Year: 2020

As the flu season is set to start in the northern hemisphere, the World Health Organization recommends people at highest risk be vaccinated to protect themselves and to prevent national health systems from getting overwhelmed during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The WHO is updating its guidance to help nations navigate the complex challenges posed by the simultaneous circulation of influenza and the coronavirus.The seasonal influenza results in up to a billion cases globally each year, causing an average of 290,000 to 650,000 deaths, according to the WHO. Influenza and COVID-19 are both respiratory diseases with some similar symptoms.   FILE – An ad offering free flu shots is seen in Brooklyn, New York, Aug. 21, 2020.Ann Moen, chief of the WHO’s Influenza Preparedness and Response program, says the vaccines, antivirals and non-pharmaceutical interventions that can protect people against influenza are not available for COVID-19.  “So, all of the protective measures that we have been messaging about COVID and about flu in the past, such as people taking physical distancing measures, hand hygiene, covering coughs and sneezes, wearing masks when appropriate and staying home when sick, seeking care when needed, are all very important for both flu and COVID,” she said.   The WHO advises health care workers and the elderly, who are at highest risk for the flu, to be vaccinated first. Other at-risk people include pregnant women, individuals with underlying health conditions, and children. Moen says people who are at high risk from the flu are also at high risk from COVID-19, and …

The governor of the eastern U.S. state of Virginia announced Friday that he and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19.   Governor Ralph Northam said they were notified Wednesday that a staff member who works in the living quarters of their official residence developed symptoms and subsequently tested positive, after which the couple had their own tests done.   He said his wife, Pamela, is experiencing mild symptoms, while he remains asymptomatic.   The couple is isolating for 10 days, during which the governor is continuing his work.   Crews are also cleaning the governor’s mansion, and the Northams are working with state health officials on contact-tracing efforts to make sure anyone they may have been in contact with is aware of their positive tests.   Northam said the best thing people can do is “take this seriously.”  …

A new survey indicates more than 80% of people living in Britain with COVID-19 symptoms or who have had contact with someone who has tested positive are ignoring self-isolation guidelines.   The survey, released Friday and conducted by Kings College London and the National Health Service (NHS), found that only 18.2% of people who reported having symptoms of COVID-19 in the previous seven days have stayed isolated since their symptoms developed, and only 11.9% requested a COVID-19 test.   The research also shows fewer than half those surveyed were able to identify the symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.   The research also found that only 10.9% of people told to self-isolate after close contact with a COVID-19 case had done so for 14 days as required.   In a statement, the survey’s senior author, Kings College researcher Dr. James Rubin, said the research indicated that while the public seems to have good intentions to adhere to the test, trace and isolate guidelines, financial constraints are the most common reason given for non-compliance, among other factors.   Britain this week introduced fines of up to $12,780 for breaking self-isolation rules, and it is offering nearly $640 in support payments to low-paid workers who lose income from quarantining.   The study shows other reasons for non-compliance ranged from not knowing government guidance to being unable to identify the symptoms.   Kings College says the data was collected through surveys conducted among 30,000 people living in Britain …

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Friday that the U.S. is on the brink of having an astounding 7 million COVID-19 cases.  India follows the U.S. with 5.8 million and Brazil has 4.6 million cases. Brazil’s rising caseload has prompted the country to announce the delay of Rio de Janeiro’s annual Carnival parade held in February, during the South American country’s summer.   Millions of people take to the city’s streets for the annual rambunctious event.It is the first time the event has been delayed.  It was not immediately clear when or if the 2021 iteration of the world-famous parade will take place. Hair loss is the latest reported side effect of the coronavirus.  An account in The New York Times says doctors have noticed a recent uptick in the numbers of patients reporting the loss.  The hair loss is happening not only to people who have had the virus, but also those who have not. Doctors say they believe that in both instances the hair loss can be attributed to stress. “There’s many, many stresses in many ways surrounding this pandemic, and we’re still seeing hair loss because a lot of the stress hasn’t gone away,” Dr. Shilpi Khetarpal, an associate professor of dermatology at the Cleveland Clinic, told The Times. People drink at the outside tables of a bar in Soho, in central London on September 24, 2020, on the first day of the new earlier closing times for pubs and bars in England and Wales, introduced to combat the spread of the coronavirus. – Britain has…Britain tightens restrictions Last call came early Thursday at pubs and bars in England and Wales, as Britain tightened the rules to try to curb a coronavirus surge. The new restrictions, announced Tuesday …

