Rubber glove makers in Malaysia, the world’s top supplier of medical gloves, are warning of a global shortage owing to the government’s partial lockdown of the country, just as coronavirus-driven demand is soaring worldwide.Malaysia meets more than half of global demand for the gloves.The country, however, has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, at 1,796. It issued a “movement control order” March 18 and extended it Wednesday through April 14 in hopes of slowing its infection rate. International and domestic travel is restricted, and nonessential businesses have been ordered closed.The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association said March 25 that with the lockdown’s orders that factories operate with no more than half their usual workforce, even with extra overtime, “there could be a chronic shortage of medical gloves in the battle to contain and suppress the COVID-19 coronavirus worldwide.”Association president Denis Low said the factory owners were lobbying the International Trade and Industry Ministry to let them return to full capacity and would meet with ministry officials March 26.”We have to operate fully simply because we need to take care of Malaysia, firstly, and we need to take care of the world. We are the largest producer and we feel it is … our duty to save humanity, and we are going to do that,” he told VOA.Low said the association’s roughly 200 factories churned out 187 billion gloves last year and were expecting the coronavirus outbreak to swell demand by 20% or more. While some factories were compensating for the staffing cuts by speeding up the production process, he estimated that typical daily production numbers were still down 20% to 30%.He disputed a claim that some factories were breaking the government’s order to cut staff by 50%.Andy Hall, a labor rights activist with extensive experience in Malaysia, told VOA that he had spoken with workers at some of the country’s glove factories March 25 who said that most of their colleagues were back on the job already.”I wouldn’t know about that,” Low said of the claim.”We have to abide by the government instructions. If they say it’s 50% less [staff], then we will have 50% less staff working. In fact, I believe a lot of our members are practicing that now for the moment,” he said.Soldiers in face masks maintain a checkpoint in Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 22, 2020. Malaysian government issued a movement order to the public starting from March 18 until March 31 to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.Matthew Griffith, an epidemiologist for the World Health Organization’s regional office in Manila, said a rubber glove shortage would add to the challenges health care workers face in sourcing supplies to fight the coronavirus.”It’s just one more difficulty for all of us. We’ve had difficulties getting masks, we’ve had difficulties getting reagents and extraction kits for laboratory testing, and so now we’re going to have more difficulty getting gloves,” he said.”We do need these things. We do need to protect our health care workers. So you can imagine if health care workers run out of gloves and run out of masks and goggles, pretty soon they get sick. And then if they’re sick, they’re out of the hospitals, they’re out of the health care facilities, and we have a pretty dire situation on our hands.”The U.S., at least, is boosting its own rubber glove supplies by lifting an import ban on one of Malaysia’s main producers, WRP Asia Pacific.The U.S. government banned the company’s imports in October over concerns that its factory was using forced labor. It said Tuesday it had lifted the so-called withhold release order the day before “based on recent information … showing the company is no longer producing the rubber gloves under forced labor conditions.”WRP exported $80 million worth of rubber gloves to the U.S. in 2018 and was the first Southeast Asian company to be hit with a withhold release order by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.Reports of human trafficking and labor abuse among Malaysia’s many migrant workers, who make up the bulk of the local rubber glove industry’s workforce, have been rife for years.Hall said conditions have gradually improved but added that debt bondage linked to exorbitant recruitment fees reaching thousands of dollars remains common at WRP and elsewhere. He disputed the U.S. claim that the company is free of forced labor because many of its employees still owe large sums to the recruitment agencies that landed them the jobs.He said he nonetheless supported the U.S. decision to lift the ban because WRP had promised to use future sales to reimburse its workers for past recruitment fees. However, he said the timing of the decision was “surely a political and practical decision” to help shore up U.S. rubber glove supplies amid the coronavirus outbreak and expressed worry that Malaysia’s many buyers in the West and elsewhere may start to ease the labor rights controls in their supply chains to meet growing demands.”In a crisis, migrants are often left behind, and people cite the emergency first, protection and social compliance later,” he said.Neither Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Ministry nor U.S. Customs and Border Protection replied to requests for comment.
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Month: March 2020
China Rebukes Pompeo for ‘Wuhan Virus’ Comment
China’s Foreign Ministry Thursday strongly condemned comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he referred to COVID-19 as the “Wuhan” virus and claimed China has been waging a “disinformation campaign” about the epidemic.Pompeo made the comments to reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of a videoconference with Group of Seven economic powers nations. Pompeo said the nations were united in opposing China’s coronavirus “disinformation.”Speaking a regular news briefing in Beijing Thursday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said Pompeo insists on using the term “Wuhan virus” to stigmatize China and discredit China’s efforts in an attempt to divert attention and shift responsibilities. Shuang said Pompeo “has a very sinister motive.”Pompeo and other members of the administration, including U.S. President Donald Trump himself have frequently referred to the new coronavirus as the “Wuhan” or “China” virus. The World Health Organization and other international bodies have officially named the virus “Coronavirus disease / COVID-19.” The use of the term became an issue during the G7 teleconference Wednesday when the U.S. insisted on using the term “Wuhan virus” in the joint statement to be issued following the meeting. Other member nations objected to the use of the term, which resulted in separate statements being issued.
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Ethiopia to Release Inmates to Curb Coronavirus Spread
Ethiopia is set to begin releasing more than 4,000 prisoners Thursday in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Attorney General Adanech Abebe said inmates convicted of minor crimes, with less than a year left on their sentences, and women with babies, qualify for release.Ethiopia is also deporting foreign inmates being held on drug-trafficking charges to their native countries.So far, Ethiopia has had12 confirmed cases of coronavirus, but with the disease spreading rapidly across Africa, the government decided to take action to fight the spread of the virus.Meantime, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is urging Ethiopians to practice social distancing, even as large crowds ignore warnings and gather for events in the capital, Addis Ababa.
