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]]>Syracuse, N.Y. — Should school children return to classrooms this fall, even amid a pandemic that might roll on for a year or more?
Yes, pediatricians and educators say. Recent research indicates that children don’t appear to be at high risk of spreading the novel coronavirus, they say, and there could be more harm to kids to keep them at home than to bring them back to school.
“I do believe we should open schools for children for the benefits they derive: It’s social, it’s emotional, it’s meals, it’s a safety net,” said Dr. Jana Shaw, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Upstate Medical University. “There are a number of benefits students derive from attending school, and they’re important regardless of race and income.”
Shaw said recent research suggests that children are less likely to get Covid-19, less likely to get sick, and less likely to pass it on than adults are. She cites a flood of recent studies that show children aren’t driving the epidemic.
The data is suggestive, though, and most of it has been conducted in other countries. The virus emerged in Asia in December, and many American schools closed in March, so there have been no studies of transmission in schools here.
Not all doctors embrace the idea that children are less likely to pass along the virus.
Dr. Ted Triana, a family physician who is also the medical director for the Syracuse City School District, says the science isn’t settled. He says some of the studies have serious shortcomings, and that we know children can get the disease without symptoms.
“If you put four scientists in a room, you’re going to have four different answers,” Triana said. “I think (children) could be silent transmitters.”
The calculus in deciding to reopen schools is similar to that for reopening the economy: Are the effects of a continued school lockout worse than the potential spread of the virus?
The largest group of child doctors in the country thinks so. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges states to reopen schools in the fall because students learn better and form important social bonds in classrooms than online.
“A lot of kids are struggling with trying to learn from home,” said Dr. Ed Lewis, a Rochester pediatrician who is president of the academy’s Upstate New York chapter. “Home is not school. There are kids who need their routines. There are kids who really need the structure.”
Children aren’t able to see their friends and live a normal life now, Lewis said, and that has long-term consequences. Many low-income students depend on schools for breakfast and lunch, and for health care and counseling from school nurses and psychologists. Online learning exacerbates society’s inequalities; low-income and rural families, for example, often lack the necessary internet connections.
Teachers who suspect their students have mental health problems, or are being abused at home, can seek help.
“We have caught medical conditions in the school setting that would otherwise have gone unrecognized,” said Triana, whose staff in the school district includes 48 nurses and 22 health aides.
In-person school teaches more than just academics, and students stuck at home aren’t learning how to interact with others, said Jeremy Belfiel, superintendent of the rural, 800-student LaFayette Central School District.
“In a small family dynamic there isn’t as much opportunity for kids to learn how to make friends, build relationships, build rapport, learn how to resolve disputes,” Belfiel said. “I think that’s a very critical skill.”
Dr. Geoffrey Hopkins, a psychiatrist at St. Joseph’s Health Hospital, said he’s already seen increased anxiety in his child patients caused by the closure of schools in March. That could get worse if they’re kept home in the fall, he said.
“For kids who do have underlying mental health conditions, Covid-19 and social isolation have magnified their symptoms,” said Hopkins, medical director of the hospital’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program. “When I ask them what do you think about going to school in the fall, they say, ‘I miss my friends so much.’ The social and emotional protection and support that schools provide can’t be overstated.”
School also serves as day care for working parents; if kids are stuck at home, parents can’t go to work, hampering the earning power of families and the ability for the economy to recover.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued guidelines for schools to open again, including encouraging mask-wearing and disinfecting classrooms. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he’ll issue guidance today and approve final plans in early August.
Schools in New York and around the country were abruptly shuttered in March after the first confirmed cases of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2. Governors saw classrooms as hotbeds of coronavirus transmission: dozens of kids close together, breathing on each other, not washing their hands frequently.
That’s true for the seasonal flu, which affects children and which they easily transmit to others. It was also true in 2009, when the H1N1 virus, also called the swine flu, broke out in the United States. Children were hardest hit because they had no immunity, while older people had some immunity because they had been exposed to an older form of H1N1.
“We assumed that SARS-CoV-2 would do the same and we wanted to be cautious and close schools down,” Shaw said.
Recent science suggests, however, that kids aren’t very efficient at spreading the new coronavirus.
“We know children are rarely the source of the infection of others,” Shaw said. “It is the adults that are primarily driving the transmission to others. Children get infected from adults. Therefore school closure is likely to have minimal impact on transmission and should be balanced with the benefit of keeping schools open.”
One study conducted in six Asian and European countries found that children and teens were half as likely as adults to be infected with the virus. That study also found that nearly 70% of people age 70 or older showed symptoms, but just 20% of 10-to 19-year-olds did. That could be a key reason children don’t transmit the virus as easily: If you’re not coughing and sneezing, Shaw noted, you’re not spreading the virus as readily.
One review of over 700 studies, done by researchers in Sweden and New York, concluded that children had lower levels of the virus in their bodies than adults did, and were rarely the source of an outbreak in households. Children also came in contact mostly with other children and parents, not with the older people who are more vulnerable to the disease and its effects.
“Children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the pandemic,” the study concluded. “Opening up schools and kindergartens is unlikely to impact COVID-19 mortality rates in older people.”
