Author: CensorBiz

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.S. billionaire Bill Gates have joined the chorus of those expressing concern about U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend U.S. funding for the World Health Organization.Carter, a Democrat, issued a statement Wednesday saying the United Nations agency “is the only international organization capable of leading the effort to control this virus.” He said he was “distressed” by the decision to withhold critically needed U.S. funding during an international epidemic.Gates, who is a major funder of the WHO, said the decision was “as dangerous as it sounds.”A man wears a mask to protect himself against the spread of the new coronavirus as he donates food for poor families in Turano favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 15, 2020.The United Nations and many leaders have criticized Trump’s timing for cutting the funds when they are most needed.The U.S. is the world’s largest contributor to the WHO, with its more than $400 million contribution in 2019, amounting to about 15 percent of the organization’s budget.Trump accused the Geneva-based organization Tuesday of failing to obtain independent reports about the coronavirus originating from China’s central city of Wuhan and relying instead on China’s official reports. Beijing officials initially tried to downplay the dangers of the new strain of coronavirus. Trump said the funding will be suspended pending an investigation into the WHO’s handling of the outbreak.The United States is now the worst-hit country with more than 637,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday evening, out of more than 2 million infected people worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. Critics have blamed Trump for waiting too long to act, and some say he is now looking to shift the blame to China and the WHO.Returning to normalMeanwhile, all eyes are on coronavirus daily tolls as leaders try to determine how soon people’s lives can return to normal. Denmark is the first European country to reopen its schools, but students are seated at a distance from one another and have to follow a strict hygienic protocol. Several other European countries are planning to reopen schools and businesses in the coming weeks.The U.S. president is eager to restart the economy as soon as possible, but health officials and many state governors agree that the hoped-for date of May 1 would be too soon and could lead to a new wave of infections.California Governor Gavin Newsom said he would consider lifting lockdown orders only when the number of hospitalizations declines for at least two weeks. He also wants more widespread testing so officials have a better ability to track and isolate those who are infected, and he wants more protective gear for health care workers.The economy is a big worry for all, especially after the IMF said Tuesday that the world would be hit this year by the worst economic depression since 1930.Leaders of the G-20 industrialized nations have decided to put a partial moratorium on debt payments this year from the world’s developing countries. Many of them are in Africa, where the coronavirus has not spread as much as in Europe and the United States. But the number of new cases is creeping up, forcing leaders to impose protective measures.Workers in full protective gear disinfect the casket of a coronavirus victim at the Fontaine funeral home during a partial lockdown to prevent the spread of the disease in Charleroi, Belgium, April 15, 2020.Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that small and medium-size companies in his country would receive financial aid of $162 per employee if they had preserved at least 90 percent of staff as of April 1.In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced she and other top officials were voluntarily cutting their salaries by 20 percent in a symbolic move acknowledging the country’s economic hardships in response to the outbreak.The British Home Office reported Wednesday that border police had found more than $1.25 million worth of cocaine in a shipment of protective masks in a truck at the Channel Tunnel. 
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U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to adjourn Congress because lawmakers have not approved his candidates for senior posts in his administration, including his nominee to run the independent agency overseeing the Voice of America. “I have very strong power,” Trump declared Wednesday, referencing language in the second article of the U.S. Constitution that allows a president “on extraordinary occasions” to adjourn either or both chambers of Congress. “The Senate should either fulfill its duty and vote on my nominees or it should formally adjourn so I can make recess appointments,” Trump said. “We have a tremendous number of people that have to come into government. And now more so than ever before because of the virus and the problem.”  The Constitution requires nominees to a number of senior administration posts to be confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate. However, on occasions when Congress is not in session, the president may make a “recess appointment,” which expires if the candidate has not been confirmed by the end of the next full session. No president has ever exercised the specific authority to dissolve Congress in FILE – USAGM CEO nominee Michael Pack at his confirmation hearing, Sept. 19, 2019.Documentary filmmaker Michael Pack, whom Trump has selected to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is one of 15 key nominees awaiting confirmation by the Senate. Trump cited Pack by name (but erroneously identified the body he would head as USAGM’s predecessor agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors). The president also noted his nominees for director of national intelligence, two members of the Federal Reserve Board and the undersecretary of agriculture responsible for administering food security programs as among those yet to be confirmed. Trump blamed the delay on Democrats, accusing the opposition party of “a concerted effort to make life difficult.” “The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro-forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis,” the president said. “What they do, it’s a scam and everybody knows it.” Pack’s nomination has “been stuck in committee for two years, preventing us from managing the Voice of America — very important,” the president said. “And if you heard what’s coming out of the Voice of America, it’s disgusting. The things they say are disgusting toward our country. And Michael Pack would get in and do a great job, but he’s been waiting for two years — can’t get him approved.”  