buzzfeednews--2020-04-30--He Was Always There For His Friends. When He Died Of The Coronavirus, They Couldn’t Be There For Him

He Was Always There For His Friends. When He Died Of The Coronavirus, They Couldn’t Be There For Him.

“ I truly feel like there was just this innate will to live and experience everything , '' recalled one friend , `` and it was cut short due to this virus.
” His older sister , Monique Bertolotti , remembers a big trip she took with him to New Orleans for his 30th birthday .
At one point , Monique and the rest of the group lost track of her brother .
When she finally located him , he told her he was hanging out with some new friends he ’ d made .
“ You could have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ friend that he just met , he was going to be there for you , ” Monique told BuzzFeed News .
Childhood friend Russell Goldman recalled how Gianmarco arrived at his place the day before he moved to Miami in his mid-twenties .
“ I was kinda uneasy about moving , and he stayed with me the whole night , ” said Goldman .
“ He slept at my house .
He was there in the morning .
And when my mom drove me to the airport , he was there to hug @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and console her when she dropped me off.
” “ He was just that kind of guy , ” said Goldman .
“ He ’ d do anything he could to help a friend.
” Gianmarco — a mason for Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan and a fixture in his Astoria , Queens , neighborhood — died earlier this month from COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus .
He was 42 .
But due to the social distancing regulations in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gianmarco anytime soon — no occasion for his friends to come together for him , to be there for him as he had been for them .
“ Not being able to have a funeral is what makes this so hard , ” said Monique .
Instead , to honor a man who loved to be there for others , Gianmarco ’ s family and friends have been finding new ways to mourn him .
Neighbors set up a vigil with candles outside his Queens apartment building the day after he died .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ montage to Facebook .
Other friends have been passing by the family ’ s home with handmade signs .
It ’ s the outpouring of love from Gianmarco ’ s far-flung friends that has kept Monique and her dad going .
“ People just started posting about him , and it just sort of snowballed , ” Monique said .
“ I 've been talking to people who I do n't even know , and they have said the most profoundly beautiful things about my brother .
They ’ ve just been so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ things , and these are , like , grown men .
It 's just such a nice thing to hear.
” The outpouring didn ’ t totally surprise her .
“ My brother was totally genuine , a sweet soul , and just a really nice guy .
And that 's what everybody says , ” she said .
“ He kept friends for generations because he was such a good listener and he was always there for people . ''
Gianmarco , known to many as G-Funk , had many passions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and dancing .
He was a regular at many of the bars and restaurants that line Ditmars Boulevard in Queens .
“ He was like a mayor of his town in Astoria , ” said Monique .
“ He was full of life , and he needed a place that 's full of life .
That ’ s why he loved New York City.
” Another lifelong friend , Joe Russo , recalled coming home from college to their hometown of West Hempstead in Long Island to discover that Gianmarco had become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his bartending .
“ He had , like , this almost following , ” said Russo .
“ He worked at three different bars , and each place he went to it was like , oh , Gianmarco ’ s here now , that ’ s the bar we ’ re going to .
It was , like , nuts .
I would come home every summer and that ’ s when I started noticing it and I would be like , Holy shit.
” Russo said he thinks his friend ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ almost like a conduit for friends , ” allowing those in his infectious orbit to befriend one another .
He was also passionate about New Orleans .
That trip with Monique was one of many that the pair took to the city over the years — so many that the two had lost count .
“ From the very first moment that he stepped on those cobblestone streets , he was in love with New Orleans , ” Monique said .
“ It encompassed everything that my brother loved : music , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' While her family was always close , Monique and her brother and dad formed an even more intensive bond after her mother died from lung cancer six years ago .
More recently , they had become even closer as their grandmother ’ s health declined .
Anytime she struggled , Gianmarco would race to be by her side .
“ It was a beautiful thing , ” she said .
Gianmarco kept going to work at Lenox Hill Hospital up until he was hospitalized himself on April 15 after being diagnosed with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never complained a single day that he had to go in , even though I knew he was scared , ” said Monique .
“ On the day he went into the hospital , I could hear in his voice that he was scared and then I was petrified.
” Gianmarco died seven days later on April 22 .
The last time Monique and her dad spoke to him was through a FaceTime call that the nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Queens set up .
“ By that point , which was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he was on a respirator and he was n't able to speak anymore , ” Monique remembered .
“ When I said his name and my dad said , ' I love you , ' he fluttered his eyes a little bit , but that was it.
” “ It was so difficult , ” she said , “ because anything that ever happened in my brother 's life , positive , negative , big or small , we were always there .
So it was really , really difficult not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with him.
” Russo , the hometown friend , said he plans to throw a party in the summer of 2021 that would make his late friend proud .
“ I ’ m gon na call it ‘ Funk Fest ’ and we ’ ll have all the people who loved him , ” he said .
Together , they ’ ll paint and drink and eat and listen to the music Gianmarco loved .
It ’ s what he would have wanted .
In the meantime , his friends are left mourning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life .
“ I truly feel like there was just this innate will to live and experience everything , ” said Goldman , the childhood friend , “ and it was cut short due to this virus .
”

Gianmarco Bertolotti made friends fast.
His older sister, Monique Bertolotti, remembers a big trip she took with him to New Orleans for his 30th birthday. At one point, Monique and the rest of the group lost track of her brother. When she finally located him, he told her he was hanging out with some new friends he’d made.
“You could have been a friend for 35 years or a friend that he just met, he was going to be there for you,” Monique told BuzzFeed News.
Childhood friend Russell Goldman recalled how Gianmarco arrived at his place the day before he moved to Miami in his mid-twenties. “I was kinda uneasy about moving, and he stayed with me the whole night,” said Goldman. “He slept at my house. He was there in the morning. And when my mom drove me to the airport, he was there to hug my mom and be there for her and console her when she dropped me off.”
“He was just that kind of guy,” said Goldman. “He’d do anything he could to help a friend.”


buzzfeednews--2020-04-20--The Photographer Who Took The Viral Photos Of People In Scrubs Blocking Anti-Lockdown Protesters In

The Photographer Who Took The Viral Photos Of People In Scrubs Blocking Anti-Lockdown Protesters In Denver Described What Happened

Alyson McClaran said one of the anti-lockdown protesters pushed his car against a man in scrubs who was peacefully blocking protesters in Denver .
Like millions of others in the US , Alyson McClaran , a Denver-based freelance photographer , is out of work during the lockdown .
So she decided to go to the state Capitol on Sunday to photograph hundreds of people who had gathered there to protest Colorado 's stay-at-home order .
The protest , dubbed Operation Gridlock , is part of a wave of similar demonstrations across the country by right-wing groups and conservatives who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus .
But McClaran soon decided to leave because many protesters at the demonstration did n't have masks on and were n't practicing social distancing .
While walking toward her home from the Capitol , McClaran saw two people in scrubs and N95 masks standing in the middle of the street to block anti-lockdown protesters from going to the Capitol .
`` This is it .
This is what I needed , '' McClaran said , recalling the moment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's photos of the scene perfectly captured the ongoing tension in the US amid the coronavirus pandemic : Conservative demonstrators , supported by President Donald Trump , are fighting against stay-at-home orders and demanding states be reopened , while health care workers are risking their lives fighting against the deadly pandemic that has taken more than 40,000 lives in the country .
McClaran said people in the cars were continually honking at the man and the woman in scrubs , but they both stood their ground even as the light turned green .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a `` Land of the Free '' poster , leaned out of her window and repeatedly yelled at the male counterprotester to `` go to China '' and other `` hateful '' things , McClaran said .
McClaran 's boyfriend , Marc Zenn , took a video of the woman screaming at the man who stood quietly through her tirade .
`` Go to China if you want communism , '' the woman yelled at him .
`` Go to China ! ''
`` You go to work .
Why can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman continued .
“ I ’ ve saved people ’ s lives too ! ''
`` The nurses just stood their ground , '' McClaran said .
`` They were very peaceful , and I did n't hear a single word come out of the guy 's mouth . ''
Are you one of the counterprotesters wearing scrubs in the pictures ?
Email this reporter at tasneem.nashrulla @ buzzfeed.com .
The driver of another vehicle even bumped the front of his car against the man in the scrubs and began yelling at him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just really angry , '' she said .
After the light turned green , police officers asked the two counterprotesters to move out of the roadway and they complied , a spokesperson for the Denver Police Department told BuzzFeed News .
They were not cited .
McClaran said that the police officers were `` nice enough '' to let the counterprotesters peacefully protest in the middle of the road during the red light .
After McClaran 's photos , which were first shared on her Facebook page , went viral , some questioned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the counterprotesters were actual health care professionals .
Responding to accusations that she had personally staged the photos , McClaran said , `` Absolutely , I did not . ''
She said she did not know if the two counterprotesters were actually health care workers .
BuzzFeed News has been unable to independently verify if they were employed at any local hospitals .
`` I believe that they are , but regardless of who they are , it 's more about the message they were sending , '' McClaran said .
`` It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : The nurses are trying to be peaceful and say , 'Go home please , ' and the other side is stressed and angry and scared and they want to reopen , '' she said .
`` No one 's in agreement .
It 's kind of telling this entire story of what 's happening right now in one image , '' she said .
McClaran believes the photos went viral because `` nurses are on the front line and everyone is so supportive of them and thankful . ''
Westword reporter Chase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , spoke to the two counterprotesters who declined to provide their names or their place of employment .
`` It 's really tough , '' the woman , who only identified herself as Jo and as a physician assistant , told Westword .
`` If they get sick , we 're the ones that are going to take care of them . ''
`` I work every night , '' she said .
`` I work tonight , and I take care of patients inside the hospital , with and without COVID .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ devastating . ''
The woman said that while some people came up to her and thanked her , `` mostly people have been very aggressive . ''
`` It 's been overall pretty negative from people in the cars , but very nice from people in the street , '' she told Westword .
McClaran said other people on the street defended the two counterprotesters and were their `` voices '' during the confrontation with the anti-lockdown protesters .
`` Honestly , I was just really sad to see all this anger , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just very stressed out , and I was afraid for my safety and for others . ''

