| Push-ups to fake guests: Curious African coronavirus moments Posted: 11 Apr 2020 04:52 PM PDT  Free buses, a mock wedding, hands-free taps and round-robin poetry are part of life under lockdown.
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| UN Mideast envoys urge warring parties to cease fighting now Posted: 11 Apr 2020 02:43 PM PDT |
| The week that was: Stories from the coronavirus saga Posted: 11 Apr 2020 01:49 PM PDT  Holy Week for Christians and Passover for Jews — deaths in the United States overtook Italy's. And fatalities kept adding up sharply in a sequestered, terrified New York City. Associated Press journalists fanned out across the city to compile a portrait, The Fight For New York, and tell the story of 24 hours in a metropolis under duress — including one account of a seventh-generation physician trying to navigate his way through. Meanwhile, the pandemic is posing non-medical challenges beyond the personal and the economic.
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| Melania Trump is having a moment during coronavirus pandemic Posted: 11 Apr 2020 11:08 AM PDT  Melania Trump is having a moment in the midst of a pandemic. After catching some criticism for not mentioning the coronavirus in a March speech to a parent-teacher group, the first lady has increased her engagement on the issue, mostly through social media since she is staying home like most Americans. This week, she posted a photo of herself wearing a white face mask — something her husband, President Donald Trump, has said he will not do.
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| UN urges religious leaders to work for peace, fight virus Posted: 11 Apr 2020 10:08 AM PDT |
| Chicago mayor takes hard line fighting coronavirus outbreak Posted: 11 Apr 2020 10:06 AM PDT  As large American cities try various strategies to keep people home to limit the coronavirus's spread, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has balanced a blend of stern — and occasionally scolding — news conferences with lighthearted social media to drive home her point. Lightfoot's hard-line approach began with an exasperated announcement in March that she was shutting down lakefront trails, adjacent parks and other crowded public spaces after Chicagoans flocked there on a 70-degree weekday. "Your conduct — yours — is posing a direct threat to our public health," Lightfoot chastised people spotted flouting social distancing orders.
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| What you need to know today about the virus outbreak Posted: 11 Apr 2020 08:51 AM PDT  The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed Italy's to become the highest in the world at more than 20,000, as Chicago and other cities across the Midwest braced for a potential surge in victims. President Donald Trump and his officials have made critical promises meant to reassure a country in the throes of the pandemic. Europe is trying to persuade its residents to stay home ahead of the Easter holiday and the anticipated sunny weather while grappling with how and when to start loosening the weekslong shutdowns of much of public life.
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| COVID-19 and AIDS crisis: NYC gays see parallels, contrasts Posted: 11 Apr 2020 08:41 AM PDT  LGBT New Yorkers who lived through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s see some bleak parallels in the COVID-19 pandemic now wracking their city. "There was a lot of fear and a lot of anger," said Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York City psychiatrist. Drescher was doing his internship and residency at New York hospitals in the early '80s as doctors struggled to learn the cause of AIDS.
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| Iran has started to re-open government offices, businesses despite coronavirus Posted: 11 Apr 2020 08:02 AM PDT  Iran, which has experienced the worst novel COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, began easing restrictions Saturday after a nationwide lockdown was put in place following the end of the Nowruz Holiday on April 4.Government offices outside Tehran re-opened, and two-thirds of employees went into work, while the rest remained remote. Women with young children were reportedly given priority to work at home if necessary. Businesses in Tehran will be allowed to open next Saturday, so long as they register with authorities and adhere to social distancing guidelines. The government reportedly expects to be dealing with the virus in some capacity until the fall.Iran has confirmed more than 70,000 cases and 4,300 people, including senior Iranian officials, have died of the disease, although some observers have questioned both totals. Regardless, the government tried to resist wide-scale shutdowns, arguing quarantines could be devastating economically considering the country is already under the strain of U.S. sanctions put in place after the Trump administration withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal. Washington has offered humanitarian aid to help Iran fight the virus, but Tehran turned it down as part of an all or nothing approach when it comes to sanctions. Read more from The Associated Press.More stories from theweek.com Trump's obsession with hydroxychloroquine is an encapsulation of his presidency Sting, Jimmy Fallon, and the Roots perform 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' remotely, creatively South Korea's coronavirus success
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| Iran's virus, sanctions-hit economy slowly reopens Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Iran allowed small businesses outside the capital to reopen Saturday, arguing the sanctions-hit economy in the country with the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East cannot stay in lockdown. Iranians in several provinces reported a significant increase in cars on the roads as people went back to work, as some said the government's relaxation of measures was sending mixed messages.
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| Politics mixes with science as states turn to virus models Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:58 AM PDT  State leaders are relying on a hodgepodge of statistical models with wide-ranging numbers to guide their paths through the deadly coronavirus emergency and make critical decisions, such as shutting down businesses and filling their inventory of medical supplies. During hurricane season, coastal states can trust the same set of computer models to warn of a storm's track. About 75 protesters on Thursday called on Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to reopen businesses and questioned the models used by his health director to continue the state's shelter-at-home order.
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| Virus sends Holocaust survivors behind doors, back in time Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:34 AM PDT  For Olga Weiss, the order to stay at home is about much more than simply locking her door to the coronavirus. Close to 400,000 survivors of the Holocaust are believed to be alive worldwide, and for many elderly Jews the coronavirus pandemic has dredged up feelings of fear, uncertainty and helplesness not felt since they were children during that dark period. While the fast-spreading virus has caused fear and the reliving of trauma for many in the general public, Yael Danieli, a psychologist and director of the Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, said the emotional toll can be particularly acute for survivors of the Nazi genocide.
