Sweden says its coronavirus approach has worked. The numbers suggest a different story

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/28/europe/sweden-coronavirus-lockdown-strategy-intl/index.html

Younger children have continued to go to school, although universities and schools for older students have switched to distance learning. Businesses -- from hair salons to restaurants -- have remained open, although people have been advised to work from home where possible.

On April 7, the government introduced a bill allowing it to act quickly and take decisions on temporary measures where needed. Care home visits were banned from April 1 and the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs asked people to refrain from non-essential travel, adding: "Keep your distance and take personal responsibility."

Among Nordic countries -- which share similar cultural, geographical and sociological attributes -- the contrast with Sweden is great. Finland declared a state of emergency, closed schools and banned gatherings of more than 10 people on March 16, restricted travel to and from its Uusimaa region on March 28 and closed restaurants, cafes and bars on April 1.

Jan Albert, a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at the Karolinska Institutet, told CNN: "It's clear that Sweden had more deaths [than many other European countries] up until now, and that's probably at least in part because we haven't had as strict a lockdown and not a lockdown enforced by law."

But he said he believed the majority of scientists in Sweden had been "relatively quiet" about the herd immunity plan because they thought it could work.

 

 

Asked whether the death toll would have been lower if Sweden had followed the same path as other European countries in introducing strict restrictions, Tegnell replied: "That's a very difficult question to answer at this stage. At least 50% of our death toll is within the elderly homes and we have a hard time understanding how a lockdown would stop the introduction of the disease into the elderly homes."

Whether Sweden's Covid-19 strategy has succeeded or failed may not be clear for months to come, but as countries across the globe count their dead and wonder whether they could have done more to halt the spread of the virus, the world will be watching.

Join - Jews come together to recite Psalms in memory of Israel's fallen

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/haredim-to-light-virtual-candle-for-soldiers-in-one-people-project-625987

In the framework of the project, participants can choose among the 24,000 soldiers who lost their life for Israel, learn about who they were and recite Psalms for them.

 

 Thousands of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Israelis are marking Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance Day) by lighting a virtual candle and reciting Psalms to honor the memory of fallen soldiers.

The project “One People – Loving and Remembering” features a special website where participants can sign up to read chapters of Psalms with the goal of completing the full book 24,000 times, as many as those who lost their lives fighting for Israel. In order to complete the task, everyone is invited to join (in order to join click here.)

Can COVID-19 cause heart inflammation in children?

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/279316

'Multi-system inflammatory state' noted in children who have coronavirus or may have suffered in the recent past, medical experts say.

 

The shuttered neighborhood next door: Touring one of Israel’s virus hotspots

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-shuttered-neighborhood-next-door-touring-one-of-israels-virus-hotspots/

As life returns to something like normal for many Beit Shemesh residents like me, some of the town’s Hasidic residents find themselves under a government lockdown

 

Bnei Brak mayor thanks soldiers for their help during virus lockdown

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bnei-brak-mayor-thanks-soldiers-for-their-help-during-virus-lockdown/

“This is the place to express on our behalf, and on behalf of all the residents of our city, thanks, appreciation and esteem for the hundreds of IDF soldiers and their commanders from diverse and excellent units, for the high quality and welcome actions for the welfare of 210,000 residents during the difficult days of the coronavirus epidemic,” said Rubinstein, who initially opposed the quarantine restrictions.

 

Fact check: Trump repeats false claims and Pence misleads on previous testing comments

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/27/politics/fact-check-trump-coronavirus-briefing-april-27/index.html

 President Donald Trump's Monday coronavirus news conference in the White House Rose Garden was shorter than usual and at least somewhat less acrimonious than many of the briefings he's held over the past month.

But Trump still made false and misleading claims, most of them repeats from past briefings. And Vice President Mike Pence accused a reporter of a misunderstanding about testing that Pence's own words had created weeks earlier.

Here are some fact checks from the briefing:

 

Trump returns to the stage with underwhelming testing promises

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/28/politics/donald-trump-testing-coronavirus-news-conference/index.html

Trump still thinks the best way to navigate out of the worst domestic crisis since World War II for which his administration has been exposed as unprepared and behind the curve is more Trump. But his routines of misrepresentation and overly optimistic assessments of the fight against the virus are doing little to build a convincing impression the President can find an exit strategy, or even is capable of keeping the nation heading in the same direction while one -- probably based on an elusive Covid-19 vaccine that is months away -- is found.

The President Walks Back Disinfectant Suggestion | Morning Joe | MSNBC

End all restrictions, they were unnecessary, Hebrew University researchers say

https://www.timesofisrael.com/end-all-restrictions-they-were-unnecessary-hebrew-university-researchers-say/

 

Israel should end all coronavirus restrictions and reopen the country to international travel, according to a Hebrew University research team that includes a prominent epidemiologist and two finance professors.

They crunched statistics from around the world and concluded in a newly published study that while lockdowns were necessary in London, New York and various other places, Israel didn’t need to confine people to houses or impose other strict rules.

Rabbis Edelstein and Kanievsky postpone beginning of yeshiva semester

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/rabbis-edelstein-and-kanievsky-postpone-beginning-of-yeshiva-semester-626099

On Sunday, a letter written by Edelstein and signed by Kanievsky stated that the semester should now begin with pupils remaining at home and conducting study partnerships and listening to lessons via the telephone.

The rabbis in their letter also requested that the teachers, educators, and rabbis of the various schools and yeshivas should speak with their pupils at least once a week to ensure that they have a study partner and are able to study. The rabbis also appealed to mothers and called on them to dedicate a room in the home so that their sons could study appropriately.

 

Exclusive: She's been falsely accused of starting the coronavirus. Her life has been turned upside down

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/27/tech/coronavirus-conspiracy-theory/index.html

Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely place her at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she brought the disease to China.

The false claims are spreading across YouTube every day, so far racking up hundreds of thousands of apparent views, and have been embraced by Chinese Communist Party media. Despite never having tested positive for the coronavirus or experienced symptoms, Benassi and her husband are now subjects of discussion on Chinese social media about the outbreak, including among accounts that are known drivers of large-scale coordinated activities by their followers.

The claims have turned their lives upside down. The couple say their home address has been posted online and that, before they shut down their accounts, their social media inboxes were overrun with messages from believers of the conspiracy.

 

Trump, In His Own Twisted Way, Finally Owns Up to a Mistake

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-in-his-own-twisted-way-finally-owns-up-to-a-mistake

The Orange One’s humble shuffling off the stage Friday night without taking questions showed that even he reaches a point where he knows he blew it.

 

FDA issues warnings on chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine after deaths and poisonings reported

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/24/fda-issues-warnings-on-chloroquine-and-hydroxychloroquine-after-serious-poisoning-and-death-reported.html

 The agency also said it became aware of reports of “serious heart rhythm problems” in patients with the virus who were treated with the malaria drugs.

• It said patients taking the drugs for approved reasons, including malaria or to treat autoimmune conditions like lupus, should continue taking their medicine as prescribed.

Ingraham: The truth about hydroxychloroquine