#despite it being seen as a 'epicentre' for AIDS

[foxmulderautism]

something about the emphasis of swimming and swimming in the ocean in lover boy ch1 is so fascinating to me because if i've learnt anything from this chapter it's that sf is actually a terrible place for swimming most of the time because the ocean is so much colder + summer months are not the warmest months + and so many beaches have deadly rip currents there was like. only one area/beach that came up in my reading as a place locals go to swim and a lot of the time they'll just drive down to other coastal cities. but it's getting to me because part of my diss explored analysis i read about how a lot of queer AIDS narratives involve swimming or being in water or the presence of water because it brings up ideas of cleanliness but also the boundaries of the body and the metaphors of that when a body is amongst water and the physicality of it reinforcing someones aliveness and agency over their sick body. anyway beau keeps thinking about swimming in the ocean + how he hasn't since bobby died and im like these points HAVE to come together at some point like i'm cooking but i don't know what. there is something bubbling on the stove

[luxrayz64]

Ingo takes in the sight of the Temple of Sinnoh. He's seen it from a distance, far away at the mountain's peak, but never has he stood before it.

It has a certain pressure. He feels unworthy of climbing the pristine, marble steps. There's a biting chill in the air, expected at this altitude, yet there is no wind - it is completely, perfectly still.

This place is old, and yet somehow untouched by the passage of time. There's not even any dust clinging to the ivory stone. The sheer age of this place is almost incomprehensible - he thinks it might have been there since time began. And yet, the statues of the ten legendary Nobles stand, lining the hall; they had to have been built by human hands. The story of the Hero and the Nobles who had aided them was one passed down by the two Clans after all. And yet, he knows that this place precedes both. He's certain of it.

Pressure weighs on him as he takes a step forward. An insurmountable pressure, a feeling of dread, a feeling that this place is not a place where he can go. Like trying to force oneself to touch a burning stove - his entire body protests at the very thought of stepping foot onto those marble steps. His mouth is dry, and the sound of his pulse drowns out the distant static coming from the Rift.

And yet, Dawn is already walking down the hallway. Did they not feel this crushing weight? How did they enter this sacred place with such ease?

Ingo had promised them that he would aid them in any way he could. He had no choice but to follow - passenger safety always came first. This place was not safe for a mere human. It did not welcome humans. It was built to house something More. He swallows, and presses his hand to an open flame; his boots connect with the pristine marble, and he climbs the temple's steps.

Ahead of him, Dawn walks slowly down the long hall. He feels the statue's eyes on him, judging him. He cannot imagine touching them, and yet Dawn's fingers slowly drag over the pedestals with something resembling reverence.

"I've never seen this place whole before." they say, and their voice sounds far off, almost as if it belongs to someone else. "When I fought Cyrus here, the statues were all crumbled. The roof was gone. There was nothing but the pillars, pointing towards the sky like spears..."

Ingo cannot reply. He's not sure what he would say if he could.

"You feel it, don't you? The pressure of this place. Cynthia said it was built to house the Gods. She said that you can even reach the Original One from here."

They pause, their hand sliding off the statue.

"This..." they look around. "This is where Barry and I fought Commander Mars and Commander Jupiter. He only had enough potions to heal one of our teams. He trusted me to defeat Cyrus. He left before I confronted him. I think that the pressure got to him, too."

They step forward, and Ingo is certain that they are seeing something he cannot begin to fathom.

"This is where Cyrus stood. He said that... It takes an incredibly powerful Spirit to withstand the pressure of this place. He hated Spirit. In spite of that-or maybe because of it, I don't know - his spirit was strong. Strong enough to command the Gods."

They stare at the end of the hall. Ingo follows their gaze. There's a pedestal at the end, below the Rift's epicentre. The steps leading up to it seem so daunting, despite being so few. Dawn said that they had fought the Gods. Ingo wondered if they even felt this place's pressure anymore.

They hesitate. And then they climb the stairs.

"This," they say, "is where Lord Palkia and Lord Dialga were summoned."

They gaze directly upward.

"This is where they'll appear again. I know it."

Ingo follows them. It's difficult to breathe here, and not because the air is thin. Adrenalin is coursing through him, his heart beating at record speeds. He follows their gaze, staring into the utter Nothing above them.

The Rift is wide, stretching so far across Hisui's sky that he can no longer see the red. Flashes of blinding light occasionally illuminate the darkness. It strikes him, suddenly, that this Rift is a tear in their reality. Was there really anything on the other side? And what would happen if it got any wider?

"They're in there. I can feel it." Dawn says. They reach for a pokeball, and Ingo's heart stops beating altogether as he guesses their plan.

"Young Dawn, under no circumstances are you to enter the Rift!" he shouts, the sound of his own voice reverberating around them. The echo doesn't fade - the utter silence that shrouded the temple means there's nothing else to cover it up until it disappears on its own.

Dawn hesitates, gripping the pokeball with force enough to turn their knuckles white.

"Well we can't just wait for them to appear! And without the Red Chain - which isn't an option - there's no other way to summon them!" they retort, glaring at him with enough rage in their eyes to combat even the most fearsome Alpha. He almost flinches under their gaze - almost.

Stronger than any pressure, any God, was his dedication to the safety of his passengers.

"Dawn. Flying into the Rift is beyond foolish. No one knows what lies beyond - for all we know, you'll evaporate the moment you enter!"

"Or maybe," they say, "I'll get to go home."

Of course. Dawn fell to this land through the Rift. But Ingo cannot shake the feeling that doing so would only result in certain death.

"There is a chance," Ingo admits, "but it is not one that I am willing to entertain. Nobody will enter the Rift. If Palkia and Dialga are truly behind this, we will find another way to summon them."

Dawn glares at him, their face drawn into a scowl.

And then they exhale, turning away.

"Fine. I won't go into the Rift. We'll find another way."

Ingo lets out a deep breath. He's somewhat relieved, now that Dawn is no longer about to throw themselves onto the tracks, but the Weight of the Rift and the Temple is still crushing him, and if there's nothing here for them, then he is eager to leave.

"We'll return down the mountain for now," he says, already walking down the brilliantly white steps. "I have to meet with Lady Sneasler. Would you like to join me?"

Dawn does not move, does not tear their eyes from the Rift.

"Yeah." they say, sounding defeated. "Okay."

They finally return the pokeball their waist, and follow him down the hallway.

Ingo pauses, allows them to catch up and walk beside him. After a moment of hesitation, they take his hand. He squeezes it tightly, hoping it provides some comfort.

As they descend the steps and the weight lifts from his shoulders, he tries to imagine what it must have been like - what it will be like.

Dawn is still so young. They'd been even younger when they'd been here last. He could only now breathe again; just what were they made of, that when they were younger still, they'd been able to step foot in this place, and stand their ground? Against the Gods, no less?

It breaks his heart to imagine them, smaller and squishier, standing in a place like this.

They squeeze his hand back. As much as Ingo laments that they must go through this again, they won't be alone. Passenger safety always comes first. He'll ensure that they remain safe, no matter what.

[tisthenightofthewitch]

How Ghost kept to the shadows to grow their unrivalled cult following

What’s the correct form of address here? Tobias, Cardinal Copia, or Your Ghostliness? “Tobias, never Cardinal. He doesn’t do interviews,” Ghost frontman and mastermind Tobias Forge says of his alter ego.

Indeed. And yet since the great revelation of April 2017, when the world was introduced to the true face of the ever-changing characters at the helm of Swedish metal-drama outfit, Ghost, the perception by mainstream media hasn’t altered Forge’s conduct. “No,” he says bluntly. “The change for me personally has been relatively subtle.

