Tag Archives: Prevention

Isolated Myanmar calls for international help as COVID cases surge

(Reuters) -Myanmar’s military ruler is looking for greater cooperation with the international community to contain the coronavirus, state media reported on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian country struggles with a surging wave of infections.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called in a speech for more cooperation on prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19, including with fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and “friendly countries,” the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the military ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, with regular protests and fighting between the army and newly formed militias. Various countries including the United States and Britain have imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s military rulers over the coup and the repression of pro-democracy protests in which hundreds have been killed.

The junta leader said vaccinations needed to be increased, through both donated doses and by developing domestic production, aided by Russia, the newspaper said, adding Myanmar would seek the release of funds from an ASEAN COVID-19 fund.

Myanmar recently received two million more Chinese vaccines, but it was believed to have only vaccinated about 3.2% of its population, according to a Reuters tracker. A drive to vaccinate some 40,000 inmates in densely packed prisons, which have seen major virus outbreaks recently, started on Wednesday, state-run MRTV reported.

The military has appeared wary of outside help in past disasters, forcing Myanmar’s people to help each other, though a previous junta did allow in aid via ASEAN after a devastating cyclone in 2008.

There have been desperate efforts by people to find oxygen in many parts of the country. The Myanmar Now news portal, citing witnesses, reported that at least eight people died in a Yangon hospital at the weekend after a piped oxygen system failed.

Reuters could not independently confirm the report and the North Okkalapa General Hospital and a health ministry spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Infections in Myanmar have surged since June, with 4,980 cases and 365 deaths reported on Wednesday, according to health ministry data cited in media. Medics and funeral services put the toll much higher.

Last week, prisoners in Yangon staged a protest over what activists said was a major COVID-19 outbreak in the colonial-era Insein jail, where many pro-democracy protesters are being held.

Vaccinations began at Insein and a prison in the capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday and would be extended to inmates countrywide, MRTV reported, citing the prisons department.

Efforts to tackle the outbreak have been further hampered by some of the worst flooding in years in eastern Myanmar.

Despite Min Aung Hlaing agreeing to an ASEAN peace plan reached in April, the military has shown little sign of following through on it and has instead reiterated its own, entirely different plan to restore order and democracy.

The military justified its coup by accusing Suu Kyi’s party of manipulating votes in a November general election to secure a landslide victory. The electoral commission at the time and outside observers rejected the complaints.

But in a further sign of the junta’s tightening grip on power, the military-appointed election commission this week officially annulled the November results, saying the vote was not in line with the constitution and electoral laws, and was not “free and fair,” MRTV reported.

(Reporting by Reuters StaffWriting by Ed Davies and John Geddie; Editing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie)

Exclusive: U.S. considers discouraging some travelers from cruises – sources

By David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper and Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is considering ways to discourage U.S. travelers from taking cruises as part of a broader Trump administration effort to limit the spread of coronavirus, according to four officials familiar with the situation.

The officials, who asked to remain anonymous, said no decision had been made. The discussions were taking place ahead of a meeting this weekend between Vice President Mike Pence, who is in charge of leading the U.S. response to the coronavirus, and the cruise industry.

The administration could advise some or all U.S. travelers to temporarily avoid taking cruises in the face of a growing number of coronavirus cases on cruise ships or potentially impose travel restrictions related to cruises, officials said.

Pence’s office did not immediately comment.

Shares of cruise operators in U.S. trading turned negative after the Reuters report. Carnival Corp  and Royal Caribbean  shares dropped nearly 2% and Norwegian Cruise Lines  stock was down nearly 1%.

Shares in Royal Caribbean Cruises, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have fallen around 50% since January.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a bill on Friday allocating $8.3 billion to bolster the country’s capacity to test for the new coronavirus and fund other measures to stem an outbreak that has now infected some 100,000 people worldwide.

Democrats have said Trump – a Republican who faces re-election on Nov. 3 – has not adequately prepared the country for the possibility of a pandemic.

Trump said during a visit to a tornado-stricken area in Tennessee on Friday that his administration was exploring options to help airlines and other industries hurt by the coronavirus outbreak, according to a pool report. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow also told CNBC that the administration was considering “targeted and timely” tax relief for such industries.

DEBATING MEASURES

Trump said on Friday that he had spoken to Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom about a cruise ship that was barred from docking in San Francisco after at least 35 people developed flu-like symptoms. The ship has been linked to two confirmed cases of the illness caused by the virus.

The administration is urgently debating measures aimed at reducing outbreaks on board cruise ships with several officials confirming the administration has reviewed potential restrictions on U.S. cruise ship travel.

Officials differed on whether the dramatic step of temporarily barring new cruises was being seriously considered. Cruise lines in recent days have liberalized cancellation and rebooking policies and some cruise travelers reported ships are traveling with far less than maximum capacity.

The Cruise Lines International Association said this week cruise lines would take steps to limit coronavirus concerns, denying boarding to all persons who had traveled from hot spots including South Korea, Iran, China and parts of Italy. The group also said cruise lines would conduct illness screening for U.S. citizens who have recently visited those destinations.

The cruise industry contributed nearly $53 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018 and generated more than 420,000 jobs, according to an analysis by the association.

Senior Trump administration officials discussed the cruise ship issue on Thursday and expected to revisit it during a meeting on Friday, according to a White House official.

