Biden to hit reset on US fight against COVID-19

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Wednesday will immediately reset the nation's response to the COVID-19 crisis when he heads to the Oval Office after being sworn in to lead a country reeling from its worst public health crisis in more than a century.

As part of a first sweep of executive actions, Biden will order that all federal employees wear masks and make face coverings mandatory on federal property. He will establish a new White House office to coordinate the coronavirus response and halt the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, a process initiated by the outgoing president, Donald Trump.

The orders signal that Biden aims to fulfill his campaign promise to make COVID-19 relief a top priority and will mark a sharp divergence from the Trump administration's pandemic response, which critics say was ineffectual, uncoordinated and at least partly responsible for the death of more than 400,000 Americans.

He will begin work on his executive actions after a scaled-back inauguration ceremony unlike any other in US presidential history, with the National Mall covered in a "field of flags" instead of the typical crowds, who were not permitted because of the risk of contagion.

"We can overcome the deadly virus," Biden said in his inaugural address, which called for unity in a nation gripped by tense political divide.

Biden was also poised to nominate an acting US surgeon general as soon as Wednesday, a person familiar with the decision told MSNBC, following the resignation of Trump appointee Jerome Adams.

Biden's actions, particularly the mask mandate, are intended to set an example for state and local officials to rein in the virus, which has hobbled the US economy. The United States has reported nearly 200,000 new COVID-19 cases and 3,000 deaths per day on a seven-day rolling average, according to Reuters data. More than 123,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday.

Scientists and public health experts have said face masks can help prevent the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus, but the coverings have become a flashpoint in American life reflecting the nation's larger political divide.

Trump, who contracted COVID-19 last autumn, had eschewed their use at all but a handful of events and continued to hold crowded, largely maskless campaign rallies while Biden's campaign initially stuck to virtual events before expanding to other masked and socially distant gatherings.

There were few face masks as Trump departed Washington Wednesday morning. In remarks to the crowd at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump again painted his administration as a victim of the virus and listed a series of accomplishments such as tax cuts, deregulation and stock market gains before addressing COVID-19 deaths.

"We got hit. Nobody blames us for that. The whole world got it," he said of the pandemic's toll on the economy. He later touted the development of a vaccine as a "miracle" before paying his respects to people and families impacted by the virus.

-reuters-

Does a face mask protect me, or just the people around me?

Does a face mask protect me, or just the people around me?

It likely provides protection for both.

Studies on the new coronavirus and other germs show wearing a mask helps stop infected people from spreading disease to others. Evidence also suggests that masks may offer some protection for the people wearing them.

The virus spreads from droplets people spray when they cough, sneeze or talk. Surgical or cloth face masks can block most of those particles from spreading.

While some droplets may still spread out, wearing a mask could reduce the amount, providing a benefit to others. Research shows people don’t get as sick when exposed to smaller amounts of virus, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a virus expert at University of California, San Francisco.

And masks may protect the people wearing them by reducing the amount of droplets from others that might make contact with them.

In two U.S. food processing plants where masks were required and infection clusters occurred, Gandhi noted that most workers who developed COVID-19 had mild illness or no symptoms.

Research on a different coronavirus has also found low infection rates among people who frequently wore masks in public.

Experts say masks are particularly important with the new coronavirus because infected people can be contagious even if they don’t have symptoms.

Associated Press

Paris makes masks compulsory as virus cases rise

PARIS, France - France's prime minister on Thursday announced face masks will become compulsory throughout Paris, expressing concern over an "undeniable" trend of expanding coronavirus infection in the country.

Jean Castex said 19 more departments have been added to a map with "red" zones of active virus circulation, meaning 21 of France's 94 departments are classified as such. 

Official figures released Wednesday showed more than 5,400 confirmed new cases in just 24 hours, with admissions to hospital and intensive care units on the rise.

There was an "undeniable resurgence" of the COVID-19 epidemic throughout France, Castex told a press conference, with an incidence rate of 39 positive tests per 100,000 of the population -- four times the level of a month ago, and rising among all age groups.

The "positivity rate" -- the percentage of tests that come back positive -- was up from one percent in May to 3.7 percent today, and the so-called "R" rate of viral transmission has risen to 1.4 nationwide, meaning ten infected people are infecting 14 others on average.

More than 800 coronavirus patients are being admitted to hospital every week on average, up from 500 six weeks ago, said the prime minister.

