health

COVID-19 Strike Wave Enters Third Month

May 13, 2020 By Martha Grevatt, Worker's World. Resist! COVID-19, health, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Workers at 50 locations across Florida struck McDonald’s, Starbucks, and other fast-food restaurants on May 6. What united them was the failure of these multibillion-dollar enterprises to correct hazardous working conditions that put workers at risk of contracting COVID-19. Some of these McDonald’s workers are also part of a statewide class-action lawsuit over widespread sexual harassment. Starbucks and McDonald’s both made billions in profits last year by paying low wages, yet they refuse to spend the funds needed to keep workers safe. A Starbucks worker in Orlando described a company video showing how to make a mask from a coffee filter. At a McDonald’s in the same, tourism-dependent city, workers were told to not wear masks at all, as they would frighten customers.

The COVID-19 Risks – Know Them – Avoid Them

May 13, 2020 Erin Bromage. Educate! COVID-19, health, Pandemic, Reopen Economy

It seems many people are breathing some relief, and I’m not sure why. An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope can also be predicted. We have robust data from the outbreaks in China and Italy, that shows the backside of the mortality curve declines slowly, with deaths persisting for months. Assuming we have just crested in deaths at 70k, it is possible that we lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. That's what's going to happen with a lockdown. As states reopen, and we give the virus more fuel, all bets are off. I understand the reasons for reopening the economy, but I've said before, if you don't solve the biology, the economy won't recover. There are very few states that have demonstrated a sustained decline in numbers of new infections.

‘Plandemic’ Conspiracy Video Has Been Thoroughly Debunked

May 10, 2020 Annie Reneau, Upworthy. Educate! Conspiracies, COVID-19, health, Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has brought out a whole slew of interesting human tendencies, including a veritable tsunami of conspiracy theories. Like, holy cow, folks. When did everyone start pulling out their tinfoil hats? There are several reasons for this, from the emotional and psychological needs that conspiracy theories fulfill (especially during such an uncertain time), to the intellectual habits that enable people to fall prey to such theories. And of course, there's always a shred of truth in any conspiracy theory, which pulls people in. But just as a shred of fabric doesn't make a shirt, a shred of truth in a conspiracy theory doesn't make it credible or true. By now, you've undoubtedly seen or at least heard about the Plandemic video making the rounds. YouTube keeps taking it down because of its policy against spreading harmful misinformation about the coronavirus, but that of course just fuels the fire of conspiracy theorists who think the truth is being silenced.

‘Please Help Us’: Those On The Inside Are In Grave Danger

May 9, 2020 Priyanka Bhatt and Azadeh Shahshahani, Colorlines. Organize! COVID-19, Detention Centers, health, Prison

Nationally, over 14,000 incarcerated individuals and 606 detained immigrants have tested positive for COVID-19, with new cases doubling in prisons every week. In Georgia, 286 individuals incarcerated in Georgia Department of Corrections facilities (GDC) have tested positive for COVID-19 along with 90 employees. Local jails in Georgia are also struggling with outbreaks of COVID-19. Sixteen individuals incarcerated at Fulton County Jail and 13 incarcerated individuals at the Dekalb County Jail have the disease. Private prisons contracted with ICE are also reporting a staggering number of COVID-19 cases in Georgia; 11 detained immigrants and 44 employees at the Stewart Detention Center, one detained immigrant at Folkston ICE Processing Center and two detained immigrants and one employee at the Irwin County Detention Center have confirmed cases.

66% Of New Yorkers Say They Got COVID-19 While Following Lockdown Rules

May 7, 2020 Katie Camaro, McClatchy. Educate! COVID-19, health, New York (NY), Pandemic

New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. The state has been shut down for six weeks, yet more than 20,000 people are still receiving positive test results each week, according to official counts. Now, state Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that 66% of new hospitalizations are from people who say they have been locked in their homes, according to CNBC. Admissions from nursing homes rang in second, making up 18% of the total, Cuomo said Wednesday at his daily briefing. “Much of this comes down to what you do to protect yourself. Everything is closed down; government has done everything it could, society has done everything it could. Now it’s up to you,” Cuomo said, CNBC reported. Over three days, 113 New York hospitals provided data on their nearly 1,300 patient admissions and their demographics, according to the New York Times.

