E-cig giant Juul to pay $22.5 million in underage lawsuit

LOS ANGELES — E-cigarette firm Juul has agreed to pay $22.5 million in a US lawsuit that alleged the company deliberately targeted teenagers and lied about how addictive its products are, Washington state's attorney general said Wednesday.

The company, whose wide range of exotic flavored vapes -- including mango and creme brulee -- made it a byword for e-cigarettes in the United States, did not admit any wrongdoing but agreed to rein in its advertising.

In the latest such multi-million-dollar suit it has settled with a US state, Juul Labs agreed to pull commercials that appeal to young people, including on social media. It will also work to ensure stores in the state are not selling its products to anyone underage.

"Juul put profits before people," said Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who brought the suit in 2020.

"The company fueled a staggering rise in vaping among teens. Juul’s conduct reversed decades of progress fighting nicotine addiction.

"Today’s order compels Juul to surrender tens of millions of dollars in profit and clean up its act by implementing a slate of corporate reforms."

A Juul spokesperson told AFP, "this settlement is another step in our ongoing effort to reset our company and resolve issues from the past. We support the Washington State Attorney General’s plan to deploy resources to address underage use, such as future monitoring and enforcement."

This official added: "The terms of the settlement are consistent with our current business practices and past agreements to help combat underage use while offering adult smokers access to our products as they transition away from combustible cigarettes.”

E-cigarettes heat up a cartridge of liquid containing nicotine and other toxins into an aerosol. The user inhales the resulting vapor, mimicking traditional cigarettes.

Proponents of vaping say it is less harmful that traditional tobacco, though the science is not clear. The World Health Organization says using neither is the best course of action.

Opponents say the sweet-tasting flavors are appealing to young people, and the companies peddling them are -- knowingly or otherwise -- getting a whole new generation of people hooked on nicotine.

Washington's suit claimed Juul "flooded social media with colorful ads of young-looking models in fun poses that mimicked many of Big Tobacco’s ad campaigns. 

"At the same time, Juul pushed fruit and dessert flavored products such as mango and crème brulee."

By the end of 2018, Juul had more than 70 percent of the US market for e-cigarettes.

"Much of this was due to its popularity with teens, evidenced by the skyrocketing use of e-cigarettes among teenagers," the attorney general said.

Until 2018, Juul's packaging did not disclose that products contained nicotine, the suit said, despite their having up to five times the level found in similar products.

The settlement announced Wednesday is the latest to involve a lawsuit claiming Juul was marketing its products to children.

Last year, it agreed to pay Arizona $14.5 million and pledged not to target youngsters in the state. Months earlier it said it would pay North Carolina $40 million, but dd not admit liability.

The company is facing similar suits by other states, including New York and California, Bloomberg News reported.

Agence France-Presse 

Global COVID-19 death toll surpasses 3 million amid surge in new infections

Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide crossed 3 million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the latest global resurgence of COVID-19 infections is challenging vaccination efforts across the globe.

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths are rising once again, especially in Brazil and India. Health officials blame more infectious variants that were first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, along with public fatigue with lockdowns and other restrictions.

According to a Reuters tally, it took more than a year for the global coronavirus death toll to reach 2 million. The next 1 million deaths were added in about three months.

Brazil is leading the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported and accounts for one in every four deaths worldwide each day, according to a Reuters analysis.

The World Health Organization acknowledged the nation's dire condition due to coronavirus, saying the country is in a very critical condition with an overwhelmed healthcare system.

"Indeed there is a very serious situation going on in Brazil right now, where we have a number of states in critical condition," WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a briefing last Thursday, adding that many hospital intensive care units are more than 90% full.

India reported a record rise in COVID-19 infections on Monday, becoming the second nation after the United States to post more than 100,000 new cases in a day.

India's worst-affected state, Maharashtra on Monday began shutting shopping malls, cinemas, bars, restaurants, and places of worship, as hospitals are being overrun by patients.

The European region, which includes 51 countries, has the highest total number of deaths at nearly 1.1 million.

Five European countries including the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Italy and Germany constitute about 60% of Europe's total coronavirus-related deaths.

The United States has the highest number of deaths of any country at the world at 555,000 and accounts for about 19% of all deaths due to COVID-19 in the world. Cases have risen for the last three weeks but health officials believe the nation's rapid vaccination campaign may prevent a rise in deaths. A third of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine.

At least 370.3 million people or nearly 4.75% of the global population have received a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine by Sunday, according to latest figures from research and data provider firm Our World in Data.

However, the World Health Organization is urging countries to donate more doses of approved COVID-19 vaccines to help meet vaccination targets for the most vulnerable in poorer countries.

-reuters

WHO joins Europe, Merck in recommending against ivermectin for COVID-19

ZURICH -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday recommended against using generic anti-parasite drug ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 except for clinical trials, because of a lack of data demonstrating its benefits.

The recommendation follows the European Medicines Agency's warning last week against the drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also recommended it not be used for COVID-19.

Officials in the Bolivian city of Trinidad launched a campaign in May last year to give out free doses of ivermectin to combat the coronavirus, although the South American country's health ministry noted the lack of evidence for it as a treatment.

Ivermectin tablets have been approved for treating some worm infestations and for veterinary use in animals for parasites. Merck, an ivermectin manufacturer, has also said its analysis did not support the drug's safety and efficacy for COVID-19.

"This applies to patients with COVID-19 of any disease severity," Janet Diaz, a top WHO official for clinical care response, told reporters of the WHO recommendation, saying it was "based on very low certainty of evidence" that ivermectin helps.

The WHO's review was based on a survey of 16 trials of ivermectin involving 2,400 people, including those comparing it with hydroxychloroquine, an older malaria medicine that has been discredited as a COVID-19 treatment. There were very few placebo-controlled studies of ivermectin.

"We certainly need more data in order to make informed decisions," said Bram Rochwerg, an associate professor at Canada's McMaster University and a co-chair of the WHO panel that reviewed ivermectin.

He said the data available was sparse and likely based on chance, though he said "high quality, trustworthy trials" were still merited.

