Category: COVID-19
Cuba receives medical supply donation from China as pandemic worsens
worker | August 31, 2021 | 8:23 pm | China, COVID-19, Cuba | Comments closed

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-08-29/Cuba-receives-medical-supply-donation-from-China-as-pandemic-worsens-137Su4Auhmo/index.html

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Cuba receives medical supply donation from China as pandemic worsens
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Cuba on August 28 received medical supplies donated by the Chinese government to help it combat the spread of COVID-19, as the island endures a sharp rise in cases, deaths and hospitalizations.

The medical supplies include rapid COVID-19 antigen testing kits, surgical gloves and protective suits, adding to the ventilators and oxygen concentrators donated by China recently.

Jarvis DeBerry: As Louisiana’s COVID-19 cases spread, a gospel of selfishness spreads, too
worker | August 12, 2021 | 6:08 pm | COVID-19, Local/State | Comments closed

https://www.nola.com/opinions/article_b8e0ef54-f931-11eb-9c4f-5f9a2edbaef7.html

Jarvis DeBerry: As Louisiana’s COVID-19 cases spread, a gospel of selfishness spreads, too

NO.vaccinegraffiti.0001.JPG
A sign encouraging people to get vaccinated on the marquee of the First Grace First Grace United Methodist Church is seen vandalized with red paint in New Orleans, La. Friday, Aug. 6, 2021. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Every Christian should know the story of the legal scholar who tells Jesus he knows he’s commanded to love his neighbor as much as he loves himself, but professes not to understand who his neighbor is. Without actually reciting the parable of the man who’s ambushed on Jericho Road and then revived and rescued by his presumed enemy, Gov. John Bel Edwards, who’s Catholic, has repeatedly alluded to that passage of Scripture when he’s begged residents to think of COVID-19 mitigation efforts as part of their duty to be good neighbors.

In a state where 84% of people say they’re Christian, convincing them to show concern and compassion for others shouldn’t be a hard sell. However, nearly all the opposition to the governor’s emergency orders has come from conservative Christians (some evangelical, some Catholic) who have elevated the so-called right of the individual not to be mildly inconvenienced over the public good of fewer deaths. We’ve heard theologically flimsy arguments against crowd restrictions, vaccinations and masks, all which suggest a belief that Christianity requires not neighborliness, but a selfish disregard for the well being of others.

“So it’s not love your neighbor so much,” Du Mez said by phone. “Well, you know, they’ll say the way that we love our neighbors is to stand for truth and righteousness and they are welcome to come join us. But, you know, it’s a different conception of loving one’s neighbor, for sure.”

COVID-19 hospitalizations are skyrocketing, and last week, Edwards wisely — if belatedly — announced a new statewide mask mandate. He also said Louisiana can’t lay claim to being the “most pro-life state in the nation” if its people won’t do the simplest things to thwart the spread of disease and its politicians won’t stop fomenting defiance of public health guidelines.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Catholic, is not an evangelical, but on the same day Edwards issued the new face mask order, Landry was offering form letters to parents looking to gin up religious or philosophical objections to face masks. “I do not consent to forcing a face covering on my child, who is created in the image of God,” the religious objection form says.

“I don’t believe he’s consulting with any public health experts,” Edwards said of Landry on PBS’s “Amanpour & Co.” Wednesday, “and what he’s doing has no basis in the law.”

It has no basis in the Bible either, notwithstanding Landry loading up that letter with scriptures.

“That’s just ridiculous,” Obery Hendricks, a professor of systematic theology, said of Landry’s suggestion that people use “image of God” language to get out of mask mandates. That would mean believers shouldn’t wear hats, Hendricks said, or “wear clothes at all.”

Hendricks, an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who teaches at Columbia University, has studied the same right-wing takeover of the faith Du Mez has. He calls his latest book “Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith.”

“If they cared about the Bible, they would act very differently,” Hendricks said of people here and across America citing religion to resist health guidelines. “They would support the governor’s call for neighborliness. It seems their Bible doesn’t even include ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Seems like the part about obeying authority has fallen out with it. When the oppressed have protested mistreatment, conservative Christians have routinely flipped to Romans 13 and lectured that authorities are to be obeyed. But Democrats — even pro-life Democrats — aren’t called authorities. They’re called tyrants.

