virus

Military suicides up 20%; leaders say virus stresses an already-strained force

By Shelton Muro 3 weeks ago

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If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out to the 24–hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, Military veterans press 1; contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741; or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org . The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay can be reached by dialing 211 or by visiting crisiscenter.com .

WASHINGTON — Military suicides have increased by as much as 20 percent this year compared to the same period in 2019, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked as service members struggle under COVID-19, war-zone deployments, national disasters and civil unrest.

While the data is incomplete and causes of suicide are complex, Army and Air Force officials say they believe the pandemic is adding stress to an already strained force.

And senior Army leaders — who say they’ve seen about a 30 percent jump in active-duty suicides so

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The Latest: Mexico virus data may not be available for years

By Shelton Muro 3 weeks ago

Mexico City – Mexico’s top coronavirus official said Sunday that definitive data on the country’s death toll from COVID-19 won’t be available for “a couple of years.”

The statement by Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell is likely to revive debate about Mexico’s death toll, currently at 76,430, the fourth-highest in the world.

“When will the final statistics on deaths from COVID-19 be ready? Certainly, a couple of years after the first year of the pandemic,” López-Gatell said, adding that work would be left to the country’s statistics institute.

Officials have acknowledged in the past that the figure is a significant undercount, because it includes only those who died after a positive test result, almost always at a hospital. Mexico does very little testing, and many people die without a test.

But the Mexican government has avoided adjusting its death toll upward to account for people who died at home or

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Blacks, Hispanics drive down virus infection rates

By Shelton Muro 3 weeks ago

Long Island’s predominantly minority communities have driven down COVID-19 infection rates that were the Island’s highest at the peak of the pandemic in a public health success described by experts as one of the most successful turnarounds in the United States.

Since the end of August, the coronavirus has appeared in communities where Black and Hispanic residents make up more than half the population at lower rates than in other areas of Long Island, according to a Newsday analysis of reported case numbers.

The data marks the culmination of a five-month turnaround.

In April, confirmed cases of the coronavirus surfaced in communities that are home largely to minority residents at more than twice the rate that cases appeared in places populated mostly by others.

But starting in early July, the presence of the virus equalized across both Nassau and Suffolk counties, flattening a once sizable racial and ethnic disparity

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Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi leaves hospital after virus scare [Video]

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

SHOTLIST

MILAN, LOMBARDY, ITALYSEPTEMBER 14, 2020SOURCE: AFPTV

1. Wide shot Silvio Berlusconi exits Pavilion D of San Raffaele Hospital accompanied by security men and Dr. Alberto Zangrillo, head of the Intensive Care Unit

2. SOUNDBITE 1 – Silvio Berlusconi, Former Italian premier (male, Italian, 26 sec): “It was a difficult test. I say this with emotion. Thank goodness and thanks to the professionalism of the doctors of San Raffaele Hospital, first of all Professor Alberto Zangrillo and his collaborators, I passed what I consider perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life.”

3. Mid shot the end of the press conference Silvio Berlusconi puts his mask back on and greets the journalists

///———————————————————–AFP TEXT STORY:

Italy’s Berlusconi leaves hospital after virus scare

=(Picture+Video)=

Milan, Sept 14, 2020 (AFP) – Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi left hospital Monday 11 days after being admitted with coronavirus, describing it as “perhaps the most

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Shands, College of Medicine stop incentive pay for employees due to virus

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

Sarah Nelson
 
| The Gainesville Sun

Some employees at the University of Florida’s Shands Hospital and College of Medicine won’t get their usual year-end incentive pay for the next 12 months, to offset what administrators say is millions in lost revenue from the pandemic. 

Physicians, faculty and researchers typically receive additional “incentive” pay on top of their base salary, but UF Health officials announced Wednesday that the bonus pay won’t be coming for the next 12 months. The incentives are based on additional work or services a physician performs, and the cost of living in the area. 

“Any distribution of incentives would come with the effect of deepening our financial hole and stalling any forward momentum gained prior to the pandemic,” Adrian Tyndall, UF College of Medicine’s interim dean, wrote in an email to employees Wednesday. 