"We did see an increase in adverse effects in patients that were randomized to ivermectin," he said, citing gastrointestinal upsets and headaches.

Worldwide, he said, there are 66 trials of ivermectin registered, with 60,000 participants, so more data on its impact on the pandemic could be coming.

"We are fighting this overuse of unproven therapies -- especially some of these repurposed drugs -- in various parts of world without evidence of efficacy," Diaz said. "There can be more harm than any good." 

-reuters

Hong Kong widens vaccine scheme to people over 30, domestic helpers

HONG KONG - Hong Kong authorities said on Monday that the city's vaccine scheme would be widened to include those aged between 30-60 years old and domestic helpers, as they aim to increase take up amongst residents in the Asian financial hub.

People have been relatively slow to come forward for vaccination since Hong Kong began unrolling its program in February, starting with a vaccine made by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd. The Pfizer/BioNTtech vaccine was added earlier this month.

Around 190,000 people have received their first vaccination dose, around 2.5 percent of the city's population.

At least 6 people have died and several fallen seriously ill after receiving a vaccination by China's Sinovac. The government said no direct link was established between the the vaccine and the first two deaths, while the other deaths were still being analyzed.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan told a news briefing that the city faced a critical moment in controlling COVID-19 and that vaccinating Hong Kong’s 7.5 million residents would help resume normality and relax social distancing measures.

The widening of the scheme will enable around 5 million residents to be vaccinated, she said.

"I urge members of the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect yourself and others and increase inoculation rates," she said.

The US Consulate said on Monday two employees had tested positive for COVID-19 and the office had been closed for disinfection, with contact tracing under way.

While the pair do not work in offices that interact with the public, services for US citizens and visa applicants would be cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday, it added.

The consulate said it has abided by all Hong Kong government requirements for the arrival, testing and quarantine of all diplomatic personnel and their families since the start of the pandemic.

The former British colony has recorded around 11,200 total coronavirus cases, far lower than other developed cities. 

-reuters

‘When will it end?’: How a changing virus is reshaping scientists’ views on COVID-19

CHICAGO — Chris Murray, a University of Washington disease expert whose projections on COVID-19 infections and deaths are closely followed worldwide, is changing his assumptions about the course of the pandemic.

Murray had until recently been hopeful that the discovery of several effective vaccines could help countries achieve herd immunity, or nearly eliminate transmission through a combination of inoculation and previous infection. But in the last month, data from a vaccine trial in South Africa showed not only that a rapidly-spreading coronavirus variant could dampen the effect of the vaccine, it could also evade natural immunity in people who had been previously infected.

“I couldn’t sleep” after seeing the data, Murray, director of the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, told Reuters. “When will it end?” he asked himself, referring to the pandemic. He is currently updating his model to account for variants’ ability to escape natural immunity and expects to provide new projections as early as this week.

A new consensus is emerging among scientists, according to Reuters interviews with 18 specialists who closely track the pandemic or are working to curb its impact. Many described how the breakthrough late last year of two vaccines with around 95% efficacy against COVID-19 had initially sparked hope that the virus could be largely contained, similar to the way measles has been.

But, they say, data in recent weeks on new variants from South Africa and Brazil has undercut that optimism. They now believe that SARS-CoV-2 will not only remain with us as an endemic virus, continuing to circulate in communities, but will likely cause a significant burden of illness and death for years to come.

As a result, the scientists said, people could expect to continue to take measures such as routine mask-wearing and avoiding crowded places during COVID-19 surges, especially for people at high risk.

Even after vaccination, “I still would want to wear a mask if there was a variant out there,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, said in an interview. “All you need is one little flick of a variant (sparking) another surge, and there goes your prediction” about when life gets back to normal.

Some scientists, including Murray, acknowledge that the outlook could improve. The new vaccines, which have been developed at record speed, still appear to prevent hospitalizations and death even when new variants are the cause of infection. Many vaccine developers are working on booster shots and new inoculations that could preserve a high level of efficacy against the variants. And, scientists say there is still much to be learned about the immune system’s ability to combat the virus.

Already, COVID-19 infection rates have declined in many countries since the start of 2021, with some dramatic reductions in severe illness and hospitalizations among the first groups of people to be vaccinated.

Worse than flu

Murray said if the South African variant, or similar mutants, continue to spread rapidly, the number of COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization or death this coming winter could be four times higher than the flu. The rough estimate assumes a 65% effective vaccine given to half of a country’s population. In a worst-case scenario, that could represent as many as 200,000 U.S. deaths related to COVID-19 over the winter period, based on federal government estimates of annual flu fatalities.

His institute’s current forecast, which runs to June 1, assumes there will be an additional 62,000 U.S. deaths and 690,000 global deaths from COVID-19 by that point. The model includes assumptions about vaccination rates as well as the transmissibility of the South African and Brazilian variants.

The shift in thinking among scientists has influenced more cautious government statements about when the pandemic will end. Britain last week said it expects a slow emergence from one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, despite having one of the fastest vaccination drives.

U.S. government predictions of a return to a more normal lifestyle have been repeatedly pushed back, most recently from late summer to Christmas, and then to March 2022. Israel issues “Green Pass” immunity documents to people who have recovered from COVID-19 or been vaccinated, allowing them back into hotels or theaters. The documents are only valid for six months because it’s not clear how long immunity will last.

“What does it mean to be past the emergency phase of this pandemic?,” said Stefan Baral, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. While some experts have asked whether countries could completely eradicate any case of COVID-19 through vaccines and stringent lockdowns, Baral sees the goals as more modest, but still meaningful. “In my mind, it’s that hospitals aren’t full, the ICUs aren’t full, and people aren’t tragically passing,” he said.

’Scientific whiplash’

From the beginning, the new coronavirus has been a moving target.

Early in the pandemic, leading scientists warned that the virus could become endemic and “may never go away,” including Dr. Michael Ryan, head of the World Health Organization’s emergencies program.

