COVID-19 ongoing thread part 2

[mr friendly guy]

Let's divert this away from Mr friendly guy's happy dance over people dying.

I am pleased that some of the stories about poor Chinese testing kits turn out to be false and due to operator error, and you interpret that as I am happy over people dying, even though better testing kits actually help save lives. Well ok, with your talents I am not sure why you waste your time posting here. You can write for Western media.

[Broomstick]

UPI

McDonald's workers striking Wednesday over COVID-19 conditions... [trimmed for brevity]

I hope they get it.

Here's a big problem: In ANY business that involves many multiple instances of face-to-face close proximity interactions with teh public you will NOT be able to eliminate all risk. Can't be done. Hell, even if you did provide tyvek bunny suits and scuba-type breathing gear good luck getting the average, untrained worker to wear that shit properly for even an hour, much less an entire shift.

If you're going to do that sort of "essential work" in the "front lines" you will unavoidably be running some risk.

Hey, I do it every damn day I go to work. Or at least every day I run a cash register.

I find it fucking frustrating that numbers of people who do not wear even a rudimentary mask. Who wipe their noses/lick their fingers then try to hand me money. My co-workers who just can not keep their damn mouths and noses covered. People who stand too close. And I'm sure I screw up from time to time, too, touching/adjusting my mask without thinking about it until too late.

And yet, we need people to work in the grocery stores and for the delivery services and so forth (for McDonald's I'm not so sure about...)

People can bitch all they want, strike as often as they want, but those work environments are simply not going to be entirely safe no matter what we do.

So let's talk about what to do about it. Make it easier for people to NOT take that risk, for whatever reason - meaning if you quit you can get unemployment just like someone laid off, without it being held against you later. Higher pay in compensation. Guarantees that if you do get sick you'll get medical care and/or your heirs will be taken care of if you die. And, yes, absolutely every employee gets PPE. But let's not pretend PPE is going to provide 100% protection. It's not. If you work in a grocery store, or as a gig worker delivering stuff, or the rest of it you ARE going to be running a risk.

[FaxModem1]

Meanwhile, Oklahoma shows why being in a red state sucks

Oklahoman

Nearly 200 evictions filed Monday as Oklahoma County courthouse reopens
Kayla Branch
by KAYLA BRANCH
Published: Wed, May 20, 2020 1:37 PM

When the Oklahoma County courthouse reopened Monday, almost 200 new eviction cases were filed.

With 191 cases filed Monday and over 100 more since, it took only three days for over half as many evictions to be filed as were filed in total over the last two months, according to Open Justice Oklahoma, a program with the Oklahoma Policy Institute that is tracking evictions in the state.Total cases filed in Oklahoma County since March 15 number over 740 as of Wednesday, according to the court tracker.

Filings slowed down during the pandemic since the court was not open to hear cases, but lawyers, advocates and social service agencies previously said they expect evictions to skyrocket.

And while there is a backlog of cases relating to pre-pandemic problems, a chunk of the cases filed Monday and docketed to be heard next Tuesday are over non-payment of rent from the last two months.Many have already started preparing for an increase in homelessness as Oklahomans struggle to pay bills during the COVID-19 pandemic. “For months and months and months this will be a problem,” Homeless Alliance Director Dan Straughan previously said. “The system is not equipped, not equipped to handle that.”The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office announced on Twitter Tuesday that it would resume eviction enforcement, also known as lockouts, next week.

Texas will probably be doing the same soon.

Texas Tribune

Renters prepare for tough choices as eviction proceedings resume in Texas
Unemployment has disproportionately affected renters since the crisis began. Advocates fear displacement and an increase in homelessness.

BY JUAN PABLO GARNHAM MAY 19, 20205 AM

REPUBLISH
An old apartment complex within view of the ship channel refineries on the north side of Pasadena.
An apartment complex in Pasadena. While Harris County's eviction moratorium is still in place, many Texans behind on their rent after the coronavirus' economic downturn could soon face eviction. Photo credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune
Coronavirus in Texas
As the coronavirus spreads across the state, The Texas Tribune is covering the most important health, economic and breaking developments that affect Texans, every day. Watch our Texas unemployment tracker, use our explainer on the coronavirus for essential information, and visit our map tracker for the number of cases, deaths and tests in Texas. MORE IN THIS SERIES
Editor's note: This has been updated to reflect that Phoenix Morgaine received an eviction citation after the story originally published.