According to “The Child is Not To Blame,” an article in the academy’s journal, “Pediatrics,” several studies indicate children don’t transmit the virus easily
- A 9-year-old boy in France with the virus exposed 80 classmates, but none of them contracted the virus.
- In Australia, nine students and nine staff members infected with the virus had close contact with 735 students and 128 staff members. Only two additional people were infected.
- In a hospital in China, 65 of 68 children with Covid-19 were likely infected by adults in their households, not the other way around.
In several northern European countries that have reopened schools, the number of new cases has remained relatively flat. The reopening of schools doesn’t happen in a vacuum, though, so it’s too early to know if an increase in cases spread in schools is being masked by a decline in other areas of society.
Data is sparse and sometimes contradictory, however, in large part because schools around the world were closed early in each country’s epidemic, and it’s possible that children could be bigger spreaders than the studies indicate.
The paper that reviewed 700 studies cautioned that children could still pass on SARS-CoV-2, and could do so even if they had no symptoms. A German study in May said children and adults carried just as much virus and therefore might be just as infectious.
“Based on these results, we have to caution against an unlimited re-opening of schools and kindergartens in the present situation,” that study said.
It gets murkier: Some studies indicate that elementary school children might be less likely to spread the virus than high schoolers. A New Zealand high school, for example, had an outbreak with 96 cases, while a nearby elementary had only a handful.
Other evidence has emerged that children may be harmed more by the virus than previously thought. Upstate has seen at least two cases of a severe inflammatory disease the virus can cause in children, and several children in the state have died from it. More than 1,000 children were hospitalized in New Jersey. Of 48 children in a study who were hospitalized, 40% needed a ventilator.
Schools, of course, are also staffed by adult teachers, aides and other staff members who could potentially catch and spread the virus. Many staff members may also be in high-risk groups. Teachers unions are pushing for more funding and a seat at the table in planning how schools will reopen while keeping them safe.
Regardless of how easily children catch and spread the virus, even those who want schools reopened say it can’t be done without major changes.
The pediatrics academy, in a 6,000-word report, recommends that students should wear masks and be spaced at least 6 feet apart in classrooms and buses. Lockers should be eliminated or reconfigured so students aren’t standing shoulder-to-shoulder to get their books and coats; teachers, not students, should move from classroom to classroom; and practice social distancing in staff rooms.
“It cannot be as if nothing has happened,” Shaw said.
A leading contender for what school will look like is the hybrid approach, in which students attend schools in shifts. New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio proposed that students spend half their days in school and half at home, learning online. That frees up classroom space and reduces the number of peers each classmate comes into contact with.
Triana supports the hybrid approach. It reduces concerns about the spread of the virus while getting children inside the building at least some of the time, he said.
“I’m of the belief that a start is better than nothing,” he said.
Upstate’s Shaw issued one important caveat: Children should return to school buildings only if the epidemic remains under control.
“The opening of schools has to be driven by the local epidemiology of the virus,” she said. “In Central New York we have very low rates of transmission. We have done a fantastic job of controlling this epidemic, and schools should stay open if the epidemic stays as it is.”
The number of newly confirmed cases has fallen in Onondaga County even with greatly expanded testing. Since mid-May, the average number of cases per day has fallen from 41 to 27.
That’s not true around the country, however: Cases are exploding in the Sun Belt; Florida just set a record for the most positive cases in a single day. In late June, Cuomo told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd that the national picture could delay schools opening here.
“If this continues across the country, you’re right, Chuck, kids are going to be home for a long time,” Cuomo said.
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The novel coronavirus pandemic is still accelerating, and its effects will be felt for decades, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general said.
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The WHO reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases as the total rose by 183,020 in a 24-hour period. The biggest increase was from the Americas, with more than 116,000 new cases.
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Brazil officially passed the 50,000 mark, with 50,617 coronavirus deaths as of Sunday. It has recorded 1,085,038 cases to date, according to the country’s health ministry.
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Worldwide, more than 9 million people have been confirmed to have the coronavirus, At least 4.4 million have recovered, while more than 469,000 people have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the latest updates:
Monday, June 22
20:27 GMT – Saudi Arabia to hold ‘very limited’ Hajj
Saudi Arabia announced it would hold a “very limited” Hajj this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with people already living in the kingdom allowed to take part in the pilgrimage that begins in late July.
“It was decided to hold the pilgrimage this year with very limited numbers … with different nationalities in the kingdom,” the official Saudi Press Agency said on Monday, citing the Hajj ministry.
Read more here.
19:21 GMT – NYC gradually reopening
New York City, once the global epicentre of the pandemic, is gradually reopening with restaurants opening for the first time in three months, although only at outdoor tables.
Retail stores in New York also reopened with a number of restrictions and the city estimates 150,000 to 300,000 additional workers could return to their jobs.
18:49 GMT – Global number of coronavirus cases surpasses 9 million
The total number of infections worldwide has reached 9,008,757. At least 469,220 people have died, while some 4,465,425 have recovered from the virus.
17:20 GMT – White House scales back practice of taking temperatures of visitors
The White House cut back on temperature checks for visitors amid the pandemic but said anyone in close proximity with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence would still be checked for the virus.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said the decision was prompted by the city of Washington entering the second phase of its reopening, which allows for more activity.