Yet they had much to learn, including whether it would be possible to develop a vaccine against the virus and how quickly it would mutate. Would it be more like measles, which can be kept almost entirely at bay in communities with high rates of inoculation, or flu, which infects millions globally each year?

For much of 2020, many scientists were surprised and reassured that the coronavirus had not changed significantly enough to become more transmissible, or deadly.

A major breakthrough came in November. Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE as well as Moderna Inc said their vaccines were around 95% effective at preventing COVID-19 in clinical trials, an efficacy rate that is much higher than any flu shot.

At least a few of the scientists Reuters interviewed said even in the wake of those results, they hadn’t expected the vaccines to wipe out the virus. But many told Reuters that the data raised hope within the scientific community that it would be possible to virtually eliminate COVID-19, if only the world could be vaccinated quickly enough.

“We all felt quite optimistic before Christmas with those first vaccines,” said Azra Ghani, chair in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London. “We didn’t necessarily expect such high-efficacy vaccines to be possible in that first generation.”

The optimism proved short-lived. In late December, the UK warned of a new, more transmissible variant that was quickly becoming the dominant form of the coronavirus in the country. Around the same time, researchers learned of the impact of the  faster-spreading variants in South Africa and in Brazil.

Phil Dormitzer, a top vaccine scientist at Pfizer, told Reuters in November that the U.S. drugmaker’s vaccine success signaled the virus was “vulnerable to immunization” in what he called “a breakthrough for humanity.” By early January, he acknowledged the variants heralded “a new chapter” in which companies will have to constantly monitor for mutations that could dampen the effect of vaccines.

In late January, the impact on vaccines became even clearer. Novavax’s clinical trial data showed its vaccine was 89% effective in a UK trial, but just 50% effective at preventing COVID-19 in South Africa.  That was followed a week later by data showing the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine offered only limited protection from mild disease against the South African variant.

The most recent change of heart was considerable, several of the scientists told Reuters. Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in San Diego, described it as “scientific whiplash”: In December, he had believed it was plausible to achieve so-called “functional eradication” of the coronavirus, similar to measles.

Now, “getting as many people vaccinated as possible is still the same answer and the same path forward as it was on December 1 or January 1,” Crotty said, “but the expected outcome isn’t the same.”

-Reuters

US records new high of over 200,000 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours–tally

The United States on Tuesday far exceeded its previous daily record of new COVID-19 cases, adding 201,961 cases in 24 hours, according to the tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The high number, partly due to data delayed over the weekend, took total cases in the US to 10,238,243, with a total of 239,588 deaths, as of 8:30 pm (0130 GMT).

In the 24-hour period, 1,535 deaths from COVID-19 were registered, a record in recent months as the US struggles to contain the spread of the pandemic.

For a week now, the number of new infections has trended at over 100,000 each day.

Coronavirus hospitalizations have also hit an all-time high, with more than 60,000 people hospitalized across the country, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

President Donald Trump, who has refused to concede defeat in the November 3 election, has repeatedly mocked people for wearing masks and claimed the virus would go away by itself.

But his victorious opponent Joe Biden has vowed to take a more proactive approach, telling the nation this week that face coverings are the single best way to get the virus under control.

US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced Monday that their vaccine candidate was 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, marking a major breakthrough in the search for a vaccine.

Agence France-Presse

Man parades down London’s Oxford Street wearing nothing but mask

LONDON – A man strolled down central London’s most popular shopping street on Friday with only a mask to cover his nudity, leaving passerbys astounded, amused and shocked.

As the man walked nonchalantly along Oxford Street, naked except for the light blue face mask over his groin, some took pictures on their phones while others simply stared.

It was unclear what prompted the stunt but masks became compulsory on Friday in English shops.


A Reuters photographer caught a picture of the man from an office above the street.

reuters

Scientists in China believe new drug can stop pandemic 'without vaccine'

A Chinese laboratory has been developing a drug it believes has the power to bring the coronavirus pandemic to a halt.

The outbreak first emerged in China late last year before spreading across the world, prompting an international race to find treatments and vaccines.

A drug being tested by scientists at China's prestigious Peking University could not only shorten the recovery time for those infected, but even offer short-term immunity from the virus, researchers say.

Sunney Xie, director of the university's Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics, told AFP that the drug has been successful at the animal testing stage.

"When we injected neutralising antibodies into infected mice, after five days the viral load was reduced by a factor of 2,500," said Xie.


"That means this potential drug has (a) therapeutic effect."

The drug uses neutralising antibodies -- produced by the human immune system to prevent the virus infecting cells -- which Xie's team isolated from the blood of 60 recovered patients.

A study on the team's research, published Sunday in the scientific journal Cell, suggests that using the antibodies provides a potential "cure" for the disease and shortens recovery time.

Xie said his team had been working "day and night" searching for the antibody.

"Our expertise is single-cell genomics rather than immunology or virology. When we realised that the single-cell genomic approach can effectively find the neutralising antibody we were thrilled."

He said he hopes that the drug will be ready for use later this year and in time for any potential winter outbreak of the virus, which has infected 4.8 million people around the world and killed more than 315,000.

"Planning for the clinical trial is underway," said Xie, adding it will be carried out in Australia and other countries since cases have dwindled in China, offering fewer human guinea pigs for testing.

"The hope is these neutralising antibodies can become a specialised drug that would stop the pandemic," he said.

China already has five potential coronavirus vaccines at the human trial stage, a health official said last week.

But the World Health Organization has warned that developing a vaccine could take 12 to 18 months.

Scientists have also pointed to the potential benefits of plasma -- a blood fluid -- from recovered individuals who have developed antibodies to the virus enabling the body's defences to attack it.

More than 700 patients have received plasma therapy in China, a process which authorities said showed "very good therapeutic effects".

"However, it (plasma) is limited in supply," Xie said, noting that the 14 neutralising antibodies used in their drug could be put into mass production quickly.

- Prevention and cure -

Using antibodies in drug treatments is not a new approach, and it has been successful in treating several other viruses such as HIV, Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Xie said his researchers had "an early start" since the outbreak started in China before spreading to other countries.