Phoenix Morgaine doesn't want to move, but a “for rent” sign has been in the front yard of her Belton home for more than a month. Her landlord had already left a notice to vacate in her door at the start of April and on Tuesday was served with an eviction citation. As the coronavirus pandemic swept across Texas, her pet-sitting business almost fully stopped, and she was making a third of what she normally earned.

It wasn't enough to pay her rent.

“I told him, ‘I’m sorry this is happening, it’s out of our control,’” Morgaine said.

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But the landlord insisted that she had to leave even though the Texas Supreme Court had halted eviction proceedings statewide since March 19. But last week, the state's highest civil court allowed eviction proceedings to resume starting Tuesday.

Morgaine, who pays her rent on the 23rd of each month, will owe $1,650 in rent plus utilities and other fees as of Saturday. The statewide eviction moratorium gave Morgaine some assurance that she wasn’t going to be forced out of her home during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the local authorities in Bell County, where she resides, haven’t been explicit in banning evictions. But as soon as the moratorium was lifted, she was served with papers.

Now she's among an unknown number of Texans facing eviction during a public health crisis and its parallel economic downturn. Housing advocates are warning that with more than 1.9 million Texans filing for unemployment relief in the last two months, eliminating eviction protections for renters could soon lead to an increase in homelessness.

“This puts a lot of renters in an even more difficult place than they were before, having to make difficult decisions between getting food on their table or a roof over their heads,” said Heather K. Way, director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic at the University of Texas Law School. “There will be many people losing their housing, as they have fallen through the cracks of the different and limited eviction protections available.”

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The number of people who could be impacted by lifting the eviction moratoriums is not known because there's no data available yet to understand who is covered by the patchwork of regulations existing in the state. But Way said affordable housing was already scarce in Texas and that renters have been disproportionately affected by the economic crisis created by COVID-19.

“There’s easily thousands of households,” Way said. “There’s people suffering since March, but there’s also new people getting laid off.”

Officials at the Texas Apartment Association, whose 12,000 members include around 7,500 property owners and operators, said that landlords are also having to deal with the pressures caused by the crisis.

“For our members, evictions are always going to be a measure of last resource, and we are recommending them to work with residents that have been impacted by COVID-19. If a resident is having problems paying rent, we hope they reach out to landlords to work with them,” said David Mintz, vice president of government affairs with the Texas Apartment Association. “Property owners need to keep running properties, pay employees, vendors, mortgages, utilities and all the other expenses. There really has to be this balance that we need to meet.”

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Renters at risk of being evicted have to make a tough decision: either leave on their own and try to find housing with limited or no money, or spending money fighting the eviction through a complicated legal process. If they don't leave on their own — or if they fight and still lose — they could end up having an eviction record that could damage their credit score.

“It’s a pretty quick process, and it is hard to navigate as a renter, especially since we have this patchwork of local and federal protections,” Way said. “The most important thing that people need to know is that the notice doesn’t mean you have to move. But once an eviction is filed and gets to your record, it can be very difficult to find a landlord to rent to you.”

In Texas, depending on the lease, landlords need to give between one and three days' notice to a tenant to vacate a home. After that, if a tenant doesn’t leave on their own, the landlord can file for an eviction with the local justice court. After that, a constable will try to deliver eviction lawsuit papers to the tenant or post them by their door.

Starting Tuesday, tenants will only be protected from evictions in specific cities and counties that have their own moratoriums. Some of these places include Bexar, Dallas and Travis counties. The University of Texas at Austin recently published a list of various cities' and counties' protections. People living in properties with federally backed mortgages are also protected through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which paused evictions for those homes until Aug. 23. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has created a searchable database with some of the buildings protected by the CARES Act.

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“But we expect some landlords with federally related mortgages who are covered will file in violation of the CARES Act,” said Fred Fuchs, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. “Thus, tenants must not assume that they do not live in a covered property if they are served with an eviction lawsuit.”

In places that don't have their own moratoriums, eviction trials can resume May 26. An average process can last a month. If, through the process, a justice of the peace decides to evict a tenant, the person will have five days to appeal. If there’s no appeal, six days after the trial, a landlord can pay for a constable to bring a 24-hour warning to vacate to the tenant’s front door. If the person doesn’t move on their own within that day, the landlord or management company can take back possession and move the tenant's belongings to the curb of the street, with the supervision of a constable.

