Year: 2020

The World Health Organization's (WHO’s) Europe office said it has begun discussions with Russia regarding the COVID-19 vaccine that the nation approved last week without the advanced trials normally required to prove a vaccine works.In a virtual news conference from the organization’s Copenhagen office, the WHO Europe’s senior emergency official Catherine Smallwood said there have been several direct discussions between Russia’s teams and the WHO’s pre-qualification colleagues, primarily on how the organization is going to assess the potential vaccine.The WHO Europe's regional director, Hans Kluge, said that while any potential vaccine is good news, all must go through the same vigorous assessments. Smallwood added "This concern that we have around safety and efficacy is not specifically for the Russia vaccine, it's for all of the vaccines under development."  Smallwood acknowledged…

While medical school students gain key healing skills as their education progresses, one important quality seems to wane: empathy.According to a study from FILE - Medical students hug during a demonstration, June 5, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah.DOs are fully licensed physicians who practice in all areas of medicine, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM),  and empathy is an important part of their program.“Emphasizing a whole-person approach to treatment and care, DOs are trained to listen and partner with their patients to help them get healthy and stay well,” according to the American Osteopathic Association.  In the study, women score higher in empathy than male students, African American students score higher than white students, and Asian Americans score the lowest. But everyone shows a…

Firefighters in Brazil say strong winds and hot dry weather are making it difficult to battle thousands of blazes burning in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said it spotted more than 3,100 fires in the first two weeks of August — five times as many as the same period last year. “We saw hundreds of fires along the journey throughout the day,” Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said Tuesday. “Places where the planes and firemen have fought the fires directly without stopping, but still the fires are causing great damage to fauna, flora and to the Pantanal region.”  The Pantanal is 10 times the size of Florida’s Everglades. The World Wildlife Fund says it is home to more than 4,700 plant and animal species,…

Police on Mauritius have arrested the captain of the Japanese carrier that ran aground off the coast last month, spilling 1,000 metric tonnes of oil and causing possible irreparable damage to coral reefs.Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, the Indian captain of the MV Wakashio, was charged Tuesday with “endangering safe navigation.” He faces a bail hearing next week.The ship’s first officer was also arrested, and investigators say they are interviewing all crew members.The investigation will center on why the Wakashio went off course. It was supposed to stay at least 16 kilometers from the shore but was about two kilometers away when it ran aground on a coral reef.“The route set five days before the crash was wrong and the boat navigation system should have signaled that to the crew, and it…

Scientists in Kenya have harvested 10 eggs from the last two remaining northern white rhinos in the race to keep the species from total extinction.The two females – Najin and Fatuwill who are mother and daughter – live at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Because neither one would be able to carry a pregnancy to full term, the scientists hope to create viable embryos and implant them into southern white rhinos. Czech and German experts are leading the effort.“If you want to start a population of the northern white rhino, one baby is not enough, you need as many babies as possible,” Jan Stejskal of the Czech Republic's Dvůr Králové Zoo says.Eggs harvested from Najin and Fatuwill last year resulted in three viable embryos that are now frozen.Conservationists are waiting for the onset…

The World Meteorological Organization says temperatures of 54.4 degrees (Celsius) reported Sunday at Furnace Creek, Death Valley in the U.S. state of California, may be the third hottest on Earth.The U.N. weather agency is assembling an international team of atmospheric scientists to verify the temperatures reported in Death Valley are legitimate. The WMO says that is a very complicated procedure and is likely to take several months to complete.   If validated, however, World Meteorological scientists say it would qualify as the third highest temperature ever recorded on the planet. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 56.7 degrees (Celsius) in Death Valley on July 10, 1913. The second hottest was set in July 1931 in Kebili, Tunisia, at 55 degrees (Celsius).   The scorching conditions come as sweltering heat grips…

One of the hottest air temperatures recorded anywhere on the planet in at least a century, and possibly ever, was reached on Sunday afternoon at Death Valley in California's Mojave Desert where it soared to 130 Fahrenheit (54.4 Celsius). An automated observation system run by the U.S. National Weather Service in the valley's sparsely populated Furnace Creek reported the record at 3:41 p.m. at the crest of an extreme heat wave, a more frequent occurrence because of climate change. It was a dry heat: Humidity fell to 7%. But it felt "insanely hot" all the same, according to meteorologist Daniel Berc at the weather service's Las Vegas bureau. A heat wave roasting much of the Western United States would continue all week, he said on Monday. "It's literally like being…

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general Tuesday issued another warning against “vaccine nationalism,” -- countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to secure supplies of a possible vaccine.  At the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "Nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of the global supply chain," noting shortages of protective gear when the pandemic first hit caused by some nations hoarding resources.The WHO chief said that countries needed to work together to "prevent vaccine nationalism," so in the event a vaccine or vaccines are developed, those at the highest risk will have equal access.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a session of the WHO Executive Board held virtually by video-conference, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, May 22, 2020,…