Ebola drug Remdesivir was considered a hopeful early treatment for COVID-19 -- clinical trials in the US showed it shortened the recovery time in some patients by a third -- but the difference in mortality rate was not significant.

The new drug could even offer short-term protection against the virus.

The study showed that if the neutralising antibody was injected before the mice were infected with the virus, the mice stayed free of infection and no virus was detected.

This may offer temporary protection for medical workers for a few weeks, which Xie said they are hoping to "extend to a few months".

More than 100 vaccines for COVID-19 are in the works globally, but as the process of vaccine development is more demanding, Xie is hoping that the new drug could be a faster and more efficient way to stop the global march of the coronavirus.

"We would be able to stop the pandemic with an effective drug, even without a vaccine," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Germany gears up for virus tracing app

In early April, the German government announced that it was working on a voluntary smartphone app using Bluetooth to trace possible chains of COVID-19 contagion.

The project has led to some lively discussions in a country where personal privacy is fiercely guarded, thanks to the scars of two 20th-century dictatorships.


Chris Boos, the founder of Frankfurt-based artificial intelligence company Arago and a member of the German government’s Digital Council, has been helping to develop a software platform for the app.

Q: When will the COVID-19 contact tracing app be available in Germany?

“We will see it launched at the end of April, that seems realistic to me. Everyone wants it as soon as possible, but it has to be tested and certified for security first.”

Q: What are some of the key characteristics of the platform?


“Firstly, the system has to be based on the right variable (contact between mobile phone users) to avoid comparing apples with oranges. Secondly, privacy must be protected. No location data is used, nor any data that would identify the phone, such as the SIM card number. And finally, the system has to work internationally, so I can travel freely to countries that use the same platform.”

Q: What about privacy concerns?

“From the beginning, we were clear that we did not want to recreate the situation in some Asian countries where people are completely exposed. I don’t see a problem as long as we offer a secure alternative that respects data protection laws.”

Q: The technology relies on Bluetooth. How can you guarantee its reliability?

“Bluetooth technology can measure the distance between two phones very accurately using radio waves. We can then determine very quickly whether this measurement is epidemiologically relevant; in the simplest case, if the two phones were less than 2 meters apart for more than 15 minutes.”


Q: How can you avoid people declaring themselves sick on the app when they are not actually sick?

“Before the process begins, you must always have voluntary confirmation from the user themselves that they are sick, but also from a doctor treating them or another healthcare provider.”

Q: Why are Germany, France and other countries each working on their own apps rather than focusing on a communal project?

“The important thing with these various apps is that they will eventually be able to work together. Because if that’s not the case, borders will remain shut.”

Q: How many people will have to use the app for it to have the desired effect?

“An Oxford University study has indicated that 60% of the population would have to use this app if there are no other measures to control the spread of the coronavirus. The fewer people use the app, the more stringent measures will be needed.”

Q: How will the app be delivered to the public?

A: “The Robert-Koch Institute (Germany’s public healthy agency) seems to me to be the natural place to deliver it and it is no secret that they are working on the project. But we will see who can provide the best solution. I am sure the government will make its recommendation.”

Agence France-Presse

'Medibot' to do rounds on Malaysian virus wards

Malaysian scientists have created a barrel-shaped robot on wheels that they hope will make the rounds on hospital wards to check on coronavirus patients, reducing health workers' risk of infection.

"Medibot" is a 1.5 metre tall (five foot) white robot, equipped with a camera and screen via which patients can communicate remotely with medics.

The invention, built by scientists at the International Islamic University Malaysia, is also fitted with a device to check patients' temperatures remotely.

It is aimed at helping nurses and doctors working on the wards with social distancing, Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, a member of the team behind the invention, told AFP.

It cost about 15,000 ringgit ($3,500) to develop, and the university plans to trial it soon in their own private hospital, which does not treat virus patients, said Zulkifli.

If that proves a success, the scientists hope it can be used in government hospitals where people with COVID-19 are sent.

Malaysia has reported 4,683 coronavirus cases, including 76 deaths.

From Thailand to Israel, robots are being used in the fight against the coronavirus, which has killed over 110,000 people worldwide.

They are being increasingly relied on as fast, efficient, contagion-proof champions in the war against the virus.

Agence France-Presse

Scared but desperate, Thai sex workers forced to the street

BANGKOK — A shutdown to contain the coronavirus has killed Thailand’s party scene and forced sex workers like Pim out of bars and onto desolate streets. She’s scared but desperately needs customers to pay her rent.

Red-light districts from Bangkok to Pattaya have gone quiet with night clubs and massage parlors closed and tourists blocked from entering the country.


That has left an estimated 300,000 sex workers out of a job, pressing some onto the streets where the risks are sharpened by the pandemic.

“I’m afraid of the virus but I need to find customers so I can pay for my room and food,” Pim, a 32-year-old transgender sex worker, told AFP in an area of Bangkok where previously bawdy neon-lit bars and brothels have gone dark.

Since Friday Thais have been under a 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew. Bars and eat-in restaurants closed several days earlier.

Many of Bangkok’s sex workers had jobs in the relative safety of bars, working for tips and willing to go home with customers.

When their workplaces suddenly closed most returned home to wait out the crisis.

Others like Pim went to work on the streets.

The government said it is ready to enforce a 24-hour curfew if necessary to control a virus that has infected more than 2,000 people and killed 20, according to official figures.

Pim is paying a heavy price for the movement restrictions – she has not had a customer for 10 days and the bills are stacking up.

Her friend Alice, another transgender sex worker, has also been forced to move from a go-go bar to the roadside.

“I used to make decent money sometimes $300-600 a week,” Alice said.

“But when businesses shut down my income stopped too. We are doing this because we’re poor. If we can’t pay our hotel they will kick us out.”

High risk

The occasional tourist loiters near clusters of sex workers, before a furtive negotiation and a quick march to a nearby hotel, one of the few still open on Bangkok’s main tourist drag.

The already high risks of sex work have rocketed as the virus spreads.

Sex workers have flocked back to homes across the country in anticipation of several weeks of virtual lockdown before Thailand’s night economy comes back to life.

