Monthly Archives: April 2020

NYC Suspends 24Hrs Subway System for Disinfectant purpose

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NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city’s public transit system needed to be cleaned and disinfected due to COVID-19. Cuomo said, “They can disinfect all trains and buses every nights,” and “It can best be done by stopping train service from 1 am to 5 am every night.”

Cuomo added that the city’s public transit system will still provide buses and “dollar vans” at no cost to essential workers during those hours.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) runs the city’s public transit system, but this operation will be operated by the State, City, and the NYPD.

The subway system of the MTA operates 24 hour daily service. Some natural disasters halted its operation before.

Normally MTA cleans the subway cars every 72 hours, but it is to change to every single day from now on.

Cuomo added that NYPD and homeless outreach workers will cooperate to clear people out of the subway at 1 a.m.

Cuomo said disinfected cleaning will be done to interiors of the buses, subway cars and all of its subway area as well. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, New York saw more than 164,000 cases, and some of the MTA workers have been infected by COVID-19 and died.

The MTA will disinfect the Metro North Line(MNL) and Long Island Rail Road(LIRR) too. These lines can be done without disruption to service, Cuomo added.

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Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

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Potential COVID-19 Cure Brings Light to the Stock Market

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A small glimmer of hope appeared on Tuesday, when Gilead, supported by Dr. Anthony Fauci, announced optimism about remdesivir, an experimental drug designed to shorten the recovery period for COVID-19.

Fauci spoke at the White House, lauding the drug for showing clear-cut, significant, and positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.

In response, the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 saw an immediate climb of 2-4%.

Although not a vaccine and still lacking some data in control group, former FDA commissioner is hopeful that while this may not get rid of COVID-19 completely, it will begin the process of applying more effective treatment.

There are still many concerns regarding the actual effectiveness of the drug, and there are such concerns; however, the market is hopeful for any advancement against COVID-19.

코리일보/COREEDAILY

Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.

Let them eat meat? Trump to order meat processing plants operating

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On April 28, Pres. Trump announced that meat processing plants would stay open to prevent COVID-19 from impacting the national food supply under Defense Production Act.

Unions are fighting back, however, asserting the danger present to workers in keeping the plants open. Just as Smithfield in South Dakota recently closed due to infections, more than 20 meatpacking plants have closed temporarily due to the risk of keeping the plants open amidst the virus outbreak. Even open plants do not operate at full capacity due to sick workers or workers avoiding work to protect themselves.

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union represents 1.3 million food and retail workers. The Union stated that 20 food processing and meatpacking union workers have died from the virus, and that an estimated 6,500 have fallen sick or exposed to COVID.

The 15 largest pork-packing plants account for 60% of all pork processed in the US, and there has so far been a 25% reduction in pig slaughter capacity. As food concerns get serious, the White House is hoping to prevent shortage through the order.

However, the White House is in talks with the Labor Department to increase protection for meatpacking workers, for example, by preventing those over the age of 65 from leaving the home.

Although Trump promises safety to workers, Unions are skeptical. The Union wishes to compel companies to provide protective equipment, make daily testing available, and enforce physical distancing.

These workers often work in close proximity while slicing meat, which makes social distancing nearly impossible. While some companies use staggered breaks, changing start times, and checking workers’ temperatures, it is not enough, Unions warn.

Other companies, however, have seen workers walk off, as their policies force employees from leaving when complaining of symptoms or allowed return of employees even if they were sick after just 2-3 days.

Gov. Noem of South Dakota is an avid supporter of reopening plants, but given her track record of doing not much in protecting workers before the necessitated shutdown of the Smithfield plant, it is a question whether she would enact or enforce any worker-safety related laws.

코리일보/COREEDAILY

Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.

Fake COVID-19 Patient Zero Conspiracy Brings Death Threats and International Notoriety

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As Internet becomes one of the main sources of news, it is starting to show how unconfirmed fast news can ruin real lives of people. A US army reservist and a mom of two in Virginia is one of the most recent victim of this tragic situation. Maatje Benassi lives in Fort Belvoir, and was a target of conspiracy theorists that zoned in on her and falsely accused her of being the COVID-19 “Patient Zero.”

This went viral in China and soon took over the Internet, as her name quickly became associated with “patient zero,” despite it not being true. Soon, youtube videos, WeChat, Weibo, Xigua (the latter three being Chinese social platforms) showed false claims and hatred from many people.

The only connection she has to Wuhan was in her October visit to Wuhan as part of Military World Games, where she ended up with a fractured rib and a concussion during a cycling competition; there were hundreds of other athletes that also partook in the competition, yet she was the only one identified.

She and her family now lives in fear, as her name continues to be associated with a wrongful claim of being “patient zero,” thanks to a American conspiracy theorizer George Webb, whose Youtube videos have 100,000 followers and 27 million views. He has no real evidence and claims to be an investigative reporter, although not actually being one. Nonetheless, the act has made her real life very difficult, as the Benassi family deals with real threats.

The only recourse is through civil litigation, yet the Benassis do not have the financial means to obtain an attorney for this purposes.

