Shale Gas Issues From Various Jurisdictions ...... 7 Foreword ...... 7 Calls for Moratoriums and Bans ...... 9 France bans fracking and oil extraction in all of its territories ...... 9 Contamination and Science ...... 10 Renewable Energy ...... 11 Taymouth man goes 'super solar' with house covered in solar panels ...... 11 Science and Health ...... 12 Economics, Legal, and Investigations ...... 13 US Heading for 2nd Great Depression: Nobel Laureate Stiglitz ...... 13 Pentagon Urges Mexico to Reopen COVID-Closed Factories That Supply US Weapon Makers .. 13 U.S. Factories in Mexico Remain Open Despite Surge in COVID-19 Cases ...... 13 Regulations ...... 14 Environment and Enjoyment of Property ...... 15 Climate Change Deniers Are Blocking Progress, UN Report Suggests for First Time ...... 15 Flagship UN study shows accelerating climate change on land, sea and in the atmosphere ...... 15 Grace gravity mission captures Greenland ice loss ...... 15 New Study Predicts the Ocean Ecosystem Will Collapse This Decade ...... 16 Warmest Oceans on Record Could Set Off a Year of Extreme Weather ...... 16 Government, Meetings, News, and Letters ...... 17 New Brunswick Is Blowing An Opportunity We Can’t Afford to Blow ...... 17 CUPE on Allardville lockout: “Never seen anything like this before” ...... 17 Public shouldn't get power to veto reform, health authority chair says ...... 18 6 First Nations sue province for charges against Indigenous loggers ...... 18 Higgs government delivers 2nd balanced budget, projects $92M surplus in 2020-21 ...... 18 Trudeau pledges $1B for COVID-19 fight as WHO declares pandemic ...... 19 Coronavirus outbreak: New Brunswick announces first presumptive case of COVID-19 ...... 19 Update on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus - March 13 ...... 19 Gordon Edwards in New Brunswick: “The nuclear industry is desperate” ...... 19 65 seniors to be moved out of hospitals to make way for COVID-19 patients ...... 20 Cuba's Interferon Alpha 2B, Successful in Treating COVID-19 ...... 20 Nursing Home Final Offer Votes Halted by Province ...... 20 Bats are not to blame for coronavirus. Humans are ...... 21 Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease) ...... 21 Scientists Describe How 1918 Influenza Virus Sample Was Exhumed In Alaska - July 4, 2007 .... 22 Ancient never-before-seen viruses discovered locked up in Tibetan glacier ...... 22 Glacier ice archives fifteen-thousand-year-old viruses ...... 22 Health crisis linked to human actions, says environmentalist ...... 23 Why New Brunswick COVID-19 tests trail rest of Canada ...... 24 7 things to know about NB's Emergency Measures Act ...... 24 Coronavirus - Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (Public Health) ...... 24 A fundamental shift': Nearly half of reported COVID-19 cases in Canada now from community spread ...... 25 How much should the public know about COVID-19 cases? It depends who you ask ...... 25 VIDEO - COVID-19 testing data reveal areas of concentration, missing info in New Brunswick ... 25 Maps of health zones and NBHC communities ...... 27 Northeastern N.B. has no COVID-19 cases, but province won't say how many tested ...... 27 New Brunswick N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 'Enhanced' pandemic plan coming, says Higgs ...... 28 Higgs expects municipalities to close parks to combat COVID-19 ...... 29 Irving Oil retools its lubricants plant to produce hand sanitizer ...... 29 Missing addresses force a reboot of regional testing numbers ...... 30

1 New Brunswick health networks collaborate on drug trial to treat people with COVID-19 ...... 30 Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) belongs to a group of medicines called quinolines...... 31 Clinical and Structural Efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine in Rheumatoid Arthritis: ...... 31 Arizona man dies, wife in critical condition after taking aquarium cleaner containing malaria drug for coronavirus ...... 31 'No benefit' to sending seniors ill with COVID-19 to hospital, some nursing homes tell loved ones ...... 32 COVID-19 task force struck after memo warning of 'excessive use' of masks took 2 weeks to send ...... 32 New task force to cut through bureaucracy to accelerate response to COVID-19 ...... 33 COVID-19 could kill 550 to 1,750 New Brunswickers, provincial modelling suggests ...... 33 Time for fair monetary return from NB’s Crown forest ...... 33 Former head of library service alleges job ad worded so non-librarian could fill post ...... 34 New Brunswick in 'very significant deficit territory' just two weeks into fiscal year ...... 34 One new case of COVID-19 found, bringing total to 118 ...... 35 ATV trails will reopen despite premier calling decision 'premature' ...... 35 Reopening ATV trails was 'bad decision' that will be reversed, QuadNB says ...... 35 Hon. Mike Holland, Resume ...... 36 Premier says May 1 possible date for lifting some restrictions ...... 36 Saint John pushes for province to act on tax changes immediately ...... 36 Covid carrots: N.B. takes pandemic as warning it's producing too few vegetables ...... 36 N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Businesses should prepare to reopen, build 'better and stronger' province ...... 37 Take staggered approach to reopening province, says epidemiologist ...... 38 Removal of the 30-day limit on prescription drugs; no new cases today - 23 April 2020 ...... 38 Some COVID-19 public health restrictions being lessened; no new cases - 24 April 2020 ...... 38 For-profit nursing homes provide 'inferior' care, new report claims ...... 39 Observational Evidence of For-Profit Delivery and Inferior Nursing Home Care: When Is There Enough Evidence for Policy Change? ...... 39 New Brunswick News ...... 40 Photostory: Seismic vibrators blocked in Stanley - Aug 10, 2011 ...... 40 Information Morning, March 24, 2020 - Local pandemic expert ...... 40 N.B. customers slam Bell Aliant for price increase amid COVID-19 outbreak ...... 40 Irving Tissue Officially Opens $470 million tissue production plant in Macon, Georgia and Announces Additional $400 million expansion project! ...... 41 Irving Oil fined $200K in connection with 2018 refinery explosion ...... 41 Information Morning - Fredericton What should happen next in N.B.'s pandemic response? ...... 41 Taymouth man goes 'super solar' with house covered in solar panels ...... 42 Maritime News ...... 43 Siding with First Nation, N.S. judge overturns Alton Gas approval ...... 43 Oceanex looking for federal subsidy to keep supply ships running ...... 43 Canadian News ...... 44 Enbridge, TransCanada Among 11 Canadian Oil and Gas Firms Using Tax Havens ...... 44 Canada’s Top 60 public companies have over 1000 tax haven subsidiaries or related companies...... 44 Industry, government pushed to abolish Aboriginal title at issue in Wet’suwet’en stand-off, docs reveal ...... 44 McGill law students slam justice minister over Wet'suwet'en raids ...... 45 Letter From Students At The Mcgill Faculty Of Law To The Minister Of Justice David Lametti In Support Of The Wet’suwet’en ...... 45 The draft deal between the Wet’suwet’en and the government explained ...... 46

2 China donates medical supplies to Canada amid coronavirus pandemic, Embassy says ...... 46 How measures to contain COVID-19 may clash with Canadians’ Charter rights ...... 47 Quebec premier says death toll at Montreal seniors' residence 'looks a lot like major negligence' 47 Federal government open to new law to fight pandemic misinformation ...... 47 Trudeau announces billions in aid for energy, rural business and arts sectors ...... 48 Canadian care homes become coronavirus hotspots - 13 April 2020 ...... 48 What We Know About The Silent Spreaders Of COVID-19 ...... 49 Asymptomatic people are reportedly spreading COVID-19. Should everyone wear a mask? ...... 49 Mounties could enter homes to enforce Quarantine Act orders if Canadians don’t self-isolate ...... 50 Respecting Our Responsibilities - #notrespass #wedzinkwa #wetsuwetenstrong ...... 50 Canada joins new international alliance with France, Germany and Japan ...... 50 Mandatory evacuation order issued for all of downtown Fort McMurray ...... 51 'Devastation on all fronts': For Canada's oil town, severe flood just one in a series of disasters .... 51 Did the 2016 forest fire contribute to the 2020 Fort McMurry flooding? ...... 52 Deforestation in snowy regions causes more floods ...... 52 A paradigm shift in understanding and quantifying the effects of forest harvesting on floods in snow environments ...... 52 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire ...... 52 COVID-19 likely spread by building ventilation, say Canadian researchers working on an HVAC fix ...... 52 Other News ...... 54 Bill Gates, at Odds With Trump on Virus, Becomes a Right-Wing Target ...... 54 How to debunk COVID-19 conspiracy theories ...... 54 The Conspiracy Theory Handbook ...... 55 Arizona man dies, wife in critical condition after taking aquarium cleaner containing malaria drug for coronavirus ...... 55 WHO declares coronavirus pandemic ...... 56 Trump 'offers large sums' for exclusive access to coronavirus vaccine ...... 56 Cuba's Interferon Alpha 2B, Successful in Treating COVID-19 ...... 56 Chinese Doctors Are Using Cuban Antivirals Against Coronavirus ...... 57 Italy and UK rely on help from Cuba, China, Venezuela to fight coronavirus – as US steps up brutal sanctions ...... 57 Washington Post breaks ranks with other US & UK media, ADMITS polls show Crimeans prefer to be part of Russia ...... 57 One Year After Russia Annexed Crimea, Locals Prefer Moscow To Kiev ...... 58 Six years and $20 billion in Russian investment later, Crimeans are happy with Russian annexation ...... 58 'From Russia with Love': Putin sends aid to Italy to fight virus ...... 58 Spanish soldiers find elderly patients abandoned, dead in retirement homes ...... 59 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Prevails as Federal Judge Strikes Down DAPL Permits ...... 59 Coronavirus may have infected half of UK population — Oxford study ...... 59 White House Airlifts Medical Supplies From China in Coronavirus Fight ...... 60 Chomsky: Ventilator Shortage Exposes the Cruelty of Neoliberal Capitalism ...... 61 China and Cuba’s Medical Internationalism is a Shining Example of Global Solidarity ...... 61 Coronavirus: Russia sends plane full of medical supplies to US ...... 62 Virus Grounds a U.S. Aircraft Carrier as Crew Quarantined in Guam ...... 62 Britain, France and Germany bypass US sanctions to provide Iran with medical aid ...... 62 US bought France-bound face masks for CASH from China – French official to RT ...... 63 Coronavirus: Canada investigates reports medical supplies shipment 'diverted to US' ...... 63 US hijacking mask shipments in rush for coronavirus protection ...... 63 3M pushes back on Trump administration order to stop sending N95 masks to Canada ...... 64

3 US snatches masks from Germany in act of ‘modern piracy’ – Berlin senator ...... 64 Bodies of Covid-19 victims pile up in streets of Ecuador as residents beg authorities for help ...... 64 Coronavirus: Australia launches criminal investigation into Ruby Princess ...... 65 3M makes deal with White House, says Canada will continue to receive N95 masks ...... 66 Irving Tissue Officially Opens $470 million tissue production plant in Macon, Georgia and Announces Additional $400 million expansion project! ...... 66 Coronavirus: New York using mass graves amid outbreak - VIDEO ...... 66 Coronavirus: US death toll passes 2,000 in a single day ...... 67 Trade Adviser Warned White House in January of Risks of a Pandemic ...... 67 Covid-19 - Navigating the Uncharted -- The New England Journal of Medicine ...... 67 Russia Ready to Start Testing Coronavirus Vaccines on Humans in June ...... 68 An Internal White House Memo Warned of Large-Scale Coronavirus Deaths Months Ago ...... 68 Germany Gets It ...... 69 Inside the coronavirus testing failure: Alarm and dismay among the scientists who sought to help ...... 69 How the government delayed coronavirus testing ...... 70 Cuba's Cancer Hope Series - Embassy of Cuba in the United States ...... 71 Studying Cuba's Lung Cancer Vaccine in the United States - Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center ...... 71 Unbounded Innovation - Roswell Park’s Cuban Collaboration ...... 71 Small chloroquine study halted over risk of fatal heart complications ...... 71 He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus ...... 72 First group of volunteers assembled as Russia prepares for human testing of Covid-19 vaccine . 72 Coronavirus: Older people being 'airbrushed' out of virus figures ...... 73 WHO warned of transmission risk in January, despite Trump claims ...... 73 Trump rages at criticism while governors craft their own plans to reopen the economy ...... 73 Trump halts World Health Organization funding amid coronavirus pandemic ...... 74 Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) R&D ...... 74 WHO Statement regarding cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China ...... 75 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) SITUATION REPORT - 1 21 JANUARY 2020 ...... 75 COVID-19 : Un outil de diagnostic canadien interdit au Canada ...... 76 COVID-19: Canadian diagnostic tool banned in Canada ...... 76 World should have ‘listened carefully’ to WHO coronavirus advice back in January, says director- general ...... 76 Coronavirus: Is President Trump right to criticise the WHO? ...... 77 U.S. not remotely ready to re-open, according to WHO criteria ...... 78 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) donors & partners: WHO says thank you! ...... 78 Coronavirus: Trump unveils plan to reopen states in phases ...... 79 Coronavirus: Is there any evidence for lab release theory? ...... 80 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ...... 80 What We Know About The Silent Spreaders Of COVID-19 ...... 80 Asymptomatic people are reportedly spreading COVID-19. Should everyone wear a mask? ...... 81 Neither ‘lab’ nor ‘wet market’? Covid-19 outbreak started months EARLIER and NOT in Wuhan, ongoing Cambridge study indicates ...... 81 Phylogenetic network analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes ...... 82 Coronavirus may have infected more than 400,000 people in L.A. County...... 82 NIH panel recommends against use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19 . 83 Hydroxychloroquine and “off-label” utilization in the treatment of oral conditions ...... 83 Outcomes of hydroxychloroquine usage in United States veterans hospitalized with Covid-19 ..... 83 Germany approves first clinical trial for potential Covid-19 vaccine ...... 84

4 Covid-19 mutations underestimated, Chinese scientists warn, as DEADLIEST strains grip Europe and US ...... 84 1st Known U.S. COVID-19 Death Was Weeks Earlier Than Previously Thought ...... 85 Cuba: In Test Phase Vaccine That Activates Innate Immune System ...... 85 Cuba to Send Doctors to Four Caribbean Countries and Argentina ...... 85 Transfers and donations from Switzerland for Cuban public health blocked ...... 86 UK records highest weekly death toll from all causes SINCE RECORDS BEGAN amid Covid-19 surge ...... 86 Coronavirus detected on particles of air pollution ...... 87 Coronavirus: Trump orders meatpacking plants to stay open ...... 88 Covid-19 was already 'silently circulating' in France before virus arrived from China & Italy – study ...... 88 Introductions and early spread of SARS-CoV-2 in France ...... 88 Antiviral drug remdesivir shortens time to recover from pandemic virus, top U.S. health official says ...... 89 FDA will reportedly authorize use of remdesivir for Covid-19 after trial shows 'positive effect' on recovery time ...... 89 Is remdesivir REALLY a wonder drug for coronavirus patients? ...... 90 Hopes rise for coronavirus drug remdesivir ...... 90 Remdesivir in adults with severe COVID-19: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial ...... 90 Water ...... 92 Cuba’s rivers run clean after decades of sustainable farming ...... 92 Fracking and Earthquakes ...... 93 Oil and Pipelines ...... 94 Enbridge, TransCanada Among 11 Canadian Oil and Gas Firms Using Tax Havens ...... 94 Canada’s Top 60 public companies have over 1000 tax haven subsidiaries or related companies...... 94 Industry, government pushed to abolish Aboriginal title at issue in Wet’suwet’en stand-off, docs reveal ...... 94 To understand B.C.’s push for the Coastal GasLink pipeline, think fracking, LNG Canada and the Site C dam ...... 95 Trans Mountain Deal Was Structured to Bleed Billions, Finds Economist ...... 95 Ottawa prepares multibillion-dollar bailout of oil and gas sector ...... 96 265 academics to Trudeau: No bail out for oil and gas in response to COVID-19 ...... 96 Keystone XL to proceed with $7B commitment from Alberta government ...... 97 WCS Western Canada Select (Tar Sands Diluted Bitumen) ...... 97 U.S. shale giant’s bankruptcy a warning to Canada’s oil patch ...... 97 Big Banks Pull Financing, Prepare To Seize Assets From Collapsing Oil and Gas Industry ...... 98 Oil lobby group asks Trudeau government to suspend environmental, lobbying laws due to COVID-19 ...... 98 Montana judge blocks Keystone XL permit for river crossings ...... 98 Yet Again, Federal Court Invalidates Key Permit for Keystone XL - April 15, 2020 ...... 99 The day oil was worth less than $0 — and nobody wanted it ...... 99 This is the world's most destructive oil operation—and it's growing ...... 100 ‘The other bomb’ — Cramer’s warning as first shale company files for Chapter 11 ...... 101 A wave of oil bankruptcies is on the way ...... 101 Oil company Diamond Offshore files for bankruptcy ...... 101 Irving applies to use foreign oil tankers to ship Canadian crude to Saint John ...... 102 Canadian energy companies Cenovus and Husky swing to huge losses amid oil price collapse . 103 Mining ...... 104

5 Nunavut community blocks access to gold mine over COVID-19 fears ...... 104 EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus ...... 104 Mining and Petroleum Workers: ‘Essential’ or ‘an Enormous Risk’? ...... 104 Tailings dam spill at Chinese molybdenum miner threatens local water supply ...... 105 Former chief medical officer urges B.C. to shut industrial work camps during coronavirus pandemic ...... 105 Brazil mining regulator orders closure of 25 Vale dams ...... 106 O’Regan putting nuclear ‘front and centre’ raises eyebrows, industry hopes ...... 106 Seamus O'Regan - Education ...... 107 Forestry ...... 108 New Brunswick Is Blowing An Opportunity We Can’t Afford to Blow ...... 108 Video Links ...... 109 Coronavirus outbreak: New Brunswick announces first presumptive case of COVID-19 ...... 109 Update on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus - March 13 ...... 109 Information Morning, March 24, 2020 - Local pandemic expert ...... 109 Information Morning - Fredericton What should happen next in N.B.'s pandemic response? ...... 109

6 Shale Gas Issues From Various Jurisdictions

Foreword

The following documents have been collected by searching the web for information related to shale gas and from the Following web sites and

New Brunswick is NOT For Sale http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_132079906855023

New Brunswickers Concerned About Shale Gas http://www.facebook.com/ccnbshalegas

Ban Hydraulic Fracturing (hydro-fracking) In New Brunswick, Canada http://www.facebook.com/BanFrackingNB

Know Shale Gas NB – Support the legal action to stop Shale Gas in NB http://noshalegasnb.ca/news

NoShaleGasNB http://www.facebook.com/NoShaleGasNB

Shale Gas Info http://www.facebook.com/shalegas

Upriver Environment Watch http://www.facebook.com/groups/UpRiver/

Fracidental Drillers http://www.facebook.com/groups/133930663364584/

Fracking Research and New Brunswick, Canada http://nbfrackingresearch.com/

Facebook Groups: USA - A FACEBOOK FULL OF FRACTIVISTS: State-by-State Listings http://keeptapwatersafe.org/facebook-groups-usa/

Propublica – Links to many articles on Fracking http://www.propublica.org/series/fracking

Another good site: Fracking, Shale Gas and Health http://frackingandhealth.ca/

Is Our Forest Really Ours? http://isourforestreallyours.com/Isourforestreallyours/Welcome.html http://isourforestreallyours.com/Isourforestreallyours/Start_here.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/132079906855023/#!/groups/258525050949366/

More facebook information https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=617426124942641

7 United Opponents of Fracking International http://portjervisny.com/uaf.htm

SHALE GAS ALERTS NEW BRUNSWICK https://www.facebook.com/groups/112468105590081/? hc_location=stream#!/groups/112468105590081/

New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance / anti-gaz de schiste du N.-B http://www.noshalegasnb.ca/our-resources/

Frack , facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/187245954789252/

8 Calls for Moratoriums and Bans

France bans fracking and oil extraction in all of its territories

French parliamentarians have passed a law banning fossil fuel extraction. President Macron says he wants France to lead the world with switch to renewables

France’s parliament has passed into law a ban on producing oil and gas by 2040, a largely symbolic gesture as the country is 99% dependent on hydrocarbon imports.

In Tuesday’s vote by show of hands, only the rightwing Republicans party opposed, while leftwing lawmakers abstained.

No new permits will be granted to extract fossil fuels and no existing licences will be renewed beyond 2040, when all production in mainland France and its overseas territories will stop. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/20/france-bans-fracking-and-oil-extraction-in-all-of- its-territories

9 Contamination and Science

10 Renewable Energy

Taymouth man goes 'super solar' with house covered in solar panels

Whenever someone goes by Drew Gilbert's home in Taymouth, he says they always stop to take in the spectacle.

"People that I can hear from my deck when they walk by, or when they go by on their bicycle, is usually like 'holy smokes, do you see all the solar panels on that place?'," said Gilbert.

Two years ago, Gilbert and his partner Amy made the decision to go 'off-grid.'

There are now wall-to-wall solar panels covering the exterior of his home. There are even more positioned in his front yard. Thirty in total.

"It was a difficult decision and a hard sell to my solar contractor to believe me that putting them on the roof was going to be a huge problem," said Gilbert. "We get snow out here four or five feet deep sometimes and that all lands on the roof." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/taymouth-man-goes-super-solar-with-house-covered- in-solar-panels-1.5538595

11 Science and Health

12 Economics, Legal, and Investigations

US Heading for 2nd Great Depression: Nobel Laureate Stiglitz

Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz warned Wednesday in an interview with The Guardian, that the United States handling of the COVID-19 crisis has left them looking like a “third world” country and on course for a second Great Depression.

“The numbers turning to food banks are just enormous and beyond the capacity of them to supply. It is like a third world country. The public social safety net is not working,” Stiglitz said, adding amid the pandemic people are forced to turn up to work due to a lack of sick pay and end up dying because of health inequalities.

The former World Bank chief economist reiterated that "the inequality in the U.S. is so large" that 14 percent of the population was now dependent on food stamps and predicted the social infrastructure could not cope with an unemployment rate that could hit 30 percent in the coming months.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s latest data, 22 million people have filed unemployment claims since mid-March. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/US-Heading-for-2nd-Great-Depression-Nobel-Laureate-Stiglitz- 20200422-0022.html

Pentagon Urges Mexico to Reopen COVID-Closed Factories That Supply US Weapon Makers

The continued flow of various weapons to the Pentagon during the pandemic will depend to a surprising degree on Mexico, the U.S. neighbor frequently criticized by President Trump.