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| New Trump Ad Suggests a Campaign Strategy Amid Crisis: Xenophobia Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:18 AM PDT  President Donald Trump has kicked off his general election advertising campaign with a xenophobic attack ad against Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, the opening shot in a messaging war that is expected to be exceptionally ugly.In a minute-long digital ad released late Thursday that relies heavily on imagery of China and people of Asian descent, the Trump campaign signaled the lines of attack it will use in its attempts to rally the president's base and define Biden. The ad reprises accusations Trump has made that the former vice president's family profited from his relationships with Chinese officials and presents selectively edited scenes and statements attempting to portray him as doddering and weak.For the president and his allies, the approach represents their assessment of the race as it narrows into a one-on-one contest with Biden, the opponent who is least susceptible to their charges that the Democratic Party is too far outside the political mainstream.The new ad also shows that while the country has changed drastically in recent weeks amid a national health crisis, the president has not. He continues to lead the nation and run his campaign the way he always has: by belittling his adversaries and exploiting racial discord.While other presidents have used campaigns during periods of national trauma to try to unite the country, political strategists said that Trump was taking the opposite approach."They're just going to run a white grievance campaign," said Stuart Stevens, who worked on the presidential campaigns of the Republicans Mitt Romney and George W. Bush. "It's not complicated. He's losing with everybody but white men over 50," Stevens added."Trump hasn't changed," he said. "He hasn't changed in 30 years."Biden amplified that criticism with a statement Friday, saying, "The casual racism and regular xenophobia that we have seen from Trump and this Administration is a national scourge.""Donald Trump only knows how to speak to people's fears, not their better angels," he added.Since the coronavirus started spreading in the United States, Trump has tried to steer the conversation over his response toward themes and issues he is most comfortable with like nationalism and border security. Until recently, he had been referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus."Now, with unfounded claims that Biden and his family have profited from below-board business deals with the Chinese, Trump is attempting to link his political rival to his chief geopolitical foe at a time when there is rising xenophobia and violence in the United States aimed at Chinese Americans."During America's crisis, Biden protected China's feelings," the online ad says, presenting a montage of clips of Biden complimenting and praising the Chinese, including the country's leader, Xi Jinping, and of a news segment accusing Biden of helping his son Hunter profit off Chinese investments.The ad also includes an image of a smiling Biden standing alongside an Asian American man -- an apparent attempt to suggest that the former president has an inappropriately cozy relationship with China. But the man in the image is a Chinese American, the former governor of Washington, Gary Locke, who also served as President Barack Obama's commerce secretary and ambassador to China.The picture, which appears briefly in between clips showing Biden socializing with Chinese officials and stammering through speeches, was taken at a 2013 event in Beijing where Locke and the former vice president appeared together.The ad's implication that Biden is soft on China is oddly timed, coming as Trump's own stance toward China and Xi has been more positive. Trump has been complimenting Xi, and as recently as last week, the president described the two of them as close allies and good friends.The Trump campaign defended using an image of an Asian American to illustrate Biden's ties to the Chinese, saying it was selected simply because Hunter Biden accompanied his father on the 2013 trip to China. Trump has repeatedly accused him, without evidence, of using his father's official visit to further his own business interests."The shot with the flags specifically places Biden in Beijing in 2013," Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, wrote on Twitter, referring to the picture with Locke. "It's for a reason. That's the Hunter Biden trip. Memory Lane for ol' Joe."Murtaugh did not address the fact that Locke is not Chinese, or that the ad presents the image with no context or explanation.Locke responded by accusing Trump of stoking hatred against Asian Americans. "The Trump team is making it worse," he said in a written statement. "Asian Americans are Americans. Period."In recent weeks, Asian Americans have reported being physically attacked, yelled at and spit upon; organizations have begun to track the incidents. Trump's rise has only pushed many Asian Americans further into the Democratic Party, though they were once considered a fairly reliable Republican demographic.Some Democratic strategists said that the tone and nature of the Trump ad should serve as a wake-up call. The coronavirus pandemic and the human and economic suffering it has unleashed does not mean that politics as usual are on hiatus, they said."This should tell the Biden campaign and every other entity trying to beat Trump that we have to rethink the playbook," said Kelly Gibson, a Democratic media strategist who advised the campaigns of Andrew Yang and Julian Castro. "So if Democrats don't sink to his level, at least a little, we will be at a sizable disadvantage. You can't beat fear with logic; it has never worked and it will never work."The Trump campaign's approach is a coarser version of the strategy that incumbent presidents typically deploy against their opponents: try to define them early before they get a chance to define themselves."What the Trump campaign wants to do is introduce on their terms, or in the case of Joe Biden, reintroduce that opponent to the American people before that opponent gets a chance to introduce himself," said Ken Goldstein, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco. "Their whole campaign is going to be about disqualifying Joe Biden."Though the ad is among the first to come from the Trump campaign directly since Biden became the presumptive nominee, an undeclared ad war has been raging for months, initially begun during the impeachment of Trump. In previous ads, including two that CNN refused to air citing "demonstrably false claims," Trump has already attacked the Bidens on similar grounds.And since late February, Priorities USA, one of the largest Democratic super PACs, has spent $6.5 million on ads attacking Trump in key swing states; an early round featured former supporters of Trump voicing their displeasure with his administration. Priorities USA has since started airing ads starkly criticizing the president's response to the coronavirus outbreak.In total, Democratic groups have already spent $15.5 million on general election ads this cycle, according to Advertising Analytics, an ad tracking firm. Many millions more have been spent online as well; Priorities USA alone has spent $19 million on digital attack ads already, and Acronym, another Democratic outside group, has spent $10 million.But it is unclear how much any of this advertising will matter given Americans' preoccupation with more pressing concerns. Biden, who lacks the financial wherewithal that Trump and the Republican National Committee have amassed, could stand to benefit in this regard."The shorter the race, the more it favors the person with the least amount of money," said Stevens, who saw firsthand in 2012 how Obama's financial advantage and the advertising it bought made it difficult for Romney to define himself."One of the major advantages of an incumbent president is monetary," Stevens added. "And that's being mitigated by this virus."