To appeal, tenants must either pay in cash or through an appeal bond, or issue a sworn statement to the justice court saying that they can't afford such a bond. They might have to pay one rental period within five days, and they will have to keep paying future rent either to the court or directly to the landlord.

“Depending on the docket of the county court at law and how quickly the landlord sets the matter for hearing, the case may remain pending for a few months,” Fuchs said. “This is quite complicated and almost impossible to navigate without an attorney. [There are] too many traps for the unwary.”

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Experts recommend that tenants reach out for legal aid and to be clear on what their goal is.

“If a tenant wants to stay, the tenant needs to communicate with the landlord and discuss possible payment plans and see what the landlord will agree to,” Fuchs said.

Any agreement should be written to avoid miscommunications, the lawyer said.

“If the tenant cannot reach an affordable payment agreement and must move, the tenant should be aware of the eviction process and use the time period to focus on finding other housing and be prepared to pay rent.”

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An eviction can have long-lasting effects. It can affect kids' educational outcomes, create stress for the whole family and remain on a tenant’s credit history for up to 10 years, making it more difficult to find a new place to rent or to apply for a mortgage.

“Most landlords will not lease to someone with a judgment of eviction on their credit record,” Fuchs said.

Advocates believe that lifting eviction moratoriums will eventually make it more difficult for people to stay healthy and will create more homelessness. Some cities are spending millions on rent assistance, only to see those funds drained quickly.

Thao Costis, president of Houston homeless service provider Search, said evictions cost people their personal belongings. And they can cost nonprofits and government programs money because it costs more to try and get someone housed and stable after they've been kicked out of their current home.

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“We expect many will slip through the cracks due to insufficient resources, and complications or delays in accessing resources,” she said.

Advocates believe that an increase in eviction proceedings will happen pretty quickly, but the impact on homelessness won't be seen for months, given that unemployment benefits and the federal government's individual stimulus checks, among other assistance, will help people in the short term.

Morgaine was counting on using her stimulus check to pay the pending rent. But knowing that an eviction was likely changed her plans.

She said she will save that money for boarding her pets and paying for living expenses if she needs to leave her home.

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“I’m afraid that he will take me to court, and I’ll have no money, and I’ll be living in the car,” Morgaine said.

But now, with the eviction notice served, she feels helpless.

“I don't know. Just have to prepare my defense for the judge,” she said Tuesday.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Homelessness is going to increase. I work an 'essential' job, so I will be okay for now. But I'm here in Dallas, and I am worried about how bad this is going to go.

How do I help these people?

[Gandalf]

Homelessness is going to increase. I work an 'essential' job, so I will be okay for now. But I'm here in Dallas, and I am worried about how bad this is going to go.

How do I help these people?

Are you able to take people in, to rent out a room or something?

[FaxModem1]

Homelessness is going to increase. I work an 'essential' job, so I will be okay for now. But I'm here in Dallas, and I am worried about how bad this is going to go.

How do I help these people?

Are you able to take people in, to rent out a room or something?

Maybe, I have a 1 bedroom. Maybe I could take someone in if they don't mind the living room.

[Gandalf]

Maybe, I have a 1 bedroom. Maybe I could take someone in if they don't mind the living room.

Yeah, that really comes down to how your flat (I assume) is laid out. My uncle used to live with us like that, as he out up a curtain across his part of the living room. It sucked, but it worked.

[loomer]

“COVID-19 is devastating indigenous communities worldwide, and it’s not only about health” – UN expert warns
GENEVA (18 May 2020) – The new UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, José Francisco Cali Tzay, today expressed serious concerns over the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on indigenous peoples beyond the health threat.

“I am receiving more reports every day from all corners of the globe about how indigenous communities are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it deeply worries me to see it is not always about health issues.

States of emergency are exacerbating the marginalisation of indigenous communities, and in the most extreme situations, militarisation of their territories is taking place.

Indigenous peoples are being denied their freedom of expression and association, while business interests are invading and destroying their lands, territories and resources.

In some countries, consultations with indigenous peoples and also environmental impact assessments are being abruptly suspended in order to force through megaprojects relating to agribusiness, mining, dams and infrastructure.