Like millions of others in the US, Alyson McClaran, a Denver-based freelance photographer, is out of work during the lockdown.
So she decided to go to the state Capitol on Sunday to photograph hundreds of people who had gathered there to protest Colorado's stay-at-home order.
"I wanted to document history," McClaran told BuzzFeed News on Monday.
The protest, dubbed Operation Gridlock, is part of a wave of similar demonstrations across the country by right-wing groups and conservatives who are calling for an end to lockdown measures implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.


buzzfeednews--2020-01-22--China Has Quarantined The Cities Near The Center Of The Coronavirus Outbreak

Chinese officials have quarantined a number of cities , home to more than 20 million people , in close proximity to the center of a new virus outbreak .
The coronavirus — also called 2019-nCoV — has infected more than 637 people and killed 17 since Dec. 31 , 2019 , according to Chinese news reports .
Infected travelers have also been detected in Japan , South Korea , Thailand , Taiwan , and Singapore .
The first US case , in Washington state , was announced on Tuesday .
WHO officials would not confirm the current case number being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called `` imprecise . ''
WHO has listed 314 illnesses and 6 deaths from Wuhan on its latest situation report .
Tedros said `` we commend '' Chinese officials on the Wuhan ban on outbound travel , calling it a `` strong action '' to halt the spread of the disease .
`` This is an extraordinary move , given the size of the population and the amount of travel expected during the Lunar New Year , '' said Rebecca Katz of Georgetown University 's Center for Global Health Science @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the travel ban .
`` There is fear that such a move will only push people to take action to avoid authorities and leave the city via other means , and possibly incite panic . ''
The illness is thought to have sprung from a now-closed seafood and meat market in the city of Wuhan , home to 11 million people , in a case of animal-to-human disease transmission .
The virus has since been shown to spread from person to person .
A new Journal of Medical Virology study published Wednesday suggested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ snakes to humans at the Wuhan meat market .

Chinese officials have quarantined a number of cities, home to more than 20 million people, in close proximity to the center of a new virus outbreak.
The coronavirus — also called 2019-nCoV — has infected more than 637 people and killed 17 since Dec. 31, 2019, according to Chinese news reports. Infected travelers have also been detected in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore. The first US case, in Washington state, was announced on Tuesday.
WHO officials would not confirm the current case number being reported by Chinese news, which Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called "imprecise." WHO has listed 314 illnesses and 6 deaths from Wuhan on its latest situation report.
Tedros said "we commend" Chinese officials on the Wuhan ban on outbound travel, calling it a "strong action" to halt the spread of the disease.
"This is an extraordinary move, given the size of the population and the amount of travel expected during the Lunar New Year," said Rebecca Katz of Georgetown University's Center for Global Health Science and Security, in a statement on the travel ban. "There is fear that such a move will only push people to take action to avoid authorities and leave the city via other means, and possibly incite panic."
The illness is thought to have sprung from a now-closed seafood and meat market in the city of Wuhan, home to 11 million people, in a case of animal-to-human disease transmission. The virus has since been shown to spread from person to person.
A new Journal of Medical Virology study published Wednesday suggested that the virus may have spread from snakes to humans at the Wuhan meat market.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-03--The Coronavirus Has Likely Been Spreading Through Washington For Weeks, Scientists Said

Genetic data suggests that Washington state is facing an “ already substantial outbreak ” that has gone undetected for weeks because of testing failures .
As the coronavirus touches down in the US , Washington state has so far been the hardest-hit , with at least 27 confirmed cases , including nine deaths , as of Tuesday .
Many more are likely to follow .
If a new genetic analysis is to be believed , the virus has been circulating — undetected — throughout the state for weeks .
Preliminary analysis of a pair of cases , conducted late last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center in Seattle , supports the increasing likelihood that some people are now becoming infected within the US , as opposed to while abroad or from a known case .
The findings also underscore how badly diagnostic testing has lagged nationwide , allowing the pathogen to spread in American communities largely undetected .
In the latest sign of just how unclear the scope of the outbreak is , the earliest known death in the US occurred in the Seattle area last week , but its connection to the coronavirus was not reported until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security , said that what is happening in the Seattle area may be happening elsewhere , too .
California has reported at least four cases spread by community transmission .
There were more than 100 cases across the US as of Tuesday .
“ We should be thinking of this as our first warning , or an early warning , that we are starting to see a new chapter in the US outbreak , ” Rivers told BuzzFeed News .
And Columbia University virologist Angela @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indicates that there are likely foci of community spread in other states , which means that it is going to be a lot harder , if not impossible , to contain this virus.
” On Saturday , Trevor Bedford , a scientist at Fred Hutchinson , revealed that his team had sequenced the genomes of two coronavirus cases in Washington .
One of them , reported Jan. 19 , was the first case in the US : a man who had recently traveled back from Wuhan , China , the epicenter of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The second , reported last Friday , was that of a high school student , who was also in Snohomish County but had not traveled to a country affected by the outbreak , according to local public health officials .
Bedford said on Twitter that the second case turned out to be genetically similar to the first , with the two sharing a rare variant that made the similarity highly unlikely to be a coincidence .
More likely was that the first infection had spread in the community before spawning the second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been cryptic transmission in Washington State for the past 6 weeks , ” he wrote , adding that he believed the state was facing an “ already substantial outbreak.
” His initial models projected that the number of infections in the state was likely around “ a few hundred , ” and a blog post including updated case counts on Monday estimated that it was closer to 600 .
Bedford wrote that this matched his projections of the number of infections in Wuhan on January 1 .
Outside experts stressed that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of data currently available , were preliminary .
Bedford was not available for further comment .
Washington Gov .
Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency over the weekend .
The nine deaths due to coronavirus in the state included elderly residents of the Life Care Center nursing facility in Kirkland .
Jamie Nixon , a spokesperson for the state ’ s Department of Health , said that the agency was evaluating the Fred Hutchinson team ’ s findings .
“ It is definitely possible that COVID-19 has been circulating , with people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Nixon said by email .
Only now are those cases starting to be caught , in Washington and elsewhere .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been widely accused of failing to make testing broadly available during the initial , crucial weeks when the disease entered the US .
Critics blame the agency for shipping hundreds of faulty diagnostic test kits to local and state laboratories and imposing strict criteria on who could be tested .
The CDC widened the criteria last week , and has said it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ original test , tossing out a defective part of the DNA test .
On Tuesday , the agency said it would be sending out 75,000 tests to labs across the country by the end of the week .
And the head of the FDA said that total will come closer to 1 million with tests from commercial providers .
But only about 500 Americans had been tested as of Sunday , and many scientists believe these efforts are too late .
“ Everyone in public health has asked for more testing for like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smith , an epidemiologist at Kent State University .
“ We ’ ve been slow to roll that out , and that ’ s a big problem.
” As the tests roll out , a spike in cases will likely mean that more existing infections are being confirmed , not necessarily that new infections are happening .
“ It ’ s not like we ’ re having some crazy explosion in the next few days , ” Rivers said .
“ We ’ re just catching up to understand the current picture .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ but you have to interpret them knowing that we ’ re now just getting visibility on things that have already been happening .
”

The findings also underscore how badly diagnostic testing has lagged nationwide, allowing the pathogen to spread in American communities largely undetected. In the latest sign of just how unclear the scope of the outbreak is, the earliest known death in the US occurred in the Seattle area last week, but its connection to the coronavirus was not reported until Tuesday afternoon.
Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that what is happening in the Seattle area may be happening elsewhere, too. California has reported at least four cases spread by community transmission. There were more than 100 cases across the US as of Tuesday.
“We should be thinking of this as our first warning, or an early warning, that we are starting to see a new chapter in the US outbreak,” Rivers told BuzzFeed News.
And Columbia University virologist Angela Rasmussen said by email, “This indicates that there are likely foci of community spread in other states, which means that it is going to be a lot harder, if not impossible, to contain this virus.”
On Saturday, Trevor Bedford, a scientist at Fred Hutchinson, revealed that his team had sequenced the genomes of two coronavirus cases in Washington. One of them, reported Jan. 19, was the first case in the US: a man who had recently traveled back from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus, to Snohomish County, Washington.
The second, reported last Friday, was that of a high school student, who was also in Snohomish County but had not traveled to a country affected by the outbreak, according to local public health officials.
Bedford said on Twitter that the second case turned out to be genetically similar to the first, with the two sharing a rare variant that made the similarity highly unlikely to be a coincidence. More likely was that the first infection had spread in the community before spawning the second.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-03--These Pictures Show How World Tourism Has Been Affected By The Coronavirus

The arrival hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi , Vietnam , is empty on Feb. 27 as the @ @ @ @ @ plummeted amid fears over the spread of COVID-19 , the illness caused by the new @ @