Many U.S. defense firms, particularly aircraft manufacturers, rely on Mexican suppliers, many of whom have closed or slowed operations during the pandemic, said Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

“I think one of the key things we have found out are some international dependencies,” Lord said Monday during a press conference at the Pentagon. “Mexico right now is somewhat problematical for us but we’re working through our embassy, and then there are pockets in India, as well.” https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/04/pentagon-urges-mexico-reopen-covid-closed-factories- supply-us-weapon-makers/164756/

U.S. Factories in Mexico Remain Open Despite Surge in COVID-19 Cases

Chihuahua state officials say COVID-19 deaths have increased nearly sixfold within 10 days in Ciudad Juárez. At least 13 of those deaths were of employees working at U.S.-run maquiladoras. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is urging Mexico to reopen factories that were shuttered amid the pandemic, as many U.S. weapons manufacturers rely on Mexican labor. https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/22/headlines/us_factories_in_mexico_remain_open_despite_su rge_in_covid_19_cases

13 Regulations

14 Environment and Enjoyment of Property

Climate Change Deniers Are Blocking Progress, UN Report Suggests for First Time

The United Nations’ annual assessment of global progress on climate change delivers familiar bad news this year -- the problem is getting worse, not better -- with a new twist: For the first time, political ideology is singled out for obstructing changes that would slow global warming.

The annual calculation of the "emissions gap," the chasm between global pollution and international efforts to limit it, lays new blame with behaviors and cultures that lead some nations, including the U.S., to fall short on pollution goals. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-27/climate-change-deniers-are-blocking-progress- un-report-suggests

Flagship UN study shows accelerating climate change on land, sea and in the atmosphere

A wide-ranging UN climate report, released on Tuesday, shows that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, as well as on the health and wellbeing of the global population.

Writing in the foreword to the report, UN chief António Guterres warned that the world is currently “way off track meeting either the 1.5°C or 2°C targets that the Paris Agreement calls for”, referring to the commitment made by the international community in 2015, to keep global average temperatures well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Several heat records have been broken in recent years and decades: the report confirms that 2019 was the second warmest year on record, and 2010-2019 was the warmest decade on record. Since the 1980s, each successive decade has been warmer than any preceding decade since 1850.

Embedded Video https://youtu.be/Oft0nY_lnZI https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059061

Grace gravity mission captures Greenland ice loss

Greenland shed an extraordinary 600 billion tonnes of ice by the end of summer last year.

This melt-driven loss would have raised global sea levels by 2.2mm, say scientists who've just published an analysis of satellite gravity measurements taken over the Arctic.

Of course, when winter set in, some of that mass would have been recovered as it snowed across the ice sheet.

The data comes from the joint US-German space mission known as Grace-FO. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51954988

15 New Study Predicts the Ocean Ecosystem Will Collapse This Decade

The global ecosystem is in far greater danger than scientists previously thought, according to a new study — and that’s really saying something.

The research predicts that without dire action to reverse global climate change, entire ocean ecosystems could suddenly collapse this decade, The Guardian reports.

It’s a dire warning: as various organisms face temperatures higher than anything they have before, the study predicts sudden, massive die-offs.

The study, published Tuesday in the prestigious journal Nature, examines the temperatures that 30,000 land and sea organisms can withstand, and plots those ranges against the expected temperature increases through the year 2100. https://futurism.com/the-byte/predicts-ocean-ecosystem-collapse-this-decade

Warmest Oceans on Record Could Set Off a Year of Extreme Weather

The world’s seas are simmering, with record high temperatures spurring worry among forecasters that the global warming effect may generate a chaotic year of extreme weather ahead.

Parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans all hit the record books for warmth last month, according to the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information.

The high temperatures could offer clues on the ferocity of the Atlantic hurricane season, the eruption of wildfires from the Amazon region to Australia, and whether the record heat and severe thunderstorms raking the southern U.S. will continue. https://www-bloomberg-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-04- 18/warmest-oceans-on-record-could-set-off-a-year-of-extreme-weather

16 Government, Meetings, News, and Letters

New Brunswick Is Blowing An Opportunity We Can’t Afford to Blow

When there is an injustice, at first it is usually just those who are directly impacted who complain. And those responsible for it can often just ignore those complaints. But then when word spreads of just how bad it is, others join in. Even if they are only impacted indirectly, they see unfairness for what it is, and step up to say whatever it is isn’t right, and should not be allowed to continue. And when those voices get loud enough, that’s when change happens.

That seems to be the point we have gotten to now in regards to how Crown land in New Brunswick has been mismanaged by successive governments. Here’s a resource that is abundant in our province, that should be a major contributor to our provincial economy, but rather it may actually be costing us money.

The Auditor General has raised this point, and a review by the CIBC World Markets suggests that because of government mismanaging our Crown lands we are losing out on a whopping $100 Million every year. Here’s a resource that is abundant in our province, that should be a major contributor to our provincial economy, but rather it may actually be costing us money.

The problem stems from changes various governments made to the Crown Lands and Forests Act after it was adopted in 1980. Changes, mainly by the McKenna Liberals and Alward Conservatives combined that gave forestry companies more and more access to Crown land at less than market value, essentially shortchanging all New Brunswick taxpayers and putting New Brunswick woodlot owners at a competitive disadvantage when they wanted to sell their wood at fair market value. https://nbwoodlotowners.ca/blog/new-brunswick-is-blowing-an-opportunity-we-cant-afford-to-blow

CUPE on Allardville lockout: “Never seen anything like this before”

Sandy Harding, CUPE Maritimes Regional Director, says the labour dispute at the rural landfill serving northeastern New Brunswick is highly unusual. On Feb. 12, the Chaleur Regional Service Commission (CRSC) issued a lockout notice for the 23 members of CUPE 4193 at the Allardville landfill and brought in scabs (“replacement workers“) to keep the site open.

Bargaining disputes usually involve wages but the CRSC management issued the lockout notice after a dispute about doctor’s notes for sick days.

The CUPE 4193 contract expired in December 2017. The contract states that a worker must produce a doctor’s note if sick leave extends beyond three days. At the bargaining table, the management team demanded that the contract be changed to require a worker to produce a doctor’s note the first sick day taken. When the CUPE team refused to accept it, the management team walked away from the table and issued a lockout notice.

The CRSC board that approved the lockout notice and use of scabs is made up of the mayors of the city of Bathurst, the town of Beresford, the four rural villages of Belledune, Petit-Rocher, Nigadoo, and Pointe-Verte, and the chairpersons of four Local Service Districts. The CRSC board chair is Belledune mayor Joe Noel. https://nbmediacoop.org/2020/03/03/cupe-on-allardville-lockout-never-seen-anything-like-this-before/

17 Public shouldn't get power to veto reform, health authority chair says

The chair of the anglophone regional health authority says public consultation should not mean the public can have the power to veto health-care reform.

In a statement on the weekend, Horizon Health Network board chair John McGarry said he hopes a health summit planned in June will not be solely focused on rural issues and said change at this point is necessary.

"The public should be consulted but cannot be given veto to reject anything that threatens status quo," he wrote. "The fact is status quo is threatening itself, as we speak."

The June health summit was announced after the province walked back its plan to end overnight hours at six rural emergency rooms. Premier Blaine Higgs previously said the public outcry highlighted problems with the plan that he did not see initially. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/rural-health-reform-public-consultation-1.5491184

6 First Nations sue province for charges against Indigenous loggers

A Supreme Court ruling says Indigenous people can harvest wood from Crown land for personal use but not for profit.

Six Wolastoqey First Nations are suing the province for not recognizing their treaty rights to Crown timber.

Oromocto, Woodstock, Saint Mary's, Kingsclear, Tobique and Madawaska First Nations allege the province is infringing on their Peace and Friendship Treaty rights by "wrongfully" limiting their ability to sell and trade timber to gain a "moderate livelihood."

In a lawsuit filed in January, they allege enforcing the Crown Lands and Forests Act against members of their communities is a breach of the constitutionally protected treaties.

"First Nations have the right … to continue the cutting and trading of timber as firewood and other wood products, as that practice has evolved over the years," the lawsuit says.

In 2012, the province charged two members of Woodstock First Nation with illegally harvesting Crown timber and with illegal possession of that timber, the lawsuit says. The trial went on from July 2013 to November 2014. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/first-nation-peace-and-friendship-treaty-timber-rights- 1.5492848

Higgs government delivers 2nd balanced budget, projects $92M surplus in 2020-21

People's Alliance likes budget, but Green MLAs still making up mind

The Higgs government has delivered a second consecutive balanced budget, a fiscal plan with nods to both tax reductions and increased social spending and some carbon tax sleight of hand.

18 The budget also projects a surplus of $92.4 million in the 2020-21 fiscal year, leading to a $129.3 million reduction to New Brunswick's accumulated debt.

The small but significant increases in social assistance rates and reductions in property tax rates could help the budget win the support of other parties in the legislature, where the Progressive Conservative government does not have a majority. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-budget-steeves-1.5491938

Trudeau pledges $1B for COVID-19 fight as WHO declares pandemic

OTTAWA - The federal government rolled out a $1-billion package Wednesday to help the country's health-care system and economy cope with the novel coronavirus outbreak as the number of cases in Canada grew, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that the situation could get worse, and the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Multiple health authorities reported a flurry of new positive tests for COVID-19, including one person at Canadian Forces Base Trenton repatriated from a cruise ship docked in California, and a man in Sudbury, Ont., who had attended a large mining conference in Toronto.

That conference included appearances by Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan and Mary Ng, the minister of small business and international trade. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/trudeau-pledges-1b-for-covid-19-fight-as-who-declares-pandemic- 1.1403603

Coronavirus outbreak: New Brunswick announces first presumptive case of COVID-19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMTyeB9fjcY&t=25m50s

Update on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus - March 13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHipk01feOc&t=36m20s

Gordon Edwards in New Brunswick: “The nuclear industry is desperate”

The New Brunswick government and NB Power recently gave $10 million to two start-up companies to develop nuclear energy technology. Now the province is asking the federal government to give the two private sector companies even more public funding. Nuclear expert Gordon Edwards, who visited the province last week, said the nuclear industry, not the government, is driving this development.

“The nuclear industry is the pusher [of small modular nuclear reactors] and governments are the target,” he said, because the nuclear industry is dying and desperate to save itself. Edwards is the president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.

The nuclear industry is represented by the lobby group the Canadian Nuclear Association. NB Power’s vice president nuclear, Brett Plummer, is both the highest paid public servant in New Brunswick and a team member of the Canadian Nuclear Association.

19 The province and NB Power gave $5 million each to ARC Nuclear Canada and Moltex Energy Canada. ARC Nuclear is a US-based start-up company that recently opened its Canadian office in Saint John.

The CEO and founder of ARC Nuclear is a venture capitalist investor with a background in real estate.

Moltex Energy is a UK-based start-up company that also recently opened its Canadian office in Saint John. https://nbmediacoop.org/2020/03/17/gordon-edwards-on-nuclear-in-new-brunswick-governments-are- being-suckers/

65 seniors to be moved out of hospitals to make way for COVID-19 patients

Sixty-five seniors who are in hospitals across New Brunswick awaiting nursing home placements will soon be moved out to make way for an anticipated influx of COVID-19 patients, Premier Blaine Higgs announced Tuesday.

The Department of Social Development has introduced an "urgent nursing home placement process" to free up hospital beds occupied by the so-called alternate level of care (ALC) patients, he said.

The 65 people will temporarily be moved into a nursing home that provides services in the language of their choice within 100 kilometres of their permanent address. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-covid-19-hospital-beds-staff- 1.5498971

Cuba's Interferon Alpha 2B, Successful in Treating COVID-19

For 40 years, Cuba has been using a molecule named Interferon Alpha 2B , which has successfully been used to combat the new Coronavirus in China and elsewhere.

"The world has an opportunity to understand that health is not a commercial asset but a basic right," Cuban doctor Luis Herrera, the creator of the Interferon Alfa 2-B medication, one of the most successful medications in the fight against COVID-19 told teleSUR Tuesday. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Cubas-Interferon-Alpha-2B-Successful-in-Treating-COVID-19- 20200317-0015.html

Nursing Home Final Offer Votes Halted by Province

Fredericton, Nov 19, 2019 – Without explanation nor without the Union’s agreement, the nursing homes employer association has made an application to the Labour & Employment Board to withdraw the votes on the “Final Offer” that were scheduled to happen this week in four nursing homes.

Members of CUPE Local 5327 in Néguac, Local 4796 in Tabusintac, Local 3657 in Inkerman & Local 1378 in Shippagan were supposed to vote this week.

20 In September 2019, Premier Blaine Higgs had requested the NB Labour & Employment Board conduct a vote on his final offer to CUPE members in 46 nursing homes. At the time, Higgs had told the Labour & Employment Board to rush the process, so all 46 locations voted before Christmas.

“The homes that have voted properly have all rejected his “offer”. It seems like the government and the employer association want to backpedal and stall to prevent a public relations mess,” said Sharon Teare, President of the NB Council of Nursing Homes Unions.

To date, the votes in the following homes have been completed:

Villa Sormany – Robertville 90.0% NO Foyer Notre Dame de Lourdes – Bathurst 93.4% NO York Manor – Fredericton 87.4% NO https://nb.cupe.ca/2019/11/21/nursing-home-final-offer-votes-halted-by-province/

Bats are not to blame for coronavirus. Humans are

Reclusive, nocturnal, numerous -- bats are a possible source of the coronavirus.

Yet some scientists concur they are not to blame for the transfer of the disease that's changing daily life -- humans are. Zoologists and disease experts have told CNN that changes to human behavior -- the destruction of natural habitats, coupled with the huge number of fast-moving people now on Earth -- has enabled diseases that were once locked away in nature to cross into people fast.

Scientists are still unsure where the virus originated, and will only be able to prove its source if they isolate a live virus in a suspected species -- a hard task.

"The underlying causes of zoonotic spillover from bats or from other wild species have almost always -- always -- been shown to be human behavior," said Cunningham. "Human activities are causing this." https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/health/coronavirus-human-actions-intl/index.html

Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease)

Bushmeat and Ebola • Ebola is a rare and deadly disease that is spread through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or died from Ebola. • Generally, Ebola is not spread by food. However, in Africa human infections have been associated with hunting, butchering, and processing meat from infected animals. • To date, there have been no reports of human sickness in the United States from preparing or consuming bushmeat illegally brought into the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/importation/bushmeat.html

21 Scientists Describe How 1918 Influenza Virus Sample Was Exhumed In Alaska - July 4, 2007

The effort to find preserved samples of the 1918 influenza virus has been a pursuit of both historical and medical importance.

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most devastating single disease outbreak in modern history, and examining the virus that caused it may help prepare for, and possibly prevent, future pandemics.

When the complete sequence of the 1918 virus was published in 2005, it represented a watershed event for influenza researchers worldwide. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070702145610.htm

Ancient never-before-seen viruses discovered locked up in Tibetan glacier

For the past 15,000 years, a glacier on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau of China has hosted a party for some unusual guests: an ensemble of frozen viruses, many of them unknown to modern science.

Scientists recently broke up this party after taking a look at two ice cores from this Tibetan glacier, revealing the existence of 28 never-before-seen virus groups.

Investigating these mysterious viruses could help scientists on two fronts: For one, these stowaways can teach researchers which viruses thrived in different climates and environments over time, the researchers wrote in a paper posted on the bioRxiv database on Jan. 7. https://www.livescience.com/unknown-viruses-discovered-tibetan-glacier.html

Glacier ice archives fifteen-thousand-year-old viruses

Abstract While glacier ice cores provide climate information over tens to hundreds of thousands of years, study of microbes is challenged by ultra-low-biomass conditions, and virtually nothing is known about co- occurring viruses.

Here we establish ultra-clean microbial and viral sampling procedures and apply them to two ice cores from the Guliya ice cap (northwestern Tibetan Plateau, China) to study these archived communities. This method reduced intentionally contaminating bacterial, viral, and free DNA to background levels in artificial-ice-core control experiments, and was then applied to two authentic ice cores to profile their microbes and viruses.

The microbes differed significantly across the two ice cores, presumably representing the very different climate conditions at the time of deposition that is similar to findings in other cores. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.03.894675v1.full

22 Health crisis linked to human actions, says environmentalist

"Our health and that of the planet must come before the health of financial markets."

Should the rapid spread of COVID-19 and the global upheaval it causes prompt us to rethink our relationship to nature, the agricultural model and globalization?

Health ecologist Serge Morand is also a researcher in two French organizations, the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD).

Confined to Thailand where he is currently for the purposes of his work, he observes with great interest what is happening on the world stage.

According to him, the coronavirus crisis is to be part of the explosion of animal epidemics.

This phenomenon is inseparable from several human actions that have the consequence of damaging the fauna and flora. The loss of biodiversity with the disappearance of forests, intensive livestock farming, hunting of wild animals are among the accelerators of the ecological crisis and, consequently, the health crisis.

Although the conditions of its transmission to humans are not known, coronavirus is known to be of animal origin. And it's not the first of its kind?

Coronaviruses are a very diverse group of viruses found in many mammals and birds. These viruses are well known in poultry and pig farms, but also in domestic animals such as cats.

Bats and probably also rodents are the source of several recent emergences in humans. Viruses hosted in bats do not directly infect humans. Intermediate hosts are required, such as the civette, in the case of the first SARS, or the camel, in the case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (SRMO). https://www.translatetheweb.com/?ref=TVert&from=&to=en&a=https%3A%2F%2Fici.radio-canada.ca %2Fnouvelle%2F1689161%2Fcoronavirus-environnement-deforestation-animaux-biodiversite- braconage#

23 Why New Brunswick COVID-19 tests trail rest of Canada

On Monday, New Brunswick's Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health reported 1,096 total test results for COVID-19 have been logged in the province since the beginning of the crisis, the lowest number per person of any province in Canada.

It's less than half the 2,349 tests completed next door in Nova Scotia, a province with just 25 per cent more people.

The most aggressive testing in Canada has been in Alberta. It has six times the population of New Brunswick but on Monday had already reported results from 30,058 tests, 27 times more.

The New Brunswick government referred all questions about the sluggishness of COVID-19 testing in the province to its two regional health authorities but neither one had an immediate explanation about why the numbers are so low.

One issue appears to be New Brunswick's strict focus on testing only people who recently travelled internationally and those connected to them, even as other provinces have been testing those with symptoms more broadly https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-tests-trail-canada-1.5507361

7 things to know about NB's Emergency Measures Act

What powers does the act give to the government?

The Emergency Measures Act has existed since 1973 and gives Public Safety Minister Carl Urquhart, and through him the provincial government, sweeping powers.

The province can confiscate property, order people to help the containment effort and prohibit travel. It can regulate prices and direct police to enter a property without a warrant.

Urquhart's declaration included orders specific to COVID-19, such as requiring anyone directed by a doctor to self-isolate. That put the force of law behind what had been a mere recommendation.

Other orders included telling landlords not to evict tenants for non-payment of rent and forcing restaurants to close dining rooms and offer only take-out and pick-up service. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-emergency-measures-act-1.5506995

Coronavirus - Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (Public Health) https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/ocmoh/cdc/content/respiratory_diseases/coronavirus. html

24 A fundamental shift': Nearly half of reported COVID-19 cases in Canada now from community spread

Almost half of Canada's COVID-19 cases are caused by spread in the community from an unknown source, and experts say that signals there could be a silent epidemic happening across the country.

Of the 1,044 cases that the Public Health Agency of Canada has provided epidemiological data on as of Monday, 48 per cent are a result of infection from community transmission, while 42 per cent are tied to travel and seven per cent are linked to close contact with a traveller who tested positive.

Community transmission is the spread of an illness with no known link to travel or previously confirmed cases, which suggests a growing number of cases are likely going unreported across the country. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/a-fundamental-shift-nearly-half-of-reported-covid-19-cases- in-canada-now-from-community-spread/ar-BB11F5pO

How much should the public know about COVID-19 cases? It depends who you ask

The decision on how much information to release to the public is up to chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell, Premier Blaine Higgs suggested on Friday.

"It's certainly within her purview to decide what is appropriate to share for details and what's not," Higgs said, after being asked why the public wasn't allowed to know more about New Brunswick's COVID-19 cases.

But during a public health crisis, sharing "thorough and comprehensive information to the public" is more important than ever, according to Michael Karanicolas, president of the Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia.

"This is not something that can just be shunted to the back burner," Karanicolas said.

"Even though there is a crisis on, a lack of information is a part of that crisis, and keeping the public informed is a core duty of government now more than ever."

When Information Morning Fredericton tried to interview Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Dominic Cardy last week, it was told Russell and Higgs are now "the main spokespeople" for the government. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-transparency-1.5514601

VIDEO - COVID-19 testing data reveal areas of concentration, missing info in New Brunswick Mar 31, 2020

Heavy testing in the Moncton area, lesser amounts elsewhere and missing data for many — perhaps all — provincial regions were the highlights of an hour-long briefing for reporters Wednesday on the current state of testing for COVID-19 in New Brunswick.

The province had completed 3,234 tests for COVID-19 as of Monday, but missing residency information on 577 of the test results — more than one in six — clouded a detailed accounting of exactly where testing has been concentrated.

25 "Some of them are not known," said Boudreau about the 577 tests done by the province that do not have an address attached.

One issue that was made clear is the most extensive testing to date has been done in the Moncton region (zone 1).

It had at least 1,005 tests completed as of Monday, more than double the 460 done in the Saint John region (zone 2) even though it serves only 16 per cent more people.

Moncton results were also 70 per cent higher than the 586 tests recorded in the Fredericton region (zone 3).

The Moncton region contains a little more than 27 per cent of New Brunswick's population but so far accounts for 38 per cent of the COVID-19 tests done — at least those with known addresses. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-testing-data-new-brunswick-1.5515667

26 Maps of health zones and NBHC communities

Health zones

https://nbhc.ca/maps-health-zones-and-nbhc-communities

Northeastern N.B. has no COVID-19 cases, but province won't say how many tested

Miramichi mayor wants testing information for his area, regional breakdown for entire province - Mar 28, 2020

27 Cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick continue to climb but so far none have been reported in the northeastern corner of the province — a curiosity starting to raise questions among residents about how much testing the province has done in the area.

