Friday, July 15, 2022

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Sri Lankan PM becomes interim president

Posted: 15 Jul 2022 03:23 AM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka's interim president Friday until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after mass protests over the country's economic collapse forced him from office.The speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament said Rajapaksa resigned as president effective Thursday and lawmakers will convene Saturday to choose a new leader. Their choice would serve out the remainder of Rajapaksa's term ending in 2024, said Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana. He expects the process to be done in seven days.That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. With Rajapaksa done, pressure on Wickremesinghe was rising.Opponents had viewed his appointment as prime minister in May as alleviating pressure on Rajapaksa to resign. He became the acting president when Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday.Now in SingaporeRajapaksa arrived in Singapore on Thursday and his resignation became official on that date. The prime minister's office said Wickremesinghe was sworn in Friday as interim president before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertilizer, medicine and fuel, to the despair of its 22 million people. Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class.Protesters cooked and distributed milk rice — a food Sri Lankans enjoy to celebrate victories — after Rajapaksa's resignation. At the main protest site in front of the president's office in Colombo, people welcomed his resignation but insisted Wickremesinghe also should step aside."I am happy that Gotabaya has finally left. He should have resigned earlier, without causing much problems," Velauynatha Pillai, 73, a retired bank employee, said as patriotic songs were blaring from loudspeakers.But he added that "Ranil is a supporter of Gotabaya and other Rajapaksas. He was helping them. He also must go."Protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated Thursday, restoring a tenuous calm in the capital, Colombo. But with the political opposition in Parliament fractured, a solution to Sri Lanka's many woes seemed no closer.Bailout soughtThe nation is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and other creditors, but its finances are so poor that even obtaining a bailout has proven difficult, Wickremesinghe recently said.The country remains a powder keg, and the military warned Thursday that it had powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found concerning.Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent process for electing a new president."I request the honorable and loving citizens of this country to create a peaceful atmosphere in order to implement the proper Parliamentary democratic process and enable all members of Parliament to participate in the meetings and function freely and conscientiously," he said Friday.The protesters accuse Rajapaksa and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers for years and of hastening the country's collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to Sri Lanka's meltdown. (AP)

Russian missiles kill at least 23 in Ukraine, wound over 100

Posted: 15 Jul 2022 03:20 AM PDT

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine — Russian missiles struck a city in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others far from the front lines, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine's president accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in locations without military value.Officials said Kalibr cruise missiles fired from a Russian ship in the Black Sea damaged a medical clinic, offices, stores and residential buildings in Vinnytsia, a city 268 kilometers (167 miles) southwest of the capital, Kyiv.Vinnytsia region Gov. Serhiy Borzov said Ukrainian air defenses downed two of the four incoming Russian missiles.National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said only six bodies had been identified so far, while 39 people were still missing. Three children younger than 10 where among the dead. Of the 66 people hospitalized, five remained in critical condition while 34 sustained severe injuries, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said."It was a building of a medical organization. When the first rocket hit it, glass fell from my windows," said Vinnytsia resident Svitlana Kubas, 74. "And when the second wave came, it was so deafening that my head is still buzzing. It tore out the very outermost door, tore it right through the holes."Borzov said 36 apartment buildings were damaged and residents have been evacuated. Along with hitting buildings, the missiles ignited a fire that spread to 50 cars in a parking lot, officials said."These are quite high-precision missiles. ... They knew where they were hitting," Borzov told the AP.Russia denied targeting civilians."Russia only strikes at military targets in Ukraine. The strike on Vinnytsia targeted an officers' residence, where preparations by Ukrainian armed forces were underway," Evgeny Varganov, a member of Russia's permanent U.N. mission, said in an address to the chamber.Among the buildings damaged in the strike was the House of Officers, a Soviet-era concert hall.Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-controlled Russian television network RT, said on her messaging app channel that military officials told her a building in Vinnytsia was targeted because it housed Ukrainian "Nazis."Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his call for Russia to be declared a state sponsor of terrorism. The strike happened as government officials from about 40 countries met in The Hague, Netherlands, to discuss coordinating investigations and prosecutions of potential war crimes committed in Ukraine."No other country in the world represents such a terrorist threat as Russia," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. "No other country in the world allows itself every day to use cruise missiles and rocket artillery to destroy cities and ordinary human life. (AP)