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| A New Front for Nationalism: The Global Battle Against a Virus Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:17 AM PDT  As they battle a pandemic that has no regard for borders, the leaders of many of the world's largest economies are in the thrall of unabashedly nationalist principles, undermining collective efforts to tame the novel coronavirus.The United States, an unrivaled scientific power, is led by a president who openly scoffs at international cooperation while pursuing a global trade war. India, which produces staggering amounts of drugs, is ruled by a Hindu nationalist who has ratcheted up confrontation with neighbors. China, a dominant source of protective gear and medicines, is bent on a mission to restore its former imperial glory.Now, just as the world requires collaboration to defeat the coronavirus -- scientists joining forces across borders to create vaccines, and manufacturers coordinating to deliver critical supplies -- national interests are winning out. This time, the contest is over far more than which countries will make iPads or even advanced jets. This is a battle for supremacy over products that may determine who lives and who dies.At least 69 countries have banned or restricted the export of protective equipment, medical devices or medicines, according to the Global Trade Alert project at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The World Health Organization is warning that protectionism could limit the global availability of vaccines.With every country on the planet in need of the same lifesaving tools at once, national rivalries are jeopardizing access for all."The parties with the deepest pockets will secure these vaccines and medicines, and essentially, much of the developing world will be entirely out of the picture," said Simon Evenett, an expert on international trade who started the University of St. Gallen project. "We will have rationing by price. It will be brutal."Some point to the tragedy playing out around the world as an argument for greater self-sufficiency so that hospitals are less reliant on China and India for medicines and protective gear.China alone makes the vast majority of the core chemicals used to make raw materials for a range of generic medicines used to treat people now hospitalized with COVID-19, said Rosemary Gibson, a health care expert at the Hastings Center, an independent research institution in New York. These include antibiotics, blood pressure treatments and sedatives. "Everyone is competing for a supply located in a single country," Gibson said.But if the laudable goal of diversification inspires every nation to look inward and dismantle global production, that will leave the world even more vulnerable, said Chad Bown, an international trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.President Donald Trump and his leading trade adviser, Peter Navarro, have exploited the pandemic as an opportunity to redouble efforts to force multinational companies to abandon China and shift production to the United States. Navarro has proposed rules that would force U.S. health care providers to buy protective gear and medicines from U.S. suppliers."We just don't have the production capacity," Bown said, noting that Chinese industry is restarting while U.S. factories remain disrupted. "Just as you don't want to be too dependent on China, you don't want to be too dependent on yourself. You have now walled yourself off from the only way you can potentially deal with this, in your time of greatest need, which is relying on the rest of the world."Zero-Sum MentalityFor seven decades after World War II, the notion that global trade enhances security and prosperity prevailed across major economies. When people exchange goods across borders, the logic goes, they become less likely to take up arms. Consumers gain better and cheaper products. Competition and collaboration spur innovation.But in many countries -- especially the United States -- a stark failure by governments to equitably distribute the bounty has undermined faith in trade, giving way to a protectionist mentality in which goods and resources are viewed as zero-sum.Now the zero-sum perspective is a guiding force just as the sum in question is alarmingly limited: Potentially vital supplies of medicine are in short supply, exacerbating antagonism and distrust.Last week, the Trump administration cited a Korean War-era law to justify banning exports of protective masks made in the United States, while ordering U.S. companies that produce such wares overseas to redirect orders to their home market. One U.S. company, 3M, said halting planned shipments of masks overseas would imperil health workers in Canada and Latin America. On Monday, 3M said it struck a compromise with the government that will send some masks to the United States and some overseas.In recent weeks, Turkey, Ukraine, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa and Ecuador have all banned the export of protective masks. France and Germany imposed bans on masks and other protective gear, lifting them only after the European Union barred exports outside the bloc. India banned exports of respirators and disinfectants.Britain has prohibited exports of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug now being tested for potential benefits against the virus. Hungary has banned exports of the raw material for that drug and medicines that contain it."The export bans are not helpful," said Mariangela Simao, assistant director general for medicines and health products at the World Health Organization in Geneva. "It can disrupt supply chains of some products that are actually needed everywhere."Trump has been especially aggressive in securing a U.S. stockpile of hydroxychloroquine, disregarding the counsel of federal scientists who have warned that testing remains minimal, with scant evidence of benefits.India is the world's largest producer of hydroxychloroquine. Last month, the government banned exports of the drug, though it stipulated that shipments could continue under limited circumstances."In this situation, each country has to take care of itself," said Satish Kumar, an adjunct professor at the International Institute of Health Management Research in New Delhi. "If we are not able to take care of our population, it will be a very critical situation."After Trump demanded that India lift the export restrictions Monday night while threatening retaliation, the government appeared to soften its position."In view of the humanitarian aspects of the pandemic," said India's foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava, the government would allow exports "to some nations who have been particularly badly affected" -- an apparent nod to the United States.Arithmetic suggested that a policy of stockpiling for national needs might leave other countries short. India is likely to require 56 metric tons but now has only 38 metric tons, said Udaya Bhaskar, director general of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India, an industry body set up by the government to promote exports of Indian medicines.One manufacturer, Watson Pharma, owned by Teva Pharmaceuticals and based in the western Indian state of Goa, was seeking to triple its production of hydroxychloroquine over the next two weeks.Genomics and GeopoliticsAs global pharmaceutical companies explore new forms of treatment for the coronavirus -- a complex undertaking even under ideal laboratory conditions -- they are having to navigate an additional layer of real-world intricacy: geopolitics.Companies steeped in genomics and the rigorous demands of manufacturing must find a way to develop new drugs, begin commercial production and also anticipate how the predilections of nationalists running major economies may limit supplies.One of the most closely watched drugs, remdesivir, is made by Gilead, a U.S. company. Although clinical trials have not yet been completed, the company has been ramping up manufacturing to meet global demand in advance of the drug's approval.Like many newer drugs, remdesivir's formula includes "novel substances with limited global availability," according to a statement on the company's website.Gilead is increasing production in part by expanding beyond its own facilities in the United States, contracting with plants in Europe and Asia in a move that appeared to hedge its bets against trouble in any one place."The international nature of the supply chain for remdesivir reminds us that