It doesn’t matter that conservative Christians are a small part of the population. They own a political party. That means their gospel of selfishness imperils us all.

Covid End of US Empire?
worker | August 12, 2021 | 5:53 pm | COVID-19, Imperialism | Comments closed

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/202108111083581935-covid-end-of-us-empire/

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The United States is facing perfect storm conditions for the grueling continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic. The long-term economic impact could hasten the end of its global power as we know it.

Infections, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise again – as they are in other capitalist states. But the outlook for the U.S. is uniquely bleak.

Already, the US has the shameful title of having the world’s biggest death toll from the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its disease Covid-19. At over 630,000 deaths, that represent nearly 15 percent of the world’s total. Despite a relatively high level of vaccination (50 percent of the population), the disease appears to be resurgent.

OCTAVIO JONES
Ambulances stand outside Morton Plant Hospital amid a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Clearwater, Florida, U.S., August 3, 2021. REUTERS/Octavio Jones

The problem for the United States is the dominance of capitalist imperatives over social policy which prevents a coherent, effective public health strategy. The imperative of private profit is also present in European nations, but to a lesser extent compared with the US. Britain is probably closer to the US than any other European country in its compliance with capitalist interests, and it is no coincidence that Britain has the worst Covid-19 mortality in Europe, despite having a high rate of vaccination.

Compliance with capitalist interests prevents a proven policy of containing and eradicating the Covid-19 virus. That policy is best seen in practice in China where the government implements strict lockdowns, travel restrictions, widespread testing, rapid tracing of infections, masking-wearing in public, and mass vaccination. However, that policy is made feasible because China’s socialist system provides the public resources to enable compliance. Public health is the priority, not commercial interests.

By contrast, in the United States, the public is largely expected to bear the costs of lockdowns, long-term unemployment and general living costs. With an over-reliance on vaccination alone, the Biden administration is declaring the end of lockdowns, social distancing and wearing of masks. Government aid for the unemployed and rental assistance for families is being terminated.

Workers are being forced back to workplaces and schools are being reopened in total denial of the epidemiological scientific advice to maintain isolation. Why? Because of the imperative for capitalist businesses to resume profit-making. And of course, without adequate government support to laid-off workers, many millions of citizens are frustrated by the need to get back to work.

One can easily understand anti-lockdown protests when people are not given financial support to cope with lockdown. The problem is not the practice of public health policy per se, it is the practice of public health policy in a capitalist society where there is little support for furloughed workers.

People in masks stand on the observation deck of the Empire State Building during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, U.S.
© REUTERS / ANDREW KELLY
People in masks stand on the observation deck of the Empire State Building during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, U.S.

Another distinctive problem for the United States – and to lesser extent European states – is the inordinate level of misinformation. Millions of Americans believe that there is no pandemic. Despite the death toll and prevalent sickness, it is incredible that so many people are convinced that the pandemic phenomenon is all a hoax. Such a view is particularly popular among Trump supporters and US Republicans who hold the outlandish conspiratorial belief that it’s all a giant ruse to take away individual liberty, impose a “Grand Reset” and a “fascist liberal tyranny” (what a discombobulation!).

This kind of unscientific conspiracy delusion feeds into other irrational convictions that are opposed to wearing face masks in public or against the administering of vaccines. Irresponsible pundits and media commentators especially on the right-wing Murdoch outlets Fox and Sky promulgate anti-vaccination theories that are deterring large sections of the population from taking up inoculation. Some of the wilder fringes actually believe that vaccines will turn us into zombies as in the horror film, I Am Legend. Then these same pundits talk about the danger of “Covid civil war” breaking out. Well, they have helped create an atmosphere of confusion, fear, ignorance and distrust.

The United States is doomed. In its private-profit-driving society, all basic measures of public health management are confounded. On top of this, the level of misinformation and misdirection also further thwarts a rational plan to contain the pandemic. That is why we are seeing a grave resurgence in the pandemic across the United States. By failing to contain the disease, the perfect storm conditions in the US make for the emergence of new deadlier variants of Covid-19. The biggest worry is that the existing vaccines will no longer be effective against a newer virulent strain of the virus.

