Scientists perplexed by low rate of coronavirus hospitalizations among smokers

No experts are remotely advocating for people to take up smoking to prevent COVID-19, but some researchers have theorized nicotine may be playing some role in keeping the virus at bay, Vice reports. That's because there's a surprisingly low rate of smokers among coronavirus hospitalizations.

In France, for example, 25 percent of the population smokes, but only 5.3 percent of coronavirus patients have been recorded as smokers, and studies have found low rates in China and New York City, as well.

Greek cardiologist and tobacco harm-reduction specialist Konstantinos Farsalinos thinks nicotine (crucially, not tobacco) might be lessening the intensity of cytokine storms, an overreaction of the body's immune system which seems to be the cause of the most severe coronavirus symptoms. French researchers have a slightly altered theory that nicotine prevents the virus from entering cells (the difference lies in the type of receptors the virus latches onto), and they're hoping to test out nicotine patches on patients to see if they help fight off COVID-19. The French government suspended the online sale of patches to make sure people don't buy in bulk and try to treat themselves that way.

The seemingly out-there theory has piqued the interest of scientists across the world, though many are urging caution. The lower rates could be a result of some other chemical in tobacco producing a protective effect, or it could be that the number of smokers is being underreported.

"Smokers who have developed chronic disease have likely quit because of their disease," Michael Siegel, a community health sciences professor at Boston University, said. "Many of the smokers who are continuing to smoke are doing so because they don't have disease yet. So this would be expected to skew the sample of hospitalized patients toward people who do not smoke."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-perplexed-low-rate-coronavirus-170200046.html

Newsom chides California beachgoers: 'We can't see images like we saw'

Source: politico

OAKLAND — Gov. Gavin Newsom chided Californians who flocked to beaches over the weekend, saying they could delay an otherwise imminent start to reopening the economy.

“We can’t see images like we saw, particularly on Saturday, in Newport Beach and elsewhere,” Newsom told reporters, adding that coronavirus “doesn't go home because it's a beautiful sunny day around our coasts.” Flattening rates of infection and death have California poised to begin lifting restrictions on social activity and economic life. Newsom said Monday that the state is “weeks, not months" away from relief in the form of “meaningful modifications” to the state’s stay-at-home order. But he warned that backsliding on social distancing could undermine that goal.

“The only thing that will set us back is our behavior,” Newsom said, adding that “the only thing that can stop that is more images like we saw this weekend.”

The governor noted that officials in coastal Orange County were looking at “augmentations” to limits on beach use and he suggested the California Highway Patrol could “avail ourselves to more aggressive enforcement.”



Read more: https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/04/27/newsom-chides-california-beachgoers-we-cant-see-images-like-we-saw-1280419

Australia rejects Chinese 'economic coercion' threat amid planned coronavirus probe

Source: reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has cautioned China against attempts at “economic coercion” as Australia pushes for an investigation into the coronavirus pandemic that China opposes. Chinese ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, said in a newspaper interview on Monday the “Chinese public” could avoid Australian products and universities. Australia last week called for all members of the World Health Organization (WHO) to support an independent review into the origins and spread of the coronavirus, and is lobbying world leaders. China’s foreign ministry has attacked the proposal.

“Maybe the ordinary people will say ‘Why should we drink Australian wine? Eat Australian beef?” Cheng said in the interview published on the front page of The Australian Financial Review. Cheng said it was possible that tourists may have “second thoughts” about visiting Australia.

“The parents of the students would also think ... whether this is the best place to send their kids,” he added. After energy exports, education and tourism are Australia’s biggest export industries, with China the largest market. Payne said in a statement on Monday that Australia had made a “principled call” for an independent review of the COVID-19 outbreak which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

“We reject any suggestion that economic coercion is an appropriate response to a call for such an assessment, when what we need is global cooperation,” Payne said. China is the largest export market for Australian wine and beef. During strained diplomatic relations with China in 2018, Australian wine faced import delays in China and some Australian beef exports were also previously suspended for a period.













Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-australia-china/australia-rejects-chinese-economic-coercion-threat-amid-planned-coronavirus-probe-idUSKCN2290Z6

Next wave of U.S. states set to reopen as coronavirus could push jobless rate to 16%

Source: reuters

NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Another wave of states prepared to ease coronavirus restrictions on U.S. commerce this week, despite health experts warning there is still too little diagnostic testing, while the White House forecast a staggering jump in the nation’s monthly jobless rate.

Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee were set to join several other states in reopening businesses without the means to screen systematically for infected people who may be contagious but asymptomatic, and to trace their contacts with others they might have exposed. Many merchants have voiced ambivalence about returning to work absent the prerequisite public health measures authorities have advocated.

“I would stay home if the government encouraged that, but they’re not. They’re saying, ‘Hey, the best thing to do is go back to work, even though it might be risky,’” Royal Rose, 39, owner of a tattoo studio in Greeley, Colorado, told Reuters. Rose said she was reopening her shop after closing a month ago, not because she wants to but because bills are piling up and she feels she has no choice.

Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska and South Carolina have already forged ahead to restart their economies following weeks of mandatory lockdowns that have thrown nearly one in six American workers out of their jobs. Public health authorities say increasing human interactions and economic activity now - without the means to do so safely - will only backfire, sparking a new surge of infections just as social-distancing measures appear to be bringing coronavirus outbreaks under control.



Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/next-wave-of-us-states-set-to-reopen-as-coronavirus-could-push-jobless-rate-to-16-idUSKCN2280L0

Thousands of Californians flock to open beaches despite Gov. Newsom's pleas for them to stay home

Thousands of Californians flocked to open beaches during a heatwave Friday despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pleas for them to stay home.

