Tuesday, May 19 coronavirus & top news briefs
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Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Tuesday, May 19. I want to remind you that this week is “under construction” for this Moth studio so “pardon our dust” with the webcam and the video quality.
Now, here are coronavirus updates and top news briefs.
Deaf artist Christine Sun Kim, who was this year’s Super Bowl national anthem signer, tweeted four images of a digital art piece she did to honor essential workers that was placed on billboards in Times Square in New York City.
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It has her signature handwritten font and her “music art” concept that uses lines and notes you would see in a sheet music. Kim continues to display her art on the world’s biggest stages.
Yesterday and today was the World Health Assembly, an international conference similar to the U.N. General Assembly.
The assembly governs the World Health Organization (WHO). The assembly was done virtually this year. The assembly approved a resolution to set up an independent investigation on the WHO and the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a bit aimed towards China’s response, but it was not explicitly mentioned.
Last night U.S. President Donald Trump wrote a letter to the head of WHO accuse them of siding with China to cover up or minimize the seriousness of Covid-19 in December, January, and February. Trump said if the WHO did not make changes and improvements within 30 days, the U.S. would permanently terminate funding to the WHO. On April 15, President Trump announced the U.S. would halt its funding to the WHO which was worth over $400 million annually. Now Trump said he might make those cuts permanent.
It’s important to remember that President Trump did praise China in January — he tweeted on January 24 that China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus and that the U.S. appreciates their efforts and transparency and that it will all work out well. Trump continued to praise China until the end of February.
Trump started to attack the WHO and China in March and especially in April, when the pandemic infected hundreds of thousands of Americans and caused the economy to tank.
A top Chinese official said Trump is trying to shift the blame of U.S.’s failings and is failing its international obligations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced yesterday they are contributing $2 billion in the global fight against the coronavirus.
In France, a top court said police can’t use drones to surveil whether the public was following coronavirus restrictions. The court said it infringes on privacy rights.
In Italy, the country reported that 99 people died from Covid-19 today, which is the first time the number has been below 100 in months.
Russia now has almost 300,000 cases of Covid-19, which makes them the second-highest country in the world with infections after the U.S. But the death count is low at less than 3,000.
An international team of scientists said the global coronavirus lockdown has led to a 17% drop in daily carbon emissions. The CO2 levels are at their lowest since 2006. The gases come from the burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal. It is the primary cause of global warming and stays in the atmosphere for about 100 years.
The U.S.-Canada border will continue to be closed until June 21 to nonessential travel. Canadian Prime Minister said it was a mutual agreement. Canada has about 80,000 cases of Covid-19 and about 6,000 deaths, far lower than the U.S.’s 1.5 million cases and 90,000 deaths. There is political pressure on Canadian leaders to keep the border closed.
President Trump said he has been taking hydroxychloroquine drugs for a week and a half as a preventative measure against the coronavirus. At least two White House staffers have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past two weeks.
The FDA warned last month that the drug should only be taken in hospitals because it could cause heart complications.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump shouldn’t take the drugs because he was “morbidly obese.”
A White House doctor said after numerous discussions, they decided the potential benefit outweighed the risks of the drug.
That is all the top news and coronavirus updates for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
https://twitter.com/chrisunkim/status/1262474292366843904/photo/1
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/coronavirus-updates-oregon-supreme-court-temporarily-reinstates-governors/story?id=70758867&cid=clicksource_4380645_2_heads_hero_live_hero_hed
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1220818115354923009?s=20
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52726017
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52289056
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/15/trump-china-coronavirus-188736
https://www.axios.com/trump-physician-explains-hydroxychloroquine-decision-f15b16ad-6c4f-4724-9832-5099aa35be31.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/white-house-portrait-ceremony-may-be-latest-casualty-political-divide-n1209676?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/white-house-portrait-ceremony-may-be-latest-casualty-political-divide-n1209676?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/05/19/coronavirus-has-caused-whopping-17-drop-global-carbon-emissions/5219885002/
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-canada-border-coronavirus/index.html