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Accused New Zealand Mosque Shooter Changes Plea to Guilty
More than a year after 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, were gunned down, the man accused of carrying out the massacre has unexpectedly pleaded guilty to the crime.Brenton Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and one charge of terrorism Thursday during a hearing Thursday at the Christchurch High Court. Tarrant entered his plea via video link from his prison cell in Auckland instead of in person, as New Zealand begins a four-week nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic.The imams from the Al Noor and Linwood mosques, the targets of Tarrant’s rampage, were among the handful of people in the courtroom for the surprise hearing.Hours before carrying out the March 15, 2019, shootings — the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history — the now 29-year-old Australian white supremacist published a long manifesto online explaining his reasonings for the attack. Tarrant livestreamed the attack on Facebook, which was viewed by scores of people around the world before it was taken down.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Tarrant’s decision to change his plea would relieve the survivors of the burden of having to endure a trial.Tarrant’s next court appearance is scheduled for May.
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In Self-Isolation, Biden Launches Media Blitz to Attack Trump Over Virus
Until a few days ago, Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden kept a low profile while in protective self-isolation from the coronavirus at his home in Delaware.After surging past chief rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Super Tuesday and in a handful of subsequent crucial primaries, Biden and the Democratic primary contest were abruptly overshadowed by the coronavirus crisis sweeping the nation.But as Democratic criticism of President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic has grown, Biden, 77, seems to have found an opening to speak out more — to critique the president and explain how he would have handled the situation differently.Workers construct what is believed to be a makeshift morgue behind a hospital during the coronavirus pandemic, in the Manhattan borough of New York City on March 25, 2020.In a speech Monday and a subsequent media blitz, Biden criticized Trump for being slow in responding to the virus, ignoring medical experts’ advice and playing down the threat, even as his own intelligence officials were warning him about it as early as January.“For too long, the warning signs were ignored,” Biden said during the live-streamed speech from a tiny TV studio built in his home.”For too long, the administration said the threats were “under control,” “contained,” “like the flu.” Biden then took Trump to task for failing to exercise powers under the Defense Production Act to order manufacturers to ramp up production of medical supplies such as ventilators and surgical masks.Trump keeps saying he’s ‘a wartime president.’ Well, start to act like one,” Biden said.Trump has signed two executive orders invoking powers under the Korean War-era law but has said he is reserving it for “a worst-case scenario.”The president has backed a series of massive spending bills to address the public health crisis and temporarily prop up the economy and has supported state and local orders that have forced as many as 100 million Americans to shelter in place.A couple walk a dog at sunset March 25, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo. The city, along with neighboring counties, is under Stay at Home orders to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.As China locked down major cities hit by the virus in January, the Trump administration on January 31 announced travel restrictions to and from China, and on March 12, imposed a ban on most travel from Europe.However, Trump’s latest call for a major scaling back of the shelter-in-place orders by Easter to allow millions to return to their jobs and recharge the economy — even while the virus continues to spread throughout the country at an alarming pace — has drawn fire from Democrats, governors, public health experts and scientists.The crisis has put Biden in a tight spot.The virus grew into a full-blown pandemic earlier this month, just as the former vice president was basking in a surprise comeback during key primary contests for the Democratic nomination.But with the country focused on the crisis and the Trump’s administration’s response, Biden’s campaign has struggled to garner attention.Patients wear personal protective equipment while maintaining social distancing as they wait in line for a COVID-19 test at Elmhurst Hospital Center, March 25, 2020, in New York.A detailed coronavirus plan released by the Biden campaign earlier this month seems to have fallen by the wayside. The plan promised a “decisive public health response,” including widely available free testing and a “decisive economic response,” including paid leave and help for small businesses affected by the pandemic. “What a challenge!” said Joseph Pika, a retired University of Delaware political scientist who has followed Biden’s political career.”Campaigns are usually based on what has worked before, especially during the last presidential election cycle. This requires the managers to be creative.” Pika said via email that while Biden’s speech was “effective,” as it came before Trump adopted a “war-time commander-chief posture,” the former vice president now runs the risk of appearing to take partisan advantage of a crisis.What’s more, Trump’s approval rating has risen as he began making almost daily appearances with his coronavirus task force to tout administration efforts to combat the virus.A subway rider wears a glove while holding a pole as several riders wear face masks during the coronavirus outbreak on the D train in the Brooklyn borough of New York on March 25, 2020.Seeking to avoid charges of partisanship during a national emergency, Biden has carefully avoided blaming Trump for the virus outbreak.“The coronavirus is not his fault, but the lack of speed with which to respond to it has to move much faster,” Biden said on ABC’s “The View” on Monday.”This is not about Democrat or Republican. This is not about what your party is. It’s about getting through this.”It was one of Biden’s three TV appearances on Monday, including CNN and MSNBC. They were all designed to project an air of authority and a different leadership style in the face of the nation’s worst public health disaster in more than a century.Appearing on CNN after Trump announced Tuesday that he wanted to “reopen the country” by Easter on April 12, Biden suggested the president’s goal was unrealistic given that the virus is still spreading. “Look, we all want the economy to open as rapidly as possible,” Biden said. “But the idea that we’re in a position where we’re saying, by Easter, he wants to have everybody going back to work. What’s he talking about?”An aerial view shows the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, shortly before sunset, with lighter than normal traffic as the coronavirus pandemic continues on March 25, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.Biden has made his decades of public service a centerpiece of his career. He served as a Democratic senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009, and two terms as vice president during the Obama presidency from 2009 to 2017.As Biden has chided Trump over the coronavirus, the Trump campaign has pushed back, citing Biden’s own much-criticized comments about the way germs move during the 2009 swine flu pandemic. “Joe Biden will again politicize coronavirus today.But his record on pandemics is one of incompetence,” a Twitter account managed by the Trump campaign tweeted.During the 2009 swine flu outbreak, Biden made reckless comments unsupported by science & the experts. The Obama Admin had to clean up his mess & apologize for his ineptitude.”Fact-checking site PolitiFact rated the Trump team’s claim as “mostly true,” reporting that Biden’s comment “drew criticism over fear-mongering, particularly from the travel industry, and experts told us Biden got it wrong.”Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, said Biden should explain how he would handle the crisis differently.“What’s important for him to do is to showcase, to tell what he would do differently and to explain what difference that would have made so that people can make a decision about his crisis leadership should he become president,” Rozell said in an interview.
