A recent study from Harvard research has shown that air pollution in the US is linked to higher death rates of CoVID-19. Research shows that people who live in counties with high levels of PM 2.5 were 15% more likely to die from CoVID-19.

PM 2.5 is an invisible pollutant made up of microparticles that can seep into the lungs and bloodstream. PM 2.5 comes from burning wood and coal, power plants, and automobile exhaust. It is considered one of the most dangerous invisible pollutants, and high levels have been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and chronic bronchitis as well as other respiratory illnesses. All of these conditions are underlying conditions that can make CoVID-19 fatal. An estimated 78% of US patients in the ICU from CoVID-19 have underlying health conditions.

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Polluted air is linked to some of the underlying conditions that make COVID-19 more fatal. Seventy-eight percent of U.S. patients who have ended up in intensive care units from COVID-19 have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or chronic lung disease.

Zuofeng Zhang, professor of epidemiology

A study done in Italy has found similar results, linking air pollution to chronic respiratory conditions. Additionally, research done in 2003 in China showed a correlation between air pollution and death from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which is closely related to CoVID-19.

…it is well known that pollution impairs the first line of defense of upper airways, namely cilia (Cao et al., 2020), thus a subject living in an area with high levels of pollutant is more prone to develop chronic respiratory conditions and suitable to any infective agent

Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy?

Despite the links of air pollution to CoVID-19 deaths, both the Trump administration and the EPA have cut back on environmental regulations in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. The EPA has announced that it would be letting factories and power plants, as well as other similar facilities, regulate themselves in the middle of the pandemic. The EPA will no longer issue fines for water, air or hazardous waste violations. Some states have discouraged or banned the use of reusable bags. Other states have passed laws to penalize pipeline protestors. Along with the EPA, the Trump administration has said they will no longer expect corporations to comply with pollution reporting or routine monitoring and that they will not be pursuing penalties for breaking these laws.

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Sources:

• Study: The tiniest bit of air pollution makes COVID-19 more deadly -Grist
• Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States
• Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy? -Science Direct
• Trump is sneaking environmental rollbacks past a nation in quarantine -Grist
• Trump administration allows companies to break pollution laws during coronavirus pandemic –The Guardian

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the media and the Trump administration have taken to blaming the coronavirus pandemic solely on China. The claims made by people in power go beyond pointing out that the virus originated in China, and in many cases are statements of fear-based racism. Trump has referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus’ on several occasions. When China is mentioned in the media, it is largely negative. 

The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!

Trump via Twitter

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With the negative media coverage of China, there has been little to no reporting on the Chinese billionaire who recently shipped half a million testing kits and a million face masks to the U.S. On March 16th, Jack Ma announced that he would donate 1 million masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits to the U.S. through his charitable foundation. Additionally, Ma has donated $14.5 million for the development of a vaccine for the virus. 

At this moment, we can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons. United we stand, divided fall!”

Jack Ma

Additionally, Ma’s foundation is donating materials to Japan, Italy, Korea, Spain, and Iran. The destination of the tests and masks has not been specified. 

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• Coronavirus – Your Guide to the CoVID-19 Pandemic

Sources:

• Chinese Billionaire Ships 500,000 Coronavirus Test Kits to US -Futurism
• Chinese billionaire Jack Ma tweeted for the first time ever to say he’s started shipping 1 million masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits to the US -Business Insider

The Karipuna people in the Brazilian Amazon are in isolation due to COVID-19, but the presence of loggers close to their villages is compromising their efforts to stay safe. The Karipuna Indigenous People’s Association (Apoika), Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), and Greenpeace Brasil have filed a joint complaint with the local federal prosecutor’s office. Multiple complaints by both Brazil and international agencies have been submitted in regards to relentless logging and land invasion in the Rondônia state where the Karipunia live. The current pandemic means the invasion of indigenous land is especially dangerous for the occupants of the land.

We are scared that one of these invaders will bring the virus inside our territory…Bolsonaro has told these people that it’s just a little flu and that they can go back to work.”

Adriano Karipuna, one of the group’s leaders – Mongabay

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The Yanomami people in the Roraima state are experiencing the same threats. Illegal mining activity in the region has not ceased during the pandemic, and a 15-year-old Yanomami boy has died from the coronavirus.