VOA respondsVOA management, in a response Wednesday evening, rejected Trump’s criticism. “For more than 75 years VOA has followed its mission of telling America’s story overseas and of bringing objective, fact-based information to places around the world that have no other access to it. As we have long said, we export the First Amendment,” said VOA Director Amanda Bennett in a prepared statement. FILE – VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviews President Donald Trump in Singapore, Aug 12, 2018. (White House photo by Shealah Craighead)“I believe in that mission. And, judging from the way our audiences are surging to us seeking information they can rely on in this coronavirus crisis, the world believes in our mission. It’s hard work, and it’s important work, perhaps more than ever before.”  In a subsequent email to VOA’s employees, Bennett added: “We have a lot of work to do. It’s hard work and it’s important work. Let’s not get distracted from the job in front of us.” Bennett was appointed to her position in the previous administration of Barack Obama and has been in the post for four years — a relatively long tenure for a VOA director. The veteran journalist and Pulitzer Prize recipient is the agency’s 29th director in 75 years. The White House launched an attack on VOA last week, which The New York Times termed “a bizarre broadside.”  China coverage at issueTrump’s social media director, Dan Scavino Jr., said American taxpayers were paying for China’s “very own propaganda, via the U.S. Government funded Voice of America.” As an example, he cited a posting on VOA’s Twitter account of an Associated Press video. The video showed a light show in Wuhan marking last week’s reopening of the city where COVID-19 was first detected.  Hours later, the White House, in its digital “1600 Daily,” accused VOA of creating graphics “with Communist government statistics to compare China’s coronavirus death toll to America’s.” In fact, VOA uses a widely respected tally by Johns Hopkins University to track coronavirus cases and deaths around the world. “V.O.A. too often speaks for America’s adversaries — not its citizens,” the White House  post read. The New York Times remarked that “the charges hurled at the 75-year-old broadcaster seemed so overheated that some readers worried that hackers had infiltrated the White House’s networks.” Bennett responded to last week’s criticism with a prepared statement noting that VOA is “thoroughly covering China’s disinformation and misinformation in English and Mandarin and at the same time reporting factually.” She added that VOA “has thoroughly debunked much of the information coming from the Chinese government and government-controlled media.” Pack, if confirmed, would take over from Grant Turner, who is serving as the USAGM CEO on an interim basis, following the resignation of John Lansing, who was an Obama appointee. Lansing was selected last September by the corporate board of National Public Radio to become NPR’s CEO.
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More than a decade of Boko Haram militant attacks have displaced over two million Nigerians in the north, with hundreds of thousands living in internally displaced people’s camps.  Medical experts worry the camps lack the spacing and sanitary conditions to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus, which has so far infected more than 370 people in Nigeria and killed 10.  Ifiok Ettang reports from Jos, Nigeria. 
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China has begun the second phase of clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine with 500 volunteer participants recruited from Wuhan, the initial epicenter of the outbreak, according to state media.It is the first Phase 2 human test for a COVID-19 vaccine in the global race to find a cure for the pandemic, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.China completed its Phase 1 trial at the end of March with 108 volunteers.  All of them reportedly have been released from medical observation and are in good health.While the first phase focused on the vaccine’s safety, the second phase inoculates many more people to determine how effective it is in protecting against infection. The trial reportedly started last Sunday by a research team led by Chen Wei, a virologist in China’s military.Video released by China’s state broadcaster CCTV Wednesday showed an 84-year-old man in Wuhan receiving a vaccination Monday, becoming the oldest volunteer in the Phase 2 trial.Unlike the Phase 1 trial, which had a maximum age of 60, Phase 2 has no age limit.  Because elderly patients have the highest death rates, this trial is trying to determine what the antibody response is in the elderly compared with the young. Phase 2 trials also typically determine how many doses are necessary to create immunity and create a profile of common reactions.A race, but not rushedChen’s team and U.S.-based biotechnology company Moderna Therapeutics appeared to launch Phase 1 clinical trials on the same day last month.  With Tuesday’s announcement, China appears to have become the first to enter the Phase 2 trial.In China, the global race for a vaccine is routinely framed as a competition on state media. A headline by Xinhua proudly reads China “is the first to enter Phase 2 clinical trials.” A video released on the CCTV website last week was titled “China vs. U.S. — Whose Vaccine With More Hope?”Wu Zunyou, chief expert in epidemiology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said last month that it might take China just six months to determine if its vaccine is effective and safe.On the other hand, public health officials around the world have been warning that a COVID-19 vaccine cannot be rushed. They said a safe and effective vaccine may not be available to the public for at least 12 to 18 months.There have been tragic results in the past from flawed vaccine development, and some researchers have urged teams to use animal models, as well as extensive human clinical trials, to ensure the COVID-19 vaccine does not cause unintended side effects.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Phase 2 trials will last several months to two years, and Phase 3 trials can last several years.If Phases 1 and 2 are considered successful, China will proceed to Phase 3, which involves administering the vaccine to thousands of people. As China reports fewer coronavirus infections, medical authorities have indicated the experimental vaccine may be tested abroad.
 