As winter brings shorter days and lower temperatures to the Northern Hemisphere, there is a chance we could see more COVID-19 cases.But experts say it is still too early to know exactly how seasons will affect the virus. They emphasize that human behaviors are still the most important driver of the pandemic.“The most important factor at the moment is … the control measures that we have in place. Things such as social distancing and mask-wearing — those are really key to lowering transmission of disease at this point,” said Rachel Baker, infectious disease researcher at Princeton University.COVID and climateMany diseases, such as the flu, are seasonal, with cases spiking when the weather is cool and dry.“It’s well known that many respiratory viruses have seasonality,” said Akiko Iwasaki, professor of immunology at Yale University. “And so, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s actually elevated transmission during the winter months from COVID.”There are three main reasons why scientists think the coronavirus could be affected by climate.“The virus doesn’t like certain seasons, or our bodies don’t like certain seasons. Or it’s just that we’re putting more of our bodies together in closed spaces,” said Ben Zaitchik, associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Johns Hopkins University.SARS-CoV-2, the official name of the virus that causes COVID-19, is spread by respiratory droplets produced when people breathe, talk, sneeze or cough. The virus survives better in cold, dry conditions typical of temperate winters. Low humidity also promotes evaporation of virus droplets into tiny aerosol particles …

The space weather forecasts for the sun could threaten how this report is both broadcast and watched.  The next crew of the International Space Station moves closer to launch, and an asteroid the size of a school bus just missed hitting the Earth.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on preexisting medical conditions Thursday, amid a global pandemic and growing uncertainty about the future of protections guaranteed by the Obama-era health law his administration is still trying to overturn.In a visit to swing state North Carolina, the president sketched out what aides called a “vision” for quality health care at affordable prices, with lower prescription drug costs, more consumer choice and greater transparency. The president also signed another executive order to try to end surprise medical bills.But while the Trump administration has made some progress on its health care goals, the sweeping changes he promised as a candidate in 2016 have eluded him. Democrats are warning Trump would turn back the clock if given another four years in the White House, and they are promising coverage for all and lower drug prices.Legislation unlikelyThe clock has all but run out in Congress for major legislation on lowering drug costs or ending surprise bills, much less replacing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.Bill-signing ceremonies on prescription drugs and medical charges were once seen as achievable goals for Trump before the election. No longer.Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said one of Trump’s executive orders would declare it the policy of the U.S. government to protect people with preexisting conditions, even if the ACA is declared unconstitutional. However, such protections are already the law, and Trump would have to go to Congress to cement a new policy.On surprise billing, Azar said the president’s …

A new study released this week describes how binge drinking — consuming too much alcohol, too fast — affects the brain, leading to anxieties and other cognitive issues.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines binge drinking as a man consuming five or more drinks in about two hours; four drinks for a woman. The CDC reports the habit is growing problem in the United States, especially among young people, with 1 in 6 adults binge drinking about four times a month.Previous research examined the long-term effects of binge drinking on the brain, but this latest study, published Tuesday in the journal Science Signaling, focused specifically on immediate effects of binge drinking on the brain.To do this, the researchers from the University of Porto in Portugal gave an alcohol solution to mice, equivalent to 10 days of binge drinking, which spurred immune cells in mice brains to destroy the synapses — or connections — between neurons, leading to anxiety and other cognitive issues.University of Porto researcher João Relvas, co-author of the study, said in an interview, “Even for a short period of time, excessive drinking is likely to affect the brain, increasing the level of anxiety, a relevant feature in alcohol abuse and addiction.”Dangers of alcohol ‘underestimated’Relvas said further studies in humans could reveal the exact drinking patterns that spark synaptic dysfunction. But for now, Relvas cautioned that people should pay attention to their intake and follow public health guidelines on drinking in moderation.”The dangers of alcohol drinking, …