“Within the realms of our fan base and the epicentre of our career, it didn’t go from one unknown to a completely different scenario.”

Forge is one who speaks carefully, slowly, almost with calculation, of himself and Ghost. Whether that’s a preconceived action or his natural way of conversing, perhaps we’ll never know. What we do know is that Ghost’s elevation into one of heavy music’s most intriguing bands couldn’t have come about without the trust Forge has in his fans. It’s the fans, despite knowing Forge’s identity from having seen him after shows, who never revealed the truth.

“That was very humbling for me,” says Forge. “If there was one thing I felt a bit torn about was potentially betraying that trust. I’ve always said the goal with Ghost was never to remain anonymous – the idea was for the band to always remain masked. There’s a big difference, but people don’t listen, they don’t understand that.”

In any medium over which Forge has control, you won’t see his face. Wherever you do see his face is where others are calling the shots – that’s the distinction. Otherwise, Ghost remains uniformly masked. “It was just a matter of time. It would have defied all logic and sense that the band was getting bigger and more recognised and I would personally not follow a similar trajectory,” he says, chuckling. “However, I don’t think I will ever personally overshadow or be in the same light as all the media attention Ghost has had.”

“I’m not merely as interesting as Ghost is,” Forge explains. “The amount of photographs for one and the footage of Ghost, I will never personally be able to compete with that.”

Forge’s primary interest is the success and renown of Ghost and indeed, imagery is only one huge cog in the giant operation. It’s debatable that many people don’t understand the Ghost objective. From a media point, Forge agrees. “Even though there’s not a distinction between underground and overground media, in that one of them understands and the other does not, there’ve been several peddlers who have been extremely supportive and aiding in terms of educating media.

“There are a lot of journalists working within metal media, so [that] at several points in my career I’ve had to have a conversation with music media who are saying, ‘Why are we buying into this charade one more time?’ And you have to go back again and sell the idea – ‘Well, rock‘n’roll is about imagination.’”

Without the understanding and support of the fans, Ghost wouldn’t be four studio albums in. “Absolutely,” Forge says firmly. “I’m not going to contradict or do anything but praise the fan’s undying devotion because without them we would be nothing, of course.

“The problem is from an entertainment [perspective], you’re not doing media for the fans. It’s part of the political world of trying to achieve the things you want to achieve, and the things I want to achieve is based on the idea that promoters believe Ghost to be a big thing and we’re able to deliver.

“Personally having gone from being “anonymous”, I’ve had to relearn and think a lot about what I’ve been doing. I did a radio show here in Sweden, a monologue, the first time I’d ever introduced myself to the world with my [true] name, that was a gruelling experience in terms of, ‘[have] I done something that might alter everything I’ve ever done with Ghost?’ But I had no choice, I had to do that.”

In some ways, Forge’s actions left him and the band vulnerable, with public and internal debates about whether or not Ghost’s success, have surrounded a lack of public insight. “I do believe one reason why we’re talking today is that we did things in the beginning of our career that were highly unmodern at the time,” says Forge. “Every band [at the time] with the intention of establishing themselves within the music scene, filled every channel available to them with as much content as possible. My idea with Ghost was to do the exact opposite.

“The whole thing was fuelled by the idea that I wanted people to find Ghost the same way I found bands when I was a teenager – you knew nothing, you knew very little. That spurred a lot of imagination. And going public, for lack of a better word, would contradict that tide.”

Beat.com.au

[expatimes]

What next for conflict-hit Burkina Faso after Kabore re-election?

What next for conflict-hit Burkina Faso after Kabore re-election?

Kabore won the vote despite poor approval ratings for his performance on security [File: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]

On November 26, Roch Kabore won a second term as Burkina Faso’s president, securing a solid mandate for himself and his party in an election deemed by international observers to be mostly free and fair.

Kabore’s re-election in the conflict-hit country came despite poor approval ratings for the government’s performance on tackling spiralling violence that has caused a snowballing displacement crisis involving more than one million people and prevented hundreds of thousands of citizens from casting ballots last month.

The biggest challenge in his second five-year term will be tackling the insecurity, which hampered the ambitious development goals he set out on coming to power and continues to tear at the social fabric of the country.

So, what has defined Kabore’s security policy so far and could there be a change of direction in view of the government’s failure to halt the violence in its first term?

Security ‘bubble’

Since 2015, armed groups linked to banditry, al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have overrun large portions of the country’s north and east. More than 2,000 people have been killed due to the conflict this year alone.

Commentators say Burkina Faso has become the epicentre of the wider war against armed groups in the western Sahel.

One of Kabore’s crucial political and military strategies has been the creation of a security “bubble” around the country’s major cities. The military has fortified Burkina Faso’s central plateau region, a natural bulwark between the capital, Ouagadougou, and the conflict raging in the north.

Abdoulaye Kabre, a taxi driver in Ouagadougou, said he was almost killed when two bullets narrowly missed him when fighters attacked a hotel in the centre of the city in early 2016.

Kabre said that although there has not been a similar attack in Ouagadougou for almost three years, he still feels the effects of the conflict.

“There is a lot of control over us now. We can’t go [to the north] and [people from the north] can’t come here either. Worse still, because of this situation, we have lost a lot of our clients. Tourists and businessmen aren’t coming anymore,” he said.

One group of new arrivals to the city he has noticed is those displaced by the fighting elsewhere.

“Just have a look at the traffic lights in Ouaga 2000 [the capital’s most affluent neighbourhood] or the Palace Hotel. There are a lot of [internally displaced people] forced to beg,” said Kabre.

Ministers talk openly about wanting to keep displaced people away from the major cities, but observers say in order for the government to address the root cause of the displacement crisis it must pull settlements in the north and east back within the security “bubble”.

In June, Kabore visited Djibo – a northern city surrounded by hostile armed groups – in an attempt to reassure citizens they had not been abandoned after a litany of attacks that have severely disrupted supply routes, among others.

A local aid worker and resident of Djibo, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said security in the city has improved somewhat in recent months. Indeed, across the whole country, the number of deaths due to conflict has been going down very slowly since March.

Asked whether he felt abandoned by the state, the aid worker replied: “More or less, as our primary needs like food and fuel are really expensive, 1000CFA (US$1.85), for one (33.8fl oz) of fuel … The government is doing a lot but they still need to improve the situation with other methods of peacekeeping … I personally think they should go for negotiation [with the armed groups].”

Soldiers from Burkina Faso patrol on the road of Gorgadji in Sahel area, Burkina Faso [File: Luc Gnago/Reuters]

Rejecting negotiations

Even though many citizens in rural areas feel disenfranchised and want to see an end to the year-long conflict, during the election campaign, Kabore said he would continue his strategy of refusing to negotiate with the fighters.

His political opponents, on the other hand, touted negotiations and, according to analysts, had even taken steps to open channels with rebel leaders.

Across the border in Mali, where some of the same armed groups have been operating for longer, the government is bringing armed group leaders to the negotiating table.

Rinaldo Depange, West Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group think-tank, said Kabore’s first term was defined by a “muscular”, confrontational approach to dealing with the armed groups.

This was in deliberate contrast to the previous government, which is believed to have prevented attacks in the country by forming a non-aggression pact with the armed groups. Deaths have increased by 8,800 percent ever since this came to an end in 2014.

“For Kabore, anything that meant negotiating [with the armed groups] would be, politically speaking, difficult to sustain and to present to his core electorate,” said Depange.