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Dozens of immigrant children in U.S. custody and living in three Chicago-area shelters have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Tuesday.
The Chicago-based Heartland Alliance operates shelters where children in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement’s custody wait to be released to a relative or legal guardian. By Tuesday, 37 of 69 minors were positive, according to a statement.
Heartland officials called their prognosis “very good,” but declined to offer specifics on their medical treatment.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, tasked with the custody and care of immigrant children caught traveling alone across the U.S.-Mexico border, said Tuesday that 21 children in Illinois and Texas shelters are currently COVID-19 positive and six others recovered. None required hospitalization. They couldn’t immediately explain the discrepancy with Heartland’s data, saying they were still compiling figures.
Federal officials have suspended placing children in states including New York and Washington over concerns with the outbreak. Officials with Heartland, which stopped taking new children last month, tested all children, added nurse practitioners and staff members are taking precautions like wearing gloves and masks.
Heartland’s National Immigrant Justice Center called for expediting family reunification, the subject of a court battle, saying in a statement they were “deeply concerned” about children and staff.
Federal officials said Tuesday they’re following federal safety guidelines, arguing the children’s safe release “to suitable sponsors may take longer” given the pandemic.
There are about 2,500 children in the office’s custody.
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Germany is offering to help rebuild parts of Notre Dame in Paris, a year after the famous cathedral was heavily damaged by fire. Officials suggested Wednesday that German craftsmen could remake some of the large clerestory windows located far above eye level and designed to let light and air into the cathedral. The German government said three glass-makers that conduct restoration work for cathedrals in Germany could offer “great expertise” to their French colleagues. Germany’s minister for culture, Monika Gruetters, said her country would shoulder the costs.  
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More than nine out of 10 people in Southeast Asia want the state to end wildlife trafficking, according to a new poll from the World Wildlife Fund that shows unprecedented consensus after COVID-19 spread from animals to humans. 
 
WWF International said that 93% of people polled in the region would like “action by their governments to eliminate illegal and unregulated wildlife markets,” which the organization said is the second biggest threat to global biodiversity, after habitat destruction. 
 
Although COVID-19 is believed to have broken out at a meat market in China, nations in Southeast Asia often act as transit hubs to get trafficked wildlife into China. Governments in the region have started to introduce more new laws to crack down on the illegal trade as a result. 
 
“People are deeply worried and would support their governments in taking action to prevent potential future global health crises originating in wildlife markets,” Marco Lambertini, the director general of WWF International, said last week. “It is time to connect the dots between wildlife trade, environmental degradation and risks to human health.” 
 
He added that taking action now “is crucial for all of our survival.” 
 
It is believed COVID-19 spread from an animal to a human in China in December, and reactions have ranged from foreign pundits snubbing Chinese who eat bats or snakes, to the government itself taking action to ban consumption of wild meat.A woman with a load of dogs on her tricycle cart arrives at a market for sale during a dog meat festival in Yulin in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 21, 2016.Neighbors in Southeast Asia now are starting to follow suit with exactly the kind of action desired by WWF survey respondents. 
 
In the Philippines for instance, the government is working on a draft law that includes as much as 20 years in prison for those found guilty of wildlife trafficking, according to Theresa Tenazas, a lawyer for the Philippine’s state Biodiversity Management Bureau. 
 
She said authorities must more closely regulate contact between humans and animals, particularly at wet markets.  
 
“The conditions of these markets are ideal for incubating new diseases and bolster their transmission,” she wrote in an analysis for the bureau. “They form one of the most detrimental bridges created by man over the natural barriers that previously separated humans and wild animals.”  
 
Vietnam has taken similar steps to crack down on the trade of wild animal products, and there is pressure on Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar to toughen restrictions as well. 
 
