International News: 2020/09/19
ASIA
-Coronavirus
Total Cases: Cross 9.2 million
Total Deaths: About 173K
-China: An official with the CDC(the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) has told that the coronavirus vaccines the country is developing could be ready for use by the general public as early as November. Phase three clinical trials were going smoothly and the vaccines could be ready for use by the general public in November or December, CDC chief biosafety expert Guizhen Wu said on Monday.
(Note: Wu took an experimental vaccine herself in April and said she has experienced no abnormal symptoms, but did not specify which vaccines she was referring to. China has four vaccines in the final stage of clinical trials, and at least three have been offered to essential workers under an emergency use programme lauched in July.)
-Japan: Yoshihide Suga, 71, was elected as Japan's prime minister on Wednesday. "According to the results, our house has decided to name Yoshihide Suga as prime minister", lower house speaker Tadamori Oshima told parliament after the votes were counted.
Suga is a former prime minister Shinzo Abe's long-time right hand man. He said he will pursue many of Abe's policies, including his signature 'Abenomics'(economic strategy of monetary easing fiscal stimulus and structural reforms) and has promised to expand COVID-19 testing and source vaccines next year. "People think I'm terribly scary, especially bureaucrats", he said during one of the leadership debates. "But I am very kind.......to those who works seriously."
(Note: Abe announced his resignation last month due to ill health after 8 years in the job, making him Japan's longest serving prime minister.)
NORTH AMERICA
-Coronavirus
Total Cases: Cross 8.2 million
Total Deaths: About 296K
-USA: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has confirmed the passing of his father William Henry Gates Sr at the age of 94. The elder Gates suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
"Gates Sr passed way peacefully at home.....,surrounded by his family", Bill Gates annouced on Tuesday. "His wisdom, generosity, empathy and humility had a huge influence on people around the world", Gates Jr added, noting his father's legal advice helped him and Paul Allen establish Microsoft, but also aided Howard Schultz with Starbucks, another Seattle start up that has since become a global phenomenon.
[Note: William Henry Gates Sr served in the US army for three years during World-War II. After the war, Gates attended the University of Washington under the G.I. Bill, earning a B.A in 1949 and J.D. degree in 1950. He co-founded the law firm Shidler McBroom & Gates (later become Preston Gates & Ellis LLP) in 1964 and practiced with the firm until 1988.]
SOUTH AMERICA
-Coronavirus
Total Cases: Cross 7.4 million
Total Deaths: About 235K
-Brazil: The Brazilian Football Confederation says it agreed in March to pay women's national team players the same as on the men's side. Brazil thus becomes one of the few countries to adopt an equal pay policy for both women's and men's football. "The CBF has equaled the prize money and allowances between men's and women's football, which means the women players will earn the same as men", said Rogerio Caboclo , President of Brazil's football association CBF. "There's no more gender difference, because CBF is treating men and women equally".
The new measures allow the countries' lesser known female players to receive the same compensation and prize money as international sporting stars Neymar Jr, Thiago Silva, Roberto Firmino and others. This comes months after a judge in the United States dismissed the US women's team's lawsuit calling for equal pay.
(Note: Some other countries that pay both national teams equally are Australia, Norway and New Zealand)
EUROPE
-Coronavirus
Total Cases: 4.3 million
Total Deaths: About 215K
-Sweden: Leading scientists in Stockholm are working on a treatment involving Llams and Alpacas such as Tyson in the fight against COVID-19. "Tyson has the antibodies against SARS-COVID-2 virus", explained Dr. Gerald Mclnerney, Associate Professor of Virology at the Karolinska Institue. "Camels ,Alpacas and Llamas and other animals from that family have special, small single-chain antibodies. Tiny antibodies they've proved can block COVID-19."
The institute is studying how to put these tiny antibodies on cells, blocking the virus from getting in and to stop patients from developing the disease. From Alpaca blood samples researchers can clone antibodies together in the laboratory. They hope to produce a short term treatment, most likely as a mouth spray or inhaler. "We are very excited that we have something that's very functional", said Dr. Mclnerney.
AFRICA
-Coronavirus
Total Cases: Cross 1.3 million
Total Deaths: About 33K
-Central African Republic(CAR): While a particular focus has been placed on infection, prevention and control measures to identify and isolate people with suspected cases of COVID-19, another deadly disease has a much heavier impact on the lives of people in Batangafo -town of 31,000 people. September is the rainy season when malaria becomes more deadly than ever in CAR each year. It is the leading cause of deaths for children under five in the country.