Helsinki Airport is getting creative when it comes to operating safely in the age of COVID-19. Beginning this week, travelers arriving at Finland’s busiest international airport will have the opportunity to take a voluntary coronavirus test that takes 10 seconds and is entirely painless — but it’s not the test that is unusual, rather, it’s who is conducting it.The new state-funded pilot program uses coronavirus-sniffing canines to detect the presence of the virus within 10 seconds with shocking accuracy. Preliminary results from the trial show that the dogs, who have been used previously to detect illnesses such as cancer and malaria, were able to identify the virus with nearly 100% accuracy.FILE – Sniffer dog Miina, being trained to detect the coronavirus from the arriving passengers’ samples, works in Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland, Sept. 15, 2020.Many of the dogs were able to detect the coronavirus long before a patient developed symptoms, something even laboratory tests fail to do.After passengers arrive at Helsinki from abroad and have collected their luggage, they are invited to wipe their necks with a cloth to collect sweat samples that are then placed into an intake box. In a separate booth, a dog handler places the box alongside several cans containing various scents and the canine goes to work.Researchers have yet to identify what it is exactly the dogs sniff when they detect the virus, but a preliminary study published in June found there was “very high evidence” that the sweat odors of a COVID-19-positive person …

European Union health officials urged members Thursday to “act decisively” to put in place and utilize measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus and a potential surge in cases like the one earlier this year that prompted widespread lockdowns.“We are at a decisive moment. All member states must be ready to roll out control measures, immediately and at the right time, at the very first sign of potential new outbreaks,” said Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for health and food safety. She added, “This might be our last chance to prevent a repeat of last spring.”More than 3 million cases have been reported across the EU and Britain since the pandemic began, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.Kyriakides noted some EU countries are experiencing higher numbers of new infections than they had in March at the peak of the outbreak in the region, saying, “It is abundantly clear that this crisis is not behind us.”France’s health ministry reported Thursday the number of people hospitalized in intensive care units due to the coronavirus surpassed 1,000 for the first time since early June.A woman is tested for COVID-19 at a mobile testing center in Marseille, France, Sept. 24, 2020.In the Netherlands, health officials said Thursday the number of new infections rose to 2,544, a record high for a single day.Poland’s health ministry also reported a record daily rise in cases and attributed the trend to people making more contact with others after restrictions were lifted.Sweden, which opted not to …

Scientists at the U.S. space agency NASA say a small asteroid – roughly the size of a bus – passed close to Earth on Thursday, flying just 22,000 kilometers above the surface, within the orbit of geostationary satellites that ring the planet. While the proximity to Earth might raise alarm, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California said even if the asteroid had entered the earth’s atmosphere, it almost certainly would have broken up and become a bright meteor.The asteroid, known as 2020 SW, is about five to ten meters wide and was first discovered on September 18 by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. NASA Plans to Land First Woman on the Moon in 2024Lunar landing will be America’s first since 1972NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) — part of the JPL — then did follow-up observations and confirmed its orbital trajectory, ruling out any chance of impact.CNEOS director Paul Chodas says an object this size, this close to earth, is not uncommon. He says, “In fact, asteroids of this size impact our atmosphere at an average rate of about once every year or two.”After passing the Earth, the asteroid will continue its journey around the Sun, not returning to Earth’s vicinity until 2041, when NASA says it will make a much more distant flyby.The space agency says they believe there are over 100 million small asteroids like 2020 SW, but they are hard to discover unless they get very close to Earth.In 2005, Congress assigned …

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has begun late-stage human trials of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. Dr. Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, told reporters Wednesday that 60,000 participants have begun receiving the vaccine across 215 locations in the United States, as well as internationally in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. Dr. Stoffels said Johnson & Johnson moved into the late-stage trial after seeing positive results from its combined Phase 1 and 2 trials in the U.S. and Belgium.   The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the fourth potential coronavirus vaccine undergoing large-scale Phase 3 testing in the United States, joining Moderna, AstraZeneca and a joint effort by Pfizer and German-based BioNTech. All four efforts are being developed under the Trump administration’s President Donald Trump walks past a U.S. map of reported coronavirus cases as he departs following a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news briefing at the White House in Washington, July 23, 2020.Speaking to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Dr. Stephen Hahn said those decisions will be made by career FDA scientists following the agency’s “rigorous expectations for safety and effectiveness.”  The FDA and other federal scientific and regulatory agencies have seen their credibility diminished by constant administration efforts to revise their reports and guidelines to maintain Trump’s views about the nature of the pandemic.  The United States is leading the world in both the number of total COVID-19 cases with over 6.9 million, and fatalities, at almost 202,000.  The United States and many …