“The question now is the ability of Kabore and the government to control the vigilantes he created, especially the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland.”

Encouraging vigilantism

In January, the government passed a law allowing it to arm and train civilians as auxiliaries to the army. Human rights groups have expressed serious concerns that this will cause more violence than it prevents.

Vigilantes have already been accused of killing citizens they suspect of “terrorism”, yet made prominent appearances at Kabore’s rallies during the election campaign.

The army and military police, have also been accused of a draconian approach to justice in dealing with terror suspects, including widely reported extrajudicial killings.

Al Jazeera has received multiple reports of people, especially ethnic Fulanis, arbitrarily detained by security forces and police on dubious “terrorism” charges. No trial for such crimes has ever taken place in the country while hundreds of suspects languish in prisons.

If Kabore fails to address these issues and tackle security in his second term, some observers said there is a strong possibility he will face protests – or even a coup.

In neighbouring Mali, growing insecurity in large parts of the country contributed to former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita being overthrown earlier this year by the army in the wake of mass anti-government demonstrations.

“We can’t exclude [a coup],” said Siaka Coullibally, a Burkinabe analyst. “Burkina is familiar with them. Since 1960, the county has seen a lot of coup d’etat and political crises.”

#world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=15654&feed_id=23388 #africa #burkinafaso #news

[ladystylestores]

Cuomo demands twice weekly care home Covid-19 tests

Image copyright Getty Images

Workers at care homes in New York state must be tested for coronavirus twice a week under new rules laid out by Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo.

Care facilities that fail to meet requirements intended to stem infections will lose their operating licenses, Mr Cuomo said on Sunday.

The mandate come as New York weighs options for relaxing other lockdown measures.

Parts of the state and neighbouring region could reopen business on 15 May.

New York has been the epicentre of the US coronavirus outbreak, with 26,670 deaths and 335,395 cases as of Sunday.

The US has seen a total of 1,320,362 cases and 791,180 deaths from the virus.

What else did Mr Cuomo say?

Despite a decline in the number of new Covid-19 infections in New York from a peak last month, deaths from the illness continue to mount.

Mr Cuomo has faced particular criticism for high numbers of deaths in the state’s care homes. The US has seen more than 25,000 coronavirus deaths in elderly homes, with more than a fifth – about 5,300 – in New York, according to a count by The Associated Press. Over 100,000 elderly people live in care facilities in New York.

The governor announced new rules for care homes on Sunday, though he bristled at the suggestion that the new guidance was an acknowledgment of a flawed plan on the part of his administration.

“This virus uses nursing homes. They are ground zero. They are the vulnerable population in the vulnerable location,” he said.

Besides monitoring care home staff, hospitals can no longer discharge patients back to care homes unless they have tested negative. Any of the over 600 care facilities in New York that fail to comply would lose their licenses, Mr Cuomo said.

The announcement comes as New York moves to reopen parts of the state beginning on 15 May. To qualify, a region must have at least 14 days of declines in reported infections and be able to run 30 tests for every 1,000 residents.

The governor also reported that the state is investigating 85 cases involving children suffering from an inflammatory illness suspected of being linked to Covid.

What else is happening in the US?

The White House is working to contain coronavirus cases after a valet for President Trump, and Katie Miller, press secretary to Vice-President Mike Pence and the wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller tested positive for the virus.

Dr Anthony Fauci – the public face of the US fight against the coronavirus – is among three members of the White House task force now self-isolating after possible exposure.

Dr Fauci has tested negative.

White House virus task force members self-isolate

Obama says US virus response a ‘chaotic disaster’

A senior economic adviser to Mr Trump has said that working from the White House could be risky.

“Even with all the testing in the world and the best medical team on earth, it’s a relatively cramped place,” Kevin Hassett told CNN, adding that all administration officials have to test negative before meeting with President Trump.

“We’ve all been exposing ourselves to risks, under the best guidance we could possibly have to keep us safe,” he said. “But we’re willing to take that chance because we love our country.”

The White House has sent a memo to staff urging them to work from home, according to the Washington Post.

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[vsplusonline]

Coronavirus: Trump to invoke emergency powers to marshal medical supplies amid pandemic

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/coronavirus-trump-to-invoke-emergency-powers-to-marshal-medical-supplies-amid-pandemic/

Coronavirus: Trump to invoke emergency powers to marshal medical supplies amid pandemic

Confronting twin health and economic crises, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will invoke emergency powers to marshal critical medical supplies against a coronavirus pandemic threatening to overwhelm hospitals and other treatment centres.

The Senate acted on the economic front, approving legislation to guarantee sick leave to workers sickened by the disease.

Trump described himself as a “wartime president” as virus cases surged and the markets fell, and he took a series of extraordinary steps to steady a battered nation, its day-to-day life fundamentally altered.

READ MORE: Canada, U.S. to temporarily close border to non-essential traffic over coronavirus

Most immediately, Trump said he would employ the Defence Production Act as needed, giving the government more power to steer production by private companies and try to overcome shortages in masks, ventilators and other supplies.

Trump also said he will expand the nation’s testing capacity and deploy a Navy hospital ship to New York City, which is rapidly becoming an epicentre of the pandemic, and another such ship to the West Coast.

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The Housing and Urban Development Department will suspend foreclosures and evictions through April. A growing number of Americans face losing jobs and missing rent and mortgage payments.

But as Trump laid out efforts to steady the economy, the markets plummeted. Gone were the last of the gains that the Dow Jones Industrial Average had made since Trump took office.

0:49 Coronavirus outbreak: Trump administration to send hospital ships to New York, West Coast

Coronavirus outbreak: Trump administration to send hospital ships to New York, West Coast

Administration announcements came on a fast-moving day of developments across the nation’s capitol, its empty streets standing in contrast to the whirlwind of activity inside the grand spaces of the White House and the Capitol.

The Senate overwhelming passed a second coronavirus response bill, sending it to Trump to enact with his signature.

The vote was a lopsided 90-8 despite worries by many Republicans about a temporary new employer mandate to provide sick leave to workers who get COVID-19. The measure is also aimed at making diagnostic tests for the virus free.

Meanwhile the administration pushed forward its broad economic rescue plan, which proposes $500 billion in checks to millions of Americans, with the first checks to come April 6 if Congress approves the plan.

READ MORE: COMMENTARY: As COVID-19 spreads, the war of words between Beijing and Washington helps no one

Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jointly announced that the U.S.-Canada border would be closed, except for essential personnel and for trade. The virus is afflicting people in both countries.

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The White House urged hospitals to cancel all elective surgeries to reduce the risk of being overwhelmed by rising cases.

The president was pressed on why a number of celebrities, like professional basketball players, seemed to have easier access to diagnostic tests than ordinary citizens.

“Perhaps that’s the story of life,” Trump said. “I’ve heard that happens on occasion.”

1:46 Coronavirus outbreak: Trump to invoke Defense Production Act

Coronavirus outbreak: Trump to invoke Defense Production Act

Trump dismissed talk from his own treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, who suggested that the nation could face 20 per cent unemployment at least in the short term.

That’s an “absolute total worst case scenario,” Trump said. “We’re no way near it.”

The administration has told Americans to avoid groups of more than 10 people and the elderly to stay home while a pointed reminder was given to millennials to follow the guidelines and avoid social gatherings.

Trump likened the effort to the measures taken during World War II and said it would require national “sacrifice.”

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Global markets sink after Trump promises economic aid for COVID-19

“It’s a war,” he said. “I view it as a, in a sense, a wartime president. It’s a very tough situation.”

