New Delhi, May 8 () India is dispatching medicines to more than 25 African countries as part of assistance for them to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.It said medicines included hydroxychloroquine, paracetamol and other drugs which are immediately required to fight the pandemic."These medicines are expected to complement the national efforts of the various countries in Africa to combat the pandemic," the MEA said in a statement.On April 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and conveyed to him India's "full support" to the African continent in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Ramaphosa also heads the African Union, a continental body comprising 55 African nations.Modi held telephonic talks with President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed.Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too held telephonic conversations with his counterparts in several African countries to reiterate India's solidarity with the African people in the fight against COVID-19. India has provided over three million hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets and two million paracetamol tablets to various countries as part of its assistance. Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19. MPB NSDNSD

Coronavirus: India sending medicines to 25 African countries

<ul><li>In its revised 'Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19' the ministry dropped the use of azithromycin in combination with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in severe cases and requiring ICU management. </li><li>Hydroxychloroquine has demonstrated in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV2 and was shown to be clinically beneficial in several small single-centre studies though with significant limitations, it stated.</li><li>The drug, administered in the form of injection, should be given at a dose of 200 mg on day one followed by 100 mg daily for five days. </li></ul><keyword id="3284300" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Health-Ministry">The Health Ministry</keyword> on Saturday recommended the use of antiviral drug <keyword id="8775508" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="remdesivir">remdesivir</keyword> in moderate stage of COVID-19 while backtracking from its earlier stance on hydroxychloroquine, saying the anti-malarial drug should be used in the early course of the disease and not on critically ill patients. It also okayed off-label application of tocilizumab, a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning, and convalescent plasma for treating coronavirus-infected patients in moderate stage of the illness. In its revised 'Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19' the ministry dropped the use of azithromycin in combination with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in severe cases and requiring ICU management. Hydroxychloroquine has demonstrated in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV2 and was shown to be clinically beneficial in several small single-centre studies though with significant limitations, it stated. "Nonetheless, several large observational studies with severe methodologic limitations have shown no effect on mortality or other clinically meaningful outcomes. "As such, the evidence base behind its use remains limited as with other drugs and should only be used after shared decision making with the patients while awaiting the results of ongoing studies," the revised document stated. As is the case with other antivirals, this drug should be used as early in the disease course as possible to achieve any meaningful effects and should be avoided in patients with severe disease, the health ministry said, adding an ECG should ideally be done before prescribing the drug. Under emergency use authorization, remdesivir may be considered for patients in moderate stage requiring oxygen support. It is not recommended for those with severe renal impairment and high level of liver enzymes, pregnant and lactating women, and those below 12 years, the document stated. The drug, administered in the form of injection, should be given at a dose of 200 mg on day one followed by 100 mg daily for five days. According to the revised protocols, convalescent plasma therapy may be considered for patients with moderate illness with no improvement in condition despite the use of steroids. The therapy involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 and transfusing those into a <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> patient to help kickstart the immune system to fight the infection. The recipient should be closely monitored for several hours after transfusion for any adverse events and its use should be avoided in patients with immunoglobulin A deficiency or immunoglobulin allergy. "The dose is variable ranging from 4 to 13 ml/kg -- usually 200 ml single dose given slowly over not less than two hours, the revised document stated. The guidelines state that tocilizumab, may be considered in patients with moderate illness with progressively increase in oxygen requirement and in mechanically ventilated patients not improving despite the use of steroids. Long term safety data in <keyword id="8764262" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid">COVID</keyword> 19 remains largely unknown, the guidelines stated. The presence of raised inflammatory markers should be checked before its use and the patient should be carefully monitored after tocilizumab is administered for secondary infections and neutropenia. Active infections and Tuberculosis should be ruled out before use, it stated. For patients with progressive deterioration of oxygenation indicators, rapid worsening on imaging and excessive activation of the body's inflammatory response, glucocorticoids can be used for a short period of time. Larger dose of glucocorticoids, a class of steroid hormones, will delay the removal of coronavirus due to immunosuppressive effects, the revised document stated. According to the revised clinical management protocols, loss of smell or taste has been added to the list of COVID-19 symptoms. The ministry said that coronavirus-infected patients reporting to various COVID-19 treatment facilities have been reporting symptoms like fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, expectoration, myalgia, rhinorrhea, sore throat and diarrhoea. They have also complained of loss of smell (anosmia) or loss of taste (ageusia) preceding the onset of respiratory symptoms. The ministry said the use of remdesivir, tocilizumab and convalescent plasma therapy, at present, is based on limited available evidence. As the situation evolves, and when more data become available, the evidence will be accordingly incorporated, and recommendation upgraded, it stated. Further, use of these drugs is subject to limited availability in the country as of now, the document stated. India currently does not manufacture remdesivir Four companies -- Hetero, Jubilant Life Sciences, Cipla and Mylan NV -- with which the original drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc have entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements are still awaiting the nod from the DCGI for manufacturing and selling of remdesivir in India. The drug regulator on June 1 had granted US pharma giant Gilead Sciences marketing authorisation for its drug remdesivir for "restricted emergency use" on hospitalised COVID-19 in the country. PLB NSD NSD

India allows use of Remdesivir — the only widely approved treatment for COVID-19 —for moderate cases