These Pictures Show How World Tourism Has Been Affected By The Coronavirus
Tourist hotspots around the globe are seeing a dramatic decrease in visitors due to ongoing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-03--China’s Biggest Messaging App Has Been Censoring Coronavirus Content Since January

The information clampdown on WeChat and YY likely made the spread of the virus worse .
WeChat , China ’ s most popular messaging app , has been censoring keywords relating to the COVID-19 outbreak since at least Jan. 1 , according to a new report .
The study took keywords from news coverage and used them in messages between three test accounts — one registered to a mainland China phone number and two registered to Canadian phone numbers .
Researchers found that the app censored at least 500 different keyword combinations between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15 , during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China .
Citizen Lab , an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the University of Toronto , released an analysis Tuesday , showing censorship around the coronavirus on WeChat and YY — a Chinese livestreaming app similar to Twitch .
The lab found that both platforms began blacklisting terms related to the virus as early as the last week of December 2019 , when Chinese health officials first reported an unknown pathogen spreading through the country ’ s hospitals .
The WeChat messaging app , which is owned by the Chinese conglomerate Tencent , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus — as well as to pass along hoaxes and misinformation .
As the coronavirus spread , first across Wuhan , and then into other Chinese cities , people used the app to track infection rates and crowdsource medical information .
As of Tuesday , COVID-19 , the disease caused by the new coronavirus , has infected 92,808 people worldwide , with 3,159 , the majority of which have been in mainland China .
Nine people — all in Washington — have now died from COVID-19 in the US .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with arrests by Chinese law enforcement , had a profound impact on medical professionals ’ ability to share information about the outbreak during the earliest days of the epidemic .
In late December , doctors in Wuhan were using WeChat to share information about a SARS-like virus that was infecting people in the city .
Soon after , police in Wuhan arrested eight doctors , accusing them of `` spreading rumors.
” One of those doctors , ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang , contracted the virus while treating patients and died in February .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on platforms like WeChat was intense .
“ I ’ ve never seen such collective anger and sadness on my WeChat feed , ” journalist Viola Zhou tweeted at the time .
China 's censorship laws , which predate the first coronavirus cases , have been deployed before under the pretense of preventing mass panic .
There are reports that up to 40 people have been investigated for similar online rumor-spreading around the country .
Citizen Lab found 19 censored WeChat keyword combinations that referenced Li specifically , like “ Epidemic + Virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 疫情+病毒+李文亮+中央 ) and “ Coronavirus + People-to-people transmission + Li Wenliang '' ( 冠状病毒+人传人+李文亮 ) .
WeChat did not return a request for comment .
In a statement about its content moderation provided to BuzzFeed News in January , a Tencent spokesperson said the app takes action against bogus information by marking content as false , taking down posts , or blocking accounts that publish disinformation temporarily or permanently .
`` We have rolled out a variety of tools and features on the platform to help users stay safe and protect themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the statement read .
`` Importantly , this includes debunking false rumors . ''
According to Tuesday ’ s report , WeChat and YY use different censorship methods .
YY requires streamers to obtain a license to go live , meaning most of the communication of which the government would disapprove happens in the app ’ s text chat .
Every time a YY user opens the app , it automatically updates a list of filtered keywords to block .
Citizen Lab has a script that runs every hour that downloads and decrypts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has made since 2016 .
Researchers have recorded 45 blocked keywords related to the COVID-19 outbreak — five of which were removed from its blacklist on Feb. 10 — including phrases like “ Unknown Wuhan pneumonia '' ( 武汉不明肺炎 ) , “ SARS variation ” ( 沙士变异 ) , and “ Wuhan seafood market '' ( 武汉海鲜市场 ) .
If people type those words to another user , the message is never received .
WeChat is more complicated , with censorship happening on its servers .
If a person tries to send a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ account , that message simply never shows up .
So the researchers created a sample of keywords to test and ran those words through the app using three test accounts — one registered to a mainland China phone number and two registered to Canadian phone numbers .
Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15 , Citizen Lab ’ s researchers found 516 blacklisted keyword combinations directly related to the coronavirus .
The keywords include things like “ Xi Jinping goes to Wuhan '' ( 习近平到武汉 ) , “ Epidemic + Pneumonia + Xi Jinping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and “ Wuhan + CCP + Crisis + Beijing '' ( 武漢+中共+危機+北京 ) .
David Jacobson , professor of global business strategy at SMU 's Cox School of Business and a visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing , told BuzzFeed News that WeChat is far more central to Chinese citizens ’ lives than any equivalent app in the US .
“ As a platform , you can live your life with it , ” he told BuzzFeed News .
“ You can pay for things .
You can do so much more.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s been surprised by the level of open communication the Chinese government has allowed to play out online — to a degree .
He pointed to Chen Qiushi , the lawyer and citizen journalist who used WeChat to report from the ground in Wuhan , managing to get inside the city in late January , right before the lockdown .
He used WeChat for several days before the app banned his account and censored any images or videos featuring his face .
Chen is currently missing and , according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family ... that he had been forcibly quarantined in an undisclosed location . ''
“ The fact [ Chen ’ s reports ] got out there was amazing to me , ” Jacobson said .
“ Someone is letting that play a little.
” Jacobson wondered if that pointed to an internal conflict within the Chinese Communist Party .
“ The fact that it 's being used effectively means that there are people , interest groups , stakeholders , who want to use this event to create some more transparency , ” Jacobson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowing more free information might not offer it anymore later because it does n't fit their agenda.
” Based on Citizen Lab ’ s findings , that period of free information has ended .
Not only has WeChat aggressively filtered messages about the virus , but the keyword combinations that trigger the app ’ s content filter have also increased dramatically over the last two months .
Between Jan. 1 and 31 , there were 132 censored keyword combinations , increasing by 384 between Feb. 1 and 15 .
“ On YY , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more relaxed , ” Jeffrey Knockel , one of the researchers behind the Citizen Lab report , told BuzzFeed News .
“ On WeChat , we saw that the filtering actually increased in time , picking up in February.
” Knockel said that while this particular report specifically tracked keywords on WeChat , Citizen Lab conducted two studies in 2018 and 2019 that showed the app used similar censorship tactics to blacklist images .
“ They compare an image to see if it ’ s individually similar to some blacklisted images they maintain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they use OCR [ optical character recognition ] methods to extract text from the image and if there 's certain blacklisted text they will also censor it.
” According to Lotus Ruan , another Citizen Lab researcher who worked on the WeChat study , the app ’ s censorship doesn ’ t just affect users in China , either .
“ The censorship follows [ users ] even if they move abroad , ” she told BuzzFeed News .
Ruan said there was a case to be made for moderating bogus health information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but Tencent doesn ’ t disclose what or how it is censoring .
“ We think that in times of public health crisis , it ’ s arguably reasonable to moderate content or debunk misinformation or disinformation , ” she said .
“ The problem is that the content moderation should be done with transparency .
”

China's censorship laws, which predate the first coronavirus cases, have been deployed before under the pretense of preventing mass panic. There are reports that up to 40 people have been investigated for similar online rumor-spreading around the country.
Citizen Lab found 19 censored WeChat keyword combinations that referenced Li specifically, like “Epidemic + Virus + Li Wenliang + Central government" (疫情+病毒+李文亮+中央) and “Coronavirus + People-to-people transmission + Li Wenliang" (冠状病毒+人传人+李文亮).
WeChat did not return a request for comment. In a statement about its content moderation provided to BuzzFeed News in January, a Tencent spokesperson said the app takes action against bogus information by marking content as false, taking down posts, or blocking accounts that publish disinformation temporarily or permanently.
"We have rolled out a variety of tools and features on the platform to help users stay safe and protect themselves against the ongoing Coronavirus epidemic," the statement read. "Importantly, this includes debunking false rumors."
According to Tuesday’s report, WeChat and YY use different censorship methods. YY requires streamers to obtain a license to go live, meaning most of the communication of which the government would disapprove happens in the app’s text chat.
Every time a YY user opens the app, it automatically updates a list of filtered keywords to block. Citizen Lab has a script that runs every hour that downloads and decrypts the list, tracking the changes YY has made since 2016. Researchers have recorded 45 blocked keywords related to the COVID-19 outbreak — five of which were removed from its blacklist on Feb. 10 — including phrases like “Unknown Wuhan pneumonia" (武汉不明肺炎), “SARS variation” (沙士变异), and “Wuhan seafood market" (武汉海鲜市场). If people type those words to another user, the message is never received.
WeChat is more complicated, with censorship happening on its servers. If a person tries to send a message that includes blacklisted terms to another account, that message simply never shows up. So the researchers created a sample of keywords to test and ran those words through the app using three test accounts — one registered to a mainland China phone number and two registered to Canadian phone numbers.
Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15, Citizen Lab’s researchers found 516 blacklisted keyword combinations directly related to the coronavirus. The keywords include things like “Xi Jinping goes to Wuhan" (习近平到武汉), “Epidemic + Pneumonia + Xi Jinping + Central" (疫情+肺炎+習近平+中央), and “Wuhan + CCP + Crisis + Beijing" (武漢+中共+危機+北京).


buzzfeednews--2020-03-03--One In Ten Iranian MPs Test Positive For Coronavirus, Deputy Speaker Says

Iran has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases outside of China , but the second-highest number of deaths .
Twenty-three Iranian MPs have so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus , the country 's deputy speaker said Tuesday .
Abdolreza Mesri told Iranian state television that the MPs had contracted the virus through contact with their constituents .
Iran 's parliament has 290 seats .
“ These people have a close relationship with the people and they carry different viruses from different parts of the country , which may create a new virus , so we recommend the lawmakers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public for now , ” Mesri reportedly told the Young Journalists Club program .
On Tuesday , Iranian health official Alireza Raisi said that there were now 2,336 cases of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus , in the country and that 77 people had died .
More people have died in Iran from COVID-19 than in any other country apart from China , where the outbreak originated in late December .
But Iran officially has only half the number of cases of South Korea , leading to suggestions that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Iran may be much higher .
Last week it was revealed that the head of Iran 's anti-coronavirus task force had tested positive for the virus , shortly after downplaying the impact of the coronavirus in Iran .
Several Iranian officials have died as a result of COVID-19 : Mohammad Mirmohammadi , referred to as a confidant of Iran 's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , and Hadi Khosroshahi , a senior cleric and the former ambassador to the Vatican .
Newly elected MP Mohammad Ali Ramazani Dastak died on Saturday in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he had flu or COVID-19 .
Also on Tuesday , it was reported by the LNA and Tasnim news agencies that the head of Iran 's emergency medical services , Pirhossein Kolivand , had been infected with the novel coronavirus .