"The question people are beginning to ask is are they doing enough testing here in our region," said Tracadie-Sheila MLA Keith Chiasson.

"That's probably the concern of people. Is testing being done and are we missing people that might have coronavirus?" https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-testing-new-brunswick-northeast-miramichi- 1.5513391

New Brunswick N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 'Enhanced' pandemic plan coming, says Higgs

Premier Blaine Higgs said the enhanced pandemic operational plan will go through a lot of 'checks and balances' before it's finalized, most importantly with medical professionals in the field.

An "enhanced" New Brunswick pandemic operational plan could be made public as early as Thursday, says Premier Blaine Higgs.

It will provide "details and guidance" on how the health-care system will handle increased cases of COVID-19, he said.

"I can tell you this plan takes both worst-case and best-case scenarios into account," Higgs told reporters during the daily update in Fredericton on Tuesday. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-pandemic-coronavirus-1.5515894

28 Higgs expects municipalities to close parks to combat COVID-19

Premier Blaine Higgs says he expects municipalities to follow the province's lead and close their parks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

He made the comments Tuesday in response to a question from CBC News, seeking clarification about the status of municipal parks.

The federal government has closed national parks and the New Brunswick government has closed provincial parks but most municipal parks remain open.

There are two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick, bringing the province's total to 70, the chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell announced Tuesday during the daily update in Fredericton.

When the premier was asked whether he would direct municipalities to close their parks, he said: "Our general direction about parks [is] we do not want to keep any places open that would cause a, let's say a gathering, to take place. And I would expect municipalities to follow that same protocol as we're following here."

Higgs had expressed frustration about more than 100 cars being parked there over the weekend, saying: "The beaches and parks are closed. The playgrounds are closed … any areas where gathering points would be normally are closed. People need to understand that and we will enforce it."

Darling said the city has been following the direction of Public Health and he wanted to ensure that was still the case.

"From our perspective, we are following the direction of the chief medical officer," he said. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-municipal-parks-higgs-russell-new- brunswick-1.5516700

Irving Oil retools its lubricants plant to produce hand sanitizer

Irving Oil Ltd. has retooled its blending and packaging plant in Saint John to add hand sanitizer to the production line.

"We're all in this together," said a Facebook message from the company. "As we look to support the essential needs of our communities, we have retooled our blending and packaging facility in Saint John, NB, to add hand sanitizer to the production line."

Irving Oil did not respond to repeated attempts to get more information on Tuesday afternoon.

In response to a question on Twitter about whether additional people would be hired to produce the sanitizer, the company responded, "Our existing workforce is working on this project."

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister's Office released a statement that said Irving Oil was one of several Canadian companies "stepping up to fight the COVID-19 pandemic." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-irving-sanitizer-lubricants-1.5516390

29 Missing addresses force a reboot of regional testing numbers

Embarrassed by 577 missing addresses in the first attempt to provide regional COVID-19 testing data in New Brunswick, health officials went back to the drawing board Tuesday and compiled an alternate and complete list of where people have taken their tests rather than where they live.

It confirms only light testing has been done in dozens of communities in northeastern New Brunswick from Miramichi up through the Acadian Peninsula — something that has been helping the virus to hide, according to New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, who is originally from the northeastern city of Bathurst, told reporters Monday she believes COVID-19 is present in the region even though no cases have been diagnosed there yet. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-testing-regions-new-brunswick-1.5516913

New Brunswick health networks collaborate on drug trial to treat people with COVID-19

Pharmacists and infectious disease specialists will test drug used to treat malaria New Brunswick's two health authorities are collaborating on a drug trial to treat people with COVID-19 in the province.

New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, says The Horizon Health Network and the Vitalité Health Network are working together.

Dr. Russell says Plaquenil, a drug used for the treatment of malaria, will be used on COVID-19 patients that meet certain criteria.

30 She says pharmacists and infectious disease specialists are now working out the details of the drug trial. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-health-networks-drug-trials-1.5519773

Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) belongs to a group of medicines called quinolines.

Plaquenil - Generic Name: hydroxychloroquine

Plaquenil is used to treat or prevent malaria, a disease caused by parasites that enter the body through the bite of a mosquito. Malaria is common in areas such as Africa, South America, and Southern Asia. This medicine is not effective against all strains of malaria.

Plaquenil is also an antirheumatic medicine and is used to treat symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and discoid or systemic lupus erythematosus. https://www.drugs.com/plaquenil.html

Clinical and Structural Efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine in Rheumatoid Arthritis:

A Systematic Review. US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) improves metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but its efficacy appears to be moderate as compared to placebo. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30629341

Hydroxychloroquine usage in US patients, their experiences of tolerability and adherence, and implications for treatment: survey results from 3127 patients with SLE conducted by the Lupus Foundation of America

British Medical Journal Read the RESULTS https://lupus.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000317

Arizona man dies, wife in critical condition after taking aquarium cleaner containing malaria drug for coronavirus

Chloroquine phosphate shares the same active ingredient as malaria drugs that President Trump has touted as possibly effective against COVID-19

31 An Arizona man has died and his wife is in critical condition after they ingested chloroquine phosphate – an aquarium cleaning product similar to drugs that have been named by President Trump as potential treatments for coronavirus infection. https://nationalpost.com/news/arizona-man-dies-after-taking-chloroquine-for-coronavirus

'No benefit' to sending seniors ill with COVID-19 to hospital, some nursing homes tell loved ones

As news broke of coronavirus outbreaks in long-term care homes, Dana Schmidt got a phone call that made his heart sink. His mother was in a seniors facility, and it was her doctor on the line. She wanted to review the family's wishes that their mother get full life-saving treatment if she ever needed it.

"It was around the level of resuscitation and whether we would be interested in altering it. Whether it was an option." Schmidt says of the call. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-19-long-term-care-1.5519657

COVID-19 task force struck after memo warning of 'excessive use' of masks took 2 weeks to send

This memo about personal protective equipment protocol was referred to by Premier Blaine Higgs as taking two weeks to get the required signoff from 23 different health officials before it could be sent out.

Last month, officials were alarmed that there was "excessive use" of masks for patients "who did not meet criteria for this level of PPE" in several hospital emergency departments, according to a memo obtained by CBC News.

32 The new task force is made up of just four people and under New Brunswick's emergency declaration, it has the legal power to make decisions for regional health authorities, nursing and special care homes and ambulance and extramural services. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-new-brunswick-task-force-1.5524778

New task force to cut through bureaucracy to accelerate response to COVID-19

The task force's role is part of a revision to the province's emergency order, giving it legal power.

It will be chaired by Gérald Richard, the deputy minister at the health department, and will also include chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell, Dr. Gordon Dow, an infectious disease specialist at Horizon Health, and Dr. Nicole LeBlanc, the chief of staff at Vitalité Health.

Health Minister Ted Flemming compared the approach to a military structure required to act quickly in a war. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-higgs-flemming-task-force-1.5523717

COVID-19 could kill 550 to 1,750 New Brunswickers, provincial modelling suggests

Between 15 and 132 could die by the end of this month, says Health Minister Ted Flemming

The number of people in intensive care could hit a peak of 84 on any given day this month, under the worst-case scenario model, and acute care hospitalizations, 194, he said.

The government used the experience of northern Italy for its worst-case projections, data from all of Italy for its medium-impact scenarios and compared them to New Brunswick's current trajectory, said Associate Deputy Minister of Health René Boudreau.

At least another two weeks of data is required to be able to project a peak of the pandemic, he said. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-new-brunswick-projections-deaths- hospitalizations-1.5527745

Time for fair monetary return from NB’s Crown forest

Past governments have allowed the forest industry, now primarily J.D. Irving Limited, to essentially destroy our forests, with large-scale clearcutting followed by plantations.

Plantations do not provide the myriad benefits that forests do, and they are unsustainable over the long haul, particularly with the uncertain future resulting from climate change.

To add insult to injury the province receives less from the industry in stumpage fees for the wood harvested than it pays the industry to carry out what is euphemistically called “silviculture,” essentially herbicide spraying, planting and thinning to make way for plantations.

33 Both New Brunswickers and the forests lose on the deal.

It is time for the government to take back control of our Crown land forests.

In the context of current provincial finances it should charge stumpage fees that at the very least cover government forestry costs.

The government should transfer silviculture costs to the industry, for it is they who benefit from silviculture.

The government should move away from the forest as a resource available to only a few companies, and facilitate smaller, value-added and job-producing enterprises based on both Crown land and privately owned woodlots.

In the long term it should change the trajectory of its forest management away from the plantation model, and return it to the Acadian forest, a multiple-species, productive, and resilient forest. https://nbmediacoop.org/2015/02/11/time-for-fair-monetary-return-from-crown-forests

Former head of library service alleges job ad worded so non-librarian could fill post

Sylvie Nadeau calls on Premier Blaine Higgs to review controversial appointment of Kevin Cormier

The former head of New Brunswick's Public Library Service has written a letter to Premier Blaine Higgs, alleging the wording of the ad for her position was designed to let the province replace her with a non- librarian.

Sylvie Nadeau, who served as the provincial librarian and executive director for 20 years until her retirement at the end of December, said she recently returned from a two-month vacation in Spain and learned Kevin Cormier was put in charge of the province's 64 public libraries, despite an apparent lack of library training or experience.

"As a citizen, this appointment gives me grave concerns that this might be the new way that the government is going to fill positions anywhere in government in the future: by manipulating the recruitment ads (beyond their officially approved requirements) to 'tailoring' them in order to facilitate particular agendas, political appointments, favouritism, friendships, and what else," she wrote.

Nadeau said she knows of at least two "highly qualified" and fluently bilingual internal candidates who were interviewed for the job, which comes with an annual salary of up to nearly $114,000. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-library-executive-director-ad-sylvie- nadeau-letter-1.5531550

New Brunswick in 'very significant deficit territory' just two weeks into fiscal year

Virus-related job losses, business closures threaten $3.8B in New Brunswick sales and income taxes

34 Two weeks into the new fiscal year New Brunswick's planned budget surplus has been transformed into a hefty deficit by the COVID-19 crisis and although Premier Blaine Higgs is not ready yet to reveal how big the financial troubles will be, all signs point to something large — perhaps historic.

"We are certainly now in very significant deficit territory and I don't see that changing anytime soon," said Higgs on Thursday during his regular afternoon news conference.

"A surplus and debt payment are now no longer even an option of any kind."

Higgs said both the cabinet and special all-party cabinet committee overseeing the province's response to the pandemic have been briefed on New Brunswick's deteriorating finances and said the public will be updated soon. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-new-brunswick-budget-deficit-1.5535442

One new case of COVID-19 found, bringing total to 118

Province conducted 447 tests in the last 24 hours

New Brunswick has broken a two-day streak with one new COVID-19 case announced Saturday.

The new case is a person aged 30-39 in Zone 3, or the Fredericton region. It's the sixth new case since last Saturday.

This brings the total of COVID-19 cases in the province to 118. But the number of recovered patients continues to outpace the number of new cases, with 87 people declared recovered so far.

New Brunswick hospitals have admitted 13 people with COVID-19 in total. Five remain as of Saturday, and three of them are in the intensive care unit. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-covid-19-cases-april-18-1.5537270

ATV trails will reopen despite premier calling decision 'premature'

QuadNB received blessing from cabinet minister to reopen trails earlier this week

QuadNB, the association that manages ATV trail networks across New Brunswick, says it's reopening trails after receiving the blessing of Minister Mike Holland this week. On Friday, Premier Blaine Higgs said the decision was 'premature.' https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-atv-riders-trails-open-higgs-holland- 1.5536890

Reopening ATV trails was 'bad decision' that will be reversed, QuadNB says

After a call with Premier Blaine Higgs, QuadNB decided it will close trails again until further notice

After reopening for two days, QuadNB is again shutting down the province's all-terrain-vehicle trails.

35 Jacques Ouellette, development coordinator with the provincial association, said it was a "bad decision" to reopen the trails to begin with, and was the result of community pressure and mixed messaging from the province. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/quad-nb-atv-trails-new-brunswick-1.5537322

Hon. Mike Holland, Resume

Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Development https://www1.gnb.ca/legis/bios/59/bio-e.asp?IDNo=26&version=e&legisNO=59

Premier says May 1 possible date for lifting some restrictions

The province could lift restrictions as soon as May 1, if the number of people testing positive remains low and recovery rates remain high, says Premier Blaine Higgs.

Just under 10,000 people have been tested as of Friday. There are 117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick. Eighty people have recovered.

"It all prefaces around a continuation of what we're seeing today in terms of new cases and recovered cases," Higgs said during a discussion on Information Morning on Friday with the COVID-19 committee of party leaders. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-committee-panel-nb-1.5535747

Saint John pushes for province to act on tax changes immediately

The City of Saint John is urging the provincial government to immediately allow it to collect millions from industry and neighbouring communities.

The city's request was included in a plan presented to Saint John council Monday evening to address anticipated deficits of $10 million in 2021 and 2022.

The city wants provincial permission to collect an initial $6 million annually from outlying communities. It has proposed either road tolls at major entry points, or a special property tax levy.

It also wants the province to turn its portion of the property tax collected from heavy industry, about $8 million annually, over to the city on a trial basis. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-finances-province-taxes-fees-1.5539886

Covid carrots: N.B. takes pandemic as warning it's producing too few vegetables

Premier Blaine Higgs and Green Party Leader David Coon form unlikely team promoting need for more farming

36 Alarmed by the cross border competition for essential goods sparked by the COVID-19 crisis, Premier Blaine Higgs has been embracing an old Green Party issue around the need for more locally grown food - especially vegetables - and is pledging action to boost provincial broccoli, brussels sprout and beet production.

"If we can ramp up our ability to grow more here in the province and have a greater level of food security then let's start down that path," said Higgs during his daily briefing Monday.

"One thing we have in this province is certainly lots of land and we need to make better use of it so we can start to reduce our dependence."

New Brunswick has a significant agricultural sector but crop production is heavily dominated by potato farms with only limited amounts of other products grown locally.

In 2015, New Brunswick Green Party Leader David Coon introduced a private member's bill - the Local Food Security Act - designed to encourage more local farming, but it died after first reading. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-carrots-producing-food-1.5541180

N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Businesses should prepare to reopen, build 'better and stronger' province

Premier Blaine Higgs says the owners of businesses closed by COVID-19 could start thinking now about how they will meet Public Health's prevention measures, such as physical distancing, in order to reopen.

Although no dates have been set, the all-party cabinet committee will discuss New Brunswick's plan for recovery from the pandemic this week, he said Tuesday.

"We need to bring New Brunswick back. We need to create a province that, you know, gets back to its economic viability and its lifestyle, and people feel that sense of purpose, and the benefits that exist from living in our province.

"I believe our new norm is going to create new opportunities. And I believe New Brunswick is going to come back bigger and better and stronger than it [was] pre-COVID."

His comments come as the chief medical officer of health announced no new cases of COVID-19 for the third straight day.

The total number of cases in the province stands at 118, and 102 people have now recovered, Dr. Jennifer Russell told reporters during the daily update in Fredericton.

"But we are not through with this virus," she said. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-covid-round-up-april21-1.5539350

37 Take staggered approach to reopening province, says epidemiologist

Once the provincial government begins reopening parts of society, it should not be a green light for everyone sheltering at home to head back to places of work or education all at once, according to an epidemiologist who researches the spread of pathogens through social networks.

"Please don't all go back to work, school, university all at once because we will definitely get another wave," said Ann Jolly, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa and former Public Health Agency of Canada official.

She said New Brunswick could endure a second wave or multiple waves of COVID-19 as the province commences its recovery plan, and experts and government officials warn acting too swiftly risks a resurgence.

Jolly also cautioned against out-of-province travellers, especially since neighbouring jurisdictions like Nova Scotia, Quebec and Maine are worse off.

"As soon as people start travelling through from Quebec and Nova Scotia, it will start to pervade more, it will start to come more into New Brunswick and infect pockets of people that perhaps weren't affected before," Jolly said. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-reopening-provinces-business-ann-jolly- 1.5540626

Removal of the 30-day limit on prescription drugs; no new cases today - 23 April 2020

The 30-day limit on prescription drugs will be eliminated for drugs where shortages do not exist. In some cases, the limit had resulted in people paying additional dispensing fees and co-payments. https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2020.04.0224.html

Some COVID-19 public health restrictions being lessened; no new cases - 24 April 2020

As a first step, the following will be allowed effective today: • Two-household bubbles: Households may now choose to spend time with one other household, if both households agree. The selection made is not interchangeable. • Golf courses and driving ranges: If all physical distancing and safety measures are in place, golf courses and driving ranges can now open. • Recreational fishing and hunting: The delay on springs seasons has been lifted. • Outdoor spaces: With physical distancing, people can now enjoy the outdoors including parks and beaches. • Carpooling: Co-workers or neighbours can carpool if physical distancing measures are maintained by transporting the passenger in the backseat. • Post-secondary education: Students requiring access to campus to fulfill their course requirements will be able to do so. • Outdoor religious services: As an alternative to online worship, religious organizations can hold outdoor services if parishioners stay in their vehicles that are two metres apart. https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2020.04.0226.html

38 For-profit nursing homes provide 'inferior' care, new report claims

Peer-reviewed paper looked at evidence from years of studies comparing for-profit, non-profit and public care

For-profit nursing homes provide "inferior" care to seniors, and though the evidence isn't perfect it's strong enough that policy makers should pay attention, argue authors of a new paper published today in the peer-reviewed joural PLOS Medicine.

The authors draw on years of research, in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere, comparing for-profit long- term residential care facilities to ones run by public bodies, or nonprofit groups.

"The weight of the evidence says that for-profit delivery models provide inferior care," in terms of staffing hours, pressure sores, and other measures, says author Dr. Margaret McGregor, a Vancouver family physician and researcher with the University of B.C.'s faculty of medicine. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/for-profit-nursing-homes-plos-medicine-1.3541402

Observational Evidence of For-Profit Delivery and Inferior Nursing Home Care: When Is There Enough Evidence for Policy Change?

PLOS Public Library of Science publisher of open access papers. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001995

39 New Brunswick News

Photostory: Seismic vibrators blocked in Stanley - Aug 10, 2011

More than 100 people have joined an ongoing blockade of seismic vibrators on a dirt road in Stanley, a village 30 kilometres north of Fredericton. The blockade began on Tuesday morning, August 9th, when residents were informed of seismic vibrators passing through their community. Seismic vibrators are used in gathering data on shale gas reserves. A number of cars passed the trucks then blocked the road to prevent the passage of the seismic vibrators. https://nbmediacoop.org/2011/08/10/seismic-vibrators-blocked-in-stanley/

Information Morning, March 24, 2020 - Local pandemic expert

Click Play Segment

We take the fight against COVID-19 to an experienced pandemic fighter. Dr. Eilish Cleary, a Fredericton doctor who's been on the front lines trying to eradicate pandemics, shares information from her experience with pandemics, and what works to stop the spread. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-25-information-morning-fredericton/clip/15767187-local-pandemic- expert

N.B. customers slam Bell Aliant for price increase amid COVID-19 outbreak

Bell Aliant is facing criticism from customers in New Brunswick for planned price increases for internet service in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company says it notified customers of the increase in December, but some of them are only seeing it show up on their most recent bills.

That has prompted angry social media posts.

"How dare you take a price increase in the midst of a global pandemic with thousands laid off," said Tanya Clark, a Toronto woman with elderly parents in New Brunswick. "You ought to be reported. … Absolutely disgusting."

Former New Brunswick energy minister Craig Leonard tweeted facetiously that he wanted to thank Bell "for selflessly providing a case study under the 'don't do this' category for future PR trainees." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-outbreak-bell-aliant-internet-increase- 1.5518418

40 Irving Tissue Officially Opens $470 million tissue production plant in Macon, Georgia and Announces Additional $400 million expansion project!

MACON, Ga., Nov. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Irving Tissue’s newest $470 million tissue plant is officially open in Macon, Georgia and based on a new, additional $400 million investment, will soon double its capacity.\

The announcement was made at a ceremony held today at the new plant where Irving Tissue President Robert K. Irving was joined by Georgia Lieutenant-Governor Geoff Duncan, Macon- Bibb-County Mayor Robert Reichert, MCBIA Chairman Robert Fountain Jr. and other dignitaries to celebrate both the official opening of the plant and yet another major investment by Irving Tissue in the community. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/11/13/1946636/0/en/Irving-Tissue-Officially- Opens-470-million-tissue-production-plant-in-Macon-Georgia-and-Announces-Additional-400-million- expansion-project.html

Irving Oil fined $200K in connection with 2018 refinery explosion

80 workers injured, court documents indicate

Irving Oil Limited has been fined $200,000 after pleading guilty to a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, laid last year in connection with the Oct. 8, 2018 refinery explosion.

Court documents show 1,500 workers were on site that day.

According to the statement of facts, 80 workers from 17 different employers reported injuries.

Most were injured as a result of falling or running away from the fire.

The most serious physical injury was a broken heel bone, according to the statement of facts filed in Saint John's provincial court.

Other injuries included psychological stress and smoke inhalation.

Of the 80 workers who said they were harmed, 36 had injuries that resulted in time lost from work.

The cause of the fire was traced back to a corroded pipe in an area of the refinery known as the hydrogen desulfurization unit or HDS.

The pipe was installed in 1974. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/irving-oil-refinery-explosion-injured-guilty-fine- 1.5533169

Information Morning - Fredericton What should happen next in N.B.'s pandemic response?

Aired: April 16

41 Dr. Eilish Cleary has plenty of experience dealing with pandemics, and has been giving a lot of thought to how the province is doing, and how we come out of lockdown. Click Play Segment https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-25-information-morning-fredericton/clip/15771399-what-should- happen-next-in-n.b.s-pandemic-response

Taymouth man goes 'super solar' with house covered in solar panels

Whenever someone goes by Drew Gilbert's home in Taymouth, he says they always stop to take in the spectacle.

"People that I can hear from my deck when they walk by, or when they go by on their bicycle, is usually like 'holy smokes, do you see all the solar panels on that place?'," said Gilbert.

Two years ago, Gilbert and his partner Amy made the decision to go 'off-grid.'

There are now wall-to-wall solar panels covering the exterior of his home. There are even more positioned in his front yard. Thirty in total.