There were fears the malaise could last for months, yanking billions of tourist dollars from the economy and leaving those working in the informal sector destitute.

They include sex workers – an illegal but widely accepted part of Thailand’s nightlife.

There were concerns that a Thai government emergency scheme to give 5,000 baht ($150) to millions of newly jobless over the next three months will exclude sex workers because they cannot prove formal employment.

The Empower Foundation, an advocacy group for the kingdom’s sex workers, said entertainment venues make around $6.4 billion a year, many of them selling sex in some form.

Women are suffering the most from the virus measures, it said. Many are mothers and their family’s main income earner, forced into sex work by lack of opportunities or low graduate salaries.

The group has written an open letter to the government urging it to “find a way to provide assistance to all workers who have lost their earnings”.

As the 10 pm curfew looms, Pim and Alice prepared for a final forlorn patrol for customers.

“I think the government has been really slow. They don’t care about people like us who work in the sex industry,” Alice said.

“We’re more afraid of having nothing to eat than the virus.”

Agence France-Presse

4 Filipinos in New York, New Jersey succumb to coronavirus

MANILA, Philippines — At least four Filipinos in New York and New Jersey have died due to the coronavirus disease  2019 (COVID-19), the Philippine Consulate General there said.
“Marami na rin po ang nag-positive dito po sa New York at New Jersey, apat na po iyong kababayan natin (ang) nasawi dahil sa COVID-19,” Philippine Consul General Claro Cristobal said in an interview on dzBB on Thursday.

“(Ang) ilang mga kababayan natin ang nasa ospital ngayon at nilalaban ang kanilang buhay,” he added.


Cristobal, said that there are around 143,000 Filipinos in New York and around 137,000 in New Jersey.

He said that New York was one of the first states to implement a stay-at-home order in a bid to contain the spread of the disease.

“Ibig sabihin, kung hindi essential yung paglabas-labas ng mga tao, ipinagbabawal yun,” he said.

Restaurants, department stores and other establishments that do not offer essential services have been temporarily closed, Cristobal added.


He said members of the Filipino community in New York and New Jersey have been following quarantine protocols set by local authorities.

“Ang kagandahan, nakikinig yung ating mga kabaayan at tayo po ay nagpapaalala sa kanilang lahat na patuloy na sumunod sa panuntunan ng siyudad,” Cristobal said.

He added that a field hospital has been set up at Central Park.

“Ang pinaiiral na panuntnan sa New York is kahit sino ka man, kahit meron kang papel dito o wala, kahit may pambayad ka o wala ay makakatanggap ka ng serbisyong medikal kung iyong kinakailangan,” he said.

“Ultimo dito sa Central Park na malapit sa opisina natin ay nagtayo na po ng tinatawag na field hospital at bukas na po yun so sa loob mismo ng pinaka malaking parke dito sa ay meron nang mga medical facilities na tatanggap ng ating pasyente, maging mga kababayan natin, kung kinakailangan,” Cristobal added.


As of Wednesday, 401 overseas Filipinos have contracted the disease, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Of the number, 270 are currently undergoing treatment while 118 have already recovered.

There are 13 deaths reported so far.

globalnation.inquirer.net

All beaches in Phuket closed indefinitely

BANGKOK — All beaches in the world famous tourist destination Phuket will be closed indefinitely, provincial Governor Phakkhaphong Thawiphat and president of Phuket Communicable Disease Committee have decided.

The closures extend to zoos and all venues of animal shows for tourists.


The Bangla walking street in Kathu district is also closed.

“The decision is part of an effort to better control and prevent the spread of the new coronavirus,” he said. “By the governor’s authority under sections 22 and 35 of Communicable Disease Act BE 2558, these places will be closed temporarily until further notice.

Those who violate the order could be jailed for up to one year, fined up to Bt100,000, or both, the governor said in a statement.

All nine airlines have suspended their flights while most hotels in the province have closed for service and they will not receive new tourists.

The governor sought cooperation from both Thais and foreigners staying in Phuket to remain indoors from 8pm to 3am from March 28 until further notice, except in cases of emergency.

Meanwhile, the Public Health authorities reported 143 new cases in the past 24 hours on Sunday, bringing the total Covid-19 cases in Thailand to 1,388. One more patient died, bringing total deaths to seven nationwide.

Earlier on Tuesday (March 24), the Phuket committee had approved a proposal to close all high-risk places in the province from Sunday until March 31 in order to prevent people contracting Covid-19. The places the province has closed are: malls, pharmacies, shops, entertainment venues, spas, restaurants, amulet markets, golf clubs, pet-service shops, beauty clinics, barber and tattoo shops, and swimming pools of both government and private organizations.

As of Sunday (March 29), confirmed infections in Phuket reached 53, the highest among southern provinces. Seven of them have recovered and returned to their homes, 46 are under treatment with no serious cases. Test results are awaited of 97 persons.

A total of 944 people are under scrutiny while 794 have tested negative, according to the Phuket provincial health authority.

Asia News Network

The Latest: Jim Edmonds has pneumonia, awaiting virus tests

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:



Former All-Star outfielder Jim Edmonds announced on his Instagram page that he went to the hospital to be tested for the coronavirus after displaying some symptoms.

The 49-year-old Edmonds sent a video update Saturday night on his Instagram Story saying he was back home after testing positive for pneumonia for the first time in his life, but was awaiting results of tests for the coronavirus.

“I’m just trying to rest up and get better,” Edmonds said, adding that he’d provide an update when he heard from doctors.



Earlier Saturday, Edmonds posted a photo of himself in a hospital room with a facemask covering his nose and mouth.

“Held off as long as I could,” he wrote on the post. “I thought I was tough enough to get through. This virus is no joke. #gethealthy.”

He said he was feeling “super sick” and added that he wasn’t “taking any chances because it’s so hard to get tested by the rules of the CDC.”

Edmonds played 17 seasons in the majors, mostly with the Los Angeles Angels and St. Louis Cardinals. He won eight Gold Glove awards, and finished with a .284 career batting average with 393 home runs and 1,199 RBIs. Edmonds also helped the Cardinals win the World Series in 2006. He also played for the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds late in his career before retiring in 2011.