Southeast Asia is particularly at risk of viral contagion because of its close proximity to China. Outside of China, the Philippines was the first to report a death linked to COVID-19, while Thailand was the first to report a COVID-19 infection. 
 
“Our global connectedness means the risk of re-introduction and resurgence of the disease will continue,” World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday. 
 
The WHO has confirmed COVID-19 is a “zoonotic disease,” meaning humans first became infected with it from animals, most likely bats. While bats were consumed legally before China’s crackdown, other animal parts commonly trafficked to China through Southeast Asia come from pangolins, rhinos and elephants.  
 
Other viruses have spread from animals to humans, including SARS, MERS and Ebola, WWF said. 
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South Koreans stood in socially distanced lines, disinfected their hands, and wore face masks and gloves inside polling stations as they participated in one of the world’s first major elections of the coronavirus era. Having already rapidly slowed the spread of the coronavirus, South Korea is implementing wide-ranging measures to ensure Wednesday’s parliamentary vote does not lead to a resurgence of the disease.  Standing one meter apart, voters began lining up at 6:00 a.m. local time at polling stations, which were disinfected ahead of the election. Poll workers provided a squirt of hand sanitizer and disposable plastic gloves, while checking voter temperatures with contact-free thermometers. Those with symptoms voted at separate booths.  Voters in quarantine or self-isolation will be allowed to cast ballots after regular voting ends later in the day.  South Korea’s experience could be instructive for other countries planning elections during a time of social distancing. Experts have warned that bringing millions of voters to the same locations could allow the disease to spread rapidly.  Postponing: not an option  Some other countries where the virus has not been contained already have delayed elections.  But postponing the vote was out of the question for South Korea, said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group. “South Koreans have trauma from two authoritarian regimes between 1963-1988, so elections are particularly essential to their democracy,” she said. “Not even the Korean War stopped them from voting in the 1952 presidential race.”  Referendum on Moon People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s New Year’s speech at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.Wednesday’s vote effectively serves as a midterm referendum on South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Moon’s political fortunes have rebounded after he oversaw one of the world’s most effective coronavirus responses.  South Korea was initially one of the countries hardest hit by the virus. But it quickly became a global model for coronavirus containment, after the government implemented a mass campaign of testing, data-driven investigations of infection paths, and effective treatment and isolation of those exposed to the virus. The number of new daily infections in South Korea has recently slowed to about 30, and officials in Seoul are now considering how to begin reopening the economy. Amid the pandemic, Moon’s approval rating has surged above 50% – putting him in an unusually comfortable position for a South Korean president entering the second half of his single, five-year term in office. The coronavirus has largely overshadowed other issues plaguing Moon, including a sluggish economy, a corruption controversy involving his now-resigned justice minister, and an inability to advance talks with North Korea.  North Korea: not a big factor In a reminder of how Moon’s outreach to Pyongyang has failed, North Korea launched a series of short-range missiles Tuesday, just a day ahead of the South Korean vote. North Korea often conducts military provocations ahead of South Korean elections –ostensibly to influence the vote or pressure the government in Seoul.  “This cycle, there has been less debate in Seoul about relations with Pyongyang because COVID-19 has taken up so much political bandwidth,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “The Kim regime, however, will not be ignored and may even be a bit annoyed about South Koreans practicing their democracy on [North Korean founder] Kim Il Sung’s birthday,” which also is on Wednesday, Easley added. North Korea has conducted five rounds of short-range missile tests this year, after conducting 13 rounds last year. The launches have received relatively little media coverage in South Korea, meaning they may not affect the vote.  Turnout concerns There are concerns the pandemic may persuade many of South Korea’s 44 million eligible voters to stay home.  Some of those concerns were allayed after the country saw a record number of early voters cast ballots last week – a factor that could prevent overcrowding on election day.  But some problems couldn’t be fixed. Only about half of eligible South Korean voters living in foreign countries were able to vote, because of coronavirus-related lockdowns overseas. Additionally, COVID-19 patients being treated at hospitals or other facilities were able to vote by mail only if they applied during a five-day period in late March.  Preserving democracy Despite those challenges, South Korea moved ahead with the election – setting an example for other countries that will try to preserve democracy, as well as voter health in future elections.  “If we had postponed the election, we would have to fight COVID-19 without a legitimate government, which is far more dangerous than infection from voting booths,” said Lee Sang-sin, a research fellow who focuses on political science and public opinion at the Korean Institute for National Unification. “The best cure for the COVID-19 is, so far as we know, competent and responsive leadership.”  “So, it is not that South Korea is holding an election in spite of the virus,” he says. “We need an election to fight the disease now more than ever. Democracy is not a luxury. It is essential.”  
