Vaccine trial nears; tech giants aid in crisis; Judge keeps food stamp access; CA Rep. gets CDC to say free testing; Rights Groups Work Through Worst Humanitarian Crisis Of 21st Century + 'Sex Cells'
NewsHero - March 16, 2020 - Issue 55
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for March 16, 2020.
For the next two weeks our newsletter will be made fully accessible to all readers. We hope you’ll take advantage of the resources provided here as we all do our best to absorb the continually developing information on the coronavirus crisis. Also, we hope you enjoy our usual take on happenings from around the globe, and consider joining up with us in the near future.
At NewsHero we put the heroes in the headlines and give them the attention in our coverage that they deserve. Here you’ll find the same high priority news, but you’ll get it without clickbait and it won’t be driven by ad sales. You’ll also get it with the focus on those who are helping, not causing harm.
Our heroes are identified as follows:
🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, hands down. - Meaning that it wasn’t even a close call.
🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, but… - Meaning that in this situation the call needed to be looked at in a little more detail. For example, in this case, they did the right thing but there have been some questionable calls in the past.
🦸♀️ - the hero, but only here, and it was a close call. - Meaning that in this instance they did the right thing but it was either out of character or a maddeningly close call.
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Wishing you health and safety!
NewsHero Notes
Based on data from JAMA Pediatrics, Beautiful News reported that suicide attempts among LGBT teenagers declined following legalization of same-sex marriage.
According to CNN on Instagram: “Vans is releasing an Autism Awareness collection in an effort to better cater to kids with sensory sensitivities that are commonly linked to autism spectrum disorder. Vans said it is donating a minimum of $100,000 of the proceeds from this collection to A.skate Foundation, a nonprofit that teaches skateboarding to children with autism.”
A nurse rests during a night shift at a hospital in Cremona, Italy, March 8. (Francesca Mangiatordi/@france_exa/via Reuters)
Afternoon Brief
Everyone helping to spread COVID-19 facts over falsities - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Schools everywhere continue to close and more people are finding themselves working from home or looking for employment alternatives. For this afternoon brief we’re taking a look at pertinent news for staying responsibly informed on the coronavirus outbreak, and we’re also listing some of what we consider to be helpful resources.
The first participant in a clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against COVID-19 will receive an experimental dose on Monday, according to a government official. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.
BioCentury presented a timeline of nearly 30 clinical trials for COVID-19 that begin to yield data in the coming months.
An opinion piece from the Editorial Board at The New York Times addresses companies “putting profits ahead of public health,” as many major businesses face changes to paid sick leave policies amid the spread of the coronavirus.
Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court in Washington, DC, has temporarily blocked a Trump administration federal rule that could have seen nearly 700,000 people lose access to food stamps. “Especially now, as a global pandemic poses widespread health risks, guaranteeing that government officials at both the federal and state levels have flexibility to address the nutritional needs of residents and ensure their well-being through programs like SNAP, is essential,” Howell wrote as part of her opinion issued Friday.
Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), through relentless questioning, got Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield to ensure that coronavirus testing would be free for all Americans. You can watch video of her questioning on Twitter.
Jack Ma, cofounder of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba, said his foundation would donate 500,000 COVID-19 testing kits and 1 million protective face masks to the United States, according to a report from Wired.
A story from Forbes says that Zoom CEO Eric Yuan is giving K-12 schools video-conferencing tools for free.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) obtained promises from several of the nation's broadband providers that they will not cut off internet service to Americans who can't pay their bills during the coronavirus crisis, Axios reported.
Check out this one from Business Insider: “Taiwan has only 50 coronavirus cases. Its response to the crisis shows that swift action and widespread healthcare can prevent an outbreak.”
As we often do, we’re including here the latest newsletter from Corona Daily, plus two resources from the World Health Organization: a collection of technical guidance organized by topic and a novel coronavirus situation dashboard.
