buzzfeednews--2020-04-28--These Kids With Rare Genetic Diseases Were Part Of Research Into New Treatments. The Coronavirus Has

These Kids With Rare Genetic Diseases Were Part Of Research Into New Treatments. The Coronavirus Has Stopped All Of It.

“ All of our labs are shut down , and as a result the precious little time my son has left is being wasted , ” said one mother .
“ So I guess I would say the cost of this is the lives of children.
” A pandemic is a bad time to hold an indoor birthday party , so people honked and waved from the street last month instead when twins Maxwell and Riley Freed turned 3 .
The drive-by celebration , filled with balloons and “ Hooray !
” signs in the Denver suburb where the Freeds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maxwell .
This year , he will likely start developing severe , worsening , and debilitating epileptic seizures , a result of an incredibly rare genetic disease .
There is no treatment .
“ The pandemic is terrible and we have to keep people safe , but this has also hurt a huge number of people , kids like Maxwell , ” said Amber Freed , Maxwell ’ s mother , who has been fighting to start scientific research on his disease .
“ We ’ ve come so far , and everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the universities , the labs have just shut off the lights . ''
Maxwell ’ s disease , which is called SLC6A1 , disrupts the brain ’ s chemistry , leading to developmental disorders , autism-like symptoms , and , often , severe epileptic seizures .
The SLC6A1 research effort rests on safety trials in mutant mice , crafted in China to have the same genetic defect as Maxwell , and shipped late last year to US labs for testing .
Because only about 50 people are known to have the disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pushed forward thanks to Freed ’ s own fundraising and researcher-wrangling .
Maxwell was on track to enroll in an experimental genetic treatment this year , before he turned 4 .
But the pandemic has shut down research across the world , from the basic research on cells in labs to large scale trials of new drugs involving thousands of patients .
The closures have crippled efforts to develop cutting-edge genetic treatments for children with rare diseases in particular , leaving Maxwell and many others like him with little hope .
On March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( NIH ) told its $ 6 billion internal research program to shift to minimizing staff at their laboratories .
A few families rushed to enter children into clinical trials for rare diseases at that time , notably three Swedish children with a fatal neurological condition profiled this weekend by the Washington Post .
For animal experiments in earlier stages of research , staff continued to care for animals , but no new animals were ordered .
The move set the tone for research labs nationwide .
“ It is clear the impact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Extramural Research Michael Lauer told BuzzFeed Science .
Lauer heads NIH ’ s $ 32 billion in grants , sent to more than 300,000 researchers a year at more than 2,500 labs nationwide .
One of the labs partially supported with this federal grant money is at Vanderbilt University , where the mutant mice that Maxwell needs for tests of a treatment for SLC6A1 are housed .
While those grants haven ’ t stopped , the research at many schools has , with the pandemic shuttering labs or switching focus to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have had to raise funds themselves to research rare diseases that threaten their loved ones , the halt at labs comes as a devastating blow .
“ All of our labs are shut down , and as a result the precious little time my son has left is being wasted , ” Nicole Henwood told BuzzFeed News .
She heads NF2 BioSolutions , a charity that sponsors research into gene therapies for neurofibromatosis 2 , a rare genetic disorder that causes tumors leading to blindness , hearing loss , and loss of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , has tumors in his spine and on nerves that might leave him deaf , and life-threatening tumors on blood vessels in his brain .
“ So I guess I would say the cost of this is the lives of children , ” Henwood said .
Worldwide , the pandemic has hobbled the vast biomedical research enterprise , with enrollment of human volunteers for medical experiments down 65 % compared to last year , according to Medidata Solutions , a clinical trials technology company .
Heart disease and diabetes treatment research studies have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s clinical trial registry lists 2,042 clinical trials as “ suspended , ” more than double the number of COVID-19 trials currently underway in the US .
And far outnumbering those clinical trials are the safety experiments still going on in lab animals , a necessary step before tests in people .