“In conjunction with Washington, D.C. entering Phase Two today, the White House is scaling back complex-wide temperature checks,” Deere said.
“In addition to social distancing, hand sanitizer, regular deep cleaning of all work spaces, and voluntary facial coverings, every staff member and guest in close proximity to the president and vice president is still being temperature checked, asked symptom histories, and tested for COVID-19,” Deere said.
President Donald Trump arrives for the daily coronavirus response briefing at the White House in Washington [File: Tom Brenner/Reuters]
16:28 GMT – Golden Globe awards postponed to February 2021
The annual Golden Globe awards ceremony for film and television has been postponed to February 2021, organisers said.
The Golden Globes ceremony, which kicks off Hollywood’s awards season, will now take place on February 28 instead of its usual slot on the first Sunday in January. The decision follows the postponement by two months of the Oscars to April 25 because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the entertainment industry.
15:59 GMT – WHO says it will issue guidance on air travel in coming days
The World Health Organization will issue further guidance on air travel in coming days as countries open up from their coronavirus lockdowns, the WHO’s Mike Ryan said.
“It’s not an easy dilemma … There is no zero-risk,” he told an online briefing.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) June 21, 2020
15:55 GMT – Religious events helping to spread coronavirus, WHO says
Many countries that have been successful in tackling the novel coronavirus are seeing an increase in cases due to religious events and other vulnerable settings like expatriate gatherings, the World Health Organization’s Maria Van Kerkhove said.
“Any opportunity that the virus has to take hold, it will. It is really important that countries are in a position to rapidly detect these cases,” she told an online briefing.
The WHO’s Mike Ryan said that there seemed to be new clusters in South Korea linked to clubs, shelters and amusement parks and that waste water findings in northern Italy showed there was a chance the virus was circulating there before anyone had realised.
15:32 GMT – Portugal PM reimposes some virus curbs in capital Lisbon
Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa said some coronavirus restrictions would be reimposed in the capital Lisbon to help control outbreaks from the pandemic.
He said measures to be introduced from Tuesday included a restriction on gatherings of more than 10 people and orders for cafes and shops to close at 8pm.
Portugal has had just over 1,500 COVID-19 deaths and more 38,850 cases.
14:39 GMT – Netherlands records no virus deaths, first time since March
Dutch health authorities reported no new deaths overnight resulting from the pandemic for the first time since the beginning of March.
Officially the Netherlands has reported 49,658 cases of infection, with 69 people testing positive over the last 24 hours. In all 6,090 people have died.
“There has been no report of any deaths,” the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said on its website.
The RIVM warned however that “there is a delay between the day a patient was admitted to hospital or died and when it was actually reported”, meaning deaths over the weekend may not yet have been flagged up.
Models and family members are seen dining at a restaurant where they test servers providing drinks and food to models pretending to be clients in a safe ‘quarantine greenhouses’ in which guests can dine in Amsterdam [File: Eva Plevier/Reuters]
14:14 GMT – France, Germany want European Recovery Fund aid to be paid out until 2022
Germany and France both agree that the European Recovery Fund should pay out its proposed 500bn euros of coronavirus aid from 2020 until 2022, not until 2024 as suggested by some member states, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Le Maire also said that it was now up to the United States to explain why Washington is the only country not supporting a joint proposal by the OECD on how to tax large digital companies.
13:48 GMT – UK reports 15 deaths, the lowest daily death toll since mid-March
The number of people in Britain who have died after being confirmed to have COVID-19 has risen by 15 to 42,647, health officials said.
That makes it the lowest daily COVID-19 toll since mid-March. Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced the lockdown on March 23.
13:35 GMT – Disneyland Paris says gradual reopening to start July 15
Disneyland Paris said it would begin a “phased reopening” of the theme park starting July 15, with visitor numbers limited via a new online reservation system to ensure social distancing.
Visitors aged 11 and older will have to wear face masks, and many shows and events will remain suspended due to the padnemic, the resort said.
Visitors aged 11 and older will have to wear face masks, and many shows and events will remain suspended due to the padnemic [File: Anadolu]
13:25 GMT – Gilead to test inhaled version of remdesivir on patients in August
Gilead Sciences Inc said that it plans to begin clinical trials of an inhaled version of its antiviral treatment remdesivir for COVID-19 patients in August.
The drug is currently used intravenously and an inhaled formulation would be given through a nebulizer, which could potentially allow for easier administration outside hospitals, the company said in a statement.
13:23 GMT – No second wave of coronavirus, says US White House adviser
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said there is no second wave of the pandemic, even though there are some flare-ups in states such as Florida, and it is unlikely there will be widespread shutdowns across the country.
“There are some hotspots. We’re on it,” Kudlow said in an interview with CNBC. “We know how to deal with this stuff now. It’s come a long way since last winter and there is no second wave coming.”
Hello, this is Farah Najjar taking over from my colleague Linah Alsaafin.
12:55 GMT – South Korea says it is battling ‘second wave’ of coronavirus
Health authorities in South Korea said for the first time on Monday it is in the midst of a “second wave” of novel coronavirus infections around Seoul, driven by small but persistent outbreaks stemming from a holiday in May.
