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Please, don't think like people often do: 'This cannot touch me.' It may touch anyone.Constitution vote postponed
The convoy, composed of 22 trucks and other vehicles, set off for the northern Italian city of Bergamo early on Wednesday. The convoy, escorted by the Italian Carabinieri, has reached Florence, making a brief stop there, the Russian military says.How's that for optics? While the EU does nothing, help comes from Russia with love. Here's how the mayor of Bergamo described the situation to RT (keeping in mind that the public nature of the crisis will cause more people with serious illnesses to go to the hospital who otherwise might have received treatment elsewhere, thus contributing to overwhelming the system):
One hundred Russian military medics and disease specialists were airlifted to Italy over the weekend, landing at Pratica di Mare Air Base 30km (18.6 miles) from Rome. The team, deployed to help Italy in its fight against coronavirus, brought mobile laboratories, disinfection vehicles, coronavirus test kits, and other equipment to battle the disease.
The healthcare system has been entirely overwhelmed by the outbreak, Gori told Il Messaggero on Wednesday, with everyone "working from 8am till we collapse exhausted in the evening."Extrapolating from Italy's Sismg mortality data, Bergamo province ordinarily experiences between 150 and 200 deaths per week around this time of year, with spikes of up to 300. There is no doubt some overlap between the Covid-related deaths this last week, and people who would have died regardless, but it does show that the region is experiencing more deaths among the elderly than usual, especially considering that only 8% of deaths in Italy on average are from respiratory illness.
"Too many people are arriving in hospitals late and in grave condition, requiring intubation in intensive care units," Gori said, adding that more than 300 people died last week in Bergamo region alone.Many just can't make it to a hospital and die at home. Nearly all of them are elderly people with pneumonia and are Covid-19 cases that had slipped under the radar.The mayor warned that it is "difficult... to intercept such people in time, and there is no room for everyone in the hospitals."
"Global action and solidarity are crucial. Individual country responses are not going to be enough," Guterres said on Wednesday.Sounds to us like he's exaggerating...
The secretary general said the Covid-19 crisis is unlike anything the UN has faced in its 75-year history and is pleading with the developed world to raise trillions of dollars to help poorer countries fight off the deadly viral scourge.
The UN is launching a $2 billion program to help the world's poor fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Guterres has repeatedly called for aid from G20 nations this week as the global pandemic worsens and threatens to reach what he described as "apocalyptic proportions."
He also called for a ban on tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions, as well as the waiving of sanctions which might impede countries from getting much needed food and medical supplies.
Guterres also suggested the G20 should create a mechanism for dealing with future pandemics, though he did not specify what form this would take. He said that a "two-digit" percentage of the global economy should be allocated to improving response to pandemics.
Meanwhile, the IMF and the World Bank have called for governments to suspend debt payments owed by the world's poorest nations to free up resources to fight the pandemic.
The mayor went on to announce the "business ambassadors program" — an effort to get nonessential businesses to close.
"This behavior is irresponsible and selfish," he said of those that remain open.
He said the Department of Water and Power will shut off services for the businesses that don't comply with the "safer at home" ordinance.
Neighborhood prosecutors will implement safety measures and will contact the businesses before issuing further action, according to Garcetti.
"The easiest way to avoid a visit is to follow the rules," he said.
The last two weeks I've stayed inside. When I returned from my trip around Central Europe I isolated myself (in a borrowed apartment away from my mother and sister) since the number of cases of COVID-19 (in Germany for instance) were similar to Italy in the beginning. Around ten days ago I started feeling some symptoms, exactly the same time as my father - who traveled with me from Brussels. I was feeling tired, had shivers, a sore throat and coughed. My dad experienced the same symptoms, but much more intense and with a fever.
Comment: It's clear the US and UK are hoping that Assange's death will solve their problem for them. How sick is that?