Advocates Push For More Prison Releases Amid Outbreak

May 7, 2020 Melanie Lekocevic and Kate Lisa, Hudson Valley 360. Resist! COVID-19, health, Physical distancing, Prison

Albany - Advocacy groups are urging the state to release more inmates from prisons in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 in correctional facilities. Supplies of personal hygiene products such as soap, hand sanitizer and face masks are in short supply, advocates said. Prison reform advocates met Tuesday in a Zoom teleconference call to campaign for changes in the correctional system in response to the outbreak. “COVID-19 is ravaging communities across the state, across the country, and across the globe, and causing devastation like many of us have never seen before. This is especially so in prisons, jails and detention facilities where rates of infection are higher than that of the general population, where social distancing is near impossible, and where little attention has been paid, especially here in New York,” said moderator Rodney Holcombe, from the advocacy group FWD.us.

Rethinking Prisons And Public Safety During A Pandemic

May 7, 2020 Janai Nelson, Shondaland.com. Create! COVID-19, health, Mass Incarceration, Prison

Of all the places one would not want to be during a pandemic, prison presumably ranks above nearly every other. The unsanitary conditions of prisons, jails, and other places of forced confinement create what amounts to a petri dish ripe for viral transmission. Correctional facilities are epicenters for COVID-19 because people who are incarcerated endure unavoidable close contact in often overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and unhygienic facilities, coupled with limited access to health care services. These conditions make compliance with essential viral mitigation measures — social distancing, frequent hand washing, and respiratory masking — challenging, if not, in many cases, impossible. In the nation’s federal prisons alone, approximately 800 incarcerated individuals and over 300 staff have already tested positive for COVID-19.

Trump Administration Delays #COVID-19 Relief Funds To Native Americans

May 6, 2020 Acee Agoyo, Indianz.com. Educate! CARES Act, COVID-19, health, Native Americans

The law, also known as the CARES Act, directs the Department of the Treasury to distribute the $8 billion to tribal governments "not later than 30 days" after its enactment. The deadline has come and gone even as outcry over the Trump administration's failure to release the funds grows in Indian Country." Indian Country is tired of waiting for the administration to follow the law by delivering pandemic aid to our communities and our people," President Bryan Newland of the Bay Mills Indian Community said on Monday, more than a week after the CARES Act deadline passed." Our lives and our livelihoods are at stake," said Newland, citing the growing number of COVID-19 cases in tribal communities, some of which have been disproportionately affected by the deadly disease."

Report: Nearly Half Of Americans Breathing Unhealthy Air

May 4, 2020 Dana Drugmand, DeSmog Blog. Educate! Air Pollution, EPA, health, Trump

As the death toll from COVID-19 continues to rise in the U.S. — and as initial studies suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution may lead to higher death rates from the disease — a new report finds that nearly five in 10 Americans are breathing polluted air. According to the American Lung Association’s (ALA) latest State of Air Report released April 21, 150 million Americans — almost half the population — are living in areas with unhealthy air. The findings challenge clean air claims by the Trump administration and fossil fuel allies. The report also describes how the current administration’s environmental rollbacks threaten the nation’s air quality and public health. The American Lung Association’s 21st annual State of the Air Report marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, a bedrock environmental law enacted in 1970.

Prisoners Fight For Their Lives During COVID-19 Pandemic

May 4, 2020 Staff, Workers World. Resist! COVID-19, health, PPE, Prison abolition, Prisons

First and foremost, Take ‘Em Down NOLA was established about five years ago this summer, and our mission is basically the removal of all symbols of white supremacy in the city of New Orleans, as they reflect the systems of racial and economic injustice and oppression of a more than 60 percent Black city. And so, in the city of New Orleans, you’ve had at least 17 monuments to white supremacy. Now 13, thanks to some of our organizing, we were able to successfully get four of them removed back in 2017. But all of that was really just a wake-up call, a rally to the people in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement to highlight the fact that, you know, state-sanctioned violence has an entire system behind it, an entire apparatus behind it. A Black person is killed in this country every day, extrajudicially, like unarmed Black people being killed by police, and quite often there’s no justice for it.