“In the metropolitan area, we believe that the first wave was from March to April as well as February to March,” KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong said at a regular briefing. “Then we see that the second wave which was triggered by the May holiday has been going on.”
“We originally predicted that the second wave would emerge in fall or winter,” he added. “Our forecast turned out to be wrong. As long as people have close contact with others, we believe that infections will continue.”
12:40 GMT – Coronavirus pandemic still accelerating: WHO chief
The novel coronavirus pandemic is still accelerating and its effects will be felt for decades, the World Health Organization’s director-general told an online conference on Monday.
“The pandemic is still accelerating,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the virtual health forum organised by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
“We know that the pandemic is much more than a health crisis, it is an economic crisis, a social crisis and in many countries a political crisis. Its effects will be felt for decades to come.”
10:45 GMT – Bulgarians in face masks again as cases rise
Bulgaria has ordered residents to wear face masks again in indoor public places after its highest weekly rise in coronavirus cases.
The order by Health Minister Kiril Ananiev came 10 days after he made masks indoors “highly recommended” but not mandatory, apart from on public transport, in pharmacies and medical establishments.
Bulgaria, which has registered 3,905 cases and 199 deaths from the coronavirus, recorded 606 new COVID-19 cases last week, the country’s highest weekly rise.
10:30 GMT – Kazakhstan city lockdowns over weekend as cases jump
A woman wearing a face mask and gloves at a mobile coronavirus testing station in Almaty, Kazakhstan [File: Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters]
Kazakhstan will impose a two-day lockdown in the northern city of Kostanay and four nearby towns next weekend after a jump in fresh COVID-19 cases, local newspaper Kostanayskiye Novosti reported.
Residents of Kostanay and the four towns, including Rudny and Lisakovsk, will be barred from leaving their houses except for work or urgent necessities on June 27-28, the newspaper reported, citing local authorities.
Kazakhstan has favoured weekend restrictions as the number of cases more than quintupled to about 28,000 since lifting a nationwide lockdown in mid-May. It temporarily closed shopping malls, markets, parks and public transit in major cities last weekend.
10:15 GMT – Coronavirus cases in the Balkans region
North Macedonia’s Institute of Public Health announced 101 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. Five people died, and the number of active cases is 2,942.
In Serbia, 91 people tested positive for COVID-19, with one death reported, bringing the death toll to 261.
Three new cases were registered in Montenegro, bringing the total number of active cases to 38.
10:00 GMT – Pakistan among countries hardest hit by COVID-19
Pakistan continues in the top 10 countries for daily coronavirus case increases, 4,471 new cases on Sunday taking its tally to 181,088, according to government data. At least 89 people died of coronavirus on Sunday, taking its death toll to 3,661.
On June 20, Pakistan resumed limited commercial international flights into and out of the country, a first since March 21. Domestic commercial flights resumed on May 16.
Testing in Pakistan continues at around 30,000 tests a day, well below the 50,000 recommended by the WHO. The government enforces “smart lockdown” on infection hotspots, rather than entire cities. However, local newspaper Dawn quoted officials in the northern city of Rawalpindi saying they did not have enough police personnel to enforce lockdowns in identified hotspots, raising fears the new approach may not work.
09:45 GMT – Indonesia’s death toll reaches 2,500, with over 46,000 infections
Indonesia reported 954 new coronavirus infections, taking its total number of cases to 46,845.
Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said 35 more deaths were reported, with total fatalities now at 2,500, the highest coronavirus death toll in East Asia outside of China.
09:00 GMT – Spain to decide this week which non-European tourists can visit
Women wearing face masks sunbathe at the Malvarrosa beach in Valencia, Spain [File: Nacho Doce/Reuters]
Spain may decide this week on allowing visitors from non-European countries, as it welcomes back European travellers in an effort to revive its tourism industry, a minister said.
Health Minister Salvador Illa told Cadena SER radio station that Madrid would discuss with EU partners whether to also let in travellers coming from outside the continent.
One of the worst-hit nations, Spain has registered 246,272 cases and 28,323 deaths from COVID-19.
08:45 GMT – Serbian champions Red Star say five players positive for coronavirus
Red Star Belgrade footballers pose for a team photo before the Serbian SuperLiga soccer match against Partizan in Belgrade, Serbia last year [File: Anadolu Agency]
Serbian football champions Red Star Belgrade said five of their players have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Marko Gobeljic, Njegos Petrovic, Dusan Jovancic, Marko Konatar and all felt unwell ahead of the final Serbian Superleague round against Proleter on Saturday and did not appear. Branko Jovicic showed no symptoms but returned a positive test, Red Star said on its website. The remaining players and the management were tested, and none were positive, it added.
Red Star celebrated the third consecutive championship after the win against Proleter at home. About 18,000 fans, many packed closely together, attended the match and celebration afterwards.
08:30 GMT – ‘No-swab’ coronavirus saliva test piloted in UK
A weekly coronavirus testing regime using a “no-swab” saliva test is being trialled in Southampton, England, and could offer a simpler and quicker way to detect outbreaks, the UK government said.