No long able to run for reelection on a healthy economy, he was taking on the mantle of a wartime leader after played down the severity of the crisis for weeks.

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The president also employed more nativist, us-vs-them rhetoric at the briefing, continuing his recent habit of referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus,” which has been sharply criticized as racist. “It’s not racist at all,” Trump said. “It comes from China, that’s all.”

He was asked about a report that a White House aide had referred to the virus as the “Kung flu” when talking to an Asian-American reporter and Trump did not signal disapproval of the offensive term.

1:32 White House eyes $850 billion stimulus package

White House eyes $850 billion stimulus package

The Defence Production Act gives the president a broad set of authorities to shape the domestic industrial base so that it is capable of providing essential materials and goods needed in a national security crisis.

The law allows the president to require businesses and corporations to prioritize and accept contracts for required materials and services. It also allows the president to provide incentives for the domestic industrial base to expand the production and supply of critical materials and goods, according to a March 2 report by the Congressional Research Service.

Trump also said he would soon invoke a rarely used federal statute that would enable the U.S. to tighten controls along the southwest border because of the new coronavirus, based on a recommendation of the U.S. surgeon general.

The president said the law, intended to halt the spread of communicable diseases, would give authorities “great latitude” to help control the outbreak. Earlier, U.S. officials told The Associated Press that the administration would invoke the law to immediately turn back all people who cross the border illegally from Mexico and to refuse people the right to claim asylum there.

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READ MORE: Trump shifts tone as U.S. struggles to contain coronavirus outbreak

More than eight weeks after the first U.S. case of the virus was detected, the federal government is still struggling to conduct widescale testing for the virus. Compounding the problem, laboratories are reporting shortages of key supplies needed to run tests.

Vice-President Mike Pence reiterated Wednesday that testing should give priority to those most likely to have COVID-19.

“It’s important to remember that people without symptoms should not get tested,” Pence said. “We want to make sure the supply of testing is there for those who need it most.”

Deborah Birx, who is co-ordinating the White House response, cautioned there has been a backlog of swabs waiting in labs to be tested, and as that backlog clears “we will see the number of people diagnosed dramatically increased” in the next few days.

0:35 Coronavirus outbreak: Trump defends use of term ‘Chinese Flu’ to describe COVID-19

Coronavirus outbreak: Trump defends use of term ‘Chinese Flu’ to describe COVID-19

Birx said the science discovering how long the virus can be transmissible on hard surfaces helped prompt the administration’s tightening of recommendations on social distancing. “None of us really understood the level of surface piece,” she said.

“We’re still working out how much is it by human-human transmission and how much is it by surface.” She said: “Don’t exposure yourself to surfaces outside the home.”

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

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The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

READ MORE: American coronavirus cases are where Italy was 2 weeks ago: U.S. surgeon general

Birx also renewed her call for younger people to follow federal guideline and stop meeting in groups.

She said there have been “concerning reports” from France and Italy about young people becoming seriously ill. The task force last week urged young generations to avoid going out to bars and restaurants and to not meet in groups of more than 10 people.

“We cannot have these large gatherings that continue throughout the country for people who are off work,” Birx said. She added that the federal pandemic task force so far has not seen any “significant mortality” in children.

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[yeskraim]

China looks to recovered to develop effective COVID-19 treatments

Chengdu, China – As the coronavirus spreads to every continent except Antarctica and the death toll climbs above 3,000, scientists and doctors around the world are rushing to find a way to cure the disease, COVID-19, before it infects more people and poses an even bigger challenge to global health.

The progress made by the Chinese health workers in treating the disease offers hope: more than half the patients in China where the outbreak first originated late last year have reportedly been discharged, reducing the remaining number of confirmed cases to less than 35,000.

More:

Coronavirus: All you need to know about the symptoms and risks

How does coronavirus spread and how can you protect yourself?

Coronavirus: Which countries have confirmed new cases?

China has been touting the recovery rate and offering to provide medical help to other countries in need. Foreign Minister Wang Yi called his counterparts in the hard-hit countries of Italy and Iran at the weekend to offer assistance.

Most of those who have recovered only suffered mild symptoms of the disease, but the mortality rate among the elderly and those whose infection progresses to the critical stage remains high.

That remains a significant challenge for medical workers treating COVID-19 patients, according to a doctor working at one of the leading hospitals in Wuhan who requested anonymity because the hospital management had banned its medics from talking to the media.

The overall mortality rate among the infected is approximately 2.3 percent in China. However, according to a study on early samples that was published in The Lancet, a UK-based medical journal last week the disease killed 61.5 percent of the critically ill.

“The normal procedure of treating pneumonia, such as using ventilators, putting the patients on antiviral and antibacterial treatment and using steroids, has been proven relatively ineffective in treating patients reaching the last stage of the disease,” the doctor told Al Jazeera.

A picture made available by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows a transmission electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 – also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19 – isolated from a patient in the USA. Doctors in China say the virus does not respond to traditional pneumonia treatments [NIAID- RML/National Institutes of Health via EPA]

“The unsatisfactory supply of ECMO machines and effective drugs contributed to the high mortality rate,” the doctor continued, referring to the machine that provides cardiac and respiratory support to patients whose heart and lungs are failing.

Stopping disease progression

Such concerns have been echoed by China’s National Health Commission.

Officials have stressed the importance of reducing the mortality rate among those who are more severely affected, usually people who are older or who have existing health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

“One of the main things we are trying to do at this moment is to reduce the number of patients whose conditions progress to the critically ill stage and improve the survival rate of those who have already reached that stage,” said the doctor. “To do this, we need to understand which drugs would be helpful.”

There are, so far, 293 clinical trials on various existing drugs’ ability to fight off the novel coronavirus, according to the latest data on Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Despite the usual logic of “more trials, better chance of success,” some experts have voiced concern over the sheer number of trials and how that might actually impede the research process.

“Frankly, it’s a bit ridiculous that so many clinical trials are continuing, especially given the fact that the drugs used in some trials have practically no possibility of being effective in treating this disease,” a doctor at a leading research institute in Beijing who requested anonymity told Al Jazeera.

“Consequently, it leaves less room for trials that actually have a shot at effectively treating the patients and indirectly slows down the process of finding an actual cure.”

Although there are currently no drugs that have allowed scientists to conclusively determine their efficacy against the disease, among all the 293 drugs or combination of drugs being tested, one has stood out: Remdesivir, an antiviral drug produced by the US-based pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences and aimed at fighting the Ebola virus.

“There is only one drug right now that we think may have real efficacy and that’s Remdesivir,” the World Health Organization or WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward said at a press briefing in Beijing after visiting the outbreak’s epicentre in Wuhan.

The drug made its debut in the fight against COVID-19 at the beginning of last month when a paper reporting that Remdesivir was used in the treatment of the first discharged case in the US was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Two days later, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Wuhan also started its clinical trial and the outcome is expected in April, which could offer doctors a more definite answer to the medicine’s efficacy.

Plasma donations

Gilead also announced on February 26 the initiation of two Phase 3 clinical studies to evaluate the drug’s safety and efficacy, which would include 1,000 infected adults.

Researchers around the world are working to find effective treatments and vaccines as the coronavirus spreads to nearly all continents of the world [Matteo Corner/EPA] 

Apart from Remdesivir, doctors in China are also putting a few other contenders into clinical trials, including chloroquine phosphate, an anti-malaria drug, after finding “apparent efficacy” in the treatment of COVID-19. Earlier, anti-HIV drugs, such as Lopinavir or Arbidor, were also included in China’s diagnosis and treatment plan, which has been updated six times since the outbreak began.