Sri Lankan president resigns, Parliament to convene Saturday

Posted: 14 Jul 2022 10:46 PM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament said Friday that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned and Parliament will convene to choose a new leader after massive protests over the country's economic collapse forced him from office.Parliament will convene Saturday to start the process of electing a new president, said Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana. He expects to compete the process within seven days.Their new choice as president will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa's term, which ends in 2024. That person could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertlizer and fuel, to the despair of its 22 million people. Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class.Rajapaksa fled the country Wednesday amid the mounting protests. He arrived in Singapore on Thursday and the speaker said Rajapaksa's resignation was effective on that date."To be validated like this is massive," said Viraga Perera, an engineer who has been protesting since April and estimated that he has spent 60 or 70 nights there in all. "On a global scale, we have led a movement that toppled a president with minimal force and violence. It's a mix of victory and relief."Protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated Thursday, restoring a tenuous calm in the capital, Colombo. But with the political opposition in Parliament fractured, a solution to Sri Lanka's many woes seemed no closer.The nation is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and other creditors, but its finances are so poor that even obtaining a bailout has proven difficult, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe recently said.The country remains a powder keg, and the military warned Thursday that it had powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found concerning.Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent process for electing a new president. "I request the honorable and loving citizens of this country to create a peaceful atmosphere in order to implement the proper Parliamentary democratic process and enable all members of Parliament to participate in the meetings and function freely and conscientiously," he said Friday.The protesters accuse Rajapaksa and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers for years and of hastening the country's collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to Sri Lanka's meltdown.Months of protests reached a frenzied peak over the weekend when demonstrators stormed the president's home and office and the official residence of Wickremesinghe, the prime minister. On Wednesday, they seized Wickremesinghe's office.Images of protesters inside the buildings — lounging on elegant sofas and beds, posing at officials' desks and touring the opulent settings — captured the world's attention.The demonstrators initially vowed to stay until a new government was in place, but they shifted tactics Thursday, apparently concerned that an escalation in violence could undermine their message following clashes outside the Parliament that left dozens injured."The fear was that there could be a crack in the trust they held for the struggle," said Nuzly, a protest leader who goes by only one name. "We've shown what power of the people can do, but it doesn't mean we have to occupy these places."Closing the gate to the presidential palace after the crowds cleared out was bittersweet, said Visaka Jayaweer, a performing artist."Taking over his residence was a great moment. It showed just how much we wanted him to step down. But it is also a great relief" to leave, she said. "We were worried if people would act out — many were angry to see the luxury he had been living in when they were outside, struggling to buy milk for their children."Rajapaksa and his wife slipped away in the night aboard a military plane early Wednesday. On Thursday, he went to Singapore, according to the city-state's Foreign Ministry. It said he had not requested asylum.Since Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, Rajapaksa likely wanted to leave while he still had constitutional immunity and access to the plane.The protests underscored the dramatic fall of the Rajapaksa political clan that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.A military strategist whose brutal campaign helped end the country's 26-year civil war, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, who was president at the time, were hailed by the island's Buddhist Sinhalese majority. Despite accusations of wartime atrocities, including ordering military attacks on ethnic Tamil civilians and abducting journalists, Rajapaksa remained popular among many Sri Lankans. He has continually denied the allegations.It was not immediately clear if Singapore would be Rajapaksa's final destination, but he has previously sought medical care there, including undergoing heart surgery. (AP)