Times like these, it is important to always verify what is presented in the Internet and read with a critical mind; not all that is out there is true.

And sometimes, misuse of truth can lead to very real harm, as is for the real lives of the Benassi family.

코리일보/COREEDAILY

Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.

A Cup of Poem ~~ 참살이 텃밭/강병원

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1

다사로운 봄 향기 달코롬한

에덴동산 참살이 텃밭가꾸기

퇴직 후 계속되는 십삼 년째

트랙터의 투투투 힘찬 걸음마

잠깐 동안의 날랜 쟁기질로

기경 끝낸 보들보들 명주고름

양팔 걷어올리고 맨발로 밟으며

비타민 D 섭취, 온종일 놀고 싶다

2

사나흘 지나 적절한 강우량에

촉촉히 젖은 엿가락 두룩들

토양 수분 유지와 잡초 억제

바닥 덮기 효자 비닐 멀칭 작업

오십여 년 함께 산 환상적 콤비

필름을 로라처럼 끌고가면

띄엄띄엄 흙 한 삽 고정시키고

U자형 강철 고정핀 뒤따른다

3

진취의 기상으로 쭉쭉 뻗어나가

평원을 이룬 마음의 안식처

청명 한식 맑은 바람 산새소리에

노부부 소일거리 주옥같은 땀방울

때를 따라 내리는 우로는 결실

사시사철 식탁의 풍성한 먹거리

친환경 유기농 건강한 밥상에

참살이 백세시대 막이 열린다

* 참살이 : 웰빙과 유사어로 육체적, 정신적인 건강의 조화를 통해 윤택한 삶을 추구하는 삶의 유형이나 문화

코리일보/COREEDAILY

Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.

워싱턴신학교 “ COVID-19 Pandemic crisis,서로돕는 공동체되길…”

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“어려운 시기 사역자양성의 발판이 되길”

“버지니아 워싱턴신학교 신학생 생활필요 기부금 모으기 나서”

“요한일서 3장 17절: 누가 이 세상의 재물을 가지고 형제의 궁핍함을 보고도 도와 줄 마음을 닫으면 하나님의 사랑이 어찌 그 속에 거하겠느냐”

워싱턴신학교 (이사장: 김택용, 이하 신학교)가 코로나 펜데믹으로 어려운상황에 처한 신학생들을 위하여 기부금모으기에 나섰다.

사역을 위해 신학공부를 하며 생계를 유지하여야 하는 학생들은 최근 코로나바이러스 영향으로 실직 및 가정부양에 어려움을 격고 있어 학생들을 위한 신학교에서 대책마련을 논의하며 이 결정을 내렸다. 신학교는 전국 국가비상 상태가 선포되기전 긴급대책회의를 열어 가능한 모든 상황을 열어두며 학비 연기신청, 장학금, 일자리 제공등을 논의하였다. 버지니아 주지사의 스테이엣홈 오더에 따라 전 수업을 온라인으로 대채한 신학교는 신학교에서 제공가능한 금액 이 외 현재 생활고에 어려움을 격고 있는 신학생들을 위하여 음식, 생활필수품과 의료부품에 한정하여 자금과 기부금 모으기에 나선다. 또한, 이 기부금모금 운동이 주위 신학생 및 미래의 사역자 양성의 기부금에 첫발판과 도움이 되길 원하고 기도하며 도움을 요청하였다.

학생처장 노대준 목사는 지난 3주간 교수진을 통한 학생들과의 원활한 대화를 통해 이 대공황시기에 신학생분들에게 어떤 도움이 필요한가를 매일같이 논의하고 기도 하였다며 ‘대공황시대에 주님께 기도하며 어려움에 처한 사람들을 도울 수 있는 기회를 제공할 수있는 것 조차 감사하다’고 전했다.

더 나아가 총장 Tony Buchanan은 “신학교는 사역자 양성도 중요하지만 어려움 상황 속 주님안에 기도로 서로 사랑하는 것이 우선이다”라며 “현 신학생분들 뿐만 아니라 모금 운동은 더 나아가 지역사회의 어려운 주민들을 위해서도 쓰일 것”이라 전했다.

250명의 신학생이 재학중인 워싱턴신학교는 1983년 이사장 김택용 목사 아래 설립되어 신학 학사, 석사, 박사 과정을 통해 지역의 많은 사역자들을 양성하였다. 신학교기부금모으기는 GoFundMe (https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/students-needs) 를 통하여 가능하며 기부금전액의 지출내역 공개는 인터넷을 통하여 가능하다.

문의: 703) 762-6937 / info@wtsva.org

웹사이트: www.wtsva.org

코리일보/COREEDAILY

Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission.

More than 9,000 health-care workers have contracted COVID-19, CDC says

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According to CDC, more than 9,000 health workers have been infected with COVID-19 as of April 14.

Across the nation, doctors and nurses’ death tolls rise because of lack of protective equipment, National Nurses United said in a protest at the White House on April 21 in honor of nurses who have died of COVID-19. They demanded mass production of personal protective equipment.

Some doctors asked of their needs through SNS for items such as masks, gloves, and medical gowns.