"The epidemic is gaining territory, and now is the time to intervene," he said, appealing to all French people to take infection-prevention measures such as regular hand-washing, mask wearing, and physical distancing.

Castex announced that Paris, one of the 21 zones with active virus circulation, will make face masks compulsory throughout the city. He did not give a date.

The government would do everything in its power to avoid issuing new, nationwide stay-at-home orders, the premier added, but the possibility could not be excluded entirely and localized confinements may be on the cards.

Agence France-Presse

NFL developing facemasks with surgical/N95 material -- report

The NFL Players Association's medical director on Monday said the NFL and equipment company Oakley are working on developing a facemask that contains surgical or N95 material in an effort to better protect players from the coronavirus when they return to the playing field.

During an appearance on "The Adam Schefter Podcast," Thom Mayer said a recommendation probably will be made to the NFL that the league use the revised facemasks. 

Mayer said the new designs could see the entire facemask covered by the new protective material.

"Back in early March, I had suggested that we should consider novel and emerging ways to handle the helmets and the facemasks and the spread of the virus," Mayer said. 

"And these guys, the bioengineers that we use and that the league uses -- Oakley, as you may or may not know, does all the face visors for the league under contract -- these guys got the bit between their teeth."


As for the look and design, Mayer said he is still not sure which direction the design will ultimately go.

"They've got some prototypes; they're doing really good work," he said. 

"Some of them, when you first look at them, you think, 'Gosh, no' -- 'cause you're not used to seeing it; you're just not used to seeing it. But they're looking at every issue you can imagine, including when it fogs up. What do we do with that? But these guys are used to dealing with this stuff."

All team facilities were ordered shut down as of March 25 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The NFL will allow facilities to be reopened on Tuesday by teams that are permitted to do so under state and local regulations, but only for specific personnel.

Commissioner Roger Goodell outlined the rules governing the reopening -- what the NFL is calling "Phase 1" of a return to football activities -- in memo to team executives and general managers May 6.

Among the restrictions: Teams can have only 50 percent of their staff in the facility at a time and no more than 75 people. Players are prohibited from team facilities unless they are undergoing treatment or rehabilitation. And no coaching staffs are allowed at team facilities during Phase 1.

-Field Level Media/Reuters-

Panic buying follows coronavirus across the globe

HONG KONG - Shelves are being stripped bare of toilet rolls, hand sanitizer and surgical masks everywhere from Japan to France to the United States as panic buying criss-crosses the globe with the coronavirus, defying repeated calls for calm and disrupting supply chains.


Obsessively documented on social media, scrambles to the shops and empty shelves are adding panic and confusion to the fight against an epidemic that has killed thousands, placed millions under quarantine and battered global markets.

Australia's biggest supermarket this week began rationing sales of toilet paper after police had to be called to a shop in Sydney when a knife was drawn in a scuffle over the scarce commodity.

On Saturday Japan's prime minister took to Twitter to calm fears of a national shortage, while social media photos from the US show toilet paper shelves lying bare.

Psychologists say a mix of herd mentality and over-exposure to coverage of the virus is to blame. 

"We might be less irrational if we weren't being reminded so much of the potential dangers by the news," London-based consumer psychologist Kate Nightingale told AFP.

"We either avoid the topic or we go completely nuts and stock up on anything we might just need."

Panic buying of non-medical items like toilet paper "gives people this sense of control that 'I will have what I need when I want'," Andy Yap, a psychologist and Charlene Chen, who specializes in marketing and business in Singapore told AFP in an email.

The city-state experienced its own recent run on toilet paper, traceable, they said to a "believable" rumor of an impending shortage due to shutdowns in virus-stricken China, a major producer.

Endlessly scrolling through social media also "distorts our perceptions and makes us think that things are a lot more serious than they truly are," they said. 

As the uncertainty grows, they added, items such as surgical masks and hand sanitizer transform into "problem-solving goods... that seemingly help people gain control over the virus."

'THE ODD ONE OUT'

Single-use surgical masks that typically retail for just a few US cents are also hot property, exacerbated by restrictions on exports from China, the leading producer, as the government keeps more back for domestic usage.

Last month ten thousand people queued outside a Hong Kong shop that had secured a shipment, and days later masks were voted the most desirable gifts to receive for Valentine's Day.

