seemed to walk back the comments. (Read more from “Biden Says Coronavirus’ Impact on Health System Hasn’t Changed His Mind on Single-Payer” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Justice Department Looking Into Senator’s Stock Sell-Off

/0 Comments/in , /by

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr sold off a large amount of stocks before the coronavirus market crash, and now the Justice Department is looking into his statements around this time period, NPR can report.

Media outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press have also reported that the FBI has reached out to Burr to assess whether he made stock sales based on nonpublic information.

NPR first broke news of a secret recording in which Burr, R-N.C., privately warned well-connected constituents in February about how bad the coronavirus crisis would become. . .

As chairman of the Intelligence Committee and a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Burr may have received private information about the coming pandemic.

“Was [that information] something that you and I, if we were shareholders of that company, would have reasonably expected it to be considered significant at the time?” said Doug Davison, a former Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyer, laying out a key question that investigators would have. “The investigation needs to be surgical in the sense that you need to really focus like a laser on what information was provided to the Congress folks. Was it material? Was it nonpublic?” (Read more from “Justice Department Looking Into Senator’s Stock Sell-Off” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

New York Doctor: ‘I Do’ Think an End to Coronavirus Crisis Is ‘in Sight’

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Daily Caller. New York doctor and Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat said that the ongoing coronavirus crisis could be about to peak.

Taking a brief break from treating New York City hospital patients on Tuesday to speak to Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer on “Bill Hemmer Reports,” Nesheiwat said this has been her “busiest week of coronavirus patients” yet. . .

“Do you see an end in sight?” Hemmer asked.

“I do, I absolutely do,” she responded. “I feel we are at the point where we’re getting all the resources and the support that we need whether it’s supplies, whether it’s staff, whether it’s the space to have to put patients. We got that ship. When I saw that ship pull up, I got chilled and I got teary-eyed because I felt that we are now getting all the tools that we need to help take care of our patients.” (Read more from “New York Doctor: ‘I Do’ Think an End to Coronavirus Crisis Is ‘in Sight’” HERE)

______________________________________________________

New York, ‘Still in Search of the Apex,’ Sees Another Spike in Coronavirus Cases

By NPR. New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus’ spread in the U.S., has reported yet another sizable leap in confirmed cases. With more than 9,200 new cases, the state’s grand total is more than 75,000 as of midday Tuesday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is warning that the rise in the number of New York’s confirmed cases is only going to get steeper as testing increases and more time passes.

“We’re all in search of the apex and the other side of the mountain,” he told a news conference Tuesday.

“That’s where the main battle is going to be, the apex of the curve,” he added, referring to graphs projecting the number of COVID-19 cases over time. The top of the curve, in other words, reflects the moment at which the volume of cases reaches its peak. “And then we come down the other side of the mountain. We are planning now for the battle at the top of the mountain.”

New York has reported nearly five times as many confirmed cases of the coronavirus as any other state — a gap that may grow larger as the state ramps up testing. Of the more than 18,000 tests undertaken there since Monday, Cuomo said that roughly half returned a coronavirus diagnosis. (Read more from “New York, ‘Still in Search of the Apex,’ Sees Another Spike in Coronavirus Cases” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Secretary of Defense Admits He Hasn’t ‘Had a Chance’ to Read Desperate Plea From Captain of Aircraft Carrier Filled With Sick Sailors

/0 Comments/in , /by

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told CBS’s Norah O’Donnell Tuesday that he hasn’t yet read the four-page plea for help “in detail” from the captain of an aircraft carrier filled with sailors who have the novel coronavirus.

Capt. Brett Crozier sent a four-page letter asking Navy officials to send the ship resources so his men don’t die, according to the letter obtained by The Chronicle. The USS Theodore Roosevelt has been siting in a Guam dock after a novel coronavirus outbreak on board less than one week ago.

“Well, I have not had a chance to read that letter, read it in detail,” Esper admitted after discussing the situation for a few minutes with O’Donnell. “Again, I’m going to rely on the Navy chain of command to go out there to assess the situation and to make sure they provide the captain and the crew all the support they need to get the sailors healthy and get the ship back at sea.”

Crozier said the crew is unable to adhere to social distancing guidelines while on board the ship and wrote that “we are not at war” and so not “a single Sailor” should have to die from the virus. The situation began with just three confirmed novel coronavirus cases on board. Now, there are reportedly 150 to 200, The Chronicle reported. (Read more from “Secretary of Defense Admits He Hasn’t ‘Had a Chance’ to Read Desperate Plea From Captain of Aircraft Carrier Filled With Sick Sailors” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE