How Africa's universities fight both coronavirus and inequality

Universities in Africa are having to confront inequality as they seek to save the 2020 academic year from the coronavirus pandemic. The institutions are also at the forefront of the continent's fight against COVID19.

Trump blames China; UK mourns victims; First countries ease restrictions

The British public will hold a minute's silence today to pay tribute to frontline workers who've died after contracting Covid 19. The government has announced it will make a 60,000 pound compensation payment to families of health workers and social care staff who die fighting the outbreak. After years of underfunding, and now a severe lack of personal protective equipment, the pandemic has laid bare the crisis within the UK's national health system.

Coronavirus: South Africa locks homeless up in detention camp | DW News

When South Africa registered its first coronavirus infection in early March, the government was swift to implement measures to combat the spread of the disease. While testing capacity and protective gear remain an issue, early figures suggest the strict policies are working. But among those most vulnerable to this pandemic are the homeless

How coronavirus antibody tests work and why they matter | COVID-19 Special

In the fight against the coronavirus, there is still one big unknown: how many people have actually contracted it, maybe even without showing any symptoms? One way to answer this question is through antibody tests. An antibody is a protective protein produced by the immune system to destroy harmful viruses and infections. When a pathogen enters the body, the immune system recognizes it and produces antibodies that dock onto the pathogen's antigens to remove them.

Coronavirus: New York alone now has more cases than any country as drone footage shows state using mass graves

New York now has more official coronavirus cases than any country in world, with mounting fatalities turning one of the city’s burial grounds into a mass grave visible from space.

The state of 20 million people has so far recorded 159,937 cases of Covid-19, thousands more than Spain or Italy.

The official death toll of 7,067, however, remains far lower than in both European nations, although mayor Bill de Blasio has warned of a grim surge in the number of people dying at home and in other non-hospital settings.

From A Supermarket Manager

This, from a grocery store manager, is getting heavy shares on social media:

I manage a grocery store.

Here's some things everyone should know

1. I don't have toilet paper
2. I don't have sanitizer
3. I run out of milk, eggs and meat daily
4. I promise if it's out on the shelf ... it's not in a hidden corner of our backroom.

Those are the predictable ones, now for the real stuff

5. I have been doing this for 25 years I did not forget how to order product.
6. I did not cause the warehouse to be out of product/
7. I schedule as much help as I have, including many workers working TONS of overtime to help YOU.
8. I am sorry there are lines at the check out lanes.

Now for the really important stuff:

9. My team puts themselves in harm's way every day so you can buy groceries.
10. My team works tirelessly to get product on the floor for you to buy.
11. My team is exhausted.
12. My team is scared of getting sick.
13. My team is human and does not possess an antivirus... they are in just as much danger as you are. (Arguably more) but they show up to work every day just so you can buy groceries
14. My team is tired.
15. My team is very under-appreciated.
16. My team is exposed to more people who are potentially infected in one hour than most of you will in a week (medical community excluded, thank you for all that you do!).
17. My team is abused all day by customers who have no idea how ignorant they are.
18. My team disinfects every surface possible, everyday, just so you can come in grab a wipe from the dispenser, wipe the handle and throw the used wipe in the cart or on the ground and leave it there... so my team can throw it in the trash for you later.
19. My team wonders if you wash your re-usable bags, that you force us to touch, that are clearly dirty and have more germs on them than our shopping carts do.
20. My team more than earns their breaks, lunches and days off. And if that means you wait longer I am sorry.

The last thing I will say is this:

The next time you are in a grocery store, please pause and think about what you are saying and how you are treating the people you encounter. They are the reason you are able to buy toilet paper, sanitizer, milk, eggs, and meat.

If the store you go to is out of an item.. maybe find the neighbor or friend that bought enough for a year ... there are hundreds of them... and ask them to spare 1 or 2. They caused the problem to begin with...

And lastly, please THANK the people who helped you. They don't have to come to work!

UK coronavirus cases rise as Scottish medical officer admits breaching guidelines to visit 2nd home

Amid a surge in the number of new coronavirus cases in the UK over the last 24 hours - the government has been stressing the urgent need for everyone to keep to social distancing rules.

But in Scotland police gave the nation's chief medical officer an official warning, after she admitted travelling to her second home twice, ignoring the rules she was calling on the public to abide by.

China Wants To Rewrite Its Coronavirus Failures

The Chinese Communist government has ratcheted up its efforts to rewrite history to cover up its failure to contain the coronavirus outbreak.  Li Wenliang who tried to warn other doctors about the outbreak was at first detained by the security services and told not disparage the state.  What followed was a complete cock-up leading not only to uncontrolled outbreak but, the death of Li Wenliang.  His death caused serious outrage  among social media users in China on Weibo .  It wasn't until March that the Chinese Communist government finally and I'm sure reluctantly issued a statement acknowledging the doctors attempts to warn the country and the world about the coronavirus outbreak.

Its been revealed that the CIA has tried to warn the White House about the statistics coming from the Chinese government. Of course Donald Trump just ignored the warning.   

Sadly a large swath of the American public will believe the Chinese governments rewrite of history.

The Chinese state is ramping up its English-language media campaigns in a bid to defend the country’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, highlight the failings of western governments, and raise China’s standing on the world stage.

Photographs of Chinese aid – dubbed “facemask diplomacy” – arriving at Heathrow on Saturday including boxes labelled “Keep Calm and Cure Coronavirus” have been promoted to UK audiences by the Xinhua news agency. Some younger Chinese diplomats have used English-language Twitter, which is banned within China, to spread false suggestions that the virus may have been started by the west to discredit the Chinese state.

Prof Kerry Brown, an associate fellow on the Asia-Pacific programme at the thinktank Chatham House, suggested the country was trying to turn a national disaster into a global triumph: “They’re trying to push back against some of the politicisation of this in America and to try to get control of the narrative before it spirals out of control.”