Immokalee Workers Win Major COVID-19 Victories In Florida

May 3, 2020 the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Create! COVID-19, Doctors without Borders, Farmworkers, health

During the past month, the strict criteria in place effectively limited the tests to those with severe symptoms, giving public health officials a very limited view into the path of the virus. Starting Sunday, as stated in the Department of Health’s press release, no referral will be needed for testing, opening testing to symptomatic and non-symptomatic people alike. This means that the number of people tested should increase significantly, and the ability of public health officials to track, understand, and predict the virus’s path should expand along with it. The new testing protocols should provide state and county officials with the data necessary to steer a more aggressive course toward addressing the virus in the farmworker community in the weeks ahead.

On The Sunshine Coast, An Effort To Reinvent Senior Care

May 2, 2020 By Paula Larrondo and John Richmond, TheTyee.ca. Create! COVID-19, health, Longterm care, Profits

Overwhelming is the only way to describe the daily dose of tragic stories about vulnerable elders dying in mostly for-profit, long-term care facilities, such as the one in Washington state where our regional COVID outbreak began two months ago. But this should not be a surprise. The for-profit nursing home business has been in trouble for years. In February, B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie tabled a report documenting many of the shortcomings of the for-profit care sector, such as higher administration costs and 207,000 funded but undelivered care hours. This is in contrast to a non-profit sector that actually spent more per resident than it was funded for on delivering direct care and service delivery. While the for-profit system has clearly failed, the non-profit system has its own problems.

How Many Intensive Care Beds Will A Nuclear Weapon Explosion Require?

April 29, 2020 By Tom Sauer and Ramesh Thakur, The Bulletin. Educate! health, Nuclear Ban Treaty, Nuclear Weapons

A novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China late last year, hopping in one way or another from other animals to humans. Initially the rest of the world thought this outbreak was a local problem and then was shocked at the brutality of the lockdown that the Chinese authorities clamped on Wuhan to quarantine the infection cluster. Despite China’s efforts at containment, soon the virus rode the highways and byways of globalization to quickly circle the world. Other countries realized their hospital systems could be overwhelmed unless they drastically slowed the surge of new infections. No country had the number of beds in its intensive care units (ICUs) to manage patient loads under worst-case scenarios of letting this new coronavirus spread through the community to acquire herd immunity.

Bayer Shareholder Meeting Draws Protests, Pleas From Cancer Patients

April 28, 2020 Carey Gillam, US Right to Know. Resist! Bayer, health, Monsanto, Roundup

The Bayer AG annual shareholders’ meeting got underway Tuesday in Germany, drawing the attention of not only investors and analysts but also activists, lawyers and cancer patients who want to see Bayer make amends for alleged misdeeds by Monsanto, which Bayer bought two years ago. The meeting was to be an in-person event in Bonn, Germany but due to fears about large gatherings that could spread the Covid-19 virus, Bayer instead is hosting a video webcast of the meeting. On Monday the company announced a “good start to 2020,” reporting higher sales and profits through all divisions driven in part by strong demand within its Consumer Health division related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The shareholders’ meeting comes as Bayer is facing legal claims in the United States brought by roughly 52,500 plaintiffs alleging that exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup caused them or their loved ones to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

The Totalitarian Danger – From Paris To Washington

April 27, 2020 Daniel Gluckstein, Socialist Organizer. Organize! COVID-19, France, health, Pandemic, Workers

From the very beginning, the Fifth Republic was constituted as a regime with a totalitarian mission. The President-Bonaparte concentrates all powers in his hands. The trade union organisations are constantly subjected to attempts to integrate them into the State. Since the start of the pandemic, the Bonapartist anti-democratic nature of the regime has intensified: the introduction of a supposed “health” state of emergency; the passing of ordinances [1] that confiscate Parliament’s meagre powers and attack the social guarantees won through action by the working class; a strengthening of personal power in every domain (“I have decided, I am doing, I will do”, Macron says again and again, in contradiction with what he had decided, done and said he wanted to do a few days previously). In addition to which there are the attacks on personal freedoms and workers’ rights. In the last few days, things have moved up a notch.

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