For NF2 BioSolutions ’ research , early gene therapy studies were underway at a large pediatric lab in Ohio and at two universities in Massachusetts , both states under emergency shutdown orders .
“ They are all working on gene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at very early stages , so every day counts if we are going to even have a shot at getting something to my son in time to help him , ” said Henwood .
The pandemic ’ s halt to research hits parents like Henwood and Freed trying to navigate the cutting-edge world of genetic treatments for rare diseases particularly hard .
Only possible in the last part of the decade , such treatments offer the tantalizing possibility of curing previously untreatable diseases , exemplified by the 2019 case of a 6-year-old girl @ @ @ @ @ @ @ therapy for Batten disease , a deadly genetic brain disease that affects 2 to 4 of every 100,000 children born in the US .
The experimental treatments are also impossibly expensive , forcing relatives to raise millions of dollars just to develop them .
Research into Maxwell ’ s disease , SLC6A1 , has cost around $ 1 million , all raised by Freed and the foundation she started .
A JAMA Pediatrics report on Monday estimated genetic treatments might cost $ 1 million a year per child .
The pandemic has halted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Time is the most valuable asset .
And it 's ticking away , ” Rich Horgan of Cure Rare Disease , whose younger brother Terry has a rare form of Duchenne muscular dystrophy , told BuzzFeed News .
Duchenne muscular dystrophy overwhelmingly affects boys , causing progressive weakening of muscles and leading to life-threatening heart and breathing problems .
Horgan was able to move the mouse research the group is sponsoring from Yale to a private lab , Charles River Laboratories , just ahead of the shutdown .
But with three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Massachusetts suddenly postponed , he has been forced to find different ways to fund the research .
He has already raised $ 1.5 million for the research for his brother and needs another $ 1 million to finish it , and has applied for help from the government ’ s oversubscribed Paycheck Protection Plan for his organization .
“ We 're obviously burning cash quickly because we 're funding these experiments and had great momentum going on , and that has been stifled to some degree , ” said Horgan .
CRD has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fundraising .
“ It 's a great on-brand effort because a lot of our followers are differently abled , and so while they may not be able to play baseball or basketball , they sure can game , and they can compete with the best of the best.
” For Freed , who needs to raise $ 5.5 million more to fund the research into Maxwell ’ s treatment , things are much more stark .
Her next fundraiser was a golf tournament , now canceled , aimed at the oil and gas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the price of oil slide dramatically since March .
“ It ’ s not like you can get your money back from the labs when there is this kind of stop , ” said Freed .
She looked into moving a small part of her son ’ s mouse research to a private lab , but found that the costs would have tripled .
“ You couldn ’ t even sell your house to pay for this , ” she said .
“ We ’ re totally stuck .
How do you fundraise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” The decision to open or shut labs is out of NIH ’ s control , Lauer said , driven by decisions made by state governors and university presidents .
With some states such as Ohio and Georgia now planning reopenings , he does not expect labs to immediately spring back to full operations .
Before lab operations get back to normal after universities reopen , labs will need to carefully check equipment , restore supplies , and establish the health of cell cultures and lab animals before resuming experiments .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to research animals , you can ’ t do research , ” he said .
In the meantime , children like Maxwell , already struggling with developmental delays , are regressing because they can ’ t receive physical therapy or other help they need , due to social distancing restrictions .
“ He was making progress in making sounds , and now he just screams , ” said Amber Freed .
“ There are so many people out there struggling with rare diseases just like us , ” she said .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one part of the population , but it is coming at tremendous cost to so many other people .
”

A pandemic is a bad time to hold an indoor birthday party, so people honked and waved from the street last month instead when twins Maxwell and Riley Freed turned 3.
The drive-by celebration, filled with balloons and “Hooray!” signs in the Denver suburb where the Freeds live, marked a pivotal birthday for Maxwell. This year, he will likely start developing severe, worsening, and debilitating epileptic seizures, a result of an incredibly rare genetic disease. There is no treatment.
