Here comes the second wave

[ZNP]

The top health official in a Russian region that claims to have only 29 coronavirus deaths says the real figure is more than 20 times higher

The top health official in a Russian region that claims to have only 29 coronavirus deaths says the real figure is more than 20 times higher

For all those who see conspiracy in this pandemic, hiding the true numbers seems much more likely.

 

[ZNP]

Georgia's coronavirus data made reopening look safe. The numbers were a lie

According to state data models, which Gov. Brian Kemp used to justify Georgia’s aggressive reopening, the state’s infection curve has been rapidly heading in a direction that would be the envy of states like California, with its aggressive lockdown rules. The Wall Street Journal hailed the “Georgia Model” as evidence that aggressive lockdowns were needlessly harming the economy.

Georgia's miraculous curve seemingly played an important role in the changing public sentiment around reopening nationally. If it's working in Georgia, why can't it work here?

Georgia’s flattening curve defied all scientific logic. Pandemics don’t end because the economy is suffering and we want them to.

And yet data don't lie. Or do they?

Thanks to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, we now know things did indeed look too good to be true. Georgia’s coronavirus numbers looked so rosy because officials misrepresented the data in such a way it's difficult to believe it wasn't done on purpose.

Georgia's coronavirus data made reopening look safe. The numbers were a lie

Jeremiah 8:9 The wise will be put to shame;

they will be dismayed and trapped.

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what kind of wisdom do they have?

10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men

and their fields to new owners.

From the least to the greatest,

all are greedy for gain;

prophets and priests alike,

all practice deceit.

11 They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

“Peace, peace,” they say,

when there is no peace.

12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

No, they have no shame at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when they are punished,

says the Lord.

 

[ZNP]

India reports the largest coronavirus outbreak in Asia as millions of migrant workers travel from packed cities to rural villages

India is not only home to 1.35 billion people, but also to Asia's largest coronavirus outbreak.

On Monday, the country reported its largest single-day increase: 5,242 cases and 157 deaths, the Associated Press reported. That surge raised its total to 100,161 cases and 3,144 deaths.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns on March 25.

"There will be a total ban of coming out of your homes. Every district, every lane, every village will be under lockdown," he said, according to The New York Times.

Modi estimated at the time that India needed about three weeks to curb the infection's spread, stressing, "If we're not able to manage the pandemic in the next 21 days, the country and your family will be set back for 21 years."

The government has since been forced to extend the sweeping restrictions several times as the coronavirus has raced across the crowded nation. The most recent extension is set to end on May 31.

India reports the largest coronavirus outbreak in Asia as millions of migrant workers travel from packed cities to rural villages

 

[ZNP]

Mexico begins lifting Covid-19 lockdown despite fears worst is still to come

Local authorities across Mexico have resisted President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s call to lift emergency coronavirus measures in municipalities without confirmed Covid-19 cases, warning that the pandemic is far from over.

Mexico has registered nearly 50,000 Covid-19 cases and more than 5,000 deaths, and its testing rate ranks among the lowest in Latin America, with just 0.4 tests per 1,000 people.

But on Monday, approximately 300 municipalities throughout the country – called “municipalities of hope” – were given the green light to restart economic activities and lift sheltering-in-place recommendations. Similar measures are scheduled to start 1 June in the rest of the country, while classes will resume the same day.

Mexico begins lifting Covid-19 lockdown despite fears worst is still to come

 

[ZNP]

Coronavirus 'not a pandemic in Pakistan' says top court, ordering curbs lifted

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the government on Monday to lift some of the remaining restrictions imposed on business to halt the spread of the coronavirus, even as the country recorded a rise in infections since beginning to emerge from lockdown.

In its decision, which is binding, the court said the virus "apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan" and questioned why fighting it was "swallowing so much money".

Coronavirus 'not a pandemic in Pakistan' says top court, ordering curbs lifted

Jeremiah 2:8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.

 

[ZNP]

Putin intervenes as Russia's Dagestan faces virus 'catastrophe'

Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin was forced to intervene personally on Monday in the epidemic sweeping Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan, as local officials described the coronavirus situation as a "catastrophe."

For several days now, there have rumours of mounting fatalities and overwhelmed hospitals in the mountainous majority-Muslim region and local medical staff have taken to social media to make frantic appeals.

Dagestan's top cleric, Mufti Akhmad Abdulayev, described the situation as dire and pleaded to the Kremlin for help.

"The scope of the catastrophe is forcing us to appeal to you," he told Putin via video link Monday. "Please, bring your attention to Dagestan."

The region's health minister, Dzhamaludin Gadzhiibragimov, said that 657 people had died of pneumonia in the region, including 40 medics.

According to a regional breakdown of Russia's official coronavirus tally, only 29 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in the region of 2.9 million people by Monday.