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U.S. funding to the World Health Organization is being halted by President Donald Trump, who blames it for creating “a 20-fold increase” in COVID-19 cases worldwide.The U.N. health agency, according to Trump, made a “disastrous decision” to oppose his restrictions on travel from China and put “political correctness above life-saving measures.”  The action had been expected as Trump repeatedly signaled the move after accusing the WHO of having a bias in favor of China, despite the United States being its largest single funder.President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus pandemic in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020.The president said the freeze on funds for the global agency will remain in place “for 60 to 90 days” while a review of its response to the outbreak of the coronavirus is conducted.Trump contends that the WHO failed in its “basic duty” to investigate early reports out of China about the virus in December of last year.FILE – Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 5, 2020.”Withholding funds for WHO in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century makes as much sense as cutting off ammunition to an ally as the enemy closes in,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee and ranking member of the subcommittee on State Department and foreign operations.”The White House knows that it grossly mishandled this crisis from the beginning, ignoring multiple warnings and squandering valuable time, dismissing medical science, comparing COVID-19 to the common cold, and saying ‘everything will be fine,'” Leahy said.After a backlash, including from several key senators in his own Republican Party, Trump modified his assertions of the previous day that he would use his “ultimate authority” to soon lift stay-at-home directives and reopen the country’s economy.Reopening individual statesTrump announced he would allow each governor to decide on how and when they would reopen their individual economies.”We’ll open it up in beautiful little pieces,” he said, explaining that in his view 20 of the 50 states are “in extremely good shape” and have been spared, until now, the brunt of the coronavirus.According to the president, some states not hard hit by the virus could reopen before May 1, the day after the social distancing extended guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are to end.Trump on Monday said he “calls the shots,” in reply to a question from VOA about whether consortiums of states developing their own reopening plans pose a challenge to his authority to declare a national reopening amid the pandemic.FILE – New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the press at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, March 27, 2020.”They can’t do anything without the approval of the president of the United States,” Trump said.In response Tuesday, the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, said Trump was “clearly spoiling for a fight” with state leaders, but “I am not going to fight with him,” explaining that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 25,000 Americans, is no time for any division between the federal and state governments.Asked about Cuomo’s remark that he was acting more like a king than a president, Trump replied: “I didn’t declare myself as king.”Adam White, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA, “The president has some rhetorical authority, that’s why he’s giving all these press conferences and speeches. But day-to-day authority really does reside first and foremost with state and local governments and it always has under our system of government.” COVID-19 testingDr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, on Tuesday, told the Associated Press that the United States does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation’s economy.FILE – Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 13, 2020.”We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet,” Fauci said.Governors also said this week they do not have sufficient testing supplies to carry out mass surveillance.Trump said the federal government is going to insist states test people at their borders for COVID-19.Cuomo and five other governors of northeastern states began deliberations Tuesday on a regional plan to reopen their economies. The governors of three Western states, California, Oregon and Washington, also announced Monday they are similarly taking a unified approach. The East and West Coast consortiums together represent about 100 million people, nearly a third of the country’s population.Trump also announced on Tuesday the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups to suggest guidelines on reopening the country. The members will include business and labor union leaders, as well as economists, religious leaders and politicians.”They already know what I want,” the president said. “I don’t have to give them instructions. These are very sophisticated people. These are the best people in their fields.”The new grouping is viewed as a potential counterweight to the primary task force focused on public health. Neither Fauci nor another high-profile member of the initial task force, Dr. Deborah Birx, spoke at Tuesday’s event.Airline industry bailoutTrump also announced his administration has reached an agreement in principle with 10 U.S. airlines over the terms of a $25 billion bailout to prop up an industry crippled by the pandemic.The president of the Association of Flight Attendants union, Sara Nelson, called the payout “an unprecedented accomplishment,” but she criticized Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for delaying the funds and for asking that airlines repay a portion of them.”We welcome the news that a number of major airlines intend to participate in the Payroll Support Program,” Mnuchin said in a statement. “This is an important CARES Act program that will support American workers and help preserve the strategic importance of the airline industry while allowing for appropriate compensation to the taxpayers.” Patsy Widakuswara and Katherine Gypson contributed to this report.
  
