Apr172020 by DmediaNo Comments

Virtual Pharmacies Aim to Ease South Africa’s HIV Burden, COVID-19 Threat

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South Africa's 21-day coronavirus lockdown presents an unusual challenge for a nation with the world's highest burden of HIV.  In order to remain healthy, those on antiretrovirals need to venture out of their homes for their lifesaving medication -- a move that puts them at greater risk of contracting the highly infectious coronavirus.Therefore, some health care advocates are seeking broader use of an existing workaround in the form of automatic pharmaceutical dispensaries, much like ATMs, where patients can get their pills without making human contact.   Already, South African hospitals are busy preparing for a coming storm of coronavirus cases, which officials expect to peak in September.     But as they stare down this pandemic, they’re also dealing with at least 7.7 million HIV patients, already supported by one…


Apr172020 by DmediaNo Comments

2 NASA Astronauts, Russian Cosmonaut Return to Earth From ISS

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Two U.S. space agency NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut landed Friday in Kazakhstan after months on board the International Space Station.   NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Russian space agency Roscosmos Cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka undocked from the ISS in the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft early Friday.   Just over three hours later, the trio parachuted to Earth in the steppe of Kazakhstan, outside the remote town of Dzhezkazgan. Following post-landing checks, the three were taken by helicopter to the Russian-owned spaceport in Baikonur.   Morgan's 272-day mission began on July 20, 2019, while Meir and Skripochka left Earth Sept. 25 last year.   ...


Apr172020 by TechmanNo Comments

FBI Official Says Foreign Hackers Targeting COVID-19 Research

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A senior cybersecurity official with the FBI said on Thursday that foreign government hackers have broken into companies conducting research into treatments for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.FBI Deputy Assistant Director Tonya Ugoretz told participants in an online panel discussion hosted by the Aspen Institute that the bureau had recently seen state-backed hackers poking around a series of health care and research institutions."We certainly have seen reconnaissance activity, and some intrusions, into some of those institutions, especially those that have publicly identified themselves as working on COVID-related research," she said.Ugoretz said it made sense for institutions working on promising treatments or a potential vaccine to tout their work publicly. However, she said, "The sad flipside is that it kind of makes them a mark for other nation-states…


Apr172020 by DmediaNo Comments

EPA Gutting Rule Credited With Coal-Plant Toxic Air Cleanup

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The Trump administration is gutting an Obama-era rule that compelled coal plants to cut back emissions of mercury and other human health hazards, limiting future regulation of air pollutants by petroleum and coal plants. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist whose clients have gotten many of the regulatory rollbacks they asked for from the Trump administration, was set to announce the final version of the weakened rule later Thursday.  Environmental and public health groups and Democratic lawmakers faulted the administration for pressing forward with rollbacks — in the final six months of President Donald Trump's current term — while the coronavirus pandemic rivets the world's attention. FILE - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler speaks at a news conference in Washington, Sept. 12, 2019.With rollbacks on air pollution…


Apr162020 by DmediaNo Comments

Study: Warming Makes US West Megadrought Worst in Modern Age

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A two-decade-long dry spell that has parched much of the western United States is turning into one of the deepest megadroughts in the region in more than 1,200 years, a new study found. And about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming, according to a study in Thursday's journal Science.  Scientists looked at a nine-state area from Oregon and Wyoming down through California and New Mexico, plus a sliver of southwestern Montana and parts of northern Mexico. They used thousands of tree rings to compare a drought that started in 2000 and is still going — despite a wet 2019 — to four past megadroughts since the year 800.  With soil moisture as the key measurement, they found only one other drought that was as big…


Apr162020 by DmediaNo Comments

Coronavirus Could Erode Global Fight Against Other Diseases

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Lavina D'Souza hasn't been able to collect her government-supplied anti-HIV medication since the abrupt lockdown of India's 1.3 billion people last month during the coronavirus outbreak. Marooned in a small city away from her home in Mumbai, the medicine she needs to manage her disease has run out. The 43-year-old is afraid that her immune system will crash: "Any disease, the coronavirus or something else, I'll fall sick faster." D'Souza said others also must be "suffering because of the coronavirus without getting infected by it." As the world focuses on the pandemic, experts fear losing ground in the long fight against other infectious diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and cholera that kill millions every year. Also at risk are decadeslong efforts that allowed the World Health Organization to set target dates…