The United Nations and Britain will co-host a global climate summit on December 12, the fifth anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement, the world body said Wednesday.The announcement came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping told the U.N. that the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluter would peak emissions in 2030 and attempt to go carbon neutral by 2060, a move hailed by environmentalists.”We have champions and solutions all around us, in every city, corporation and country,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.”But the climate emergency is fully upon us, and we have no time to waste. The answer to our existential crisis is swift, decisive, scaled-up action and solidarity among nations.”The world remains off-track to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, which scientists say is crucial to prevent runaway warming that would leave vast swaths of the planet inhospitable to life.”In light of this urgency, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will co-host a landmark global event convening global leaders … to rally much greater climate action and ambition,” the statement said.Session on ThursdayThe two were to address the issue at a climate round-table meeting hosted by Guterres on Thursday.National governments will be invited to present more ambitious and high-quality climate plans at the summit, which would involve government leaders, as well as the private sector and civil society.According to the U.N., the December 12 summit is intended to increase momentum ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 26) …

A weakened Beta continued its slow trek across several Southern states on Wednesday, bringing rainfall to parts of Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi after having flooded homes and roadways in Texas. Houston began drying out on Wednesday after some parts of the metro area got nearly 14 inches (35.6 centimeters) of rain over the last three days, according to the National Weather Service. Flooding from heavy rain prompted around 100 water rescues on city roadways. Preliminary reports showed at least 11 structures were flooded in the city limits. “It’s not nearly as bad as it could have been,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.  By Wednesday morning, Beta was 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (48 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm was moving east-northeast at 9 mph (14 kilometers). Flash flood warnings were issued Wednesday for parts of Louisiana, where up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain had fallen and up to 4 more inches could fall on top of that, the Weather Service said. The southwestern corner of Louisiana is still recovering after getting pounded by Hurricane Laura last month. FILE – Remnants of the half-destroyed mobile home of James Townley, who is living in the standing half, are seen in Lake Charles, La., in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, Aug. 30, 2020.Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches (7 to 12 centimeters) was expected on Wednesday and into early Thursday in parts of Central Mississippi, with some areas possibly getting …

The rows of lettuce, microgreens and herbs that Himanshu Aggarwal and his mother grow in an enclosed room in a busy New Delhi market began flourishing six months ago, just when the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold in India.Himanshu Aggarwal grows lettuce, microgreens and herbs in an 800-square-foot enclosed room in New Delhi. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)It was not the best of times. A day after the Aggarwals launched their hydroponic venture, 9Growers, India declared a stringent lockdown, making them nervous about how they would sell their freshly plucked greens amid the pandemic.Surprisingly, the situation helped grow their business. Worried about contracting the virus, people began to focus increasingly on healthful foods, and at the same time, shops became willing to stock their produce.Pratibha Aggarwal helped her son launch the venture 9Growers. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)”Vendors were open to having good produce, specially during lockdown. They were not even getting basic necessities, and we were giving them fresh produce harvested on the same day,” said Himanshu Aggarwal, 24, who was inspired to take up hydroponic farming after seeing the quality of fruits and vegetables during a trip to Europe. “Even our best produce could not match theirs. So I thought about how to achieve the same standards for a small community, and hydroponics seemed the answer.”Amid growing demand for fresh farm produce without pesticides, young entrepreneurs in Indian cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are turning their attention to hydroponic farming, where plants grow without soil and are fed mineral nutrients through water. …