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the new edition of <keyword id="9095853" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider-today">Insider Today</keyword>. We hope you enjoy our new look. Please <a href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.com%2Finsidertoday">sign up here</a>.Please take a moment to complete the <a href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Finsidertoday.questionpro.com%2F">following three-minute survey</a> so that we can better deliver you Insider in your inbox.QUOTE OF THE DAY"True, honest, necessary and overdue." — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/murkowski-mattis-trump-essay-was-true-honest-and-overdue-2020-6">Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska,</a> on <keyword id="332170" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="James-Mattis">James Mattis</keyword>'s essay about President Trump. <h2>BLODGET &amp; PLOTZ</h2>General Mattis makes a choice many Americans may have to make: America...or Trump?President Trump's former secretary of defense, Marine Corps General James Mattis, finally broke his silence and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/">torched Trump in a statement</a>. "In Union there is strength," Mattis began. He said Trump is the first president in his lifetime who actively tries to divide the country and suggested Trump's actions "make a mockery of our Constitution."In the wake of Trump's forcefully driving peaceful protesters out of a park and summoning military helicopters and mysterious security forces to DC to harass and "dominate," some American <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-military-leaders-slam-trumps-handling-of-protests-2020-6">military leaders have finally spoken out</a>.In doing so, they have made a choice that other Americans may soon have to make — namely, to declare their loyalty to either the United States of America... or Trump.For most of the past three years, the survival strategy used by many Republicans, administration officials, and military brass who are—or should be—appalled by Trump's words and behavior has been to remain silent, thus preserving their neutrality and keeping their options open.But as Trump increasingly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/we-are-anti-fascism-2020-6">acts like a fascist</a>, in addition to just talking like one, the "silence" strategy is becoming less tenable. And more US leaders are concluding that it's better to speak up and speak out before the country slides into a dictatorship.Principles and the Constitution aside, these Americans also have personal interests at stake.If Trump succeeds in seizing full control of the US government and military, as successful authoritarians have done, people who came out against him will be in a dangerous place.On the other hand, if America rights itself and saves itself, history may judge those who did NOT speak out as traitorous Trump accomplices. So Americans whose moral compasses don't make this decision for them can always default to their personal career and life interests. Specifically, they can choose the side they think will win.But! A historical caveat for those who think it's smarter to support Trump because of the power and privilege that he will bestow on them if he wins… Would-be authoritarians, including Trump, care most about preserving their own power. And they don't hesitate to purge those in whom they detect even a hint of disloyalty or threat.History is littered with the corpses of people who picked the winners of these power struggles and then later fell out of favor. So even those who don't care about the US Constitution and assume they'll be better off under Trump might want to reassess that.America might not only be the more admirable and inspiring choice. It might be the safer bet. — HBDC is being patrolled by officers with no uniforms, insignia, and nameplates. That's dangerous. What's your name and badge number? This question marks a key difference between a police state and a functioning democracy. In a police state, government authorities can secretly interrogate, detain, and punish citizens under a veil of secrecy, where those being punished never know who's doing the punishing, and can't even ask. In a democracy, law enforcement officers (with exceptions for undercover work) must show identification when asked, so that citizens can trust they're true agents of the state, and have recourse to complain if they're abused.But in the past couple of days, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/03/dangerous-new-factor-an-uneasy-moment-unidentified-law-enforcement-officers/">unidentified armed enforcement officers have fanned out</a> across Washington, DC. They're not wearing standard uniforms. Their clothes lack insignia. They don't have nameplates. When asked where they're from, they say only "Department of Justice." Digital sleuthing suggests they're Bureau of Prisons riot officers. But who can say for sure? Perhaps they're not with the government at all. Perhaps they're pro-Trump paramilitaries. How do citizens know they should obey orders from unmarked armed security forces? What will happen if they disobey? Will their rights be protected? And what's to stop some heavily armed civilians from dressing up the same way and ordering citizens around? — DP<h2>OTHER NEWS</h2><div type="image" title="Eric Garcetti" height="900" width="1800" msid="76203226" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hydroxychloroquine-fails-to-prevent-coronavirus-study-in-nejm-2020-6">Trump's "game-changer" coronavirus drug doesn't help protect you from getting COVID-19. </a>That's the conclusion of a preliminary study that looked specifically at the question of whether hydroxychloroquine can help prevent infection, which became relevant after President Trump claimed he was taking the drug. Insider's Andy Dunn has the details.<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/may/28/questions-raised-over-hydroxychloroquine-study-which-caused-who-to-halt-trials-for-covid-19">But… a study that previously concluded that the same drug, hydroxychloroquine, is dangerous has also now been called into question</a>. The World Health Organization, in fact, is now resuming HCQ trials it stopped after the study came out. So there was something for both sides in the ongoing battle over the effectiveness and risks of HCQ.<a href="https://twitter.com/betsy_klein/status/1268527334073696257?s=20">The Administration took a while to respond to the coronavirus, but, wow, is it moving fast to build fences around the White House</a>. Pictures of the fences are appearing on Twitter. They're fencing off areas that have long been public.<a href="https://www.insider.com/los-angeles-mayor-garcetti-calls-for-lapd-budget-cuts-2020-6">Los Angeles mayor proposes to cut $150 million from LAPD budget.</a> Just days ago Eric Garcetti had proposed adding $122 million to the police budget, but now he wants the LAPD to take the lion's share of a $250 million city budget cut. This aligns with demands of George Floyd protesters, who've made a top priority of reallocating government spending from cops to communities, schools, and health. <h2>BUSINESS &amp; <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy">ECONOMY</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="H&amp;M" height="650" width="867" msid="76203230" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/03/next-big-problem-businesses-cant-or-wont-pay-their-rent-its-setting-off-dangerous-chain-reaction/#comments-wrapper">Nearly half of commercial retail rents were unpaid in April and May</a>. Businesses as big as H&amp;M and the Gap paid zero rent in May; even Starbucks is demanding rent concessions, and entertainment venues like movie theaters and concert halls are at their wit's end. The short rents will careen through the economy, hitting commercial landlords and gutting local tax revenues, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/black-americans-unemployment-coronavirus-layoffs-disproportionately-high-april-bls-data-2020-6">Fewer than half of black Americans were employed in April. </a>The BLS employment numbers, horrible for all groups, are catastrophic for black Americans. Another study found that African Americans are 11.9% of the workforce, but represent 17% of frontline workers more likely to be exposed to COVID-19. <h2>LIFE</h2><div type="image" title="Cori &quot;Coco&quot; Gauff" height="683" width="911" msid="76203231" hostid="261"></div>So many celebrities and athletes are speaking out about George Floyd and police violence. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/video-coco-gauff-speech-local-peaceful-protest-calls-for-action-2020-6">Coco Gauff:</a> "If you're choosing silence, you're choosing the side of the oppressor." Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-rock-on-george-floyd-protests-where-is-donald-trump-2020-6">called out Trump</a> for his protest response. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said he would never agree with "anybody disrespecting the flag," prompting his teammate Malcolm Jenkins <a href="https://www.insider.com/malcolm-jenkins-drew-brees-shut-the-f-up-nfl-kneeling-2020-6">to tell him that "people who share your sentiments are the problem.</a>"<a href="https://www.insider.com/woman-re-created-trip-at-home-video-2020-6">You can't travel but...</a>You could recreate an entire trip, complete with TSA agent, ground crew, and inflatable plane, like this woman did. <h2>REVIEWS</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-standing-desk">The best standing desks for your home or office.</a><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-standing-desk"></a>THE BIG 3*</h2><div type="image" title="banana bread" height="1500" width="2000" msid="76203234" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.insider.com/banana-bread-recipe-common-baking-mistakes-photos">How common baking mistakes will affect your banana bread.</a> Insider's Rachel Askinasi took the same banana bread recipe, and screwed it up 12 different ways — packed the flour, didn't melt the butter — etc. <a href="https://www.insider.com/boogaloo-bois-protest-far-right-minneapolis-extremist-guns-hawaiian-shirts-2020-5">Far-right "boogaloo bois" are showing up at George Floyd protests heavily armed and wearing Hawaiian shirts</a>. They're trying to accelerate a civil war and a race war. Three of them were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-boogaloo-men-terror-charges-george-floyd-protest-riot-conspiracy-2020-6">arrested</a> in Las Vegas for trying to incite violence. <a href="https://www.insider.com/surprising-things-about-moving-from-us-to-uk">8 things that surprised me about moving from the US to the UK. </a>Such as, the grocery store layouts make no sense.*The most popular stories on Insider today.