"It was a difficult decision and a hard sell to my solar contractor to believe me that putting them on the roof was going to be a huge problem," said Gilbert. "We get snow out here four or five feet deep sometimes and that all lands on the roof." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/taymouth-man-goes-super-solar-with-house-covered- in-solar-panels-1.5538595

42 Maritime News

Siding with First Nation, N.S. judge overturns Alton Gas approval

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ordered the province to resume consultations with Sipekne'katik First Nation over a controversial natural gas storage project on the banks of the Shubenacadie River.

Justice Frank Edwards released his decision Tuesday, writing that former Nova Scotia environment minister Margaret Miller was wrong when she concluded the province had adequately consulted with the First Nation about the project.

He ordered the parties to resume talks for 120 days, "or for such time as the parties mutually agree," but gave some leniency on a start date because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The parties could wait until the province's chief medical officer of health declares the crisis is over, or agree on an "alternative remote arrangement." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/alton-gas-nova-scotia-supreme-court-appeal-decision- 1.5508130

Oceanex looking for federal subsidy to keep supply ships running

The economic fallout of the pandemic may force a vital carrier of food and medicine to Newfoundland and Labrador to tie up its fleet of ships and stop delivering as much as half of the island's food supply.

Oceanex Inc. — which runs weekly trips from Montreal and Halifax to St. John's — says it is losing millions a week due to a drop in volumes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is asking the federal government to offset its losses so it can keep running supplies to St. John's.

"We just can't continue," said Sid Hynes, the company's executive chairman. "It's costing us $5 million a week to operate and we are about $2 million short." https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/newfoundland-labrador-pandemic-covid-coronavirus-1.5530903

43 Canadian News

Enbridge, TransCanada Among 11 Canadian Oil and Gas Firms Using Tax Havens

Eleven of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies have dozens of subsidiaries and related companies in known tax haven jurisdictions, according to a new report from the Ottawa-based non-profit Canadians for Tax Fairness.

Those companies include Suncor, Enbridge, CNRL, TransCanada, Imperial Oil, Cenovus and Husky.

Canadian Oil and Gas Companies Own a Combined 46 Entities in Tax Haven Countries Canadian Direct Investment in Tax Havens Grew A Hundredfold in 20 Years Canada Losing Estimated $10 Billion to $15 Billion Per Year Billions Likely Needed in Coming Decades to Cover Environmental Costs https://thenarwhal.ca/enbridge-transcanada-among-11-canadian-oil-and-gas-firms-using-tax-havens

Canada’s Top 60 public companies have over 1000 tax haven subsidiaries or related companies.

A new report, “Bay Street and Tax Havens: Curbing Corporate Canada’s Addiction,” explores the extent of corporate Canada’s involvement in known tax havens and provides clear recommendations for a strong government response.

The report, published by Canadians for Tax Fairness, looks at the 60 largest companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Only 4 of the 60 companies listed no subsidiaries in known tax havens.

“Companies often argue that their investments in those jurisdictions are legitimate businesses and not brass plate subsidiaries”, said report author, Diana Gibson, “but the evidence suggest otherwise.” She added, "Statistics Canada data on activity for majority owned affiliates abroad tells us that many of these companies have very few employees. In Bermuda, for example, those afiliates reported $31 Billion in Canadian assets but only 35 employees.”

This is no small concern, says Dennis Howlett, Executive Director of the Canadians for Tax Fairness, “Dollars parked in offshore accounts means lower corporate tax revenues, and thus individual Canadians have to pay higher taxes. Canadian foreign direct investment (FDI) in tax havens reached $284 billion in 2016 and we estimate that the revenue losses for Canadian governments due to tax haven use are between $10 and $15 Billion.” https://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/canada%E2%80%99s-top-60-public-companies-have-over-1000- tax-haven-subsidiaries-or-related-companies-0

Industry, government pushed to abolish Aboriginal title at issue in Wet’suwet’en stand-off, docs reveal

The B.C. government and corporate lobbyists representing major resource industries sought the “surrender” of First Nations land rights immediately following the Delgamuukw decision, a precedent- setting legal ruling that established Aboriginal title to unceded land, according to Freedom of Information (FOI) documents obtained by The Narwhal.

44 The records, from B.C.’s Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, provide a glimpse for the first time of a corporate lobbying effort urging government to push First Nations to surrender their newly recognized title rights through modern treaties to achieve “certainty” for commercial interests. https://thenarwhal.ca/industry-government-pushed-to-abolish-aboriginal-title-at-issue-in-wetsuweten- stand-off-docs-reveal/

McGill law students slam justice minister over Wet'suwet'en raids

More than 150 McGill law students have signed an open letter calling Justice Minister David Lametti out for his “inaction” in preventing the RCMP “invasion” of Wet’suwet’en territory.

Lametti, a professor on leave from McGill’s faculty of law, finds himself at the forefront of a legal battle to end the Wet’suwet’en resistance against a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia. The RCMP raided a camp on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory in early February, sparking a movement that has seen railroad blockades and protests in cities across Canada.

In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on Indigenous protesters to respect “the rule of law” and make way for injunctions to clear railroads and open a path for the pipeline.

“What is happening throughout Canada is still within the rule of law,” said Curtis Mesher, an Inuit law student who helped draft the letter. “It’s happening on unceded territory and the solidarity protests outside of the territory are also attentive to the rule of law.

“These are actions taken to rectify injustice.”

The letter points to a 1997 Supreme Court decision that ruled the Wet’suwet’en had never given up title to the 22,000 square kilometres of their lands in northern B.C. Those rights are protected under Section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act — which guarantees ‘Aboriginal title’ over traditional lands. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/mcgill-law-students-slam-justice-minister-over- wetsuweten-raids

Letter From Students At The Mcgill Faculty Of Law To The Minister Of Justice David Lametti In Support Of The Wet’suwet’en

We, the undersigned, as students and faculty members of the McGill Faculty of Law, object to your inaction in regards to the RCMP invasion of sovereign lands.

As students of this faculty, we have a particular responsibility to call on you, the Minister, who is an alumni, a past Associate Dean, and a Full Professor at our Faculty, which prides itself on promoting reconciliation and recognizing Indigenous legal orders.

We feel your continued silence on the RCMP invasion of unceded Wet'suwet'en territory has the effect of condoning the violence occuring at the hands of the BC government and the RCMP. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QAmyRWT_YBmrnOU6UlORBtyGu5s4xY-u5X7qUAIYMsg/edit

45 The draft deal between the Wet’suwet’en and the government explained

Hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation struck a proposed deal with British Columbia and federal officials over the weekend in a land title dispute that inspired nationwide rail blockades.

But the tentative agreement, announced Sunday after three days of talks between the hereditary chiefs and officials from the federal and provincial governments, doesn’t address the pipeline at the centre of the controversy. That means the Wet’suwet’en solidarity blockades are unlikely to stop, for now.

“We’re not standing down, and we’re not asking anybody else to stand down either,” said Molly Wickham, also known as Sleydo, a spokesperson for Gidimt’en, a Wet’suwet’en clan.

The proposed agreement does not address Coastal GasLink directly, focusing instead on the deeper issue of Wet’suwet’en governance and the nation’s right to its traditional territory. The draft agreement essentially sets ground rules for more discussions over what to do about the controversial pipeline.

A 1997 Supreme Court of Canada decision, Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, has previously affirmed that the Wet’suwet’en have the right to their land. But the court didn’t resolve several key questions, leaving the nation to either negotiate with the B.C. government or go back for a costly second trial, neither of which happened.

Now, 23 years later, the proposed arrangement attempts to pick up where the Delgamuukw decision left off.

The hereditary chiefs, federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and her provincial counterpart Scott Fraser announced the broad intent of the draft deal Sunday, but didn't divulge details. Before the proposed agreement is shared publicly, the nation will review it in the feast hall — where Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders typically make major decisions — in accordance with Anuk nu'at'en, or Wet'suwet'en law, in the next few weeks.

On Sunday, Hereditary Chief Woos said the proposed agreement is a milestone, but the “degree of satisfaction is not what we expected.” https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/03/03/analysis/draft-deal-between-wetsuweten-and- government-explained

China donates medical supplies to Canada amid coronavirus pandemic, Embassy says

China has donated medical supplies to Canada to assist in the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a tweet from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa says.

Chinese Embassy Ottawa On March 27, Bank of China donates medical supplies (including 30000 medical masks, 10000 sets of protective clothing, 10000 goggles and 50000 pairs of gloves, followed by N95 medical masks) to Canada fighting against COVID-19. We are together! https://globalnews.ca/news/6745817/china-donates-medical-supplies-canada Chinese Embasy on Twitter https://twitter.com/ChinaEmbOttawa/status/1243897763508768769

46 How measures to contain COVID-19 may clash with Canadians’ Charter rights

With Canada facing a pandemic that puts the health of millions potentially at risk, and governments imposing stringent measures, questions are being raised about what role constitutional rights play in times of crisis, and whether governments have the manoeuvring room to protect society.

Q: What powers do governments have for this crisis?

A: Widespread quarantine powers, the ability to close borders, restrict the movement of goods and people, close buildings and even order individuals to seek treatment. New powers were developed after the SARS crisis of 2003 left provinces realizing they lacked the legal authority for health emergencies.

Q: Does Canada need the Charter at a time of such peril?

A: More than ever, constitutional scholars say, to ensure the country does not abandon its principles such as protection of the vulnerable. “The Charter is there to stop decisions that are entirely fear-based and speculative,” says Michael Bryant, chief executive officer of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and a former Ontario attorney-general. For instance, if a province attempted to quarantine Asian-Canadians or Asian visitors in the beginning stages, the move would have been vulnerable to a constitutional challenge, he said. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-how-measures-to-contain-covid-19-may-clash-with- canadians-charter

Quebec premier says death toll at Montreal seniors' residence 'looks a lot like major negligence'

A public health investigation is ongoing, and Legault said the province has also requested a police investigation.

The province is now following up at the other private facilities that belong to Katasa Development Group, Legault said, and will verify conditions at all 40 private CHSLDs in the province immediately.

Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann said she expects a report on those residences by the end of the day.

Legault said he would be "prudent" while investigations were under way, but followed with a candid assessment.

"Honestly, I think a lot of negligence took place at the residence," he said.

"I repeat, when the CIUSSS arrived on March 29, almost all the staff was gone," he said, referring to the regional health authority, which is now running the home. "So I think it looks a lot like major negligence." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/herron-residence-legault-1.5529914

Federal government open to new law to fight pandemic misinformation

It's one of several measures the government is considering to counter fake news about the virus online

47 Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc's cabinet mandate letter gave him responsibility for fighting online disinformation.

The federal government is considering introducing legislation to make it an offence to knowingly spread misinformation that could harm people, says Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc.

LeBlanc told CBC News he is interested in British MP Damian Collins's call for laws to punish those responsible for spreading dangerous misinformation online about the COVID-19 pandemic.

LeBlanc said he has discussed the matter already with other cabinet ministers, including Justice Minister David Lametti. If the government decides to follow through, he said, it could take a while to draft legislation. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid-misinformation-disinformation-law-1.5532325

Trudeau announces billions in aid for energy, rural business and arts sectors

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced $1.7 billion to clean up orphan wells in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, as well as aid for rural businesses and people working in the arts and culture sectors.

The aid is expected to help maintain 5,200 jobs in Alberta alone.

"Our goal is to create immediate jobs in these provinces while helping companies avoid bankruptcy, and supporting our environmental targets," Trudeau said.

During today's daily briefing outside his residence at Rideau Cottage, Trudeau also announced the government will establish a $750 million emissions reduction fund, with a focus on methane, to create jobs through efforts to cut pollution. The fund includes $75 million to help the offshore industry cut emissions in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"Just because we're in a health crisis doesn't mean we can neglect the environmental crisis," Trudeau said.

Trudeau also announced $962 million for regional development agencies to help the smaller employers in rural areas.

He also announced $270 million for a program for entrepreneurial and industrial research and another $500 million to support Canadians who work in the arts, culture and sports sectors. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/trudeau-announces-billions-in-aid-for-energy-rural-business- and-arts-sectors/ar-BB12N8dz

Canadian care homes become coronavirus hotspots - 13 April 2020

Nearly half of the known coronavirus deaths in Canada are linked to outbreaks in elderly care facilities, public health officials say.

48 The disclosure comes as care homes across the country have come under scrutiny. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52239263

What We Know About The Silent Spreaders Of COVID-19

Is it possible to be infected with the coronavirus and show no symptoms? Or go through a period of several days before symptoms kick in?

And even in this stage with no cough, no fever, no sign of illness, could you be transmitting the virus to others?

"There is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 has this ability to spread silently," says Shweta Bansal, an infectious disease modeler at Georgetown University.

Indeed, cases of COVID-19 among nursing home residents, choir groups and families fuel a growing concern about people who are infected, yet feel generally OK and go about their daily lives, giving the virus to friends, family members and strangers without knowing that they themselves have it.

Silent spreaders can be divided into three categories: asymptomatic, presymptomatic and very mildly symptomatic. Here's what we know about these variations.

Asymptomatic: people who carry the active virus in their body but never develop any symptoms Presymptomatic: people who have been infected and are incubating the virus but don't yet show symptoms Very mildly symptomatic: people who feel a little unwell from a COVID-19 infection but continue to come in close contact with others https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/13/831883560/can-a-coronavirus-patient-who-isnt- showing-symptoms-infect-others

Asymptomatic people are reportedly spreading COVID-19. Should everyone wear a mask?

As countries begin to ramp up testing over the spread of the novel coronavirus, new data is suggesting that asymptomatic people — those who test positive for the disease caused by the virus but don’t show symptoms — are helping to circulate COVID-19.

A report by Singaporean researchers published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that around 10 per cent of new infections are being spread by either healthy-looking, asymptomatic people or people who have yet to develop the disease’s flu-like symptoms. https://globalnews.ca/news/6764198/coronavirus-asymptomatic-face-masks-covid-19/

49 Mounties could enter homes to enforce Quarantine Act orders if Canadians don’t self-isolate

The RCMP is warning people they will do physical checks to enforce the Quarantine Act, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted Friday that rules could be loosened this summer if Canadians act now to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The police force says it has been asked to assist in enforcing the act in the midst of the pandemic. Officers could visit homes to ensure anyone entering Canada is self-isolating for 14 days, and police can now make arrests, rather than issue a court appearance notice or summons.

The RCMP say arrests under the act, violations of which could be subject to a fine of up to $750,000 and imprisonment for up to six months, will be a last resort.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief medical officer, said the move gives officials “the range of tools that might be needed” at this stage of the crisis. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-rcmp-warns-it-will-enforce-the-quarantine-act-if- canadians-dont-self

Respecting Our Responsibilities - #notrespass #wedzinkwa #wetsuwetenstrong

The Wet'suwet'en have continued to exercise their unbroken, unextinguished, and unceded right to govern and occupy their lands by continuing and empowering the clan-based governance system to this day. Under Wet'suwet'en law, clans have a responsibility and right to control access to their territories.

The validity of the Wet'suwet'en house and clan system was verified in the Delgamuukw and Red Top Decisions that uphold the authority of the hereditary system on Wet'suwet'en traditional territories.

At this very moment a standoff is unfolding, the outcome of which will determine the future of Northern “BC” for generations to come. Will the entire region be overtaken by the fracking industry, or will Indigenous people asserting their sovereignty be successful in repelling the assault on their homelands?

The future is unwritten. What comes next will be greatly influenced by actions taken in the coming days and weeks. This is a long-term struggle, but it is at a critical moment. That is why we say: The Time is Now. If you are a person of conscience and you understand the magnitude of what is at stake, ask yourself how you might best support the grassroots Wet’suwet’en. https://www.yintahaccess.com

Canada joins new international alliance with France, Germany and Japan

The federal government has deepened its commitment to the principals of liberalism and international cooperation by joining the German-led “alliance of multilateralists.”

The alliance has been formed to combat the decreasing emphasis some countries have been placing on international cooperation. According to Democracy Without Borders, this alliance is the creation of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who first outlined his plans for it in a 2018 speech in Japan.

50 His proposal was for the creation of a multilateral approach — an alliance of three or more countries working towards a common objective — to major world issues. His speech outlined his view of how the coalition would benefit the international community as:

• One that defends existing rules together and continues to develop them where this is necessary; • Will show solidarity when international law is trampled underfoot on each others’ doorsteps; • Fill the vacuum that has continued to emerge following the withdrawal of others from many parts of the world stage; • Commit to climate protection as one of the greatest challenges facing humankind; and

Assume responsibility in international organizations together – financially, but also politically.

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland tweeted out the decision for Canada to join on April 6. https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-japan-germany-alliance-of-multilateralists

Mandatory evacuation order issued for all of downtown Fort McMurray

EDMONTON -- A mandatory evacuation alert has now been issued for the entire lower townsite of Fort McMurray, with the exception of the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre and Greyling Terrace.

The alerts began on Sunday with extremely high water levels in the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers. The Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo put in a number of mandatory evacuation orders as the situation worsened. https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/mandatory-evacuation-order-issued-for-all-of-downtown-fort-mcmurray- 1.4913615

'Devastation on all fronts': For Canada's oil town, severe flood just one in a series of disasters

Fort McMurray is now dealing with 'two states of emergency' — the pandemic that has kept people in their homes and now the flood

CALGARY — Severe flooding on the Athabasca River has submerged much of downtown Fort McMurray, a key city near Canada’s largest oil facilities, exacerbating economic hardship in a region already reeling from natural and economic disasters.

“Our community has seen devastation on all fronts,” Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo councillor Keith McGrath said, referring to the 2016 fire that ripped through Fort McMurray and burned over 3,000 of houses and businesses, followed by persistently low oil prices that devastated the region’s economy.

McGrath said an ice jam has caused the Athabasca River to flood past levels seen in the 1970s and is damaging businesses and homes that had been rebuilt after the fire. https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/fort-mcmurray-flood-series-natural-economic- disasters

51 Did the 2016 forest fire contribute to the 2020 Fort McMurry flooding?

Deforestation in snowy regions causes more floods

WASHINGTON—New research suggests that cutting down swaths of forest in snowy regions at least doubles – and potentially quadruples – the number of large floods that occur along the rivers and streams passing through those forests. For decades, the common perception in hydrology has been that deforestation in such areas made seasonal floods bigger on average, but had little effect on the number of large floods over time, said geoscientist Kim Green of the University of British Columbia. But a new study by Green and her co- author Younes Alila published today in Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, suggests that deforestation consistently causes more floods – both big and small. In the interior regions of North America, many creeks and rivers get most of their flow from melting snow accumulated during winter storms in mountainous areas. How much water flows down these streams depends not only on how much snow falls upstream, but how fast the snow melts. But deforestation shines a new – and glaring – light on this water source. While ordinarily the trees keep the melting under control by shielding snow from the sunlight, “as soon as you get rid of the trees, the snow melts faster,” said Green. “It’s that simple.” http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/2012/10/deforestation-in-snowy-regions-causes-more-floods/

A paradigm shift in understanding and quantifying the effects of forest harvesting on floods in snow environments

Abstract We conduct a meta-analysis of postharvest data at four catchments (3–37 km2) with moderate level of harvesting (33%–40%) to demonstrate how harvesting increases the magnitude and frequency of all floods on record (19–99 years) and how such effects can increase unchecked with increasing return period as a consequence of changes to both the mean (+11% to +35%) and standard deviation (-12% to +19%) of the flood frequency distribution. We illustrate how forest harvesting has substantially increased the frequency of the largest floods in all study sites regardless of record length and this also runs counter to the prevailing wisdom in hydrological science. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2012WR012449

2016 Fort McMurray wildfire

On May 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history, with upwards of 88,000 people forced from their homes. The fire spread across approximately 590,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared to be under control on July 5, 2016. It continued to smoulder, and was fully extinguished on August 2, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Fort_McMurray_wildfire

COVID-19 likely spread by building ventilation, say Canadian researchers working on an HVAC fix

The outbreak of COVID-19 at a restaurant in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou was a puzzle.

52 The suspected index patient was a visitor from the coronavirus’s epicentre in Wuhan. But the eight other customers who later tested positive were not sitting close enough for droplet transmission, and most of the patrons and staff avoided infection altogether.

A team of local scientists eventually came to an eye-opening conclusion about the episode: tiny particles of virus had hitched a ride on currents created by the eatery’s air-conditioning.

For a group of civil engineers at the University of Alberta, the finding was no surprise. In their world, they say, it’s well known that building ventilation systems are efficient discriminators of virus and other pathogens, and believe the COVID-19 bug is no exception.

Aided by a $440,000 federal-government grant , they’re now working on ways that buildings could change their HVAC set-ups to curb the risk of infection, what the researchers call a “non- pharmaceutical” intervention against the disease. https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/canada/covid-19-likely-spread-by-building-ventilation-say- canadian-researchers-working-on-an-hvac-fix-442278

53 Other News

Bill Gates, at Odds With Trump on Virus, Becomes a Right-Wing Target

In a 2015 speech, Bill Gates warned that the greatest risk to humanity was not nuclear war but an infectious virus that could threaten the lives of millions of people.

That speech has resurfaced in recent weeks with 25 million new views on YouTube — but not in the way that Mr. Gates probably intended.

Anti-vaccinators, members of the conspiracy group QAnon and right-wing pundits have instead seized on the video as evidence that one of the world’s richest men planned to use a pandemic to wrest control of the global health system.

Mr. Gates, 64, the Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist, has now become the star of an explosion of conspiracy theories about the coronavirus outbreak.

In posts on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, he is being falsely portrayed as the creator of Covid-19, as a profiteer from a virus vaccine, and as part of a dastardly plot to use the illness to cull or surveil the global population.

The wild claims have gained traction with conservative pundits like Laura Ingraham and anti- vaccinators such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Mr. Gates has emerged as a vocal counterweight to President Trump on the coronavirus.

For weeks, Mr. Gates has appeared on TV, on op-ed pages and in Reddit forums calling for stay-at- home policies, expanded testing and vaccine development. And without naming Mr. Trump, he has criticized the president’s policies, including this week’s move to cut funding to the World Health Organization. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/newspolitics/bill-gates-at-odds-with-trump-on-virus-becomes-a-right- wing-target/ar-BB12MA3H

How to debunk COVID-19 conspiracy theories

The novel coronavirus was not created in a lab

To understand why there’s so much misinformation out there — for example, that the virus was purposely created in a lab — The Verge spoke with John Cook, a cognitive science researcher at George Mason University and one of the authors of a new Conspiracy Theory Handbook.