Twenty-three Iranian MPs have so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the country's deputy speaker said Tuesday.
Abdolreza Mesri told Iranian state television that the MPs had contracted the virus through contact with their constituents. Iran's parliament has 290 seats.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-26--A Chilling Account From A Doctor At The Center Of The Coronavirus Crisis

The center of New York City ’ s coronavirus crisis is Elmhurst Hospital Center .
The 545-bed facility , in Queens , has in recent days experienced the full brunt of an unprecedented public health crisis : long lines to receive medical care , a chaotic emergency room , supplies and equipment dwindling dangerously low , an overfull morgue , and medical workers themselves contracting and suffering from the virus .
On Wednesday , the New York Times reported that 13 patients died at Elmhurst from COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus , in the preceding 24-hour @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — what the New Yorker ’ s Rivka Galchen called in 2013 “ the most diverse neighborhood in New York City and maybe in the world ” — is a hub for immigrants .
According to Galchen ’ s story , the hospital offers translation services in 153 languages .
As such , it ’ s not just a symbol of the city ’ s straining public health system , but the immigrant city itself .
Last night , BuzzFeed News spoke with a physician at Elmhurst who has been treating coronavirus patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there are currently around 60 intubated COVID-19 patients at the hospital , requested anonymity so he could speak freely .
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity .
Describe what ’ s happening in the hospital right now .
Elmhurst is just getting destroyed .
It ’ s very , very gruesome .
The hospital has a 15-bed intensive care unit that would normally cover respiratory patients or patients with any significant illness requiring intubation , like pneumonia , liver injury , encephalopathy , or kidney problems .
What ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a COVID patient .
And they ’ re all ARDS [ acute respiratory distress syndrome , a life-threatening fluid buildup in the lungs ] .
There is a nine-bed medical intensive care unit — those are all ARDS .
Then you have a 30-bed stepdown unit .
That ’ s all intubated COVID patients .
Then there ’ s the general medicine floor .
That ’ s all intubated COVID patients .
You walk into the hospital and you think , Not only is the virus infecting people — it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s pushing out everything else .
It ’ s all COVID .
That ’ s insane .
To make things worse , Elmhurst , which basically is held together by a shoestring in the best of times , is being pushed to the brink .
Being pushed to the brink , how ?
The hospital used to have four pulmonology and critical attendings [ doctors who specialize in treating critical respiratory illness ] .
Four attendings seems small but it ’ s usually fine .
When you ’ re asking them to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients as normal , it becomes absurd .
One of those attendings left a month ago , and one is sick .
So now you have two attending physicians seeing all these patients .
And now you have normal medicine teams who are used to seeing diarrhea , alcohol withdrawal , UTIs , stuff that is very mild , who are now being asked to deal with the most complicated , intubated , multi-organ failure patients .
I ’ ve never seen anything like it before .
The ER has a huge backflow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 12 patients designated for admission but there are no beds .
These people are in purgatory .
The emergency room has to manage them as a team .
They might be intubated and vented but just lying in the ER and waiting while ER doctors are tending to however many people they have to see on their shift .
These vented patients are very complicated .
You have to check blood gasses every few hours to make sure you ’ re pushing in the right amount of oxygen and pulling out the right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people called respiratory techs who go to school for years for that .
Normally you get a respiratory tech with a vented patient , but they ’ re spread so thin here .
COVID is a very deadly disease .
Even with a perfect 1-to-1 ratio of doctors and perfect staffing , a lot of these people are going to die .
But there are things you can do with more oversight and more expertise .
The issue with Elmhurst is there aren ’ t enough intensivists — not enough specialists in respiratory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in but people are being stretched very thin .
Do staff have enough personal protective equipment ( PPE ) ?
It ’ s a motley collection .
Everyone is wearing a mask .
Everyone has a different assemblage of gear .
The hospital is low on PPE .
Some people bring in face shields from home .
Some are wearing goggles .
Some are wearing hair nets .
Some are walking around in cutaway scrubs .
Some have yellow gowns on top of the scrubs .
Some people have helmets .
You ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a face shield down , gloves , and when you ’ re done , you ’ re supposed to throw everything out .
Now , there ’ s a shortage .
And the hospital has so much infection , plus people ’ s technique is not perfect .
People are very scared so they ’ re wearing one N95 all day , which — I don ’ t know how legitimate that is — then they put a different surgical mask on top of that one , then throw it out .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to keep rewashing after seeing every patient .
Who are the COVID patients , demographically ?
Elmhurst is a super-diverse community .
It ’ s Hispanic , Bengali , Pakistani , Polish , Guyanese .
It ’ s everybody .
It ’ s our normal patient population .
The ages are terrifying , anywhere from thirties , forties , fifties , sixties , seventies .
It ’ s obviously more people in their sixties and seventies .
But every time there is a code [ a cardiac arrest and medical response ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And when they call out the room , residents run to their computer and look who is coding and how old they are .
Today there were two 35-year-olds who died .
And people are so freaked out by that .
It tends to be someone with a preexisting condition — one of these people had asthma , and one had obstructive sleep apnea .
But this is mild stuff .
We ’ re not talking about only quadriplegics .
We ’ re talking about people who are basically doing well .
How @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s pretty common to see someone crying in the hallway .
I saw that twice today .
Something like 12 people died yesterday .
[ The New York Times reported 13 deaths . ]
These are bonkers numbers for a hospital , where you ’ d usually have one or two a day .
They don ’ t even change in and out of PPE .
They gear up one time , and that ’ s it for the whole shift .
They don ’ t want to be exposed for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are already calling out with fevers .
The morale among ER people is extremely low .
People are anxious , making morbid jokes about dying .
Talking about what would happen if I quit , I didn ’ t sign up for this .
The chatter you hear outside of these units is very grim .
An attending will come in and say , “ I ’ m flashing back to Vietnam ” or “ it ’ s a fucking nightmare ” or “ this box of masks will last until Friday.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are all silent .
Because they are being intubated and in medically induced comas .
Normally patients this sick are surrounded by family , who are talking to you and asking questions , concerned , crying .
But there ’ s no visitors allowed in the hospital now so these people are dying alone .
There ’ s this awful quietness .
This mechanical hiss , in and out , back and forth , of the ventilator .
As someone who takes care of critically ill patients , I ’ m used to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m used to the idea that patients can ’ t respond .
But normally not all of my patients are intubated — some people will be recovering .
This is just so different .
Everyone is doing worse all the time .
The only way more vents are freeing up is more people are dying .
It ’ s crushing .
How concerned are you personally about getting COVID-19 ?
I ’ m extremely concerned .
I ’ m terrified .
I have a young child .
I debated about sending my wife @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in health care too .
She might infect my parents or her parents .
What if she already had it and is asymptomatic ?
It ’ s all very morbid .
I ’ m terrified .
When I was training , I never thought about a day like this .
The fact that this is spreading so quickly and is killing health care providers .
It ’ s not just killing the uninformed .
It ’ s killing people wearing PPE .
It doesn ’ t really seem to have any kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking out everyone .
Has this made you think differently about local , state , or federal leadership ?
With Trump , it ’ s straightforward to say he has killed people by his response already , and will continue to kill people if he wants to reopen the country .
Also , this is the guy who said vaccines have a link with autism , and now we expect him to lead the fight to find a vaccine for this ?
Cuomo has done a good job of leading .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t have shelter-in-place laws .
What ’ s the biggest misconception about this disease and the fight against it ?
What do you wish people knew ?
People read social media and newspapers and there is this idea that , Wow , these doctors are such heroes , going to front lines .
They ’ re doing such a great job .
In reality , I do n't want to be a hero .
I don ’ t want to be brave .
I didn ’ t sign up for any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and kind of trapped .
If I don ’ t do this , I ’ ll lose my job , and if I do it , I could die .
And it ’ s not a heroic feeling .
It feels like being thrown into the fire .
You ’ re a body , and you can take care of a ventilated patient — give it a shot .
I would way rather not be doing this .
●