A U.S. based vaccine development company is set to begin the second phase of human testing for its COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa, which is in the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases.  Novavax said in a statement that the clinical trials will include 2,665 healthy adults in South Africa. The trials will also compare the vaccine's effect on 240 medically stable adults with HIV whose immune responses may differ from individuals without HIV. Preliminary findings from the first trial showed people receiving the two doses generated neutralizing antibodies, which can prevent the virus from entering cells, after receiving a second dose of the vaccine.  Along with evaluating the immune response in the phase 2b trial in South Africa, Novavax will also organize a phase 2 trial in the United States and Australia in the near future. In Novavax's statement, Dr. Gregory Glenn, president of research…

South Africa, with the continent’s highest burden of COVID-19, has reached the peak of the pandemic, according to the president and top health officials.  President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a loosening of restrictions but said that he is not yet breathing a sigh of relief. A ray of hope for the Rainbow Nation, as the president announced that South Africa, with the continent’s heaviest known burden of the coronavirus, has passed its viral peak since reporting its first cases in early March.President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking late Saturday, said that over the past three weeks, the number of new confirmed cases has dropped from an daily average of about 12,000 to around 5,000 per day.FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visits the COVID-19 treatment facilities at the NASREC Expo Centre in Johannesburg,…

NASA scientists say a small but significant “dent” in Earth’s magnetic field is expanding and splitting and continuing to weaken intensity, which could impact low-orbit satellites circling the globe.According to scientists, Earth’s magnetic field acts like a protective shield, blocking and trapping charged particles — or radiation — from the sun that could otherwise cause harm but are more likely to affect electronic equipment, like satellites.But the “dent,” or weak spot, in the magnetic field over South America, known to scientists as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), allows radiation to penetrate Earth’s surface. The scientists have observed no ill effects to daily life on the planet. But they have observed the anomaly is moving westward and appears to be splitting.Scientists say Earth is a bit like a bar magnet with north and…

Work began Monday to remove the two pieces of a grounded Japanese ship that leaked tons of oil into the protected coast of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius and broke apart. Tug boats will pull the bow — the smaller part of the shipwrecked MV Wakashio — out to sea and allow it to sink, according to environmental experts on the island. The larger part of the ship will be dragged off the coral reef where it ran aground and towed away, possibly to India for salvage. "When the ship split in two, there was further leakage of oil, but it appears most of that fuel was on the other side of the coral reef and was in the high seas," Sunil Dowarkasing, an environmental consultant and former…

A U.S. disease expert says COVID-19 survivors may expect to be immune from another case for as long as one year. Former Food and Drug Administration official Dr. Scott Gottleib appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday to talk about new findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that say a three-month immunity is a certainty.  “But it's probably the case that you're going to have a period of immunity that lasts anywhere from six to 12 months. It's going to be highly variable. Some people will have less immunity, some people will have slightly more. But it's good news that they're able to document that people have really sterile immunity. They're not going to get reinfected for at least three months and probably longer than that after infection.” But Gottlieb cautioned that the COVID-19 is called the novel (new) coronavirus for a reason – there is still much that doctors don’t know about it. With the U.S. closing in on…

As the novel coronavirus began to spread through Minneapolis this spring, Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant tore up her budget to find funds to combat the crisis. Money for test kits. Money to administer tests. Money to hire contact tracers. And yet even more money for a service that helps tracers communicate with residents in dozens of languages. While Musicant diverted workers from violence prevention and other core programs to the COVID-19 response, state officials debated how to distribute $1.87 billion Minnesota received in federal aid. As she waited, the Minnesota Zoo got $6 million in federal money to continue operations, and a debt collection company outside Minneapolis received at least $5 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to federal data. It was not until Aug. 5 — months…

Geoff Woolf gave his sons a love for literature. When he got sick with COVID-19, they turned to books to help him — and others.   The 73-year-old retired lawyer was hospitalized in London in March, and within days he was on a ventilator in intensive care. Unable to visit, his family could only watch from afar with frustration and dismay.   Then sons Nicky, a 33-year-old journalist, and Sam, a 28-year-old actor, had an idea: Maybe literature could help him and other patients.   “He always said if he was in hospital for a long time, he would be able to deal if he had a book,” Sam said.   The brothers loaded an e-reader with Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” — “his comfort read,” according to Sam —…