it is essential for countries to work together to create enough supply for the world," said Daniel O'Day, Gilead's chairman and chief executive, in an April 4 statement.Gilead says it has enough of the drug to treat 30,000 patients, while aiming to amass enough to treat 1 million by the end of the year. But outside experts questioned whether that would be sufficient."There is going to be a real fight over the allocation of the remdesivir supply if indeed it proves effective," said Geoffrey Porges, an analyst for SVB Leerink, an investment bank in Boston.Another drugmaker, New York-based Regeneron, is preparing a U.S. plant to produce a cocktail of antibodies developed in genetically engineered mice, with tests planned for hospitalized patients and as a preventive treatment. A similar antibody cocktail proved effective against Ebola.The company is planning the extraordinary action of shifting the production of some of its most profitable drugs -- one that treats eczema, another for eyes -- to a factory in Ireland to make room for the experimental treatment.Regeneron's chief executive, Dr. Leonard Schleifer, said the decision to make the new drug cocktail in the United States was both geopolitical and practical."You want to make it close to where the need is, and we anticipate there will be great need in the United States," he said.He acknowledged that making products overseas now posed risks that they could be subject to export bans in that country. In addition, Regeneron is receiving federal funds to expand its manufacturing of the vaccine, which carries the expectation that the company will prioritize the U.S. market."It just made good sense to us to do this in the United States," Schleifer said.China's MomentChina has seized on the pandemic as an opportunity to present itself as a responsible world citizen in contrast to Western democracies that failed to reckon with the threat -- not least the United States, now the epicenter of the outbreak.Ever since Trump took office, unleashing tariffs on friends and foes alike, China's paramount leader, Xi Jinping, has sought to exploit the U.S. abdication of global leadership as a chance to crown himself champion of the rules-based trading system.Given that China is ruled by an unelected Communist Party that subsidizes state-owned companies and tolerates the widespread theft of intellectual property, those claims have strained credulity.China's reputation has also suffered as it pursues its Belt and Road Initiative, a $1 trillion collection of infrastructure projects stretching from East Asia to Europe and Africa that has been engineered to spread Beijing's influence and generate business for Chinese companies. Some recipients of Chinese credit have come to see the terms as predatory, prompting accusations that China is an ascendant colonial power.China has dispatched doctors and ventilators to Italy while offering aid to France, Germany and Spain. Last month, as the EU banned exports of protective gear, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vucic, embraced China's largesse, even kissing the Chinese flag."European solidarity does not exist," Vucic declared. "I believe in my brother, my friend, Xi Jinping, and I believe in help from China. The only country that can help us now is China."Chinese factories make 80% of the world's antibiotics and the building blocks for a huge range of drugs. Chinese officials have pledged to continue to make these wares available to the world. Such moves may bolster China's standing yet appear unlikely to pacify the Trump administration."Certainly, it would help in projecting China's soft power," said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But I don't know whether this would ease concerns in the West, particularly the United States, on the need to diversify the supply of the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients."Trump has long obsessed over the trade deficit with China as a supposed scorecard of U.S. victimization. But given China's role as a dominant supplier of hospital gear and medicines, American health effectively depends on being able to buy more from Chinese factories."Right now, the brightest shiny hope that we have is imports of this stuff," said Bown, the trade expert. "We'd like to run the biggest trade deficit we could possibly find."It's not that we are buying this stuff from China that's made us vulnerable," he added. "It's that we are buying this stuff from China, and we decided to start a trade war with them."The Quest for VaccinesChina aims to become the first nation to crack the code for a vaccine, a milestone that could cement its status as a world superpower, resonating not unlike the United States' putting a person on the moon."Its importance lies in being able to display our scientific and technological prowess to other countries," said Yang Zhanqiu, a virologist at Wuhan University, in the central Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged.About 1,000 Chinese scientists are now engaged in creating vaccines for the virus, with nine potential versions in development, according to the government. The government is considering bypassing some phases of planned clinical trials to rush potential vaccines into emergency use as soon as this month.But one element appears in conspicuously short supply: international collaboration.In 2003, when another coronavirus, which caused severe acute respiratory syndrome, spread through China with deadly impact, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deployed to Beijing to help the government forge a containment strategy. In the years that followed, Chinese and U.S. authorities collaborated on epidemics in Africa.But in recent years, U.S. public health authorities have sharply diminished their presence in Beijing at the direction of the Trump administration, said Jennifer Huang Bouey, an epidemiologist and China expert at the RAND Corp."Given the overall sentiment that any scientific research will be helping China, the United States is really trying to reduce any collaboration with China," said Bouey. "That really hurts global health.""There's a lack of trust," said Huang at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Nationalism remains very strong among the Chinese public."Some international collaboration is taking place. Dr. Seth Berkley, chief executive of the Gavi Alliance, a nonprofit group started by Bill and Melinda Gates that works to get vaccines to the world's poor, noted that one of the best Ebola vaccines was discovered by a Canadian public health lab, transferred to a U.S. drugmaker and then manufactured in Germany."That's how science is done, and we really ought to follow that paradigm," he said. "Nothing illustrates the global nature of this problem better than COVID-19, which started off in Wuhan and spread to 180 countries within three months. This is a global challenge that requires a global response."But even before a vaccine is confirmed, national governments are already seeking to lock up future supply.In Belgium, a company called Univercells is preparing to manufacture two vaccines that are under development even before clinical trials are completed, according to its co-founder, Jose Castillo. Univercells expects to begin production by September, with the eventual aim of making as many as 200 million doses a year at a pair of plants south of Brussels.One country -- Castillo declined to disclose it -- has already ordered half the supply of vaccines that his company will initially make, a share that would decline to 10% as production increases.Some countries will most likely fail to secure enough vaccine. "It's really a matter of scarcity," Castillo said.More than overwhelming demand explains the anticipated shortfall. Although the science behind developing vaccines has advanced substantially, making them often involves labor-intensive techniques that are not designed to quickly produce billions of doses."The bottleneck is to produce it, to make it in very large quantities," Castillo said.The sense of urgency appears to have inspired Trump to try to persuade a German company that is developing a possible vaccine to relocate to the United States. The company, CureVac, has denied it was approached by the United States and said it had no plans to move.The president has other weapons. He