At the protest, Debrah Burger, registered nurse and co-president of National Nurses United, said to USA Today, that “nurses protested today because we need to stop the spread of the virus and to do that, nurses and other health care workers need  the optimal personal protective equipment to do their jobs safely.”

According to a Monday press release, the New York State Nurses Association filed three lawsuits against the New York State Department of Health and two hospitals, Montefiore Medical Center and Westchester Medical Center, for failing to protect the health and safety of nurses treating COVID-19 patients.

According to WP, An Italian doctor died of COVID-19 after treating patients without gloves in March. In US, the first ER doctor died in NJ from COVID-19 complications on April 1.

A city in NJ uses drones to enforce social distancing, and anyone that violates this state order, will be find at least $ 1,000. As the drones are from China, some residents are concerned about drones taking private information while in the air.

Of course, some drone delivered medical supplies to health care facilities at the isolated rural area.

코리일보/COREEDAILY

Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission.

COVID-19 strains now in 30 different mutations, says Study from China

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(Photo from CDC)

US is seeing a death toll at 42,897, with confirmed 799,515 cases as of April 21, and extreme rightists protesting to end quarantine.

A new study from professor Li Lanjuan and colleagues from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China  published in a non-peer review paper released on website medRXiv.org on Sunday, says that COVID-19 now has at least 30 different variation of mutations, which could make finding vaccine even more difficult.

Li Team stated that some of the COVID-19 mutations could generate as much as 270 times the normal viral load as the weakest strains, showing variety in danger to humans based on the mutation of the strain.

Assuming this study is accurate (as it has yet to be peer-reviewed amidst growing skepticism towards validity of information streaming out of China from the global community), this could make treatment immensely difficult, as so far, all COVID-19 patients have been treated in the same way.

Li says, “Drug and vaccine development, while urgent, need to take the impact of these accumulating mutations into account to avoid potential pitfalls.”

It is unclear at this time when the study will be peer-reviewed and its information, verified, however, the amidst growing tension in economic, political, and social structure of much of the western world, many hope that this study is not reflective of reality.

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Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.

Unanimous Jury Necessity for Criminal Convictions, says Supreme Court

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(Photo from Google images, captured from the movie.”12 Angry Men”; authorized under Fair Use Act)

On April 20, 2020, in a divided opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that only unanimous jury may convict defendants in criminal trials.

In considering the Sixth Amendment’s “trial by an impartial jury trial” language, Justice Gorsuch wrote in an opinion, “… the answer is unmistakable … a jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to convict.”

Out of 50 states, only Oregon allows conviction of defendants over the dissent of up to two jurors. Louisiana, the 49th state to abandon the practice of convicting a defendant without a unanimous jury verdict, only recently changed its laws in 2018, to apply to all crime convictions taking place after 2018.

This ruling overturns the 2016 conviction of Louisiana man named Evangelisto Ramos, who was convicted by a jury of 10-2 of killing a woman in New Orleans.

This new ruling has a high likelihood of getting Ramos a new trial.

Ramos’ attorney Ben Cohen of Promise of Justice Initiative, a Louisiana-Based nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying non-unanimous jury verdicts on criminal cases, expressed happiness in the ruling, calling it “rejection of second-class justice.”

Out of 9 justices, 6 voted to uphold unanimous jury verdicts; 3 justices that dissented were Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Elena Kagan.

In a dissenting opinion, Alito argued that the overturning of a 48-year old decision that allowed non-unanimous jury laws was wrong, as it lowers the bar for overruling precedents.

Majority argued the 48-year old decision as being racist, implemented as part of an effort to make conviction of black and other ethic minority peoples easier.

Given that even the voters in the state of Louisiana tended to call this law a “Jim Crow” law, including state Senator J.P. Morrell of New Orleans, it seems to support the view that perhaps many already deemed non-unanimous jury convictions as racist.

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Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.

US halts and cuts funds for WHO; Trump receives backlash

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Trump announced the halt in U.S. funding for WHO on Tuesday. He accused WHO, as a the world’s health agency, of misleading the world about the COVID-19 outbreak in China and blaming it for the resulting high death tolls around globe.

Germany slammed Trump’s WHO decision as “blaming others” for the coronavirus. According to CBS, “Blaming others won’t help. The virus knows no borders,” wrote Heiko Maas (Germany’s Foreign Minister) on Twitter.

Bill Gates, billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder called this, “as dangerous as it sounds.”

Later, Gates retweeted WHO’s “work is slowing the spread of COVID-19, and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.”

Trump announced Wednesday, that the U.S. will cut WHO funding.

The US is the biggest contributor to the WHO, making payments of $400 million in 2019. It is 15% of its budget.

Some do agree with Trump’s point of view, as WHO’s hesitation in calling the Novel Coronavirus outbreak a pandemic for an extended period of time had potentially misled those in other parts of the world about the seriousness of the Novel Coronavirus, with Europe and the US seeing some of the heaviest effects.

However, COVID-19 vaccine is still in development, and some also worry about the effect of halting the funding on WHO could have on vaccine development.

코리일보/COREEDAILY
Coree ILBO copyright © 2013-2020. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.