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North Korea is among a handful of countries in the world claiming to be free of COVID-19. The country is also among the most ill-prepared for a coronavirus outbreak.”I do think the North Korean government is very well aware of how weak their health care system is,” said Katharina Zellweger, director of KorAid, a Hong-Kong-based non-governmental organization. “They’re afraid they can’t cope with an outbreak, and this is why all these measures were put into place so early.”Zellweger, who has been providing humanitarian aid to North Korea since 1995, spoke during a conference call Monday hosted by the Wilson Center.She explained that North Korea sealed off its border with China at the end of January, quarantined foreigners and enforced domestic travel restrictions.Crumbling medical systemNorth Korea ranked 193th out of 195 countries surveyed, followed by Somalia and Equatorial Guinea, in the Global Health Index, in a study released last October by Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.FILE – Volunteers carry out disinfection work during an anti-virus campaign in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this image released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), March 4, 2020.The index gauged each country’s level of preparedness for a major infectious disease outbreak. North Korea scored “nil” in the category of infection control practices and the availability of equipment.”The system of testing and diagnosing an infectious disease is nonexistent in North Korea. Only a few hospitals can conduct blood tests,” a Western expert familiar with the medical system in Pyongyang told VOA. The expert requested anonymity.”North Korea’s medical system is fragile and weak, and they’re only able to treat only a handful of critically ill patients,” Kee Park, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, said at a forum hosted Tuesday by the U.S. Institute of Peace.Park, who has been working alongside North Korean doctors for the past 13 years in medical aid programs, cited epidemic modeling by Imperial College London to explain how COVID-19 cases in North Korea will quickly exceed hospital capacity.Upholding North Korea’s claims of virus-free status, Park said he thinks “the North Koreans succeeded in flattening the curve and maybe completely squashed it,” but he still advises Pyongyang to “continue to apply the comprehensive preventive measures until treatment and vaccine becomes available.”Economic blowIn a recent report, the World Food Program put North Korea among 49 poor countries at risk of facing devastating economic consequences from the coronavirus. Aid workers say a negative impact is already being felt on the ground.FILE – People review information explaining the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Phyongchon District People’s Hospital in Pyongyang, North Korea, April, 1, 2020.”Spring and early summer have always been a difficult period with (food) stocks depleting — the so-called barley season,” Zellweger said. “And now with trading at nearly a halt, long quarantine for cargo, international transport problems, a possible lack of fertilizer supplies, seeds, plastic sheeting and other agricultural inputs, add additional pressure.”Scott Snyder, director of the U.S.-Korea Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, cautions that North Korea’s COVID quarantine measures may give more control to the regime.”Quarantine increases the scarcity of goods and in turn increases internal dependency on the leadership. … Scarcity, I think, also indirectly serves the state’s desire to reassert centralized economic control over distribution and availability of goods,” Snyder said.Other experts point to potential regime instability after the outbreak.”My fear is that a coronavirus outbreak in North Korea could have devastating effects on the Korean people, on the military and on (the) regime elite, which can lead to internal instability for the regime,” said David Maxwell, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, at the forum hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace.William Kim contributed to this report.
 