The center of New York City’s coronavirus crisis is Elmhurst Hospital Center. The 545-bed facility, in Queens, has in recent days experienced the full brunt of an unprecedented public health crisis: long lines to receive medical care, a chaotic emergency room, supplies and equipment dwindling dangerously low, an overfull morgue, and medical workers themselves contracting and suffering from the virus. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that 13 patients died at Elmhurst from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the preceding 24-hour period.
The area the hospital serves — what the New Yorker’s Rivka Galchen called in 2013 “the most diverse neighborhood in New York City and maybe in the world” — is a hub for immigrants. According to Galchen’s story, the hospital offers translation services in 153 languages. As such, it’s not just a symbol of the city’s straining public health system, but the immigrant city itself.
Last night, BuzzFeed News spoke with a physician at Elmhurst who has been treating coronavirus patients. The doctor, who estimated that there are currently around 60 intubated COVID-19 patients at the hospital, requested anonymity so he could speak freely. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Describe what’s happening in the hospital right now.
Elmhurst is just getting destroyed. It’s very, very gruesome. The hospital has a 15-bed intensive care unit that would normally cover respiratory patients or patients with any significant illness requiring intubation, like pneumonia, liver injury, encephalopathy, or kidney problems. What’s remarkable is that now, every patient is a COVID patient. And they’re all ARDS [acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening fluid buildup in the lungs].
There is a nine-bed medical intensive care unit — those are all ARDS. Then you have a 30-bed stepdown unit. That’s all intubated COVID patients. Then there’s the general medicine floor. That’s all intubated COVID patients. You walk into the hospital and you think, Not only is the virus infecting people — it’s infecting the hospital itself. It’s pushing out everything else. It’s all COVID. That’s insane.
To make things worse, Elmhurst, which basically is held together by a shoestring in the best of times, is being pushed to the brink.
Being pushed to the brink, how?
The hospital used to have four pulmonology and critical attendings [doctors who specialize in treating critical respiratory illness]. Four attendings seems small but it’s usually fine. When you’re asking them to see five to six times the number of patients as normal, it becomes absurd. One of those attendings left a month ago, and one is sick. So now you have two attending physicians seeing all these patients. And now you have normal medicine teams who are used to seeing diarrhea, alcohol withdrawal, UTIs, stuff that is very mild, who are now being asked to deal with the most complicated, intubated, multi-organ failure patients. I’ve never seen anything like it before.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-26--Doctors And Nurses Fighting The Coronavirus Outbreak Are Getting Sick And Dying — And No One Is Keep

Doctors And Nurses Fighting The Coronavirus Outbreak Are Getting Sick And Dying — And No One Is Keeping Track

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
Health care workers fighting the coronavirus outbreak across the country are getting sick and dying , nurses and doctors say .
And despite the fact that they ’ re essential to fighting the epidemic , no one in the US seems to be keeping track .
Judy Wilson-Griffin , a nurse at SSM Health St. Mary ’ s Hospital in St. Louis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing positive for COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus , according to the St. Louis American .
In Georgia , two health care workers who tested positive for COVID-19 died : a 48-year-old woman who worked at Donalsonville Hospital and a 42-year-old mammogram technician at Piedmont Newnan Hospital , the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported .
And Kious Kelly , a 48-year-old assistant nursing manager at Mount Sinai West medical center in Manhattan , died Tuesday after he previously tested positive for COVID-19 , according to the New York Post .
Doctors , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have sounded the alarm for weeks that a lack of access to testing and personal protective equipment ( PPE ) , including face masks and gloves , has left them at a high risk of getting exposed as they fight the virus that ’ s already killed more than 1,000 people in the country .
Now , they say , their fears are being realized .
“ There is not one among us who is not frightened stepping through these hospital doors each day to simply continue doing our job , ” Dawn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Seattle , told BuzzFeed News .
“ I , for one , have updated my will as I am doubtful I will survive this healthcare crisis.
” And if health care workers get sick , there are cascading impacts that will affect everybody else .
Doctors and nurses who keep working while infected can expose more people .
If these workers go home to recover , then there are fewer of them to tend to the growing number of infections popping up across the country .
If they are so critically ill that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be less resources available to treat the general public .
Despite the urgency of protecting health care workers , few states are prioritizing keeping track of whether they are testing positive or dying .
Out of the 10 states currently leading the country for infections and deaths contacted by BuzzFeed News , California is the only one publicly reporting on infected health care workers .
At least 35 California health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak have already tested positive for COVID-19 , state officials reported on Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing , this is likely an undercount .
A Washington state official told BuzzFeed News they are asking everyone confirmed with COVID-19 about their profession , but due to incomplete information , they are not disclosing numbers at this time .
Officials in Illinois , New Jersey , and New York , home to the country ’ s biggest epidemic , said the information is not publicly available .
New York officials last week told health care workers not to get tested if they weren ’ t exhibiting symptoms , even if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in protective and testing equipment .
Meanwhile , Georgia and Michigan officials said they were not tracking health care cases .
Florida , Massachusetts , and Louisiana did not respond to an inquiry from BuzzFeed News .
The CDC did not immediately respond to questions about whether the agency is tracking infections in health care workers nationwide .
In Italy , the coronavirus outbreak has overwhelmed the country ’ s health care system , leading to soaring fatalities and a high number of health care worker infections that has put further strain on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Of the nearly 68,000 known infections in the country , about 9 % of them , or 6,205 cases , have been health care workers , according to a March 25 update .
Health care workers in the US have told BuzzFeed News they are deeply concerned about following in Italy ’ s footsteps .
According to one doctor in Providence , Rhode Island , who declined to be named , the surge in suspected COVID-19 patients is starting to take a toll .
“ Things are starting to ramp up here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an email .
” I suspect we 're about 5 days behind New York .
Sadly , we have several residents , fellows , attendings and multiple nurses and other staff who have gotten sick.
” Another nurse practitioner in Washington , DC , said that a death was recently reported in a nursing message group she 's in .
“ We are starting to see our health care providers die very quickly from this virus , ” she told BuzzFeed News .
“ I am deeply concerned that as the lack of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to lose a large portion of our medical providers , '' she said .
`` We will then be faced with a pandemic where we do n't have enough people to treat the sick , as the pinch point of care is no longer equipment like ventilators , but providers .
”

Health care workers fighting the coronavirus outbreak across the country are getting sick and dying, nurses and doctors say. And despite the fact that they’re essential to fighting the epidemic, no one in the US seems to be keeping track.
Judy Wilson-Griffin, a nurse at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, died last week after testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the St. Louis American. In Georgia, two health care workers who tested positive for COVID-19 died: a 48-year-old woman who worked at Donalsonville Hospital and a 42-year-old mammogram technician at Piedmont Newnan Hospital, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. And Kious Kelly, a 48-year-old assistant nursing manager at Mount Sinai West medical center in Manhattan, died Tuesday after he previously tested positive for COVID-19, according to the New York Post.
Doctors, nurses, and others in health care have sounded the alarm for weeks that a lack of access to testing and personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks and gloves, has left them at a high risk of getting exposed as they fight the virus that’s already killed more than 1,000 people in the country.
Now, they say, their fears are being realized.
“There is not one among us who is not frightened stepping through these hospital doors each day to simply continue doing our job,” Dawn Aldinger, a 59-year-old longtime nurse in Seattle, told BuzzFeed News. “I, for one, have updated my will as I am doubtful I will survive this healthcare crisis.”
And if health care workers get sick, there are cascading impacts that will affect everybody else. Doctors and nurses who keep working while infected can expose more people. If these workers go home to recover, then there are fewer of them to tend to the growing number of infections popping up across the country. If they are so critically ill that they need to seek help, there will be less resources available to treat the general public.
Despite the urgency of protecting health care workers, few states are prioritizing keeping track of whether they are testing positive or dying. Out of the 10 states currently leading the country for infections and deaths contacted by BuzzFeed News, California is the only one publicly reporting on infected health care workers.
At least 35 California health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak have already tested positive for COVID-19, state officials reported on Wednesday. Due to a lack of available testing, this is likely an undercount.
A Washington state official told BuzzFeed News they are asking everyone confirmed with COVID-19 about their profession, but due to incomplete information, they are not disclosing numbers at this time.
Officials in Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, home to the country’s biggest epidemic, said the information is not publicly available. New York officials last week told health care workers not to get tested if they weren’t exhibiting symptoms, even if they were likely exposed, due to shortages in protective and testing equipment.
Meanwhile, Georgia and Michigan officials said they were not tracking health care cases. Florida, Massachusetts, and Louisiana did not respond to an inquiry from BuzzFeed News.
The CDC did not immediately respond to questions about whether the agency is tracking infections in health care workers nationwide.
In Italy, the coronavirus outbreak has overwhelmed the country’s health care system, leading to soaring fatalities and a high number of health care worker infections that has put further strain on the country’s ability to respond. Of the nearly 68,000 known infections in the country, about 9% of them, or 6,205 cases, have been health care workers, according to a March 25 update.
Health care workers in the US have told BuzzFeed News they are deeply concerned about following in Italy’s footsteps.
According to one doctor in Providence, Rhode Island, who declined to be named, the surge in suspected COVID-19 patients is starting to take a toll. “Things are starting to ramp up here,” he told BuzzFeed News in an email. ”I suspect we're about 5 days behind New York. Sadly, we have several residents, fellows, attendings and multiple nurses and other staff who have gotten sick.”
Another nurse practitioner in Washington, DC, said that a death was recently reported in a nursing message group she's in. “We are starting to see our health care providers die very quickly from this virus,” she told BuzzFeed News.
“I am deeply concerned that as the lack of PPE situation worsens, we are going to lose a large portion of our medical providers," she said. "We will then be faced with a pandemic where we don't have enough people to treat the sick, as the pinch point of care is no longer equipment like ventilators, but providers.”


