headlines that matter
Riots over racism: An update
Pandemic worries: As protests continue to rage across the nation, experts are warning of a ‘second wave’ due to the collapse of social distancing. One leading doctor said: “There's going to be a lot of issues coming out of what's happened in the last week, but one of them is going to be that chains of transmission will have become lit from these gatherings." Point to note: African Americans and other minorities are at an increased risk for complications.
Protester shot dead: A man in Louisville was shot and killed by police. The reason: someone fired a shot at the police, and they fired back—at an entire crowd of protesters?!
More companies speak up: Apple CEO Tim Cook sent an anguished memo to his employees. Amazon tweeted out a strongly worded message of support for protestors while Twitter changed its profile to black to honour Black Lives matter. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urged society to “do more.” And Nike released this ad.
India Unlocked: An update
Flights: Airline authorities have issued their latest guidelines. Airlines have to keep the middle seat empty when possible. If the flight is full, then passengers can be stuffed into middle seats—as long as they are provided "additional protective equipment like a wraparound gown of the Textile Ministry-approved standards.” The good news for fam: you can huddle together with zero social distancing at any time.
Bollywood: There are also new guidelines for film and TV show producers.
“[T]he Maharashtra government asked filmmakers to minimise crew strength (not including the main cast) to 33% of pre-covid days, identify activities that can be carried out remotely via email or video conferencing, ensure temperature checks before people enter sets, and have medical personnel present on each set.
No audience participation will be allowed, and for non-fiction shows only online auditions would be conducted, only one person will be allowed as an acquaintance with children and in no case, would children below the age of 10 be allowed to participate. Also, there is a bar on extravagant or elaborate wedding or fight sequences till the covid threat subsides.”
Schools: More than 200,000 parents are asking the government to keep schools closed. They have signed a petition that declares: “Opening of schools in July will be the worst decision by the Govt. It’s insane. It’s like playing with fire when we ought to douse it with full force. The parents should fight against this stupidity with tooth n nail, not a single child to be sent to the schools for their own safety (sic).”
Related reads: IndiaSpend reports on adolescent girls in India who are at huge risk of being forced out of school, and into sexual slavery. Guardian takes a global view of the same. Wall Street Journal reports on data from Europe—where schools have been open for months—which suggests that children aren’t significant spreaders of the virus.
An update on the latest Covid gyaan
Treatment: Remdesivir has failed to show significant benefits in a large trial involving moderately ill patients. More mystifyingly, it worked better when administered for five days, as opposed to ten. This is not good news. The reason: it is the most promising drug available—and appeared to help in severe cases. In fact, India just approved its use in adults and children. Meanwhile, Russia is planning to use a different antiviral: Avifavir.
Vaccines: AstraZeneca is planning to conduct challenge trials—where subjects are deliberately exposed to Covid-19 after being dosed with the trial vaccine. Wired explains the up- and downside of human challenge trials—and the ethics of using humans as lab rats for the sake of speed. Also coming next for AstraZeneca: testing their vaccine on 5-12 year olds.
Detection: German scientists are working on wastewater—which contains human feces—in the sewage system for spikes that indicate an outbreak.
No help for household help
Indians did not pay nearly 85% of their household help. And many were shut out of their workplaces due to jittery employees and autocratic resident welfare associations. And those who were allowed in were treated like pariahs. In Noida, many have resorted to begging. Now that we are unlocking the nation, the RWAs in Kolkata have new rules: No help-sharing among households which must now hire their help for 12-hour shifts—and likely underpay them for the privilege.
Mother Nature has plans for us…
The monsoons are here, and meteorologists predict it will be a normal one. But it has brought along an unwanted gift: Cyclone Nisarga. It’s headed for Maharashtra and Gujarat—and it looks mean. Mint explains why Mumbai is very worried it will share Kolkata’s fate. Indian Express has more on the cyclone and its predicted ferocity.
Also round the corner: a major earthquake in Delhi. Scientists say that the ten low to moderate intensity tremors that shook the region in the past 1.5 months are omens of a big one:
"We cannot predict time, place or exact scale, but do believe that there is a consistent seismic activity going around in the NCR region and can trigger in a major earthquake in Delhi."
And very unsurprisingly, we aren’t at all prepared for that kind of calamity.
Covid effect:
- Global sales of smartphones witnessed the sharpest decline on record—plunging 20% in the first quarter of this year. (Fortune)
- MakeMyTrip is laying off 350 employees because, well, people have drastically stopped making trips.
- Very unsurprisingly, car sales in India have slumped to the lowest in decades.
- New rules in the UK ban two or more persons from meeting indoors “to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other.” In other words, ‘Netflix and chill’ is now illegal.
What does Netflix censor?
In India, nudity and meat—as per these photos from the series ‘Vikings’ that went viral yesterday. Those are two cooked pigs that were not deemed fit for desi consumption. Netflix’s response: They complied with a “written legal demand by the local authority.” (h/t Aroon Deep)