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Businesses around the world are struggling to survive amid the lockdown restrictions imposed in many countries to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus pandemic.  In Malaysia, a popular hamburger chain is among those coping with a shutdown order for restaurants to close in the evening – a measure that is severely cutting the chain’s earnings.  More from Dave Grunebaum in Kuala Lumpur.  
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For people who lost homes to the deadly tornadoes that rampaged across the South, there are no comforting hugs from volunteers or handshakes from politicians. There are no Red Cross shelters for homeless families, who are staying instead in hotel rooms to avoid large gatherings.The disaster response reflected how the coronavirus pandemic has changed relief efforts: Workers are still trying to provide all the comfort they can, but from a distance.Within hours of the tornado onslaught, which began Sunday, church groups were out in affected communities, and Southern Baptist volunteers were told to avoid holding hands with people as they pray, said Sam Porter, director of disaster relief for the nearly 15 million-member denomination. Hugs also are out.”You’re talking about a very hard change in procedures,” Porter said Tuesday. “It’s agonizing. Jesus touched people all through his ministry. He created us as emotional beings. But we are trying to comply with the guidelines.”People work at a damaged home in Chattanooga, Tenn., April 14, 2020.About 550 people in four states were staying in hotel rooms funded by the Red Cross since mass shelters were not an option during the pandemic, said Brad Kieserman, a vice president of the organization.People are being fed catered meals delivered to the hotels instead of through a mass kitchen, he said, and workers are wearing masks, gloves and other gear when dealing with people affected by the storms. Other agencies are making similar provisions, he said.”How ironic is it that the very thing that may unify people and unify communities is the condition in which we have to remain 6 feet apart,” Kieserman said.The death toll from the outbreak rose to at least 34 as officials said a 12th person had died in Mississippi. There, Gov. Tate Reeves, who toured damaged areas, said the pandemic was making a bad situation worse.”The fact that the coronaviruses exist is complicating the recovery from the tornado, while the tornadoes are complicating our efforts to make sure that we do everything in our power to stop the spread of the virus,” Reeves said during a stop in tiny Soso. “It is it is exceptionally complicated, and it’s tough on all of us.”A twister left shingles, insulation and other debris strewn across Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
Almost every official on a tour of storm damage wore a protective mask, and some wore gloves. Instead of hugs and handshakes, Gov. Bill Lee and Mayor Andy Berke offered elbow bumps while talking to affected residents.Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, center, talks with residents as he visits a storm-damaged area in Chattanooga, Tenn., April 14, 2020.”We need money! We need that stimulus check now!” a person in a passing pickup truck yelled out to Lee as he visited with people cleaning around their home.The storms claimed lives in at least six states, and the National Weather Service said preliminary assessments found evidence of at least 27 twisters. The strongest confirmed so far was an EF-4 tornado that devastated southeastern Mississippi with winds as strong as 170 mph (273 kph).Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed across the regoin, and heavy rains caused flooding in some areas. Nashville, Tennessee, broke a 71-year-old record by receiving 2.23 inches (5.66 centimeters) of rain in a day, the weather service said. A day later, on Tuesday morning, the city saw snow flurries.Damage occurred up the East Coast, with a flurry of tornado warnings issued in Delaware after storms left the Southeast.With the economy already faltering because of business shutdowns and job losses linked to the pandemic, the Mississippi State University Extension Service said storms hit the state’s $2.9 billion poultry industry. At least 90 poultry houses were damaged or destroyed, many near the city of Collins.”Although some houses were between flocks and empty, many of these houses had chickens in them,” poultry specialist Tom Tabler said in a statement. “Some would have been chicks just a few days old, while others would have been flocks nearly ready for harvest.”
 
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China has approved clinical trials for two more experimental vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, as the world’s scientists race to beat the pandemic.   The vaccines use inactivated coronavirus pathogens, and the approvals pave the way for early-stage human trials, Wu Yuanbin, an official from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology told a regular press briefing.   China’s state food and drug administration on Monday approved one vaccine developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech, Wu said.   Another vaccine, being developed by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was approved on Sunday, he added.   China now has three different clinical trials for three possible coronavirus vaccines in the works.   Beijing approved the first trial for a vaccine developed by the military-backed Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Hong Kong-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio on March 16.   That day the U.S. drug developer Moderna said it had begun human tests for their vaccine with the U.S. National Institutes of Health.   “Vaccination of subjects during the first phase of clinical trials and the recruitment of volunteers for the second phase of clinical trials began on April 9,” Wu said.   “It’s the world’s first novel coronavirus vaccine to initiate Phase II clinical studies.”   There are currently no approved vaccines or medication for the COVID-19 disease, which has killed more than 120,000 people worldwide and infected nearly two million.   Chinese teams were also racing to develop vaccines using other methods including using attenuated influenza virus vectors or injecting specific nucleic acid.   Several of these projects are currently undergoing animal testing and quality inspections, Wu said.   “The vaccines using the above technical methods are expected to be submitted for clinical trials in April and May,” he added.   Experts have raised hopes that a vaccine could be ready within 18 months. 
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In Italy, bookstores, stationary stores and shops selling baby clothes and supplies were allowed to open nationwide on Tuesday, provided they could maintain the same social-distancing and sanitary measures required in supermarkets.
 
But there was no coherency to the openings, with some regional governors and individual shop owners still deciding to keep their doors shut for now.
 
Hard-hit Lombardy and Piemonte kept their bookshops and stationary shops closed, while central Lazio postponed any opening for another week to allow stores to put in place sanitary measures to protect both staff and shoppers alike. Veneto was allowing them to open two days a week under a gradual loosening that the governor termed “lockdown light.”
 
Another segment of workers allowed back on the job Tuesday were forestry workers, to clear dead trees ahead of the warming weather that brings with it forest fire season.
 
While the list of commercial activities allowed to reopen seemed random, officials offered the explanation that students needed to restock up on school supplies, new parents needed to outfit their growing babies. And Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini argued that books were an “essential good” for Italians cooped up at home.
 
