Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
China Warns About Frozen Foods From Severely Stricken Countries
CNN: Beijing Orders Importers To Avoid Frozen Food From Countries With Major Coronavirus Outbreaks
Authorities in the Chinese capital Beijing have ordered importers to avoid frozen food from countries suffering severe coronavirus outbreaks after several incidents of imported seafood testing positive for the virus. According to a statement from the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, "customs and local governments have repeatedly detected the coronavirus in imported cold chain food, proving it risks contamination." (Griffiths, 9/28)
AP: Mexico Virus Data May Not Be Available For Years
Mexico’s top coronavirus official said Sunday that definitive data on the country’s death toll from COVID-19 won’t be available for “a couple of years.” The statement by Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell is likely to revive debate about Mexico’s death toll, currently at 76,430, the fourth-highest in the world. (9/28)
AP: Italy's 'Patient No. 1' Joins Relay Race As Sign Of Hope
Italy’s coronavirus “Patient No. 1,” whose case confirmed one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks was underway, is taking part in a 180-kilometer (112-mile) relay race as a sign of hope after he himself recovered from weeks in intensive care. Mattia Maestri, a 38-year-old Unilever manager, was suited up Saturday for the start of the two-day race between Italy’s first two virus hot spots. It began in Codogno, south of Milan, where Maestri tested positive Feb. 21, and was ending Sunday in Vo’Euganeo, where Italy’s first official COVID-19 death was recorded the same day. (Grazia Murru and Winfield, 9/26)
AP: Rabbis Ponder COVID-19 Queries Of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Life
Must an observant Jew who has lost his sense of taste and smell because of COVID-19 recite blessings for food and drink? Can one bend the metal nosepiece of a surgical face mask on the Sabbath? May one participate in communal prayers held in a courtyard from a nearby balcony? Months into the coronavirus pandemic, ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Israel are addressing questions like these as their legions of followers seek advice on how to maintain proper Jewish observance under the restrictions of the outbreak. (Ben Zion, 9/28)
The New York Times: As Covid-19 Closes Schools, The World’s Children Go To Work
Every morning in front of the Devaraj Urs public housing apartment blocks on the outskirts of the city of Tumakuru, a swarm of children pours into the street. They are not going to school. Instead of backpacks or books, each child carries a filthy plastic sack. These children, from 6 to 14 years old, have been sent by their parents to rummage through garbage dumps littered with broken glass and concrete shards in search of recyclable plastic. They earn a few cents per hour and most wear no gloves or masks. Many cannot afford shoes and make their rounds barefoot, with bleeding feet. (Gettleman and Raj, 9/27)
The New York Times: The Rise Of Child Labor In The Coronavirus Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has forced millions of the world’s poorest children to halt their educations and go to work to help support their families, as schools have closed and parents’ incomes have fallen or vanished. The children do work that is arduous, dirty and often dangerous: hauling bricks or gravel, scavenging for recyclables, begging or chopping weeds on plantations. Much of their employment is illegal. (Perez-Pena, 9/27)
AP: Leaders To UN: If Virus Doesn't Kill Us, Climate Change Will
In a year of cataclysm, some world leaders at this week’s annual United Nations meeting are taking the long view, warning: If COVID-19 doesn’t kill us, climate change will. With Siberia seeing its warmest temperature on record this year and enormous chunks of ice caps in Greenland and Canada sliding into the sea, countries are acutely aware there’s no vaccine for global warming. (Anna, 9/27)
In updates from the United Kingdom —
Reuters: British Ministers Prepare For Social Lockdown In Northern Britain, London: The Times
The British government is planning to enforce a total social lockdown across a majority of northern Britain and potentially London, to combat a second wave of COVID-19, The Times reported late on Sunday. Under the new lockdown measures being considered, all pubs, restaurants and bars would be ordered to shut for two weeks initially, the report said. (9/27)
AP: UK University Students Furious Over Virus Restrictions
As authorities sought to contain COVID-19 outbreaks at British universities Sunday, some students complained they were being “imprisoned” in their dormitories and politicians debated whether young people should be allowed to go home for Christmas. Students at universities in Glasgow, Manchester and Edinburgh — who have returned to campus in the past few weeks — are being asked to self-isolate in their residence halls, with security guards at some schools preventing young people from leaving their buildings. (Kirka, 9/27)
Also —
The Washington Post: Europe Stays Committed To In-Person Classes As School Outbreaks Remain Rare
The first sign that something was wrong at the lone school in the tiny Belgian hamlet of Sibret was when a teacher began to feel sick not long after classes resumed this month. She tested positive for the coronavirus. Within days, 27 students and five other teachers also tested positive. Now the village of 800 in Belgium’s rural southeast corner has become one of the latest data points in a complicated, angst-ridden experiment for communities around the world: How much does in-person schooling contribute to the spread of the virus? (Birnbaum, Morris and Aries, 9/27)
The New York Times: Switzerland Votes To Approve Paternity Leave
Swiss voters on Sunday agreed to adopt a law mandating paternity leave, making it the last nation in Western Europe to do so and beating back strong conservative opposition to the proposal. Fathers in the country had been allowed one day off for the birth of a child — the same time given for moving homes — but the new ruling will increase that to 10 days of paid leave. (Illien, 9/27)