Millennia of history attest that deadly plagues have altered the course of history and have even wiped out civilizations.

For most of the past century, many observers have pondered on whether the United States and its global imperial power would be taken down through war with a geopolitical rival such as the Soviet Union or more recently Russia and China.

Then along comes an invisible danger, a virus, that is ripping through the United States in a way not foreseen. And the vulnerability of the US is all down to its own internal failings as a capitalist society saturated with misinformation.

The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

Pandemic Shows China Bests US
worker | August 8, 2021 | 7:08 pm | China, COVID-19, Joe Biden | Comments closed

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/202108071083550081-pandemic-shows-china-bests-us/

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The starkly different impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on China and the United States is glaring proof of which political system is most capable of delivering for the common good of people.

Nearly one and half years since the global pandemic erupted, the total number of deaths in China from the disease stands at about 4,600. In the United States, the death toll is over 630,000 and rising.

China’s deaths from Covid-19 are less than 1 percent of those in the US. What is even more remarkable is that China has a total population of 1.4 billion people which is four times that of the United States.

Any objective person looking at the data would therefore have to conclude that there is something hugely significant about the relative performances of the governing systems in both countries. Empirically, in managing a massive public health crisis, China has wiped the floor with the US.

A person holds a placard as protesters temporarily block the street to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) house with a live band on a flatbed truck, demanding the extension of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-related unemployment aid, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. July 22, 2020
JONATHAN ERNST
A person holds a placard as protesters temporarily block the street to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) house with a live band on a flatbed truck, demanding the extension of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-related unemployment aid, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. July 22, 2020

The pandemic is a tragic demonstration of China’s superiority over the US in terms of governance for the common good. Some critics may dispute if China has a socialist system. China claims it does. In any case, its system has strong elements of socialism: central planning, public ownership and state provision of services, in particular healthcare.

These characteristics have ensured that China’s response to the pandemic has minimised the deaths and infirmities. This was evident from the early weeks of the pandemic when the Beijing government implemented rapid lockdowns and rigorous tracing methods to contain the disease.

Again, this can be seen currently in the way China is mobilising resources to contain deadly new variants of the virus. The lockdowns, tracing, isolation and mask-wearing are proven to be effective in defeating the virus. But that response is made possible because China’s government provides the financial and material resources to help the public cooperate. Free accommodation, food and other essentials are generously supplied to families so that they can comply with onerous restrictions.

By contrast, the United States is witnessing a non-stop disaster. There, the capitalist, oligarchic system completely disincentives public cooperation to help beat the pandemic. Yes, there have been some government handouts to workers and the unemployed.

Syringes with the Pfizer-BioNTec  vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) sit on the table at the Victor Walchirk Apartments in Evanston, Illinois, U.S. February 22, 2021
© REUTERS / KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI
Syringes with the Pfizer-BioNTec vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) sit on the table at the Victor Walchirk Apartments in Evanston, Illinois, U.S. February 22, 2021

But the response is paltry. By and large, working Americans can’t afford isolation and lockdowns because they are expected to bear the costs, which in a profit-above-all system does not make it feasible to implement an effective strategy to contain the disease.

Despite the resurgence of infections and deaths from the new Delta variant of the virus, the Biden administration and many state governments are rushing to end lockdowns and the wearing of masks. They are in denial. Why? Because the American capitalist system cannot tolerate an effective public health strategy. That fundamental contradiction is driving the country in the wrong direction in terms of defeating the pandemic. The deaths, sickness, infections, social impact will only get worse.

There is another factor: the basic wrongheadedness of American political culture. The vastly overrated importance of “individual freedom” feeds into an irrational mentality whereby many Americans think it is their “duty” to distrust concepts like collective action, public good, and even scientific evidence that there is a deadly disease that needs to be managed.

There are a lot of US politicians and citizens who are frankly deluded and deranged. To the point where they think wearing masks is a communist conspiracy to oppress them. No wonder the pandemic is hanging over the United States like doomsday when so many of its people refuse to get vaccinated or wear masks.

