(2020-04-01). Beware #AprilFoolsDay! Social media users rally against Covid-19 jokes and falsehoods. rt.com 
The coronavirus has put a damper on April Fools' Day this year, with calls not to spread fake news about the pandemic, and people on social media urging others not to joke about Covid-19 or its possible cures. | On Wednesday, the Indian government used the hashtag #AprilFools to urge everyone not to "make #Coronavirus a joke" and stay vigilant against false rumors about the rapidly-spreading disease. | #Coronavirus a joke! #FightAgainstRumour is as important as (2020-04-01). 'Ask the government': Former Celtics star claims NBA season could resume at classified US Air Force site Area 51. rt.com 
Having held the 2019 Summer League at the University of Nevada, NBA chiefs could find a novel solution to ending the season at a less conventional base in the state — with Area 51 suggested by former champion Paul Pierce. | Area 51, the US Air Force base which is notorious among conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts, could become the home of the NBA as a makeshift setting for the conclusion of the season, former All-Star Paul Pierce has suggested. | Responding to a proposal by former rival Jay Williams that the remainder of the campaign could be played on cruise ships, Boston Celtics icon Pierce named…
(2020-04-01). Sri Lankan SEP to hold online event: "COVID-19 pandemic and capitalist barbarism" wsws.org The event will be live-streamed through the SEP's official Facebook page.
(2020-04-01). Turkish TV heartthrob Kƒ±vanàß Tatlƒ±tuƒü hospitalized on Covid-19 suspicion. yenisafak.com Turkish television star Kƒ±vanàß Tatlƒ±tuƒü was hospitalized on Wednesday on Covid-19 suspicion after the actor started showing symptoms of the respiratory disease that has taken over the world.In a tweet, the actor said he started showing symptoms after he had been self-isolating with his wife at home for 15 days, after which he reported to a nearby hospital and has since been under observation as he awaits his test results."I'm doing well and am waiting for my test results. Please don't worry about me. Stay healthy," the tweet read.After originating in Wuhan last December…
(2020-04-01). 'Criminal'! Netizens Fume as Video of Cop Turning Vegetable Carts, Chasing Vendor Goes Viral. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): The 21-day lockdown, called by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has exacerbated the problems of the country's poor. Since the onset of the lockdown, videos of police beating curfew violators and punishing them by forcing them to crouch have been doing the rounds on social media.
(2020-04-01). COVID-19: when pandemic and precarious work intersect. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-03-31). Chris Cuomo of CNN tests positive for coronavirus after scolding people who don't self-isolate. rt.com 
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is self-quarantining after testing positive for coronavirus, his brother New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has confirmed, proving that even spreading hysterical fear of the virus is no protection from it. | The journalist revealed he had tested positive in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday, and his older brother confirmed the diagnosis during his morning coronavirus press conference in Albany,
(2020-03-31). Twitter Blocks Iranian Leader's Accounts. telesurenglish.net In the early hours onTuesday morning, Twitter blocked the accounts of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. | RELATED: According to the Twitter notification, the Iranian supreme leader accounts violate the social network policies. Twitter administration did not give more details of specific reasons for the action. | The profiles in Arab, English, and Persian were censored. Then Persian and English on…
(2020-03-31). On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times. thenation.com On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times…
(2020-03-31). Germany confirms first INSTEX transaction. iranian.com The Federal Foreign Office of Germany in a tweet confirmed the first transaction with Iran through the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) on Tuesday. The Federal Foreign Office of Germany wrote in its Twitter page, "France, Germany and the United Kingdom confirm that INSTEX has successfully concluded its first transaction, facilitating the export …
(2020-03-31). Robodebt scam exposed as a rort. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-03-31). Video of flour truck being looted goes viral; 'no wrong was done,' says truck owner. mronline.org 
'I believe that they have done no wrong because there is widespread hunger [amidst the lockdown] and people are helpless.'
(2020-03-30). St. Kitts and Nevis Thanks Cuba for Its Aid Against COVID-19. telesurenglish.net The government of Saint Kitts and Nevis expressed Saturday its appreciation and gratitude for the assistance Cuban authorities are providing to the Caribbean island to help it handle the novel coronavirus outbreak. | RELATED: | In a message published on Twitter, Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris announced that a Cuban medical team is arriving at the country to help cure the COVID-19 cases and prevent their increase.
(2020-03-30). All the craziest things about America are being highlighted by this virus. mronline.org 
"Corona is a black light and America is a cum-stained hotel room," comedian Megan Amram colorfully tweeted a couple of weeks ago. Her observation has only grown more accurate since.