Tale of two cities: How San Francisco is flattening the curve while NYC becomes a global coronavirus epicentre

Two of America's most popular cities had notably different approaches to the coronavirus. The outcomes are now being seen

Danielle Zoellner @dani__zoellner

Two weeks into social distancing and early data has indicated San Francisco's coronavirus curve could be flattening.

Prior to the regulations, the Bay Area officials were concerned with how Covid-19 infections would impact the community.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and five mayors in the surrounding Bay Area issued a stay-at-home order on 16 March in response to concerns, an unprecedented move at the time. Then California Governor Gavin Newsom quickly followed his city mayors by ordering a statewide state-at-home order to the nearly 40m residents.

In New York, by comparison, the current US epicentre for the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo waited to issue a stay-at-home order. It went into effect almost a week later on 22 March. This order was in partnership with Connecticut and New Jersey to help combat the spread of the virus.

Ex-soldier's death casts light on Spaniards who helped liberate Paris

Rafael Gómez Nieto, who has died from coronavirus, was last survivor of WW2 La Nueve force

The death from coronavirus of a 99-year-old former soldier who was the last surviving member of a company of predominantly Spanish troops who helped liberate Paris from Nazi occupation has thrown a spotlight on one of the lesser-known events in French history.

Rafael Gómez Nieto, who fought against Franco in the Spanish civil war before joining the allied war effort, died after contracting Covid-19 in a nursing home in Strasbourg.

Gómez Nieto grew up in a town in the Almería region of Andalucía, the son of a career soldier who had been part of the royal guard to the Spanish king Alfonso XIII.

After fighting as part of the republican forces in the civil war – and seeing action in the four-month Battle of the Ebro, considered to be the conflict’s longest and bloodiest battle – he crossed the border into France along with about 500,000 of his compatriots.

Coronavirus: Indian migrant workers sprayed with disinfectant amid mass exodus from cities

Video footage shows Indian health workers spraying disinfectant on a group of migrant workers, amid fears that a large scale movement of people from cities to rural areas risks spreading the coronavirus widely. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, has ordered the country's 1.3 billion people to remain indoors until 15 April, saying that was the only hope to stop the pandemic. 

But the order has left millions of impoverished Indians jobless and hungry, prompting a mass exodus from cities to villages

Dr. Anthony Fauci: This is a critical time in coronavirus pandemic

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci says the next couple of weeks will be a critical time in the fight against coronavirus following the deadliest day of the pandemic in the US.

US death toll exceeds 3,000 +++ Spain's nursing homes under threat | Coronavirus Update

Spain has Europe's second highest coronavirus death toll behind Italy. Its nearly 8,000 fatalities have now surpassed China. With the elderly at high risk, nursing homes in Spain have been overwhelmed by the number of infections. There are reports of dire conditions, with dead bodies left in beds for hours. Relatives are worried about their loved ones but they've been banned from visiting.
In the United States the death toll from COVID-19 now exceeds three-thousand. More than a third of those victims are from New York state, whose governor has issued an urgent appeal for medical volunteers . Andrew Cuomo called the number of deaths "staggering". So far, around 80,000 former medical professionals have answered Cuomo's call. Meanwhile, a US Navy hospital ship has arrived to help relieve pressure on the city's hospitals.

Can data tracking curtail the Coronavirus pandemic? | Covid-19 Special

Data might be one of the key weapons to curtail the Coronavirus pandemic. The data on our smartphones, for example. It can show nearly every step we take and every step people around us take. Scientists estimate that one infected person passes the virus on to around 2-3 people on average. So what if we used all the data that we already have on our smartphones to track people infected with the Coronavirus? Warn those who had contact with a carrier ?

Amazon Workers Plan Walkout Over Coronvirus

INBOX: Amazon workers at an NYC warehouse say they're staging a walkout tomorrow over "the company’s lack of safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic" pic.twitter.com/2Srq4MWhjb

— Cristiano Lima (@viaCristiano) March 29, 2020

Coronavirus: Major cities empty as lockdown measures continue

Cities around the world are almost deserted as measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic continue.

Nothing Says Surviving A Pandemic Like A Gun

The DHS guidelines list as essential:

• Workers supporting the manufacturing of safety equipment and uniforms for law enforcement, public safety personnel, and first responders.
• Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.

Following in the lead of Texas Attorney General Dan Patrick the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as noted above: Has deemed the the manufacturing and selling of firearms essential to stopping and/or helping elevate the spread of the deadly coronavirus.  One can only imagine those brave armed virus warriors on the hunt for a microscopic foe they are unable to locate without a microscope.    One can only imagine these fools dressed in full camouflage and armed to the teeth acting like a Special Forces unit in search of this diabolical enemy.    

Treating those infected or preventing others from becoming infected never crossed the minds of these fools as being of the highest priority.  No. Instead they decided that the ability to manufacture and sell a weapon meant for one use only, war is essential in the fight against the corona virus. 

How people are connecting in the coronavirus crisis

The spread of coronavirus has affected people all around the world. Many are locked in their homes, countless businesses are shut down, and life as many knew it has come to a halt. But amid the crisis and the uncertainty, acts of kindness and solidarity have spread. Take a look at the many expressions of joy, teamwork, and support that have emerged from different corners of the world. They're a reminder that while many of us are isolated in our homes or on the frontlines of the fight against this virus, we are all in this together.

The rules of safe shopping under coronavirus: five tips for social distancing

America Is Number 1

#Covid_19 graph updated

Very alarming escalation in U.S.pic.twitter.com/m4n6HqvGUh

— Valerio De Cesaris (@ValerioDeC) March 28, 2020