Both the Amazon and the indigenous peoples who live there are vulnerable right now. Many native customs facilitate the spread of respiratory diseases. Other factors like poor sanitation, immune systems that are not used to contact with many modern diseases, and a lack of healthcare facilities will exacerbate the risk. Meanwhile, deforestation attempts have not slowed. Clearance rates are 10% higher this year than they were for the same period last year. In addition, deforestation figures for August 2019 to the end of March 2020 are twice the rate they were for August 2018 to the end of March 2019.

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• Coronavirus – Your Guide to the CoVID-19 Pandemic

Sources:

• Amazon indigenous put at risk by Brazil’s feeble Covid-19 response: Critics – Mongabay
• In the midst of the pandemic, squatters and invaders approach Karipuna village – CIMI.org
• Amid covid-19, gold digging advances and approaches isolated Indians in Roraima – BBC Brasil
• Boy from isolated Amazon tribe dies of COVID-19, raising fears of devastating outbreak – Japan Times

Isoxaflutole is a herbicide that’s manufactured and sold by BASF, the second-largest chemical producer in the world, under the name brand name Alite 27. It’s currently used on corn plants in 33 states, and the EPA has recently registered the use of the chemical on soybeans in 25 different states. This registration is the Environmental Protection Agency’s assurance that Isoxaflutole does what the label says it does and should not pose an unreasonable hazard to your health. Isoxaflutole is classified by the EPA as a probable human carcinogen, and it is phytotoxic to non-target aquatic and terrestrial plants and moderately toxic to freshwater fish.

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The EPA requested public comment on the proposed registration decision and cited that feedback as a key factor in the organization’s decision to move forward with the registration. All fifty-four comments left during the public review period were positive, a show of overwhelmingly support for the use of Isoxaflutole on soybeans.

Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, says, 

We’ve heard from farmers across the country about the importance of having new means available to combat economically-damaging weeds…We listened and believe this action balances the need to provide growers with the products necessary to continue to provide Americans with a safe and abundant food supply while ensuring our country’s endangered species are protected.”

EPA.gov

The comments reviewed by the EPA did not include feedback from environmental groups and journalists. The EPA circumvented a critical part of the usual chemical approval process, opening the herbicide registration for public comment without notifying the Federal Register. The Federal Register notifies the press and environmental groups of significant rule changes and without this notice, the opponents of Isoxaflutole were unable to register their comments.

Nathan Donley is a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, a national, nonprofit conservation organization. He stated,

The press release caught everyone off guard. We were just waiting for the EPA to open the comment period, and we never saw it.”

AP News

Sources:

• EPA sidesteps normal public process to approve BASF’s cancer-linked pesticide – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Isoxaflutole | New Active Ingredient Review – MN Department of Agriculture
• Public Participation for Isoxaflutole: New Use on Herbicide Resistant Soybeans – Regulations.gov

Boris Johnson is reportedly responding to coronavirus treatment and remains clinically stable after four nights in St. Thomas Hospital in London. Johnson was admitted to the hospital with a cough and high fever on Sunday, 10 days after testing positive for the virus. Johnson was given oxygen and later sent to intensive care. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has spoken out saying he is confident Johnson will make a full recovery. Additionally he said: 

But we’ve got very clear directions, very clear instructions from the prime minister, and we’re focused with total unity and total resolve on implementing them so that when he’s back, I hope in very short order, we will have made the progress that he would expect and that the country would expect.”

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab

The UK has yet to flatten the curve with a record 938 deaths in one day, based on the latest numbers from the department of health. These numbers put the UK death toll at more than 7,000. 

Johnson banned public gatherings of more than 2 people as well as closed all non-essential retail on March 23rd in an effort to flatten the curve. Lockdown review occurs every 21 days, however health minister Edward Argar commented saying that cases have to peak before changes are made. The London mayor spoke out saying he expects the peak in cases is still a week away. London has plans to build temporary hospitals if necessary. 

Boris Johnson isn’t Laughing Anymore

In the beginning of the outbreak, like Trump, Boris Johnson did not seem to take the threat seriously. He quipped that while everyone should wash their hands he would not stop him shaking hands with people he met.

I can tell you I am shaking hands continuously. I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody.

Johnson’s War With Coronavirus Is No Joke Anymore

Johnson also said, on a call with ventilator manufacturers, that their task should be code-named “Operation Last Gasp.”