Indigenous peoples who lose their lands and livelihoods are pushed further into poverty, higher rates of malnutrition, lack of access to clean water and sanitation, as well as exclusion from medical services, which in turn renders them particularly vulnerable to the disease.

But in the face and in the midst of such threats, the indigenous communities that have managed to best resist the COVID-19 pandemic are those that have achieved autonomy and self-government, which allows them to manage their lands, territories and resources, ensure food security through their traditional crops and traditional medicine.

Now, more than ever, Governments worldwide should support indigenous peoples to implement their own plans to protect their communities and participate in the elaboration of nationwide initiatives to ensure these do not discriminate against them.

States must ensure that indigenous peoples have access to information about COVID-19 in their languages and urgent special measures need to be taken to ensure availability and access to culturally appropriate medical services. It is a major challenge that public health facilities are often scarce in indigenous communities.

The rights to development, self-determination and lands, territories and resources must be ensured in order for indigenous peoples to manage these times of crisis and to advance the worldwide goals of sustained development and environmental protection.

The pandemic is teaching us that we need to change: we need to value the collective over the individual and build inclusive societies that respect and protect everyone. It is not only about protecting our health.”

ENDS

Mr. José Francisco CALÍ TZAY (Guatemala) is the new Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. He is Maya Kaqchikel from Guatemala, with experience in defending the rights of indigenous peoples, both in Guatemala and at the level of the United Nations and the OAS. Mr. Calí Tzay was the founder and member of a different indigenous organizations in Guatemala and the Ambassador of Guatemala to the Federal Republic of Germany. He was Director of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala; member of the Presidential Commission against Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala (CODISRA) and President of the National Reparation Program for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict. Mr. Cali Tzay was President of the Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, a treaty body from which he was elected for four consecutive periods of 4 years each.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

Source

[The Romulan Republic]

Studies predict a second, potentially more severe wave, possibly starting in September (Canadian, but I assume something similar applies to other countries):

https://cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/secon ... -1.5570905

It may seem like things are returning to normal as the unprecedented rules and restrictions that have governed our lives over the past two months are slowly being loosened.

This week, some retailers in Ontario reopened their doors. Golfers and tennis players hit the links and the courts. And even if you can't get a haircut yourself, your dog can now go in for a trim. In Quebec, police checkpoints have disappeared from bridges and elementary students are back in school.

But epidemiologists are warning it's still too early to let our guard down as they look ahead to the inevitable second wave of COVID-19 and the surge of sickness and death it could bring.

"Until we get the vaccine, I don't think we can really avoid the second wave," said Rama Nair, an expert in epidemiology with 40 years' experience as a teacher and researcher at the University of Ottawa.

No herd immunity
Nair believes returning too quickly to our pre-COVID-19 lives, when we hugged friends and went hours without washing our hands, could undo the gains we've made in containing the novel coronavirus.

"It's not just going to disappear," Nair said. "We haven't reached anywhere near the herd immunity that we require to avoid a second wave."

It hasn't flattened because it's gone through our community, it's flattened because we've distanced. We've slowed it down.
- Dr. Doug Manuel, The Ottawa Hospital
That absence of herd immunity — when a sufficiently high proportion of the population is immune to a contagious disease, thus controlling its spread — is something Dr. Doug Manuel, a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, likens to kindling.

Just as fire needs dry, quick-burning fuel to transform into an inferno, a virus needs susceptible hosts.

For example, according to Manuel, about 99 per cent of Ottawa's population is likely still vulnerable to COVID-19. That means only about one per cent of the population has contracted the disease — health officials have said confirmed cases likely represent only a fraction of the actual number — something researchers regard as both a success and a dangerous vulnerability.

The curve of infections "hasn't flattened because it's gone through our community, it's flattened because we've distanced. We've slowed it down," Manuel said.

But as more and more of us fill sidewalks and parks to resume something resembling our normal lives, more of us will inevitably become infected and more of us will spread the disease.

The key, Manuel said, is to keep that new spread under control.

"We have to be very careful. This is a tricky virus," he warned. "I think what distinguishes COVID is this high ability to spread before you even have symptoms."

Lessons from the Spanish flu
It was the second wave of the Spanish flu in the fall of 1918 that tore through hospitals and killed people within hours of the first symptoms appearing.