___

Canadian hockey goalie equipment manufacturer Brian’s Custom Sports has begun producing medical supplies for hospitals in and around southwestern Ontario.

The company in Kingsville was originally approached by public health officials about its surplus of double-sided tape and foam. But when the Ontario government closed nonessential businesses to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the company was asked to change its production.

Now its 15-person sewing team is producing medical gowns for front-line medical workers for Windsor-Essex EMS.

___

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and his girlfriend have restarted their efforts to raise money for those affected by the new coronavirus.

They announced their decision Saturday on social media.

The two had set up a GoFundMe page earlier this week until told by Clemson compliance officials the site violated NCAA rules against using an athlete’s name, image and likeness for crowd funding. But the NCAA said Tuesday that Lawrence and other athletes could use such sites to raise money in this case.

Lawrence’s girlfriend, Marissa Mowry, is a soccer player at Anderson University, about 15 miles from Clemson’s campus.

They created the “Trevor Lawrence and Marissa Mowry COVID-19 Relief Fund” designed to provide direct assistance to families affected by the pandemic.

___

The Colorado Avalanche say a second player has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The team said it was informed Friday night and the player is in self-isolation.

In their statement Saturday, the Avalanche say those who came in close contact with the player have been informed and remain isolated.

The team says no other Avalanche player or staff member has shown symptoms at this time.

The unidentified player has become the fourth known NHL player to test positive for the virus. The other two are with Ottawa.

___

Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka says she is disappointed that the Olympics in her native Japan were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but she supports the decision to delay the Summer Games to 2021.

In a posting Saturday on social media, she said she’s “been thinking about how to articulate my thoughts on this for a couple of days now.”

The decision to push back the games from July and August 2020 until sometime next year was announced Tuesday.

Osaka wrote: “Sport will eventually unite us again and be there for us always, but that time is not now.”

She also addressed “the people of Japan,” where she was born, saying, “stay strong, hang in there and let’s show the world our beautiful country when the time is right.”

The 22-year-old Osaka figures to be one of the most-watched stars in Tokyo, given that she represents the host country and is a medal contender in tennis. She won the 2018 U.S. Open and 2019 Australian Open and became the first player from Asia to reach No. 1 in the singles rankings.

___

An A-League soccer player has become the first Australian professional footballer to test positive for the new coronavirus.

The unnamed player, who plays for the Newcastle Jets in New South Wales state, was tested Friday as a precaution before an international flight. He played in recent A-League matches against Brisbane and Melbourne City.

The player is now in quarantine and the A-League is suspended at least until April 22.

Jets chief executive Lawrie McKinna said the player is asymptomatic and in good health. McKinna said the rest of the squad does not “need to get into isolation” but are being monitored.

___

Soccer players and celebrities will take part in a global music festival on Saturday organized by the Spanish league in order to raise funds for the fight against the coronavirus.

Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos and Sevilla’s Jesús Navas will be among the players involved in the charity event organized to raise money “for the purchase of medical supplies in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and to also support fans confined to their homes during the current period of quarantine,” the league said.

Celebrities in the festival will include singers Aitana, Alejandro Sanz, Beret and Luis Fonsi, actress Danna Paola, music bands Morat and Taburete, and tennis star Rafael Nadal.

The soccer players and celebrities will all participate from their homes. The concert is to be shown live through the league’s international broadcasters and streamed via YouTube and Facebook.

The “music extravaganza” will be broadcast in more than 180 countries simultaneously, starting at 1700 GMT (1 p.m. EST).

___

Barcelona has delivered 30,000 masks to the Catalonia government to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The masks were made in China and donated by insurance company Taiping, a regional partner of the club.

Barcelona said the “daily use” masks will be distributed to nursing homes.

The club added it is working through its foundation “to do as much as possible to help with this crisis, both locally and internationally.”

Spain, where stay-at-home restrictions have been in place for nearly two weeks, reported 832 more deaths on Saturday, its highest daily count yet, bringing its total to 5,690. An additional 8,000 confirmed infections pushed that count above 72,000.

AP

Barcelona FC to cut salaries during coronavirus stoppage

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona will reduce the salaries of its players amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Spanish club said late Thursday that its executive board decided to temporarily suspend player contracts, which leads to a “proportional reduction of the remuneration provided for in the respective contracts.”


The player contracts will remain intact during the suspension. Employers in Spain are allowed to reduce labor costs while guaranteeing that workers will return to their jobs once conditions improve.

The club said it had not decided by how much the salaries will be lowered.

Barcelona is the first Spanish league club to say it will reduce salaries.

In the 2018-19 season, Barcelona said player salaries for its sports teams accounted for 671 million euros ($727 million) of its 973 million euros ($1.05 billion) in expenses. Barcelona also fields teams in basketball, handball and other smaller sports, but its soccer squad takes up most of its salary costs.

The Spanish league stopped play two weeks ago because of the coronavirus outbreak.

AP

Economic fears as Africa escalates coronavirus response

DAKAR, Senegal — African nations have ordered curfews and lockdowns in response to the growing coronavirus epidemic, raising fears of turmoil for low-income workers and cash-strapped governments across the continent.

Cases have risen across the world's poorest continent over the past week to a total of 2,137 and 62 deaths, according to an AFP tally, prompting countries to enact strict counter measures.

South Africa, the continent's most developed economy — which at 554 cases has Africa's largest outbreak — on Monday announced a nationwide lockdown.


"Without decisive action, the number of people infected will rapidly increase... to hundreds of thousands," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the time.

There are fears that weak health infrastructure in Africa will leave the continent particularly exposed to an outbreak on the scale of virus-stricken Europe.


Other countries are following suit with similar measures. More are expected to be announced in the coming days.

On Monday, Senegal and Ivory Coast both declared states of emergency and ordered night-time curfews.

Ivory Coast on Tuesday said it had recorded 73 coronavirus cases in total and would lock areas down progressively, depending on how the virus spreads.

