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Long breadlines form outside of food banks in US cities as America struggles to cope with COVID-19 fallout
Apr 24, 2020 05:24“New York City is facing a crisis unlike anything we’ve seen. As the US economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic continues, more New Yorkers are facing food insecurity,” said the Food Bank for New York City. It estimates that it will have to provide 15 million meals over the next 90 days.
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As coronavirus spreads through US prisons, states are failing incarcerated people
Apr 24, 2020 05:22In New York City, nearly 1,000 people (334 incarcerated people and 657 staff members) in the jails have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the infection rate to 8.24 percent (compared to 1.36 percent in New York City). The chief physician of correctional health care called it a “public health disaster unfolding before our eyes.” In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz has not committed to reducing the state’s prison population. And in other US states, governors are passing the buck.
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Theories on origins of COVID-19 disease
Apr 23, 2020 04:28There are many theories about the exact origins of the novel coronavirus, designated “nCoV-2019” by World Health Organization or commonly referred to as COVID-19 disease, also called SARS-CoV-2 because it is related to SARS pathogen. Theories about the missing link for transmission of the new coronavirus from bats to humans abound.
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Earth Day 2020: Nature is a beneficiary of coronavirus
Apr 23, 2020 04:11Human beings have put too much pressure on the Earth causing irreparable damage, however, with the onset of coronavirus outbreak, the planet seemed to prosper and relive the burden which was unprecedented over the past 50 years when the first Earth Day celebrated.
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Tough times for tourism, but UNWTO predicts holiday traffic will return
Apr 22, 2020 09:50Tourism may have been brought to a near-standstill by COVID-19, but the industry — which accounts for 10 percent of global GDP — finds itself in a unique position to help put the global economy back on its feet, once the pandemic has passed. That’s the view from the UN World Travel Organization (UNWTO), which is closely monitoring the new coronavirus crisis from its Madrid headquarters and collaborating with other UN agencies on ways to mitigate its impact.
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Confusion, seizure, strokes: How COVID-19 may affect the brain
Apr 21, 2020 17:37It isn't completely surprising to scientists that SARS-CoV-2 might impact the brain and nervous system, since this has been documented in other viruses, including HIV, which can cause cognitive decline if untreated. Michel Toledano, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota explained viruses affect the brain in one of two main ways.
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The coronavirus pandemic is making the housing crisis even worse in the US
Apr 21, 2020 17:35Ninety-five percent of Americans have been ordered to stay at home to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Even as almost all Americans are told to remain at home, millions are now unemployed and must scramble to figure out how to pay for that home. The irony is that the one thing Americans are told to do is preventing many of them from doing the one thing they need to do.
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Climate change multiplies the threats of infectious diseases
Apr 21, 2020 16:08As the novel coronavirus continues to rage like a wildfire across the planet, it’s devastating toll has left many asking whether climate change — another multifaceted phenomenon with global reach — has played a part in spreading, even triggering, the pandemic.
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Trump is playing a deadly game in deflecting COVID-19 blame to China
Apr 21, 2020 03:44US President Donald Trump raised the stakes again recently, alleging that China deliberately under-reported virus deaths. He gave credence to a conspiracy theory, already debunked by the Pentagon, that a biotech weapons lab in Wuhan caused the original outbreak.
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Guardians of global economy come up short in fight against virus
Apr 21, 2020 03:42More than 100 of the IMF’s 189 member countries have asked for aid to weather the coronavirus shock, the most ever. The fund already doubled its available rapid-financing lending to $100 billion to meet the demand, but the IMF says emerging markets need to spend at least $2.5 trillion.