buzzfeednews--2020-03-26--Two Tesla Employees Have Tested Positive For COVID-19

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
Two Tesla employees have tested positive for COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus , according to an email sent to employees Thursday morning .
The note , sent by Tesla ’ s vice president of environmental and safety department , Laurie Shelby , did not disclose the locations of the workers or their job types , but noted that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ nearly two weeks ” and had not shown any symptoms while in the office .
This marks the first time Tesla , which employs nearly 50,000 people , has disclosed that some of its employees have tested positive for the coronavirus .
Thursday ’ s disclosure comes after Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly downplayed the public response to the pandemic and spread misinformation about the virality of the coronavirus .
Earlier this month , in an email encouraging employees at his rocket manufacturing company SpaceX to continue to come to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely to die from a car accident than from the coronavirus .
SpaceX ’ s offices , which remain open , reported their first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 to employees earlier this week .
A Tesla spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment .
Got a tip ?
Email Ryan.Mac @ buzzfeed.com or contact BuzzFeed News securely here .
“ Their direct coworkers , who were already working from home for nearly two weeks as well , were immediately notified so they can quarantine and watch for symptoms , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday morning .
“ In both cases interactions with the individuals had a low likelihood of transmission based on the minimal staff onsite and social distancing measures we took earlier this month.
” Not all Tesla workers received the email .
One person who works at Tesla ’ s factory in Fremont , California , the company ’ s main automobile manufacturing hub in the United States , said they did not receive any notification from management .
That factory stopped producing cars at the end of the day Monday , after local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a protracted back-and-forth in which the company tried to keep its manufacturing site open despite a countywide ordinance to shelter in place .
“ As we have said before , please do not feel obligated to come to work if you are uncomfortable , even if you are in essential operations , ” Shelby wrote in the email .
This week , Musk appears to have taken the threat of the coronavirus and its societal impact more seriously .
He promised that he would shift operations at Tesla and SpaceX facilities to help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and delivered more than 1,200 ventilators sourced from China for US hospitals Tuesday .

Two Tesla employees have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to an email sent to employees Thursday morning.
The note, sent by Tesla’s vice president of environmental and safety department, Laurie Shelby, did not disclose the locations of the workers or their job types, but noted that both had been working from home for “nearly two weeks” and had not shown any symptoms while in the office. This marks the first time Tesla, which employs nearly 50,000 people, has disclosed that some of its employees have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Thursday’s disclosure comes after Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly downplayed the public response to the pandemic and spread misinformation about the virality of the coronavirus. Earlier this month, in an email encouraging employees at his rocket manufacturing company SpaceX to continue to come to work, Musk wrote that they were more likely to die from a car accident than from the coronavirus. SpaceX’s offices, which remain open, reported their first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 to employees earlier this week.
A Tesla spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Got a tip? Email Ryan.Mac@buzzfeed.com or contact BuzzFeed News securely here.
“Their direct coworkers, who were already working from home for nearly two weeks as well, were immediately notified so they can quarantine and watch for symptoms,” read the email, which was sent Thursday morning. “In both cases interactions with the individuals had a low likelihood of transmission based on the minimal staff onsite and social distancing measures we took earlier this month.”
Not all Tesla workers received the email. One person who works at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, the company’s main automobile manufacturing hub in the United States, said they did not receive any notification from management. That factory stopped producing cars at the end of the day Monday, after local authorities deemed Tesla a nonessential business following a protracted back-and-forth in which the company tried to keep its manufacturing site open despite a countywide ordinance to shelter in place.
“As we have said before, please do not feel obligated to come to work if you are uncomfortable, even if you are in essential operations,” Shelby wrote in the email.
This week, Musk appears to have taken the threat of the coronavirus and its societal impact more seriously. He promised that he would shift operations at Tesla and SpaceX facilities to help produce breathing apparatuses needed for ill patients and delivered more than 1,200 ventilators sourced from China for US hospitals Tuesday.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-26--Opinion | The President Has One Job Today: Find Ventilators

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
On the evening of Aug. 30 , 2005 , more than a day after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans , then–Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown met with Louisiana Gov .
Kathleen Blanco .
He told her that the federal government had 500 buses on standby , which could help rescue the 100,000 people trapped in the city .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buses , ” Brown told her .
There were no buses .
Days passed , and tens of thousands of refugees gathered at the Superdome and New Orleans Convention Center .
Little food , water , or medical supplies were available .
No buses appeared .
Nor did airdrops of supplies .
As this paralysis and the resulting suffering became glaringly obvious , outrage and hand wringing grew about then-president George W. Bush ’ s disengagement , and the horrific spectacle of a global superpower unable to rescue its own citizens .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sept. 2 , after National Guard troops arrived .
Today , as an overwhelmed Trump administration — and a president clearly out of his depth – struggle to respond to the coronavirus pandemic , the government faces a “ missing buses ” scenario on a vastly greater scale .
Healthcare workers lack masks , other protective equipment , and , most crucially , ventilators needed to handle rapidly expanding numbers of critical cases .
Shortages of test kits persist and hospitals are rapidly becoming overwhelmed .
Yet , even as appeals from governors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ louder , President Donald Trump and the government he leads have failed to take the lead in ways that eerily parallel the presidential-level failures of Katrina .
As the death toll increases , the bumbling response in the early weeks of the crisis will look worse and worse .
But it ’ s not too late to learn from what happened almost 15 years ago in New Orleans .
First of all , think about those missing buses .
“ You know , we ’ re not a shipping clerk , ” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governors for crucial medical supplies .
In some sense , though , that ’ s exactly what the federal government needs to be right now .
Logistics , carried out on a national level and led by the White House , are key to mobilizing public and private resources to avert mass death and suffering .
Procuring buses in a national emergency was the job of two federal agencies .
FEMA was supposed to make requests to the Department of Transportation .
At the last minute before Hurricane Katrina hit , a FEMA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DOT counterparts did not follow through and request buses from their contractor .
An overwhelmed FEMA never followed up – even as hungry , thirsty displaced residents waited for help .
The request got lost in a paralyzed bureaucracy .
Brown took a lot of blame for the whole botched response , and Bush ’ s “ Brownie , you ’ re doing a heckuva job ” became a catchphrase for incompetence .
But the real fault lies with the Bush White House , which had marginalized FEMA and degraded its capacities .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , FEMA had been given the clout to respond effectively to disasters , really for the first time since its creation under Jimmy Carter .
But Bush downsized the agency and turned its leadership into a patronage post .
Post-9/11 , it was folded into the newly created Department of Homeland Security , where its core mission — mobilizing diverse government departments with White House backing — became unworkable in a big crisis .
( At the time , possible terror attacks were the government ’ s obsession , not hurricanes .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then–DHS secretary Michael Chertoff blew off New Orleans to attend a CDC briefing on the threat of avian flu . )
As a result , when the time came it was impossible to expedite urgent , lifesaving requests .
The failures in both Katrina and the coronavirus pandemic point back to the specific decisions and character of each leader — and their party ’ s hostility to government .
Bush ’ s FEMA decisions were based half on the general principle of undoing things Clinton had done , half out of a Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lead on disasters to the states .
Katrina showed that was nonsense : states can easily get overwhelmed ; the federal government must be prepared to step in .
This points to another principle of national disaster response , the most important one right now : When catastrophe hits , only presidential leadership can fully mobilize national resources as events unfold .
The White House is the one American institution that commands resources and clout on a national scale , across state and international lines , and in both the public and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call from FEMA , or the CDC Director , or from a governor or mayor , won ’ t work like a call from the White House .
Bush could have gotten those buses running in short order had anyone put him on the case .
This means the White House must be organized , on a war footing .
What ’ s needed is nothing less than a massive , national logistics operation to ramp up manufacture and distribution of key supplies now and over the coming months .
There must be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and clear goals .
Without them , breakdowns are inevitable and lives will be lost .
Even with them , things will go wrong , and the president — or those close to him in the chain of command – must know whom to call , when , and exactly what to ask for to solve problems as they arise .
Nothing like that is happening now .
The White House ’ s considerable powers are simply going unused .
As with the Bush White House , you have fast-moving events , weak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coordinate action .
Add to that the lack of recognition that this is a problem — the result of Trump ’ s personal ineptitude , transactionalism , and maliciousness .
Trump ’ s crisis management style is essentially improvisation based on personal whims , not a response to concrete problems .
This has made it impossible for the White House to centralize control and coordinate an effective response .
Instead , governors are on a mad scramble to procure whatever they can from wherever they can .
In New York , the national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Andrew Cuomo , has been begging Trump to send ventilators .
As of Tuesday , it had received a tiny fraction of the need : “ 400 ventilators ?
I need 30,000 ventilators .
You want a pat on the back for 400 ventilators ?
” Cuomo said .
Later , Vice President Mike Pence announced 4,000 more were on the way .
Obviously , the federal government has the power — through the Defense Production Act , among other things — to compel the rapid manufacture and distribution of ventilators .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ job .
Asked about governors ’ requests , Trump said : “ It ’ s a two-way street .
They have to treat us well , also .
They can ’ t say , ‘ Oh , gee , we should get this , we should get that.
’ ” But that ’ s exactly what they should be saying , and the White House should jump in response .
The worst of the Katrina humanitarian disaster played out over a week .
The worst of COVID-19 is yet to come , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our greatest weaknesses .