Senegal has recorded 86 coronavirus cases to date, its health ministry said on Tuesday. Ivory Coast has 25 known coronavirus cases.

Ivory Coast PM in self-isolation

In a sign of coronavirus' increasing reach, Ivory Coast's Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly said on Twitter on Tuesday that he was in a self-isolation after coming into contact with a positive case.

As the virus spreads, there are also fears that poor and debt-saddled countries will unable to provide an adequate response.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday asked G20 leaders for $150 billion in emergency funding to deal with coronavirus, saying that it "poses an existential threat" to the economies of African countries.

He added that creditors should partly write off national debt for low-income countries.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France's parliament on Tuesday that there would be a European financial aid package for poor countries fighting the virus.

"I'm thinking in particular about Africa," he said.

'How do we pay the rent?'

Adopting lockdowns and social distancing measures in poor African nations is also generating economic worries at the local level.

Homes are often overcrowded, and workers in the informal economy cannot self-isolate at home without abandoning their livelihoods.

Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation's regional director for Africa, admitted these difficulties in a briefing with reporters last week.

She said such measures were "quite a challenge" and that the WHO is working on other approaches such as making hand sanitisers more widely available.

Locals are increasingly concerned as containment measures bite.

"They're closing down the stalls, the restaurants, but how are we supposed to feed our families?" asked Nemy Fery, who runs a street-food stall in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's main city.

He added that he would try selling takeaway meals -- and look for another job.

There are similar concerns in Muslim-majority Senegal, where the authorities were already struggling last week to enforce a ban on praying in mosques.

Sabah Amar, who works in a souvenir shop, said that Senegalese people "will die of hunger" before they succumb to coronavirus.

Several people interviewed by AFP in Dakar nonetheless said they supported the government's coronavirus measures.

"I prefer that everything closes. We're not selling anything anyway," said Amar. "Otherwise we're all going to die."

In the north of the continent, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli on Tuesday announced a two-week night-time curfew.

And in the east, cases have doubled in Rwanda, to 36, while South Sudan has closed its air and land borders, except for food and fuel supplies.

Rising cases

The archipelago nation of Cape Verde on Tuesday announced its first coronavirus fatality after a 62-year-old British tourist died.

Cameroon also recorded its first death — a man who had contracted the disease in Italy and tested positive on March 14, according to Health Minister Manachi Manaouda.

Four people have died in Burkina Faso, which is West Africa's worst-hit country with 115 confirmed cases.

Countries that have announced strict containment measures are turning to the army to enforce them.

Military patrols in Senegal will ensure people respecting the dusk-to-dawn curfew, for example.

South Africa's president has also said the army will enforce his country's lockdown.

Nombulelo Tyokolo, 41, a domestic worker  in Cape Town, who shares a one-bedroom shack with her son, told AFP she was worried about how the lockdown will work.

"I am scared, worried and panicking about 21 days indoors," she said.

"We have to fetch water outside and go outside to the toilets. God have mercy." — with AFP Africa bureaux

Agence France-Presse

Myanmar confirms first coronavirus cases

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar confirmed its first cases of of the deadly novel coronavirus late Monday after weeks of increasing scepticism over the under-developed southeast Asian nation's claims to be free of the disease.

The country of 54 million people had been the world's largest country by population not to report a single case of the pandemic that has confined more than 1.7 billion to their homes.

With only 214 people tested by late Monday, medical experts and rights groups have urged Myanmar to stand up and face the pending crisis.

Myanmar's health ministry late Monday confirmed a 36-year-old Myanmar man travelling back from the United States and a 26-year-old Myanmar man returning from Britain had both tested positive.

"We will investigate all the people who were in close contact with these two men," the statement said.

Late night panic buying

The announcement immediately sparked panic-buying at one 24-hour supermarket in commercial capital Yangon, where hours before life had largely continued as normal.

The Myanmar government had claimed the country's "lifestyle and diet" -- including the lack of physical contact and the use of cash, rather than credit cards -- offered protection to the nation.

The country shares a porous 2,100 kilometre border with China, where the virus was first found.

Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch last week branded the government's attitude as "irresponsible", saying it served only to give people a false sense of security.

Some public spaces were closed down in recent days, from schools and cinemas to karaoke bars and massage parlours.

The country also took the unprecedented step of cancelling the planned street celebrations and huge water fights that normally mark the country's New Year in April.

On Monday thousands of Myanmar migrant workers flooded back over the border from Thailand before the planned closure of land border points.

Foreigners have left the country in droves, heeding warnings from various embassies about being trapped in a nation with what Yangon-based analyst Richard Horsey described as "one of the weakest public health systems in the world".

"It also has almost no social safety net, so the poorest and most vulnerable will bear the brunt of the health and economic crisis," he told AFP.

One doctor in provincial town Pathein, even took to Facebook to plea for resources, saying his hospital had just seven beds in the isolation ward and only one ventilator and were "no way" ready for the virus.

"If we have more than seven patients, where shall we put them?" hospital head Dr. Than Min Htut wrote.

Humanitarian groups fear for Myanmar's hundreds of thousands of displaced people, confined to camps in conflict-ridden corners of the country.

The government, parliament and many other institutions are also largely led by elderly men - the demographic most vulnerable to COVID-19, Horsey warned.

Agence France-Presse

First French doctor dies as virus death toll rockets

PARIS, France — The first French doctor battling the coronavirus has died as the death toll in the country spiralled to 674 Sunday.

With the outbreak spreading to eight regions — and 112 more dying in a single day — authorities admitted their count does not include those who died at home and in old people's homes.

"We are looking at an epidemic that is widening and escalating," the head of the health service Jerome Salomon said.


With hospitals flooded with 7,240 victims, the military are having to transfer some from the worst-hit areas.

"The virus kills and it is continuing to kill," Salomon added.

The 67-year-old emergency room medic who died worked at Compiegne hospital, north of Paris, the town's mayor told AFP.

He was hailed as a hero by his family for coming back from holiday to treat the first major outbreak in the country.