“The pandemic is terrible and we have to keep people safe, but this has also hurt a huge number of people, kids like Maxwell,” said Amber Freed, Maxwell’s mother, who has been fighting to start scientific research on his disease. “We’ve come so far, and everything has come to a screeching halt, at the universities, the labs have just shut off the lights."
Maxwell’s disease, which is called SLC6A1, disrupts the brain’s chemistry, leading to developmental disorders, autism-like symptoms, and, often, severe epileptic seizures.
The SLC6A1 research effort rests on safety trials in mutant mice, crafted in China to have the same genetic defect as Maxwell, and shipped late last year to US labs for testing. Because only about 50 people are known to have the disease, the multimillion-dollar effort has largely been pushed forward thanks to Freed’s own fundraising and researcher-wrangling. Maxwell was on track to enroll in an experimental genetic treatment this year, before he turned 4.
But the pandemic has shut down research across the world, from the basic research on cells in labs to large scale trials of new drugs involving thousands of patients. The closures have crippled efforts to develop cutting-edge genetic treatments for children with rare diseases in particular, leaving Maxwell and many others like him with little hope.
On March 21, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) told its $6 billion internal research program to shift to minimizing staff at their laboratories. A few families rushed to enter children into clinical trials for rare diseases at that time, notably three Swedish children with a fatal neurological condition profiled this weekend by the Washington Post. For animal experiments in earlier stages of research, staff continued to care for animals, but no new animals were ordered. The move set the tone for research labs nationwide.
“It is clear the impact is substantial,” NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research Michael Lauer told BuzzFeed Science. Lauer heads NIH’s $32 billion in grants, sent to more than 300,000 researchers a year at more than 2,500 labs nationwide.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-22--A Man Who Was “Such A Girls' Dad" Has Died Of The Coronavirus. His Daughters Will Miss His "Dad Joke

A Man Who Was “Such A Girls' Dad" Has Died Of The Coronavirus. His Daughters Will Miss His "Dad Jokes."

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 .
Losing the use of his leg as a result of cancer more than 20 years ago did not stop Joel Strom from living his life .
The Long Island grandfather drove himself to work every day , was obsessed with his grandson , and loved devouring lobster with his friends in the summertime .
Strom , 70 , who also had Parkinson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died this month as a result of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus , his daughter told BuzzFeed News .
Friends and family are remembering Strom as “ a wonderful father , wonderful husband , and wonderful grandfather , and the best friend that you could ever have.
” Strom was not tested for COVID-19 , but his daughter Amy Strom told BuzzFeed News a doctor told her father he was a presumed positive case of COVID-19 .
Amy Strom said he had most symptoms of the disease , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smell and taste .
He died at his Long Island home on April 6 , 2020 .
The family has not yet received the death certificate , and Amy Strom said they were told to expect a delay because of how many deaths are currently being processed .
She , too , has symptoms of COVID-19 , she told BuzzFeed News Tuesday .
“ My dad was hands down one of the nicest , sweetest [ people ] anyone had ever met .
He was literally , like , a selfless human being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call .
“ He wanted to make people laugh all the time — he was n't funny at all .
He was not funny , but he ’ d try… Dad jokes .
He tried so hard … He just wanted to make people happy.
” He worked as an electrician and sold electrical supplies , and continued to work even after he ’ d lost use of his leg .
“ When people hear [ he lost use of his leg ] , they would think he was housebound , but he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ He drove to work every day .
This man did so much… He was just unbelievable.
” Strom had two daughters , the oldest of whom is expecting another child in August , and Amy Strom said her dad was “ such a girls ’ dad.
” “ I would ask him , like , clothing questions and , like , he did n't care at all .
He had no fashion sense and genuinely did n't care but would , like , pretend to care or only care because it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Losing the use of his leg as a result of cancer more than 20 years ago did not stop Joel Strom from living his life. The Long Island grandfather drove himself to work every day, was obsessed with his grandson, and loved devouring lobster with his friends in the summertime.
Strom, 70, who also had Parkinson's disease and some respiratory issues, died this month as a result of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, his daughter told BuzzFeed News.