Critics have accused Russian authorities of downplaying the crisis and manipulating the figures by attributing coronavirus deaths to so-called community-acquired pneumonia and other medical conditions.

Medics told AFP they faced shortages of protective equipment and tests, and Abdulayev said that many people with the infection die at home and are buried at mass traditional funerals.

"They are buried according to tradition and nobody counts them," Abdulayev said.

Putin promised to send aid to Dagestan, and asked residents not to gather for the Eid celebration marking the end of Ramadan this weekend.

https://news.yahoo.com/putin-intervenes-russias-dagestan-faces-virus-catastrophe-172142195.html

 

[ZNP]

Florida COVID-19 data chief says she was removed from post after refusing to censor data

Rebekah Jones, the architect and onetime manager of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard, said on Monday she was removed from her post after she would not censor data.

In an email to CBS12 News, Jones said she refused to "manually change data to drum up support" for Florida's plan to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. The dashboard shares data on coronavirus cases, testing, and deaths by county and ZIP code, and is used by the public and academic and private researchers working on coronavirus models. Jones led a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health officials to create the dashboard, which was praised last month by Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force.

Earlier Monday, Florida Today reported that on May 5, Jones sent an email to researchers letting them know that she had been removed from her position, and for "reasons beyond my division's control," they would no longer be publishing or fixing data. Jones wrote that she did not know "what data they are now restricting," and "as a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months."

Over the last few weeks, the dashboard has gone offline, data has disappeared without explanation, and it's been difficult to gain access to underlying data sheets, Florida Today reports. The Florida Department of Health did not respond to requests for comment on the data and Jones' removal from her position.

Florida COVID-19 data chief says she was removed from post after refusing to censor data

Jeremiah 5:26 “Among my people are the wicked

who lie in wait like men who snare birds

and like those who set traps to catch people.

27 Like cages full of birds,

their houses are full of deceit;

they have become rich and powerful

28 and have grown fat and sleek.

Their evil deeds have no limit;

they do not seek justice.

They do not promote the case of the fatherless;

they do not defend the just cause of the poor.

29 Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?

30 “A horrible and shocking thing

has happened in the land:

31 The prophets prophesy lies,

the priests rule by their own authority,

and my people love it this way.

But what will you do in the end?

 

[ZNP]

Race to prevent coronavirus 'nightmare' in Rohingya camps

Emergency teams raced Friday to prevent a coronavirus "nightmare" in the world's largest refugee settlement after the first confirmed cases in a sprawling city of shacks housing nearly a million Rohingya.

There have long been warnings the virus could race like wildfire through the cramped, sometimes sewage-soaked alleys of the network of 34 camps in southeast Bangladesh.

Most of the refugees have been there since around 750,000 of the Muslim minority fled a 2017 military offensive in neighbouring Myanmar for which its government faces genocide charges at the UN's top court.

Local health coordinator Abu Toha Bhuiyan initially said on Thursday two refugees had tested positive. The World Health Organization (WHO) later said one case was a local man.

On Friday, another senior health official said two more Rohingya had tested positive -- a 42-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man.

Race to prevent coronavirus 'nightmare' in Rohingya camps

 

[Aldebaran]

I've been seeing that sort of thing a lot. Some news article claimed that the infection rate dropped after masks became mandatory in a certain country; I looked, and it was already dropping half a month prior to that, and the mandate changed nothing. Who are these people who think we're blind to the statistics?

When the "second wave" never comes, will people notice?

It's what passes for "science" which they accuse us of denying, even as they continue to change it. Here's an example just from today: CDC: Coronavirus mainly spreads through person-to-person contact and 'does not spread easily' on contaminated surfaces

 

[ZNP]

It's what passes for "science" which they accuse us of denying, even as they continue to change it. Here's an example just from today: CDC: Coronavirus mainly spreads through person-to-person contact and 'does not spread easily' on contaminated surfaces

How to Misinform Yourself About the Coronavirus

Oh, the irony, the irony.

How to Misinform Yourself About the Coronavirus

Jeremiah 6:14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.

 

[ZNP]

India braces for biggest storm in a decade

Authorities in eastern India and Bangladesh were scrambling to move tens of thousands of villagers away from the coast on Tuesday (May 19) as super cyclone Amphan barrels across the Bay of Bengal.

India is facing one of its biggest storms in about a decade, the weather office said, and it has meant rapidly repurposing some coronavirus shelters into shelters for the storm.

It's expected to hit late Wednesday (May 20) with the force equivalent of a category 5 hurricane, causing widespread damage.

The cyclone is packing windspeeds of up to 98 miles an hour.

In neighboring Bangladesh, where the cyclone threatens the worst storm in about 15 years, the cyclone is expected to hit land just 93 miles from camps housing more than a million Rohingya refugees.