Mattis chooses America over Trump

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="99225" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Justice-Department">Justice Department</keyword> began investigating a New York doctor pushing unproven <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> treatments after a far-right conspiracy theorist accidentally emailed a federal prosecutor instead of the doctor.</li><li>The Washington Post reported that the conspiracist, <keyword id="9152410" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jerome-corsi">Jerome Corsi</keyword>, meant to email the doctor, Vladimir "Zev" Zelenko, but instead emailed Aaron Zelinsky, a prosecutor who worked with Robert Mueller and spent months investigating Corsi as part of the <keyword id="4540973" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Russia-probe">Russia probe</keyword>.</li><li>Zelinsky reportedly emailed Corsi back and requested all his communications with Zelenko, who promotes the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus.</li><li>There is no robust evidence that the drug is an effective coronavirus treatment. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/chloroquine-study-coronavirus-brazil">One Brazilian study</a> was halted after patients died. </li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/22/trump-hydroxychloroquine-study-coronavirus">And the biggest patient study yet</a>, conducted in the US, showed there was no benefit to using the drug to treat coronavirus.</li><li>The Justice Department is prioritizing cases related to coronavirus misinformation, fraudsters, and people who promote fake, dangerous, or unproven treatments for the virus.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Jerome Corsi, a far-right conspiracy theorist and close associate of the longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone, wanted to email Vladimir "Zev" Zelenko, a New York doctor who frequently appears on Fox <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword> and has communicated with the White House about using hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus.But instead of Zelenko, Corsi accidentally emailed Aaron Zelinsky, a federal prosecutor who worked on the former special counsel Robert Mueller's team and spent months investigating Corsi and others, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/vladimir-zev-zelenko-fox-news-trump-hydroxychloroquine-jerome-corsi/2020/04/30/82622456-8af2-11ea-ac8a-fe9b8088e101_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post reported Friday</a>.Zelinsky responded to Corsi's email by reaching out to Corsi's lawyer and asking for all of Corsi's communications with Zelenko, according to The Post. The Justice Department is now investigating all of Zelenko's communications.Zelinsky works at the US attorney's office in Maryland which, along with US attorneys' offices, has been tasked with prioritizing cases related to coronavirus misinformation, fraudsters, and people who promote fake, dangerous, or unproven treatments for the virus. The Justice Department is reportedly scrutinizing Zelenko's communications as part of that mandate.Corsi said he and Zelenko are working together on a website that will connect people with doctors. He added that he and Zelenko have acted properly and he will cooperate with the inquiry. Corsi handed over all his communications with the doctor, including text messages, podcast materials, and marketing materials for the website.The Post reported that Corsi revealed details of the email mix-up on an episode of his daily podcast and in a YouTube video he posted late Thursday after the paper reached out to him.Zelenko frequently promotes hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus. It is an effective anti-malarial drug, but despite being repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump as a potential cure for the virus, there's no robust evidence that it would work.A <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/didier-raoult-is-the-bs-artist-behind-trumps-miracle-drug">controversial</a> French study found a combination of drugs that included hydroxychloroquine may be effective in combating the coronavirus. And although the study hadn't yet been replicated, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/hydroxychloroquine-trump/609547/">it was repeatedly mentioned on Fox News</a>.Subsequent studies have suggested that such anti-malarials have no impact on the coronavirus. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/chloroquine-study-coronavirus-brazil">One Brazilian study</a> was halted after patients died. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/22/trump-hydroxychloroquine-study-coronavirus">And the biggest patient study yet</a>, conducted in the US, showed there was no benefit to using the drug to treat coronavirus.Last week, the Food and Drug Administration, warned doctors against using hydroxychloroquine outside of a hospital or clinical trial, citing reports of "serious heart rhythm problems."Gregory Rigano, a lawyer who said he's working with Zelenko, told The Post on Thursday that federal prosecutors have not contacted him or his client, and that is not aware of any potential law enforcement interest in Zelenko."It's not something I'm familiar with," Rigano said. "We're just saving people's lives that have coronavirus and getting rid of this virus from America as soon as possible."In his YouTube video, Corsi showed the email he said he accidentally sent to Zelinsky, in which he wrote that Zelenko had "an FDA approved randomized test of HCQ underway," referring to hydroxychloroquine.Corsi said that Zelinsky then went to a government website that displays approved clinical trials and found no mention of or reference to Zelenko. Corsi said he later asked Zelenko about it, and Zelenko replied that his study was approved by an internal hospital panel."I pointed out to Zelenko, 'But it's not registered as an FDA test, and you can't say it is,' " Corsi said Thursday on YouTube, The Post reported. He added that he didn't think Zelenko was trying to dupe anyone but instead does not understand what it means to have an FDA-approved test."I did nothing wrong," Corsi said. "Zelenko made a mistake. He's got no case. And we're following all the rules."Corsi made headlines during the <keyword id="4335055" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia-investigation">Russia investigation</keyword> after he was named as "Person 1" in the Justice Department's indictment against Stone.In November 2018, Corsi said he expected to be charged in the investigation, which examined Russia's interference in the 2016 US election and whether members associated with the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow to tilt the race in Trump's favor.A few days after saying he expected to be indicted, Corsi confirmed he had entered plea negotiations with Mueller's team. But last April, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-special-counsels-long-hunt-to-uncover-whether-the-trump-campaign-conspired-with-russia/2019/04/21/57e67ac4-563c-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html?noredirect=on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Post reported</a> that Corsi's lawyer, David Gray, said investigators were "dumbfounded" by his inconsistent testimony, and Gray was also concerned by it.According to Gray, investigators ultimately decided after extensively interviewing Corsi that they could not "use any of this." Corsi himself recalled telling investigators, "Sometimes I can't tell if I remembered or invented."Shona Ghosh contributed reporting.Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-investigates-doctor-pushing-questionable-coronavirus-treatments-after-accidental-email-2020-5">Business Insider</a>

DOJ began investigating a doctor promoting unproven COVID-19 treatments after a Roger Stone associate accidentally emailed a federal prosecutor instead of the doctor

New Delhi, Jun 13 () As the number of COVID-19 cases crossed the three lakh-mark, the government on Saturday came out with a revised treatment protocol to deal with the deadly infection, allowing use of antiviral drug Remdesivir in moderate cases and Hydroxychloroquine in patients during the early course of the disease. It also recommended an off-label application of Tocilizumab, a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning, and convalescent plasma for treating coronavirus-infected patients in moderate stage of the illness, besides adding loss of smell or taste to the list of COVID-19 symptoms. In its revised 'Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19', the Union health ministry, in a turnaround from its earlier decision, advised use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine in the early course of the disease, while dropping the use of azithromycin in combination with HCQ in severe cases and those requiring ICU management. Ten days after recording two lakh COVID-19 cases, India surpassed the three lakh-mark on Saturday with the worst daily spike of 11,458 infections, while the death toll too climbed to 8,884 with 386 new fatalities, according to the Health Ministry. India took 64 days to cross the one lakh-mark from 100 cases, then in another fortnight it reached the grim milestone of two lakh cases. It has now become the fourth worst-hit nation with a caseload of 3,08,993. Only US, Brazil and Russia have more cases. Hydroxychloroquine has demonstrated in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV2 and was shown to be clinically beneficial in several small single-centre studies though with significant limitations, the health ministry said. "Nonetheless, several large observational studies with severe methodologic limitations have shown no effect on mortality or other clinically meaningful outcomes," the revised document said. "As such, the evidence base behind its use remains limited as with other drugs and should only be used after shared decision making with the patients while awaiting the results of ongoing studies," it said. As is the case with other antivirals, this drug should be used as early in the disease course as possible to achieve any meaningful effects and should be avoided in patients with severe disease, the health ministry said, adding that an ECG should ideally be done before prescribing the drug. Under emergency use authorisation, Remdesivir may be considered for patients in moderate stage requiring oxygen support. It is not recommended for those with severe renal impairment and high level of liver enzymes, pregnant and lactating women, and those below 12 years, the document stated. The drug, administered in the form of injection, should be given at a dose of 200 mg on day one followed by 100 mg daily for five days. According to the revised protocols, convalescent plasma therapy may be considered for patients with moderate illness with no improvement in condition despite the use of steroids. The therapy involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 and transfusing those to a coronavirus patient to help kickstart the immune system to fight the infection. The recipient should be closely monitored for several hours after transfusion for any adverse events and its use should be avoided in patients with immunoglobulin A deficiency or immunoglobulin allergy. "The dose is variable ranging from 4 to 13 ml/kg -- usually 200 ml single dose given slowly over not less than two hours," the revised document stated. The guidelines state that tocilizumab may be considered in patients with moderate illness with progressive increase in oxygen requirement and in mechanically ventilated patients not improving despite the use of steroids. Long term safety data in COVID-19 remains largely unknown, the guidelines stated. The presence of raised inflammatory markers should be checked before its use and the patient should be carefully monitored after tocilizumab is administered for secondary infections and neutropenia. Active infections and Tuberculosis should be ruled out before use, it stated. For patients with progressive deterioration of oxygenation indicators, rapid worsening on imaging and excessive activation of the body's inflammatory response, glucocorticoids can be used for a short period of time. Larger dose of glucocorticoids, a class of steroid hormones, will delay the removal of coronavirus due to immunosuppressive effects, the revised document stated. The ministry said that coronavirus-infected patients reporting to various COVID-19 treatment facilities have been reporting symptoms like fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, expectoration, myalgia, rhinorrhea, sore throat and diarrhoea. They have also complained of loss of smell (anosmia) or loss of taste (ageusia) preceding the onset of respiratory symptoms. The ministry said the use of Remdesivir, Tocilizumab and convalescent plasma therapy, at present, is based on limited available evidence. As the situation evolves and when more data become available, the evidence will be accordingly incorporated, and recommendation upgraded, it stated. Meanwhile, the ministry's data updated at 8 AM on Saturday showed active cases at 1,45,779 and those who have recovered at 1,54,329; one patient has migrated. "Thus, around 49.95 per cent patients have recovered so far," a ministry official said. The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners. PLB ASK RDM RDM

Health ministry issues revised clinical management protocols for COVID-19 and spurt in cases