A big fan of acronyms, Cook came up with a handy one to recognize when you or someone you know might be headed down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole and how to “inoculate” ourselves and others against it. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/20/21187983/debunk-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-how-to-covid- 19-news-science

54 The Conspiracy Theory Handbook

Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook

CONSPIR: The seven traits of conspiratorial thinking

https://www.climatechangecommunication.org/wp- content/uploads/2020/03/ConspiracyTheoryHandbook.pdf

Arizona man dies, wife in critical condition after taking aquarium cleaner containing malaria drug for coronavirus

Chloroquine phosphate shares the same active ingredient as malaria drugs that President Trump has touted as possibly effective against COVID-19

An Arizona man has died and his wife is in critical condition after they ingested chloroquine phosphate – an aquarium cleaning product similar to drugs that have been named by President Trump as potential treatments for coronavirus infection. https://nationalpost.com/news/arizona-man-dies-after-taking-chloroquine-for-coronavirus

55 WHO declares coronavirus pandemic

The world is now in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic, the director general of the World Health Organization has said, as he expressed deep concern about “alarming levels of inaction” in the fight against the spread of the disease.

In the past two weeks, the number of cases outside China has increased 13-fold, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the number of affected countries has tripled. There are 118,000 cases in 114 countries and 4,291 people have lost their lives.

The word pandemic should not be used lightly or carelessly, he said, nor should it be misused. “It doesn’t change what countries should do,” he said.

This pandemic was unlike any others in that it could be controlled, he said. The experience in China and South Korea, where the numbers of cases are falling, showed it was possible to turn things around. But many countries were not doing what was necessary.

“We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear,” he said. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/who-declares-coronavirus-pandemic

Trump 'offers large sums' for exclusive access to coronavirus vaccine

The German government is trying to fight off what it sees as an aggressive takeover bid by the US, the broadsheet Die Welt reports, citing German government circles.

The US president had offered the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac “large sums of money” to gain exclusive access to their work, wrote Die Welt.

According to an anonymous source quoted in the newspaper, Trump was doing everything to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus for the US, “but for the US only”. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/15/trump-offers-large-sums-for-exclusive-access-to- coronavirus-vaccine

Cuba's Interferon Alpha 2B, Successful in Treating COVID-19

For 40 years, Cuba has been using a molecule named Interferon Alpha 2B , which has successfully been used to combat the new Coronavirus in China and elsewhere.

"The world has an opportunity to understand that health is not a commercial asset but a basic right," Cuban doctor Luis Herrera, the creator of the Interferon Alfa 2-B medication, one of the most successful medications in the fight against COVID-19 told teleSUR Tuesday. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Cubas-Interferon-Alpha-2B-Successful-in-Treating-COVID-19- 20200317-0015.html

56 Chinese Doctors Are Using Cuban Antivirals Against Coronavirus

Cuba produces one of the most potent medicines for the treatment of immunological diseases.

Since Jan. 25, the ChangHeber Company located in Changchun city has been producing the famous Cuban antiviral, which is one of 30 medicines chosen by the National Health Commission for its potential to cure respiratory diseases.

Currently, IFNrec is applied against HIV-related infections, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, genital warts, and hepatitis types B and C. It is also effective in therapies against different types of cancer.

The Recombinant Interferon Alpha 2B (IFNrec), an antiviral produced by the Cuban biotech industry, is being used by Chinese doctors to treat patients infected by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, which has affected more than 28,000 people and has killed 564 patients worldwide. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/cuban-antiviral-used-against-coronavirus-in-china-20200206- 0005.html

Italy and UK rely on help from Cuba, China, Venezuela to fight coronavirus – as US steps up brutal sanctions

Italy requested doctors from China, Cuba, and Venezuela to contain the coronavirus, while Cuba rescued a ship of British citizens. Meanwhile, US sanctions worsen the toll of the Covid-19 crisis in Iran and Venezuela.

The sanctions that the United States has imposed on dozens of countries around the world, in an attempt to overthrow their independent governments, have only made the global coronavirus pandemic worse. But at the same time, some of these nations targeted by US economic warfare have taken the lead in the effort to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

In fact, the local government in the north of Italy, a member of the European Union and NATO, has officially requested medical help from China, Cuba, and Venezuela — all countries demonized by the United States and EU, which in turn have provided Italy with little support.

The Italian government lamented that “not a single EU country” has responded to its request for medical equipment — unlike China, which immediately helped.

And it is not just Italy; Britain has also relied on Cuba to help it battle the contagious virus. https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/17/italy-uk-help-cuba-china-venezuela-coronavirus-us-sanctions/

Washington Post breaks ranks with other US & UK media, ADMITS polls show Crimeans prefer to be part of Russia

Six years and $20 billion in Russian investment later, Crimeans are happy with Russian annexation.

One of the curious things about Western media coverage of Crimea since 2014 has been the consistent narrative that Russia's reabsorption of the peninsula was carried out against the will of locals.

57 Look, you can make legitimate arguments about international law and the way the process was carried out. But attempts to give the impression Moscow somehow dragged residents kicking and screaming into the Russian Federation have always been ridiculous.

The overwhelming majority of Crimeans want to be part of Russia. This fact is not disputed by any credible expert on the post-Soviet space and is also borne out by opinion polling, including surveys carried out by American and German companies. https://www.rt.com/op-ed/483564-washington-post-crimeans-prefer-russia/

One Year After Russia Annexed Crimea, Locals Prefer Moscow To Kiev

One year after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in the Black Sea, poll after poll shows that the locals there -- be they Ukrainians, ethnic Russians or Tatars are mostly all in agreement: life with Russia is better than life with Ukraine.

Little has changed over the last 12 months.

Despite huge efforts on the part of Kiev, Brussels, Washington and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the bulk of humanity living on the Black Sea peninsula believe the referendum to secede from Ukraine was legit.

At some point, the West will have to recognize Crimea's right to self rule. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/03/20/one-year-after-russia-annexed-crimea-locals- prefer-moscow-to-kiev/#4908f56510db

Six years and $20 billion in Russian investment later, Crimeans are happy with Russian annexation

In 2019, Crimeans had considerable trust in Vladimir Putin, and relatively little trust in Donald Trump or the Chinese government. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/18/six-years-20-billion-russian-investment-later- crimeans-are-happy-with-russian-annexation/

'From Russia with Love': Putin sends aid to Italy to fight virus

MOSCOW — The Russian army on Sunday began flying medical help to Italy to help it battle the new coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, a goodwill gesture that Moscow labeled “From Russia with Love.”

Giant Il-76 military planes began taking off from an airbase in the Moscow region after Putin spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday and agreements were later reached between respective defense ministers.

China, the origin of the outbreak, has also sent medical supplies to Italy, amid complaints from eurosceptic far-right leader Matteo Salvini that the European Union was failing in its duty of solidarity. https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/from-russia-with-love-putin-sends-aid-to-italy-to-fight-virus

58 Spanish soldiers find elderly patients abandoned, dead in retirement homes

"The army, during certain visits, found some old people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds," she added.

An investigation has been launched, the general prosecutor announced.

Under coronavirus protocols, health workers have been instructed to leave bodies in place in suspected COVID-19 deaths until the arrival of a doctor.

But given the upsurge in deaths the delay can be lengthy. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/spanish-soldiers-find-elderly-patients-abandoned-dead-in- retirement-homes-1.4865472

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Prevails as Federal Judge Strikes Down DAPL Permits

Washington, D.C. —

A federal court today granted a request by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to strike down federal permits for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Court found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it affirmed federal permits for the pipeline originally issued in 2016. Specifically, the Court found significant unresolved concerns about the potential impacts of oil spills and the likelihood that one could take place.

The Court ordered the Corps to prepare a full environmental impact statement on the pipeline, something that the Tribe has sought from the beginning of this controversy. The Court asked the parties to submit additional briefing on the question of whether to shut down the pipeline in the interim.

“After years of commitment to defending our water and earth, we welcome this news of a significant legal win,” said Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Mike Faith. “It’s humbling to see how actions we took four years ago to defend our ancestral homeland continue to inspire national conversations about how our choices ultimately affect this planet. Perhaps in the wake of this court ruling the federal government will begin to catch on, too, starting by actually listening to us when we voice our concerns.” https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/standing-rock-sioux-tribe-prevails-as-federal-judge-strikes- down-dapl-permits

Coronavirus may have infected half of UK population — Oxford study

New epidemiological model suggests the vast majority of people suffer little or no illness

The new coronavirus may already have infected far more people in the UK than\nscientists had previously estimated perhaps as much as half the population according to modelling by researchers at the University of Oxford.

59 If the results are confirmed, they imply that fewer than one in a thousand of those infected with Covid- 19 become ill enough to need hospital treatment, said Sunetra Gupta, professor of theoretical epidemiology, who led the study. The vast majority develop very mild symptoms or none at all.

“We need immediately to begin large-scale serological surveys — antibody testing — to assess what stage of the epidemic we are in now,” she said.

The modelling by Oxford’s Evolutionary Ecology of Infectious Disease group indicates that Covid-19 reached the UK by mid-January at the latest. Like many emerging infections, it spread invisibly for more than a month before the first transmissions within the UK were officially recorded at the end of February.

The research presents a very different view of the epidemic to the modelling at Imperial College London, which has strongly influenced government policy. “I am surprised that there has been such unqualified acceptance of the Imperial model,” said Prof Gupta. https://www.ft.com/content/5ff6469a-6dd8-11ea-89df-41bea055720b

White House Airlifts Medical Supplies From China in Coronavirus Fight

WASHINGTON — A commercial aircraft carrying 80 tons of gloves, masks, gowns and other medical supplies from Shanghai touched down in New York on Sunday, the first of 22 scheduled flights that White House officials say will funnel much-needed goods to the United States by early April as it battles the world’s largest coronavirus outbreak.

The plane delivered 130,000 N95 masks, 1.8 million face masks and gowns, 10 million gloves and thousands of thermometers for distribution to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, said Lizzie Litzow, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Ms. Litzow said that flights would be arriving in Chicago on Monday and in Ohio on Tuesday, and that supplies would be sent from there to other states using private-sector distribution networks.

While the goods that arrived in New York on Sunday will be welcomed by hospitals and health care workers — some of whom have resorted to rationing protective gear or using homemade supplies — they represent just a tiny portion of what American hospitals need. The Department of Health and Human Services has estimated that the United States will require 3.5 billion masks if the pandemic lasts a year.

The shipment from China that arrived in New York on Sunday is the product of a public-private partnership — led by President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner — with major health care distributors like McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Owens & Minor, Medline and Henry Schein, a White House spokesman said. Representatives from those companies attended a meeting at the White House with Mr. Trump on Sunday. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/business/economy/coronavirus-china-supplies.html

60 Chomsky: Ventilator Shortage Exposes the Cruelty of Neoliberal Capitalism

COVID-19 has taken the world by storm. Hundreds of thousands are infected (possibly many times more than the confirmed cases), the list of dead is growing exponentially longer, and capitalist economies have come to a standstill, with a global recession now virtually inevitable.

The pandemic had been predicted long before its appearance, but actions to prepare for such a crisis were barred by the cruel imperatives of an economic order in which “there’s no profit in preventing a future catastrophe,” Noam Chomsky points out in this exclusive interview for Truthout.

Chomsky is emeritus professor of linguistics at MIT and laureate professor at the University of Arizona, author of more than 120 books and thousands of articles and essays. In the interview that follows, he discusses how neoliberal capitalism itself is behind the U.S.’s failed response to the pandemic. https://truthout.org/articles/chomsky-ventilator-shortage-exposes-the-cruelty-of-neoliberal-capitalism/

China and Cuba’s Medical Internationalism is a Shining Example of Global Solidarity

China sends medical equipment abroad, Cuba sends doctors and cutting-edge drugs, but the US fails to provide its people, doctors and nurses with basic tools and protection.

“How is it that the entire capitalist economy can grind to a halt while trillions continue to be pumped into waging war abroad?”

U.S. imperialism has loathed China and Cuba ever since the mid-20th century when both nations pursued a revolutionary path and replaced the yoke of imperialism with their own forms of socialism.

Americans are constantly bombarded with anti-communist and racist talking points which depict China and Cuba as “authoritarian” states that kill, torture, and repress the so-called democratic aspirations of their own people.

The corporate media portrays the people of Cuba and China as backward stereotypes worthy only of the imperial targets placed on their backs.

Most people residing in the U.S. are either unaware of their government’s imperialist war crimes or find themselves too distracted to fight the U.S. sanctions against Cuba or the dangerous military provocations that successive U.S. presidential administrations have waged against China.

The COVID-19 pandemic currently wreaking havoc on the U.S. and the West challenges the very legitimacy of the imperialist narrative against China and Cuba for the sheer fact that these maligned nations have been able to organize a heroic campaign of global solidarity to control the spread of the disease. https://blackagendareport.com/china-and-cubas-medical-internationalism-shining-example-global- solidarity

61 Coronavirus: Russia sends plane full of medical supplies to US

Russia has dispatched a cargo plane with masks and medical equipment to the US after Donald Trump accepted an offer of humanitarian aid from Vladimir Putin to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The plane, a Russian Antonov An-124-100 military transport, left from Chkalovsky airfield outside Moscow on Tuesday night and will arrive in the US on Wednesday after refuelling at Shannon airport in Ireland. Footage from the plane broadcast by Russian state television showed stacks of cardboard boxes in the cargo hold. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/01/coronavirus-russia-sends-plane-full-of-medical- supplies-to-us

Virus Grounds a U.S. Aircraft Carrier as Crew Quarantined in Guam

Most of the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s 5,000 crew members will leave the ship to spend 14 days in hotel rooms

Most of the 5,000 crew members aboard a coronavirus-stricken American aircraft carrier will be allowed to disembark onto the U.S. island territory of Guam, where they will be quarantined in hotel rooms, government officials said Wednesday.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt, which has been docked at a Guam port since last week, has at least 93 sailors who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. https://www.wsj.com/articles/virus-grounds-a-u-s-aircraft-carrier-as-crew-quarantined-in-guam- 11585736476

Britain, France and Germany bypass US sanctions to provide Iran with medical aid

Britain, France and Germany have for the first time used a complex financial system that bypasses US sanctions to send medical aid to Iran, raising hopes of salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

According to the German foreign ministry, the medical supplies safely arrived in Iran after a transaction using the Instex system, which was set up in response to Donald Trump, the US president, withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and imposing severe sanctions on the regime.

Earlier this month, Britain, Germany and France had announced they would offer a €5million (£4m) package to help Iran tackle the coronavirus, as well as medical equipment for testing and protective clothing.

However, it is understood that this first transaction was related to medical supplies that were requested before the outbreak.

In future, the British government may use the Instex programme, which bypasses US sanctions by avoiding transactions in US dollars, to channel more supplies that are geared specifically for coronavirus treatment.

62 Since Mr Trump quit the nuclear deal, Iran had complained that European nations were failing to fulfill their end of the bargain as they had all but ceased trading with the regime for fear of breaching US sanctions. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/31/britain-france-germany-bypass-us-sanctions-provide- iran-medical

US bought France-bound face masks for CASH from China – French official to RT

The US bought out a planeload of Chinese-made face masks right on the tarmac just as the haul of the much needed protective gear was about to set off for France, the head of a French region told RT. Facing shortages of protective equipment amid the coronavirus outbreak, France has turned to China to procure the much-needed face masks.

After French legislature adopted a law on the emergent medical situation, local authorities were able to place an order on the equipment in China, paying for it upfront. All in all, his and other regions ordered some 60 million masks, the head of the south-eastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region Renaud Muselier told RT France on Wednesday. https://www.rt.com/news/484723-us-france-face-masks/

Coronavirus: Canada investigates reports medical supplies shipment 'diverted to US'

Americans took supplies meant for France by paying "three or four times more" at a Chinese airport, a French health official says. https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-canada-investigates-reports-medical-supplies-shipment- diverted-to-us-11967702

US hijacking mask shipments in rush for coronavirus protection

US buyers waving wads of cash managed to wrest control of a consignment of masks as it was about to be dispatched from China to one of the worst-hit coronavirus areas of France, according to two French officials.

The masks were on a plane at Shanghai airport that was ready to take off when the US buyers turned up and offered three times what their French counterparts were paying.

Jean Rottner, a doctor and president of the GrandEst regional council, said part of the order of several million masks heading for the region, where intensive care units are inundated with Covid-19 patients, had been lost to the buyers.

Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau described such reports as “concerning and asked officials to look into similar claims that masks were being diverted away from his country. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/02/global-battle-coronavirus-equipment-masks-tests

63 3M pushes back on Trump administration order to stop sending N95 masks to Canada

WASHINGTON — One of the world's largest U.S.-based makers of consumer products says it has been told by the White House to stop exporting medical-grade face masks to the Canadian market. Minnesota-based 3M says the Trump administration has asked that it stop sending N95 respirators to export markets in Canada and Latin America.

But the company, which calls itself a critical supplier of the masks to both markets, says there would be "significant humanitarian implications" to doing so. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/3m-pushes-back-on-trump-administration-order-to-stop- sending-n95-masks-to-canada/ar-BB1287Bx

US snatches masks from Germany in act of ‘modern piracy’ – Berlin senator

With Covid-19 infections climbing, Washington has diverted shipments of vital protective masks from its allies in Germany and Canada to the US. A Berlin senator described the move as “modern piracy.”

As confirmed coronavirus cases passed 250,000 in the US this week, the White House pressured safety gear manufacturer 3M to step up imports of protective masks from its Chinese factories. Trump publicly promised on Thursday that 3M would “have a big price to pay” if it didn’t increase supply to the US.

But behind the scenes, American officials were acquiring these masks by more underhand means.

A delivery of 200,000 masks left a 3M factory in China this week and arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, from where they were supposed to be sent to the German capital. The masks never got to Berlin, and police in the city told Der Tagesspiegel that the shipment was instead bound for the US. Berlin's Senator for the Interior Andreas Geisel confirmed on Friday that the masks had been “confiscated.”

“We consider this an act of modern piracy. This is not how you deal with transatlantic partners,” Geisel said. https://www.rt.com/news/484935-us-takes-masks-germany/

Bodies of Covid-19 victims pile up in streets of Ecuador as residents beg authorities for help

As the coronavirus pandemic rips through Ecuador, some cities are struggling to cope with a deluge of fatalities, pushing residents to make harrowing pleas for help as the bodies of loved ones accumulate in the streets.

The port city of Guayaquil, around 260 miles south of the capital, Quito, has been hit especially hard in the outbreak, leaving hospitals and morgues utterly overwhelmed in a flood of new patients and deaths. With local authorities unable to keep up with the influx of casualties, President Lenin Moreno has created a task force to tackle the problem, tapping Jorge Wated, board chairman at BanEcuador – a self-described “public development bank” – to lead the effort.

64 Seeking to ramp up the collection of bodies, Wated has allowed funeral homes to sidestep a nationwide curfew to work into the night to gather the deceased, and has dispatched teams of soldiers and police to pick up corpses from homes, hospitals and even streets around the city.

The efforts have still fallen short, however, sending countless citizens to social media to make desperate pleas for help, appealing directly to Wated through his Twitter account, where he shares frequent updates on the grim task at hand. https://www.rt.com/news/484944-ecuador-coronavirus-bodies-streets/

Coronavirus: Australia launches criminal investigation into Ruby Princess

A criminal investigation has been launched in Australia into how cruise ship passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney despite some exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

More than 600 people on board the Ruby Princess later tested positive for coronavirus and 10 have since died.

The ship remains off the coast with nearly 200 sick crew members on board.

Police in New South Wales said they would look into whether national biosecurity laws had been broken.

Australia has so far reported 5,548 coronavirus cases and 30 deaths. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-52171181

‘Profound lack of human decency’: Oliver Stone tears into US govt over Iran & Venezuela sanctions amid Covid-19 crisis - 5 Apr, 2020

The United States government has revealed its contempt for human compassion and global solidarity by refusing to lift draconian sanctions on Iran and Venezuela during the Covid-19 crisis, director Oliver Stone has argued.

Iran has suffered immensely from the virus, Stone noted in an op-ed published by the New York Daily News, but due to US sanctions the Islamic Republic is “reportedly the only country in the world that cannot buy medicines needed to fight the pandemic."

The outspoken Hollywood legend similarly condemned Washington’s decision to maintain – and in some cases, increase – its economic chokeholds on countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as coronavirus strains healthcare systems across the globe.

In the case of Venezuela, US “coercion” led to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) denying the South American state’s request for a $5 billion loan to help fight the pandemic, Stone contended. The US has ratcheted up its pressure on Caracas amid the global health crisis, accusing the government of drug trafficking and calling for a “transition government” to replace President Nicolas Maduro. https://www.rt.com/news/484999-iran-sanctions-coronavirus-oliver-stone/

65 3M makes deal with White House, says Canada will continue to receive N95 masks

WASHINGTON -- One of America's largest manufacturers of medical face masks rode to Canada's rescue Monday, forging an agreement with the White House that allows it to provide millions of its precious N95 respirators to the U.S. market without sacrificing supply bound for north of the border.

Minnesota-based 3M, which has been at the centre of a clash with President Donald Trump and his administration over the company's reluctance to abide by orders to prioritize American demand for the masks, confirmed plans to continue to fill orders in Canada and Latin America.

3M and the U.S. government "worked together to ensure that this plan does not create further humanitarian implications for countries currently fighting the COVID-19 outbreak," the company said in a statement that emerged on the heels of Trump's latest marathon briefing at the White House.

"The plan will also enable 3M to continue sending U.S.-produced respirators to Canada and Latin America, where 3M is the primary source of supply."

During his briefing, Trump declared that his spat with the company was at an end and sang the praises of Mike Roman, the company's chief executive, as he announced that 3M would be producing 166.5 million masks for overtaxed and under-supplied health care professionals across the U.S. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/3m-makes-deal-with-white-house-says-canada-will- continue-to-receive-n95-masks-1.4885409

Irving Tissue Officially Opens $470 million tissue production plant in Macon, Georgia and Announces Additional $400 million expansion project!