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South Africa to Lock Down for 21 Days, Starting Midnight Thursday
South Africa begins a 21-day lockdown at midnight Thursday aimed at stopping the country’s rising number of coronavirus cases, with which as of Wednesday tallied 709 confirmed cases, the highest on the continent.Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said he believes it may be at least two weeks before the lockdown affects the rise in cases.South Africans in health care, law enforcement, food sales and distribution, and utilities are exempt from the lockdown.Officials are urging others to only go out for essential needs.In an apparent effort to discourage mass hoarding of food, Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza announced the country has an adequate food supply for the duration of the lockdown.The vast majority of countries across Africa have confirmed cases of the virus. So far the continent has at least 1,788.So far, at least 58 people have died in Africa, although South Africa has not recorded any confirmed deaths from the virus.
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US Says It’s Ready to Work With China on Coronavirus
In an unprecedented videoconference of G-7 foreign ministers, global leaders are pledging to work together to battle the coronavirus outbreak. The United States says it is ready to work with China to end the global pandemic and restore the world economy. But as VOA’s State Department correspondent Nike Ching reports, some analysts are skeptical about the ability of both countries to cooperate to fight the global pandemic.
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Trump Appeals to Congress to Pass COVID Stimulus Bill
U.S. President Donald Trump is appealing to both houses of the U.S. Congress to pass the $2 trillion stimulus bill aimed at rebooting an economy brought to a standstill by the coronavirus pandemic.It is the biggest single package to help American citizens and shuttered businesses cope with the ensuing disaster.The Senate and White House hammered out the details Wednesday after a complex series of negotiations and procedural votes.While it includes a lot of provisions aimed at relieving the economic stress, the bill’s outstanding features include cash payments to individuals and married couples making less than $99,000 a year.In this photo taken March 20, 2020, Mike Johnston, a clerk at the Maupin Market in Maupin, Oregon, wipes down the ice cream case to protect customers from the coronavirus.Unemployment benefits are boosted, student loan payments suspended, and the badly hit airline industry will get tens of millions of dollars in help.The bill specifies that none of Trump’s businesses will benefit and no money for the Pentagon can be spent on the border wall.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that the administration anticipates the stimulus package will keep the economy afloat for three months.“Hopefully, we won’t need this for three months,” he added.The bill contains details that both Democrats and Republicans say they don’t like.But even Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has threatened to block it, said he supports the plan overall.It was unclear as of late Wednesday when the full Senate and House will vote on the bill.If the Senate passes it, it goes to the House, which is currently not in session. Representatives would either agree to its passage by unanimous consent, or return to Washington to vote, risking debate and objections by lawmakers from both sides who are unhappy with some of its provisions.Late Wednesday, the government of Washington, D.C., ordered a citywide lockdown with the number of cases in the city and suburbs topping 1,000.FILE: Researchers work with coronavirus samples as a trial begins to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of the coronavirus disease, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, March 19, 2020.The coronavirus death toll in the U.S. now exceeds 900, with New York City the epicenter of the country’s outbreak.Mayor Bill de Blasio bitterly complained Wednesday that the stimulus bill doesn’t do enough to help the country’s largest city. He blamed Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and said he will appeal directly to President Trump for more help.Spain has now surpassed China and only trails Italy as the world’s coronavirus hot spot. China has lifted the lockdown on Hubei province, where the global outbreak began in December.China had been the epicenter of the pandemic but reported just 67 new cases Wednesday – all of them in people who came to China from overseas.Russia confirmed its first coronavirus deaths Wednesday, and Britain’s Prince Charles has become one of the most recognizable names to become ill.The heir to the British throne has isolated himself in Scotland, saying his symptoms are mild. He said he is not sure where or how he caught the virus.As of late Wednesday, nearly 469,000 people around the world were infected and close to 21,200 had died. The coronavirus has now reached every country on Earth.
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Somaliland Women Find Opportunities, Risks Adapting to Drought
After years of devastating droughts, many rural families in the breakaway territory of Somaliland are migrating to urban centers. To survive, some women are going into business, challenging traditional gender roles that have long defined the workforce. Neha Wadekar visited the town of Burao with the charity Oxfam and has this report.
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New Zealand Mosque Shooter Changes Plea to Guilty
One year after killing 51 worshipers at two Christchurch mosques, an Australian white supremacist accused of the slaughter on Thursday changed his plea to guilty.Twenty-nine-year-old Brenton Harrison Tarrant pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism. The rampage was the deadliest in New Zealand’s modern history and prompted the government to rush through new laws banning most semi-automatic weapons.Tarrant was scheduled to go to trial on the charges in June. His change in plea came as a surprise and relief to survivors and relatives of the victims.A sentencing date has yet to be set. Tarrant faces life imprisonment on the charges.The plea came at a hastily arranged court hearing at a time that New Zealand was beginning a four-week lockdown to try and combat the new coronavirus. The lockdown meant that Tarrant appeared in the court from his jail cell via video link and that only a few people were allowed inside the courtroom.