None of these drugs has yet been proved to be universally applicable to every patient battling the novel coronavirus.

This problem also extends to the plasma extracted from the donated blood of those who have recovered. Earlier this month, doctors confirmed the usage of the plasma had had some use in fighting the disease, but experts remain cautious. 

“Any drug or supplement options only constitute part of the entire treatment plan, so the idea of injecting the plasma to the patients yielding immediate results can only be seen in movies,” said Dr Zhang Wenhong, the leader of a medical team sent from Shanghai to Wuhan to help tackle the outbreak. “The result is limited, and the usage of plasma will probably reduce the time needed to treat the disease from five to 10 days to three to five days.”

Others are also cautious on treatments, preferring to wait until the outcome of the trials is known.

“It’s unclear how effective these drugs will be and whether we need some new drugs to effectively curb the progression of the disease, so only clinical trials can tell,” said Dr David Ho, a prominent Columbia University professor who made significant contributions to the development of anti-HIV/AIDS drugs.

Apart from making use of existing drugs, the development of a vaccine has also been put under the spotlight since a group of scientists in Shanghai first released the viral genome of the virus early in January.

Finding a vaccine

Despite a concerted effort from across the globe, experts believe it will take at least a year for any vaccine to be available to the general public.

Moderna, a biotech company based in the US, is leading the global race and released the first batch of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus for human use on February 24. In a statement, the company said the vials of mRNA-1273, the official name for the vaccine, had been shipped to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to be used in the Phase 1 study in the US.

The clinical trials will first take place at a research centre in Seattle among 45 volunteers and are expected to run 13 months with the main objective being to detect if the vaccine will trigger an immune system response and whether it is safe.

After Phase 1, clinical trials to actually test the vaccine’s ability to resist the novel coronavirus will take place. 

“The earliest efficacy trial will take an additional six to eight months, so although it is the fastest we have gone from getting the sequence of the virus to a trial, it still would not be applicable to the current epidemic unless this goes on for another year or year and a half,” Anthony Fauci, the director of NIAID, said at a news conference held by US President Donald Trump last week.

In addition to the long process of developing a vaccine from scratch, researchers also voiced concern over its fate: many suspect its development could be halted if the outbreak begins to taper off, as happened with SARS, the last large outbreak to originate in China.

“We never had a chance to test the SARS vaccines because there was no need to continue the development at that time,” Dr Zhong Nanshan, a leading pulmonary disease expert in China, said. “However, I do think it’s important to continue the effort in this case because of the fast-spreading nature of the virus and the subsequent unpredictability on how long this epidemic will last.”

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Dams and earthquakes

Introduction 

Approximately 2% of dam screw ups are stated to be due to seismic activity (foster, fell and spannagle, 2000). The enormous majority of those are small, homogeneous earth dams lots of which have Been in china, india and japan. Inside the following paragraphs comments are provided on the Vulnerability of diverse forms of dams to earthquakes. Rockfill dams with clay cores Rockfill dams with clay cores have normally completed very well in earthquakes suffering Only mild agreement. For instance, the 102 m excessive yuvacik dam in western turkey was. 

Only 10 km from the epicentre of a significance 7.4 occasion at the north anatolian fault on 17 August 1999. The best permanent effect at the dam became crest agreement of 114 mm. 

There Changed into no damage at appurtenant structures along with the consumption to the gated spillway. 

The average agreement suffered in earthquakes by means of 11 rockfill dams, for which figures are To be had, became handiest 195 mm with a maximum of 760 mm at the 156 m high zipingpu Concrete confronted rockfill dam in china. As one usually has extra than five m freeboard at properly-engineered big dams the conclusion Is that agreement in earthquakes is not likely to threaten the dam. But, there has been a Length when some rockfill dams were built without compaction. 

The 113.Five m high tikves Dam in macedonia, which turned into constructed without compaction of the rockfill, has settled via 2.Five m Without a nearby earthquake. Further full-size settlement might be expected in an Earthquake. Concrete faced rockfill dams Concrete faced rockfill dams are often seen as particularly appropriate for seismic areas. Even though The slab cracks big portions of water can leak via the rockfill with out Endangering the dam. 

The 156 m excessive zipingpu cfrd in china suffered a foundation acceleration estimated at Zero.Fifty one g inside the magnitude 7.9 wenchuan earthquake of 12 might also 2008. The crest acceleration Changed into about 2 g even though the high accelerations were in excessive frequency peaks which can also have Been due to falling rocks impacting the dam crest. There has been a few harm to the joints Between the face slabs and some superficial harm to the slabs on the crest of the dam however 

The dam changed into now not itself severely threatened. Leakage multiplied from 10.4 l/s to 18.Eight l/s and Became turbid for more than one days. There has been 760 mm settlement inclusive of that during aftershocks. The longmenshan fault, which become chargeable for the earthquake, has the bottom longterm Deformation fee as compared with other main faults of the qinghai-tibetan plateau (chen Houqun, 2009). Apart from the m 7.5 diexi earthquake of 1933, ancient Earthquakes inside the sichuan province area have not handed mw 6.5. The top certain Value of the yinxiu-beichuan area has now been expanded to eight.Zero. The intensity of shaking in this case was depending on the distance from the fault smash As opposed to the epicentral distance. This can frequently be the case in huge earthquakes where There is a protracted fault spoil – in this situation 270 km lengthy. 1 technical director, hr wallingford, oxfordshire, j.Hinks@hrwallingford.Com J hinks1 2 Concrete gravity dams Concrete gravity dams now and again showcase horizontal cracking towards the crest at the Upstream and downstream faces. 

The platanovryssi rcc dam in northern greece become Designed for no cracking within the dam faces in an acceleration of zero.38 g. This was, possibly, a Bit conservative as a few cracking is frequently widespread in an mce. The 103 m high koyna dam in india suffered such horizontal cracking in the magnitude 6.Five Earthquake of 10 december 1967. There are  thrilling things approximately this: 1. Many humans believe the earthquake was a case of reservoir prompted seismicity. 2. The cracking did no longer enlarge to the central spillway blocks where there was much less Weight at a excessive level inside the dam. Some have expressed the opinion that if the earthquake have been of slightly longer period The dam might have failed. Because it was about 180 people had been killed via the earthquake. Arch dams Arch dams have behaved nicely in earthquakes. The ambiesta arch dam in northern italy is 59 M high and changed into best 22 km from the epicentre of the gemona-friuli earthquake of 6 may 1976 (importance 6.5). The earthquake precipitated 965 deaths and damage predicted, at the Time, of usd 2.8 billion. A maximum acceleration of zero.33 g was measured at the proper Abutment. Neither the ambiesta dam nor 13 different concrete arch dams within the location suffered damage From the event; this consists of the 136 m high maina di sauris dam a few forty three km from the Epicentre. The 132 m excessive shapai rcc arch dam in china suffered bedrock acceleration of approximately zero.Five G. The reservoir was almost complete on the time however there has been no damage to the dam. The 113 m excessive pacoima arch dam in california suffered cracking at the left abutment in a Importance 6.6 event in 1971. Concrete buttress dams Buttress dams do not have a specially exact recognition with regard to earthquakes. This is In large part due to critical cracking at sefid rud dam in iran and hsingfengkiang dam in China. Notwithstanding the concerns of analysts approximately out-of-aircraft vibrations of the monoliths both of those Dams appear to have cracked in response to transverse (upstream/downstream) Accelerations. Hsingfengkiang dam is one zero five m excessive and suffered horizontal cracking sixteen m underneath the crest in An event of importance 6.1 in 1962. The sefid rud buttress dam in iran is 106 m high and Become suffering from the earthquake of june 1990 which had a magnitude of 7.3 to 7.7. It has Been expected that the pga on the dam would had been approximately zero.71 g. Foremost cracks about 10 mm wide evolved along horizontal construction joints near to the change of slope on The downstream profile. Not like at hsingfengkiang, the level of the cracks various from Monolith to monolith. At monolith 15 there was a 20 mm displacement of the crest of the dam Towards the downstream facet, with intense leakage via the crack. 