India braces for biggest storm in a decade

A refugee camp with a million refugees, they already have had a number of cases of Covid19 in the camp and now they are going to be hit by a huge cyclone.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

It's what passes for "science" which they accuse us of denying, even as they continue to change it. Here's an example just from today: CDC: Coronavirus mainly spreads through person-to-person contact and 'does not spread easily' on contaminated surfaces

That reminds me of a conversation I had with someone back before it officially reached our shores. Someone said that it was acquired through inhalation, and by contact. My reply was that, as a respiratory pathogen the first was a given, but the second one required some seriously deep nose-picking. Of course, it's still a method, but it's not the primary method.

 

[ZNP]

Florida authorities released footage of a block party with 3,000 people that ended with arrests

Florida authorities have released footage showing thousands of people gathering for a block party on May 16 in Spring Hill, despite social-distancing guidelines warning against large gatherings.

Florida authorities released footage of a block party with 3,000 people that ended with arrests

 

[ZNP]

Mexican funeral homes face 'horrific' unseen coronavirus toll

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Like many people around the world, Mexican funeral home owner Salvador Ascencio did not believe at first the coronavirus outbreak was going to be a big deal.

Then calls from grieving relatives began to pour in.

During the first 11 days of May, his small funeral parlor in a run-down part of Mexico City dealt with 30 bodies, a more than four-fold spike in daily funeral services compared to the same period last May.

"I have never experienced a situation like this," said Ascencio, 52, encircled by shiny wooden coffins in the cramped parlour of a business his family has operated since 1973.

"The truth is that what we are experiencing is horrific."

Reuters surveyed 18 funeral homes and crematoriums across the capital, including several belonging to Mexico's two biggest chains. They also reported rocketing demand for their services during the pandemic.

The findings suggest that official statistics in Mexico may be far underestimating the true death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Mexico’s government has acknowledged that the real number of fatalities is higher than the official tally of 5,666 coronavirus deaths nationwide, though it says it has limited tools to measure accurately how much higher because Mexico has the lowest testing rate among OECD countries.

Mexican funeral homes face 'horrific' unseen coronavirus toll

 

[ZNP]

Russia medical workers are dying 16 times more often than in countries with comparable coronavirus outbreaks

The study gave two possible reasons for medical workers' high death rate: Either mortality statistics are being underestimated or the risk is unusually high because of insufficient personal protective equipment.

Russia medical workers are dying 16 times more often than in countries with comparable coronavirus outbreaks

 

[ZNP]

Brazil Is The New Epicenter Of The Global Coronavirus Pandemic

Brazil’s novel coronavirus outbreak surged to cataclysmic levels on Tuesday afternoon when the country recorded 1,179 deaths from COVID-19 ― a record daily high for a nation that now has more than 270,000 confirmed cases overall.

Brazil passed Italy and Spain on the list of countries with the most coronavirus cases last weekend, then passed the United Kingdom on Monday afternoon. Only Russia and the United States have more ― although researchers have said that a lack of testing means Brazil’s count is likely far higher than official figures suggest.

There are many factors that determine how bad a country’s outbreak becomes, but one unmistakable commonality between the three countries at the top is that their hard-right leaders have downplayed the severity of the crisis and embraced outlandish conspiracy theories, ensuring the outbreaks would be worse than they should have been.

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro’s lax response to the coronavirus made his country’s emergence as the world’s newest coronavirus hot spot tragically inevitable.

“Everyone who’s been watching Brazil, who’s been seeing the numbers increase day after day, week after week, knew that it was headed in this direction,” said Anya Prusa, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Brazil Institute in Washington. “It’s not a surprise, but it is a real humanitarian tragedy.”

Brazil Is The New Epicenter Of The Global Coronavirus Pandemic

 

[ZNP]

Indonesia reports biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia reported on Wednesday 693 new coronavirus infections, the Southeast Asian nation's biggest daily rise and taking the total number of cases to 19,189, according to the website of Indonesia’s COVID-19 task force.

Indonesia reports biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections

 

[ZNP]

Coronavirus in Africa: Contained or unrecorded?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that nearly a quarter of a billion Africans could contract coronavirus in the first year of the pandemic, with between 150,000 and 190,000 of them dying.

Coronavirus in Africa: Contained or unrecorded?

 

[ZNP]

WHO reports highest daily spike in coronavirus cases and said the virus is a 'long way' from being over


salarshani@businessinsider.com (Sarah Al-Arshani)

,Business Insider•May 21, 2020

Erin Clark/Boston Globe

• The world saw the highest daily spike in coronavirus cases on Wednesday since the start of the pandemic, the BBC reported.
• The majority of the new cases came from just four countries, according to Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
• Brazil alone had close to 20,000 new cases over the past 24 hours.

WHO reports highest daily spike in coronavirus cases and said the virus is a 'long way' from being over

 

[ZNP]

Brazil buckles under coronavirus crisis, Mexico reels from potentially higher death toll l ABC News