U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions about the pace of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccinations during remarks at the White House in Washington
© REUTERS / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions about the pace of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccinations during remarks at the White House in Washington

In China, not only is its avowed socialist system proven to be magnitudes more efficient and effective, the people themselves still retain a sense of rationality and common humanity. Chinese people trust their government and willingly comply with lockdowns and basic measures like wearing masks in public.

The world is facing many other challenges: climate change and poverty are top of the list. The only way of overcoming these existential dangers is with a planned system that is rational about providing for the common good of people.

The Covid-19 pandemic proves that China has a system for the future. The United States is a system that has had its day. It’s over and out.

The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

Centenary event: Two songs express CPC’s values in COVID-19 fight
worker | July 5, 2021 | 1:44 pm | China, Communist Party of China, COVID-19 | Comments closed

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-07-02/Centenary-event-Two-songs-express-CPC-s-values-in-COVID-19-fight-11y6vOjQw6Y/index.html

Centenary event: Two songs express CPC’s values in COVID-19 fight
CGTN
07:32

Chinese dancer Zhang Jian was joined by actors Liu Peiqi, Tong Liya, Wan Qian and others to present song-and-dance act “The People Come First” in Chapter 4, “A Splendid Future,” of the art performance titled “Epic Journey” during the celebrations marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the National Stadium in Chinese capital Beijing.

A scene from the “Epic Journey” art performance during the celebrations marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the National Stadium. /CMG

A scene from the “Epic Journey” art performance during the celebrations marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the National Stadium. /CMG

A scene from the “Epic Journey” art performance during the celebrations marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the National Stadium. /CMG

A scene from the “Epic Journey” art performance during the celebrations marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the National Stadium. /CMG

Following the incredible combination of singing and dancing, Xue Haoyin and Zhou Xiaolin, together with other singers, conveyed the CPC’s belief of valuing life more than anything in the song “Life Above All.”

“Between heaven and earth the gate of hope is opening. The gentle heart summons us for a voyage against the tide,” sang the performers.

“I am the child of civilization, cherishing every creature big and small. A great love unites us all with warmth melting the ice.”

Politicizing COVID-19 origin tracing gives free rein to ‘political virus’: Chinese embassy in U.S.
worker | May 27, 2021 | 8:02 pm | China, COVID-19 | Comments closed

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-05-27/China-denounces-political-hype-on-the-origin-tracing-of-COVID-19-10Ba4HkaAEM/index.html

China denounces U.S. ‘political hype’ on origin tracing of COVID-19
Updated 20:16, 27-May-2021
CGTN
00:34

China on Thursday rejected new attempts to politicize the origins of COVID-19, repeating that experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) had already concluded that a “lab leak” was “extremely unlikely.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks after U.S. President Biden ordered a probe into COVID-19 origins on Wednesday.

Zhao reiterated China’s support for a comprehensive, transparent and evidence-based international investigation and stressed that China’s open and transparent stance has been positively appraised by international experts.

The spokesperson slammed the U.S. for opting for politicizing the issue instead of focusing on a scientific approach to tracing COVID-19 origins.

“It shows America’s disrespect to science and irresponsibility towards their people’s life and safety,” Zhao said, noting Washington’s questionable record in fighting the outbreak on its territory.

Zhao said that the U.S. ranks first globally in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities, which have reached around 33 million and 600,000 respectively.

He also urged the U.S. to accept a WHO-led international investigation into its Fort Detrick biolab and over 200 similar facilities it operates around the world.

The motive and purposes of Washington’s probe are clear, said Zhao, who viewed it as another attempt to disrupt and contain China.

“We hope the U.S. could cooperate with the WHO to conduct a comprehensive, transparent and evidence-based investigation to respond to concerns from the international community and to contribute to the handling of public health emergencies in the future,” said the spokesperson.

Read more:

China shared data with WHO experts, report based on facts: Chinese expert

00:32

The Chinese Embassy in the United States on Wednesday also refuted the U.S. attempt to politicize the issue, saying the move gives free rein to the “political virus” and seriously hamper international cooperation on the pandemic.