On the evening of Aug. 30, 2005, more than a day after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, then–Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown met with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. He told her that the federal government had 500 buses on standby, which could help rescue the 100,000 people trapped in the city. “I promise you we will get you those buses,” Brown told her.
There were no buses.
Days passed, and tens of thousands of refugees gathered at the Superdome and New Orleans Convention Center. Little food, water, or medical supplies were available. No buses appeared. Nor did airdrops of supplies. As this paralysis and the resulting suffering became glaringly obvious, outrage and hand wringing grew about then-president George W. Bush’s disengagement, and the horrific spectacle of a global superpower unable to rescue its own citizens. The evacuation did not begin in earnest until Sept. 2, after National Guard troops arrived.
Today, as an overwhelmed Trump administration — and a president clearly out of his depth – struggle to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, the government faces a “missing buses” scenario on a vastly greater scale. Healthcare workers lack masks, other protective equipment, and, most crucially, ventilators needed to handle rapidly expanding numbers of critical cases. Shortages of test kits persist and hospitals are rapidly becoming overwhelmed. Yet, even as appeals from governors, mayors and other officials have grown louder, President Donald Trump and the government he leads have failed to take the lead in ways that eerily parallel the presidential-level failures of Katrina.
As the death toll increases, the bumbling response in the early weeks of the crisis will look worse and worse. But it’s not too late to learn from what happened almost 15 years ago in New Orleans.
First of all, think about those missing buses.
“You know, we’re not a shipping clerk,” Trump said last week, criticizing appeals from governors for crucial medical supplies. In some sense, though, that’s exactly what the federal government needs to be right now. Logistics, carried out on a national level and led by the White House, are key to mobilizing public and private resources to avert mass death and suffering.
Procuring buses in a national emergency was the job of two federal agencies. FEMA was supposed to make requests to the Department of Transportation. At the last minute before Hurricane Katrina hit, a FEMA official did make an inquiry, but DOT counterparts did not follow through and request buses from their contractor. An overwhelmed FEMA never followed up – even as hungry, thirsty displaced residents waited for help. The request got lost in a paralyzed bureaucracy.
Brown took a lot of blame for the whole botched response, and Bush’s “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job” became a catchphrase for incompetence. But the real fault lies with the Bush White House, which had marginalized FEMA and degraded its capacities.
Under Bush’s predecessor Bill Clinton, FEMA had been given the clout to respond effectively to disasters, really for the first time since its creation under Jimmy Carter. But Bush downsized the agency and turned its leadership into a patronage post. Post-9/11, it was folded into the newly created Department of Homeland Security, where its core mission — mobilizing diverse government departments with White House backing — became unworkable in a big crisis. (At the time, possible terror attacks were the government’s obsession, not hurricanes. And, ironically, on Aug. 30, then–DHS secretary Michael Chertoff blew off New Orleans to attend a CDC briefing on the threat of avian flu.) As a result, when the time came it was impossible to expedite urgent, lifesaving requests.
The failures in both Katrina and the coronavirus pandemic point back to the specific decisions and character of each leader — and their party’s hostility to government. Bush’s FEMA decisions were based half on the general principle of undoing things Clinton had done, half out of a Republican idea that the federal government should cede the lead on disasters to the states. Katrina showed that was nonsense: states can easily get overwhelmed; the federal government must be prepared to step in.
This points to another principle of national disaster response, the most important one right now: When catastrophe hits, only presidential leadership can fully mobilize national resources as events unfold.
The White House is the one American institution that commands resources and clout on a national scale, across state and international lines, and in both the public and private sectors. Put simply, a call from FEMA, or the CDC Director, or from a governor or mayor, won’t work like a call from the White House. Bush could have gotten those buses running in short order had anyone put him on the case.
This means the White House must be organized, on a war footing. What’s needed is nothing less than a massive, national logistics operation to ramp up manufacture and distribution of key supplies now and over the coming months. There must be established lines of authority across agencies, and clear goals. Without them, breakdowns are inevitable and lives will be lost. Even with them, things will go wrong, and the president — or those close to him in the chain of command – must know whom to call, when, and exactly what to ask for to solve problems as they arise.
Nothing like that is happening now. The White House’s considerable powers are simply going unused. As with the Bush White House, you have fast-moving events, weak organizations, and a basic inability to coordinate action. Add to that the lack of recognition that this is a problem — the result of Trump’s personal ineptitude, transactionalism, and maliciousness. Trump’s crisis management style is essentially improvisation based on personal whims, not a response to concrete problems. This has made it impossible for the White House to centralize control and coordinate an effective response. Instead, governors are on a mad scramble to procure whatever they can from wherever they can.
In New York, the national epicenter of the outbreak, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has been begging Trump to send ventilators. As of Tuesday, it had received a tiny fraction of the need: “400 ventilators? I need 30,000 ventilators. You want a pat on the back for 400 ventilators?” Cuomo said. Later, Vice President Mike Pence announced 4,000 more were on the way. Obviously, the federal government has the power — through the Defense Production Act, among other things — to compel the rapid manufacture and distribution of ventilators. But that’s not Pence’s job. Asked about governors’ requests, Trump said: “It’s a two-way street. They have to treat us well, also. They can’t say, ‘Oh, gee, we should get this, we should get that.’” But that’s exactly what they should be saying, and the White House should jump in response.
The worst of the Katrina humanitarian disaster played out over a week. The worst of COVID-19 is yet to come, and the void at the top remains one of our greatest weaknesses.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-26--They Survived Being Trapped Down A Mine And Up A Frozen Mountain — These Two Men Have Some Tips For

They Survived Being Trapped Down A Mine And Up A Frozen Mountain — These Two Men Have Some Tips For Coronavirus Isolation

“ I discovered that you can always be worse off .
And that what matters is not how you do things , but why.
” The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
MEXICO CITY — More than two months trapped in an underground mine .
Ten weeks stranded in the Andes after a violent plane crash .
Survivors of two of Latin America ’ s most notorious disasters — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buried deep in the earth and a plane crash that forced passengers to eat some of their friends and relatives — know all too well about isolation and uncertainty .
As the world grapples with the novel coronavirus and millions of people quarantine at home to stop its spread , those whose lives have been upended in the most extraordinary ways are reminiscing about their experiences — and sharing the lessons with BuzzFeed News .
“ You have to keep your sense of humor , ” said Mario Sepúlveda , a miner who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gold and copper mine in northern Chile in 2010 .
“ Laughing is key.
” For Roberto Canessa , one of 16 survivors of a plane crash in the Andes mountains in 1972 , the most important thing is to be proactive — not to expect someone else to solve your problems .
After Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 went down in the Andes , Canessa spent 72 days in the mountains , watching other survivors die , hearing on the radio that the search for survivors was suspended , and climbing up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find help .
Today , Canessa , a children ’ s cardiologist , is making ventilators in his native Uruguay to increase the country ’ s supply as it braces for an onslaught of COVID-19 cases .
“ That ’ s a way to keep anxiety at bay , ” said Canessa .
“ Be your own rescuer.
” The circumstances Sepúlveda and Canessa endured were more extreme than those most people will find themselves in during the pandemic : They worried about diminishing oxygen , bone-crushing cold , and having virtually no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if the ceiling above them would come crashing down or if an avalanche would wipe them out in a matter of seconds .
Their ordeals were so extraordinary that they were turned into Hollywood films ; the former was played by Antonio Banderas in The 33 and the latter by Josh Hamilton in Alive .
Yet their experiences contain lessons that people can apply during the strange and uncomfortable weeks in quarantine , cut off from almost all social interaction — and what life looks like after a life-altering event .
Already , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus pandemic .
“ There is nothing more beautiful in life than to fall .
It is only then that you can say clearly : I stood back up , ” he said .
Sepúlveda knows about hitting rock bottom and coming back stronger .
On Aug. 5 , 2010 , he was working in a tunnel nearly half a mile below the surface of the earth when the mine above him collapsed .
For 17 days , no one knew if the men trapped below had survived .
Rescuers scrambled to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Finally , a handwritten message made its way up : “ The 33 of us in the shelter are well.
” By then , the miners had set up a shift system , rotating between cleaning , keeping watch over the unstable mine , and taking naps .
Even though they were exhausted and overheated , most of them ran back and forth along the half-mile–long tunnel still open and did sit-ups to stay strong .
Video captured inside the chamber showed the men , naked except for underwear and hard hats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cavelike room .
Some slept on stretchers while the others slept directly on the ground .
There was complete darkness , except for the roaming flashlight , which , every so often , revealed the men ’ s shell-shocked expressions .
Sepúlveda wondered how this was happening to him .
He had known hardship his entire life , having grown up in a big , impoverished family .
Why couldn ’ t he catch a break ?
And yet it was that — his intimate relationship with poverty and his promise to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — that kept him going , day after day , in the mine .
All the men broke down at some point , said Sepúlveda .
Organically , the miners paired up , and when someone “ lost it ” their partner would pull them aside and calm them down .
It kept the peace when tensions ran high in the tight pit .
“ I cried , ” said Sepúlveda .
“ It was important to cry , especially since my parents had taught me boys don ’ t do that when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ miners also found a way to laugh at their circumstances , and even have fun .
They teased each other over their increasingly gaunt physiques .
They sang .
They played dominoes .
When rescuers were able to drill a shaft into their chamber , they lowered MP3 players for the trapped men to listen to music .
At last , 69 days after the collapse of the mine , the miners were pulled from the earth .
The night he was rescued , Sepúlveda ate a generous portion of chickpeas — his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having sex with his wife , he said .
“ We really went at it , ” he added , laughing .
As people around the world are forced to retreat into their homes for an indefinite amount of time , Sepúlveda suggests taking a similar approach to the one he took during his time underground , and afterward : Come up with a routine that begins with thanking God you ’ re alive .
Enjoy your family .
Play .
Remember that life is not a competition .
A decade later , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mining accident .
I feel “ happiness , happiness , happiness , happiness , ” he said , “ and a will to live.
” Earlier this month , when Canessa realized that Uruguay wouldn ’ t be able to buy enough ventilators from China and the US , he decided to make his own , with the help of a colleague .
In the past weeks , the two doctors have developed a prototype using windshield wiper motors , which , he claims , people in impoverished areas can make themselves .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ though they have yet to be tested to see if they work .
That is the story of Canessa ’ s life : If no one comes to rescue you , rescue yourself .
On Oct. 13 , 1972 , Canessa and his rugby team boarded a chartered flight in Montevideo , the Uruguayan capital , bound for Chile .
Minutes later , the plane crashed into one of the most remote patches of the towering Andes , killing several of the 45 people on the aircraft .
Most of the survivors had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food on board .
After nearly two weeks , a rescue mission was called off .
The situation grew more dire by the day , with survivors dying from the cold .
Eventually , those who remained alive were forced to eat their dead friends .
“ I discovered that you can always be worse off , ” said Canessa .
“ And that what matters is not how you do things , but why.
” Before the crash , Canessa had attended a funeral with his mother .
Afterward , she turned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had to bury one of her children , she ’ d die of sadness .
“ So I can ’ t die , ” thought the then–19-year-old Canessa .
The days went by , and the plane wreckage became home .
Canessa remembers talking to God and living by the “ Maybe Tomorrow ” rule .
Maybe tomorrow we will get rescued .
Meanwhile , the survivors tried to stay as still as possible , so as to conserve their energy .
Some preached .
Others made jokes .
Everyone found their role @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Growing desperate , and certain that no one was going to come find them , Canessa and two of his teammates started walking west almost two months after the crash , toward Chile .
They climbed to the summit of a 15,260-foot mountain , and then they walked some more .
At last , after hiking nearly 24 miles , they found a local muleteer , who helped them get to a police station .
In all , 29 people died and 16 survived .
For Canessa , everyone has their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can change suddenly .
The most important thing is to remember that it is transitory and better times almost certainly lie ahead .
Canessa , who wrote a book about his experience titled I Had to Survive , is a celebrity at home , and one of the most well-respected doctors there .
He is especially moved by his patients from the countryside , who live in abject poverty and stare at him wide-eyed when they arrive at his office .
Canessa always thinks one of them could be the child of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ago .
Even now , his voice fills with emotion when he speaks of the man who helped put an end to his unimaginable odyssey on South America ’ s longest mountain range .
He laughs at people ’ s complaints over the quarantine .
“ Everyone is desperate .
When I was in the Andes I was desperate to be home.
” Canessa says that staying physically strong is key , so eat your fruits and vegetables .
Sweat at least once a day .
And enjoy being bored at home .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ catches up to you ?
“ Have the right attitude .
Don ’ t let it catch you off guard .
Tell it : Here I am , waiting for you .
”