There has been additionally a few Relative motion among buttresses. Earthfill dams The primary point approximately earthfill dams is that one have to be very concerned approximately the hazard of Liquefaction in the dam or foundations. J hinks1 3 It's far regularly stated that ‘no properly-built embankment dam has ever failed because of seismic action’. Of path it's miles all a be counted of definition. What is the definition of failure and what's the Definition of nicely constructed? In reality plenty of embankment dams have failed as a result of earthquakes. 145 dams failed in japan in the nihon-kai-chubu earthquake in 1983 the definition of failure Was: • sliding of slope • longitudinal crack more than 50 mm extensive • transverse crack • crest settlement more than 300 mm • leakage of water A number of those ‘disasters’ won't have involved a catastrophic release of water despite the fact that they Could likely have required reconstruction of the dam. In this it is really worth noting that Irrigation reservoirs can also most effective be complete for a quick time on the begin of the irrigation season each 12 months and that ‘failure’ will often not lead to a catastrophic launch of water. Till march eleven, 2011 no human beings have died from the failure or damage of a huge water ( alternatively Than tailings ) garage dam because of earthquake. But, all through the value 9.Zero tohoku Earthquake in japan in 2011 an 18.Five m high embankment dam failed and the flood wave Created by the discharge of the reservoir induced the lack of 8 lives 330 earthfill dams had been Damaged in china in an earthquake in 1976. There are different dams that might be referred to such as the 245 broken within the 1991 Gujarat earthquake in india. Damage at a number of the dams changed into pretty serious despite the fact that the Earthquake fortuitously happened on 25 january whilst water tiers have been normally low. Among the dams damaged, in china and japan, have been of simplest modest peak. The reference to nicely-built dams no longer failing appears to head returned to h. Bolton seed’s 1979 Rankine lecture however it's far really worth quoting his phrases in full. What he said changed into: ‘surely any properly-constructed dam on a company basis can resist slight earthquake Shaking, say with a top acceleration of about zero.2 g, and not using a unfavourable consequences’. Among the dams stated above in all likelihood suffered accelerations properly in excess of 0.2 g But the reference to properly-built dams is a bit risky. The time to determine whether or not a dam Changed into well constructed can be after the earthquake as opposed to earlier than it. Nicely-designed dams with wide filters are generally taken into consideration precise for earthquakes. Sadly the filters tend to be luxurious and there is not a whole lot of posted advice at the Desirable thickness of filters. 

It's miles really worth citing that inside the 1906 san francisco earthquake, which had a significance of Eight.25, there were 33 earth dams inside fifty six km of the fault and 15 inside eight km. It seems in all likelihood That each one these dams have been subjected to floor motions having height ground accelerations More than 0.25 g and that those inside 8 km probable experienced accelerations more Than approximately 0.6 g. Yet none of those antique dams suffered any full-size damage. In his 1979 Rankine lecture seed mentioned that the slopes were fairly steep (generally 1:2 to one:three) and That the dams had typically been compacted by using transferring cattle or with the aid of teams and wagons. He introduced that they have been all constructed of clayey soils on rock or clayey soil foundations. Dams have been built largely of sand but this was seemingly not saturated.

[yeskraim]

China coronavirus outbreak: All the latest updates

The coronavirus is spreading in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world, even as parts of China begin to lower their emergency response level as the number of new cases reported there continues to slow.

More deaths have been reported in Italy, while South Korea on Wednesday said an 11th person had died of the disease there. The country now has at least 1,146 cases of coronavirus after 169 more infections were confirmed, most of them in and around the city of Daegu. 

“There is widespread concern,” said Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride who is in Seoul. “It is changing the way people live their lives – you have people working from home and students working online rather than going to classes. The country is going through extraordinary times.” 

Globally, at least 80,000 people have been diagnosed with the illness. 

More:

WHO raises alarm as virus spreads in parts of Middle East, Europe

South Korea raises alert level to highest over virus

Iraq extends ban on Iran arrivals amid coronavirus fears

Here are the latest updates:

Wednesday, 26 February

Guatemala on ‘maximum alert’ over coronavirus

Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei has declared a “maximum alert” to the possible arrival of coronavirus to the country, saying medicinal supplies are fully available at local hospitals.

Giammattei also confirmed that there are no infected cases at the moment, although he explained that there is a family in quarantine after returning to Guatemala from South Korea.

“Better safe than sorry,” Giammattei said.

Philippines imposes travel ban on S Korea’s North Gyeongsang

The Philippines barred travellers from South Korea’s coronavirus-impacted North Gyeongsang province from entering the country.

Philippine presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told a media briefing the government will also conduct a risk assessment within 48 hours to determine if the travel ban needs to be expanded to other parts of South Korea.

El Salvador to bar entry of foreign nationals from Italy, S Korea

El Salvador will bar the entry of foreign nationals arriving from Italy and South Korea to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than a thousand people worldwide, President Nayib Bukele said.

Salvadoran nationals and diplomats who arrive from these countries will have to spend 30 days in quarantine, Bukele wrote on his Twitter account.

Iran: Virus could spread across the nation

Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told reporters in Tehran the outbreak was “likely” to spread to provinces so far unaffected “soon”.

He said Iran hoped to contain the virus before the Persian new year, which starts on March 20.

“A more pessimistic prospect is that we will reach the containment phase by late April,” Jahanpour added.

Kazakhstan to suspend Iran flight routes

Kazakhstan plans to suspend flights to and from Iran from March 1 because of the spread of coronavirus in the Gulf nation, Kazakhstan’s chief sanitary doctor, Zhandarbek Bekshin.

Kazakhstan will also reduce the number of flights to and from South Korea, another country with a large number of coronavirus cases, he told a briefing.

No coronavirus in Turkish citizens returning from Iran

Turkish citizens returning from Iran amid coronavirus fears tested negative for the disease, said the health minister.

A total of 132 Turkish citizens arrived in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Tuesday after they were evacuated from Iran where 15 deaths from coronavirus were confirmed so far. The evacuees are in 14-day quarantine in a hospital.

Addressing a news conference, Koca said there are no confirmed coronavirus cases in Turkey so far thanks to the effective measures against the disease.

UAE says equipped for ‘worst-case scenarios’

The United Arab Emirates is “well prepared and equipped for the worst-case scenarios” as the coronavirus spreads in the Middle East, an official from the UAE National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority told Reuters news agency.

The UAE has enough facilities to quarantine patients and relevant bodies have been instructed to undertake “complete surveillance of all people entering the country”, the official said.

Pompeo: Iran may have suppressed vital COVID-19 details

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that Iran may have covered up information about the spread of coronavirus there, and he accused China of mishandling the epidemic through its “censorship” of media and medical professionals.

“The United States is deeply concerned by information indicating the Iranian regime may have suppressed vital details about the outbreak in that country,” Pompeo told reporters as Iran’s coronavirus death toll rose to 16.