More than 14,000 doctors and health workers, other essential workers, university staff, and their households will participate in the trial, which uses an Optigene test.
Rather than taking a swab, which some find uncomfortable, participants will deposit a saliva sample and receive test results within 48 hours, the government said.
08:00 GMT – Russia reports 7,600 new coronavirus infections
Moscow accounts for about half of Russia’s coronavirus cases, a deluge that strains the city’s hospitals [File: Pavel Golovkin/Reuters]
Russia has reported 7,600 new cases of the coronavirus, pushing its nationwide case total to 592,280, the world’s third-largest tally.
The coronavirus task force said 95 people died in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 8,206.
07:45 GMT – Dimitrov gets coronavirus after ‘reckless’ tennis charity event
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in action during his match against Croatia’s Borna Coric [File: Antonio Bronic/Reuters]
Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking part in a charity event organised by men’s top-ranked player Novak Djokovic.
Dimitrov pulled out of the regional exhibition tournament – which had sparked criticism for its lack of safety precautions – in Croatia on Saturday following his opening singles match, after feeling unwell.
Read more here.
07:30 GMT – Beijing COVID-19 cases to see ‘cliff-like’ drop this week, says expert
Beijing will see a “cliff-like” drop in new coronavirus cases by the end of this week as efforts to control the spread of infections in the Chinese capital continue, said an expert at the national health authority. Beijing reported nine new cases for June 21, sharply down from 22 a day earlier.
The city reported its first case in the latest wave – linked to a wholesale food market – on June 11. So far, 236 people have been infected in the worst outbreak in Beijing since COVID-19 was identified in Wuhan late last year.
Wu Hao, a disease control expert from the National Health Commission, told state television in on Sunday that Beijing would have targeted lockdowns, unlike in Wuhan when little was known about the virus.
07:15 GMT – Fears of South Korea losing control over second wave
Pedestrians in face masks cross a street amid the spread of the coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea [File: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters]
The mayor of South Korea’s capital fears the country is losing control over a virus resurgence and says Seoul will reimpose stronger measures if the daily jump in infections does not drop below 30 over the next three days.
Park Won-soon spoke in a televised briefing, lamenting what he described as the complacency of citizens on physical distancing, with an increase in public transportation usage approaching last year’s levels in recent weeks.
Citing research, Park said the country could see as many as 800 new cases a day by mid-July if it fails to stem current transmission trends, which show the basic reproduction number – the number of infections caused by an infected individual – reaching nearly 1.8 for between April 30 and June 11. Any number above 1 indicates a growing epidemic.
07:00 GMT – Abu Dhabi eases movement restrictions within emirate
A man waits at a coronavirus drive-through screening centre in Abu Dhabi [Filre: Francois Nel/Getty Images]
Abu Dhabi has eased restrictions to allow movement between its cities for all residents starting Tuesday, but extended restrictions on entry by non-residents who do not have a permit for another week, its media office said.
Residents can exit the emirate freely.
06:45 GMT – Virus surges, but Pakistan says there is no choice but to open
Pakistan has one of the world’s highest infection rates, and overwhelmed hospitals are turning patients away. But the government is pushing to open the country, trying to salvage a near-collapsed economy where millions have already slid into poverty from pandemic restrictions.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said avoiding a complete lockdown had saved the country from economic collapse. In televised speeches, he has taken to pleading with Pakistanis to wear masks, ignore conspiracy theories and take the virus seriously.
As cases spiralled, the government last week shut down some districts in Islamabad and other cities where new outbreaks have been identified, but otherwise, it has continued lifting restrictions, which were imposed in mid-March and started being lifted gradually within weeks.
06:20 GMT – Brazil’s death toll tops 50,000
Aerial view showing graves in the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery in Manaus on June 21, 2020 [Michael Dantas/AFP]
Brazil reported 641 more deaths from coronavirus over the past day, and now trails only the US in the death toll.
The country’s health ministry said overall fatalities have mounted to 50,617, according to public news agency Agencia Brasil.
Meanwhile, 17,000 new infections were reported, taking the nationwide case-count to more than 1.08 million.
05:52 GMT – India’s infections soar in rural areas
A woman watches as healthcare workers wearing personal protective equipment check the temperature of residents of a slum during a check-up camp for coronavirus in Mumbai, India [File: Francis Mascarenhas/ Reuters]
India’s coronavirus caseload has risen to 425,282 as infections soar in rural areas where migrant workers fleeing major cities have returned in recent weeks.
India’s health ministry on Monday reported 14,821 new cases and about 300 new deaths, bringing the fatalities to more than 13,000. The coastal state of Goa reported its first COVID-19 death.
India’s government planning body Niti Aayog says infections have emerged in 98 of 112 of the country’s poorest districts, although about 60 percent of India’s cases have been reported in the states of Delhi, which includes the national capital New Delhi; Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai; and Tamil Nadu, where manufacturing hub Chennai is located.
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Hello, this is Linah Alsaafin taking over the blog from my colleague Ted Regencia.
05:12 GMT – New Zealand to extend ban on cruise ship arrivals
New Zealand has announced that it is extending a ban on cruise ships arriving in the country to safeguard borders as new cases emerge of infected people arriving in the country.