25 million kids missed routine vaccinations because of Covid

Posted: 14 Jul 2022 07:08 PM PDT

GENEVA — About 25 million children worldwide have missed out on routine immunizations against common diseases like diptheria, largely because the coronavirus pandemic disrupted regular health services or triggered misinformation about vaccines, according to the U.N.In a new report published Friday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said their figures show 25 million children last year failed to get vaccinated against diptheria, tetanus and pertussis, a marker for childhood immunization coverage, continuing a downward trend that began in 2019."This is a red alert for child health," said Catherine Russell, UNICEF's Executive Director."We are witnessing the largest sustained drop in childhood immunization in a generation," she said, adding that the consequences would be measured in lives lost.Data showed the vast majority of the children who failed to get immunized were living in developing countries, namely Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines. While vaccine coverage fell in every world region, the worst effects were seen in East Asia and the Pacific.Experts said this "historic backsliding" in vaccination coverage was especially disturbing since it was occurring as rates of severe malnutrition were rising. Malnourished children typically have weaker immune systems and infections like measles can often prove fatal to them."The convergence of a hunger crisis with a growing immunization gap threatens to create the conditions for a child survival crisis," the U.N. said.Scientists said low vaccine coverage rates had already resulted in preventable outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio. In March 2020, WHO and partners asked countries to suspend their polio eradication efforts amid the accelerating Covid-19 pandemic. There have since been dozens of polio epidemics in more than 30 countries."This is particularly tragic as tremendous progress was made in the two decades before the Covid pandemic to improve childhood vaccination rates globally," said Helen Bedford, a professor of children's health at University College London, who was not connected to the U.N. report. She said the news was shocking but not surprising, noting that immunization services are frequently an "early casualty" of major social or economic disasters.Dr. David Elliman, a consultant pediatrician at Britain's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, said it was critical to reverse the declining vaccination trend among children."The effects of what happens in one part of the world can ripple out to affect the whole globe," he said in a statement, noting the rapid spread of Covid-19 and more recently, monkeypox. "Whether we act on the basis of ethics or 'enlightened self interest', we must put (children) top of our list of priorities." (AP)