(Eds: Adds details) New Delhi, May 1 () India has ramped up production of COVID-19 protective gears and medical equipment giving a boost to its fight against the novel coronavirus and reducing it dependency on foreign countries for these items which are in high demand globally due to the pandemic. The Centre on Friday said it has placed order for 2.22 crore personal protection equipment (PPE), of which around 1.43 crore will be procured from domestic manufacturers and the rest imported. Addressing a press briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country, P D Vaghela, the Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals and Chairman of the Empowered Group-3, said that against the projected demand of two crore PPE, orders have been placed for more than 2.2 crore. "Earlier, there was no domestic manufacturing of PPE in the country and almost all of them were imported. We now have 111 indigenous manufacturers," he said. Vaghela said about 19,398 ventilators are available in India and orders have been placed for 60,884 more, and of these 59,884 will be made by domestic manufacturers. The Ministry of Health has indicated a projected demand of 75,000 ventilators till June, 2020. "Against the same, the present availability is about 19,398. Out of the total orders placed, 59,884 ventilators have been ordered to domestic manufacturers and imports are to the tune of 1,000 ventilators," he said. He said of the total 2.49 crore N-95/N-99 masks to be procured, 1.49 crore have been ordered from domestic manufacturers and about one crore N- 95 masks are being imported. On production of drugs and other medical equipment, he said, "HCQ (hydroxychloroquine) production has increased from 12.23 crore to 30 crore (tablets) per month." He further said that over four lakh oxygen cylinders are available which is "sufficient for today's requirements". "Orders for more than 1 lakh oxygen cylinders have been placed and industrial oxygen is being converted into medical oxygen," he said. He also informed that against a demand for 35 lakh combined RT-PCR testing kits, the ICMR has ordered more than 21 lakh and close to 14 lakh kits have already been received. The Centre has decided to handhold states in purchasing VTMs and RNA extraction kits, he said. He said there were several challenges in front of the government, including very high global demand for medical supplies and no production facility for PPEs and N-95 masks in the country, besides small production facility for ventilators and testing kits. "The required medical supplies were largely imported," he said. The strategy devised by them was to see this (as) an opportunity to create supply chains and manufacturing within India by helping existing manufacturers to expand, identifying new manufacturers, hand-holding and facilitating, teams of officers, engineers and scientists deployed and import only if absolutely necessary to meet timelines. Joint secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said all the districts of the country have been divided into 'red', 'orange' and 'green' zones and stressed that the district administration through focused efforts should ensure that these places where cases have come up can break the chain of transmission through effective and stringent containment measures. The official said that 'red' and 'orange' zones have been defined in such a way so as to ensure that no critical area of intervention at the field level is missed out. "Ruthless containment measures to break chain of transmission will be taken in red and orange zones," he said. Talking about the criterion used, he said, besides the number of cases, "density of population, testing ratio and likelihood of an area posing a challenge for us later have also been considered while classifying districts into red and orange zones". "Biggest challenge is not whether a district is in the red or orange zone but if the containment measures are being properly followed so as to curb the spread of the virus," Agarwal said. Containment zones should be delineated duly taking into account mapping of cases and contacts, geographical dispersion of cases and contacts, areas with a well-demarcated perimeter and enforceability, he said. States and UTs are also advised that containment zones can be residential colony/mohallas/municipal wards or police station area/municipal zones/towns etc in urban areas as appropriate. In case of rural areas, zones can be village,clusters of village or group of police stations or gram panchayats among others. States and UTs also need to clearly demarcate the buffer zones and containment zones, he said. The Union Health Ministry has listed 130 districts in the country in 'red' zone, 284 in 'orange' zone and 319 in 'green' zone on the basis of incidence of cases of COVID-19, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback. This classification of districts is to be followed by states and UTs till a week post May 3 for containment operations. The list will be revised on a weekly basis or earlier and communicated to states for further follow-up action. Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad have been designated as red zones in the new classification. The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 1,147 with 72 more fatalities and the number of cases climbed to 35,043 in the country on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry. PLB SMNSMN