Mayor Philippe Marini said that Madagascar-born Jean-Jacques Razafindranazy "came back to work voluntarily to treat people and knew he was taking a risk".

Calls for curfew
His wife, a family doctor, is now also sick with the virus and has been quarantined at home.

Dr Razafindranazy's death came as controversy raged over a shortage of protective gear for medical staff in some parts of France.

Despite Health Minister Olivier Veran saying more than 250 million masks had been ordered, some doctors and nurses have complained that they have had to do without.

The French government is also under pressure from doctors' unions to impose a total nationwide curfew.

The northeast city of Mulhouse, where French soldiers have already set up a military field hospital to help hospital staff overwhelmed by the number of cases, declared its own curfew from Sunday night from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am.

Some other cities, including Nice and Perpignan, have already imposed their own curfews.

With authorities expected to extend the lockdown beyond the end of March, doctors want it tightened to "at a minimum" stopping people going out to jog or exercise.

Parliament toughened fines for people who break the current confinement measures late Saturday. Repeat offenders now face six months in prison and a fine of 3,700 euros ($3,950).

And on Sunday it declared a health emergency in the country, granting greater powers to the government to fight the pandemic.

Shortage of masks
Dr Razafindranazy died on Saturday in a hospital in the  northern city of Lille, with his son paying an emotional tribute to him on Facebook.

"He was passionate about his work and chose not to retire. He has left a family behind him who will never forget him," he added.

The family also warned that "this illness is extremely serious and must not be taken lightly".

Marini said Dr Razafindranazy "would soon have been 68" and had treated some of the first cases in the Oise department, the first area in France to be badly hit by COVID-19.

He was infected in early March, the mayor added.

A quarter of the more than 7,200 people now in hospital with the virus are in intensive care.

Veran said many medical staff who contract the virus could in fact be getting infected outside of their work, while adding that protection for frontline staff was "absolutely indispensable".

But doctors and nurses were losing patience, with the Frederic Adnet, the head of an emergency department at Seine-Saint-Denis in the northern suburbs of Paris, saying supplies of protective clothing were clearly under strain.

"We know we are exposed," he told French television. "We know a number of us are going to contract it and there will be a price to pay... with protective gear cruelly lacking."

Agence France-Presse

France to use helicopters, drones to enforce virus restrictions

PARIS, France — France is calling up helicopters and drones to boost the government's attempts to keep people in their homes, police officials said Saturday.

"The helicopters will give us a larger vision and a panoramic view of the situation in real time to help guide the patrols on the ground," a national gendarmerie source said.

One helicopter was already in use on Saturday, hovering above major Paris parks to ensure that confinement rules were respected.


Later Saturday, a French navy helicopter-carrier was on the way to Toulon on the south coast of France to evacuate coronavirus patients from the Mediterranean island of Corsica to hospitals in nearby Marseille.

And on Saturday evening, a French navy helicopter-carrier was on the way to Toulon from where the vessel's helicopters will evacuate coronavirus patients from Corsica to Marseille.


Drones will also be used to help keep people confined, in particular to keep an eye on the banks of the Seine river.

However the head of the army health service (SSA) Marilyne Gygax-Genero told the Journal du Dimanche weekly: "We don't have unlimited means."

The French army has already been supporting the hard-pressed medical services in the northeast city of Mulhouse.

Inmates in several prisons meanwhile refused to return to their cells after exercise, the prison service said Saturday.

More than 9,000 infected

France has been in lockdown since midday on Tuesday, with excursions from the home limited to buying food, visiting the doctor, walking the dog or going for a solitary jog.

The measures came as the government mulled expanding the two-week home confinement imposed on all residents in a bid to brake the epidemic that has seen more than 14,000 infected with the virus in France, and 562 deaths.

No gatherings are allowed, and workers can only go to work if their employer does not provide an option for working from home.

People who venture outside need to print out and fill in a government form. They risk a 135-euro ($145) fine if they cannot show one.

Although a full curfew has not been imposed, the government has deployed 100,000 police to monitor people's movements and make sure people who are outside keep their distance.

250 million face masks

The French government's scientific council will on Monday make an announcement on the length and extent of the emergency measures, according to Health Minister Olivier Veran. 

To help contain the COVID-19 virus, 250 million protective face masks will become available 'progressively", the minister told a news conference.

There is currently a lack of masks, especially for health workers who are prone to catch and spread the disease.

Veran said the government was also seeking to multiply the coronavirus test kits available in order to increase testing once the restrictions on movement are lifted.

Businesses are suffering from the restrictions. Many have been told to close with only key businesses like supermarkets and pharmacies allowed to keep their doors open.

"Here we are still making the bread but we're not giving out the change," said one baker in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil.

Coins are laid out by denomination on the counter and customers take whatever is their due, in order not to spread the virus.

Ordinary citizens are also, increasingly, doing their bit to assuage the effects of the forced confinement.

A florist shop in the Sarthe region of western France is losing heavily as his stock of roses and tulips can't be preserved.

"Rather than throw them away we decided to send the flowers to hospitals throughout France to give a boost to the nursing staff," said the florist, Philippe Bigot. "It's our contribution".

Agence France-Presse

Twitter gets more serious about its coronavirus misinformation control

On Wednesday Twitter broadened its definition of “harmful” in relation to its removal of harmful misinformation about COVID-19 on its platform.

Now, its policy goes so far as to say that “content that increases the chance that someone contracts or transmits the virus” is harmful and must be removed, not simply misinformation about the disease itself.


Content that increases the chance that someone contracts or transmits the virus, including:
– Denial of expert guidance
– Encouragement to use fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques
– Misleading content purporting to be from experts or authorities

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) March 18, 2020

Content now deemed as dangerous includes those posts that claim expert guidance—like that issued by nationally recognized health officials—is false, those that encourage people to use “fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques,” and those consisting of misleading information published by self-proclaimed “experts.”

These changes are in effect as of Wednesday; however, considering how the virus and the media’s response to it evolves every day that the pandemic continues, it’s likely that this list will expand even more in the near future. IB

technology.inquirer.net