Since the beginning of the year, Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) teams have treated 39,631 malaria cases in Batangafo. This year 1074 children under five have been admitted to the hospital because of malaria: 28 of them did not survive. "Because he caught malaria, my son is very weak, and the doctors said he is anaemic. I am so afraid to lose him", says Chancella Gbtoum, mother of five-year old child. To mitigate the impact of this deadly disease and protect the community, MSF launched a targeted campaign of preventive treatment, also known as mass drug administration for malaria, at the beginning of the rainy season. In order to reach a maximum number of people and to make sure that people understood the importance of this initiative, the campaign was run in three stages.
๐First, the MSF team raised awareness of the campaign with the help of community leaders and by broad-casting spots on the local radio.
๐Next, the team went door-to-door to distribute the preventative treatment.
๐And finally, they returned to each household to check if people had taken the treatment and to identify any side effects.
By taking the medication to people in their own homes, they avoided the risk of crowds gathering at distribution sites and potentially spreading COVID-19. The MSF teams also adopted protective measures such as wearing masks and keeping a safe distance between individuals.
Residents of Batangafo were eager to protect themselves and their family members from a disease which has already killed many children in their community." I am pregnant, and I do not want to get malaria. It is dangerous for my future child", says Felice." I know I am vulnerable, and I need to take this treatment."
OCEANIA
-Coronavirus
Total Cases: Cross 30K
Total Deaths: About 870
-Australia: Sunday marked two months since Prime Minister Scott Morrison introduced a cap(limitation) of just under 4,000 international arrivals per week. He made the move in response to the country's second coronavirus wave. The limitation has resulted in a barrage and backlog of canceled flights, with ticket prices sky-rocketing. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says at least 25,000 Australians, many of who are financially and medically vulnerable, have registered their need to come home since July. However, the Board of Airline Representative of Australia estimates the true number of those stranded is closer to 100,000.
No job, no visa, no health care- and barred from returning home. This powder keg of misfortunes is the current reality for tens of thousands off expats(persons who live outside their native country). Australians abroad feel abandoned by their government during the coronavirus pandemic. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham criticized that citizens should have returned in the early stages of the pandemic. "If you wanted to come back you should have already come back in most circumstances", said Birmingham.
A number of Australians currently stranded abroad told that while the government did urge citizens to return home in March, it was a message aimed at short-term travelers. Those who had a permanent job, home and savings were advised by their consulates to stay. No one in March could predict the trajectory the pandemic would take, nor the impact it would have on their lives.
๐For Stephen Spencer in Abu-Dhabi, returning to Australia in March would've meant quitting his job, uprooting his kids' education and abandoning his house- with nothing secured on the other side. Spencer and his wife Kate choose the most stable option for their kids, which was to stay in Abu-Dhabi. Several months later, Spencer lost his job and is now struggling to get his family home. As the sponsor of his wife and teenagers, once he cancels their visas( an act he must do before they leave), they will have just 30 days to exit the country. "If we are unable to get on a flight to Australia, we are effectively living as refugees, with no legal rights to remain in the UAE and a home country that will not allow us to return", he explained. "I cannot believe how quickly the Australian government abandoned its citizens overseas.
๐Sarah Tasneem was living in Canada when the coronavirus caused the world to go into hibernation. She had a stable job and was undergoing the process of permanent residency. However, her application was canceled by the Canadian government in June, resulting in the loss of employment. She is now running out of money and is unable to work while she fights to get home. "I am worried. I will eventually face deportation", Tasneem said. "I am running out of time". She has been advised by her embassy to take money out of her retirement fund. It was an option made available to all Australians earlier in the year, however, is not one she feels comfortable with. "I feel like they've forgotten us", she said.
๐Carmelia Clampa also feels like she's been left to fend for herself. Late last year, she traveled with her youngest son to Italy to care for her mother, Rosa, who had been diagnosed with cancer. Her husband and eldest son stayed in Australia. Refusing to leaver her mother on her death-bed, Clampa, stayed in Italy through the beginning of the pandemic. Last month, her mother passed away and Clampa has since been unable to reunite with her family due to flight limitation. "My son asked me to try to get to Australia by boat, and I actually looked at whether I could travel by cargo ship", Clampa described of her desperation to return home.
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