The official called the ships “huge incubators” and said older cruise ship passengers could be especially vulnerable.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said its current information suggests that older people and people with severe chronic health conditions such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, have a higher risk of developing a serious illness as a result of the virus.

The U.S. State Department said in guidance last month that Americans should reconsider travel on cruise ships in Asia due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The department said the situation remained “dynamic” and that any travel by ship could be subject to restrictions and quarantine by local authorities.

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Chris Sanders and Howard Goller)

U.S. Senate nears passage of $8.3 billion coronavirus funding as concerns mount

By Richard Cowan and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday was poised to pass an $8.3 billion bill aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus and help develop vaccines, as some of the Trump administration’s top health officials briefed members of the House of Representatives on the crisis.

A Senate vote would follow House passage of the legislation on Wednesday, 415-2.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said of the emergency funding bill, “It’s a serious agreement to meet a serious challenge and today we will send it to President Trump’s desk.”

Trump is expected to sign the bill into law upon final approval by Congress.

Action by Congress comes as U.S. deaths related to coronavirus infections rose to 11 on Wednesday and new cases were identified on both coasts – around New York City and Los Angeles.

The money to fight coronavirus includes over $3 billion for research and development of vaccines, test kits and medical treatments. Another $2.2 billion would aid public health activities on prevention, preparedness and response to outbreaks.

Washington would dedicate $1.25 billion in coming weeks and months to help international efforts aimed at reining in the virus, which was first detected late last year in China and has since spread around the globe.

Thursday’s briefing by U.S. health officials in the Capitol came a day after Vice President Mike Pence held separate meetings with House Democrats and Republicans to discuss plans for responding to any coronavirus outbreak.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, were among those taking questions from House members on Thursday.

Representative Rosa DeLauro, who chairs a House panel that oversees federal spending on health programs, said she did not get satisfactory answers from officials about access to testing and diagnostics and how to help people who do not get paid sick days through their jobs or who have no health insurance.

Republican Representative Tom Cole, however, gave an upbeat assessment. “We’re still behind the curve there, but the sense is we’ll be moving pretty quickly and able to catch up.” He was referring to the growing number of tests that will be manufactured and could total around 1 million by next week.

The funding bill moving through Congress also would provide for low-interest federal loans to businesses affected by a coronavirus outbreak.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, David Morgan and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Fed’s Fischer says more to be done to prevent future crises

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer addresses The Economic Club of New York in New York, U.S. on March 23, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Stanley Fischer on Tuesday warned that while the U.S. and other countries have taken steps to make their housing finance systems stronger, more needs to be done to prevent a future crisis.

Fischer did not address the outlook for U.S. monetary policy or the economy in remarks prepared for delivery to the DNB-Riksbank Macroprudential Conference Series in Amsterdam.

Instead he focused on preventing financial instability, arguing that since the 2007-2009 financial crisis in the United States, “the core of the financial system is much stronger, the worst lending practices have been curtailed, much progress has been made in processes to reduce unnecessary foreclosures,” and a 2008 law helped clarify the status of government support for housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But to prevent a new crisis, he said, governments ought to do more, including stress tests for banks on their resilience should house prices decline dramatically, and making it easier to avoid foreclosures, which hurt both lenders and borrowers.

“(T)here is more to be done, and much improvement to be preserved and built on, for the world as we know it cannot afford another pair of crises of the magnitude of the Great Recession and the Global Financial Crisis,” he said.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; editing by Diane Craft)

Type 2 Diabetes Connected To Brain Deterioration

Doctors have now been able to confirm that type 2 diabetes has a direct connection to the loss of brain matter.

Doctors have known for many years that diabetes has a negative impact on the brain but the study of patients using MRIs shows that long term diabetes has a direct correlation to the greatest loss of brain tissue.

“It’d been thought that most, if not all, of the effect of diabetes on the brain was due to vascular disease that diabetics gets and, therefore, stroke,” Dr. R. Nick Bryan of the University of Pennsylvania told Fox News.  “We found in addition to that, there’s sort of diffuse loss of brain tissue, atrophy, we think may have a direct effect on the diabetes on the brain.”

A study of MRIs on patients close to 62 years of age with type 2 diabetes for at least 10 years showed the greatest reductions of the brain’s gray matter, where the neurons of the brain are located.

Researchers say that for people with diabetes, proper care is a priority to help delay the impact the disease will have on the vascular system and the brain.

Deadly Fertilizer Plant Explosion “Preventable”

(Note:  This is a follow up to a story we carried on April 18, 2013 on an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas.)

The deaths of 15 people and the wounding of 226 others in an explosion at a West, Texas fertilizer plant was completely preventable according to the investigation into the incident.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Tuesday that the incident “should never have occurred.”

“It resulted from the failure of a company to take the necessary steps to avert a preventable fire and explosion and from the inability of federal, state and local regulatory agencies to identify a serious hazard and correct it,” Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said. “The community clearly was not aware of the potential hazard at West Fertilizer.”

The board’s investigation found that the factory was storing ammonium nitrate inside a wooden building that left it very susceptible to fire.  Ammonium nitrate is a common fertilizer but is also extremely explosive.

It has been used in terrorist attacks, such as the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.

American Nuclear Facilities Vulnerable To Terror Attack

A new report says that American nuclear facilities are vulnerable to a “high-force” terrorist attack and some are still vulnerable to sabotage intended to create a nuclear meltdown.

The Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas released the report stating they want to shine a light on the security gaps left a decade after 9/11. Continue reading →