On a Scottish Isle, Nursing Home Deaths Expose a Covid-19 Scandal

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/world/europe/coronavirus-uk-nursing-homes.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage

The virus has ravaged nursing homes across Europe and the United States. But the death toll in British homes — 14,000, official figures say, with thousands more dying as an indirect result of the virus — is becoming a defining scandal of the pandemic for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

 

Kiryas Joel school ordered to close after 'hundreds' of students found in building

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/2020/05/22/kiryas-joel-school-ordered-close/5245425002/

Orange County officials say they ordered a Kiryas Joel school to close on Thursday after discovering “hundreds” of boys in the building in violation of a state mandate in March that closed all schools in New York and that remains in effect.

The county Health Department served the cease-and-desist order after officials visited the school one day earlier, accompanied by state troopers, and “found what appeared to be hundreds of students inside, not wearing personal protective equipment, not social distancing, and plainly in violation of the Governor’s Executive Orders,” the county announced in a statement.

The school is part of the United Talmudical Academy, the largest of three Hasidic school systems serving roughly 14,500 children in and around Kiryas Joel.

 

WHO Pauses Hydroxychloroquine Trial Amid Safety Concerns Day After Trump Says He Stopped Taking Controversial Medicine

https://www.newsweek.com/who-pauses-hydroxychloroquine-trial-amid-safety-concerns-day-after-donald-trump-says-he-stopped-1506366

The World Health Organization announced Monday that it was pausing an ongoing trial of how hydroxychloroquine impacts hospitalized COVID-19 patients over safety concerns of the anti-malaria drug—medicine that President Donald Trump said he was taking for at least two weeks.
A "temporary pause" of the WHO's hydroxychloroquine trial was instituted while "safety data is reviewed," said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

 

The trial halt comes the day after Trump revealed in an interview with Sinclair Broadcasting that he was no longer taking the unproven coronavirus treatment and prevention method that health experts and officials—including within the Trump administration—have warned not to take outside hospital or clinical trial settings because of its potentially deadly side effects.

Memorial Day

David Frum: After Trump, How Do We Rebuild? | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Japan wins virus fight by ignoring rulebook

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1923028/japan-wins-virus-fight-by-ignoring-rulebook

TOKYO: Japan’s state of emergency is nearing its end with new cases of the coronavirus dwindling to mere dozens. It got there despite largely ignoring the default playbook.

No restrictions were placed on residents’ movements, and businesses from restaurants to hairdressers stayed open. No high-tech apps that tracked people’s movements were deployed. The country doesn’t have a centre for disease control.

And even as nations were exhorted to “test, test, test”, Japan has tested just 0.2% of its population — one of the lowest rates among developed countries.

“You can’t say the Japan response was amazing,” said Norio Sugaya, a visiting professor at Keio University’s School of Medicine in Tokyo and a member of a World Health Organization panel advising on pandemic influenza. “If you look at the other Asian countries, they all had a death rate that was about 1/100th of Western countries.”

Japan rejected lockdown because virus will resurge, says expert

https://www.ft.com/content/9bac4ad5-22e3-4bcd-b07b-8a248fe44465

The doctor leading Japan’s response to coronavirus has defended the decision not to implement a national lockdown, saying that elimination of the virus was impossible and it was necessary to limit the damage to the economy.

The comments by Shigeru Omi, chair of the expert committee that advises prime minister Shinzo Abe, highlight the country’s distinctive approach to the epidemic. Japan, along with Sweden, has sought to limit cases without putting a total freeze on economic activity or making social distancing mandatory. 

“Japan wants to bring down the number of cases but it’s impossible to bring it down to zero because of the nature of the disease,” said Dr Omi. He added that the severity of future waves would depend on how public behaviour adapted to the virus.

“Maybe there’ll be another small wave or a big wave depending on how people behave. I think that will continue for some time,” he said. “That’s why we want to balance the maintenance of socio-economic activity with managing this outbreak.”

Japan Ends Coronavirus Emergency With 850 Deaths and No Lockdown

https://www.newsweek.com/japan-ends-coronavirus-emergency-850-deaths-no-lockdown-1506336

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced the end of his state of emergency declaration for the novel coronavirus pandemic, with just 851 deaths reported and without ever implementing a lockdown.

Trump blasts Jeff Sessions as 'not mentally qualified to be attorney general'

Some Americans take a holiday from social distancing and officials fear future spikes in coronavirus cases

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/25/health/us-coronavirus-memorial-day/index.html

Crowds packed beaches in Florida, Maryland, Georgia, Virginia and Indiana over the Memorial Day weekend -- many venturing out without masks and others failing to keep their distance even as officials highlighted the continued importance of both in order to prevent another surge of infections.

 

It wasn't just the beaches. Pictures posted on social media showed mostly unmasked people crowded together at ACE Speedway in Altamahaw, North Carolina, on Saturday.

בג"ץ ביטל את הרס ביתו של המחבל שרצח את דביר שורק

https://www.kikar.co.il/361281.html

בדעת רוב, עליה חתומים שני שופטים המוכרים כ'ליברלים ואקטיביסטים' - מול דעת מיעוט של השופט הדתי - ביטל בג"ץ את הריסת ביתו של המחבל שרצח באכזריות את דביר

 

Mike Pence says coronavirus pandemic will be 'largely' behind us by Memorial Day - as Texas prepares to re-open retailers this week

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mike-pence-says-coronavirus-pandemic-will-be-largely-behind-us-by-memorial-day-as-texas-prepares-to-re-open-retailers-this-week/ar-BB1372jv

Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic could be 'largely' behind Americans as early as Memorial Day Weekend. 

Pence's remarks come as Texas partially re-opened its economy this week despite the number of COVID-19 infections still rising. 

'Am I going to be on my boat and fishing in early June, Mr. Vice President?' asked Geraldo Rivera of Fox News on his radio show.

'If you look at the trends today, I think by Memorial Day Weekend we will largely have this coronavirus epidemic behind us,' Pence said.

Hydroxychloroquine trial begins in the UK

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52737169

Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine or a placebo will be given to more than 40,000 healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America.

 

The first UK participants in the global trial are being enrolled on Thursday at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals and the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

They will be given either hydroxychloroquine or a placebo for three months. At sites in Asia, participants will be given chloroquine or a placebo.

These are the first of a planned 25 UK sites, with results expected by the end of the year. 

One of the study's leaders, Prof Nicholas White at the University of Oxford said: "We really do not know if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are beneficial or harmful against Covid-19."

While the University of Oxford trial is taking place in a controlled clinical environment, the World Health Organization has warned that some individuals were self-medicating and risked causing themselves serious harm.

It has not yet been shown to be safe and effective in the prevention or treatment of coronavirus and can cause dangerous heart arrhythmias.

The trial also involves researchers from the UK, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Italy.

Texas Coronavirus Cases Rise as Houston Mayor Says 'We're Not Equipped' to Handle Projected Surge

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-houston-coronavirus-rise-warning-beaches-bars-clubs-1506312

The city of Houston can't handle a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases, the city's mayor warned as infections in the reopening state rise.

Texas has so far recorded more than 56,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,533 deaths. On May 23 there were more than 1,000 new cases, preceded by 928 on May 22, 1,258 on May 21 and 1,103 on May 20. May 15 saw over 1,800 infections in a single day.