Rights Groups Work Through Worst Humanitarian Crisis Of 21st Century
Syrian conflict enters tenth year
The White Helmets are not expected to be resettled in the United States, despite long-standing U.S. government support. (Sultan Kitaz/Reuters)
The devastating conflict in Syria is now in its tenth year. When Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, they likely never imagined their anti-government protests would turn into a multi-faceted war—and the worst humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century—still creating new tragedies that can impact global politics.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Saturday that at least 384,000 people have since died, including more than 116,000 civilians. The conflict has displaced more than 11 million people internally and abroad.
“Nine years of revolution illustrate the extent of the suffering we have known, between exile, bombings, and deaths,” said Hala Ibrahim, a rights activist who now lives in the northwestern Idlib province.
A cease-fire brokered by the Turkish and Russian presidents in Moscow last week may have slowed the Syrian government’s destructive military campaign to retake Idlib, but the halt is not a long-term solution.
Meanwhile, the economic situation is deteriorating so fast that ordinary Syrians struggle to keep up with prices that rise even over the course of a day. “It is a devastating dynamic, almost a perfect storm,” David Beasley, head of the World Food Program, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
The New Humanitarian calls this tenth year of the Syrian conflict a “grim anniversary,” and says that “with nearly a million newly displaced people still stuck in limbo, real peace seems as far away as ever.” The war has taken a massive toll, the group says, with nearly 5.6 million people having fled Syria becoming refugees, and another 6.1 million still displaced within the country’s borders.
New research published today by Human Rights Watch says that Syrian government forces have retaliated against civilians choosing to stay behind in areas retaken in Idlib. HRW also has a new webpage available that focuses on the hundreds of thousands of children affected by the conflict.
Extra! Extra!
Technology clearly has afforded humanity scores of advantages, but we must say it was surprising to learn that there are a “growing number of people seeking inspiration from business schools rather than poetry in the quest to find the right partner.”
1843—a sister publication of The Economist—published the brilliantly titled “Between the Spreadsheets,” in which the author, Alice Hines, reveals individuals who use spreadsheets, charts and planners to manage their love lives, which we guess is perhaps a more efficient method than the old two-column pros-and-cons list used to try and weigh whether someone may be worth committing to. Or even just spending the night with.
So many dates you can’t keep ‘em straight? Columns and rows for your Xs and Os?
We should be so lucky to have enough romantic prospects to warrant firing up Windows XP, but doesn’t anyone get lucky anymore with the old love-at-first-sight phenomena? Likely with the prominence of hook-up apps and online dating it’s more apt to be love at first site. (groan)
Sources:
Vans releases autism awareness line made with sensory-inclusive elements - CNN
Suicide Attempts Among LGBT Teens Fell After Same-Sex Marriage Was Legalized - Beautiful News
Covid-19 - 16/03/20 Catching up - Corona Daily
Government official: Coronavirus vaccine trial starts Monday - AP News
First up for COVID-19: nearly 30 clinical readouts before end of April - BioCentury
The Companies Putting Profits Ahead of Public Health - NY Times
@RepKatiePorter got the CDC director to promise free coronavirus testing for Americans. Here's how she convinced him: - AJ+ on Twitter
‘Not good enough’: How Rep. Katie Porter’s relentless questioning led the CDC chief to commit to free coronavirus testing - Washington Post
Judge Blocks Trump Rule That Would Have Kicked 700,000 Off Food Stamps During a Pandemic - Slate
Court cites coronavirus in blocking Trump administration's food stamp cuts - NBC News
Jack Ma Offers to Supply the US With Covid-19 Tests and Masks - Wired
Exclusive: Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Is Giving K-12 Schools His Videoconferencing Tools For Free - Forbes
ISPs promise FCC they won't shut off service during pandemic - Axios
Coronavirus rapid response: Taiwan is case study in containment - Business Insider
Country & Technical Guidance for COVID-19 - World Health Organization
Novel Coronavirus Situation dashboard - World Health Organization
Syrian War Enters Tenth Year: Daily Brief - Human Rights Watch
Syria’s brutal war enters 10th year - AFP
Syrian war, rumbling into 10th year, still has global impact - AP News
How the US can help ease Idlib's catastrophe - CNN
Roundup: Syria’s grim anniversary - The New Humanitarian
Between the spreadsheets - The Economist