The nation’s most populous state recorded its deadliest day yet in the pandemic, with 115 fatalities in the 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday. As of Thursday there were more than 40,000 confirmed cases in the state; the death toll stands at 1,597.

But Californians locked down for weeks during the coronavirus pandemic came back to local beaches as the weather warmed, prompting Gov. Newsom on Friday to plead for social distancing during the continued heat wave expected this weekend.

Newsom tweeted Friday: ‘It’s going to be nice outside this weekend. You might be feeling cooped up. Ready for life to go back to “normal.” But can’t stress this enough: CA can only keep flattening the curve if we stay home and practice physical distancing. You have the power to literally save lives.’

California has been under a mandatory stay-at-home order since March 19.

Pictures taken in Huntington Beach, an Orange County city, on Friday show crowds gathering to enjoy as the state roasted in a spring heat wave. Dozens of locations reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher well before noon, the National Weather Service said, and officials are bracing for even larger crowds this weekend.

https://www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com/health-news/thousands-of-californians-flock-to-open-beaches-despite-gov-newsoms-pleas-for-them-to-stay-home/

California needs 'an army of volunteers' for its coronavirus response, Newsom says

SACRAMENTO — Urging Californians to answer the immediate needs of the coronavirus pandemic and create a lasting commitment to community volunteerism, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday unveiled a new statewide program designed to enlist more of the state’s residents to offer both in-person and remote help for those in need.
“We’ve launched this initiative in order to launch an army of volunteers to express themselves, day in and day out, as only Californians can,” Newsom said. “Not only to meet this moment, but to prepare to meet subsequent moments.”

The “Californians for All” effort focuses on a new web-based application for those willing to volunteer in a variety of ways. Josh Fryday, the state’s chief service officer, said the program is designed to provide a variety of options for those who want to get involved. Not all volunteerism has to be done in person, he said. Those concerned about their health and safety can offer to help from home.

“We want you to sign up and tell us, when you sign up: What interests you? What issues do you want to work on in your community? Where would you like to make a difference?” Fryday said. In the weeks since the public health crisis began, state officials have highlighted the particular challenges for at-risk Californians. Some seniors, especially those with underlying health problems, have suffered as long-standing services such as meal deliveries have been curtailed. Others, confined to their homes for the first time, have few or no family members to check on their well-being.

“We need you. And we need each other,” Fryday said.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-21/california-volunteers-coronavirus-reponse-gavin-newsom

Email addresses and passwords allegedly from NIH, WHO and Gates Foundation, are dumped online

Anonymous activists have posted nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly belonging to the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and other groups working to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online extremism and terrorist groups.

While SITE was unable to verify whether the email addresses and passwords were authentic, the group said the information was released on Sunday and Monday and almost immediately used to foment attempts at hacking and harassment by far-right extremists. An Australian cybersecurity expert, Robert Potter, said he was able to verify that the WHO email addresses and passwords were real.

The lists, whose origins are unclear, first appear to have been posted to 4chan, a message board notorious for its hateful and extreme political commentary, and later to Pastebin, a text storage site, Twitter and to far-right extremist channels on Telegram, a messaging app.

“Neo-Nazis and white supremacists capitalized on the lists and published them aggressively across their venues,” said Rita Katz, SITE’s executive director. “Using the data, far-right extremists were calling for a harassment campaign while sharing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic. The distribution of these alleged email credentials were just another part of a months-long initiative across the far right to weaponize the covid-19 pandemic.”

The report by SITE, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said the largest group of alleged emails and passwords was from the NIH, with 9,938 found on lists posted online. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had the second-highest number, with 6,857. The World Bank had 5,120. The list of WHO addresses and passwords totaled 2,732.

Smaller numbers of entries were listed for the Gates Foundation, a private philanthropic group whose co-founder, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, last week announced $150 million in new funding to combat the pandemic. Also targeted was the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese research center in the city where the pandemic began that has been accused of a role in triggering the outbreak.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/email-addresses-and-passwords-allegedly-from-nih-who-and-gates-foundation-are-dumped-online/

BREAKING: Trump temporarily suspends immigration into the US

US source: North Korean leader in grave danger after surgery

Source: cnn

(CNN)The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge.

Kim recently missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15, which raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting.

CNN has reached out to the CIA, National Security Counsel and the State Department for comment. CNN has also sought comment from the South Koreans.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/politics/kim-jong-un-north-korea/index.html

Police: At least 10 killed in shooting rampage in Canada

Source: abc12

ENFIELD, Nova Scotia (AP) — Canadian police said at least 10 people were killed after a 51-year-old man went on a shooting rampage across the northern part of the province of Nova Scotia. The man was identified as Gabriel Wortman. He was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in a gas station in Enfield, Nova Scotia, northwest of downtown Halifax. Police later announced that he had died.

“In excess of 10 people have been killed,” RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said. "We believe it to be one person who is responsible for all the killings and that he alone moved across the northern part of the province and committed what appears to be several homicides.” Brian Sauvé, President of National Police Federation union, said a police officer was among those killed in a shooting and another was injured.

Police have not provided a motive for the attack. By late morning, there were half a dozen police vehicles at the scene. Yellow police tape surrounded the gas pumps, and a large silver-colored SUV was being investigated by police. The incident started in the small, rural town of Portapique, with police advising residents to lock their homes and stay in their basements. Several building fires were reported by residents as well, but police didn’t immediately confirm details.


Read more: https://www.abc12.com/content/news/Shooter-in-custody-Canadian-police-say-multiple-victims-569770961.html