Esyllt Jones, a University of Manitoba historian who has studied the Spanish flu, said while the illness was especially deadly and virulent, its spread was abetted by the slow reaction of public health officials at the time.

"The lessons of the [Spanish] flu pandemic are mostly lessons of what didn't work," she said.

A lack of government assistance a century ago meant sick people had little choice but to go to work. And while there were similar shutdowns — gatherings at schools, churches and pubs were often verboten — any notion of physical distancing only lasted a month or so, not nearly long enough to stamp out the virus.

The results were catastrophic.

"The fall wave really kind of went everywhere," Jones said.

It's believed the infection rate of the second wave of the Spanish flu was between four and five times greater than the first wave, which had mostly infected returning First World War soldiers, Jones said.

Tracking the coronavirus: The latest figures from across Canada and around the world
In the end, the Spanish flu killed about 50,000 Canadians at a time when the country had a population of about eight million.

It's facts like this that have prompted University of Ottawa mathematician Robert Smith? (the question mark is part of his name) to cancel his fall travel plans.

"There is potentially a tsunami happening," said the professor, who models infectious diseases. His estimates, like other epidemiological models, predict another wave of COVID-19 by late summer.

"Diseases like this do tend to come in waves, and often the second wave is much worse than the first one," he said.

'We might get lucky'
Second waves are also much more difficult to predict, Smith? said.

"We will start to build back society, there will be limited travel and then travel will increase, and then probably when we're not quite looking at it, there will be another wave." He believes that will happen in September.

Manuel's own modelling also shows a spike in hospitalizations in September in Ottawa if social contact rises by even 20 per cent between now and then.

Hospitalization projections at The Ottawa Hospital

Twenty per cent might not sound like much but it actually represents a dramatic shift from our current distancing habits, he said. If we keep up what we're doing now — limiting our contact with others, wearing masks and washing our hands — Manuel believes we can avoid a second wave altogether.

"It's absolutely not written in stone [that it will happen]. But it's up to us," he said.

Individual behaviour is hard to predict, plus Canadians have never been through a lockdown quite like this before. While it appears we've beaten back the first wave, there is the danger that it could breed false confidence.

"We just don't know how people are going to react," Manuel said. "If we're coming into more contact with people who are infectious, it's just going to take off again."

Honestly, I'll be surprised if we don't get a second wave two weeks after they open up the US border.

[madd0ct0r]

My father in law seems to have a place in a Vietnam airlines evac flight from UK.
They are prioritising soon to be homeless students, people on limited visas and people medically vulnerable.

Once back In Vietnam it's two weeks quarantine on an army base before being allowed home. We will be unlikely to be able to visit until this is all over which may be a year or two. Still. Better for him to be home.

[Broomstick]

I hope he has a safe and uneventful trip back home, although it does sound tedious.

Meanwhile - my state it starting to open up, with my particular county moving to the next phase on June 1st. I went on a bike ride with a buddy yesterday to get some fresh air and exercise, and by and large people were being reasonable about maintaining distance from each other.

With the local National Park re-opening we're thinking of going on a walking and/or biking trail at Indiana Dunes.

Getting outside and getting some exercise really helped with both my mental state and sleep quality. Both desperately needed. Work is exceedingly stressful at times.

[LadyTevar]

Today is the first Whitewater Rafting trips. I'll find out how that goes when I get to work.

But, you know it's bad when Gov. Justice starts trotting out new restrictions, and even my Mom says "Just close it back down already!"

[loomer]

Hydroxychloroquine appears to -increase- COVID-19 patient death rates significantly.

[LadyTevar]

Hydroxychloroquine appears to -increase- COVID-19 patient death rates significantly.

The next question is: Is Trump really taking it?

[FireNexus]

Hydroxychloroquine appears to -increase- COVID-19 patient death rates significantly.

The next question is: Is Trump really taking it?

With luck.

[mr friendly guy]

The Lancet has published the findings from the Chinese study. Basically it does generate antibody responses, which fades in intensity, but as I said before, this doesn't necessarily preclude immunity as the body remembers the foreign (viral) antigen and there may also be circulating antibodies around albeit in lower numbers.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanc ... 3/fulltext

[madd0ct0r]

So skimming that, 28 days after injection of damaged viral particles to peak immunity and a decline thereafter. I guess they'll be watching their cohort for signs they have been exposed and beaten it off for a few months yet.