could cite the Defense Production Act to force U.S. companies to give the U.S. government priority over other buyers for potential vaccines.A little-known unit within the Department of Health and Human Services, whose mission is to protect U.S. residents from bioterrorism and pandemics, gives grants to companies to speed their vaccine development. It also often comes with the requirement that recipients supply the government with a stockpile, said James Robinson, a vaccine manufacturing expert who sits on the scientific advisory board of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, an international consortium dedicated to making vaccines available worldwide.That division, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, recently gave nearly $500 million to Johnson & Johnson to help it develop a coronavirus vaccine and set up a U.S. manufacturing facility.Johnson & Johnson declined to say whether its arrangement with the government would require it to set aside vaccines for American use. It said it currently had the ability to produce as many as 300 million doses a year at its facility in the Netherlands, was preparing to manufacture a similar number in the United States, and was working with outside partners to add capacity elsewhere."If the current administration is still in place when the vaccines are available, they are going to be really merciless in terms of privileging the U.S. for supply versus the rest of the world," said Michel De Wilde, a vaccine research consultant and a former executive at Sanofi, a French vaccine manufacturer.Around the world, 50 potential vaccines are now in the early stages of development, according to the WHO. If history is any guide, scientists will eventually produce an effective version.What is less certain is whether the benefits will be shared."I'm worried about every country that has the potential to manufacture the vaccine," said Dr. Richard Hatchett, chief executive of the vaccine consortium. "They all have the ability to impose export controls. They all have the ability to nationalize their vaccine industry."If that is what happens, the dangers proliferate."If there are epidemics out of control in parts of the world," said Berkley, of the Gavi Alliance, "we will never get control of this because the virus will come back and continue to spread."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Coronavirus pandemic exacerbates inequalities for women, UN warns Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:00 AM PDT  'Limited gains made in the past decades' toward gender equality 'are at risk of being rolled back', UN policy brief saidA global economy in freefall, 1.52 billion students stuck at home, dramatic swells in domestic violence reports and healthcare systems overwhelmed by a single disease all portend vicious side-effects for women during the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations warns."There is no single society where we've achieved equality between men and women, and so this pandemic is being layered on top of existing inequalities, and it's exacerbating those inequalities," Nahla Valji, the UN's senior gender adviser to the executive office of the secretary general, told the Guardian.The current public health emergency will probably mean a disproportionate economic impact for women, who often work in service industries hit hard by Covid-19. They also tend to take on the bulk of unpaid family care at home, a burden that has become even more all-consuming amid physical distancing and self-isolation.And, even as women represent 70% of the global health workforce, the critical resources they need to stay well – reproductive health services, maternal care – may fall by the wayside as the world's hospitals go into crisis mode. That, in turn, could lead to more maternal mortalities, young pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, according to a UN policy brief published on Thursday.Because of the pandemic, the report said, "even the limited gains made in the past decades" toward gender equality "are at risk of being rolled back". In the US, the country with by far the most confirmed coronavirus cases, Covid-19 has already laid siege to people's health and livelihoods. At least 16 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past three weeks. Layoffs and furloughs will probably continue as businesses remain shuttered and workers stay home.default Women are suffering heavy losses, data from the Fuller Project suggest. The majority of unemployment applicants in states such as New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Minnesota in mid- to late March were women, an alarming surge compared with past years.This flood of applications coincided with school closures and stay-at-home orders, as children required near-constant attention and restaurants and other services shut down."If we take, for instance, the great recession, that is an economic crisis driven by economic factors, whereas this is an economic crisis which is driven by health factors," said Xanthe Scharff, co-founder and CEO of the Fuller Project. "And that really changes the nature of the economic fallout, because at the heart of this is a need for social distancing."The very notion of isolation has disrupted the hospitality, retail and tourism industries that many women rely on for their livelihoods, according to the UN. And even after the economy reopens, those workers may still find themselves in dire straits: the UN projects "a prolonged dip in women's incomes and labor force participation" because of Covid-19.With a depleted job market, men who were in other, more lucrative industries may compete for roles traditionally filled by women, said Toni Van Pelt, president of the National Organization for Women. Women, however, will have to wait to search for work until their kids are settled at school and any sick family members get well."I foresee that there'll be a scarcity of job openings available for women to take because they're gonna lag behind in being able to access those jobs," Van Pelt said.Women are also facing existential threats to their safety and freedoms right now as domestic violence victims are constantly confined with their abusers and the pandemic threatens access to reproductive health care, the UN warned.Violence against women has increased by more than 25% in many places around the world, according to the UN, and helplines in the US are already getting coronavirus-related calls from domestic abuse victims. Meanwhile, states already cool on abortion rights are trying to temporarily bar such operations for the time being."They're using this virus to end women's constitutional rights across the country," said Van Pelt.If there were more female leaders, the world might have been able to anticipate some of the crises it is facing now, such as an increase in violence against women, Valji suggested."The fact that we do not have women in leadership roles decision-making on the response to this pandemic means that we are missing huge pieces of information, of experience," she said. "And that affects everybody."A statement from the US mission to the UN read, in part: "The United States recognizes the disproportionate impact that conflict and crises often have on women and girls. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen women around the world serving on the frontlines as medical professionals, emergency workers, caregivers and other essential personnel who are courageously stepping up and responding to the needs of those affected by the pandemic."It also acknowledged that measures such as stay-at-home orders "may further endanger" women and girls.
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| Easter tornado threat poses safety dilemma during pandemic Posted: 11 Apr 2020 06:59 AM PDT  The threat of strong tornadoes and other damaging weather on Easter posed a double-edged safety dilemma for Deep South communities deciding how to protect residents during the coronavirus pandemic. An outbreak of severe thunderstorms was likely Sunday from Louisiana through the Tennessee Valley, the National Weather Service said. More than 4.5 million people live in the area where dangerous weather was most likely, including Birmingham and Jackson, Mississippi, the Storm Prediction Center said on its website.