“On the origin tracing of COVID-19, we have been calling for international cooperation on the basis of respecting facts and science, with a view to better coping with unexpected epidemics in the future,” said the spokesperson for the embassy in a statement.

“Out of a sense of responsibility towards the health of mankind, we support a comprehensive study of all early cases of COVID-19 found worldwide and a thorough investigation into some secretive bases and biological laboratories all over the world,” said the spokesperson.

“Such study and investigation shall be full, transparent and evidence-based, and shall get to the bottom to make everything clear,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that some people lately have played the old trick of politically hyping the origin tracing of COVID-19 in the world. Smear campaigns and blame shifting are making a comeback, and the conspiracy theory of a “lab leak” is resurfacing.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, some political forces have been fixated on political manipulation and blame game, while ignoring their people’s urgent need to fight the pandemic and the international demand for cooperation on this front, which has caused a tragic loss of many lives, the spokesperson said.

“The lesson from last year is still fresh in our memory. While the pandemic is still causing great damage in today’s world and the international community is expecting greater coordination among countries, some people are turning to their old playbook,” said the spokesperson.

“We cannot but wonder, have they already put that bitter lesson behind them so soon? Or do they want to see a replay of tragedies? With such irresponsible behaviors, how can they face up to their own people? How can they face up to the international community? And how can they face up to human conscience?” the spokesperson said.

China blasts Wuhan lab-leak ‘conspiracy,’ urges probe of ALL early Covid-19 cases & ‘secretive bases’ worldwide
worker | May 27, 2021 | 7:56 pm | China, COVID-19, Joe Biden | Comments closed

https://www.rt.com/news/524916-china-probe-secretive-biolabs/

China blasts Wuhan lab-leak ‘conspiracy,’ urges probe of ALL early Covid-19 cases & ‘secretive bases’ worldwide

China blasts Wuhan lab-leak ‘conspiracy,’ urges probe of ALL early Covid-19 cases & ‘secretive bases’ worldwide
Beijing has responded to US President Joe Biden’s announcement of a probe into Covid-19 origins by denouncing the “lab-leak” hypothesis as a conspiracy theory and urging an investigation into secret US bio-labs around the world.

“Lately, some people have played the old trick of political hype on the origin tracing of [Covid-19] in the world. Smear campaign and blame shifting are making a comeback, and the conspiracy theory of ‘lab leak’ is resurfacing,” a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

READ MORE: Facebook says it will stop banning claims Covid-19 is man-made, citing ‘new facts and trends’

Without naming names, the spokesman said that “some political forces have been fixated on political manipulation and blame game, while ignoring their people’s urgent need to fight the pandemic and the international demand for cooperation on this front,” something that has “caused a tragic loss of many lives.”

China has been calling for international cooperation to trace the origins of Covid-19 “on the basis of respecting facts and science, with a view to better coping with unexpected epidemics in the future,” the statement said. Politicizing the probe will make it “hard to find the origin of the virus” but also “seriously hamper international cooperation on the pandemic.”

ALSO ON RT.COM‘Where was your patient zero?’ Chinese official speculates AMERICANS may have infected Wuhan at army games & calls to ‘come clean’“Out of a sense of responsibility towards the health of mankind,” Beijing supports “a comprehensive study of all early cases of [Covid]-19 found worldwide and a thorough investigation into some secretive bases and biological laboratories all over the world,” the embassy said, which will be “full, transparent and evidence-based, and shall get to the bottom to make everything clear.”

While the conventional wisdom in the US is that the novel coronavirus first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 – with the only mystery being whether it jumped from animals to humans via the city’s wet market, or accidentally escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab – China has rejected both theories. At a press conference in March 2020, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry instead suspected the US of developing the virus in one of its bioweapon laboratories and sending it to China during the Wuhan military games in October that year.

The Chinese government never disavowed these remarks, saying instead that now was the time to “come together to fight [the virus] instead of leveling accusations and attacks against each other, which is not constructive at all.”

ALSO ON RT.COMBiden gives intel agencies 90 days to pinpoint Covid origins – after report he torpedoed Trump-era probe of Wuhan lab leak theoryThink your friends would be interested? Share this story!