Pope Francis once again used his weekly general audience Wednesday at the Vatican to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and urged the world’s leaders to remember all segments of society as they fight the coronavirus and work to rebuild world economies. Speaking before a limited group of masked faithful in a Vatican courtyard, Francis said everyone has something to contribute as the world attempts to emerge from this crisis But, he said, society’s leaders must respect and promote “the intermediate or lower levels” of society.    People attend Pope Francis’ weekly general audience at the San Damaso courtyard, at the Vatican, Sept. 23, 2020.He added that multinationals and pharmaceutical companies do not have all the answers.  “The largest financial companies are listened to rather than the people or the ones who really move the economy,” Pope Francis said Wednesday. “Multinational companies are listened to more than social movements. Putting it in everyday language, they listen more to the powerful than to the weak.” The pope called for an inclusive rethink of the economic, social and political structures of the global economy that he says have showed weakness during the health crisis. Francis has long insisted on the need to involve society’s most marginal groups — the indigenous, the poor and the elderly — in making decisions about their own future. “Let’s think about the cure for the virus; the large pharmaceutical companies are listened to more than the health care workers employed on the front lines in hospitals or in refugee camps. This is not …

The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday “science will guide our decisions” as the agency decides whether to give full or emergency authorization to a coronavirus vaccine.Speaking to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Dr. Stephen Hahn said those decisions will be made by career FDA scientists following the agency’s “rigorous expectations for safety and effectiveness.”Hahn pledged that the approval process will be “transparent and independent” and that the FDA will not authorize a vaccine that its staff would not feel comfortable giving to their families.Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Hearing on the federal government response to COVID-19.Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking at the same hearing, said that as several potential coronavirus vaccines undergo widescale trials, officials are predicting that by November or December they will know whether there is a vaccine that is safe and effective.Fauci cautioned that while there is optimism about the vaccine candidates, “there is never a guarantee” of finding one that works.He also signaled the need to couple any vaccine program with existing advice to stop the spread of the virus, such as wearing masks and social distancing.“We feel strongly that if we have a combination of adherence to the public health measures, together with a vaccine that will be distributed to people in this country and worldwide, we may be able to turn around this …

Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday it has launched the final stage of a single-shot COVID-19 vaccine trial the company hopes will determine if the vaccine is safe and effective by the end of the year or early next year.The company said 60,000 volunteers are participating in the trial in the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and South Africa.A number of other coronavirus vaccines in the U.S. and other countries already are in final-stage testing, including those developed by Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc.Many vaccine specialists question whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will cut corners to get final approval from President Donald Trump, who has consistently presented a testing timeline that is shorter than experts say is acceptable to fully test the candidates.President Trump, who has predicted a vaccine will be available by the November 3 presidential election, pushed again Wednesday for accelerated approval of a vaccine, tweeting the FDA “must move quickly!”U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins told reporters this week, however, that “We want to do everything we can without sacrificing safety or efficacy.”The Washington Post reported Wednesday the FDA, in an effort to promote transparency, will disclose details of a more stringent standard for a vaccine to receive emergency authorization, diminishing the chances of a vaccine approval before election day.Even if the FDA allowed the emergency use of a vaccine by the end of the year, limited supplies of the vaccine would first be administered to vulnerable groups such as health …

Germany’s health ministry Wednesday said its coronavirus smartphone app has been downloaded more than 18 million times and transmitted 1.2 million test results from labs to users during the first 100 days of use.Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters in Berlin that while the “Corona Warn App” is far from perfect, it should be considered a success. He said almost 5,000 users have activated the app to warn their contacts and called it a key tool in the country’s effort to contain the spread of the virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.He said, “This shows that the corona tracing app works, it is in demand…it helps to prevent infections and it is one of the most successful apps worldwide.”Spahn noted in particular the fact that most users can get their test results sent directly to their smartphones, without having to wait for their doctor to inform them.German Health Minister Jens Spahn attends a news conference to give an update on a smartphone app that allows users to evaluate their risk of being exposed to the coronavirus in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 23, 2020.Germany’s strict privacy rules mean that the app stores all data on phones and not on a central server. Observers, however, say there is no precise data on the number of people alerted about possible exposure.Should an app user get a positive test result, the app has a button the person can press to warn his or her contacts. Spahn says one problem is not everyone is doing that. …

Entrepreneurs in Indian cities are turning their attention to indoor hydroponic farming that uses the technique of soil-less cultivation. For one such enterprise, whose launch coincided with India’s strict lockdown, the COVID 19 pandemic actually helped grow business as consumers began to focus increasingly on healthy foods. Pasricha reports from New Delhi.Camera: Darshan Singh  Producer:  Jason Godman  …