India ramps up production of COVID-19 protective gears, medical equipment

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the next edition of <keyword id="9095853" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider-today">Insider Today</keyword>. Please sign up<a href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter.businessinsider.com%2Fclick%2F20261396.97970%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%2F5e9dd0da72332a624a653224B9f295512"> here</a>. We're trying a new format today — one editorial followed by short stories. Thanks for reading. Please let us know what you think! <h2 id="blodget-&amp;-plotzlotz">BLODGET &amp; PLOTZ</h2>Stop fudging the <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> data! So they're fudging the data again. According <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-virgina-vermont-accused-of-misleading-coronavirus-data-2020-5">to news reports</a>, at least three states — Texas, Virginia, and Vermont — are muddling their COVID-19 data by combining results of active illness tests and antibody tests. This makes it look as if the states are testing more vigorously for active infections than they are, and confounds the data on whether cases are actually declining — which is one of the key determinants of whether the state has the outbreak controlled. In short, the data manipulation is making us stupider. The leaders and citizens of Texas, Virginia, and Vermont know less about the pandemic they presumably want to control.This is hardly the first example of government sources manipulating COVID-19 data, usually to help win an argument. Georgia's Department of Public Health published a chart that <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/just-cuckoo-state-latest-data-mishap-causes-critics-cry-foul/182PpUvUX9XEF8vO11NVGO/">literally flipped dates out of order</a> to show a steady decline in cases. <keyword id="6357385" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="florida">Florida</keyword>'s top data scientist said this week <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/19/859119865/florida-ousts-top-covid-19-data-scientist">she was fired for refusing to embroider data</a>. Two weeks ago, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/arizona-halts-partnership-with-experts-predicting-coronavirus-cases-would-continue-to-mount/2020/05/06/d7a97c46-8fc2-11ea-a9c0-73b93422d691_story.html">Arizona's governor</a> tried to sideline analysts whose data predicted the state's outbreak peak was still to come. And of course the White House has treated COVID-19 data erratically, recently releasing a model created by a top administration economist that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21250641/kevin-hassett-cubic-model-smoothing">showed deaths dropping to zero by May 15</a>, which, as you may have noticed, they did not. It's not new for politicians to seek to manipulate data to tell the story they want to tell. After all, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Still, when it comes to this pandemic, the data games are frustrating and perverse. Manipulating the data doesn't change the actual facts. The sick people are still sick, the dead people are just as dead. It simply covers those facts with a veil of confusion. The purpose of data is to provide guidance that helps our leaders make smart policy decisions. The data themselves are not the policy. The data exist to help us know whether reopening or locking down or whatever is working. Data are a tool. Would you want to use a tape measure where the inches were an inch and a quarter long? That's what these officials are doing. Manipulating the data blinds and deceives the policymakers in addition to the public. Instead of using the data to guide them toward policy — the purpose of the data — they are deciding on policy without data, and fudging the data to support their decision. It's backwards. The politicians should have the courage to let the data speak for itself, and then they'll know if they're doing the right thing. — DP<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-zealand-four-day-work-week-experiment-pandemic-good-idea-2020-5">The pandemic has created the most interesting and fast economics experiments the world has ever seen. </a><keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>'s 4-day work week is a particularly inspired idea.Let's learn from them. Universal Basic Income? Permanent working from home? Job-sharing? Doughnut economics? Let's turn this crisis into an opportunity!<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pompeos-dinners-not-scandal-they-are-his-job-2020-5">People are ripping Pompeo for holding big dinners at taxpayer expense.</a> That's silly. It's his job. <h2><keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">NEWS</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="georgia coronavirus lockdown 4" height="1500" width="3000" msid="75855792" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/all-50-states-partially-reopen-after-coronavirus-lockdowns-2020-5">All 50 states are now at least partially reopened</a>. Connecticut was the last state to start to lift its lockdown. Hold your breath.<a href="https://www.insider.com/man-shoots-waffle-house-cook-over-wearing-face-mask-police-2020-5">Man shoots Waffle House cook after being told he has to wear a mask</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/florida-man-thought-coronavirus-was-fake-now-has-covid-19-2020-5">Former coronavirus denier now wants everyone to know how serious it is (after wife gets put on a ventilator)</a> <h2>BUSINESS</h2><div type="image" title="trader nyse pray" height="1000" width="2000" msid="75855794" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-economy-coronavirus-industrial-activity-bounces-back-v-shaped-recovery-2020-5-1029220542">China has actually already had the "V-shaped recovery" that smart people think only suckers think will happen here</a><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-news-today-index-reaction-economy-reopening-outlook-earnings-2020-5-1029220099">Stocks soar again as all states reopen </a>and<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/moderna-stock-price-spike-again-coronavirus-vaccine-morgan-stanley-says-2020-5-1029220490"> analyst predicts vaccine candidate will work, be safe, and sell 1.5 billion doses. </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-opposes-extending-boosted-unemployment-benefits-jobless-levels-soar-2020-5">No extension of unemployment benefits, Trump tells Senate Republicans</a><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-forecast-tom-lee-sees-records-despite-earnings-hit-2020-5-1029221019">Strategist predicts stocks will hit new highs by the end of the year</a> <h2>LIFE</h2><div type="image" title="Chad Johnson Ochocinco" height="1499" width="2664" msid="75855796" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.insider.com/chad-ochocinco-leaves-1000-tip-restaurant-pandemic-2020-5">Chad Ochocinco left a $1,000 tip at a restaurant with a note saying, "Sorry about the pandemic, hope this helps"</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/what-its-like-living-in-earthship-off-grid-sustainable-home-2020-5">This is a great time to be living in an "earthship" — a sealed, self-sustaining biosphere that socially distances you from the entire planet.</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-surgery-quarantine-boom-ultrawealthy-beauty-services-5">A plastic surgeon says ultrawealthy clients are begging to fly him in on private jets and pay quadruple his rates to get work done during quarantine</a>. They want to look good on Zoom. Ick.<h2>REVIEWS</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-bbq-gloves">The best grilling gloves are these Steven Raichlen extra long suede ones</a>, Insider's James Brains says. You can get 'em at Home Depot for $20.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-charcoal">The best charcoal, meanwhile, is Royal Oak.</a> Only drawback? It contains sawdust. $11.89 at Walmart.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wayfair-sale">Wayfair's having a huge Memorial Day sale with discounts up to 70%.</a> The plicker of your dreams...<h2>THE BIG 3*</h2><div type="image" title="Xi Jinping Angela Merkel 2" height="620" width="1240" msid="75855799" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.insider.com/artist-makes-harry-potter-face-covering-2020-5">An artist made a "Harry Potter" face covering that reveals the Marauder's Map as you breathe</a>. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-abandoning-donald-trump-coronavirus-world-stage-turns-towards-china-2020-5">Europe is turning from the US towards China, abandoning Trump. </a>European public opinion of the US has deteriorated since the start of the crisis. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/70-new-coronavirus-cases-reported-after-french-schools-begin-reopening-2020-5">France logs 70 new cases in schools after letting kids return to class </a>YOUR LETTERS<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-taking-hydroxychloroquine-more-resonable-than-it-sounds-2020-5">On the President's announcement that he's taking hydroxychloroquine, which we argued is actually not so crazy...</a>I'm sorry, I do not believe that the president taking HCQ is rational. I'm a clinical psychologist with extensive experience working with medically ill patients - both in acute care hospitals and elsewhere. I've been part of medical decision-making teams via bioethics committees and been part of transplant teams. In my experience, taking a drug prophylactically that has no evidence base and that has significant side-effects (Q-T prolongation is probably the most serious) reflects more on the President's misunderstanding of the drug, the illness, and good prescribing practices. In addition, I wonder about the judgment of the physician who counseled Mr. Trump. I am sure there was a weighing of the benefits and costs, however, given the context, I cannot imagine there was not some not-so-subtle pressure to allow the president to take the medication.This is poor social modeling. As you point out, Trump bears some responsibility for those who might suffer negative consequences of taking the medication. And as always, his lack of judgment in these matters stands out. Sure, one may say that since there is no evidence for/against prophylactic use to prevent COVID-19 disease it's "rational" to go ahead and give it a try. As the President has said: "What have you got to lose." But as a model of rational medical decision-making, I disagree.Robert Canning, PhD Davis, CAI think all of you press guys are getting suckered by Trump again. Do you really believe he is taking hydroxychloroquine? I don't. He's a germaphobe and drugophobe. He doesn't have the balls to take it. No one's in his camp is going to question him or they'd get fired. If the press asks, he'll say, "Ask my doctor - he'll confirm" Yeah, right. The doctor will say, "Medical confidentiality, I can't divulge anything." He just wants to look macho and hates to have anything he said look wrong. He's not taking it.John HaynesInsider Today's goal is to provide you with insight and analysis about the big stories of the day — "Insider in your inbox."Please feel free to reply to this email and tell us what you like or don't like, and we'll evolve and improve as we go. And if you're enjoying the newsletter, please forward to your friends.Please also let us know your thoughts on the topics we discuss. Please include your name and city/state/country. If we think other readers will enjoy your note, we'll publish it! <a href="mailto:henry@insider.com">henry@insider.com</a> and <a href="mailto:dplotz@businessinsider.com">dplotz@businessinsider.com</a> To view this newsletter on our site, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/states-should-stop-changing-coronavirus-data-2020-5">click here</a>.Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/states-should-stop-changing-coronavirus-data-2020-5">Business Insider</a>

Stop fudging the data!