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Vets Lending Vital Equipment to Fight Coronavirus
Doctors across the United States are telling their patients to put off routine checkups and elective procedures to keep hospitals and clinics free to test and treat anyone who may have COVID-19.This plea for patience and understanding is also coming from veterinarians, who treat pets of all kinds.They are asking pet owners to forgo regular exams and minor surgery so animal hospitals can free up their equipment for redeployment to human hospitals.Doctors say the same machines that keep animals healthy can be used on their owners.“We buy at the same stores,” said Paul Lunn, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. “There’s no difference in the equipment.”The school handed over two ventilators and hundreds of protective suits and masks to hospitals in and around Raleigh, the state capital.There are 30 accredited veterinary hospitals across the country, and Lunn says there are more than 70 ventilators that can be pressed into service, if needed.The animal hospitals also have examination rooms and operating theaters large enough to treat people.No direct transmission from petsThere is no evidence that domestic animals such as dogs and cats can catch or directly transmit COVID-19 to humans.A widely circulated story that a 17-year-old dog in Hong Kong died from the disease is false. The animal succumbed to old age and other health problems.But if a human infected with the coronavirus pets a dog or cat, someone else can pick up the virus from the animal’s fur.Many animal shelters and adoption centers around the United States have closed to practice social distancing until the pandemic subsides.Chris Bombaugh, president and CEO of the Montgomery County Humane Society in Montgomery County, Maryland, said it has suspended all adoptions of dogs and cats.She says the animals can sense that something is going on but are still getting lots of love and care from the staff.For small animals lucky enough to have a home, Bombaugh recommends that people make arrangements for someone to take care of their pets and have a 14-day supply of food and medicine on hand if the coronavirus strikes.
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Third Day of Fighting Rocks Libyan Capital Amid Country’s First Coronavirus Case
Libyan fighter jets flew over the strategic al-Watiya Airbase near the capital Tripoli, amid conflicting reports over which side now controls the area. Sporadic fighting also continued in the capital Wednesday, as residents reported artillery shells falling in various parts of the city. The fighting came as the Tripoli-based National Unity Government reported the country’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus.Health Minister Dr. Ehmid Mohammed Bin Omar urged Libyans to heed the health ministry’s safety recommendations, adding that the ministry is taking measures to care for the infected patient. Hatem al Oraibi, spokesman for the rival government based in Tobruk, told journalists that measures were being taken in eastern towns and cities to address the coronavirus crisis. He said equipment and medication to treat the virus have been sent to area hospitals and that a hospital was being readied in Benghazi to accommodate suspected victims. FILE – Boys stand near a damaged house after shells fell on a residential area, south of Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 28, 2020.Meanwhile, areas in and around Tripoli experienced what some residents were calling the “worst fighting” in the city since the fall of former Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi in 2011. Video posted on social media showed black smoke rising into the air in the southern Tripoli district of Bou Salim as forces loyal to the two rival governments tried to advance. Heavy fighting occurred at the western al-Watiya Airbase after a Tripoli-based commander tried to wrest it from forces loyal to eastern military commander Gen. Khalifa Hafter. Both sides are claiming control of the base. Hafter’s forces provided video on social media showing a Syrian mercenary whom they say was captured in the fighting. The man said in the video he was sent to Libya by the Turkish government, which pays his salary. Turkey backs the national unity government, while Hafter’s forces are backed by Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Fighting erupted in and around Tripoli three days ago, after a coronavirus cease-fire broke down after being agreed to by both sides. It was not immediately clear which side was responsible for the renewed fighting.
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Kenya’s Turkana Herders Facing Droughts, Floods
For nearly a decade, herders in Kenya’s arid northwest have depended on cash payments from the government to withstand a cycle of recurring, severe droughts and floods. But as David Lomuria reports from Lodwar, Kenya, herders say the payments don’t always arrive on time, and acknowledged that climate change is making it harder for them to maintain their livelihood.
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Rural America Watches Pandemic Erupt in Cities as Fear Grows
DUFUR, OREGON — The social distancing rules repeated like a mantra in America’s urban centers, where the coronavirus is spreading exponentially, might seem silly in wide-open places where neighbors live miles apart and “working from home” means another day spent branding calves or driving a tractor alone through a field. But as the pandemic spreads through the U.S., those living in rural areas, too, are increasingly threatened. Tiny towns tucked into Oregon’s windswept plains and cattle ranches miles from anywhere in South Dakota might not have had a single case of the new coronavirus, but their main streets are also empty and their medical clinics overwhelmed by the worried.Residents from rural Alabama to the woods of Vermont to the frozen reaches of Alaska fear the spread of the disease from outsiders, the social isolation that comes when the town’s only diner closes, and economic collapse in places where jobs were already scarce.”Nobody knows what to do and they’re just running in circles, so stay away from me is what I’m saying,” said Mike Filbin, a 70-year-old cattle rancher in Wasco County, Oregon, one of the few parts of the state that has yet to see a case of COVID-19.”Right now, we’re pretty clean over here, but we’re not immune to nothin’ — and if they start bringing it over, it’ll explode here.”In this photo taken March 20, 2020, cattle rancher Mike Filbin stands on his property in Dufur, Oregon, after herding some cows, and talks about the impact the coronavirus is having on his rural community.To make matters worse, some of the most remote communities have limited or no internet access and spotty cellphone service. That makes telecommuting and online learning challenging in an era of blanket school and work closures, and it eliminates the possibility of the FaceTime card games and virtual cocktail hours that urban Americans have turned to in droves to stay connected.The routine ways that rural Americans connect — a bingo night, stopping in at a local diner or attending a potluck — are suddenly taboo.”Rural people are reliant on their neighbors and have more confidence and trust in their neighbors,” said Ken Johnson, a senior demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy and professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire. “Now you have people who are supposed to self-isolate themselves. What does that mean when people you depend on, in order to help you, are going to put themselves and their families at