Russian missiles kill at least 23 in Ukraine, wound over 100

Posted: 14 Jul 2022 07:02 PM PDT

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine — Russian missiles struck a city in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others far from the front lines, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine's president accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in locations without military value.Officials said Kalibr cruise missiles fired from a Russian ship in the Black Sea damaged a medical clinic, offices, stores and residential buildings in Vinnytsia, a city 268 kilometers (167 miles) southwest of the capital, Kyiv. Vinnytsia region Gov. Serhiy Borzov said Ukrainian air defenses downed two of the four incoming Russian missiles.National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said only six bodies had been identified so far, while 39 people were still missing. Three children younger than 10 where among the dead. Of the 66 people hospitalized, five remained in critical condition while 34 sustained severe injuries, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said."It was a building of a medical organization. When the first rocket hit it, glass fell from my windows," said Vinnytsia resident Svitlana Kubas, 74. "And when the second wave came, it was so deafening that my head is still buzzing. It tore out the very outermost door, tore it right through the holes."Borzov said 36 apartment buildings were damaged and residents have been evacuated. Along with hitting buildings, the missiles ignited a fire that spread to 50 cars in a parking lot, officials said."These are quite high-precision missiles. ... They knew where they were hitting," Borzov told the AP.Russia denied targeting civilians."Russia only strikes at military targets in Ukraine. The strike on Vinnytsia targeted an officers' residence, where preparations by Ukrainian armed forces were underway," Evgeny Varganov, a member of Russia's permanent U.N. mission, said in an address to the chamber.Among the buildings damaged in the strike was the House of Officers, a Soviet-era concert hall.Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-controlled Russian television network RT, said on her messaging app channel that military officials told her a building in Vinnytsia was targeted because it housed Ukrainian "Nazis."Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his call for Russia to be declared a state sponsor of terrorism. The strike happened as government officials from about 40 countries met in The Hague, Netherlands, to discuss coordinating investigations and prosecutions of potential war crimes committed in Ukraine."No other country in the world represents such a terrorist threat as Russia," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. "No other country in the world allows itself every day to use cruise missiles and rocket artillery to destroy cities and ordinary human life."Zelenskyy said that among those killed was a 4-year-old girl named Liza, whose mother was badly wounded. A video of the little girl, twirling in a lavender dress in a field of lavender, was widely shared on social media."Today, our hearts are bleeding, and our eyes are full of tears because our family of many thousands has lost one of our own," the charity Down Syndrome wrote. It said: "They were just on their way from a speech therapy class, and they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."Zelenskyy's wife later posted that she had met this "wonderful girl" while filming a Christmas video with a group of children, who were given oversized ornaments to paint."The little mischievous girl then managed in a half an hour to paint not only herself, her holiday dress, but also all the other children, me, the cameramen and the director ... Look at her alive, please," Olena Zelenska wrote in a note accompanying the video.Zelenskyy called for creating a mechanism for confiscating Russian assets around the world and using them to compensate the victims of "Russian terror."Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky echoed Zelenskyy, calling the missile attack a "war crime" intended to intimidate Ukrainians while the country's forces hold out in the east.He said several dozen people were detained for questioning on suspicion that the Russian forces had received targeting assistance from someone on the ground.The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv issued a security alert late Thursday urging all U.S. citizens remaining in Ukraine to leave immediately. The alert, which appeared to be in response to the Vinnytsia attack, asserted that large gatherings and organized events "may serve as Russian military targets anywhere in Ukraine, including its western regions."Vinnytsia is one of Ukraine's largest cities, with a prewar population of 370,000. Thousands of people from eastern Ukraine, where Russia has concentrated its offensive, have fled there since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.Kateryna Popova said she saw many injured people lying on the street after the missiles struck. Popova had fled from Kharkiv in March in search of safety in "quiet" Vinnytsia. But the missile attack changed all that."We did not expect this. Now we feel like we don't have a home again," she said.Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said the attack mirrors previous ones on residential areas that Moscow has launched "to try to pressure Kyiv to make some concessions.""Russia has used the same tactics when it hit the Odesa region, Kremenchuk, Chasiv Yar and other areas," Zhdanov said. "The Kremlin wants to show that it will keep using unconventional methods of war and kill civilians in defiance of Kyiv and the entire international community."Before the missiles hit Vinnytsia, the president's office reported the deaths of five civilians and the wounding of eight more in Russian attacks over the past day. One person was wounded when a missile damaged several buildings in the southern city of Mykolaiv early Thursday. A missile attack on Wednesday killed at least five people in the city.Russian forces also continued artillery and missile attacks in eastern Ukraine, primarily in the Donetsk region after overtaking the adjacent Luhansk region. The two regions make up the Donbas, a mostly Russian-speaking area of steel factories, mines and other industries that powered Ukraine's economy.Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko, meanwhile, urged residents to evacuate as "quickly as possible.""We are urging civilians to leave the region, where electricity, water and gas are in short supply after the Russian shelling," Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. "The fighting is intensifying, and people should stop risking their lives and leave the region."On the battlefront, Russian and Ukrainian militaries are seeking to replenish their depleted stocks of unmanned aerial vehicles to pinpoint enemy positions and guide artillery strikes.Both sides are looking to procure jamming-resistant, advanced drones that could offer a decisive edge in battle. Ukrainian officials say the demand for such technology is "immense" with crowdfunding efforts underway to raise the necessary cash.In other developments:— Russian-installed officials in southeastern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region announced that they planned to hold an early September referendum on incorporating the region into Russia. Large parts of Zaporizhzhia are under Russian control now, as is most of neighboring Kherson. Kremlin-backed administrations in both areas have declared their intentions to become part of Russia. Separatist leaders in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk "republics" have also announced similar plans.— Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed into law a bill banning the dissemination of information on Russian companies and individuals who could face international sanctions. The law explicitly bans from internet or media publication — without written permission — any information about transactions made or planned by Russian individuals or legal entities participating in foreign economic activity. It also suspends for three years the obligatory publication of key financial and governance information by major Russian state corporations. (AP)