Apr162020 by DmediaNo Comments

US Group: Holding Trafficking Victims to Testify Makes Lives Worse

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Arresting survivors of human trafficking for their testimony in criminal prosecutions creates trauma and trouble returning to society, research by a leading U.S. trafficking group showed on Thursday, calling for an end to the practice.Survivors detained as material witnesses to help prosecute their traffickers can lose custody of their children, jobs and services they need for recovery, said the Human Trafficking Legal Center (HTLC), a legal group for trafficking survivors. By law, witnesses who may not want to cooperate can be detained if they have testimony needed to prosecute a criminal case.The number of trafficking survivors held under material witness warrants is uncertain, as such warrants are typically used in secrecy, the HTLC said.The U.S. Department of Justice initiated more than 200 human trafficking prosecutions and convicted more than 500…


Apr162020 by DmediaNo Comments

Jimmy Carter, Bill Gates React to US Cutting Funds to WHO

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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.S. billionaire Bill Gates have joined the chorus of those expressing concern about U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend U.S. funding for the World Health Organization.Carter, a Democrat, issued a statement Wednesday saying the United Nations agency “is the only international organization capable of leading the effort to control this virus.” He said he was “distressed” by the decision to withhold critically needed U.S. funding during an international epidemic.Gates, who is a major funder of the WHO, said the decision was "as dangerous as it sounds."A man wears a mask to protect himself against the spread of the new coronavirus as he donates food for poor families in Turano favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 15, 2020.The United Nations and many leaders have…


Apr152020 by TechmanNo Comments

NASA Scientists Operate Mars Rover From Home 

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Like so many other workers around the world affected by a COVID-19 lockdown, the team of scientists that operates the U.S. space agency (NASA) probe Curiosity — currently on the surface of Mars — has been forced to do its work from home. Since March 20, the team, normally based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California, has been forced to direct the rover while working separately from their homes. Programming each sequence of actions for the rover may involve 20 or so people developing and testing commands in one place while chatting with dozens of others located elsewhere. In anticipation of what they would need to make that happen from home, the team assembled headsets, monitors and other equipment in advanced.  Some adaptations were needed as well. Rover operators rely on special three-dimensional…


Apr152020 by DmediaNo Comments

US Ambassador: China Not Blocking Medical Supply Exports

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The U.S. ambassador to China said Wednesday that he doesn't believe Beijing is deliberately blocking exports of masks and other medical supplies to fight the coronavirus, and that the shipment of 1,200 tons of such products to the U.S. could not have been possible without Chinese support.   Ambassador Terry Branstad also said the U.S. has concerns about how China initially handled the virus outbreak in the central city of Wuhan, but that such issues should be addressed after the pandemic has been brought under control.   "Let's focus now on saving lives and helping people," Branstad told a small group of reporters.   Chinese officials are believed to have delayed reporting the outbreak for several crucial days in January due to political concerns, allowing the virus to spread further.…


Apr152020 by DmediaNo Comments

Asia Today: Japan Sees More COVID Patients And Dire Projection

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About 850,000 people could be seriously sickened by the coronavirus in Japan and almost half of them could die if no social distancing or other measures are followed, according to a government-commissioned estimate released Wednesday. Japan has the world's oldest population, and the virus can be especially dangerous for the elderly. And there are concerns that Japan's government has done too little to stave off high numbers of badly ill patients.   Japan's current state of emergency is voluntary and doesn't compensate workers for lost earnings. Japanese companies also have been slow to introduce remote work, and people have continued to use public transit to commute to large offices in the densely populated capital region. Already, patients are being moved to non-specialist hospitals and even hotels as infections surge in…


Apr152020 by TechmanNo Comments

Robots to the Rescue in COVID-19

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When COVID-19 hit Washington, D.C., and health officials said people had to stay 2 meters apart, Broad Branch Market owner Tracy Stannard knew it meant an end to business as usual.Customers had been packing the store to stock up."We realized that it was getting a little too risky to have so many people in the market," Stannard said. "We wanted to keep people outside."But she also wanted to keep selling groceries.So she turned to Starship Technologies' delivery robots."The bots seemed like a great option," she said.At a time when human contact is considered a health hazard, robots may be more useful than ever. Though their potential is huge, robots are not quite ready to take on the role, experts said.WATCH: Delivery robotsSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of…