risk? I don’t know what that will do in rural America.”Neil Bradshaw, the mayor of Ketchum, Idaho, is starting to see the answer in his own community.The rural resort town has struggled since the arrival of COVID-19, and he fears if the virus lingers too long, it could devastate it. The town is nestled next door to the tony skiing destination Sun Valley Resort and is known as the second-home haven for dozens of celebrities.It’s also become the epicenter of Idaho’s caseload, with at least 35 cases and known community spread of the virus. At least 14 of the cases are among health care workers, forcing the town’s small medical workers to bring in replacement staffers from nearby cities.In this photo taken March 20, 2020, a sign outside a fly fishing shop in Maupin, Oregon, advises customers of new policies to limit the spread of the coronavirus in rural areas.”Our town thrives on people coming to town, and for the first time in our history we are discouraging visitors,” said Bradshaw, of the town of 2,700 people. “Initially people had different levels of adoption, but there’s tremendous community pressure that we’re all in this together. We’ve gone from being a vibrant town to a ghost town.”The town’s coffers rely on a local option tax, and if that drops by half the city will have lost $700,000 in revenue, he said. Some communities have pushed back on shutdowns that have brought daily life to a standstill. Leaders from seven Utah counties, for example, sent a letter earlier this week to Gov. Gary Herbert urging a “return to normalcy,” and said the closure of schools and business was causing panic and hurting the economy.”As of (Monday), the total deaths attributed to the virus in the United States stands at ninety,” the letter states. “Not nine hundred, not nine thousand, not ninety thousand. Ninety. This number is sure to rise in the near future but we need to keep our wits about us.”Others worry about outsiders bringing the disease to truly remote areas that aren’t equipped to deal with it. Across the nation, there are over 51,000 general intensive care beds in urban counties, compared with just 5,600 in rural counties, according to data compiled by The Associated Press. Those beds serve a smaller population than in urban areas, but it would still take fewer people in rural areas to overwhelm a typical hospital. In fiscal year 2018, the average rural hospital had eight ICU beds, compared with 20 for a typical hospital in an urban area.In this photo taken March 20, 2020, Mike Johnston, a clerk at the Maupin Market in Maupin, Oregon, wipes down the ice cream case to protect customers from the coronavirus.In Georgiana, a small town in southern Alabama, the only hospital closed last year, so residents flocked to the health clinic instead when a person in a town 5 miles (8 kilometers) away was diagnosed with COVID-19. More than 30% of Georgiana’s 1,600 residents are over age 60, putting them at higher risk with limited medical facilities to serve them, said Mayor Jerome Antone. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. Georgiana’s older residents, Antone said, are “aggressively upset,” even though no one there has been diagnosed yet.In Alaska’s Point Hope, an Inupiat whaling village at the edge of the Arctic Ocean nearly 700 miles (1,130 kilometers) north of Anchorage, tribal leaders have been preparing and discussing potential issues such as air travel into town. The state’s limited road system doesn’t reach the community of 900 people, which relies on planes for much of its connection to the outside world.This week, one of the two airlines that serve Point Hope will begin restricting flights to cargo and passengers with medical or other essential needs.Still, residents worry the recent deaths of two elders will bring out-of-town mourners for the funerals.”We have all kinds of different people who come into our village,” said acting Mayor Daisy Sage. “This coronavirus is serious.”Thousands of miles away, in South Dakota, falling prices for beef are generating as much — or more — worry than the virus.Sam Stoddard, a cattle rancher near the town of Kadoka, population 650, said futures markets for beef have dropped up to 30% because of the coronavirus. He’s worried about longtime ranchers being able to hang on. If the market remains terrible, he said, ranchers can put off selling their calves until later in the year — but no one knows how long the economy will be in upheaval, leaving everyone stressed.At the same time, the state has not shuttered businesses, leaving residents wondering what to expect next. South Dakota has 30 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.”Normally this time of year we’re more worried about a big blizzard coming in and killing 10% of our calves. You know it’s coming, and you can prepare for it,” Stoddard said. “With this, you don’t know what’s coming or what you should be doing.”
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Too Big to Infect? Some US Leaders Defy Virus Guidelines
The State Department has advised against all international travel because of the coronavirus, but that didn’t stop Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from flying to Afghanistan this week.
Gyms across the nation’s capital are shuttered, but Sen. Rand Paul, an eye doctor, still managed a workout at the Senate on Sunday morning as he awaited the results of a coronavirus test. It came back positive.
The guidance against shaking hands? That hasn’t always applied to President Donald Trump, whose penchant for pressing the flesh continued even after public health officials in his administration were warning that such bodily contact could facilitate the spread of the contagious virus. Practice social distancing? Daily White House briefings involve Trump and other senior officials crowded around a podium.
Even as the country has largely hunkered down, heeding the guidance of health experts and the directives of state leaders, some powerful people in Washington have defied preventative measures aimed at curbing the spread. Their business-as-usual actions are at odds with the restrictions everyday Americans find themselves under — and with the government’s own messaging.
Some human behavior experts say the “do as I say, not as I do”‘ ethos seemingly on display is common among powerful officials, who may be inclined to think rules for the general public don’t apply to them in the same way or who can easily disassociate their own actions from what they say is best for others.
“When we have high power, we think of ourselves as exceptional as if the rules don’t apply to us,” said Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who has researched behavior and decision-making. “We’re much more prone to do what we want because we don’t feel constrained in the way that less powerful people do.”
In Pompeo’s case, the State Department says the unannounced trip — coming amid a near-global travel shutdown — was necessary and urgent because of political turmoil in Afghanistan that U.S. officials fear could threaten a recent U.S.-Taliban peace deal that calls for American troop withdrawals. Pompeo left Kabul on Monday without being able to secure a power-sharing deal.
People traveling with Pompeo had their temperatures taken and were given small plastic bags containing a face mask, hand sanitizer, bleach wipes and mini-disposable thermometers. A State Department medical official told reporters that Pompeo and his staff would not be quarantining themselves because Afghanistan is not considered a high-risk country for the virus and because Pompeo’s movements on the trip were controlled.
But some of the behavior by other officials has drawn rebukes.