“We are extending the current cruise ship ban which was due to expire on the 30th of June,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a news conference.
Cargo vessels will still be allowed to load and unload, fishing vessels to unload and resupply, and vessels can come to New Zealand to undertake repairs and refitting, Ardern said, although some quarantine rules would be tightened.
05:00 GMT – Thailand reports three new imported cases
Thailand on Monday reported three new coronavirus cases, all imported, marking 28 days without local transmission, Reuters news agency reported, quoting a senior official.
The three new cases were Thai nationals returning from India and were detected in state quarantine, said spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, Taweesin Visanuyothin.
Thailand has so far recorded 58 deaths related to COVID-19 among 3,151 infections, of which 3,022 patients have recovered.
Daily life in Bangkok resumes to normal as the Thai government continues to ease restrictions on business and activities that were imposed weeks ago to combat the spread of the coronavirus [Sakchai Lalit/AP]
04:48 GMT – Greece reports 10 new cases
Authorities say Greece had 10 new COVID-19 cases and no virus-related deaths between Saturday and Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
The daily update brought the country’s total confirmed cases to 3,266, including 190 deaths.
Greek authorities say the median age of the infected people who died is 76 and all of those under age 70 had suffered from serious conditions unrelated to the virus.
04:20 GMT – Two coronavirus cases reported in New Zealand
New Zealand has reported two new cases of the coronavirus as a trickle of infected people continue to arrive at the border, according to the Associated Press.
The country now has nine active cases after having none at all earlier this month. Health officials maintain that those cases involve people who have recently arrived and are in quarantine, and there is no evidence of community transmission.
Still, many are anxious community transmission could return, especially after health officials admitted allowing two women who had arrived from London to leave quarantine before they had been tested because a parent was dying. The women later tested positive and have since isolated themselves.
04:00 GMT – Germany’s cases rise to 190,359
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 537 to 190,359, Reuters news agency reported on Monday, quoting the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.
The reported death toll rose by 3 to 8,885, the tally showed.
03:47 GMT – Barber offers hope in Peruvian barrios devastated by virus
Amid the coronavirus lockdown in Peru, barber Josue Yacahuanca is offering some hope to residents of some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the capital, Lima.
Once a week, Yacahuanca seeks out clients devastated by the pandemic and the nearly 100 days of lockdown, giving haircuts for free.
“I want them to look in the mirror and see a bit of hope,” Yacahuanca told the Associated Press news agency. Twenty-one years old, he is already a veteran barber, having started cutting hair at 13.
Barber Josue Yacahuanca fastens a haircutting apron emblazoned with an image of salsa singer Hector Lavoe on a resident on the top of a hill in the San Juan de Lurigancho neighbourhood of Lima, Peru on Friday [Martin Mejia/AP]
03:25 GMT – 150 cannery workers forced into quarantine without pay in Los Angeles
About 150 seasonal workers hired by a salmon cannery in Alaska are in forced quarantine without pay at a Los Angeles hotel since June 10 after three of them tested positive for coronavirus, AP reported.
The workers, most of them from Mexico and Southern California, were hired on June 2 by North Pacific Seafoods to work at its Red Salmon Cannery in Alaska through August, according to the lawsuit filed on Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Leauri Moore, vice president of human resources for North Pacific Seafoods, told the newspaper in an email that she had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
02:45 GMT – Mongolians cite Genghis Khan for success dealing with pandemic
All 206 coronavirus cases reported in Mongolia were imported, with zero deaths [Byambasuren Byamba-Ochir/EPA]
Fresh air, a diet of free-range milk and meat, and Genghis Khan’s fighting spirit are among reasons cited by Mongolians for why they managed to fight off the coronavirus pandemic, according to a South China Morning Post report.
In a series of interviews, a historian, a shaman, a monk and a doctor all referenced Genghis Khan, leader of the Mongolian Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries, saying they learned to live simply like him, avoiding “the stress and consumerism” people from other countries suffered.
As of Monday, Mongolia has at least 206 coronavirus cases, all imported, and zero deaths.
02:31 GMT – Report: Malaysians complain of weight gain during lockdown
More and more Malaysians are complaining about weight gain during the coronavirus lockdown that started in mid-March, the Kuala Lumpur-based Star newspaper reported.
Obesity was already a health concern in Malaysia. According to the World Population Review 2019, Malaysia has the highest prevalence of obesity among adults in Southeast Asia at 15.6 percent.
The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019 findings, meanwhile, showed that 50.1 percent of adults in Malaysia were either overweight or obese.
02:04 GMT – China reports 25 new cases
People wearing face masks take photos of a partial solar eclipse near the Forbidden City in Beijing on Sunday [Mark Schiefelbein/AP]
China reported 18 new coronavirus cases for June 21, nine of which were in the capital Beijing, Reuters reported on Monday quoting the National Health Commission. Another seven cases are asymptomatic.
This compared with 26 confirmed cases a day earlier, 22 in Beijing. Local authorities are restricting movement of people in the capital and stepping measures to prevent the virus from spreading following a series of local infections.