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| Are schools open? Governor, NYC mayor give different answers Posted: 11 Apr 2020 06:55 AM PDT  Governor and mayor locked horns again Saturday, this time over whether school buildings in the nation's largest district would close for the rest of the year, with classes continuing online. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news briefing that public school sites in the city's 1.1 million-student school district would shutter for the rest of the academic year to curb the spread of the coronavirus. "It is my legal authority in this situation, yes," Cuomo said.
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| 10 things you need to know today: April 11, 2020 Posted: 11 Apr 2020 06:19 AM PDT |
| The secret weapon in the fight against coronavirus: women Posted: 11 Apr 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Being a woman doesn't make you better at handling a global pandemic – but women generally have to be better in order to become leadersSign up for the Week in Patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday. Female leaders are doing exceptional workWhat do Germany, Taiwan and New Zealand have in common?Well, they've all got female leaders and they're all doing an exceptional job in their response to the coronavirus crisis.Tsai Ing-Wen, a former law professor, became the first female president of Taiwan in 2016 – the same year America got its first reality TV president. Tsai has spearheaded a swift and successful defence to the pandemic; despite Taiwan's proximity to mainland China it has largely contained the virus and has just under 400 confirmed cases. It is so well prepared that it is donating 10m masks to the US and 11 European countries.New Zealand, led by Jacinda Ardern, is also a world leader in combating the virus. The country has had only one Covid-19 death so far. That's partly due to geography and size: with under 5 million people, New Zealand's entire population is much smaller than New York's. Being an island state also gives it a distinct advantage. However, leadership is also a factor. New Zealand has implemented widespread testing and Ardern has responded to the crisis with clarity and compassion.Germany has been hit hard by coronavirus, but it has an exceptionally low mortality rate of around 1.6%. (Italy's fatality rate is 12%; Spain, France and Britain's is 10%; China's is 4%; America's is 3%.) A number of factors feed into Germany's low death rates, including early and widespread testing and a large number of intensive care beds. Again, however, the country's leadership plays a role. As one wag on Twitter joked: if you're asking why death rates are so low in Germany and so high in America, it's "because their president used to be a quantum chemist and your president used to be a reality television host". Angela Merkel, who has a doctorate in quantum chemistry, is actually the chancellor not the president, but the sentiment still holds.Denmark (led by prime minister Mette Frederiksen) and Finland (prime minister Sanna Marin is the head of a coalition whose four other parties are all led by women) are also doing noteworthy jobs in containing coronavirus.Correlation is obviously not causation. Being a woman doesn't automatically make you better at handling a global pandemic. Nor does it automatically make you a better leader; suggesting it does reinforces sexist and unhelpful ideas that women are innately more compassionate and cooperative.What is true, however, is that women generally have to be better in order to become leaders; we are held to far higher standards than men. Women are rarely able to fail up in the way men can; you have to be twice as good as a man in order to be taken half as seriously. You have to work twice as hard. With a few notable exceptions (*cough* Ivanka Trump *cough*), you've got to be overqualified for a top job.A surplus of qualifications isn't exactly a problem Donald Trump has. America's response to the coronavirus crisis is arguably the worst in the world – although Britain also gets an honourable mention here. Instead of expertise, the Trump administration has led with ego. While thousands of Americans die, Trump tweets about his TV ratings. Instead of cooperating, Trump is lashing out at the press and state leaders. It's hard to imagine Hillary Clinton responding to a crisis in this way without being immediately impeached. Which raises the question: are some men simply too emotional to be leaders? Women using code words to escape domestic violenceThere's been a huge spike in domestic violence around the world because of the Covid-19 lockdown. With help harder to access, people are finding creative workarounds. A new initiative in France encourages people experiencing abuse to say a codeword ("mask19") to a pharmacist at a drugstore to get help. In the UK the Silent Solution system allows victims to alert police without saying anything; you dial 999 operators and then press 55. Rihanna has donated $2.1m to help domestic violence victims in lockdownWhile some celebrities are responding to the crisis with cringey renditions of Imagine, Rihanna has opened her wallet to help the most vulnerable. Last month she worked with Jay-Z's foundation to donate $2m to support undocumented workers, prisoners, homeless people, the elderly and children of frontline health workers in Los Angeles and New York. Fertility treatments delayed amid pandemicThe coronavirus crisis has shuttered most fertility clinics, leading to heartache and uncertainty for people needing help to conceive. "I'm numb at this point," one woman told CBS News. "It's the norm with IVF that there's ups and downs, but you never get used to the phone call that says … you can't move on." There have been a lot of jokes about a 'quarantine baby boom', but for some people an extended lockdown may mean they'll never be able to conceive. Kayleigh McEnany is Trump's new press secretaryKayleigh McEnany is Trump's fourth spokesperson and replaces Stephanie Grisham, who did not hold a single press conference during her time on the job. As you would expect from a mouthpiece for Trump, McEnany has a history of spouting racist lies. She has embraced birtherism and once tweeted: "How I Met Your Brother -- Never mind, forgot he's still in that hut in Kenya. ObamaTVShows." Rental rooms to avoid 'coronavirus divorces'Kasoku, a Japanese version of Airbnb, has found a new revenue stream during the Covid-19 crisis: avoiding-divorces-as-a-service. The startup is offering accommodation for frustrated husbands or wives sick of being at home with their spouses. Your fully furnished unit comes with a 30-minute divorce consultation. 'I will never jeopardize the beans'It's probably fake, nevertheless this quarrel over quarantine beans had the internet making a lot of noise this week. On that note: have a good weekend.