Asked in a Science Magazine interview about Trump shaking hands, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he tells White House staff that “we should not be doing that. Not only that — we should be physically separating a bit more on those press conferences.”
Several senators, meanwhile, scolded Paul for refusing to self-quarantine after he’d been tested, with the doctor overseeing the government’s coronavirus response suggesting the Kentucky Republican’s actions fell short of model “personal responsibility.” More than two dozen senators are in their 70s and 80s, putting them at high risk if exposed.
Still, despite risk to senators and the fact that gyms across the country have been closed as a precaution, Paul and other senators were able to continue going to the Senate gym, using a keypad for access.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said in an interview with Newsy that Paul’s actions were “irresponsible” and that senators in general have been acting as if they were somehow immune to getting sick. He cited what he said was a “photo opp” for senators held over the weekend.
“I think that senators must think that they’re invincible,” Brown said.
Paul, a proud civil libertarian, said he had thought it “highly unlikely” he was sick before getting the test results and had no symptoms of the illness. He said he did not have contact with anyone who tested positive for the virus or was sick. He was at the Senate gym Sunday morning, though Paul’s staff says he left the Capitol as soon as he received the results.
Asked about Paul, Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said people can spread the virus while being asymptomatic, so social distancing is imperative. She noted that she herself stayed home over the weekend when she felt ill. She took a coronavirus test that came back negative.
“These are the kinds of things that we have to do for one another. This is the personal responsibility that I’m talking about that we all have to practice,” Birx said.
Trump raised eyebrows among public health specialists when he methodically shook the hands of retail and health industry specialists at a Rose Garden news conference two weeks ago. He acknowledged Monday that shaking hands has been a hard habit for him to break, having become accustomed as president to doing so with “literally thousands of people a week.”
Even now, he stands close to other officials at daily White House briefings, including Vice President Mike Pence. By contrast, Defense Secretary Mark Esper began separating from his deputy this month as a precaution.
Itzhak Yanovitzky, a Rutgers University communications professor, said senior officials or people in positions of power frequently separate their public behavior from their private, especially if they think they have greater control over their circumstances compared to strangers. Doctors, for instance, may not always follow their own recommendations to their patients if they think they have better control over their illnesses.
In times of crisis, most people look to health experts as the ultimate authority, Yanovitzky said in an email. But for the segment of the population already disinclined to take the risk seriously, inconsistencies between what people say and do risk undermining the recommendations and mandates of the public health community, he said.
“The problem,” said Schweitzer, the Wharton professor, “is that the mixed messages sow confusion, and it seems disorganized, undisciplined, chaotic.”
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Germany’s Lower House Passes Massive Coronavirus Economic Aid Package
Germany’s lower house of Parliament – the Bundestag – approved an $814 billion aid package Wednesday to cushion the economy from the direct impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
In order to fund the emergency measures, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is planning to take on more than $168 billion in new debt for the first time since 2013.
The package was presented by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz while Merkel is at home after a doctor who treated her tested positive for the coronavirus.As a precaution, members of Parliament were spaced widely apart during the debate in Berlin’s Reichstag building for the session.
Among other measures, the plan provides funding for the suffering tourism and service industries, support for small businesses, and unemployment benefits for freelance work and contract workers.
The measures passed easily in the lower house and now will move on to the upper house of Parliament, where a vote into law is expected Friday.
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Street in Britain Serenades Girl on her Birthday
Neighbors on British street this week pulled together to help an eight-year-old girl celebrate her birthday after coronavirus lockdown regulations left her stuck in her house. The entire street in a Southhampton neighborhood Wednesday sang “Happy Birthday” out their windows for the girl — named “Sophia” — who stood outside her home in tears as she listened. Cell phone video of the serenade was shared heavily on social media in Britain. The British government Monday banned gatherings of more than two people — unless they’re from the same household — and told everyone apart from essential workers to leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise.
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US Cybersecurity Experts See Recent Spike in Chinese Digital Espionage
A U.S. cybersecurity firm said Wednesday it has detected a surge in new cyberspying by a suspected Chinese group dating back to late January, when coronavirus was starting to spread outside China.
FireEye Inc. said in a report it had spotted a spike in activity from a hacking group it dubs “APT41” that began on Jan. 20 and targeted more than 75 of its customers, from manufacturers and media companies to healthcare organizations and nonprofits.
There were “multiple possible explanations” for the spike in activity, said FireEye Security Architect Christopher Glyer, pointing to long-simmering tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade and more recent clashes over the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 17,000 people since late last year.
The report said it was “one of the broadest campaigns by a Chinese cyber espionage actor we have observed in recent years.”
FireEye declined to identify the affected customers. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not directly address FireEye’s allegations but said in a statement that China was “a victim of cybercrime and cyberattack.” The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined comment.
FireEye said in its report that APT41 abused recently disclosed flaws in software developed by Cisco, Citrix and others to try to break into scores of companies’ networks in the United States, Canada, Britain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and more than a dozen other countries.
Cisco said in an email it had fixed the vulnerability and it was aware of attempts to exploit it, a sentiment echoed by Citrix, which said it had worked with FireEye to help identify “potential compromises.”
Others have also spotted a recent uptick in cyber-espionage activity linked to Beijing.
Matt Webster, a researcher with Secureworks – Dell Technologies’ cybersecurity arm – said in an email that his team had also seen evidence of increased activity from Chinese hacking groups “over the last few weeks.”
In particular, he said his team had recently spotted new digital infrastructure associated with APT41 – which Secureworks dubs “Bronze Atlas.”
Tying hacking campaigns to any specific country or entity is often fraught with uncertainty, but FireEye said it had assessed “with moderate confidence” that APT41 was composed of Chinese government contractors.
FireEye’s head of analysis, John Hultquist, said the surge was surprising because hacking activity attributed to China has generally become more focused.
“This broad action is a departure from that norm,” he said.