A 2018 study by the American Medical Association reported that a little over half

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Italy’s Berlusconi in hospital after contracting virus

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

Italy’s flamboyant former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was in hospital Friday after testing positive for the coronavirus, the latest high-profile figure to contract the disease.

The 83-year-old media tycoon is being treated for a lung infection at San Raffaele hospital in Milan where he was admitted on Thursday night, his personal physician said.

Berlusconi had tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week after returning from a holiday at his luxury villa on Sardinia’s jet-set Emerald Coast. 

His doctor Alberto Zangrillo said at a press conference on Friday that his condition was “encouraging” and that he was not intubated or on a ventilator.

The billionaire is “a patient at risk because of his age and previous illnesses,” the doctor said, adding that he should remain in hospital for “a few days”.

But he admitted: “Berlusconi’s mood is not the best,” saying that he had to insist that he be admitted to

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Russia publishes virus vaccine results, weeks after approval

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian scientists have belatedly published first results from early trials into the experimental Sputnik V vaccine, which received government approval last month but drew considerable criticism from experts, as the shots had only been tested on several dozen people before being more widely administered.

In a report published in the journal Lancet on Friday, developers of the vaccine said it appeared to be safe and to prompt an antibody response in all 40 people tested in the second phase of the study within three weeks. However, the authors noted that participants were only followed for 42 days, the study sample was small and there was no placebo or control vaccine used.

One part of the safety trial included only men and the study mostly involved people in their 20s and 30s, so it is unclear how the vaccine might work in older populations most at risk of

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Mental health focus as Aussie cricketers head into virus bubble

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

Cricket Australia will closely monitor the mental health of players living inside a bio-secure bubble during the upcoming limited-overs tour of England, captain Aaron Finch said Tuesday.

The team departs Sunday for a tour originally scheduled to take place in July but postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

In order to play their first internationals in almost six months, the Australians have agreed to strict biosecurity plans which include playing at venues with on-site accommodation.

The arrangements raise the prospect of long periods isolated in hotel rooms, and Finch said Cricket Australia wanted to ensure the players’ mental wellbeing.

“That’s going to be something that’s going to be a real issue, it’s going to be something to monitor heavily,” he told reporters in an online conference.

“I know from an Australian point of view that there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to make sure there’s checkpoints

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U.S. Cases Slow as Deaths Pass 1,000 for Fifth Day: Virus Update

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

(Bloomberg) —

The U.S. added 47,813 virus cases, a 0.9% rise that compares with a 1% increase over the previous week. Nationwide deaths exceeded 1,000 for the fifth consecutive day. A measure of intensive-care hospitalizations in California rose to the highest in seven weeks.

Italy told nightclubs to close, matching a similar directive by Spain on Friday. France’s public health agency warned that all of the country’s Covid-19 indicators are trending upward.

Russia agreed in principle with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to conduct clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine, the head of its sovereign wealth fund said. China and Russia may also work together on a vaccine, a Chinese virus expert said.

Key Developments:

Global Tracker: Global cases approach 21.5 million; deaths pass 771,500How $50,000-a-year private schools plan for Covid: NYC ReopensFirst into the virus slump, China is proving the fastest outRussia’s new Sputnik launch raises risks

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Biden, Harris make unusual campaign debut in virus era

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden is making his first appearance with newly chosen running mate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, betting that the California senator’s historic profile and confrontational style against President Donald Trump will boost Democrats’ efforts to oust the Republican president amid cascading national crises.

The former primary rivals will appear at a high school in Biden’s Delaware hometown to discuss their shared vision for how to defeat Trump and then lead the country through a pandemic, its economic fallout and a long-simmering reckoning with racism. Harris and Biden then will sit down together for an online fundraiser designed to let small donors get a fresh glimpse of what the Democratic presidential ticket will look like together.

In a reflection of coronavirus guidelines, there will be no adoring throngs that would greet a new running mate in a routine campaign and certainly one with Harris’ historical significance. The

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