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the next edition of <keyword id="9095853" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider-today">Insider Today</keyword>. Please <a href="http://insider.com/insidertoday">sign up here</a>. Note we'll be off Monday for Memorial Day. Enjoy your weekends, everyone.<h2>BLODGET &amp; PLOTZ</h2>Facebook's remote-working plan is doomedSilicon Valley, which adopts fads like it's a tween, has found a new one. The day before pandemic, the Valley was salivating over the Apple campus, goggle-eyed at Airbnb's conference rooms, passionately arguing whether the kombucha was better on the marketing floor or the engineering floor.But now? Now let's all work from home, forever!Twitter and Square recently announced that everyone could keep working from home when the pandemic ends. Facebook, right in character, has decided to move fast and break leases.Mark Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-could-allow-half-its-employees-to-work-remotely-2020-5">announced on Thursday</a> that he expected up to half of Facebook's employees to work remotely in the next five to 10 years."We're going to be the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale," Zuckerberg jargoned.The pivot to home offices is easy to explain. Pandemic uncertainty will make crowded workspaces feel unsafe for a while, and scare workers off public transportation. Companies can slash their real-estate costs with a remote workforce, and maybe even salaries. Zuckerberg advised that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zuckerberg-facebook-salary-employees-moving-out-of-silicon-valley-2020-5">Facebook would cut wages</a> for employees who live in places that are cheaper than the Bay Area.I'm writing this from my bed, but I'm skeptical that remote work will remain so enthralling for big companies once COVID-19 recedes.Yes, a surprising number of white-collar workers are finding lockdown life enjoyable — no commuting, no travel, no dressing up.And it's tempting to think that if a little bit of working from home is good, a lot of working from home will be great. The history of human civilization, however, suggests this would be a mistaken conclusion.Working from home is fine now because everyone is doing it. We've all been forced into it. You're not missing any important meetings or gossip around the water cooler or happy hours — because everyone is missing them.Humans have a glorious capacity to adapt, especially when they feel what they're going through is fair, and this feels fair, because everyone is suffering the same way.But once the possibility of office life returns, the career fortunes and experiences of people who repopulate the Silicon Valley headquarters and people who stay home are going to rapidly diverge.Ask anyone who's ever worked at a partially remote company (say, me): The insiders and the outsiders have vastly different experiences.Insiders build the small, socially lubricating connections that humans thrive on. They create stronger networks. They develop better reputations, more friendships. They know more about what's happening at the company. And that makes them more valuable employees.Companies are deluding themselves if they think they can crush the human desire for that kind of knowledge, jockeying, and connecting. Office workers will become the elite overclass. Remote workers will be outsiders, sometimes confused, excluded from the in-jokes and cliques that develop in any real-world group.Silicon Valley fantasizes that technology can fix this. Facebook, above all, is built on the notion that electronic relationships are the equal of in-person ones. But 15,000 years of human civilization says technology doesn't fix it. Slack, texting, Zoom happy hours — they're better than nothing. But anyone who's ever been remote at a meeting where everyone else is in person knows how much physical presence matters.A prediction: Facebook and other tech companies will extend remote work, and for a certain class of employee it will be a godsend. Folks who generally work alone, who are temperamentally introverted, and who aren't ambitious will love it, and will thrive.But everyone who wants to manage, to run things, to influence, to jockey, to make friends, to build a network — they will clamor to work in the office. Almost every single ambitious person in a company will be demanding a desk at HQ. Within a very short time, Silicon Valley will largely revert back to status quo, with centralized, crowded hub campuses where all the action happens, and smattering of happy introverts working remotely elsewhere. —DPCome on, Plotz, some people will be stoked to work remotely forever!My partner, Mr. Plotz, makes some excellent points in his argument above that the new remote-work-for-everyone-forever trend is just a fad.Cities are amazing places, and, once it's safe to ride subways and buses again, most people will want to continue living in them.Office life can be fantastic, especially at fun, tech-ish companies that offer food and fabulously smart and charismatic colleagues. Climbing the management career ladder will indeed still be easier to do in person: Relationships still matter, and in-person relationships are stronger than Zoom ones.So, yes, once we finally vanquish the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>, enthusiasm for cities, offices, events, business travel, and in-person work will rise again.But!A significant percentage of people, especially "individual producers" — writers, engineers, designers, and others who really do not need to interact with others to do amazing work — will take advantage of our collective epiphany to leave "the office" forever.There are so many amazing places to live in this world. So many places that are cheaper, more beautiful, healthier, easier, and more fun than the "big cities." So many places where it's better and easier to raise kids; have dogs, cats, and farm animals; exercise and be outdoors.For many of us, the benefit of being able to live in these places — while still enjoying the vibrancy, stability, compensation (even at lower levels), benefits, support systems, colleagues, and opportunities of working for larger companies and organizations — will make the trade-off worthwhile.Well done, Facebook, Twitter, and others, for welcoming this new age! You'll now be able to hire and employ talented people all over the country and world who would have been miserable living amid the Silicon Valley and New York City rat race.And well done, remote workers and tech providers, for showing hidebound managers that we all can now be amazingly productive from anywhere! You've helped create a better world! —HBBrazil's coronavirus disaster confirms that the tough-guy approach doesn't workThanks to the various approaches to the coronavirus tried by different countries, humanity is getting real-time evidence about what works and what doesn't.What doesn't work, it seems, is ignoring or playing down the virus and acting as though there's nothing that can be done about it.This approach, flirted with by President Trump in the US, has been taken to its extreme by President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brazils-bolsonaro-mirrors-trump-playbook-for-coronavirus-response-2020-5">Insider's Sarah Al-Arshani reports</a>. And Brazilians are paying the price.The unfolding disaster in Brazil may soon give the US some competition for the worst outbreak in the world.Confirmed deaths are nearing 20,000 and accelerating.<div type="image" title="Our world in data deaths" height="868" width="1600" msid="75903836" hostid="261"></div>Confirmed cases are also soaring.<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer?casesMetric=true&amp;totalFreq=true&amp;smoothing=3&amp;country=USA+GBR+BRA+AUS+ESP+SWE+NOR+FRA+SWE+NOR+FRA"></a><div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2020 05 22 at 9.15.22 AM" height="864" width="1600" msid="75903848" hostid="261"></div>Even on a per-capita basis, Brazil's accelerating epidemic will soon make it a card-carrying member of the coronavirus Hall of Shame. And unlike most of these countries — Spain, Italy, France, the UK — Brazil is getting worse, not better.<div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2020 05 22 at 9.15.54 AM" height="868" width="1600" msid="75903859" hostid="261"></div>Countries that nipped the coronavirus in the bud — South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Denmark, Austria, Germany, among others — show that it can be done.Countries that were initially blindsided, meanwhile — Italy, Spain, France — show that, with a coordinated, comprehensive, and overwhelming response, the virus can be brought under control.Countries that denied the threat of the virus and then rinsed their hands of national responsibility, meanwhile — the US, Brazil — are still struggling. —HB<h2><keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">NEWS</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="Trump Ford blood" height="702" width="1405" msid="75903868" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-claims-he-wore-mask-didnt-want-reporters-to-see-2020-5">Trump didn't wear a mask for most of his Ford visit.</a> He said he "didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing" him in it. Just wear the mask, Mr. President! It's morally right, and it will actually help you, because it will encourage other Americans to mask, which will slow the disease. The faster the pandemic ends and the safer Americans feel, the better your chance of reelection.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-republicans-aim-to-boost-trump-by-investigating-joe-biden-2020-5">Republican senators aim to boost Trump's reelection chances by investigating (and investigating, and investigating) Joe Biden:</a> They're going to subpoena Obama officials, Democratic strategy groups, maybe Hunter Biden. This has been a successful Republican strategy in recent elections — see Swift Boats, Benghazi, Hillary Clinton's emails. The idea is to build vague doubts about Biden: Is he corrupt? Is he hiding something? At best it actually uncovers something shady. At worst it creates equivalence: Sure Trump may be corrupt and sleazy, but the other guy is too.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/karl-rove-helping-trump-campaign-2020-5">Karl Rove is helping the Trump campaign:</a> Insider's Tom LoBianco has the scoop that "Bush's Brain" — as Rove was known — is advising Jared Kushner and campaign manager Brad Parscale on voter targeting and swing states. It probably doesn't signal a warming in the notoriously cool personal relationship between Trump and the Bush family, but does reflect how Trump now dominates all wings of the Republican Party.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lancet-study-hydroxychloroquine-for-coronavirus-risk-of-death-2020-5">More bad news for Trump's favorite coronavirus drug.</a> Another big study found that hydroxychloroquine doesn't help COVID patients and increases the risk of death. Fans of the drug will point out, however, that this study doesn't address whether HCQ helps protect you from getting COVID, which is what Trump says he's taking it for. We await the outcome of those trials.<h2>BUSINESS</h2><div type="image" title="empty plane coronavirus" height="512" width="1024" msid="75903873" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput">US air travel hit its highest per-day level since March 24.</a> Yes, the number of passengers was still only 12% of last year. But it seems Americans are — very gradually — venturing into the skies again.<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-economy-ditches-annual-gdp-target-for-first-time-2020-5-1029226348">China ditched its annual GDP growth target for the first time ever.</a> It's set a target every year since 1990. But party leaders said the pandemic made it too hard to predict what could happen with the <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword>.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barbara-corcoran-shark-tank-businesses-pivoting-covid-pandemic-2020-5">How four 'Shark Tank' businesses reinvented themselves during pandemic.</a> One created a mobile app for ordering Maine lobsters.<h2>LIFE</h2><div type="image" title="The great wildebeest migration in Africa, safari" height="1936" width="3872" msid="75903883" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.insider.com/bucket-list-trips-to-book-a-year-in-advance">6 bucket-list trips you need to book a year in advance:</a> Remember travel? Remember bucket lists? Easter Island, the Great Migration in the Serengeti, Antarctica, and other trips you can dream about doing when this is all over?<a href="https://www.insider.com/jk-rowling-edinburgh-cafe-harry-potter-2020-5">JK Rowling debunks claim that she came up with Harry Potter in this Edinburgh café.</a> She says she started writing the books years before she ever started hanging out at the Elephant Café. Also, she never went to the beautiful Portuguese bookstore that was supposed to have inspired Hogwarts.<a href="https://slate.com/business/2020/05/coronavirus-ads-tv-commercials.html">There are 13 kinds of pandemic TV ads.</a> The "You Can Count on Us" ad. The "Hi, We're Clean Now" ad. A funny list on Slate.<h2>REVIEWS</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-online-cooking-classes-masterclass">Famous chefs like Thomas Keller are offering online cooking lessons on MasterClass.</a> Here are the best ones.<h2>THE BIG 3*</h2><div type="image" title="Penguins" height="1500" width="2000" msid="75903891" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-assess-your-risk-of-catching-coronavirus-2020-5">How to assess your risk of catching coronavirus in any situation.</a> The 6 key factors to consider.<a href="https://www.insider.com/penguins-visit-art-museum-for-the-day-2020-5">The Kansas City Zoo sent its penguins on a field trip to the art museum.</a> They really liked Caravaggio, not the Impressionists.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/stimulus-check-eip-prepaid-debit-card-questions-answers-2020-5">All your questions about prepaid debit cards stimulus payments, answered.</a> Such as, who gets them? Can the government track your purchases?*The most popular stories on Insider today.YOUR LETTERSI agree that we must defeat the virus to revive the economy. As to air travel, there are other factors causing the steep decline. Just as it wasn't possible to visit nonessential businesses at home, that's true anywhere you travel — and hotels and restaurants aren't open, either. However, once we have full reopening, it is very likely that air travel will remain depressed for many reasons — people have become accustomed to working remotely, and businesses will want and need to save unnecessary travel expense. And if the purpose of vacation is to relax, you may not find plane travel safe and reassuring. Driving to a nearby vacation spot will have a lot of appeal.—Jeff FurnishInsider Today's goal is to provide you with insight and analysis about the big stories of the day — "Insider in your inbox."Please feel free to reply to this email and tell us what you like or don't like, and we'll evolve and improve as we go. And if you're enjoying the newsletter, please forward to your friends.Please also let us know your thoughts on the topics we discuss. Please include your name and city/state/country. If we think other readers will enjoy your note, we'll publish it! <a href="mailto:henry@insider.com">henry@insider.com</a> and <a href="mailto:dplotz@businessinsider.com">dplotz@businessinsider.com</a>To view this newsletter on our site, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-post-coronavirus-pandemic-remote-working-plan-doomed-2020-5">click here</a>.Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-post-coronavirus-pandemic-remote-working-plan-doomed-2020-5">Business Insider</a>