US, allies aim to cap Russian oil prices to hinder invasion

Posted: 14 Jul 2022 03:09 AM PDT

WASHINGTON — With thousands of sanctions already imposed on Russia to flatten its economy, the US and its allies are working on new measures to starve the Russian war machine while also stopping the price of oil and gasoline from soaring to levels that could crush the global economy.The Kremlin's main pillar of financial revenue — oil — has kept the Russian economy afloat despite export bans, sanctions and the freezing of central bank assets. America's European allies plan to follow the Biden administration and take steps to stop their use of Russian oil by the end of this year, a move that some economists say could cause the supply of oil worldwide to drop and push prices as high as $200 a barrel.Washington and its allies want to form a buyers' cartel to force Russia to accept below-market prices for oil. Group of Seven leaders have tentatively agreed to back a cap on the price of Russian oil. Simply speaking, participating countries would agree to purchase the oil at lower-than-market price.Russia has given no sign whether it might go along with this. The Kremlin also has the option of retaliating by taking its oil off the market, which would cause more turmoil.High energy costs are already straining economies and threatening fissures among the countries opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine in February. President Joe Biden has seen his public approval slip to levels that hurt Democrats' chances in the midterm elections, while leaders in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy are coping with the economic devastation caused by trying to move away from Russian natural gas and petroleum.The idea behind the cap is to lower gas prices for consumers and help bring the war in Ukraine to a halt. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is currently touring Indo-Pacific countries to lobby for the proposal. In Japan on Tuesday, Yellen and Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi said in a joint statement that the countries have agreed to explore "the feasibility of price caps where appropriate." However, China and India, two countries that have maintained business relationships with Russia during the war, will need to get on board. The administration is confident China and India, already buying from Russia at discounted prices, can be enticed to embrace the plan for price caps."We think that ultimately countries around the world that are currently purchasing Russian oil will be very interested in paying as little as possible for that Russian oil," Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo told The Associated Press.The Russian price cap plan has support among some leading economic thinkers. Harvard economist Jason Furman tweeted that if the plan works, it would be a "win-win: maximizing damage to the Russian war machine while minimizing damage to the rest of the world." And David Wessel at the Brookings Institution said an "unpleasant alternative" is not attempting the price cap plan.If a price cap is not implemented, oil prices will almost certainly spike due to a European Union decision to ban nearly all oil from Russia. The EU also plans to ban insuring and financing the maritime transport of Russian oil to third parties by the end of the year. (AP)

Sri Lankan leader leaves Maldives; protesters exit gov’t offices

Posted: 14 Jul 2022 03:09 AM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the Maldives on Thursday after fleeing his own country amid mass protests demanding he resign over his country's economic collapse.A Maldives government official said Rajapaksa boarded a flight of Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, on Thursday bound for Singapore. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.Rajapaksa and his wife fled Sri Lanka early Wednesday aboard an air force jet as protesters were taking over government buildings to demand he resign. Rajapaksa promised over the weekend he would do so, but instead he named his prime minister acting president in his absence, further incensing those who blame the government for the crisis.Meanwhile Thursday, the government announced a curfew in the capital Colombo and its suburbs to run until 5 a.m.Friday and protesters were withdrawing from the presidential palace after occupying it during the weekend.Some were seen unrolling a red carpet in the palace as they left.Anticipating more protests after a group attempted to storm the Parliament's entrance a day earlier, troops in green military uniforms and camouflage vests arrived by armored personnel carriers Thursday to reinforce barricades around the building.Some protesters had posted videos on social media pleading with others not to storm the Parliament, fearing an escalation of violence.Legal optionsProtest leader Devinda Kodagode told The Associated Press they were vacating official buildings after the Parliament speaker said he was seeking legal options to consider since Rajapaksa left without submitting his resignation letter as promised.The protesters accuse the president and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksa's administration of hastening the country's collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown.It was not immediately clear what Rajapaksa's destination would be. Maldives officials initially indicated he planned to travel onward to Saudi Arabia, but later could only confirm his first stop in Singapore. Since Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power it's likely Rajapaksa planned his departure while he still had constitutional immunity and access to a military jet. (AP)

