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The toxic chemicals in our homes could increase Covid-19 threat | Leonardo Trasande and Akhgar Ghassabian

Everyday hormone-disrupting chemicals could affect our immune systems defenses against infections During the rare moments youve ventured outside these days, youve probably noticed clearer skies and the benefits of reductions in air pollution. Long-term exposure to air pollution the danger mortality risks: diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and asthma. It also can make the immune system overreact, synthetic chemicals in non-stick pans, cosmetics and aluminum cans disrupting our hormones. The notion of endocrine-disrupting chemicals was only widely accepted about a decade ago, when scientific societies raised the alarm. The science…

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Three months and 50,000 deaths: the defining Covid-19 moments in the US timeline

From grim milestones to record unemployment rates and protests against stay-at-home orders, the pandemic has upended life across the US In just three months, Covid-19 has upended life in the US, ravaging cities and businesses and overwhelming hospitals woefully unprepared. What started as a single infection in

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Two states: one Democrat, one Republican. Two very different outcomes

Kentucky governor Andy Beshear took early measures to halt the spread of Covid-19 while Tennessee limited government mandates Just last month, when he was still regularly wearing a suit and tie, Kentuckys rookie governor, Andy Beshear, told schools across the southern state that they needed to be prepared to close down with little notice to contain the spread of Covid-19. At the time, there were just a handful of cases in Kentucky. Bars and restaurants were still open, people shook hands and live sports was on TV. But on 11…

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Trump plays misleading clips of ‘support’ from Cuomo at coronavirus briefing

US president accused of going into campaign mode after showing selectively edited videos containing praise by one of his most trenchant critics Donald Trump has been accused of using another White House coronavirus task force briefing to broadcast a campaign ad in which New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, one of his most trenchant critics, appeared to shower him with praise. The US president dimmed the lights and played two selectively edited videos on screens behind the briefing room podium featuring Cuomo, whose state has been hardest hit by the deadly…

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‘No way food safety not compromised’: US regulation rollbacks during Covid-19 criticised

Major pork plant closed after hundreds of workers contract coronavirus, while speeding up of poultry production lines raises concerns over standards The US government is accelerating controversial regulatory rollbacks to speed up production at meat plants, as companies express growing alarm at the impact of Covid-19 on their operations. Last week Smithfield represents 45% of US pork production is said it was critical for the meat industry to continue to operate unabated. Now it has emerged that as a wave of plants announced by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)…

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‘Being prepared for the worst’ is nothing new for immigrants during Covid-19

For many immigrant and first-generation families who learned to be prepared for the worst, hunkering down to protect each other is nothing new Sio Massiahs Oakland neighborhood isnt as diverse as the one she grew up in in New York City. Ahead of California governor Gavin Newsoms March 16, 2020 Before, I never understood why [my family] bought so much rice. But kale isnt going to get me through a pandemic, she quipped. When I got there and rice, plantain and corned beef hash were already gone. I knew all…

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Sailor dies from Covid-19 and almost 600 test positive after outbreak on USS Theodore Roosevelt

Death of first US active duty military member comes 11 days after captain was fired for voicing concerns over safety of his crew on ship off Guam A member of the crew of the coronavirus-infected USS Theodore Roosevelt has died of complications related to the disease, 11 days after the aircraft carriers captain was Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/14/sailor-dies-from-covid-19-and-600-test-positive-after-outbreak-on-uss-theodore-roosevelt-guam

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‘Rejecting all oversight’: is Trump purging government watchdogs?

President recently ousted two inspectors general, including one tasked with leading oversight of coronavirus relief law Donald Trumps abrupt ousting of two veteran watchdogs has prompted fears the scandal-prone US president is purging people from government who have oversight of fraud, waste and abuse. The moves also come at a time when a global pandemic and resulting mass coronavirus relief law. The move came just days after Trump axed the Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/12/trump-inspector-general-purge-watchdogs

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Phyllis Lyon, LGBTQ rights pioneer, dies at age 95

She and her wife, Del Martin, were activists and mentors before there was a movement or community, said a longtime friend Phyllis Lyon, an LGBTQ rights pioneer who, with her longtime partner, was among the first same-sex couples to marry in California when it became legal to do so in 2008, has died at her San Francisco home. She was 95. A photo of the couple from the the 2003 film No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Photograph: Allstar/Sundance Channel Lyon lived her life with…

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US sees highest one-day death toll from coronavirus

New peak in Covid-19 deaths was propelled by New York City, which recorded 806 fatalities on Tuesday The US suffered its highest daily death toll from 731 people were killed by Covid-19 across New York state, the previous highest daily jump. The US remains on top of the world league table for confirmed cases compiled A new CNN poll found that a majority of those sampled, some 55%, thought the federal government had done a poor job in handling the health emergency and slowing the spread of the virus across…

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Amazon fires New York worker who led strike over coronavirus concerns

Chris Smalls led workers who demanded protective gear and hazard pay while Bill de Blasio orders investigation into dismissal An told Vice News on Tuesday. To fire someone after five years for sticking up for people and trying to give them a voice. Strikers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island demanded Amazon temporarily shut down the large facility for cleaning, after reports of multiple employees testing positive for killed more than 3,000, more than died in the 9/11 terror attacks. The workers also demanded more protective gear and hazard…

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‘I won’t survive’: Iranian scientist in US detention says Ice will let Covid-19 kill many

Although he was exonerated, Dr Sirous Asgari remains locked up and tells the Guardian inhumane jail is denying detainees masks and hand sanitizer An Iranian scientist who was exonerated in a US sanctions trial but remains jailed by immigration authorities said the conditions in detention were filthy and overcrowded and officials were doing little to prevent a deadly coronavirus outbreak. Dr Sirous Asgari, a materials science and engineering professor, was conducting testing at Ice facilities and providing personal protective equipment in accordance with US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines,…

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‘It’s all Covid’: New York medical staff brace for a surge of coronavirus patients

The governor has warned that efforts to slow the spread of the virus have so far failed; hospitals will no doubt be overwhelmed Frontline medical workers in New York are braced for a surge of patients unlike anything they have seen in their careers, with the state at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. New York Citys infamously bustling streets have almost emptied of pedestrians and cars, but inside its hospitals, emergency departments and critical care units are already busy with Covid-19 patients. Were trying to…

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No greater love hath Trump than to lay down your life for his re-election | Richard Wolffe

Only a once-in-a-century leader has the guts to say out loud what the worst among us are really thinking: everyone other than me is expendable Donald Trump isnt much of a doctor or scientist. He isnt much of a diplomat or general. His leadership skills match his business skills. Theres a estimated death count is 2.2 million Americans. You cant just come in and say, Lets close up the United States of America, continued the president who prides himself on closing the borders of, um, the United States of America.…

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Are Trump’s coronavirus briefings the new 2020 campaign rallies?

The pandemic has brought in-person electioneering to a halt but the presidents daily appearances are unnervingly partisan For more than an hour from the lectern he self-aggrandises, rewrites history, casts blame, scores political points, goads the media and sends factcheckers scrambling, ceding the bully pulpit only to let other speakers sing his praises. But for the absence of a sea of Keep America Great Again hats and Rolling Stones soundtrack, Donald Trumps coronavirus press briefings at the White House are, critics say, increasingly resembling to drop live coverage of the…

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