Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
China Issues Bubonic Plague Health Alert; One Australian City Locked Down Again
The Washington Post: Bubonic Plague In China Sparks Health Warning
Chinese public health authorities are stepping up precautions to prevent a potential bubonic plague outbreak in a remote northern region after a herder contracted the disease, although the risk of large-scale infections is low with the availability of modern medicine. (Shih, 7/7)
CNN: Bubonic Plague: Case Found In China's Inner Mongolia
A hospital alerted municipal authorities of the suspected case on Saturday. By Sunday, local authorities had issued a citywide Level 3 warning for plague prevention, the second lowest in a four-level system. The warning will stay in place until the end of the year, according to Xinhua. The case was confirmed and officially diagnosed by doctors on Tuesday. (Yeung, 7/7)
AP: Australia's 2nd Largest City Foils Nation's Pandemic Success
Australia has been among the world’s most successful countries in containing its coronavirus outbreak — with one exception. The southeastern state of Victoria had some of the nation’s toughest pandemic measures and was among the most reluctant to lift its restrictions when the worst of its outbreak seemed to have passed. (Brownbill and McGuirk, 7/7)
The New York Times: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Won’t Cross The Border For Washington Summit
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed on Monday he won’t attend a meeting in Washington this week with President Donald Trump and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico. The meeting was meant to celebrate the official start of the new trade deal between the three countries — the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (U.S.M.C.A.). That Mr. Trudeau would choose not to fly to Washington to celebrate what many consider one of his most important accomplishments to date was striking. (Porter, 7/6)
Reuters: India's Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 20,000 As Infections Surge
India’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 20,000 on Tuesday and case numbers surged as the south Asian nation pushed ahead with relaxations to its almost two-month lockdown amid grim economic forecasts. (7/7)
Reuters: UK COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 55,000 Including Suspected Cases
The United Kingdom’s suspected COVID-19 death toll has hit 55,398, according to a Reuters tally of official data sources that underline the country’s status as one of the worst hit in the world. (7/7)
The New York Times: Britain, Charting Its Own Course On Human Rights, Imposes New Sanctions
Britain, seeking to carve out a post-Brexit role as a human-rights defender, said on Monday it had blacklisted dozens of people from Russia, Saudi Arabia and Myanmar for abuses ranging from a carefully-plotted execution to jailhouse beatings and the persecution of Rohingya refugees. It was the first time since leaving the European Union in January that Britain imposed its own sanctions for human-rights violations. British officials cast the move as proof that the country can play an influential global role on its own, with some noting that the European Union has yet to adopt similar sanctions. (Landler, 7/6)
AP: New At Saudi Hajj: Bottled Holy Water, Sterilized Pebbles
Saudi Arabia has issued guidelines for the 1,000 or so pilgrims that will be allowed to perform the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca later this month, an experience that will be unlike any before because of the coronavirus pandemic. The pilgrims will be only be able to drink holy water from the Zamzam well in Mecca that is packaged in plastic bottles, and pebbles for casting away evil that are usually picked up by pilgrims along hajj routes will be sterilized and bagged ahead of time. Pilgrims will also have to bring their own prayer rugs. (Batrawy, 7/7)
The New York Times: Laid Off And Locked Up: Virus Traps Domestic Workers In Arab States
When the nine African women lost their jobs as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia because of the coronavirus lockdown, the agency that had recruited them stuffed them in a bare room with a few thin mattresses and locked the door. Some have been there since March. One is now six months pregnant but receiving no maternity care. Another tore her clothes off in a fit of distress, so the agency chained her to a wall. The women receive food once a day, they said, but don’t know when they will get out, much less be able to return to their countries. (Hubbard and Donovan, 7/6)
The Wall Street Journal: What Restaurants Need To Reopen: A Flattened Infection Curve And Fresh Air
Public-health authorities in the U.S. have singled out restaurants and bars as a source of coronavirus contagion. Yet in Europe, bistros, pizzerias and cafes bustling with clientele have had no major outbreaks. The difference, health authorities say, stems from Europe’s success in flattening its infection curve before restaurants and bars reopened. And the Continent is also benefiting from something many eateries across the Sunbelt—from Florida to Southern California—currently lack: fresh air. (Dalton and Benoit, 7/6)
Reuters: Strains Of Hope: Chilean Nurse Serenades COVID-19 Patients With Violin
When most Chilean nurses finish their long shifts caring for the country’s many COVID-19 patients, there is little else on their minds but seeing their families, eating and sleeping. Not so Damaris Silva, who twice a week when she finishes her shift at 6 p.m. picks up her violin and returns to the ward. (7/6)
Reuters: South Korean COVID-19 Patient Recovering After Double Lung Transplant
After a record 112 days on a specialised life-support system, a South Korean COVID-19 patient is recovering from double lung transplant surgery, doctors say, in only the ninth such procedure worldwide since the coronavirus outbreak began. (Cha, 7/6)