Masks could return to Los Angeles as Covid surges nationwide

Posted: 13 Jul 2022 10:25 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES — Nick Barragan is used to wearing a mask because his job in the Los Angeles film industry has long required it, so he won't be fazed if the nation's most populous county reinstates rules requiring face coverings because of another spike in coronavirus cases across the country."I feel fine about it because I've worn one pretty much constantly for the last few years. It's become a habit," said Barragan, masked up while out running errands Wednesday.Los Angeles County, home to 10 million residents, is facing a return to a broad indoor mask mandate later this month if current trends in hospital admissions continue, county health Director Barbara Ferrer said this week.Nationwide, the latest Covid-19 surge is driven by the highly transmissible BA.5 variant, which now accounts for 65% of cases with its cousin BA.4 contributing another 16%. The variants have shown a remarkable ability to get around the protection offered by vaccination.With the new omicron variants again pushing hospitalizations and deaths higher in recent weeks, states and cities are rethinking their responses and the White House is stepping up efforts to alert the public.Some experts said the warnings are too little, too late."It's well past the time when the warning could have been put out there," said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who has has called BA.5 "the worst variant yet."Global trends for the two mutants have been apparent for weeks, experts said — they quickly out-compete older variants and push cases higher wherever they appear. Yet Americans have tossed off their masks and jumped back into travel and social gatherings. And they have largely ignored booster shots, which protect against Covid-19′s worst outcomes. Courts have blocked federal mask and vaccine mandates, tying the hands of U.S. officials."We learn a lot from how the virus is acting elsewhere and we should apply the knowledge here," said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.White House Covid-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha appeared on morning TV on Wednesday urging booster shots and renewed vigilance. Yet Mokdad said federal health officials need to be push harder on masks indoors, early detection and prompt antiviral treatment."They are not doing all that they can," Mokdad said.The administration's challenge, in the view of the White House, is not their messaging, but people's willingness to hear it — due to pandemic fatigue and the politicization of the virus response.For months, the White House has encouraged Americans to make use of free or cheap at-home rapid tests to detect the virus, as well as the free and effective antiviral treatment Paxlovid that protects against serious illness and death. On Tuesday, the White House response team called on all adults 50 and older to urgently get a booster if they haven't yet this year — and dissuaded people from waiting for the next generation of shots expected in the fall when they can roll up their sleeves and get some protection now.Requiring masks again "helps us to reduce risk," Ferrer told Los Angeles County supervisors. She is expected to discuss details of the potential new county mandate during a public health briefing Thursday afternoon."I do recognize that when we return to universal indoor masking to reduce high spread, for many this will feel like a step backwards," Ferrer said Tuesday.For most of the pandemic, Los Angeles County has required masks in some indoor spaces, including health care facilities, Metro trains and buses, airports, jails and homeless shelters. The new mandate would expand the requirement to all indoor public spaces, including shared offices, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, retail stores, restaurants and bars, theaters and schools.It's unclear what enforcement might look like. Under past mandates, officials favored educating people over issuing citations and fines.Sharon Fayette ripped off her mask the moment she stepped out of a Lyft ride in Los Angeles Wednesday and groaned when informed another universal mask requirement might be coming. "Oh man, when will it end?" she wondered about the pandemic.Fayette said she was exhausted by shifting regulations and dubious another mandate would be followed by most residents. "I just think people are over it, over all the rules," she said.Barragan said he learned a harsh lesson about the effectiveness of masks when he went without a face covering at a film industry mixer last month in Los Angeles. "I thought it would be fine because we were all outdoors," said Barragan, 35. A few days later he started feeling sick and, sure enough, tested positive.He'd avoided catching the virus for more than two years because he was religious about masking up. "The one time I took it off, I caught it!" he laughed.The nation's brief lull in Covid deaths has reversed. Last month, daily deaths were falling, though they never matched last year's low, and deaths are now heading up again.The seven-day average for daily deaths in the U.S. rose 26% over the past two weeks to 489 on July 12.The coronavirus is not killing nearly as many as it was last fall and winter, and experts do not expect death to reach those levels again soon. But hundreds of daily deaths for a summertime respiratory illness would normally be jaw-dropping, said Andrew Noymer, a public health professor at the University of California, Irvine. He noted that in Orange County, California, 46 people died of Covid-19 in June."That would be all hands on deck," Noymer said. "People would be like, 'There's this crazy new flu that's killing people in June.'"Instead, simple, proven precautions are not being taken. Vaccinations, including booster shots for those eligible, lower the risk of hospitalization and death — even against the latest variants. But less than half of all eligible U.S. adults have gotten a single booster shot, and only about 1 in 4 Americans age 50 and older who are eligible for a second booster have received one."This has been a botched booster campaign," Topol said, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still uses the term "fully vaccinated" for people with two shots of Moderna or Pfizer. "They haven't gotten across that two shots is totally inadequate," he said.Noymer said if he were in charge of the nation's Covid response he would level with the American people in an effort to get their attention in this third year of the pandemic. He would tell Americans to take it seriously, mask indoors and "until we get better vaccines, there's going to be a new normal of a disease that kills over 100,000 Americans a year and impacts life expectancy."That message probably wouldn't fly for political reasons, Noymer acknowledged.It also might not fly with people who are tired of taking precautions after more than two years of the pandemic. Valerie Walker of New Hope, Pennsylvania, is mindful of the latest surge but is hardly alarmed."I was definitely concerned back then," she said of the pandemic's early days, with images of body bags on nightly news broadcasts. "Now there's fatigue, things were getting better and there was a vaccine. So I would say from a scale between one and 10, I'm probably at a four."Even with two friends now sick with the virus, and her husband recently recovered, Walker says she has bigger problems."Sometimes when I think about it I still put a mask on when I go into a store, but honestly, it is not a daily thought for me," she said. (AP)