“All nations, including Iran, should tell the truth about the coronavirus and cooperate with international aid organizations,” Pompeo said.

Qatar Airways lowers Iran flight frequency

Qatar Airways said on Twitter that it has lowered the frequency of its flights to Iran.

Brazil reports first possible case of coronavirus

A 61-year-old man from Sao Paolo who recently returned from Italy is being tested for coronavirus, Brazil’s health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The man travelled to Lombardy – the epicentre of the Italian outbreak – from February 9 – 21- and had developed symptoms including a sore throat and fever, the ministry said.

If the case is confirmed, it will be the first in South America.

Thailand reports three new coronavirus cases

Thailand reported three new cases of a coronavirus on Wednesday, taking total infections to 40, a health ministry official said.

Two of the new patients, all Thai nationals, had returned from holidays in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido and came into contact with the third, said Sukhum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary at the ministry.

Dozens allowed off Japan virus-hit ship have ‘symptoms’: minister

Dozens of passengers who were allowed off the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship have developed symptoms including fever and will be asked to take tests for the coronavirus, Japan’s health minister said on Wednesday.

Around 970 passengers were allowed off the boat last week after testing negative for the virus, but several have subsequently been found to be carrying the disease.

Passengers were allowed off the Diamond Princess cruise ship, quarantined at the Daikoku Pier in Yokohama, last week. Some have now been found to have coronavirus symptoms [Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images]

The ministry found “45 people had certain symptoms,” health minister Katsunobu Kato told parliament.

“We asked all of them (who have symptoms) to see a doctor and to take tests,” Kato said.

Kuwait bans foreign ships – except oil tankers – to fight virus

Kuwait has barred foreign ships, except those carrying oil, from several countries to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to a notice seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The notice, dated February 25, banned vessels from and to South Korea, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Iraq.

US military reports South Korea virus case

An American soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, commanders said on Wednesday.

The soldier, a 23-year-old man, is the first confirmed infection among the 28,500 US troops stationed in the south.

Based at Camp Carroll 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Daegu, the serviceman has been put in self-quarantine at his home, US Forces Korea said, adding it was conducting “contact tracing” to determine whether other soldiers had been exposed.

Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture seeks closure of schools

The board of education in Japan’s northern Hokkaido prefecture will seek to close all public elementary and junior high schools for a few days starting from Thursday, Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.

Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, has confirmed a total of 35 coronavirus cases – the highest number outside Tokyo. A number of them have been discovered in people who have strong links to schools, including students, teachers, school bus drivers, and cafeteria workers.

San Francisco declares emergency over coronavirus

San Francisco declared a local emergency over the coronavirus on Tuesday, despite having no cases, as US officials urged Americans to prepare for the spread of infections within their communities.

Volunteers in protective suits are sprayed with disinfectant in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak [China Daily via Reuters]

California’s fourth-largest city said it made the move to boost its coronavirus preparedness and raise public awareness of risks the virus may spread to the city.

“Although there are still zero confirmed cases in San Francisco residents, the global picture is changing rapidly, and we need to step-up preparedness,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

Kuwait reports two new coronavirus cases, taking total to 11

Kuwait announced on Wednesday there were two new coronavirus cases in the country, with the infections occurring among people returning from Iran.

The new cases bring the total number to 11 in Kuwait, according to a statement from the health ministry.

Mainland China reports 406 new cases of coronavirus, 52 more deaths

Mainland China had 406 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the country’s National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 78,064.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China rose to 2,715 as of the end of Tuesday, up by 52 from the previous day, the commission said.

The central province of Hubei, epicentre of the outbreak, reported 401 new cases on February 25 compared with 499 cases a day earlier.

South Korea-China flight quarantined: State media

A flight from the South Korean capital of Seoul to the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing was quarantined on Wednesday after three passengers were found to have a fever, state media reported.

The plane was carrying 94 passengers.

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in visited the hard-hit city of Daegu on Tuesday, as infections in the country spread [Yonhap via Reuters]

Three more Chinese regions lower emergency response level 

China’s northwestern regions of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang and the southwestern province of Sichuan have lowered their emergency response level after assessing that health risks from the coronavirus outbreak have receded, state media reported.

China has a four-tier response system for public health emergencies that determines what measures a region will implement, with level I the most serious.

Sichuan announced it would adjust its measures from level I to level II, while Inner Mongolia will change from level I to level III, state news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday.

Xinjiang, home to China’s Muslim Uighur population, also reduced its emergency response level from I to II after reporting no new cases for seven consecutive days, the official local news portal, the Tianshan Daily, said on Wednesday.

Air Canada extends flight suspension to Chinese cities, citing virus

Air Canada announced on Tuesday it was extending its suspension of flights between Canada and the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai until April 10 because of the coronavirus.

Flights from Canada to the two cities were temporarily suspended from January 30 until the end of February after the foreign ministry advised Canadians against non-essential travel to China.

Air Canada usually offers direct flights from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to Beijing and Shanghai.

The airline also extended the suspension of daily flights to Hong Kong from Toronto until April 30, citing “reduced market demand”. 

Flights to and from Taipei “remain unaffected,” according to the company’s website.

Malaysia brings home more citizens from Wuhan

A second group of Malaysians arrived home on Wednesday morning after the country ran a second evacuation flight from Wuhan.

The 66 Malaysians and their family members were met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and will remain in quarantine for 14 days.

pic.twitter.com/xtUrh9jagQ

— KKMPutrajaya (@KKMPutrajaya) February 25, 2020 

Read updates from Tuesday, February 25 here.

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Recipe for solidarity: How Indian protesters are being fed

New Delhi, India – A group of Sikh farmers from the northern state of Punjab arrived at New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, picked a spot under a pedestrian bridge, and began to unpack its wares – a gas stove, huge utensils, and provisions – and fired up a community kitchen, or “langar”.

Shaheen Bagh is the epicentre of ongoing protests, led by Muslim women, against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), an amendment to Indian citizenship law 1955 that is seen as anti-Muslim.

More:

Microsoft CEO Nadella criticises India’s citizenship law

India’s Sikhs rally against new citizenship law

‘Go back Modi’: India protesters condemn PM’s visit to Kolkata

The Sikhs, helped by the protesting women who rolled “chapati” (bread) for them while continuing their sit-in, prepared breakfast and lunch for more than a 1,000 people, including children, protesting against the CAA, which was passed last month.

The new law aims to grant Indian citizenship to “persecuted” minorities from Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan while blocking naturalisation for Muslims.

Muslims see their exclusion from the law that makes religion the basis of citizenship as yet another attempt by the Narendra Modi government to “marginalise” them.

Coupled with a proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), the community fears the moves are intended to strip millions of Indian Muslims of their citizenship. Poeple from other disadvantaged caste and gender identities, as well as women, are vulnerable before NRC.

Since December 11 when the law was passed, millions of citizens across India have rallied against the CAA despite prohibitory orders and a brutal police crackdown, in which at least 28 people have been killed. 

‘An act of kindness’

Marching alongside the protesters, with no pomp or waving banners, is an army of people providing them with food and beverages.

Demonstrators carry placards and hold candles during a silent protest against the new citizenship law at Jama Masjid in old Delhi [File: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]

At New Delhi’s India Gate – the iconic World War I memorial – on a windy December evening, the mercury dropped to a chilly 13 degrees Celsius. But that did not deter 44-year-old Mohammad Fuaad from leaning on a yellow police barricade and calling out to passers-by, holding out a rectangular packet.