Facebook's remote-working plan is doomed

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the new edition of <keyword id="9095853" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider-today">Insider Today</keyword>. Please <a href="http://insider.com/insidertoday">sign up here</a>. To view this newsletter on our site, <a href="https://www.insider.com/trump-social-media-executive-order-not-crazy-will-probably-work-2020-5">click here</a>.<h2>BLODGET &amp; PLOTZ</h2>Trump's social-media order isn't crazy, and it will probably work.After becoming enraged that <keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> flagged two of his tweets as misleading, Trump is planning to sign an executive order that might compel Twitter and other social-media platforms to let him say whatever he wants.A reported <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-leaked-executive-order-social-media-facebook-twitter-2020-5">draft of the executive order appeared online</a>.The draft order would make social-media companies liable for what their users post. This would enable people to sue the companies for libel, defamation, and other infractions, the same way they can currently sue newspaper companies, TV networks, and other publishers.Right now, social-media companies are protected from such liability by a law that treats the companies not as information publishers but as mere information distributors — like telephone and mail-delivery companies instead of newspaper companies.For many reasons, social-media companies are desperate to keep their current status. It is expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to fact-check and otherwise police everything that people post. It is easier, less controversial, and often more profitable to allow people to communicate what they want.But Twitter, <keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword>, and other social-media companies already do police the content they distribute. They don't allow pornography or drug or weapons sales, for example. They don't allow broadcasts of murders. They have many other rules and policies that regulate what people can and can't post. And now, in the case of Twitter with Trump, they're getting more aggressive about policing posts they regard as "misleading."Trump's draft order makes a clever argument that goes right at this in-between behavior. If the social-media companies are going to take responsibility for some content, the administration argues, they should take responsibility for all of it.That's a reasonable argument.If Facebook, for example, is going to say that it's not OK to publish one particular post, then it is implicitly saying that all other posts are OK.Now, Trump's goal here is obviously not to get Facebook, Twitter, and other social-media companies to more aggressively police what they publish. If the companies did that, more of Trump's own tweets and posts might get flagged or deleted.Instead, Trump's goal is to force the companies to be even more hands-off — to interfere less, and, therefore, to allow him and his supporters to post whatever they want.Trump's contention, after all, is that the social-media companies are biased against the right. Trump is hoping his threats will cow the companies into doing even less, rather than more.The effect of Trump's executive order itself will be limited. Trump does not have the power to single-handedly change laws or force private companies to do anything.But …Trump does occupy the "bully pulpit," and he does have the ability to bully the Justice Department, FCC, and Congress, perhaps enough to get them to change how they enforce the law, or even change the law itself.Trump also has the ability to bully the social-media companies. And if Trump has demonstrated anything over the past three years, it is that he is an expert at effective bullying.After the draft order was published, astute observers <a href="https://twitter.com/gigibsohn/status/1265997886732591105?s=20">suggested</a> that Trump's real goal here is to "work the refs" — to bully the social-media companies into cutting him more slack in the months leading up to the election, so he and his campaign and supporters can have more freedom to do and say what they want.Judging by the speed with which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-twitter-facebook-no-fact-check-mark-zuckerberg-fox-news-2020-5">raced to a TV camera this morning to say that Facebook would not fact-check Trump</a> the way Twitter did, this bullying seems likely to work. —HBJapan's experience is bad <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> for clubbers and gym-goers and good news for subway and bus riders. Many countries have conquered the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>, at least for now. New Zealand just discharged its last patient from the hospital. Japan is lifting its state of emergency. And so on.Japan's success, moreover, comes despite a relatively loose lockdown and a lack of widespread testing.Where Japan excelled has been in "contact tracing," the investigation of who each sick person came into contact with, when, and where. In addition to notifying those who have potentially been exposed, Japan quickly learned about where most infections occurred and adjusted its strategy accordingly. As <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/japan-ends-its-covid-19-state-emergency">Dennis Demile reports in Science</a>, Japan found that "most clusters originated in gyms, pubs, live music venues, karaoke rooms, and similar establishments where people gather, eat and drink, chat, sing, and work out or dance, rubbing shoulders for relatively extended periods of time." Japan built its messaging around this finding, telling its citizens to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-japan-tackled-coronavirus-without-a-lockdown-2020-5">avoid the "three Cs"</a> — closed spaces, crowds, and close contact.Importantly, Japan also did not find any infection clusters that originated on its crowded trains. Why not? Most people ride the trains alone and therefore don't talk. And most riders now wear masks. This is good news for New York and other cities that depend on subways and other public transportation. —HBIs it safe for me to go to work?As states and cities reopen, a lot more people will go back to their workplaces. They'll wonder how safe they are and how to protect themselves.To help answer these questions, in the <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2013413">New England Journal of Medicine</a>, Marc Larochelle put together a draft framework for assessing and mitigating workplace risk:<div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2020 05 28 at 10.40.13 AM" height="1410" width="1260" msid="76079027" hostid="261"></div>—HB<h2>OTHER NEWS</h2><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine-idUSKBN233197">Europe bans Trump's favorite coronavirus drug.</a> The hits keep coming for the drug Trump once touted as a "game-changer" for the coronavirus — hydroxychloroquine. Europe has now banned the drug as a treatment for COVID-19 after concluding that it doesn't help and its side effects are too dangerous. The only remaining question is whether HCQ can help prevent people from catching the virus, the theory Trump himself appeared to be relying on when he announced that he himself was taking the drug. (He now says he's no longer taking it.) The results of a big study on that question are expected this summer.<a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.20105999v1.full.pdf">Researchers think they've found an easy way to discover coronavirus outbreaks ahead of time — by testing sewage!</a> Currently, the best way to spot coronavirus outbreaks is to test people with symptoms. The problem with this method is that it's slow and late: By the time someone has symptoms, they've already likely spread the virus to others. Happily, researchers from Yale believe they've found a better "leading indicator" of outbreaks: testing sewage sludge. In this preliminary study, the researchers conclude that virus in sewage leads positive tests of virus in people and hospitalizations by seven and three days, respectively: Virus in sewage (red line). Coronavirus cases (black line).<div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2020 05 28 at 12.01.24 PM" height="462" width="820" msid="76079028" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.alreporter.com/2020/05/26/were-surging-alabama-reports-largest-covid-19-increases-to-date/">So far, the US has avoided the dreaded "second surge" — but keep an eye on Alabama, Texas, California, and other states.</a> Overall, "reopening" in the US has gone better than many observers feared. Nationwide case and death counts are declining, and early-opening states like Georgia and Florida are still doing OK. There are still plenty of places to be concerned about, however, some of which have not been hit hard before. Cases in California continue to rise, for example. And in Alabama they are "<a href="https://www.alreporter.com/2020/05/26/were-surging-alabama-reports-largest-covid-19-increases-to-date/">surging</a>."