MACON, Ga., Nov. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Irving Tissue’s newest $470 million tissue plant is officially open in Macon, Georgia and based on a new, additional $400 million investment, will soon double its capacity.\

The announcement was made at a ceremony held today at the new plant where Irving Tissue President Robert K. Irving was joined by Georgia Lieutenant-Governor Geoff Duncan, Macon- Bibb-County Mayor Robert Reichert, MCBIA Chairman Robert Fountain Jr. and other dignitaries to celebrate both the official opening of the plant and yet another major investment by Irving Tissue in the community. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/11/13/1946636/0/en/Irving-Tissue-Officially- Opens-470-million-tissue-production-plant-in-Macon-Georgia-and-Announces-Additional-400-million- expansion-project.html

Coronavirus: New York using mass graves amid outbreak - VIDEO

Workers in hazmat outfits were seen using a ladder to descend into a huge pit where the coffins were stacked.

The location is Hart Island, used for New Yorkers with no next of kin or who could not afford a funeral.

New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country, according to latest figures.

66 The state's confirmed caseload of Covid-19 jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to 159,937, of whom 7,000 have died.

Spain has had 153,000 cases and Italy 143,000, while China, where the virus emerged last year, has reported 82,000 cases. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52241221

Coronavirus: US death toll passes 2,000 in a single day

The US has become the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day.

Figures from Johns Hopkins University show 2,108 people died in the past 24 hours while there are now more than half a million confirmed infections.

The US could soon surpass Italy as the country with the most coronavirus deaths worldwide.

The US now has at least 18,693 deaths and 500,399 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins, which is tracking the disease globally. About half of the deaths were recorded in the New York area. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52249963

Trade Adviser Warned White House in January of Risks of a Pandemic

A memo from Peter Navarro is the most direct warning known to have circulated at a key moment among top administration officials. A top White House adviser starkly warned Trump administration officials in late January that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death.

The warning, written in a memo by Peter Navarro, President Trump’s trade adviser, is the highest-level alert known to have circulated inside the West Wing as the administration was taking its first substantive steps to confront a crisis that had already consumed China’s leaders and would go on to upend life in Europe and the United States.

“The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on U.S. soil,” Mr. Navarro’s memo said. “This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/navarro-warning-trump-coronavirus.html

Covid-19 - Navigating the Uncharted -- The New England Journal of Medicine

The latest threat to global health is the ongoing outbreak of the respiratory disease that was recently given the name Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19).

67 Covid-19 was recognized in December 2019.1 It was rapidly shown to be caused by a novel coronavirus that is structurally related to the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

As in two preceding instances of emergence of coronavirus disease in the past 18 years2 — SARS (2002 and 2003) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) (2012 to the present) — the Covid-19 outbreak has posed critical challenges for the public health, research, and medical communities.

In their Journal article, Li and colleagues3 provide a detailed clinical and epidemiologic description of the first 425 cases reported in the epicenter of the outbreak: the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, China.

Although this information is critical in informing the appropriate response to this outbreak, as the authors point out, the study faces the limitation associated with reporting in real time the evolution of an emerging pathogen in its earliest stages. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387

Russia Ready to Start Testing Coronavirus Vaccines on Humans in June

The head of a top Russian research center told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that his lab was ready to start human trials of experimental coronavirus vaccines in June.

Rinat Maksyutov, head of the Vektor State Virology and Biotechnology Center, said his facility proposed first-phase clinical trials of three vaccines from June 29, on 180 volunteers.

Maksyutov was speaking during a video-link meeting between Putin and the heads of top research centers.

"Groups of volunteers have already been formed," he told Putin, adding that a lot of people wanted to take part in the trials.

"We have already received more than 300 applications." https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/07/russia-ready-to-start-testing-coronavirus-vaccines-on- humans-in-june-a69906

An Internal White House Memo Warned of Large-Scale Coronavirus Deaths Months Ago

As you’ve probably heard by now, one of the key reasons the United States has become the global epicenter of the coronavirus crisis is because of the federal government’s refusal to take the pandemic seriously (in addition to a criminal lack of testing and an outrageous shortage of medical supplies including masks and ventilators).

Of course, Donald Trump’s months-long insistence that the virus was no big deal came despite dire warnings from the World Health Organization—which classified COVID-19 as an international health emergency on January 30—public health experts, other countries, and his own intelligence briefings.

68 And, as we now know, the West Wing was also warned of mass deaths and catastrophic economic costs as early as January, by someone on the inside.

The New York Times reports that in late January, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote in a memo that the virus then engulfing China could stand to kill half a million Americans due to the “lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine,” a situation that elevated the risk of the coronavirus “evolving into a full-blown pandemic.”

At the time, he called for an “immediate travel ban on China.” (The memo was dated January 29; more than six weeks later, Trump was still claiming the “fake-news media” was doing everything in its power to “inflame the Coronavirus situation,” and that “the risk is low to the average American.”) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/peter-navarro-coronavirus-memos

Germany Gets It

While leaders in the U.S., U.K., and France spout nationalist rhetoric, Angela Merkel has emphasized core democratic values in response to the coronavirus.

There’s an American plague rhetoric, too—though characteristically of Donald Trump, it’s at once dully literal and maddeningly vague.

The long-standing narrative of American exceptionalism heals all wounds for this president.

“No nation is more prepared or more equipped to face down this crisis,” he said on March 13.

“As you know, we are rated number one in the world.”

During his own televised address, he assured Americans that no other country was “more prepared or more resilient than the United States. We have the best economy, the most advanced health care, and the most talented doctors, scientists, and researchers anywhere in the world.”

Should this be insufficient balm, Trump hawks American entrepreneurial spirit in its most distilled form. https://newrepublic.com/article/157112/germany-gets-coronavirus

Inside the coronavirus testing failure: Alarm and dismay among the scientists who sought to help

On a Jan. 15 conference call, a leading scientist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assured local and state public health officials from across the nation that there would soon be a test to detect a mysterious virus spreading from China. Stephen Lindstrom told them the threat was remote and they may not need the test his team was developing “unless the scope gets much larger than we anticipate,” according to an email summarizing the call.

“We’re in good hands,” a public health official who participated in the call wrote in the email to colleagues.

Three weeks later, early on Feb. 8, one of the first CDC test kits arrived in a Federal Express package at a public health laboratory on the east side of Manhattan. By then, the virus had reached the United

69 States, and the kits represented the government’s best hope for containing it while that was still possible.

For hours, lab technicians struggled to verify that the test worked. Each time, it fell short, producing untrustworthy results.

That night, they called their lab director, Jennifer Rakeman, an assistant commissioner in the New York City health department, to tell her it had failed. “Oh, s---,” she replied. “What are we going to do now?”

In the 21 days that followed, as Trump administration officials continued to rely on the flawed CDC test, many lab scientists eager to aid the faltering effort grew increasingly alarmed and exasperated by the federal government’s actions, according to previously unreported email messages and other documents reviewed by The Washington Post, as well as exclusive interviews with scientists and officials involved.

In their private communications, scientists at academic, hospital and public health labs — one layer removed from federal agency operations — expressed dismay at the failure to move more quickly and frustration at bureaucratic demands that delayed their attempts to develop alternatives to the CDC test.

“We have the skills and resources as a community but we are collectively paralyzed by a bloated bureaucratic/administrative process,” Marc Couturier, medical director at academic laboratory ARUP in Utah, wrote to other microbiologists on Feb. 27 after weeks of mounting frustration. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2020/04/03/coronavirus-cdc-test-kits-public-health- labs/?arc404=true

How the government delayed coronavirus testing

A weeks-long testing delay that effectively blinded public health officials to the spread of the coronavirus in the US might have been avoided had federal agencies fully enacted their own plan to ramp up testing during a national health crisis.

The plan, which is spelled out in an April 2018 agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and three of the biggest associations involved in lab testing, called for boosting the capacity of public health labs, bringing big commercial labs into the testing process early, and making sure labs would have whatever they needed to mount a rapid, large-scale response.

But over January and February, agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services not only failed to make early use of the hundreds of labs across the United States, they enforced regulatory roadblocks that prevented non-government labs from assisting, according to documents obtained by CNN, and interviews with 14 scientists and physicians at individual laboratories and national laboratory associations. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/politics/coronavirus-testing-cdc-fda-red-tape-invs/index.html

70 Cuba's Cancer Hope Series - Embassy of Cuba in the United States

1920x1080 S47 E5 Cubas Cancer Hope Watch NOVA PBS Full Episodes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb3ttuhq5xg

Studying Cuba's Lung Cancer Vaccine in the United States - Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Roswell Park Cancer Institute has launched a clinical trial studying the Cuban lung cancer vaccine, CIMAvax-EGF.

The clinical trial is the first of its kind in the United States. Dr. Grace Dy, Thoracic Oncologist at Roswell Park and Principal Investigator of the cancer vaccine, explains the science behind the two-part clinical trial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qke5YnHRW5I

Unbounded Innovation - Roswell Park’s Cuban Collaboration

Through an historic partnership with Cuba’s Centro de Inmunología Molecular, or CIM, Roswell Park is helping to develop several innovative and potentially life-saving cancer therapies.

The first of these new approaches to be available to U.S. patients is CIMAvax-EGF®, an immunotherapy for lung cancer.

We are the only facility in the country that offers this groundbreaking treatment. https://www.roswellpark.org/cimavax

Small chloroquine study halted over risk of fatal heart complications

[NEW YORK] A small study in Brazil was halted early for safety reasons after coronavirus patients taking a higher dose of chloroquine developed irregular heart rates that increased their risk of a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia.

Chloroquine is closely related to the more widely used drug hydroxychloroquine. President Donald Trump has enthusiastically promoted them as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus despite little evidence that they work, and despite concerns from some of his top health officials.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency approval to allow hospitals to use chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine from the national stockpile if clinical trials were not feasible. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/small-chloroquine-study-halted-over-risk-of-fatal-heart- complications

71 He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus

An examination reveals the president was warned about the potential for a pandemic but that internal divisions, lack of planning and his faith in his own instincts led to a halting response.

WASHINGTON — “Any way you cut it, this is going to be bad,” a senior medical adviser at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Carter Mecher, wrote on the night of Jan. 28, in an email to a group of public health experts scattered around the government and universities. “The projected size of the outbreak already seems hard to believe.”

A week after the first coronavirus case had been identified in the United States, and six long weeks before President Trump finally took aggressive action to confront the danger the nation was facing — a pandemic that is now forecast to take tens of thousands of American lives — Dr. Mecher was urging the upper ranks of the nation’s public health bureaucracy to wake up and prepare for the possibility of far more drastic action.

“You guys made fun of me screaming to close the schools,” he wrote to the group, which called itself “Red Dawn,” an inside joke based on the 1984 movie about a band of Americans trying to save the country after a foreign invasion. “Now I’m screaming, close the colleges and universities.”

His was hardly a lone voice. Throughout January, as Mr. Trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on other issues, an array of figures inside his government — from top White House advisers to experts deep in the cabinet departments and intelligence agencies — identified the threat, sounded alarms and made clear the need for aggressive action. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html

First group of volunteers assembled as Russia prepares for human testing of Covid-19 vaccine

The initial human volunteers have been selected to test a Russian vaccine against the deadly new coronavirus in trials set to begin in late June. The project's chief developer is leading by example by taking his place among them.

Work on the biological preparation began in February at the Vector Institute, Russia’s leading virology and biotechnology research center.

It's based in Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia. Earlier in April, researchers announced that the vaccine had successfully passed trials on mice and ferrets, with preparations for human testing in full swing.

The first stage will see 60 people participating, Rinat Maksyutov, Vector Institute’s general director, told Rossiya-1.

Numerous people from Novosibirsk and other Russian regions have offered their services as volunteers. https://www.rt.com/russia/485578-russia-coronavirus-vaccine-human-testing/

72 Coronavirus: Older people being 'airbrushed' out of virus figures

The official death toll has been criticised for only covering people who die in hospital - but not those in care homes or in their own houses.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, which include every community death linked to Covid-19 in England and Wales, showed a total of 406 such deaths registered up to 3 April had occurred outside of hospitals.

That would have added an extra 11% to the official UK figures, based solely on deaths in hospitals, that were being reported at that time.

Of those extra deaths, 217 took place in care homes, 33 in hospices, 136 in private homes, three in other communal establishments and 17 elsewhere. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52275823

WHO warned of transmission risk in January, despite Trump claims

Notes to global health leaders on 10 and 11 January highlighted possible infection routes

The World Health Organization warned the US and other countries about the risk of human-to-human transmission of Covid-19 as early as 10 January, and urged precautions even though initial Chinese studies at that point had found no clear evidence of that route of infection.

Technical guidance notes seen by the Guardian and briefings by top WHO officials warned of potential human-to-human transmission and made clear that there was a threat of catching the disease through water droplets and contaminated surfaces, based on the experience of earlier coronavirus outbreaks, such as Sars and Mers. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/who-cited-human-transmission-risk-in-january-despite- trump-claims

Trump rages at criticism while governors craft their own plans to reopen the economy

In one of the most unchained presidential tantrums ever captured on television, Trump's Monday display flouted every notion of calm leadership by the commander in chief in a crisis.

He claimed powers never envisioned by the Constitution and insisted his "authority is total" to order states and cities to get moving again to break out of the frozen economy. His warning came as two blocs of Eastern and Western hot-spot states banded together in an implied challenge to his vow to get people back to work soon, setting off a brewing confrontation over the power of the federal government.

During the news conference, Trump moaned that the press was not giving him credit because "everything we did was right" in the coronavirus pandemic.

Raging at reporters, the President used the campaign-style video to mislead the nation about his sluggish recognition of the threat from the virus, after once predicting a "miracle" that would make it go

73 away. He called up his top medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to publicly repudiate his own words Sunday on CNN, which had been interpreted as criticism of early administration actions.

"The President of the United States calls the shots," Trump said.

But after the briefing, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he disagreed with Trump's interpretation of his powers, stating that the President is not a monarch.

"We don't have a king. We have an elected president," Cuomo said during an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett.

"The Constitution clearly says the powers that are not specifically listed for the federal government are reserved for the states, and the bounds between federal and state authority are central to the Constitution -- one of the great balances of power."

The Founding Fathers "didn't want a king, otherwise we would have had King George Washington," Cuomo added. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/14/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-governors-economy/index.html

Trump halts World Health Organization funding amid coronavirus pandemic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic while his administration reviews its response to the global crisis.

Trump told a White House news conference the WHO had “failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable.” He said the group had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred.

The United States is the biggest overall donor to the Geneva-based WHO, contributing more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15% of its budget.

The hold on funding was expected. Trump has been increasingly critical of the organization as the global health crisis has continued, and he has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration’s response. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-who/trump-halts-world-health-organization- funding-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-idUSKCN21W34Y

Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) R&D

On 31 December 2019, WHO was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) was identified as the causative virus by Chinese authorities on 7 January. http://origin.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/key-action/novel-coronavirus/en/

74 WHO Statement regarding cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China

9 January 2020, Statement - China

Chinese authorities have made a preliminary determination of a novel (or new) coronavirus, identified in a hospitalized person with pneumonia in Wuhan. Chinese investigators conducted gene sequencing of the virus, using an isolate from one positive patient sample. Preliminary identification of a novel virus in a short period of time is a notable achievement and demonstrates China’s increased capacity to manage new outbreaks.

Initial information about the cases of pneumonia in Wuhan provided by Chinese authorities last week – including the occupation, location and symptom profile of the people affected – pointed to a coronavirus (CoV) as a possible pathogen causing this cluster. Chinese authorities subsequently reported that laboratory tests ruled out SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus and other common respiratory pathogens. https://www.who.int/china/news/detail/09-01-2020-who-statement-regarding-cluster-of-pneumonia- cases-in-wuhan-china

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) SITUATION REPORT - 1 21 JANUARY 2020

Event highlights from 31 December 2019 to 20 January 2020:

• On 31 December 2019, the WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. From 31 December 2019 through 3 January 2020, a total of 44 case-patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology were reported to WHO by the national authorities in China. During this reported period, the causal agent was not identified. • On 11 and 12 January 2020, WHO received further detailed information from the National Health Commission China that the outbreak is associated with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan City. • The Chinese authorities identified a new type of coronavirus, which was isolated on 7 January 2020. • On 12 January 2020, China shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus for countries to use in developing specific diagnostic kits. • On 13 January 2020, the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand reported the first imported case of lab-confirmed novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. • On 15 January 2020, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan (MHLW) reported an imported case of laboratory-confirmed 2019-novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. • On 20 January 2020, National IHR Focal Point (NFP) for Republic of Korea reported the first case of novel coronavirus in the Republic of Korea.

Situation update:

• As of 20 January 2020, 282 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV have been reported from four countries including China (278 cases), Thailand (2 cases), Japan (1 case) and the Republic of Korea (1 case); • Cases in Thailand, Japan and Republic of Korea were exported from Wuhan City, China;

75 • Among the 278 cases confirmed in China, 258 cases were reported from Hubei Province, 14 from Guangdong Province, five from Beijing Municipality and one from Shanghai Municipality; • Of the 278 confirmed cases, 51 cases are severely ill1, 12 are in critical condition2; • Six deaths have been reported from Wuhan City. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200121-sitrep-1-2019- ncov.pdf

COVID-19 : Un outil de diagnostic canadien interdit au Canada https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1693370/covid-19-outil-de-diagnostic-interdit

MIcrosoft translation COVID-19: Canadian diagnostic tool banned in Canada Radio-Canada - Published April 12, 2020

A COVID-19 diagnostic tool created and manufactured in Markham, Ontario, is used every day to test millions of people in Europe and the United States. However, it is not authorized by Health Canada and cannot be used in Canada.

It is an "instant" tool that gives a diagnosis in 15 minutes. People who want to be tested should apply a drop of blood to a strip. The tool detects the presence of antibodies in the blood. It is manufactured by Ontario-based BTNX.

This serological test does not detect the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, in the blood of carriers who have just contracted it. However, those who have been infected for six or seven days have developed the antibodies that trigger the test mechanism. Everywhere except Canada

According to BTNX Chief Financial Officer Mitchell Pittaway, Health Canada says rapid blood tests like the one the company is manufacturing are currently under review and will remain so until a "unified national strategy on their use has been developed." https://www.translatetheweb.com/?ref=TVert&from=&to=en&a=https%3A%2F%2Fici.radio-canada.ca %2Fnouvelle%2F1693370%2Fcovid-19-outil-de-diagnostic-interdit

World should have ‘listened carefully’ to WHO coronavirus advice back in January, says director- general

Countries that ignored the WHO’s advice at the end of January have been less successful in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, its director warned, as both the organization and world leaders face criticism for mishandling the crisis.

“On January 30 we declared the highest level of global emergency on Covid-19 [...] During that time, as you may remember, there were only 82 cases outside China.

No cases in Latin America or Africa, only 10 cases in Europe.

76 No cases in the rest of the world. So the world should have listened to the WHO then carefully,” World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press briefing on Monday.

He added that the countries which followed the WHO’s advice – by extensively testing their populations and implementing contact-tracing technologies – are “in a better position than others,” but that the WHO only operates in an advisory capacity and cannot mandate governments to follow its recommendations. https://www.rt.com/news/487063-coronavirus-advice-tedros-who/

Coronavirus: Is President Trump right to criticise the WHO?

The WHO has praised China for its handling of the outbreak

President Trump has accused the WHO of failing to challenge China's early assertion there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus.

China first informed the WHO of "a pneumonia of an unknown cause, on 31 December".

On 5 January, the organisation said the information it had from China at that time showed there was "no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission".

And on 14 January, it tweeted preliminary Chinese investigations had found "no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission" of the new virus.

The same day, however, the Wuhan Health Commission said the possibility of limited human-to-human transmission could not be excluded, although the risk of sustained transmission was low.

Taiwanese scientists had visited Wuhan shortly after the virus first emerged.

But the evidence published so far shows Taiwan's exchanges with the WHO did not mention human-to- human transmission.

And although the WHO has been criticised for praising China's initial response to the virus, Mr Trump himself praised the Chinese, in a tweet, on 24 January. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52294623

77 U.S. not remotely ready to re-open, according to WHO criteria

Rachel Maddow looks at the six criteria listed by the World Health Organization for countries considering lifting precautionary restrictions against the spread of coronavirus and notes that the U.S. is not even past step one and remains distressingly distant from step two. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/u-s-not-remotely-ready-to-re-open-according-to-who- criteria-82055237682

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) donors & partners: WHO says thank you!

Contributions to WHO for COVID-19 appeal

Pledges $60,833,682

Received $356,286,297

Contributors

78 https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/donors-and-partners/funding

Coronavirus: Trump unveils plan to reopen states in phases

As Covid-19 continues to spread across the US, President Donald Trump has given governors guidance on reopening state economies in the coming months.

The guidelines for "Opening up America Again" outline three phases for states to gradually ease their lockdowns.

Mr Trump promised governors they would be handling the process themselves, with help from the federal government.

79 There has been a mixed reception to the plans, with a leading Democrat calling them vague and inconsistent.

The US currently has 654,301 confirmed cases and 32,186 deaths due to the virus, and Mr Trump has suggested some states could reopen this month. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52314866

Coronavirus: Is there any evidence for lab release theory?

Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)

The outbreak came to light late last year when early cases were linked to a food market in Wuhan. But despite rampant online speculation, there is no evidence of any kind that the Sars-CoV-2 virus (which causes Covid-19) was released accidentally from a lab.

If you want to do projects with international partners they require labs to be operating to certain standards.

Or if you have products to sell in the market, or perform certain services, e.g. tests, then you are also required to operate to international standards."

Indeed, the WIV had received funding from the US, along with assistance from American research institutes. The cables recommended giving them even more help. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52318539

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

Governmemt of Canada information related to Coronavirus/Cobid-19 https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19.html

What We Know About The Silent Spreaders Of COVID-19

Is it possible to be infected with the coronavirus and show no symptoms? Or go through a period of several days before symptoms kick in?

And even in this stage with no cough, no fever, no sign of illness, could you be transmitting the virus to others?

"There is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 has this ability to spread silently," says Shweta Bansal, an infectious disease modeler at Georgetown University.

Indeed, cases of COVID-19 among nursing home residents, choir groups and families fuel a growing concern about people who are infected, yet feel generally OK and go about their daily lives, giving the virus to friends, family members and strangers without knowing that they themselves have it.

80 Silent spreaders can be divided into three categories: asymptomatic, presymptomatic and very mildly symptomatic. Here's what we know about these variations.