Apr152020 by DmediaNo Comments

Poll: Virus Spurs ASEAN Consensus Against Animal Trafficking

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More than nine out of 10 people in Southeast Asia want the state to end wildlife trafficking, according to a new poll from the World Wildlife Fund that shows unprecedented consensus after COVID-19 spread from animals to humans.    WWF International said that 93% of people polled in the region would like “action by their governments to eliminate illegal and unregulated wildlife markets,” which the organization said is the second biggest threat to global biodiversity, after habitat destruction.    Although COVID-19 is believed to have broken out at a meat market in China, nations in Southeast Asia often act as transit hubs to get trafficked wildlife into China. Governments in the region have started to introduce more new laws to crack down on the illegal trade as a result.   …


Apr142020 by DmediaNo Comments

Fauci: ‘We’re Not There Yet’ on Key Steps to Reopen Economy

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday the U.S. does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation's economy, adding a dose of caution to increasingly optimistic projections from the White House.   "We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we're not there yet," Fauci said in an interview with The Associated Press.   Fauci's comments come as President Donald Trump and others in the administration weigh how quickly businesses can reopen and Americans can get back to work weeks after the fast-spreading coronavirus essentially halted the U.S. economy. Trump has floated the possibility of reopening some areas by May 1 and said he could announce recommendations as soon…


Apr142020 by DmediaNo Comments

Scientists Enthralled by Biggest Star Explosion Ever Observed

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Scientists have observed the biggest supernova - stellar explosion - ever detected, the violent death of a huge star up to 100 times more massive than our sun in a faraway galaxy.The supernova, releasing twice as much energy as any other stellar explosion observed to date, occurred about 4.6 billion light years from Earth in a relatively small galaxy, scientists said. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).It might represent, they added, a type of supernova that until now has only been theorized.Astrophysicist Matt Nicholl of the University of Birmingham in England said two very massive stars - each about 50 times the sun's mass - may have merged to make one extremely massive star roughly 1,000 years before the…


Apr142020 by DmediaNo Comments

WHO Emergency Committee Meets on Ebola After New DRC Case

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The WHO said its emergency committee would meet Tuesday to discuss whether the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo still constitutes an international health emergency, after fresh cases were detected.   The meeting comes a day after DR Congo had been expected to announce that the outbreak in the east of the country that began in August 2018 was over.   The epidemic has killed 2,276 people to date. For it to be declared over, there have to be no new cases reported for 42 days -- double the incubation period.   But as the World Health Organization's emergency committee met last Friday to determine whether its declaration of a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern, or PHEIC, could be lifted, a new case was reported.…


Apr132020 by TechmanNo Comments

US Looks to Expand Use of Data in Fighting COVID-19

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U.S. lawmakers and rights groups are raising concerns about privacy protections and civil liberties as health authorities study China, South Korea and other nations for insights into deploying big data in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  So far, the United States has made limited use of available data to fight the outbreak. Instead of using cell phone location data to track down individuals exposed to the virus, public health officials have relied on such data to monitor trends and hot spots.  But once the number of new COVID-19 cases levels off and the Trump administration and governors move to lift lockdowns and other social distancing measures, the contact tracing techniques used with varying degrees of success in other countries are likely to gain currency in the U.S.      Contact tracing is a public health procedure of identifying people who have come into contact with an infected person and follow-up gathering of additional information on these people.   Jennifer…


Apr132020 by DmediaNo Comments

US Coronavirus Outbreak Could Peak This Week, CDC Director Says

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The coronavirus outbreak could reach its peak in the United States this week, a top U.S. health official said on Monday, pointing to signs of stabilization across the country.   The United States, with the world's third-largest population, has recorded more fatalities from COVID-19 than any other country, more than 22,000 as of Monday morning according to a Reuters tally.   About 2,000 deaths were reported for each of the last four days in a row, the largest number of them in and around New York City. Experts say official statistics have understated the actual number of people who have succumbed to the respiratory disease, having excluded coronavirus-related deaths at home.   Robert Redfield Jr. headshot, as US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, graphic element on gray"We are nearing…