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Uganda Opposition Figure Bobi Wine Releases COVID-19 Awareness Song
In Uganda, authorities have confirmed five new cases of COVID-19, among them an eight-month-old baby and two Chinese nationals who left their quarantine. Ugandan officials are trying to raise awareness of the coronavirus, including one well-known opposition lawmaker who, not surprisingly, issued his warning in song.Legislator and musician Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, is attempting to spread awareness of the deadly coronavirus.His musical message: everyone is a potential victim, everyone is a potential solution, and do not underestimate the danger. Like a majority of Ugandans and others around the world, Wine is staying indoors with his family and he tells VOA, it’s not easy.“Well, like everybody else, am struggling, laughs,” said Kyagulanyi. “Because it’s not very easy to have kids home when you’re not earning especially in our Uganda where it is mainly from hand to mouth. But we try to manage under the circumstances.”In the last two weeks, President Yoweri Museveni has addressed the nation four times through the national broadcaster, urging people to stay indoors, keep social distance and wash their hands to keep the virus at bay.Wine tells VOA, this is the time especially for musicians like him to use their talents for humanity.“We must use all the tools that we have to communicate,” said Kyagulanyi. “Music is a very powerful means of communication and it’s not only communication but it also deals with matters of stress with different people out there who are confined, who are self-quarantined.”A general view shows St. Paul’s Cathederal in Namirembe hill, amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Kampala, Uganda, March 22, 2020.Uganda has so far registered 14 cases of COVID-19. Most of them had traveled recently.Dr. Henry Mwebesa, the director of general health services in the Ministry of Health, said the cases include a 63-year-old man who traveled from Germany and a 57-year-old man dealing in the salt trade at the Uganda-South Sudan border.“The third case is actually an eight-month-old baby, a Ugandan, whose father travelled from Kisumu in Kenya about a week earlier,” said Mwebesa. “The two other cases were two Chinese who traveled from Guangzhou and Linyang who have been currently under quarantine. They are part of six Chinese, I think somehow they escaped out of quarantine and tried to cross to DRC via Zombo district.”To date, a total of 2,261 travelers, including Ugandans, have been identified as potential risks and are under quarantine.All of Uganda’s first eight COVID-19 case patients are reported to be in stable condition.Meanwhile, Bobi Wine reminds Ugandans to be aware of the danger.“The Coronavirus is sweeping over mankind, everybody must be alert. It’s a global pandemic we cannot afford to ignore you better watch for yourself. Yes man, this is Bobi Wine himself. Watch out for the coronavirus, you can be a very important in stopping the spread of the coronavirus,” he sings.For now, as more Ugandans adapt to their new, isolated lifestyles, they at least have a song that gives them courage to hold on.
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South Korea to Provide Coronavirus Test Kits to US
South Korea, which has been among the best in the world at coronavirus testing, has agreed to provide the United States with badly needed test kits. Seoul says U.S. President Donald Trump asked South Korea for the coronavirus help on Tuesday. As VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, Trump’s request comes at a tense moment in U.S.-South Korea relations.
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160-year-old Vatican Newspaper Succumbs to Coronavirus
The Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, which Pope Francis has jokingly called “the party newspaper,” suspended printing for only the third time in nearly 160 years on Wednesday due to the coronavirus. The paper, which was founded in 1861, will continue publishing online and most of its staff of about 60, including 20 journalists, will work from home, editor Andrea Monda said. “A newspaper and the paper on which it is printed are inextricably intertwined so it sad that this is happening but the reality is that we are all facing a crisis,” Monda told Reuters. Wednesday evening’s edition will be the last for the time being. The newspaper’ print run of about 5,000 is disproportionate to its wider influence in reflecting Vatican opinion on international affairs and Church matters. It is followed by many ambassadors. “We will try to make the best of the moment to boost our online readership until we are able to print again,” Monda said. Ten copies will continue to be printed. They are for Pope Francis, former Pope Benedict, a few top officials and several to be archived for the historical record. “We had to stop primarily because both the printers and the distributors could not guarantee their services in safe conditions because of the lockdown in Italy and the Vatican,” Monda said. Pope Francis told reporters last year he reads only two newspapers – the Osservatore and Rome’s Il Messaggero. It is very rare for the paper not to be published. Even the Nazi occupation of Rome during World War Two did not halt printing. However, the paper was not published on Sept. 20, 1870, when forces fighting for Italian unification conquered Rome and ended the Church’s temporal power over a large swathe of Italy known as the Papal States. Publication was also suspended for a period in 1919 due to labor unrest and other difficulties in Italy after World War I, Monda said.