If the dead virus vaccine only gives a month to six weeks protection, is it possible to be rolled out anyway with people getting monthly topups?

[mr friendly guy]

So skimming that, 28 days after injection of damaged viral particles to peak immunity and a decline thereafter. I guess they'll be watching their cohort for signs they have been exposed and beaten it off for a few months yet.

If the dead virus vaccine only gives a month to six weeks protection, is it possible to be rolled out anyway with people getting monthly topups?

Difficult, but we do give annual vaccines for the flu, although the lack of continuing immunity is due to the virus mutating each year.

Keep in mind, we don't necessarily know if lower antibody levels mean not immune, since your body may still "remember" the virus antigen and produce antibodies quickly. Although I will feel safer if we do maintain high antibody levels.

[bilateralrope]

Do any other viruses lead to similar declining antibody levels ?

[mr friendly guy]

As far as I know, most virii do cause initial rise in antibodies which drop. I am not sure of the time frame though.

[The Romulan Republic]

Study shows almost half of all tweets protesting stay at home orders are bots (along with 82% of the top 50 most influential ones, and 62% of the top 1,000 retweeters):

https://kdkaradio.radio.com/articles/cm ... s-are-bots

PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Research out of Carnegie Mellon University shows that some Twitter accounts talking about “reopening American” could be bots.

CMU says much of the talk around the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders is being heightened by “misinformation campaigns that use convincing bots.”

Researchers have been analyzing activity around the pandemic and since January have collected more than 200 million tweets talking about the coronavirus.

“Of the top 50 influential retweeters, 82% are bots, they found. Of the top 1,000 retweeters, 62% are bots.”

Research is ongoing and information from Facebook Reddit and YouTube have been added.

“We’re seeing up to two times as much bot activity as we’d predicted based on previous natural disasters, crises, and elections,” said Kathleen Carley, professor in the School of Computer Science’s Institute for Software Research and director of the Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems (CASOS) and Center for Informed Democracy & Social - cybersecurity (IDeaS.)

Carley says that one of the reasons for the uptick in bots is that people have more time on their hands and since the pandemic is global more people are interested.

“Because it’s global, it’s being used by various countries and interest groups as an opportunity to meet political agendas,” she said.

The research team uses artificial intelligence to help determine what accounts are bots.

“Tweeting more frequently than is humanly possible, or appearing to be in one country and then another a few hours later is indicative of a bot,” Carley said.

Over 100 types of false coronavirus stories have been identified by the team, including stories about potential cures, hospitals filled with mannequins or the virus being linked to 5G towers.

“Conspiracy theories increase polarization in groups. It’s what many misinformation campaigns aim to do,” Carley said. “People have real concerns about health and the economy, and people are preying on that to create divides.”

Currently there isn’t enough known to mount a counter measure as blocked accounts can come back.

To spot a fake account Carley says closely examining an account can help give hints such as small typos, a lot of tweets coming out in a short time or a user name or profile image that don’t seem to match.

“Even if someone appears to be from your community, if you don’t know them personally, take a closer look, and always go to authoritative or trusted sources for information,” Carley said. “Just be very vigilant.”

[mr friendly guy]

Now the US wants China to allow more flights from the US into China.
Forbes

U.S. Bullies China To Allow More Passenger Flights Despite Coronavirus Travel Restrictions
Will Horton
Will HortonSenior Contributor
Aerospace & Defense
The U.S. government is threatening action against Chinese airlines, bullying Beijing to lift coronavirus restrictions on passenger flights.

United Airlines wants to resume four routes to China next month while Delta Air Lines wants to resume two. But a temporary Chinese policy allows an airline only one route.

“China has, over the objections of the U.S. government, impaired the operating rights of U.S. carriers,” U.S. Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Joel Szabat wrote to Chinese airlines in a public letter.

Szabat ordered seven Chinese airlines to submit their U.S. flight schedules by May 27. It is a banal procedure of publicly available information – take off time, aircraft type, codeshare – but Szabat said the U.S. would assess if those Chinese flights “may be contrary to applicable law or adversely affect the public interest.”

This dispute dates to March when China restricted airlines to having one passenger flight into the country, a limitation that gave China time to develop health protocols for screening international flights.

The policy was universal; Chinese airlines were also capped at one weekly passenger flight.