Apr132020 by DmediaNo Comments

Nursing Home Deaths Soar Past 3,600 in Alarming Surge

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More than 3,600 deaths nationwide have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks, according to the latest count by The Associated Press. Because the federal government has not been releasing a count of its own, the AP has kept its own running tally based on media reports and state health departments. The latest count of at least 3,621 deaths is up from about 450 deaths just 10 days ago. But the true toll among the 1 million mostly frail and elderly people who live in such facilities is likely much higher, experts say, because most state counts don't include those who died without ever being tested for COVID-19. Outbreaks in just the past few weeks have…


Apr132020 by DmediaNo Comments

As Virus Deaths Rise, Sweden Sticks to ‘Low-Scale’ Lockdown

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Crowds swarm Stockholm's waterfront, with some people sipping cocktails in the sun. In much of the world, this sort of gathering would be frowned upon or even banned.Not in Sweden.It doesn't worry Anders Tegnell, the country's chief epidemiologist and top strategist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.The 63-year-old has become a household name in Sweden, appearing across the media and holding daily briefings outlining the progression of the outbreak with a precise, quiet demeanor.As countries across Europe have restricted the movement  of their citizens, Sweden stands out for what Tegnell calls a "low-scale" approach that "is much more sustainable" over a longer period.President Donald Trump has suggested that a rising number of COVID-19 deaths indicate Sweden is paying a heavy price for embracing the idea of herd immunity —…


Apr132020 by DmediaNo Comments

Japan’s Leader Slammed Over ‘Stay Home’ Shutdown Tweet

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Perhaps the best that can be said about a "stay home" Twitter posted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is that it's given bored copycats sitting at home waiting out the coronavirus ample inspiration. It certainly appears to have rubbed many people frustrated by Abe's handling of the crisis the wrong way. Abe, like U.S. President Donald Trump, has faced accusations his moves to counter the coronavirus were too little, too late. Until late March, Abe's administration was still insisting the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead as planned in July. It's now been postponed until July 2021.   Abe declared a month-long state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures deemed at highest risk of an explosion of coronavirus infections just last Tuesday. The government asked people in those…


Apr132020 by DmediaNo Comments

Fauci Comments on US Virus Response Seem to Draw Trump’s Ire

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Social restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus could have saved lives if they'd been started earlier, and when they're eased new cases are certain to arise, said the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, seeming to draw the ire of President Donald Trump. Trump, who has been chafing at criticism that he didn't do enough early on to fight the virus, reposted a tweet that referenced Fauci's comments and that said "Time to #FireFauci." The Republican president again pointed to his decision in late January to restrict travel from China, writing, "Sorry Fake News, it's all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up." Fauci said Sunday that the economy in parts of the country could have a "rolling reentry" as early as…


Apr122020 by DmediaNo Comments

Astronauts Returning to a Changed Earth Amid Pandemic

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Two U.S. astronauts say it’s hard to comprehend the changes on Earth that have occurred due to the coronavirus pandemic, as they prepare to return from the International Space Station.The astronauts, Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir, have been in space for more than half a year, having left Earth before anyone had ever heard of the coronavirus, let alone gotten sick or died.Morgan said Friday from the space station that the crew has been trying to keep up with developments about the virus, but said, “It's very hard to fathom” all that is going on.Morgan, who is an Army emergency physician, said he feels a little guilty returning to Earth when the crisis is already underway.Meir said, “We can tell you that the Earth still looks just as stunning as…


Apr112020 by DmediaNo Comments

50 Years Ago, Apollo 13 Moon Mission Became NASA’s ‘Successful Failure’

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By the time the towering Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 13 crew  left the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, thundering into the skies on April 11, 1970, traveling to the moon seemed about as interesting to the general public as commuting to work.It was, after all, America’s third mission aimed at landing on the desolate orb, a feat accomplished nine months before during the much-celebrated Apollo 11 mission.“After the landing there was a general letdown, not just by the general public, but I think by NASA itself,” Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell explained to VOA during a 2015 interview at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. “Enthusiasm for lunar flights had diminished greatly. ... By the time Apollo 13 came around, I think the only mention in The New York…