Asymptomatic: people who carry the active virus in their body but never develop any symptoms Presymptomatic: people who have been infected and are incubating the virus but don't yet show symptoms Very mildly symptomatic: people who feel a little unwell from a COVID-19 infection but continue to come in close contact with others https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/13/831883560/can-a-coronavirus-patient-who-isnt- showing-symptoms-infect-others

Asymptomatic people are reportedly spreading COVID-19. Should everyone wear a mask?

As countries begin to ramp up testing over the spread of the novel coronavirus, new data is suggesting that asymptomatic people — those who test positive for the disease caused by the virus but don’t show symptoms — are helping to circulate COVID-19.

A report by Singaporean researchers published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that around 10 per cent of new infections are being spread by either healthy-looking, asymptomatic people or people who have yet to develop the disease’s flu-like symptoms. https://globalnews.ca/news/6764198/coronavirus-asymptomatic-face-masks-covid-19/

Neither ‘lab’ nor ‘wet market’? Covid-19 outbreak started months EARLIER and NOT in Wuhan, ongoing Cambridge study indicates

The novel coronavirus may have first passed to humans somewhere in southern China months before the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, a new study found, cutting against widely held theories about the origins of the pandemic.

“The virus may have mutated into its final ‘human-efficient’ form months ago, but stayed inside a bat or other animal or even human for several months without infecting other individuals,” geneticist Peter Then, it started infecting and spreading among humans between September 13 and December 7, generating the network we present in [the study].

81 Forster told the South China Morning Post. He leads the ongoing yet to be peer-reviewed research, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. https://www.rt.com/news/486194-study-coronavirus-southern-china/

Phylogenetic network analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/04/07/2004999117

Coronavirus may have infected more than 400,000 people in L.A. County.

Hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles County residents may have been infected with the coronavirus — a large leap above the number of confirmed cases, according to a recent study by USC‘s Price School for Public Policy.

The first large-scale study tracking the spread of the virus across the county found that 2.8% to 5.6% of adults had antibodies to the virus in their blood, an indication of past exposure, when the tests were conducted in early April. That equates to 221,000 to 442,000 adults, vastly more than the 8,000 cases reported by the county at the time.

82 “We haven’t known the true extent of COVID-19 infections in our community because we have only tested people with symptoms, and the availability of tests has been limited,” study leader Neeraj Sood said in a statement.

A higher number of infections would push the reported mortality rate down, but public health officials have cautioned against making inferences about immunity or changing safety protocols.

Barbara Ferrer, the county’s top health official, said more research was needed to understand what protections those who had already been infected with the virus might have. https://www.latimes.com/california/coronavirus-everything-to-know-right-now

NIH panel recommends against use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19

A panel of experts convened by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued coronavirus treatment guidelines, recommending against the use of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin outside clinical trials.

“The combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was associated with QTc prolongation in patients with COVID-19,” the panel said. QTc prolongation increases the risk of sudden cardiac death.

The recommendation comes after President Trump has repeatedly touted the use of the drugs on Twitter and during White House coronavirus task force briefings. https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/493995-nih-panel-recommends- against-use-of

Hydroxychloroquine and “off-label” utilization in the treatment of oral conditions

In response to President Trump's remarks made on March 19, 2020, concerning the potential of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as treatment for the novel coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infections: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) swiftly issued a statement to clarify that, no, these drugs are not approved as treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Both drugs are approved to treat malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis but must still be assessed in clinical trials before being declared a safe and effective COVID-19 treatment.

Doctors in the United States have wide latitude to prescribe drugs “off-label,” meaning for conditions beyond their initial FDA approval.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151388/

Outcomes of hydroxychloroquine usage in United States veterans hospitalized with Covid-19

BACKGROUND: Despite limited and conflicting data on the use of hydroxychloroquine in patients with Covid-19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of this drug when clinical trials are unavailable or infeasible

83 Hydroxychloroquine, alone or in combination with azithromycin, is being widely used in Covid-19 therapy based on anecdotal and limited observational evidence.

In this study, we found no evidence that use of hydroxychloroquine, either with or without azithromycin, reduced the risk of mechanical ventilation in patients hospitalized with Covid-19.

An association of increased overall mortality was identified in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone.

These findings highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomized, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.16.20065920v1

Germany approves first clinical trial for potential Covid-19 vaccine

Germany has sanctioned its first clinical trial of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the country’s Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) regulatory body has said.

The authorization is the result of “careful assessment of the potential risk/benefit profile of the vaccine candidate,” the medical institute said in a statement on Wednesday.

The German trial will be conducted on 200 healthy people between the ages of 18 and 55 in its first stage.

After an observational waiting period, more volunteers in the same age range will be vaccinated. It will then be trialed on people who are at a higher risk of Covid-19 infection. https://www.rt.com/news/486540-german-vaccine-tiral-covid19/

Covid-19 mutations underestimated, Chinese scientists warn, as DEADLIEST strains grip Europe and US

Chinese scientists have found that Europe and America’s East Coast have been infected by some of the most aggressive Covid-19 strains, as they discovered dozens of virus mutations. These destroy a host’s cells faster than others.

The ability of the novel coronavirus to mutate has been previously vastly underestimated, a team from China’s Zhejiang University, led by Professor Li Lanjuan, says in a new study. The group found as many as 33 virus mutations in just 11 coronavirus patients they examined in the city of Hangzhou.

The researchers say that 60 percent of the strains they discovered turned out to be entirely new. In a worrying development, they also discovered that the virus’s mutations directly affect its deadliness. Their research revealed that the most aggressive type of Covid-19 could create a virus load 270 times greater than the least potent one. https://www.rt.com/news/486425-covid-19-mutations-deadlier-strains/

84 1st Known U.S. COVID-19 Death Was Weeks Earlier Than Previously Thought

The first U.S. death known to be from COVID-19 occurred on Feb. 6 — nearly three weeks before deaths in Washington state that had been believed to be the country's first from the coronavirus, according to officials in Santa Clara County, Calif.

The person died at home and at a time when testing in the U.S. was tightly limited not only by capacity but by federal criteria.

The person is one of three people posthumously identified as dying from COVID-19 in Santa Clara County, after the medical examiner-coroner carried out autopsies and sent samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The other two deaths took place on Feb. 17 and March 6. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/22/840836618/1st-known-u-s-covid-19- death-was-on-feb-6-a-post-mortem-test-reveals

Cuba: In Test Phase Vaccine That Activates Innate Immune System

So far, the vaccine has proven effective in people confirmed with the COVID-19 virus.

The Cuban vaccine CIGB 2020 Immunopotentiator has entered the testing phase on the island to prove its effectiveness in the treatment of people infected with COVID-19.

According to Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), the vaccine strengthens people's innate immunity.

Its application is nasal and sublingual. So far, it has proven effective in people confirmed with the disease, preventing the patient from reaching more serious stages.

"The Cuban vaccine, developed by the CIGB, helps reduce the risk of infectious agents entering the human body," teleSUR correspondent in Havana, Nayara Tardo, said on her Twitter account. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/cuba-in-test-phase-vaccine-that-activates-innate-immune-system- 20200422-0002.html

Cuba to Send Doctors to Four Caribbean Countries and Argentina

Cuba’s health authorities announced that new brigades of doctors and nurses with experience in handling critical situations are heading to Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica on Wednesday and Thursday.

The first group with 25 health workers left for Belize this morning from the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation in Havana.

85 "We are aware that the current situation is difficult, but we are well prepared and ready to help save lives," said nurse Orlando Borrero, who participated in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone in Africa and was on two other solidarity missions in Nicaragua.

He also indicated that 33 more health workers will travel to Belize, where there will be 58 Cuban specialists in total on Thursday.

Over the past weeks, Cuba has sent health workers to various countries. On March 22, for instance, 36 Cuban doctors, 15 nurses, and a logistics expert arrived in Lombardia.

In this Italian region, which comprises 11 provinces and a population of more than 11 million, the Covid- 19 caused services to collapse due to insufficient hospital capacity. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Cuba-to-Send-Doctors-to-Four-Caribbean-Countries-and- Argentina-20200325-0011.html

Transfers and donations from Switzerland for Cuban public health blocked

Donations include sending medical supplies, diagnostic reagents, and protective equipment for health personnel.

Three associations based in Switzerland denounced the effect of the U.S. embargo on humanitarian aid for Cuban public health in its fight against COVID-19, the international service of the Swiss Radio and Television Broadcasting Association announced this Wednesday.

Despite this, Swiss banks have almost completely interrupted the traffic of international payments to Havana, despite the fact that “the government of Switzerland rejects the blockade imposed by the United States on the island for almost 60 years ago, and maintains historic relations of friendship and cooperation with Cuba.”

Both MediCuba-Suiza and the Switzerland-Cuba Association denounced that their banks have blocked the transfer of donations intended to support the emergency aid project #CubavsCovid19#CubavsCovid19. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/transfers-and-donations-from-switzerland-for-cuban-public-health- blocked

UK records highest weekly death toll from all causes SINCE RECORDS BEGAN amid Covid-19 surge

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday show that a total of 22,351 people died in the UK on the week ending 17 April 2020.

This is the most deaths that occurred in any week since statisticians began compiling the figure 27 years ago. Staggeringly the grim statistic is 11,854 more than the five year average.

86 The stunning report also revealed that the death toll from Covid-19 in England and Wales was 35 percent higher than the figures announced by the government suggested. https://www.rt.com/uk/487097-highest-death-toll-uk-1993-coronavirus/

Coronavirus detected on particles of air pollution

Coronavirus has been detected on particles of air pollution by scientists investigating whether this could enable it to be carried over longer distances and increase the number of people infected.

The work is preliminary and it is not yet known if the virus remains viable on pollution particles and in sufficient quantity to cause disease.

The Italian scientists used standard techniques to collect outdoor air pollution samples at one urban and one industrial site in Bergamo province and identified a gene highly specific to Covid-19 in multiple samples. The detection was confirmed by blind testing at an independent laboratory.

Leonardo Setti at the University of Bologna in Italy, who led the work, said it was important to investigate if the virus could be carried more widely by air pollution.

87 “I am a scientist and I am worried when I don’t know,” he said. “If we know, we can find a solution. But if we don’t know, we can only suffer the consequences.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/24/coronavirus-detected-particles-air-pollution

Coronavirus: Trump orders meatpacking plants to stay open

US President Donald Trump has ordered meat processing plants to stay open to protect the nation's food supply amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He invoked a Korean War-era law from the 1950s to mandate that the plants continue to function, amid industry warnings of strain on the supply chain.

An estimated 3,300 US meatpacking workers have been diagnosed with coronavirus and 20 have died.

The UN last month warned the emergency threatened global food supply chains.

Twenty-two US meatpacking plants across the American Midwest have closed during the outbreak. They include slaughterhouses owned by the nation's biggest poultry, pork and beef producers, such as Smithfield Foods, Tyson Foods, Cargill and JBS USA. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52466502

Covid-19 was already 'silently circulating' in France before virus arrived from China & Italy – study

The outbreak of the coronavirus in France has little to do with cases imported from China or Italy, as another strain of the disease of unknown origin had already been infecting people in the country, research claims.

The virologists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris have sequenced the genomes from samples taken from 97 French and three Algerian coronavirus patients between January 24 and March 24.

What they found is that the dominant types of Covid-19 viral strains in France differed from those that arrived from China or Italy, and belonged to another group, or 'clade.'

The earliest sample in the French clade dated from February 19 and came from an infected person who hadn't traveled abroad recently and had no contacts with possible carriers of the disease. https://www.rt.com/news/487294-france-coronavirus-strain-italy-china/

Introductions and early spread of SARS-CoV-2 in France

Abstract

Phylogenetic analysis identified several early independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions without local transmission, highlighting the efficacy of the measures taken to prevent virus spread from symptomatic cases.

88 In parallel, our genomic data reveals the later predominant circulation of a major clade in many French regions, and implies local circulation of the virus in undocumented infections prior to the wave of COVID-19 cases.

This study emphasizes the importance continuous and geographically broad genomic sequencing and calls for further efforts with inclusion of asymptomatic infections. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.24.059576v1.full.pdf

Antiviral drug remdesivir shortens time to recover from pandemic virus, top U.S. health official says

A top U.S. health official said Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental antiviral drug remdesivir is likely to become the standard of care for COVID-19 after early results from a key clinical trial on Wednesday showed it helped certain patients recover more quickly from the illness caused by the coronavirus.

The study, run by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, tested remdesivir versus usual care in 1,063 hospitalized coronavirus patients around the world. At the White House, NIH's Dr. Anthony Fauci said the drug reduced the time it takes patients to recover by 31 per cent — 11 days on average versus 15 days for those just given usual care.

Gilead earlier on Wednesday said remdesivir helped improve outcomes for patients with COVID-19 in the government-run trial, and provided additional data suggesting it worked better when given earlier in the course of illness. The statement sent its shares up seven per cent on the Nasdaq. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/remdesivir-covid-19-fauci-1.5549499

FDA will reportedly authorize use of remdesivir for Covid-19 after trial shows 'positive effect' on recovery time

Researchers released some good news about a possible treatment for coronavirus Wednesday -- evidence that the experimental drug remdesivir might help patients recover more quickly from the infection.

The US Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved any drugs for the treatment of the coronavirus. But it plans to announce an emergency-use authorization for remdesivir, according to The New York Times. The authorization could come as soon as Wednesday, The Times reported, citing a senior administration official.

In a statement to CNN, the FDA said it is in talks with Gilead Sciences, the maker of remdesivir, about making the drug available to patients. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/health/gilead-sciences-remdesivir-covid-19-treatment/index.html

89 Is remdesivir REALLY a wonder drug for coronavirus patients?

Doubts cast over experimental Ebola pill as another major study finds it has NO benefit for the infected - despite a separate study showing 'fantastic results'

• Remdesivir was reported by US officials to have 'clear-cut' evidence it works • Preliminary findings of an international study were revealed yesterday • But just hours before, a published Chinese study did not show benefit • The smaller trial showed remdesivir did not speed up recovery or reduce death • Experts say the difference in findings may be due to when the drug was given

After an international study of 1,000 people, which has not been published yet, Dr Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, said it proved 'a drug could block the virus'

A randomised controlled trial of remdesivir carried out in China and published in The Lancet produced disappointing results.

The drug did not significantly benefit hospitalised patients because it did not speed up recovery or reduce deaths compared with a dummy drug. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8272715/Is-remdesivir-REALLY-coronavirus-wonder-drug- Doubts-study-finds-no-benefit.html

Hopes rise for coronavirus drug remdesivir

An experimental drug — and one of the world’s best hopes for treating COVID-19 — could shorten the time to recovery from coronavirus infection, according to the largest and most rigorous clinical trial of the compound yet.

The drug, called remdesivir, interferes with the replication of some viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for the current pandemic.

On 29 April, Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), announced that a clinical trial in more than 1,000 people had showed that those taking remdesivir recovered in 11 days on average, compared with 15 days for those on a placebo. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01295-8

Remdesivir in adults with severe COVID-19: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial

Background No specific antiviral drug has been proven effective for treatment of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Remdesivir (GS-5734), a nucleoside analogue prodrug, has inhibitory effects on pathogenic animal and human coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro, and inhibits Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2 replication in animal models.

90 Findings Between Feb 6, 2020, and March 12, 2020, 237 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to a treatment group (158 to remdesivir and 79 to placebo); one patient in the placebo group who withdrew after randomisation was not included in the ITT population.

Remdesivir use was not associated with a difference in time to clinical improvement (hazard ratio 1·23 [95% CI 0·87–1·75]). Although not statistically significant, patients receiving remdesivir had a numerically faster time to clinical improvement than those receiving placebo among patients with symptom duration of 10 days or less (hazard ratio 1·52 [0·95–2·43]). Adverse events were reported in 102 (66%) of 155 remdesivir recipients versus 50 (64%) of 78 placebo recipients. Remdesivir was stopped early because of adverse events in 18 (12%) patients versus four (5%) patients who stopped placebo early.

Interpretation In this study of adult patients admitted to hospital for severe COVID-19, remdesivir was not associated with statistically significant clinical benefits. However, the numerical reduction in time to clinical improvement in those treated earlier requires confirmation in larger studies. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31022-9/fulltext

91 Water

Cuba’s rivers run clean after decades of sustainable farming

Despite centuries of colonization and agriculture, Cuba’s rivers are in good health.

Sugarcane and cattle farming on the island date back to the late fifteenth century. To measure water quality in Cuba’s rivers today, Paul Bierman at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Rita Hernández at the Cienfuegos Center for Environmental Studies in Cuba and their colleagues sampled water in 25 river basins in central Cuba. This is the first time in more than 60 years that scientists from Cuba and the United States have joined forces to study the island’s hydrology.

More than 80% of the samples had levels of Escherichia coli bacteria that exceeded international standards for recreational use. The bacteria are indicators of faecal contamination, and probably came from the cattle that graze on many riverbanks.

Despite the island’s history of large-scale agriculture, the rivers studied had much lower levels of dissolved nitrogen — an indicator of fertilizer use — than did the Mississippi River Basin in the United States. The researchers speculate that this is due to Cuba’s transition to smaller-scale, more sustainable farming practices since the 1990s. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00263-6

92 Fracking and Earthquakes

93 Oil and Pipelines

Enbridge, TransCanada Among 11 Canadian Oil and Gas Firms Using Tax Havens

Eleven of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies have dozens of subsidiaries and related companies in known tax haven jurisdictions, according to a new report from the Ottawa-based non-profit Canadians for Tax Fairness.

Those companies include Suncor, Enbridge, CNRL, TransCanada, Imperial Oil, Cenovus and Husky.

Canadian Oil and Gas Companies Own a Combined 46 Entities in Tax Haven Countries Canadian Direct Investment in Tax Havens Grew A Hundredfold in 20 Years Canada Losing Estimated $10 Billion to $15 Billion Per Year Billions Likely Needed in Coming Decades to Cover Environmental Costs https://thenarwhal.ca/enbridge-transcanada-among-11-canadian-oil-and-gas-firms-using-tax-havens

Canada’s Top 60 public companies have over 1000 tax haven subsidiaries or related companies.

A new report, “Bay Street and Tax Havens: Curbing Corporate Canada’s Addiction,” explores the extent of corporate Canada’s involvement in known tax havens and provides clear recommendations for a strong government response.

The report, published by Canadians for Tax Fairness, looks at the 60 largest companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Only 4 of the 60 companies listed no subsidiaries in known tax havens.

“Companies often argue that their investments in those jurisdictions are legitimate businesses and not brass plate subsidiaries”, said report author, Diana Gibson, “but the evidence suggest otherwise.” She added, "Statistics Canada data on activity for majority owned affiliates abroad tells us that many of these companies have very few employees. In Bermuda, for example, those afiliates reported $31 Billion in Canadian assets but only 35 employees.”

This is no small concern, says Dennis Howlett, Executive Director of the Canadians for Tax Fairness, “Dollars parked in offshore accounts means lower corporate tax revenues, and thus individual Canadians have to pay higher taxes. Canadian foreign direct investment (FDI) in tax havens reached $284 billion in 2016 and we estimate that the revenue losses for Canadian governments due to tax haven use are between $10 and $15 Billion.” https://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/canada%E2%80%99s-top-60-public-companies-have-over-1000- tax-haven-subsidiaries-or-related-companies-0

Industry, government pushed to abolish Aboriginal title at issue in Wet’suwet’en stand-off, docs reveal

The B.C. government and corporate lobbyists representing major resource industries sought the “surrender” of First Nations land rights immediately following the Delgamuukw decision, a precedent- setting legal ruling that established Aboriginal title to unceded land, according to Freedom of Information (FOI) documents obtained by The Narwhal.

94 The records, from B.C.’s Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, provide a glimpse for the first time of a corporate lobbying effort urging government to push First Nations to surrender their newly recognized title rights through modern treaties to achieve “certainty” for commercial interests. https://thenarwhal.ca/industry-government-pushed-to-abolish-aboriginal-title-at-issue-in-wetsuweten- stand-off-docs-reveal/

To understand B.C.’s push for the Coastal GasLink pipeline, think fracking, LNG Canada and the Site C dam

The pipeline at the centre of the Wet’suwet’en conflict is also central to the province’s long-running effort to attract multinational corporations and build up a liquefied natural gas export empire — all with infusions of public money. Here’s what you need to know

If you had mentioned the Coastal GasLink project two months ago at a dinner party you likely would have been met with blank stares and a quick segue to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Vancouver Island hidey-hole.

Since early February, when the RCMP arrested Wet’suwet’en matriarchs, hereditary chiefs and their supporters — setting off nation-wide blockades of rail lines and ports and igniting a national debate about Indigenous rights and title, large resource projects and the global climate emergency — Coastal GasLink has risen from obscurity to infamy.

Most reports describe the project as “a natural gas pipeline.” But the reality is far more complex.

The Narwhal zooms out to focus on the bigger picture, which includes two other industrial projects in the works, one foreign-funded (LNG Canada) and the other publicly funded (the Site C dam).

Spoiler alert: the big picture includes billions in subsidies for industry, tens of thousands of idle and orphan fracking wells, a multi-billion dollar clean-up bill and massive climate impacts. https://thenarwhal.ca/to-understand-b-c-s-push-for-the-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-think-fracking-lng- canada-and-the-site-c-dam

Trans Mountain Deal Was Structured to Bleed Billions, Finds Economist

When Finance Minister Bill Morneau paid $4.5 billion for the 66-year-old Trans Mountain pipeline in 2018, he vowed the deal would bring cash and smiles to taxpayers.

Almost 18 months after the purchase, economist Robyn Allan started looking for evidence of the promised benefits. She didn’t find any.

What she did find should disturb any fiscal conservative, if such a species still exists in Canada.

The existing pipeline is losing money, concluded Allan, the former CEO of the Insurance Corporation of BC and chief economist for BC Central Credit Union.

The proposed expansion to triple the pipeline’s capacity will add to the losses as taxpayers subsidize both construction and the fees companies pay to ship oil.

95 And, Allan noted, Ottawa has no idea how much the expansion will cost.

“Trans Mountain was a profitable pipeline system when Ottawa bought it,” she writes, “but it is not generating earnings now — it is booking losses and has been since the government took over.”