“Biryani le leejiye, Sir, veg biryani (Please have biryani, Sir, it’s vegetarian biryani),” he called out, assuring people that the rice had been cooked with potatoes instead of meat, to avoid any trouble at a time when meat and the eating of it has become deeply polarised in light of rising Hindu nationalism under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Fuaad was not trying to sell his biryani, he was offering it for free. In a space barricaded before the British-era monument, thousands of protesters were reading the preamble to the Indian constitution on a loop.

Sikh community people are preparing kheer for the Shaheen Bagh protesters. Unity in diversity.#महानऔरते_शहीनबागकी pic.twitter.com/coJx1NI4CL

— Shahnawaz (@Shahnaw12973537) January 16, 2020

“You know, a dark law has been brought in to threaten India’s unity and integrity, and students from across the universities are standing up against it,” said Kamran Khan, Fuaad’s colleague from Khidmat Foundation, a social welfare collective.

“We have come here to support them in this mission,” Khan, who lived in the older part of the Indian capital, told Al Jazeera.

At approximately 8pm, when police asked the protesters to wrap up, Khidmat’s 80 kilogrammes (176 pounds) of biryani were almost finished. Its fiery aroma lingered and met that of a winter comfort few metres away: “Chai langar” or tea offering by members of Khalsa Aid, a Sikh charity organisation.

“At a protest like this where people are there regardless [of their identities], I saw this as an act of kindness,” said 26-year-old Manpreet Kaur, who works as a travel agent.

Community bonds

Amarpreet Singh, Khalsa Aid’s managing director in the Asia Pacific region, told Al Jazeera it was the brutal police violence at two predominantly Muslim institutions – New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia university (JMI) and Uttar Pradesh state’s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) – that caused them to step in.

In near-simultaneous attacks on the evening of December 15, police stormed the two campuses 130km (80 miles) apart, firing tear gas and live ammunition, attacking students with batons, and vandalising property. More than 100 students were wounded in the attacks, one losing an eye and another a limb. Students at both universities had been protesting against CAA.

Demonstrators shout slogans as they attend a protest rally against CAA in southern Indian city of Kochi [Sivaram V/Reuters]

Ishita Dey, food anthropologist and assistant professor of sociology at New Delhi’s South Asian University, told Al Jazeera that food is one of the oldest forms showing solidarity across communities.

“From natural disasters to conflict situations, the first thing you distribute is food,” she said.

In India, Dey said there is “resistance to partaking of food” between different communities because of the “rules of inter-dining, specifically prohibitions around exchange of water and cooked food”.

But the anti-CAA protesters are subverting such ideas, thereby challenging the divisive rhetoric of Prime Minister Modi.

‘Protest is a tiring thing’

Ghazala Meer is a 26-year-old woman from the Ladakh region (it was carved out of Indian-administered Kashmir in August) participating in protests across New Delhi.

“To go to a protest is a very tiring thing, it’s not something you would do for fun. You identify with a certain set of ideas and go stand for them,” she told Al Jazeera.

Meer said the availability of food at such protests brings a sense of comfort and togetherness. “It isn’t just for a certain group of people, but for everybody,” said Meer.

Activist Umar Khalid, who is frequently seen demonstrating, said it is not unusual for people to offer food to protesters, but the scale of support in the ongoing protests is unprecedented.

“Because the attack is on the very citizenship of every citizen of this country, everyone wants to contribute,” he told Al Jazeera.

At Shaheen Bagh, hundreds of female protesters are shaking up India’s traditional domestic makeup as they brave New Delhi’s coldest winter in a century, standing at the front of resistance while men support from the sidelines, cooking and caring for them.

A dozen men in their early 20s are watching over a huge pot bubbling with “secular chai (tea)”. A banner hangs over their spot: ‘Secular Chai – Made in India’.

Ajaz Ahmad, 23, said their branding of the tea is a protest against Modi, who had based his 2014 election campaign on the claim that he worked as a tea-seller in his childhood.

“Chaiwaley, teri chai unsecular hai (Tea-seller, your tea is unsecular),” Ahmad said.

Hesitant to claim credit

However, many of those offering food and beverages are hesitant to claim credit.

Khidmat’s Kamran Khan said about his support: “It would be like getting a finger sliced and being counted as a martyr,” suggesting that his was a modest contribution to the movement.

On December 19 at New Delhi’s iconic protest site, Jantar Mantar, 28-year-old artist Daamini K was offered bottled water and bananas by a man in his 30s.

“I asked who is it by and he said, ‘it is by all of us’,” she told Al Jazeera.

The same day, Mumbai-based writer-photographer Anagh Mukherjee was offered water by a middle-aged man when he was marching with tens of thousands of people.

“I was really moved by the gesture because they were doing it to keep everyone charged,” Mukherjee said.

In West Bengal state’s North 24 Parganas district, anti-CAA protesters made food their mode of protest by blocking off a section of the highway and cooking biryani on an industrial scale.

Not all gestures are that large, 36-year old researcher Anusha Pandey (name changed upon her request) carried biscuits with her to a protest, anticipating detention by police in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city. She did end up being detained, along with 200 others.

“I ate and distributed them [biscuits] among the fellow detainees – just two, three packets, nothing very large scale,” Pandey said.

The recipe for protest food

Protest food involves money; the logistics of preparing, sourcing and transporting food; and its distribution. Individuals, collectives, and strangers banding together are the spine of this protest infrastructure.

For nearly a month now, Mohamad Anas, a former student at Jamia Millia Islamia, has not gone to work at his disability rights advocacy organisation. He spends nearly 4,000 rupees daily to supply 30 litres (8 gallons) of tea at the protest outside one of the university’s gates.

Anas has a locomotor disability and utilises his specialised four-wheeled scooter to hold the large steel containers in which he fetches tea from sellers in nearby Sukhdev Vihar. His friends help too.

“I do whatever my financial condition allows to ensure that students here can protest peacefully and with ease,” Anas told Al Jazeera. He also offers tea to more than 150 police and paramilitary personnel stationed there.

Abdul Rahman, a 42-year-old baker, is funding his food drive through Nawa-e-Haque, a social welfare organisation he is part of. Neighbours contribute in kind for the protest food he prepares at his bakery.

“I come here [to the Jamia protest] around 4pm every day since I saw the kids injured and hungry at the hospitals on the night of December 15,” said Rahman, his voice cracking and tears streaming down his face. He gestured to say he could not speak any more.

His colleague’s 17-year-old son Saadiq Ghazi takes over. Ghazi has taken time off his grade 12 exam preparations to help with the protests.

“Between my father’s five friends and their sons, we’re a team of 10-15 people on any day,” he said.

Others like Bushra Khan run crowdfunding efforts. A shoebox acts as a donation box, with a jagged slot cut into the cardboard; it sits on the table she serves tea and snacks from at the Jamia gate.

Back at Shaheen Bagh, where a round-the-clock protest by women has become emblematic of the anti-CAA and NRC movement, area residents have come together.

When 45-year-old Hussain Khan, who reserves his food support for specific groups – women, children, the elderly, artists, and journalists – realises that his biscuit carton has lightened, he waves to 18-year-old Amaan Saifi to go buy another carton.

“We’re both from Shaheen Bagh but I didn’t know him before these protests,” Saifi told Al Jazeera.

At India Gate, as Fuaad packs off his empty biryani containers, he reveals his reason for charity and solidarity with the protesting students.

“When they are in positions of power in future, I believe they will be more involved with humanitarian causes.”

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