Pinay nurse receives award from Queen Elizabeth

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 10:43 PM PDT

FILIPINA nurse, May Parsons, is among the health leaders who received the prestigious George Cross award from the Queen. On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, Parsons, Modern Matron at University Hospital Coventry and Warkwickshire, and Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of National Health Service England, accepted the award from Queen Elizabeth II during an audience at Windsor Castle, England. Parsons administered the first Covid-19 vaccine outside of trials to Maggie Keenan on December 8, 2020. Parsons, interviewed by nursingtimes.net, said: "Vaccinating Maggie with the first approved Covid-19 vaccine was a wonderful moment that I am so proud of – but that was only the beginning." She said the George Cross was a "fitting tribute" to all the staff in hospitals and communities who went above and beyond during the pandemic. The George Cross is granted in recognition of "acts of the greatest heroism or of the most courage in circumstances of extreme danger". (MVG/AP)

'Don't fall ill': Sri Lanka doctors warn of drug shortage

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 05:32 PM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Don't fall ill or get into accidents: That's the advice doctors in Sri Lanka are giving patients as the country's economic crisis leaves its health care system short of drugs and other vital supplies.The South Asian island nation lacks the money to pay for basic imports like fuel and food, and medicine is also running out. Such troubles threaten to undo its huge gains in public health in recent decades.Some doctors have turned to social media to try to get donations of supplies or the funds to buy them. They're also urging Sri Lankans living overseas to help. So far there's no sign of an end to the crisis that has thrust the country into an economic and political meltdown.That means 15-year-old Hasini Wasana might not get the medicine she needs to protect her transplanted kidney. Diagnosed with a kidney ailment as a toddler, she got a transplant nine months ago and needs to take an immune suppressant every day for the rest of her life to prevent her body from rejecting the organ.Hasini's family is depending on donors to help now that her hospital can no longer provide the Tacrolimus tablets that she received for free until a few weeks ago. She takes eight and a half tablets a day and the cost adds up to more than $200 a month, just for that one medicine."We are being told (by the hospital) that they don't know when they will have this tablet again," said Ishara Thilini, Hasini's older sister.The family sold their home and Hasini's father got a job in the Middle East to help pay for her medical treatment, but his income is barely enough.Cancer hospitals, too, are struggling to maintain stocks of essential drugs to ensure uninterrupted treatment."Don't get ill, don't get injured, don't do anything that will make you go to a hospital for treatment unnecessarily," said Samath Dharmaratne, president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association. "That is how I can explain it; this is a serious situation."Dr. Charles Nugawela, who heads a kidney hospital in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, said his hospital has kept running thanks to the largesse of donors but has resorted to providing medicine only to patients whose illness has advanced to the stage where they need dialysis.Nugawela worries the hospital might have to put off all but the most urgent surgeries because of a shortage of suture materials.The Sri Lanka College of Oncologists gave a list of drugs to the Health Ministry that "are very essential, that all hospitals have to have all the time so that we could provide cancer treatment without any interruption," said Dr. Nadarajah Jeyakumaran, who heads the college.But the government is having a hard time providing them, he said.And it's not just medicine. Patients having chemotherapy are susceptible to infections and can't eat normally but hospitals don't have enough food supplements, Jeyakumaran said.The situation threatens to bring on a health emergency at a time when the country is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.Hospitals lack drugs for rabies, epilepsy and sexually transmitted diseases. Labs don't have enough of the reagents needed to run full blood count tests. Items like suture material, cotton socks for surgery, supplies for blood transfusions, even cotton wool and gauze are running short."If you are handling animals, be careful. If you get bitten and you need surgery and you get rabies, we don't have adequate antiserum and rabies vaccines," said Dr. Surantha Perera, vice president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association.The association is trying to help patients by seeking donations through personal contacts and from Sri Lankans living overseas, Perera said.Dhamaratne, the association president, said if things don't improve doctors may be forced to choose which patients get treatment.It's a reversal of decades of improvements thanks to a universal health care system that has raised many measures of health to the levels of much wealthier nations.Sri Lanka's infant mortality rate, at just under 7 per 1,000 live births, is not far from the U.S., with 5 per 1,000 live births, or Japan's 1.6. Its maternal mortality rate of near 30 per 100,000 compares well with most developing countries. The U.S. rate is 19, while Japan's is 5.Life expectancy had risen to nearly 75 years by 2016 from under 72 years in 2000.The country has managed to eliminate malaria, polio, leprosy, the tropical parasitic disease filariasis commonly known as elephantiasis, and most other vaccine-preventable diseases.Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appealed for help, and the U.S., Japan, India and other countries have pledged funds and other humanitarian support. That aid and more from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other agencies will ensure medical supplies until the end of next year, Wickremesinghe recently told lawmakers.But in the hospital wards and operating rooms, the situation seems much less reassuring and it threatens to erode public trust in the health system, Dhamaratne said."Compared to COVID, as a health emergency today's situation is far, far worse," he said. (AP)