China’s local coronavirus infections were rapidly decreasing but imported cases were growing. Chinese airlines and airports implemented biosecurity policies faster and more extensively than U.S. peers, even though all three major U.S. airlines partner with Chinese carriers they can call on to share experiences and best practices.

The U.S. argues China’s flight restriction “imposes capacity limitations” that are “inconsistent” with their historical aviation treaty. However, the four page U.S. letter makes no reference to coronavirus or COVID-19, the extenuating circumstances behind the restrictions.

Chinese airlines are understood to want the policy lifted as well, believing they can safely transport passengers across more than one weekly flight.

Szabat said U.S. airlines should be able to “exercise their full bilateral rights.” The U.S. however has effectively limited airlines elsewhere, such as by prohibiting the entry of Europeans.

In its complaint about passenger flights, the U.S. did not acknowledge China helped all three major U.S. airlines start and increase cargo flights.

Cargo airlines and ad hoc providers – including a 767 from the owner of the New England Patriots – have also received assistance for China-U.S. cargo flights, carrying medical supplies and general freight.

China’s one weekly flight policy, announced March 26, had a further clause that future flights could not exceed the levels of March 12. U.S. airlines started pulling down their China flights in late January and had no services by March 12, making them ineligible for even one weekly flight.

The March 12 baseline may soon be removed, China told the U.S. on May 14.

“However, the restriction to once-weekly service on one route to China would remain in place,” Szabat wrote. That would preclude Delta and United from operating the multiple flights they want across numerous routes.

Delta and United submitted passenger flight applications to China but have not received a response, Szabat said.

Delta wants to operate two routes: Detroit-Shanghai and Seattle-Shanghai. United told employees it intends to fly four routes: Chicago-Shanghai, Newark-Shanghai, San Francisco-Beijing and San Francisco-Shanghai.

All flights would be daily. Delta’s proposed 14 weekly passengers flights and United’s proposed 28 weekly flights exceed the current limit of one for each airline.

Airlines from Qatar, South Korea and Turkey also plan to serve multiple Chinese destinations from June, which would require a lifting of the restriction, known as the “Five Ones.” That limits one airline to having one flight a week on one route from one Chinese city to one foreign city.

The timing of the U.S. is questionable, applying pressure right after China started the so-called “Two Sessions,” its most important political event. Public policy proclamations decrease in the lead up to the Two Sessions, where the government reviews past work and sets out broad objectives.

The gathering is so high profile that Zhenglin Feng, the administrator of aviation body CAAC, visited Beijing’s Capital and Daxing airports to ensure preparations and see their latest coronavirus prevention initiatives, such as increased terminal ventilation – which airports globally have shunned in favor of centralized air conditioning and heating.

[Solauren]

“China has, over the objections of the U.S. government, impaired the operating rights of U.S. carriers,” U.S. Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Joel Szabat wrote to Chinese airlines in a public letter.

So, let me get this straight. A member of the United States government has gone on record, basically stating that in their opinion, countries have no sovereign rights in regards to regulating US businesses?

[Enigma]

“China has, over the objections of the U.S. government, impaired the operating rights of U.S. carriers,” U.S. Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Joel Szabat wrote to Chinese airlines in a public letter.

So, let me get this straight. A member of the United States government has gone on record, basically stating that in their opinion, countries have no sovereign rights in regards to regulating US businesses?

I'm not surprised. In my opinion, the U.S. government always held a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of attitude.

[Broomstick]

Today the New York Times printed as its front page 1,000 names of people who died of covid-19.

That is just 1% of the US death toll.

And we're only, what, 4-5 months into this pandemic?

Meanwhile, people are flocking to beaches, refusing to wear masks, gathering in groups.

The second wave is approaching.

[Highlord Laan]

Meanwhile, Oklahoma shows why being in a red state sucks
*snip*

Homelessness is going to increase. I work an 'essential' job, so I will be okay for now. But I'm here in Dallas, and I am worried about how bad this is going to go.

How do I help these people?

Not surprised. Anyone paying attention (white republican voters can't, don't, and refuse to do) know that one of the main objectives of the gop (lower case intentional) is a permanent underclass for them to dominate, abuse and scapegoat. If anything the pandemic is a blessing for them, since it lets the worthless nonperson scum whip their mindless hordes of supporters into supporting their dreams of a return to the Glorious Gilded Age.