A U.S. disease expert says COVID-19 survivors may expect to be immune from another case for as long as one year. Former Food and Drug Administration official Dr. Scott Gottleib appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday to talk about new findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that say a three-month immunity is a certainty.  “But it's probably the case that you're going to have a period of immunity that lasts anywhere from six to 12 months. It's going to be highly variable. Some people will have less immunity, some people will have slightly more. But it's good news that they're able to document that people have really sterile immunity. They're not going to get reinfected for at least three months and probably longer than that after infection.” But Gottlieb cautioned that the COVID-19 is called the novel (new) coronavirus for a reason – there is still much that doctors don’t know about it. With the U.S. closing in on…

A U.S. disease expert says COVID-19 survivors may expect to be immune from another case for as long as one year. Former Food and Drug Administration official Dr. Scott Gottleib appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday to talk about new findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that say a three-month immunity is a certainty.  “But it's probably the case that you're going to have a period of immunity that lasts anywhere from six to 12 months. It's going to be highly variable. Some people will have less immunity, some people will have slightly more. But it's good news that they're able to document that people have really sterile immunity. They're not going to get reinfected for at least three months and probably longer than that after infection.” But Gottlieb cautioned that the COVID-19 is called the novel (new) coronavirus for a reason – there is still much that doctors don’t know about it. With the U.S. closing in on…

Canada announced Friday that the border it shares with the U.S. will remain closed to nonessential travel for another month as the U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID-19 deaths and coronavirus infections.Many Canadians remain concerned about reopening the border after Canada successfully flattened its epidemic curve.Canada has more than 123,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 9,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In contrast, the U.S. has more than 5.3 million cases, one-fourth of all the cases worldwide, and more than 168,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.FILE - People eat in the food court at the Eaton Centre shopping center after indoor dining restaurants, gyms and cinemas re-open under Phase 3 rules from coronavirus disease restrictions in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 31, 2020.Canada, which first…

Canada announced Friday that the border it shares with the U.S. will remain closed to non-essential travel for another month as the U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID-19 deaths and coronavirus infections.Many Canadians remain concerned about reopening the border after Canada successfully flattened its epidemic curve.Canada has more than 123,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 9,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In contrast, the U.S. has more than 5.2 million cases, one-fourth of all the cases worldwide, and more than 167,000 deaths, according to Hopkins.Canada, which first announced the border restrictions in March, made the announcement one day after Mexico announced similar restrictions for its border with the U.S.A man smokes on a terrace bar in Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 14, 2020. Spanish Health Minister Salvador…

There are more than 20 million COVID-19 cases around the world and with more than 759,000 deaths, the global community will likely soon reach the one million death tally. "Every single American should be wearing a mask when they're outside for the next three months, at a minimum," presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Thursday, marking at least one difference in how he would handle the coronavirus pandemic versus Donald Trump.   "Every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing,” he said.   “The estimates by the experts are it will save over 40,000 lives."   Trump, who has rarely been seen wearing a mask as the virus roars through the country, has refused to insist that governors issue a mask-wearing mandate. A glitch in California’s COVID-19 reporting system undercounted the state’s cases by as many as 300,000 cases, state officials say. According to a New York Times database Friday, California is the first U.S.…

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing a growing Ebola outbreak in its northwest Equateur province in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. At his COVID-19 news briefing in Geneva on Thursday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak is a “worrying” development, with 86 cases confirmed in the province.  He said the DRC government faces significant logistical challenges in trying to rapidly investigate and respond to the outbreak because the cases are spread over a vast area, sometimes separated by more than 250 kilometers, and many areas are accessible only by helicopter or boat. Tedros said the WHO has about 100 staff in the DRC and is working with the Ministry of Health, nongovernmental agencies, and people in communities to address the…

This week the Trump administration announced $122 million in new programs and partnerships under the National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien speaks during a Women's Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) online event, at the State Department, in Washington, Aug. 11, 2020.“This is the type of bold action to expand the efforts of the federal government, the private sector and other partners that restrict women's ability to participate in the local economies that has been the American model for success,” Trump said.     The initiative comes in the face of fresh challenges as COVID-19 exacerbates existing gender inequalities around the world. Reports from numerous countries have shown that women are disproportionately and uniquely impacted by the coronavirus across every sphere, from health and the economy to security and social protection.   According to U.N. data,…

A senior World Health Organization official is calling for the equitable distribution of a future COVID-19 vaccine in Africa, warning that the virus will continue to spread if some countries are left behind. WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti sees worrying signs that nations in Africa may be among those last in the queue of low-income countries to receive a vaccine against COVID-19.  She notes some high-income countries that are financing the production or research of vaccines are reserving supplies for themselves.While it is understandable that governments would want to protect their own people, she tells VOA she hopes they are considering the needs of other countries as well. “We are continuing to analyze how this would work,” said Moeti. "We are continuing to advocate very strongly for this equity principle to…