“The same distancing and security measures as supermarkets will be required, but they’ll reopen,” Franceschini tweeted. “It’s not a symbolic gesture, but the recognition that even books are an essential good.”
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Listeners are mourning the coronavirus death of legendary Jamaican radio broadcaster Gil Bailey.  Media outlets say he died of complications from the virus at age 84 on Monday in New York, where he was championed as the voice of Jamaican and Caribbean radio for five decades. Bailey’s Saturday radio program was a must listen in the metropolitan New York area, including New Jersey and Connecticut, which has a large Jamaican and Caribbean community.  Since last July, Bailey also hosted a YouTube program, where he showcased West Indian music of all forms, including calypso and gospel. Bailey was considered a pioneer among radio personalities, many of whom followed his format of using entertainment to inform the Caribbean community in greater New York.  Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, Olivia Grange, expressed her condolences, saying she was a friend of Bailey’s and worked with him for years in promoting Jamaica. 
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Vietnam’s cities have set up checkpoints in their fight against COVID-19, in some cases conducting virus tests on all who enter as they ramp up measures to prevent a second or third wave of the virus from hitting the nation. 
 
The northern city of Hai Phong was the latest to ramp up restrictions, beginning Saturday, when the People’s Committee issued a regulation suspending new permits that allow drivers to transport goods in and out of the city.  
 
The committee joined larger cities Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang in setting up checkpoints to more closely monitor the flow of people and goods through its borders.  
 
Bigger cities went a step further. Photos from government media show municipal officials in blue plastic body suits screening all drivers with contactless thermometers to check for fever at the borders.  
 
“We have won each battle, but the whole battle is still ahead,” Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said. 
 
Authorities are ramping up measures out of concern that people will become complacent since Vietnam was able to limit the first wave of COVID-19 to fewer than 100 reported cases in February.  
 
One sign of this is the presence of motorbike drivers racing in Ho Chi Minh City, taking advantage of the empty roads since the Southeast Asian nation began lockdown on April 1.  
 
Although there is a national restriction of public gatherings of more than two people at a time, illegal motorbike racing also is happening in the capital city of Hanoi along with gatherings around lakes and other public places, particularly among young people.The central beach town of Danang is among those in Vietnam that set up checkpoints to limit movement. (VOA News)The Hanoi People’s Committee said Monday it has asked police to fine those who go out without approved reasons. The committee has issued a regulation to penalize those who violate quarantine, fail to submit health declaration forms, recycle used masks, produce fake medical products, or price gouge products in high demand. Pharmacies in the capital are also required to inform authorities of possible coronavirus cases. 
 
There are “still many people going out during the period of social distancing, while many world health experts warn that not distancing will lead to unpredictable consequences,” the committee said in a statement. It warned people if they do not stay inside, “in the near future, there will be a high risk of infection for the community with new cases.” 
 
Out of Vietnam’s 265 cases of COVID-19, Hanoi has the most at 114 cases, about twice as many as Ho Chi Minh City. So far, the nation has reported no deaths. Its mobility restrictions are among the strictest in Southeast Asia, with Thailand also checking temperatures at checkpoints, and the Philippines using checkpoints to ensure people aren’t traveling unless they have documented permission.  
 
To increase compliance with the stricter measures, Hanoi has them announced over the city’s public speakers on the street, while Ho Chi Minh City has officials drive around in vehicles equipped with speakers to make the announcements.  
 
Private companies are participating in domestic efforts to encourage confinement, as well. When people make phone calls, all the major phone service providers play a recording asking people to stay inside before they connect the calls. Restaurants and supermarkets have increased delivery service. 
 
One bank, Standard Chartered Vietnam, has introduced cash incentives for e-commerce, food delivery and pharmacy transactions to encourage people to stay home. It also offered some customers interest payment waivers and loan restructuring. 
 
“We understand that individuals and businesses in Vietnam are facing unprecedented challenges,” said Nirukt Sapru, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Vietnam. “We hope that the relief measures will help our clients get through this stressful period.” 
 
Some street vendors are still riding bicycles around town, selling baguettes and fruit, and motorbike races can still be heard on the road. However, most Vietnamese are broadly supportive of the stricter measures. For instance, the national lockdown was set for April 1-15, but Linh Son Ngo said he would support an extension.  
 
“Although I really want to talk to people already, if it is necessary then extending for one more week is OK,” he said via Facebook. 
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The police department of Ghazni province in Afghanistan said it has distributed protective kits to security forces in their efforts to combat the coronavirus. However, Afghan police officers say their safety could be at risk, as there is not enough equipment for every member of the force. VOA’s Asef Hussaini reports from Ghazni, Afghanistan. 
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