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today.
MEXICO CITY — More than two months trapped in an underground mine. Ten weeks stranded in the Andes after a violent plane crash.
Survivors of two of Latin America’s most notorious disasters — a mining explosion that left 33 workers buried deep in the earth and a plane crash that forced passengers to eat some of their friends and relatives — know all too well about isolation and uncertainty.
As the world grapples with the novel coronavirus and millions of people quarantine at home to stop its spread, those whose lives have been upended in the most extraordinary ways are reminiscing about their experiences — and sharing the lessons with BuzzFeed News.
“You have to keep your sense of humor,” said Mario Sepúlveda, a miner who spent 69 days trapped in a collapsed gold and copper mine in northern Chile in 2010. “Laughing is key.”
For Roberto Canessa, one of 16 survivors of a plane crash in the Andes mountains in 1972, the most important thing is to be proactive — not to expect someone else to solve your problems. After Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 went down in the Andes, Canessa spent 72 days in the mountains, watching other survivors die, hearing on the radio that the search for survivors was suspended, and climbing up a towering mountain for 10 days to find help.
Today, Canessa, a children’s cardiologist, is making ventilators in his native Uruguay to increase the country’s supply as it braces for an onslaught of COVID-19 cases.
“That’s a way to keep anxiety at bay,” said Canessa. “Be your own rescuer.”
The circumstances Sepúlveda and Canessa endured were more extreme than those most people will find themselves in during the pandemic: They worried about diminishing oxygen, bone-crushing cold, and having virtually no food. They didn’t know if the ceiling above them would come crashing down or if an avalanche would wipe them out in a matter of seconds. Their ordeals were so extraordinary that they were turned into Hollywood films; the former was played by Antonio Banderas in The 33 and the latter by Josh Hamilton in Alive.
Yet their experiences contain lessons that people can apply during the strange and uncomfortable weeks in quarantine, cut off from almost all social interaction — and what life looks like after a life-altering event.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-12--Chinese Hackers Are Using The Coronavirus To Go After Mongolia

A group of hackers based in China has leveraged the coronavirus crisis to attack the public and telecom sectors in Mongolia by impersonating the country ’ s foreign ministry , according to cybersecurity firm Check Point .
The attack , which researchers at Check Point dubbed `` Panda-19 , '' faked two documents from the Mongolian minister of foreign affairs .
The documents were disguised as updates on the prevalence of the coronavirus cases in Mongolia , but opening them would infect the target ’ s computer with a tool called RoyalRoad , which would take over the devices without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have not been identified , have been in operation since 2016 — and the outbreak of the virus has not slowed them down .
“ It seems like the situation in China has n't been affecting this group , ” Lotem Finkelstein , Check Point 's head of threat intelligence , told BuzzFeed News .
“ It is still unclear why they were targeting these specific organizations , ” Finkelstein said .
“ But we know that they were trying to steal documents and to remote control these systems.
” Once the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ downloaded , malware would control the infected computer , allowing the attackers to take screenshots and steal information .
According to Finkelstein , gaining remote access is a “ very advanced capability.
” As a result of the Panda-19 attack , Finkelstein said they were able to fingerprint the group , meaning they can now track it further and help thwart future attacks .
The Chinese hackers , previously known for their operations in the Eastern Hemisphere , frequently go after high-profile targets like Russian telecom companies and targets in Ukraine and Belarus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get worse before they get better , Finkelstein said .
“ We have seen them active for four years with no intention to stop , ” he said .
“ So we believe that they will use the coronavirus situation [ because ] it is very effective.
” Check Point has also been tracking malicious domain registrations using COVID-19 keywords .
Another firm , Reason Cybersecurity , has tracked fake coronavirus tracking websites set up by hackers attempting to infect users with malware .
The data is genuine , Hacker News reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the app , their passwords would be stolen .
Other researchers have also pointed to a high amount of phishing emails using the coronavirus as lures .
These attackers have impersonated the CDC , the World Health Organization , and executives or members of HR departments .
“ Coronavirus has been exhausting for us , ” Sherrod DeGrippo , senior director of the threat research and detection team at Proofpoint , previously told BuzzFeed News .

A group of hackers based in China has leveraged the coronavirus crisis to attack the public and telecom sectors in Mongolia by impersonating the country’s foreign ministry, according to cybersecurity firm Check Point.
The attack, which researchers at Check Point dubbed "Panda-19," faked two documents from the Mongolian minister of foreign affairs. The documents were disguised as updates on the prevalence of the coronavirus cases in Mongolia, but opening them would infect the target’s computer with a tool called RoyalRoad, which would take over the devices without users' knowledge.
The hackers, who have not been identified, have been in operation since 2016 — and the outbreak of the virus has not slowed them down.
“It seems like the situation in China hasn't been affecting this group,” Lotem Finkelstein, Check Point's head of threat intelligence, told BuzzFeed News.
“It is still unclear why they were targeting these specific organizations,” Finkelstein said. “But we know that they were trying to steal documents and to remote control these systems.”
Once the attachment in the email was opened and downloaded, malware would control the infected computer, allowing the attackers to take screenshots and steal information. According to Finkelstein, gaining remote access is a “very advanced capability.”
As a result of the Panda-19 attack, Finkelstein said they were able to fingerprint the group, meaning they can now track it further and help thwart future attacks. The Chinese hackers, previously known for their operations in the Eastern Hemisphere, frequently go after high-profile targets like Russian telecom companies and targets in Ukraine and Belarus.
The coronavirus hacking attacks are going to get worse before they get better, Finkelstein said. “We have seen them active for four years with no intention to stop,” he said. “So we believe that they will use the coronavirus situation [because] it is very effective.”
Check Point has also been tracking malicious domain registrations using COVID-19 keywords. Another firm, Reason Cybersecurity, has tracked fake coronavirus tracking websites set up by hackers attempting to infect users with malware. The data is genuine, Hacker News reported — but if users were to download the app, their passwords would be stolen.
Other researchers have also pointed to a high amount of phishing emails using the coronavirus as lures. These attackers have impersonated the CDC, the World Health Organization, and executives or members of HR departments.
“Coronavirus has been exhausting for us,” Sherrod DeGrippo, senior director of the threat research and detection team at Proofpoint, previously told BuzzFeed News.