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Sources:

• Coronavirus: Boris Johnson responding to treatment in intensive care – BBC News

Wisconsin held primary elections on Tuesday in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, even though the Centers for Disease Control recommends practicing social distancing and staying indoors whenever possible. Despite those recommendations, the president has yet to enact an executive stay at home order, and stay at home orders are currently up to the ruling of each individual state.

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In Wisconsin, an executive order was put into place by Tony Evers on April 6th, postponing their primary election. However, the executive order was overturned Monday night by the Wisconsin supreme court. Additionally, the WI supreme court overturned a ruling that would extend the deadline for absentee ballot voting despite concerns that a surplus of absentee ballot requests would keep voters from receiving their absentee ballot in time for the election. 

Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

People are being forced to risk their lives to place their vote or fulfill their right as an American to vote. It’s just unbelievable that we are even having this conversation right now,”

-Milwaukee Health commissioner Jennette Kowalik  

Wisconsin took certain precautions to protect voters, having a volunteer spray sanitize each voters’ hands as they walked through the door, as well as wiping down poll booths after each person votes. Voters were instructed to dispose of, or take home the pen they used for voting. Poll workers were provided with gloves, masks, and sneeze guards. Tape was placed every 6 feet to practice social distancing, although this proved difficult with lines at polling locations extending far beyond the pre-taped area. One volunteer running a polling location speaks about precautions she is taking to prevent her 77-year-old husband from getting sick, she plans to “Strip in the garage put my clothes in the washer and go downstairs for two weeks” 

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden put out a statement claiming that in-person voting could be done safely saying the following: 

“A convention having tens of thousands of people in one arena is very different than having people walk into a polling booth with accurate spacing with 6 to 10 feet apart, one at a time going in, and having the machines scrubbed down,”

-Joe Biden via virtual press briefing

While Joe Biden put out a statement saying voting could be done safely, democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke out against the decision to hold in-person voting at this time saying the following: 

“It’s outrageous that the Republican legislative leaders and the conservative majority on the Supreme Court in Wisconsin are willing to risk the health and safety of many thousands of Wisconsin voters tomorrow for their own political gain,”

-Bernie Sanders via twitter

Senator Sanders has since suspended his campaign. 

Holding an election in the middle of a pandemic puts millions of citizens at risk for illness. Hundreds of polling locations were closed due to CoVID-19, making it even harder to practice social distancing. In Milwaukee, five polling locations were open, where under normal circumstances there would be 180 locations open. Videos and pictures show crowded polling locations with long wait times. Continuing to hold primaries in the middle of a global pandemic is a form of voter suppression where citizens of Wisconsin have had to choose between their safety and exercising their right to vote. 

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Sources:

• A day will live infamy what it looked when Wisconsin forced person voting during a Pandemic?– Common Dreams
• Joe Biden says voting in the Wisconsin Primary is safe locals say it could kill them– Daily Beast

A recent report by Washington Post’s Amy Goldstein, states that immunologist Kim Hasenkrug wants to test potential treatments for Covid-19 in mice using “humanized lungs.” Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services are not allowing the research because using donated fetal tissue from abortions was banned last year by the Trump administration.

Government scientists will be barred from conducting research using donated fetal tissue the Trump administration announced on Wednesday, dealing a major blow to scientists who say it is an irreplaceable part of ongoing scientific research.

Trump Administration Bans Government Scientists From Using Fetal Tissue –
Jun 6, 2019

Fetal tissue from abortions is used to create mice with human tissue suitable for medical testing. The research Kim Hasenkrug proposed reportedly aims to use mice with implanted fetal lung tissue, then infecting the mice with coronavirus strains similar to CoVID-19, and then testing for successful treatments for CoVID-19.

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Humanized mice have been key to developing several important medical treatments for diseases like the Zika virus or HIV/AIDS, which was Hasenkrug’s previous research focus. The calculation is simple. You can’t test certain treatments without humanized mice, and you can’t get humanized mice without fetal tissue.

… The calculation is simple. You can’t test certain treatments without humanized mice, and you can’t get humanized mice without fetal tissue.

Coronavirus treatment research is being held up by Trump’s ban on the use of fetal tissue

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The Washington Post reported that Kim Hasenkrug at the NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana has been appealing for “nearly a month” to get approval for the experiments using fetal tissue.

Regarding the proposal, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told CNA “no decision has been made.”

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