Sri Lankan president flees the country amid economic crisis

Posted: 12 Jul 2022 05:23 PM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The president of Sri Lanka fled the country early Wednesday, days after protesters stormed his home and office and the official residence of his prime minister amid a three-month economic crisis that triggered severe shortages of food and fuel.President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane bound for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, according to an immigration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.Rajapaksa had agreed to step down under pressure. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.Lawmakers agreed to elect a new president next week but struggled Tuesday to decide on the makeup of a new government to lift the bankrupt country out of economic and political collapse.The promised resignations brought no end to the crisis, and protesters have vowed to occupy the official buildings until the top leaders are gone. For days, people have flocked to the presidential palace almost as if it were a tourist attraction — swimming in the pool, marveling at the paintings and lounging on the beds piled high with pillows. At one point, they also burned the prime minister's private home.While lawmakers agreed late Monday to elect a new president from their ranks on July 20, they have not yet decided who will take over as prime minister and fill the Cabinet.The new president will serve the remainder of Rajapaksa's term, which ends in 2024 — and could potentially appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.The prime minister is to serve as president until a replacement is chosen — an arrangement that is sure to further anger protesters who want Wickremesinghe out immediately.Corruption and mismanagement have left the island nation laden with debt and unable to pay for imports of basic necessities. The shortages have sown despair among the country's 22 million people. Sri Lankans are skipping meals and lining up for hours to try to buy scarce fuel.Until the latest crisis deepened, the Sri Lankan economy had been expanding and growing a comfortable middle class.The political impasse added fuel to the economic crisis since the absence of an alternative unity government threatened to delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund. The government must submit a plan on debt sustainability to the IMF in August before reaching an agreement.In the meantime, the country is relying on aid from neighboring India and from China.Asked whether China was in talks with Sri Lanka about possible loans, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official gave no indication whether such discussions were happening."China will continue to offer assistance as our capability allows for Sri Lanka's social development and economic recovery," said the spokesman, Wang Wenbin.On Tuesday, Sri Lanka's religious leaders urged protesters to leave the government buildings. The protesters have vowed to wait until both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe are out of office.After the storming of the government buildings, "it was clear there is a consensus in the country that the government leadership should change," said Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, a think tank.Months of demonstrations have all but dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty, which has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.The protesters accuse the president and his relatives of siphoning money from government coffers for years and Rajapaksa's administration of hastening the country's collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajakpaksa acknowledged some of his policies contributed to the meltdown.The president had not been seen nor heard from since Saturday, though his office issued statements indicating that he continued to carry out his duties. (AP)
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