<h2>BUSINESS &amp; ECONOMY</h2><div type="image" title="Hertz rental cars are seen in a rental lot near Detroit Metropolitan airport in Romulus, Michigan, May 9, 2011. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook" height="400" width="800" msid="76079033" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-administration-official-economic-projection-pandemic-economy-wont-release-first-2020-5">The Trump White House will break tradition and not publish a forecast for the federal deficit.</a> The combination of tax cuts, emergency spending, and lower tax revenue from the weak economy is ballooning the federal deficit. Each summer, the White House releases a "mid-session review" that includes a forecast for future deficits. The Trump administration says it won't do that this year. It claims it's because the future is too uncertain to make forecasts. Anyone believe that?<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/unemployment-claims-soar-past-40-million-since-beginning-of-coronavirus-pandemic/ar-BB14I1Ql">US unemployment claims soar past 40 million.</a> Another 2.1 million Americans filed for benefits this week. Plus, Insider asked 18 top economists and lawmakers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millions-americans-unemployed-cruz-bennet-jayapal-cato-progress-jobs-proposals-2020-5">how to put the jobless back to work</a>.<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/investor-carl-icahn-sells-entire-hertz-stake-2-billion-loss-2020-5-1029240688">Billionaires blow it too.</a> Carl Icahn lost nearly $2 billion in Hertz stock after the car-rental company went bust. Remember that next time you make a stock pick. (Or, better yet, don't pick stocks at all. Buy index funds. No one knows the future. Diversification is your friend.)<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-exec-dave-clark-powerful-corporate-america-2020-5">How Dave Clark, Amazon's SVP of worldwide operations, has become one of the most powerful American business executives.</a> An Amazon lifer, he masterminds the company's pandemic response, from its controversial warehouse operations to its incredible shipping network.<h2>LIFE</h2><div type="image" title="In this Friday, April 24, 2020 photo provide by the Alfred Wegener Insitute shows the German Arctic research vessel Polarstern in the ice next to a research camp in the Arctic region. Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Ocean Research says the expedition ship RV Polarstern will leave its position in the high Arctic for three weeks to rendezvous with two vessels bringing fresh supplies and crew. (Manuel Ernst/Alfred-Wegner-Institut via AP)" height="750" width="1499" msid="76079038" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.insider.com/wild-places-people-have-been-stuck-during-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-5">The 10 strangest places people have been stuck during the pandemic.</a> Including the Fyre Festival island, an Arctic ice floe, and inside a zoo.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-oral-history-early-days-founded-investors-employees-started-google-2020-5">For a week, YouTube was a dating site.</a> Insider talked to the founders, investors, and first employees about YouTube's chaotic early days. They set up the platform to host dating videos, but no one submitted dating videos.REVIEWS<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-fall-asleep-better-sleep-products-apps">20 products and apps we swear by to fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up well rested</a><h2>THE BIG 3*</h2><div type="image" title="In this Jan. 17, 2020 photo made available by SpaceX, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, walk through the Crew Access Arm connecting the launch tower to the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft during a dress rehearsal at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. For their May 27, 2020 mission, Hurley will be in charge of launch and landing and Behnken will oversee rendezvous and docking at the International Space Station. (SpaceX via AP)" height="2560" width="3413" msid="76079044" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-design-spacex-spacesuits-worn-nasa-astronauts-2020-5">Elon Musk designed those fantastic spacesuits.</a> The <keyword id="6360701" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacex">SpaceX</keyword> founder says he worked for "three or four years" on the suits for Crew Dragon, and wanted them to look cool so they would get kids "fired up." Mission accomplished! <a href="https://www.insider.com/derek-chauvin-police-history-shootings-violence-george-floyd-2020-5">2 Minneapolis police officers fired over George Floyd's death had been involved in earlier violent incidents.</a> Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck, had been the subject of 10 civilian complaints and involved in three police shootings. Another officer on the scene, Tou Thao, settled an excessive-force suit out of court in 2017.<a href="https://www.insider.com/myka-stauffer-youtube-instagram-backlash-for-rehoming-special-needs-son-2020-5">YouTube parenting influencer slammed for 'rehoming' her disabled son.</a> Myka Stauffer, who had made videos about her adopted son, is being criticized for having monetized her child, then giving him up because of his developmental and medical challenges.*The most popular stories on Insider today.YOUR LETTERS<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-lost-war-in-afghanistan-its-time-to-go-home-2020-5">On our view that we've lost the war in Afghanistan and it's time to go home:</a>We've been fighting the war on crime for centuries and it still persists. We've become trapped in the sunk-cost fallacy; instead of wasting more lives and resources, we should just withdraw. Yes, it will be a tragedy for the victims of crime, but that is not decisive. "It should make us want to get out tomorrow, and not waste one more life or one more dollar on a lost cause."Cognitive scientists call this a matter of "framing." The war frame has the features of a limited term followed by a win or a loss. But what if the war frame, promoted by hawks to stir patriotic support, is the wrong frame? What if a better frame is policing, the maintenance of a somewhat stable and just society where, within the limits of the law, people have a degree of liberty over personal and family matters, where women can go to school? If we withdraw, are we in part responsible for creating a society where uneducated religious fundamentalist hold the levers of power including the power of life and death? What if the policing effort is sustainable, with fewer US casualties of all causes in 2018 (15) than police officers who died in the line of duty in the US (106 of all causes, 55 killed)?Our hands in Afghanistan are not innocent. We flooded the country with weapons in our "covert" campaign against the USSR-supported government, and then abandoned the country to the warlords we'd empowered. It's easy for an imperial power like us to go in and leave as we please. It's hell on the people we treat as markers on the chessboard. Perhaps you should make your case for withdrawal to them.Jim Hess Irvine, California<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-lost-war-in-afghanistan-its-time-to-go-home-2020-5">On our story about how Americans used to view having to wear seat belts as tyrannical government intrusions on freedom:</a>Regarding your photo of seat belts, I was reminding my nearly 21-year-old daughter about the fights that erupted when we first banned smoking on planes. I was explaining why we still have announcements that it is a federal crime to tamper with smoke detectors, telling her people would attempt to smoke in the restroom or light up as they exited the plane (when smoking was still allowed in the terminal). There will always be a group resistant to any change.Mary Fort Lauderdale, FloridaInsider Today's goal is to provide you with insight and analysis about the big stories of the day — "Insider in your inbox."Please feel free to reply to this email and tell us what you like or don't like, and we'll evolve and improve as we go. And if you're enjoying the newsletter, please forward to your friends.Please also let us know your thoughts on the topics we discuss. Please include your name and city/state/country. If we think other readers will enjoy your note, we'll publish it! <a href="mailto:henry@insider.com">henry@insider.com</a> and <a href="mailto:dplotz@businessinsider.com">dplotz@businessinsider.com</a>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/trump-social-media-executive-order-not-crazy-will-probably-work-2020-5">Insider</a>

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