In London, masks are now going for more than 100 times their normal retail price, while French authorities said they will requisition all face mask stocks and production.

The demand is being "driven by panic buying, stockpiling and speculation," World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told AFP.

This is despite the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying it did not "recommend the use of facemasks" to help combat the outbreak.

But in crowded, paranoid cities where others are already wearing them, donning a mask can be comforting -- if ineffective.

"You don't want to be the odd one out," Nightingale said.

"At the end of the day, we do need our social groups for survival so it's a primal instinct to obey whatever needs that society imposes on us." 

'TRUSTED FACES'

As more countries report new cases, Yap and Chen said it was important for authorities to "re-establish control" over information and rumors that spark hoarding and panic-buying.

"In times of uncertainty, it is good to set rules because rules provide a sense of order and control." 

Governments also need to be clear in explaining any new rules and why they are important in the fight against the virus.

But, Nightingale said, with distrust of health authorities on the rise in the West over mandatory vaccinations and with governments and companies "among the least trusted institutions," this might be difficult. 

"Hiring trusted faces could help... David Attenborough might work for a certain kind of customer profile, like the over 40s. For younger profiles, you could turn to social media influencers."

Agence France-Presse

Mercury Drug replenishing face mask supply, says to keep price unchanged

MANILA -- Mercury Drug said Monday it was working with suppliers to replenish its stock of face masks after demand from those seeking to protect themselves from Taal Volcano ash fall depleted inventory.

Areas affected by the volcanic eruption will be prioritized when distributing face mask supply, the country's largest drug store chain said.

Mercury Drug said face mask prices would remain steady and it would not hoard supply.

Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan earlier said she received reports that face masks had sold for P200 from P25 to P30 apiece before the eruption.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Hong Kong metro stays shut after night of violent protests

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's metro system will stay shut on Saturday, the rail operator said, paralyzing transport in the Asian financial hub after a night of chaos in which police shot a teenage boy and pro-democracy protesters torched businesses and metro stations.

Friday's protests across the Chinese-ruled city erupted hours after its embattled leader Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era emergency powers last used more than 50 years ago to ban face masks, which demonstrators use to conceal their identities.

Increasingly violent demonstrations that have roiled the city for four months began in opposition to a bill introduced in April that would have allowed extradition to mainland China but have since spiraled into a broader pro-democracy movement.

MTR Corp said its network, which carries about 5 million passengers each day, would remain suspended, while shopping malls and supermarkets also closed, in a new blow for retailers and restaurants in a city on the edge of recession.

"As we are no longer in a position to provide safe and reliable service to passengers in the circumstances, the corporation had no choice but to make the decision to suspend the service of its entire network," it said in a statement.

Protesters had set fires at stations, as well as to an empty train, and injured two staff, added MTR, which is known for operating one of the world's most efficient rail networks.

All stations closed late on Friday, stranding passengers and forcing many to walk home, a situation set to worsen as the city goes into a holiday weekend.

Further demonstrations are planned across Hong Kong through Monday, which is a public holiday, but it was not immediately clear how the transport shutdown would affect them.

More than a dozen shopping malls, supermarkets, and branches of Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia , and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , which have been targeted by protesters, said they would not open on Saturday.

Lam, Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, said the ban on face masks that took effect from Saturday was ordered under emergency laws allowing authorities to "make any regulations whatsoever" in what they deem to be the public interest.

But the move enraged protesters, who took to the streets to vent their anger, many wearing masks in defiance of the ban. There were no immediate reports of arrests over the masks.

Demonstrators set fires, hurled petrol bombs at police and burned the Chinese national flag, in a direct challenge to authorities in Beijing.

Police said an officer in Yuen Long, a district in the outlying New Territories that saw fierce clashes in July, had fired a shot in self-defense after a protester threw a petrol bomb at him, setting him on fire.

Media said a 14-year-old boy had been shot and the city’s Hospital Authority said his condition was now stable, but gave no details.

About 100 demonstrators besieged a branch of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) in the high-end shopping district of Causeway Bay, while across the harbor in the district of Kowloon, protesters smashed the glass store front of a China Life branch.

Police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse protesters in flashpoint districts such as Causeway Bay, Sha Tin and Wong Tai Sin, underscoring the challenges authorities face as the protests show no sign of letting up.

Hospital authorities said 31 people were hurt in Friday's protests, two of them seriously.

source: news.abs-cbn.com