Allan’s independent assessment is worth your attention. https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/01/07/Trans-Mountain-deal-bleeds-billions

Ottawa prepares multibillion-dollar bailout of oil and gas sector

The federal government is preparing a multibillion-dollar bailout package for Canada’s oil and gas sector that is expected to be unveiled early next week, sources say.

Federal and Alberta government insiders are saying little about the details – citing the sensitivity of the options under discussion – but the oil and gas sector can expect to get more access to credit, especially for struggling small and medium-sized operations, and significant funding to create jobs for laid-off workers to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-prepares-multibillion-dollar-bailout-of-oil-and- gas-sector

265 academics to Trudeau: No bail out for oil and gas in response to COVID-19

We, the undersigned are reaching out to you today in full acknowledgement of the tremendous challenges you are currently facing to navigate our country through the COVID-19 pandemic.

As such, we do not request your attention lightly.

We are, however, gravely concerned about the potential for regrettable decisions to be made in such times of urgency.

In particular, we would like to raise concerns regarding news that the Globe and Mail reported on March 19 that the federal government is preparing a $15-billion “bailout package” for oil and gas companies.

Given that your government’s announcement seems imminent, we worked hard to prepare this letter collaboratively, in only two days, and in 24 hours we have gathered 265 signatures from Canadian academics at 33 universities, as well as 12 associations.

There is no question that Canada faces an immediate health crisis that is compounding an economic crisis, and urgent action is called for.

However, decisions made by the federal government at this crucial moment will shape the future of Canada, and must reflect the interests of all Canadians, and a vision for rebuilding sustainable economies in recognition of the confluence of global shifts currently unfolding.

Given that the proposed bailout package has been negotiated secretly with the United Conservative Party (UCP) government of Alberta and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP),

96 Canadians have a right to be concerned that its contents may represent only a narrow set of perspectives and interests. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/03/25/opinion/265-academics-trudeau-no-bail-out-oil-and-gas- response-covid-19

Keystone XL to proceed with $7B commitment from Alberta government

The long-awaited Keystone XL pipeline is finally moving ahead.

And in the latest major twist in its long journey, the Alberta government is set to take an equity stake and provide a loan guarantee to the project during a period of turmoil in global energy markets, with a total financial commitment of just over $7 billion.

On Tuesday, the Alberta government will formally announce it’s going to acquire a stake in the cross- border oil pipeline, making a $1.5 billion CDN preferred equity investment into the development being built by TC Energy. It will also provide a $6 billion loan guarantee beginning next year to ensure the Calgary-based pipeline giant is able to finance ongoing construction costs, according to Premier Jason Kenney.

“We are investing in the Keystone XL pipeline with TC Energy in order to begin construction immediately on April 1. Without this investment, we are certain that Keystone XL would not be built,” Kenney said in an interview. https://calgaryherald.com/business/varcoe-keystone-xl-to-proceed-with-7b-provincial-commitment/

WCS Western Canada Select (Tar Sands Diluted Bitumen) 04:54 am CST 01/04/2020 US$5.080 https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/257

U.S. shale giant’s bankruptcy a warning to Canada’s oil patch

A major U.S. shale producer filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, the largest casualty yet of a global oil price crash.

It is unlikely the insolvency will set off a domino effect into the closely integrated Canadian sector, but it has put the northern patch on notice to tighten operations and finances as much as possible, analysts say.

Whiting Petroleum Corp., once the largest oil producer in North Dakota’s Bakken region, has filed for bankruptcy amid the coronavirus pandemic and an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia that is hammering the price of crude.

The downturn has forced oil and gas producers across North America to restructure their debt. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-whiting-petroleum-first-us-shale-giant-files-for- bankruptcy-amid

97 Big Banks Pull Financing, Prepare To Seize Assets From Collapsing Oil and Gas Industry

The finances of the oil and gas industry are so dismal that the major banks that have funded the money-losing fracking boom are now exploring taking the unusual step of taking over the oil companies that cannot afford to pay back the banks' loans.

Reuters reported that banks are exploring the option of seizing oil company assets because the more traditional route of bankruptcy will result in huge losses for the banks — while seizing assets and holding them until oil prices increase would likely minimize those losses.

Buddy Clark of law firm Haynes and Boone explained to Reuters that, “Banks can now believably wield the threat that they will foreclose on the company and its properties if they don’t pay their loan back.”

While banks seizing assets from borrowers who can’t repay loans is common for industries like real estate — especially residential real estate — it is an unusual move for the oil and gas industry. Reuters reported that the last time it happened was during the oil price crash of the late 1980s. In the most recent oil price crash, when oil dropped from prices over $100 a barrel to $40 a barrel, there was a rash of bankruptcies, but the banks did not seize assets.

One difference now is that shale oil companies have continued to increase debt — thanks to loans from the banks — to the point where most of these companies are not viable with low oil prices. As one industry observer recently noted in The New York Times, “This is late ’80s bad.” https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/04/13/big-banks-pulling-financing-oil-and-gas-industry

Oil lobby group asks Trudeau government to suspend environmental, lobbying laws due to COVID-19

Canada’s largest oil and gas lobby group says the federal government should consider suspending dozens of environmental regulations, laws and policies due to the economic and public health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) made the request in a leaked 13-page letter, obtained by Global News.

The industry lobby group sent the memo on March 27 to federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan and seven other members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, urging the government to suspend several laws that require oil and gas companies to do some field inspections and basic monitoring of pollution.

This could include monitoring of impacts of job sites on migratory birds, the testing of pollution from stacks or inspections of activities that could cause harm to fisheries in bodies of water. https://globalnews.ca/news/6830754/capp-justin-trudeau-laws-coronavirus

Montana judge blocks Keystone XL permit for river crossings

TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL oil-sands pipeline was a dealt a setback with a judge’s ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly approved a streamlined permit process without fully evaluating the impact on endangered species.

98 In a legal challenge brought by environmental groups, a federal judge in Montana on Wednesday ordered the agency to conduct further review and barred it from authorizing dredging in waterways covered by the permit.

“We have received the judge’s ruling and continue to review it,” Calgary-based TC Energy said in a statement. “We remain committed to building this important energy infrastructure project.”

The stakes in the legal challenges to Keystone XL rose higher than ever last month, when Canada’s oil- rich province of Alberta announced US$5.3 billion in aid to help finance the conduit’s construction and TC Energy formally committed to building the line. Already, the project was seen as a key lifeline for Alberta’s oil-sands producers, which have suffered from a lack of pipeline capacity that has weighed on local crude prices and restrained their ability to boost output. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/montana-judge-blocks-keystone-xl-permit-for-river-crossings-1.1422110

Yet Again, Federal Court Invalidates Key Permit for Keystone XL - April 15, 2020

Court blocks the use of Nationwide Permit 12 for pipeline water crossings

Great Falls, MT – A federal judge ruled today that the US Army Corps of Engineers violated the law when it approved Nationwide Permit 12, a key water crossing permit for TC Energy’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and many other pipelines nationwide.

The ruling invalidates Nationwide Permit 12, prohibiting the Corps from using this fast-tracked approval process for any pipelines nationwide, including Keystone XL.

The ruling could block construction through hundreds of water crossings along the Keystone XL pipeline route.

The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by conservation and landowner groups last year, which challenged the Corps’ failure to adequately analyze the effects of pipelines authorized under Nationwide Permit 12, including Keystone XL, on local waterways, lands, wildlife, and communities. https://www.nrdc.org/media/2020/200415-0

The day oil was worth less than $0 — and nobody wanted it

Alberta's oilpatch history is full of ups and downs, dating back to the province's first big oil rush more than 100 years ago near Turner Valley. But who would have thought oil would one day be worth less than $0? On Monday, the price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the North American benchmark, fell more than $50 to negative $37.63 US.

"It's certainly not something I ever thought I would witness," said Matt Murphy, a Calgary-based equity research analyst with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oil-negative-price-1.5538996

99 This is the world's most destructive oil operation—and it's growing

The scale of Alberta’s oil sands operations, the world's largest industrial project, is hard to grasp. Especially north of Fort McMurray, where the boreal forest has been razed and bitumen is mined from the ground in immense open pits, the blot on the landscape is incomparable.

If Alberta, with its population of four million people, were a country, it would be the fifth largest oil- producing nation. While it produces conventional oil, most comes from the Alberta oil sands, the world’s third largest proven oil reserve at 170 billion barrels.

And these days, even as Canada promotes action on climate change on the world stage, the Canadian and provincial governments are pushing to expand oil sands operations—which brings substantial economic benefits to the region—in the face of a chorus of opposition from environmentalists and indigenous people.

Yet when Texas-based Kinder Morgan, owners of the 65-year-old Trans Mountain oil pipeline, announced last year that it was abandoning plans to expand the pipeline—essentially by building a much larger twin along most of the same 715-mile (1,150-kilometer) route from Alberta to British Columbia—the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent U.S. $3.4 billion (C $4.5 billion) to buy the whole project. The expanded pipeline had been bitterly opposed by indigenous and environmental groups—but is important for unlocking new Pacific markets for the Alberta oil sands. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/alberta-canadas-tar-sands-is-growing-but- indigenous-people-fight-back

100 ‘The other bomb’ — Cramer’s warning as first shale company files for Chapter 11

• U.S. shale producer Whiting Petroleum filed for bankruptcy. • “The oil patch is falling apart,” CNBC’s Jim Cramer said. • West Texas Intermediate crude is trading around $20.36 per barrel, after losing more than half its value in the month of March. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/01/the-other-bomb-thats-dropping-cramers-warning-as-first-shale- company-files-for-chapter-11.html

A wave of oil bankruptcies is on the way

Whiting Petroleum, once a rising star in the shale industry, filed for Chapter 11 protection Wednesday.

The oil driller survived for years at $50-a-barrel oil. But the recent collapse to $20 proved unbearable, sparking the first major oil bankruptcy of the current crisis.

Whiting (WLL) surely won't be the last.

The coronavirus pandemic has crushed the oil industry, setting off a swift and unprecedented decline in demand for gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

"There will be a wave of bankruptcy filings this year," said Spencer Cutter, credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Nearly 100 US oil and gas producers could file for Chapter 11 over the next year, according to Buddy Clark, co-chair of the energy practice at Houston law firm Haynes and Boone.

That would nearly match the total number of bankruptcies in 2015 and 2016 combined when oil prices crashed to $26 a barrel.

30% of junk energy bonds could default

Even companies in the Permian Basin, the low-cost oilfield in West Texas that has led America's energy boom, require an average of $49 a barrel to profitably drill, according to a survey by the Dallas Federal Reserve.

At $40 a barrel, only 15% of oil companies would survive for a year or less, the Dallas Fed survey found. Another 24% of oil companies might be able to hold out for one to two years. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/business/oil-crash-bankruptcies-whiting/index.html

Oil company Diamond Offshore files for bankruptcy

New York (CNN Business)The cratering oil market has tipped yet another energy company into bankruptcy.

Diamond Offshore (DO), which was posting losses even before the current plunge in oil prices, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday.

101 As its name suggests it conducts offshore drilling with 15 rigs working for Hess, Occidental (OXY), Petróleo Brasileiro and BP (BP).

Diamond lost $357 million last year -- nearly twice the loss it posted in 2018 -- as revenue fell 12% to just under $1 billion. It has posted losses in four of the last five years, with only a narrow profit of $18 million in 2017. Over the last five years its losses total $1.2 billion.

The company had nearly $2 billion in long-term debt on its balance sheet as of Dec. 31, and only $156 million in cash. Diamond employs 2,500 workers. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/investing/diamond-offshore-oil-company-files-bankruptcy/index.html

Irving applies to use foreign oil tankers to ship Canadian crude to Saint John

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- With the price of Canadian crude at or near historic lows, Irving Oil has plans to tap into that supply for the Saint John refinery, but some eyebrows have been raised over how they plan to bring the crude to New Brunswick.

For years, rail cars carrying cheaper oil from Western Canada and the U.S. have been a regular feature on the tracks heading into Saint John.

Irving Oil wants to ship more Canadian crude to its Saint John refinery, but wants to use a new method.

The company applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency for permission to use foreign oil tankers to transport Canadian crude from three directions: • from a West Coast terminal, down to the Panama Canal, and then to Saint John.

102 • from terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and then to the Bay of Fundy, and; • from suppliers in Newfoundland and Labrador. n a letter to the federal authority, Irving described what it calls a crisis in both the Canadian economy and energy industry.

It says: “As a Canadian company who owns and operates Canada’s largest oil refinery, Irving oil should have access to Canadian crude oil from both offshore Newfoundland and Western Canada.”

Irving says the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant uncertainty in supply chains. The company describes the situation as urgent. https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/mobile/irving-applies-to-use-foreign-oil-tankers-to-ship-canadian-crude-to- saint-john-1.4914417

Canadian energy companies Cenovus and Husky swing to huge losses amid oil price collapse

Canadian energy companies Cenovus and Husky posted huge quarterly losses on Wednesday, hit by the double whammy of a significant drop in demand for crude oil caused by the coronavirus outbreak and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Cenovus Energy said it lost $1.8 billion in the three months between January and March, as an increase in the amount of oil the company produced was offset by a huge plunge in the price of a barrel of oil.

In the same period a year ago, Cenovus posted a slight profit of $110 million.

It was a similar story at Husky Energy, which also posted earnings on Wednesday that showed a quarterly loss of $1.7 billion for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of $328 million a year earlier. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oil-patch-earnings-wednesday-1.5548838

103 Mining

Nunavut community blocks access to gold mine over COVID-19 fears

People in the Nunavut community of Rankin Inlet blocked the road leading to the local goldmine Wednesday in an effort to keep their region COVID-19 free.

The Agnico-Eagle Meliadine gold mine is located about 25 kms north of Rankin Inlet, the most populous community in Nunavut’s Kivalliq region and a central hub for the surrounding communities. It employs nearly 400 Inuit from many Nunavut communities.

Late on March 18, residents blocked the road to the mine after a planeload of workers from outside the territory arrived at the airport and were ready to head to the mine site.

Earlier this week, Nunavut’s Chief Public Health officer Dr. Michael Patterson asked non-essential people from outside the territory not to travel to Nunavut. Anyone who does travel to the territory from outside areas is being asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

Agnico-Eagle has now followed what other Nunavut mines are doing; sending all their Nunavut-based staff back to their home communities with pay.

The mines are screening their employees, and without contact with Nunavut communities, say COVID- 19 infection won’t spread from the mines to the communities. https://aptnnews.ca/2020/03/19/nunavut-community-blocks-access-to-gold-mine-over-covid-19-fears

EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws Thursday, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak.

The temporary policy, for which the EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with the agency saying it will not “seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations.”

Cynthia Giles, who headed the EPA’s Office of Enforcement during the Obama administration, called it a moratorium on enforcing the nation's environmental laws and an abdication of the agency's duty. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/489753-epa-suspends-enforcement-of-environmental- laws-amid-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR3tXMbWnItWbqUSOuRxbhOpY9Qyj6UWCCo7BN3kWTu8gisS- mQ5vH1XeeI

Mining and Petroleum Workers: ‘Essential’ or ‘an Enormous Risk’?

Indigenous and other local voices fear projects enable spread of COVID-19.

Across the country, workplaces are shutting down to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With health-care officials calling for people to restrict their local and interprovincial movements, and with the international

104 border closed to non-essential travel, people across Canada are being asked to stay home. To keep their distance. To only go out when necessary.

Most provinces and territories, however, are exempting most mining employees from travel restrictions.

This juxtaposition is on full display in the Northwest Territories, where concerns about COVID-19 have prompted the government to implement strict new travel restrictions — violators of which face fines up to C$10,000 and up to six month’s imprisonment. But these restrictions do not apply to mine workers, says Allan Torng, a senior environmental health advisor to N.W.T.

“Employees entering the territory for mining and mineral processing are classified as industry workers,” says Torng. Because they are deemed essential to N.W.T’s economic function, mineral and petroleum “industry workers are permitted entry into the Northwest Territories,” he says. https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/04/01/Mining-Petroleum-Workers-COVID

Tailings dam spill at Chinese molybdenum miner threatens local water supply

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s northeastern province of Heilongjiang said a tailings dam leak at a molybdenum mine over the weekend threatened to contaminate the local water supply and that it had launched an emergency response.

No casualties were reported, according to a report from the Heilongjiang Daily posted on the Heilongjiang government website.

Tailings dams are the most common waste disposal method for mining firms. China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said only this month it would cut down on their use to reduce safety risks and ease pressure on the environment.

The collapse of a Vale SA tailings dam in Brazil in January 2019 killed more than 250 people.

On Saturday, water containing waste molybdenum ore flowed out of a Yichun Luming Mining Co Ltd pond for tailings - the crushed remnants of ore once valuable minerals have been extracted. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tailings-molybdenum/tailings-dam-spill-at-chinese- molybdenum-miner-threatens-local-water-supply-idUSKBN21H0YO? mc_cid=4c3cdb8535&mc_eid=c008bbdfb4

Former chief medical officer urges B.C. to shut industrial work camps during coronavirus pandemic

Some projects still house more than 800 people at camps — deemed ‘essential services’ by the province — while small businesses shut their doors and most people stay at home, raising concerns about double-standards and risks to local communities

The Site C dam, LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink pipeline projects should not be designated essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to David Bowering, former chief medical officer for Northern Health, who compared project work camps to cruise ships incubating the coronavirus.

105 Essential services are “what’s required to keep society going,” such as food and medical supplies, Bowering said in an interview with The Narwhal.

“The last thing that seems to me [to be] reasonable is to have large work camps — that we know will be sources of infection both within themselves and in the local communities, and in the home communities of the workers when they go back,” Bowering said, referring to workers from across B.C. and Alberta, and as far away as Newfoundland, who are typically flown in and out of large camps on charter and commercial flights for two-week shifts.

“You can gloss it over and say that it’s essential that they carry on. But for me, I think everybody in society is making huge changes to their lives right now in order to try to flatten the curve and it’s really important that we do it.”

While most Canadians hunker down at home and practise social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19, which has infected 787,000 people worldwide and killed more than 36,000, the B.C. government has classified resource projects — including oil and gas and mining projects — as essential services. https://thenarwhal.ca/former-chief-medical-officer-urges-b-c-to-shut-industrial-work-camps-during- coronavirus-pandemic

Brazil mining regulator orders closure of 25 Vale dams

BRASILIA, April 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM) said on Thursday that it would halt operations at 47 mining dams that failed to certify their stability, including at least 25 belonging to the world's largest iron ore producer Vale SA VALE3.SA.

The safety of Vale's facilities have been under heavy scrutiny after one of its dam collapsed last year, releasing a torrent of mining waste that killed about 270 people. It was the second Vale dam to collapse in four years.

Last October, 54 Brazilian dams failed to certify their stability or file the stability paperwork altogether.

Many of the same dams remain on the list and several new dams operated by Vale or its affiliates were added. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/brazil-mining-regulator-orders-closure-of-25-vale-dams-2020-04-02

O’Regan putting nuclear ‘front and centre’ raises eyebrows, industry hopes

The announcement ‘doesn’t reflect what’s in his mandate letter,’ says NDP natural resources critic Richard Cannings, nor did nuclear energy come up in a briefing he had with the minister.

Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan delivers the opening keynote at the Canadian Nuclear Association's annual conference in Ottawa on Feb. 27. Mr. O'Regan gave a statement that, according to those in the nuclear industry, is the strongest statement of support from the federal government in years.

106 Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan's recent declaration that the federal government is "placing nuclear energy front and centre" came as a surprise, according to some nuclear experts and industry stakeholders, but has left some excited about the prospect of more federal support. https://www.hilltimes.com/2020/03/11/oregan-putting-nuclear-front-and-centre-raises-eyebrows- industry-hopes/238967

Seamus O'Regan - Education

O'Regan was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and spent 14 years growing up in Goose Bay, graduating from Goose High School.

He studied politics at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland. He studied marketing strategies at INSEAD, an international business school near Paris, France. He received his Masters of Philosophy in Politics from the University of Cambridge, studying at Darwin College in Cambridge, England.[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamus_O%27Regan

107 Forestry

New Brunswick Is Blowing An Opportunity We Can’t Afford to Blow

When there is an injustice, at first it is usually just those who are directly impacted who complain. And those responsible for it can often just ignore those complaints. But then when word spreads of just how bad it is, others join in. Even if they are only impacted indirectly, they see unfairness for what it is, and step up to say whatever it is isn’t right, and should not be allowed to continue. And when those voices get loud enough, that’s when change happens.

That seems to be the point we have gotten to now in regards to how Crown land in New Brunswick has been mismanaged by successive governments. Here’s a resource that is abundant in our province, that should be a major contributor to our provincial economy, but rather it may actually be costing us money.

The Auditor General has raised this point, and a review by the CIBC World Markets suggests that because of government mismanaging our Crown lands we are losing out on a whopping $100 Million every year.

Here’s a resource that is abundant in our province, that should be a major contributor to our provincial economy, but rather it may actually be costing us money.

The problem stems from changes various governments made to the Crown Lands and Forests Act after it was adopted in 1980. Changes, mainly by the McKenna Liberals and Alward Conservatives combined that gave forestry companies more and more access to Crown land at less than market value, essentially shortchanging all New Brunswick taxpayers and putting New Brunswick woodlot owners at a competitive disadvantage when they wanted to sell their wood at fair market value. https://nbwoodlotowners.ca/blog/new-brunswick-is-blowing-an-opportunity-we-cant-afford-to-blow

108 Video Links

Coronavirus outbreak: New Brunswick announces first presumptive case of COVID-19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMTyeB9fjcY&t=25m50s

Update on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus - March 13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHipk01feOc&t=36m20s

Information Morning, March 24, 2020 - Local pandemic expert

Click Play Segment

We take the fight against COVID-19 to an experienced pandemic fighter. Dr. Eilish Cleary, a Fredericton doctor who's been on the front lines trying to eradicate pandemics, shares information from her experience with pandemics, and what works to stop the spread. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-25-information-morning-fredericton/clip/15767187-local-pandemic- expert

Information Morning - Fredericton What should happen next in N.B.'s pandemic response?

Aired: April 16

Dr. Eilish Cleary has plenty of experience dealing with pandemics, and has been giving a lot of thought to how the province is doing, and how we come out of lockdown. Click Play Segment https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-25-information-morning-fredericton/clip/15771399-what-should- happen-next-in-n.b.s-pandemic-response

109