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Coronavirus Exposes Uber, Lyft Drivers’ Lack of Safety Net
As independent contractors, U.S. ride-hail drivers for Uber and Lyft benefited from soaring trip demand and flexible work hours. But as the coronavirus brings large parts of the country to a halt, drivers and companies are facing the downside of an ambiguous contractor model. Many Uber and Lyft drivers dependent on the companies, but under U.S. labor law don’t have the protections granted to regular employees. Uber and Lyft driver Tammie Jean Lane, who had part of her lung removed after lung cancer, holds a bottle of hand sanitizer in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 2020.Under pressure to ease the plight of its roughly 1.3 million U.S. drivers and food delivery workers, Uber has seized on the crisis to advance its campaign for a larger overhaul of U.S. employment law to permit it to offer more benefits while maintaining workers’ contractor status, changes it has requested from state and federal lawmakers for several years. Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi on Monday urged U.S. legislators to use the current crisis as an opportunity to implement changes to existing employment law by creating what the company calls a “third way” in between employment and contractor status. The company’s proposal drew sharp criticism from labor unions. “A ‘third way’ is just a euphemism for creating a new underclass of workers with fewer rights and protections,” said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation. In a statement, Uber said economic forecasts meant more people will need flexible, independent work in the future, which was why it wanted to raise the standard for that work. But Uber’s benefits plan does not include unemployment insurance, the protection drivers seek most under current circumstances. A driver advocacy group in New York on Tuesday called on Uber and Lyft to contribute to emergency unemployment pay. Uber did not comment on the lack of unemployment insurance, saying only that its proposed model included “extended benefits for independent contractors.” Lyft did not respond to a request for comment. Vulnerable gig workers Demand for ride-hailing trips in recent weeks has declined by as much as 70% in some U.S. cities and many drivers told Reuters they stopped driving over fears of getting exposed to the virus or infecting others. Makela Edwards, an Uber driver from Oakland, California, enjoyed the steady pay and flexible hours driving afforded after leaving her job as a public school teacher at the end of 2018. Now, demand for Uber rides has all but dried up. “This coronavirus has really lifted the lid about how vulnerable I am and how we as gig workers are being left out of the discussion,” Edwards said. Some drivers said they planned to apply for unemployment benefits regardless of their contractor status, hoping for more flexibility under the current circumstances. Others said they have switched to food delivery as a more reliable source of income with roughly a third of the U.S. population ordered to stay home. Uber on Wednesday said the number of people signing up to deliver food in the United States and Canada doubled last week from the week prior but did not provide additional details. Uber and rival Lyft Inc. have established funds to compensate drivers and delivery people diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed in quarantine by health officials for up to 14 days. Uber said payments have started to go out, but declined to share additional details. Lyft did not respond to a request for comment. The companies have also said they would distribute hand sanitizers. But both have closed their local hubs, places where drivers can go to receive in-person help or use the bathroom, and drivers do not know where to receive disinfectants. Uber in a statement said suppliers had prioritized orders for healthcare workers, with its orders being moved down the queue several times. The company said it would communicate a distribution plan in light of the hub closures, but did not provide additional details. Lyft did not respond. Most workers’ benefits, including health insurance and workers’ compensation, are attached to an employment relationship, said Pauline Kim, an employment law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Providing contractors with added benefits such as unemployment insurance requires a change or the passage of a new law, Kim said, adding that the current crisis highlighted the gap in protection between gig workers and regular employees.
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China Lifts Hubei Lockdown as Virus Epicenter Shifts to US
China has lifted a lockdown on Hubei province where the novel coronavirus pandemic began, while the World Health Organization warns the United States could be the next center of outbreak.China overall has seen vast improvements in its case load after implementing tough measures meant to keep people at home and prevent spreading the virus. Chinese health officials reported Wednesday 47 new cases, all of them among people who arrived from other countries.The United States has seen the coronavirus spread rapidly in recent weeks, bringing its toll as of early Wednesday to about 55,000 confirmed cases with more than 700 deaths.“They have a very large outbreak and an outbreak that is increasing in intensity,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said Tuesday, while noting increased testing in the United States could send that number higher.A traveler wearing a face mask carries his luggage at the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, Wednesday, March 25, 2020.Harris said 85 percent of the newly confirmed cases Tuesday were in Europe and the United States, and 40 percent of those were in the United States.Back to work ?
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants to see normal life resume in as early as a few weeks, while health officials say it is premature to do anything but insist on continuing measures to keep people apart so they do not spread the virus.The U.S. Senate will vote Wednesday on a $2 trillion bill meant to help small businesses with loans, give money to families so they can spend, and to provide critically needed equipment to health care professionals who are caring for coronavirus patients.Wednesday also brought a declaration of a state of emergency in New Zealand where Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country would go into full lockdown for four weeks “to try to stop the virus in its tracks.”New Zealand announced 50 new cases Wednesday, its highest daily total.Almost every country infected
COVID-19 has reached nearly every country in the world, infecting 423,000 people and killing about 19,000, according to Johns Hopkins University figures early Wednesday.Libya had been spared up until Tuesday when it announced its first coronavirus case.Italy, which has the second highest number of cases and has seen the harshest effects recently with hundreds of deaths per day will be under stricter scrutiny as authorities seek to enforce a lockdown order that has been in place for more than two weeks.Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced higher fines for those caught outside without an approved reason, raising the top punishment from about $227 to $3,300.
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One Italian Official Describes How Coronavirus Might Have Spread
A provincial official in Italy says a soccer game and a missed opportunity to detect one early coronavirus case might have contributed to the rapid spread of the disease in his hard-hit country. The mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori, says his province, like many others in Italy, were not prepared for the coronavirus outbreak. Bergamo did not go into lockdown initially like 10 other towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto. A case of pneumonia at a hospital in Bergamo province in late February was not recognized as coronavirus at the time. Gori believes that patient infected others, including doctors and nurses.Gori says another event is also believed responsible for the rapid spread of the virus in his province: a Champions League soccer game played February 19.Gori says 40,000 fans from the Bergamo area watched the match played at Milan’s San Siro stadium between Atalanta and Valencia.Many others watched the game at home in large groups, Gori added, and no doubt all those gatherings caused an escalation of the virus to nearly 7,000 cases.A moment of a funeral service without relatives in the cemetery of Zogno, near Bergamo, Northern Italy, March 21, 2020.Hospitals in the province of Bergamo have since been overwhelmed with patients. The death toll has not stopped rising and the province had nowhere to take bodies.Gori says the government was forced to request help from funeral services of other Italian regions and the army helped to take many of the bodies to crematoriums in other cities.For the past three days the number of confirmed cases in Italy has dropped and there is cautious optimism it is the start of a downward trend. But the head of the government’s coronavirus relief effort, Domenico Arcuri, implored Italians to continue to respect the stringent measures imposed on them because it will be the only way out of this crisis.Arcuri says that, “in a very short time we were harshly attacked by a strong, invisible and unknown enemy, adding that in the midst of “thousands of difficulties we reacted immediately and before many other countries in the world.The commissioner said Italy is facing an emergency without precedent and everyone must do their utmost to ensure that “this emergency does not spread to those regions where so far it has been contained.”
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