01:40 GMT – South Korea cases dip to nearly one-month low
New coronavirus cases in South Korea dipped to a nearly one-month low on Monday due mainly to less testing over the weekend, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting health officials.
The country added 17 new cases, including 11 local infections, raising the total to 12,438, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were also six additional imported cases.
This marks a sharp drop from 67 cases on Saturday and 48 cases on Sunday, KCDC added. There were no additional deaths, keeping the total death toll to 280.
01:19 GMT – New York City coronavirus tracing off to a bumpy start: Report
Musicians from New York’s Ditmas Park neighbourhood perform during a fundraising drive on Sunday for businesses that have been shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic [Kathy Willens/AP]
New York City’s effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus through contact tracing has been hampered by the reluctance of many infected people to provide information, according to a report in The New York Times.
The Times said just 35 percent of the 5,347 city residents who tested positive or were presumed positive in the first two weeks of the contact-tracing programme gave information about their contacts.
Perry N Halkitis, dean of the School of Public Health at Rutgers University, called the 35-percent rate “very bad”, adding that it should be closer to 75 percent. Dr Ted Long, head of New York City’s new Test and Trace Corps, defended the programme, saying 69 percent of the people who complete an interview provide contacts.
00:51 GMT – Report: 40 US baseball players, staff positive for COVID-19
As delays to a vote by Major League Baseball players on whether to accept the owners’ latest proposal for the 2020 season continue, a USA Today report said a rash of positive COVID-19 tests is the reason for the delay.
Citing two sources close to the situation, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that 40 MLB players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week.
According to Nightengale, the recent uptick in infections will push the start of the season back to July 26 at the earliest, spring training resuming no earlier than June 29, a delay of about a week.
00:32 GMT – Mexico reports 5,343 new coronavirus infections, 1,044 deaths
Mexico has reported 5,343 new infections and 1,044 additional deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said, bringing the totals for the country to 180,545 cases and 21,825 deaths.
The government has said the actual number of infected people is likely significantly higher, Reuters said.
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attended a coronavirus simulation at a new medical facility in Cuernavaca on Friday [Mexico’s Presidency/Handout via Reuters]
00:01 GMT – Mexico to resume sending farm workers to Canada after safety deal
Mexico will resume sending temporary farm workers to Canada after the two countries reached a deal on improved safety protections for labourers on Canadian farms during the pandemic, Reuters reported.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the Temporary Agricultural Workers Program (PTAT) had resumed “after a temporary pause”.
Mexico last Tuesday paused sending workers to farms with coronavirus infections after at least two of its nationals died from COVID-19 after outbreaks on 17 Canadian farms.
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Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
You can find all the key developments from yesterday, June 21, here.
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]]>The post ‘Greatest rigged election in history!’ Trump doubles down in attack against mail-in ballots appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>President Donald Trump has doubled down in his attacks against mail-in voting for this year’s presidential election claiming it will lead to the ‘greatest rigged election in history’ and its supporters are using the coronavirus to create a voting scam.
Trump is ramping up his campaign against the integrity of mail-in ballots as states including Michigan and Nevada opt to have constituents send in their votes to decrease public exposure to coronavirus.
‘The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history. People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and “force” people to sign. Also, forge names,’ he tweeted Sunday afternoon.
‘Some absentee OK, when necessary. Trying to use Covid for this Scam!’ he added.
President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that if the US allows all states to vote via mail-in ballots it’ll result in the ‘greatest rigged election in history’
Trump claimed that people would steal ballots from mailboxes, print forgeries and ‘force’ voters to sign the compromised ballots
The president spent Saturday and Sunday golfing at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. Pictured above Saturday
On Wednesday the president threatened to ‘hold up’ federal funding in Michigan, which is reeling from severe flooding after two dams burst and 10,000 people were evacuated, and claimed the mail-in ballot plans were ‘illegal’.
His threat dangled as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in parts of Michigan.
He incorrectly claimed that Michigan’s secretary of state is planning to mail ballots to all voters, when in reality the state is planning to send applications for mail-in ballots to all voters, not the ballots themselves.
‘Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!’ he tweeted last week.
Last week the president criticized mail-in ballots saying they trigger mass voter fraud, even though this has not been proven, and renewed his call for a voter ID law.
‘Mail-in ballots are a very dangerous thing they’re they’re subject of massive fraud,’ Trump said at an event at the White House with the governors of Kansas and Arkansas.
On Wednesday the president threatened to ‘hold up’ federal funding in Michigan, which is reeling from severe flooding after two dams burst and 10,000 people were evacuated, and claimed the mail-in ballot plans were ‘illegal’. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer above
President Donald Trump threatened to with hold federal funds from Michigan in revenge for the state sending absentee ballot applications to all voters
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, then responded: ‘We sent applications, not ballots. Just like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia
Trump’s tweet comes at a time when Michigan officials are dealing with two crises: the coronavirus pandemic and severe flooding due to the failure of two dams (Sanford Dam pictured)
‘People have to check you, they have to see, they’re to look at you and check you,’ he said. ‘I mean when you get thousands of ballots, and then put them in a bag and they just bring them in, who knows where they came from? It’s so obvious. And frankly they should have voter ID. That’s what they should have. You really want to know what the country wants? The country wants voter ID. Otherwise it’s going to be subjected to tremendous illegality and fraud.’
Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said that the state is expanding election by mail opportunities as a ‘necessary and prudent decision’ in light of the COVID-19 crisis.
Today five states including Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington already hold elections nearly entirely by mail.
The District of Columbia and 33 states give voters the option. Other states only allow voting by mail in certain circumstances.
In the series of tweets, the president also called out Nevada for sending out ‘illegal vote by mail ballots’
Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said that the state is expanding election by mail opportunities as a ‘necessary and prudent decision’ in light of the COVID-19 crisis
But the pandemic is making many states reconsider their options.
Last week a federal judge in Texas ruled that registered voters in the state can apply to vote by mail saying that the state’s current absentee voting rules would put unconstitutional and illegal burdens on Texas voters.
Furthermore an Associated Press-NORC survey found a majority of respondents favored allowing people to vote by mail without providing a reason.
About 66 percent was in favor of voting by mail as an alternative to in-person voting on election day if the coronavirus still poses a severe threat in November, as per a USA Today-Suffolk University poll.
Despite Trump’s criticism of mail-in voting, he cast his vote in March’s Florida primary by mail.
‘I’m at the White House. And I have to send a ballot to Florida, that makes sense. So if you needed for some reason, or if somebody’s not well, that’s one thing,’ Trump said.
‘But when you send out 7.7 million mail-in ballots there’s forgeries, there’s frankly duplication where they print ballots on the same kind of paper with the same kind of machinery and you can’t tell the difference.’
On Sunday Republican Sen. Rick Scott said on CNN that mail-in voting could work as long as laws are in place to combat fraud.
‘I think as long as you can do it safely, and as long as you can make sure there’s no fraud, we ought to be able to do absentee ballots like we do it in Florida. I’m fine with absentee ballots the way we do it in Florida, with early voting the way we do it in Florida, with Election Day voting, which is clearly the safest,’ he said.
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]]>The post Biggest danger America faces during COVID-19 pandemic is loss of liberty appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>ANALYSIS/OPINION:
The greatest challenge the American experiment deals with in this dark hour is not our need for safety however our loss of liberty.
While governors across the country fall over themselves to break their oath of workplace, the church remains quiet. While one mayor after another presumes unilateral power, pastors across the spectrum of denominations embarassment instead of applaud those who withstand such demagogic conceit.
One retort, in specific, appears ubiquitous in putting flexibility’s protectors in their place.
Well, the response is, honestly, rather easy. This application of the Bible is truncated and out of context. This exegesis is terrible. This is proof-texting at its worst, for it fails to consider the arc and intent of the biblical story.
For example, if Moses had actually done what this argument suggests, we wouldn’t have the story of Exodus. If Paul had actually followed this line of thinking, he wouldn’t have spent a lot time in jail, nor would he have actually lost his head. And what of Gideon, Ehud, Jepthah, Samson and Deborah, who were all charged explicitly by God to resist rulers who had begun to aggregate unto themselves political power at the expenditure of individual freedom?
Additionally, what about those not mentioned in the Bible, however who built their lives upon it? Abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, B.T. Roberts and Harriet Tubman? Were they incorrect for defying their government and fighting versus the retailing of guys?
How about Martin Luther King Jr.? Was he incorrect in his march for civil rights?
Was Patrick Henry incorrect when he asked, “Is life so dear, or peace [and safety] so sweet, as to be acquired at the rate of slavery?” And what of the rest of our Founding Daddies? Were they incorrect to put their lives on the line in defiance of King George, who had explicitly promised the colonies his security and “safety” in exchange for their subservience?
You see, you can’t cherry-pick your Bibles (or any other literature for that matter) and make your case with integrity.
If anything is clear in the history of civilization, as well as that of the church, it is this: When you sacrifice human freedom for the sake of human security, you almost always reduce the human being. Michael Ramsden (from the Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics) just recently argued that the biggest hazard to human beings in the 21 st century could, in truth, be a misguided principle of human safety.
He utilizes this example.
Expect, in our proficiency of expert system, that in the near future, we produce robotics and program them to oversee the most safe possible world for humans, a world that, by meaning, is devoid of all possible damage.
Then suppose these robotics conclude that, in order to do their task, all humans should be rounded up and confined 24/ 7 in dark cells, completely gotten rid of from any and all risk, disease and disaster.
Now, expect these robots quickly discover that the “finest method” to keep us alive and well, for years on end, is to feed and medicate us intravenously in our sterilized and disease-free cells.
What type of world would this be? Is this a nation in which we wish to live? Is this our ideal? Such an existence would be “safe,” however would it be great?
At the end of the day, we need to choose if liberty is an assumed predicate to the definition of what it means to be human. If, to the contrary, we identify that “safety” is our only non-negotiable, then we need to amend our Declaration, along with our Bibles, rapidly.
And while we’re at it, let’s strike “Offer me liberty, or give me death” from our nation’s lexicon and replace it with, “I fear death, so take my liberty!”
– Everett Piper, previous president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, is a columnist for The Washington Times and author of “Not A Daycare: The Devastating Consequences of Deserting Fact” (Regnery 2017).
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