(2020-03-29). Zarif warns US to stop aiding war crimes. iranian.com Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message referred to the US' background of sabotage and assassinations and warned Americans to stop aiding war crimes. twitter.com/JZarif/status/1244229089772224512 "The US has gone from sabotage & assassinations to waging an economic war & #EconomicTerrorism on Iranians—to #MedicalTerror amidst #covid19iran," Zarif wrote on his Twitter account on Sunday, adding: …
(2020-03-29). ONE MUST PAY: Trump promises Harry & Meghan no free ride in US. rt.com 
President Donald Trump has assured Britain's Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle that the US taxpayer won't be footing their security bill, after the absconding royals left Canada to settle in Los Angeles. | "I am a great friend and admirer of the Queen & the United Kingdom," Trump tweeted on Sunday. "It was reported that Harry and Meghan, who left the Kingdom, would reside permanently in Canada. Now they have left Canada for the US however, the US will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!" | I am a great friend and admirer of the Queen & the United Kingdom. It was reported that Harry and Megh…
(2020-03-28). [Obituary] Aron Goldhirsch. thelancet.com Medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on Feb 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 73 years.
(2020-03-24). Economist Jeffrey Sachs: Trump "Understands Nothing, Listens to Nothing" as Pandemic Surges in U.S. democracynow.org 
As #NotDying4WallStreet trends on Twitter, President Trump defies his top scientists and soaring infection rate, saying he will ease restrictions soon to jumpstart the economy. We speak with economist Jeffrey Sachs about the stimulus package that failed to pass again Monday, as Democrats called the measure a slush fund for corporations. Sachs also led the WHO's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health from 2000 to 2001 and played a key role in conceiving and establishing the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which helped distribute new medicines to fight infectious diseases.
(2020-03-16). [Correspondence] COVID-19: consider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression. thelancet.com As of March 12, 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been confirmed in 125 048 people worldwide, carrying a mortality of approximately 3 ∑7%,1 compared with a mortality rate of less than 1% from influenza. There is an urgent need for effective treatment. Current focus has been on the development of novel therapeutics, including antivirals and vaccines. Accumulating evidence suggests that a subgroup of patients with severe COVID-19 might have a cytokine storm syndrome. We recommend identification and treatment of hyperinflammation using existing, approved therapies with proven safety profiles to addre…
(2020-02-27). [Comment] COVID-19: combining antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments. thelancet.com Both coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are characterised by an overexuberant inflammatory response and, for SARS, viral load is not correlated with the worsening of symptoms.1,2 In our previous Correspondence to The Lancet,3 we described how BenevolentAI's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI)-derived knowledge graph,4 queried by a suite of algorithms, enabled identification of a target and a potential therapeutic against SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; the causative organism in COVID-19).
(2020-02-24). [Correspondence] Viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples. thelancet.com An outbreak caused by a novel human coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first detected in Wuhan in December 2019,1 and has since spread within China and to other countries. Real-time RT-PCR assays are recommended for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.2 However, viral dynamics in infected patients are still yet to be fully determined. Here, we report our findings from different types of clinical specimens collected from 82 infected individuals.
(2020-02-24). [Comment] COVID-19 pneumonia: what has CT taught us? thelancet.com In late December, 2019, a cluster of cases of viral pneumonia was linked to a seafood market in Wuhan (Hubei, China), and was later determined to be caused by a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; previously known as 2019-nCoV).1 The genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 is similar to, but distinct from, those of two other coronaviruses responsible for large-scale outbreaks in the past: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV; about 79% sequence identity) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV; about 50%).
(2020-02-20). [Comment] The burden of viral respiratory infections in young children in low-resource settings. thelancet.com Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI), encompassing bacterial and viral pneumonias, acute viral bronchiolitis, and bacterial and viral bronchitis, remain the leading cause of global child mortality.1 The thrust of global prevention and treatment efforts has been directed against bacterial causes of ALRI, and deaths from bacterial pneumonia have decreased substantially since 1990 because of improved access to health care and life-saving antibiotics, as well as increased use of vaccines targeted at bacterial respiratory pathogens.
(2020-02-06). [Spotlight] Coronavirus epidemic: preparing for extracorporeal organ support in intensive care. thelancet.com Zoonotic viral infections are more frequently crossing species to infect human populations. In 2003, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus was transmitted to humans from exotic animals in wet markets in China, and in 2015, the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus was transmitted from camels in Saudi Arabia. In both cases, and with the 2019 coronavirus outbreak in China, the original host of the virus is likely to be bats.
(2020-02-05). [Correspondence] Nicotine patches with e-cigarettes for smoking cessation: Twitter discussion from a respirology journal club. thelancet.com On Dec 12, 2019, our Twitter-based University of Toronto Respirology and Sleep Journal Club1 discussed Walker and colleagues' pragmatic, randomised, parallel-arm trial designed to look at the effectiveness of combining nicotine patches with an e-cigarette (with and without nicotine) on 6-month smoking abstinence.2 Our discussions highlighted the challenges of studying populations of smokers in general, given the habitual nature of the exposure, challenges related to follow-up, and a need for reliable and valid objective measures of smoking abstinence (appendix).