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| Kremlin Hopes for OPEC+ Consensus on Oil Cuts, Interfax Says Posted: 11 Apr 2020 05:32 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Russia "sincerely hopes" that a consensus on oil-output cuts will be formalized among the world's biggest producers as talks to rescue global energy markets continue after Mexico balked at proposed measures, Interfax reports, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.The OPEC+ coalition, including Russia, were closing in on an unprecedented agreement to lower global crude production by about 10% after prices collapsed as the spread of the coronavirus undercut demand. A compromise backed by U.S. President Donald Trump will be discussed between Mexico and Saudi Arabia on Saturday as talks enter their third day. Saudi Arabia has insisted Mexico should cut its production as much as everyone else in the group.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump have shown that they are able to work together constructively, Peskov was quoted as saying. They "completely understand each other" as shown in their two most recent telephone conversations, he said. The leaders discussed the oil markets and the impact of the coronavirus. Still there's no sign of warming ties between the countries, he said, accusing the U.S. of "Russophobia."Russia sees the pandemic, which has Moscow's hospitals working at their limits, causing long-lasting damage to the world economy, Peskov said. The government is working out further support measures, he said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Nurses, lauded for virus efforts, find their tires slashed Posted: 11 Apr 2020 05:11 AM PDT  Some nurses at a New York hospital who had just been lauded for their work during the coronavirus pandemic ended their stress-filled overnight shifts to find their tires had been slashed while they worked. New York state police reported that the tires of 22 vehicles were found slashed Friday morning outside New York-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortlandt. Daniel R. Hall, 29, was arrested on charges including criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance.
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| He led a neo-Nazi group linked to bomb plots. He was 13. Posted: 11 Apr 2020 04:58 AM PDT |
| Yemen's Houthi rebels sentence 4 reporters to death Posted: 11 Apr 2020 04:26 AM PDT  A court run by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday sentenced four journalists to death after their conviction on spying charges, their defense lawyer said. The four were among a group of 10 journalists who were detained by the Iran-backed rebels and accused of "collaborating with the enemy," in reference to the Saudi-led coalition that has been at war with the Houthis since 2015, lawyer Abdel-Majeed Sabra said. Sabra identified the four who were sentenced to death as Abdel-Khaleq Amran, Akram al-Walidi, Hareth Hamid and Tawfiq al-Mansouri.
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| Iran begins lifting restrictions after brief virus lockdown Posted: 11 Apr 2020 04:05 AM PDT  Iran began reopening government offices Saturday after a brief nationwide lockdown to help contain the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, which has killed more than 4,300 people in the country. Authorities had ordered most government agencies and all non-essential businesses to remain closed for a week after the Nowruz holiday ended on April 4. In Egypt, meanwhile, police used tear gas to disperse a group of villagers who tried to stop the burial of a physician who died from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus.
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| Global Leaders Try, And Fail, to Corral Outbreak: Weekend Reads Posted: 11 Apr 2020 04:04 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- A world leader in intensive care. A mass grave in New York. And infections racing toward 1.8 million across the globe, with deaths crossing the 100,000 mark.The coronavirus pandemic has spurred a multi-billion dollar global fight for masks, ventilators, gloves and medicines, while the outbreak is cutting a swathe through the hotspots of the U.S. and Europe, leaving governments rushing to pass relief packages to prop up flailing economies.In the stricken Chinese city of Wuhan — the origin of the crisis — authorities lifted the months-long lockdown, yet businesses and citizens there are facing an uncertain future.Dig deeper into these topics — and check out some others you may have missed — with the latest edition of Weekend Reads, and click here for more of our most compelling political images.Boris Johnson Kept on Working, But Then the Virus Took OverThe U.K prime minister was on his own. He had been self-isolating for a week since testing positive for coronavirus. His domestic staff left trays of food outside his apartment door. But there are growing concerns that a trail of errors exposed Johnson to critical risk when the country needed him most. Kitty Donaldson, Tim Ross and Robert Hutton report. The Unexpected Holdout to a Global Oil Production DealThe world's largest oil producers were closing in on a deal to rescue crude markets from a coronavirus-induced collapse after U.S. President Donald Trump stepped in to broker a truce. Then, as Javier Blas, Grant Smith and Amy Stillman explain, Mexico threw a spanner in the whole process.The Politics of 2020 Are Looking Less Ominous for TechThere has been anxiety for months in Silicon Valley that the eventual Democratic presidential candidate would be someone who wanted to break up large technology companies. As Eric Newcomer explains, Bernie Sanders's decision this week to end his campaign makes that scenario much less likely.The EU's Latest Existential Crisis Might Be Its Biggest One YetWhen the European Union's 27 leaders last managed to gather in person on Feb. 21, they didn't even talk about coronavirus. Since then, Ian Wishart reports, the pandemic has torn into any last notion of unity and confronted the bloc with its next existential crisis.Orban's Pandemic Power Grab Reveals the EU's Wider FrailtiesViktor Orban was Hungary's firebrand champion of democracy when the Iron Curtain fell in 1989. As an authoritarian prime minister three decades later, he just called into question whether his country is a democracy at all. Zoltan Simon, Ian Wishart and Arne Delfs explain.One Community, 6,000 Miles Apart, Overwhelmed by the CoronavirusUltra-Orthodox Jewish communities have become virus flashpoints in both New York and in Israel, after many residents, at the behest of revered rabbis, flouted social distancing orders that clashed with their religious lifestyles. As Yaacov Benmeleh writes, some rabbis have now changed course.In World's Worst Economy, Unrest Was Exploding Even Before VirusLatin America's economy was already going backward when the coronavirus hit, Eric Martin and Patrick Gillespie write. Now it's at risk of losing a whole decade — and pushing fragile democracies closer to their breaking points.Trump's 'Friend' Jack Ma Helps Repair China's Image After VirusJack Ma's influence has only grown since he stepped down as chairman of Alibaba Group Holding. China's richest person is now playing a prominent role in philanthropic efforts that are helping President Xi Jinping improve the country's image overseas after Covid-19 spread around the world, as Blake Schmidt and Venus Feng report.Wuhan Emerges From Lockdown With a Mission: Our Goal Is SurvivalAs the first epicenter of the now global pandemic, Wuhan provides a window into the uncertain, post-virus future. While factories are allowed to re-start, most people still too scared to go out for anything but essentials, as Sharon Chen, Claire Che and Sarah Chen explain.Foreign Workers in Limbo as Crisis Tests Gulf Immigration RulesThe shock of collapsing oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic is forcing the Arab Gulf monarchies to rethink their policies toward the majority of the region's private-sector workers: expatriates, as Simone Foxman and Abeer Abu Omar report.Virus Spurs Global Free-for-All Over $597 Billion Medical TradeThere's little sign of the Covid-19 crisis bringing nations closer together. From India to Europe and the U.S., governments are rushing to get hold of masks, ventilators, gloves and medicines in a free-for-all that's stoking tensions, as Alan Crawford explains.Villagers Turn Away Relatives as Virus Scare Grips Rural IndiaFront line health workers in India's vast hinterland are gripped with fear as they anticipate a surge of Covid-19 cases amid some of the world's worst medical infrastructure. As Upmanyu Trivedi and Ari Altstedter report, they're expecting the worst as hundreds of thousands of migrant workers reach their homes amid the country's weeks-long lockdown.Virus Helps Bury Controversy in South Korea's Pandemic ElectionSouth Korea is the first major country to hold a general election in the throes of a coronavirus crisis. That may turn out to be a boost for its president, Moon Jae-in. Kanga Kong writes that Moon is basking in a glow of global praise for containing the country's outbreak.And finally ... New York state officials say they need 30,000 ventilators for the most critical patients in coming weeks. But as K Oanh Ha writes, getting even a few of the lifesaving machines has proved a huge challenge as hospitals around the world jockey for the scarce supply. So tech companies are working with doctors and researchers to quickly design an adapter that converts breathing machines normally used to treat sleep apnea into emergency ventilators, while 3D tech startups are working to create other life-saving equipment. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Iran says total number of infected with coronavirus reaches 70,029 Posted: 11 Apr 2020 02:51 AM PDT |
| Congo, weary from Ebola, must also battle the coronavirus Posted: 11 Apr 2020 12:09 AM PDT  Congo has been battling an Ebola outbreak that has killed thousands of people for more than 18 months, and now it must also face a new scourge: the coronavirus pandemic. Ebola has left those living in the country's east weary and fearful, and, just as they were preparing to declare an end to the outbreak, a new case popped up. In Congo, it could spread unchecked in a country that has endured decades of conflict, where corruption has left the the population largely impoverished despite mineral wealth, and where mistrust of authority is so entrenched that health workers have been killed during the Ebola outbreak.
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| AP PHOTOS: Pandemic meets religious holidays in Sarajevo Posted: 10 Apr 2020 11:56 PM PDT  SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Sarajevo, a religious melting pot throughout its more than five-centuries-long history, would normally be teeming with life this April. Instead, along with the rest of Bosnia and most of the world, it is under a lockdown to try to bring the new coronavirus under control. During the war of the 1990s and the years of economic instability that followed, thousands of Sarajevo residents fled to other countries and remained there.
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| Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano shoots ash, lava Posted: 10 Apr 2020 11:17 PM PDT  Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano spewed a column of ash 500 meters (1,640 feet) into the sky in the longest eruption since the explosive collapse of the island caused a deadly tsunami in 2018, scientists said Saturday. Closed-circuit TV from Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation showed lava flares Friday night. The 2018 eruption caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java, killing 430 people.
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| Indonesian starts business to make hazmat suit for hospitals Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:13 PM PDT  Her friends who worked in hospitals cried, and Indonesian businesswoman Maryati Dimursi listened: They did not have the protective gear they needed to treat patients suspected of having COVID-19. "One of them sent me the hazmat suit so I can make a prototype from it," Dimursi said. Now, Dimursi has designed such a suit, and she aims to make hundreds of them and provide them to hospitals for free.
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| 20,000: US death toll overtakes Italy's as Midwest braces Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:09 PM PDT  The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed Italy's for the highest in the world Saturday, surpassing 20,000, as Chicago and other cities across the Midwest braced for a potential surge in victims and moved to snuff out smoldering hot spots of contagion before they erupt. Chicago's Cook County has set up a temporary morgue that can take more than 2,000 bodies. In Europe, countries used roadblocks, drones, helicopters, mounted patrols and the threat of fines to keep people from traveling over Easter weekend.
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| Lives Lost: An Egyptian doctor, the 'backbone' of his family Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Dr. Ahmed el-Lawah liked to gather the whole family every week at his home in the Egyptian city of Port Said — his parents, his wife and children, all his siblings, their kids and their kids' kids. El-Lawah's youngest sister, Mai, was surprised. Within two weeks the 57-year-old was dead, leaving behind a stunned family and a mourning community.
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| Crime drops around the world as COVID-19 keeps people inside Posted: 10 Apr 2020 09:28 PM PDT  In Chicago, one of America's most violent cities, drug arrests have plummeted 42% in the weeks since the city shut down, compared with the same period last year. Part of that decrease, some criminal lawyers say, is that drug dealers have no choice but to wait out the economic slump. "The feedback I'm getting is that they aren't able to move, to sell anything anywhere," said Joseph Lopez, a criminal lawyer in Chicago who represents reputed drug dealers.
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| UN envoy gives Yemen's warring parties new peace proposals Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:46 PM PDT  The U.N. special envoy for Yemen gave the warring parties in the Arab world's poorest country revised proposals on Friday for a nationwide cease-fire and the urgent resumption of peace talks. Martin Griffiths urged the internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite rebels to accept the proposed agreements "without delay" and to start negotiations "to comprehensively end the war." A two-week cease-fire proposed by the Saudi-led coalition in response to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' appeal for a halt to hostilities in all global conflicts went into effect Thursday, potentially paving the way for peace talks to end the more than 5-year-old conflict.
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| How the spread of coronavirus is testing Africa Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:55 PM PDT  A surge in cases of Covid-19 will push the continent's health infrastructure to the limit.
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| Every 15 seconds: Outbreak overwhelms NYC's emergency system Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:20 PM PDT  The coronavirus crisis is taxing New York City's 911 system like never before. There are multitudes of cardiac arrests and respiratory failures and others who call needing reassurance that a mere sneeze isn't a sign they've been infected. The system is so overwhelmed, the city has started sending text and tweet alerts urging people to only call 911 "for life-threatening emergencies."
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