Friends and family are remembering Strom as “a wonderful father, wonderful husband, and wonderful grandfather, and the best friend that you could ever have.”
Strom was not tested for COVID-19, but his daughter Amy Strom told BuzzFeed News a doctor told her father he was a presumed positive case of COVID-19. Amy Strom said he had most symptoms of the disease, including a prolonged fever and a loss of smell and taste. He died at his Long Island home on April 6, 2020.
The family has not yet received the death certificate, and Amy Strom said they were told to expect a delay because of how many deaths are currently being processed.
She, too, has symptoms of COVID-19, she told BuzzFeed News Tuesday.
“My dad was hands down one of the nicest, sweetest [people] anyone had ever met. He was literally, like, a selfless human being,” Amy said during a phone call. “He wanted to make people laugh all the time — he wasn't funny at all. He was not funny, but he’d try… Dad jokes. He tried so hard … He just wanted to make people happy.”
He worked as an electrician and sold electrical supplies, and continued to work even after he’d lost use of his leg. “When people hear [he lost use of his leg], they would think he was housebound, but he wasn't,” Amy said. “He drove to work every day. This man did so much… He was just unbelievable.”
Strom had two daughters, the oldest of whom is expecting another child in August, and Amy Strom said her dad was “such a girls’ dad.”
“I would ask him, like, clothing questions and, like, he didn't care at all. He had no fashion sense and genuinely didn't care but would, like, pretend to care or only care because it was me asking,” she said.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-28--Opinion: We'll Need A Lot Of People To Make Contact Tracing Work. I Know Where To Find Them.

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 .
As we debate reopening the country in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic , it is clear that one crucial ingredient will be a massive mobilization of people to make the process work .
The public health , community outreach , and large-scale testing and contact tracing programs that experts agree we need will require huge numbers of boots on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the medically vulnerable , who will likely face a much lengthier quarantine .
Where will we find such an army of dedicated and well-trained people ?
The good news is part of it has already been trained and assembled .
American taxpayers have already made the significant investment required to recruit , select , prepare , and medically screen a relief corps of thousands of volunteers to be deployed across the world on missions involving everything from public health and food banks to homeless shelters and medical logistics .
The bad news is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them .
There were about 7,300 Peace Corps volunteers serving in over 60 developing countries when the organization ’ s global operations were suspended .
A program that has extended a helping American hand to the world since President John F. Kennedy established it in 1961 was suddenly and unceremoniously withdrawn , at exactly the moment when American leadership , sacrifice , and assistance to the most vulnerable nations in the world would have been especially welcome .
But if there ’ s an upside , it ’ s this : The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to remobilize the Peace Corps and harness its unique energy and willingness to serve , right here in the United States .
The thousands of Peace Corps volunteers evacuated from across the globe represent America ’ s best and brightest , and they ’ re ready to serve this country right now .
These patriotic Americans answered President Kennedy ’ s clarion call of “ ask not what your country can do for you , ask what you can do for your country ” by volunteering to live and work for subsistence wages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world .
All Peace Corps volunteers are accustomed to living in challenging , sometimes harsh and dangerous , environments .
As a result , they are highly adaptable , resilient , and gritty .
They embody America ’ s can-do attitude .
They are not easily intimidated or daunted by real-world crises .
America could really use them right now , couldn ’ t we ?
As a returned Peace Corps volunteer who went on to serve in the Obama administration , my disappointment and frustration with the way the program was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To begin with , there ’ s a legitimate question as to the wisdom of issuing an evacuation order and returning all volunteers en masse from overseas posts to a country — the United States — that was woefully unprepared to ensure a safe , healthy , and orderly return .
But it goes beyond that .
This action represents a hasty and panicked retreat from those achingly impoverished countries that so desperately need our assistance in this particular moment .
The spirit embodying the Peace Corps ethos demands that our volunteers be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities during good times and bad .
We have failed both the overseas communities and the volunteers serving them .
But now that the decision has been made , apparently with little serious thought about the long-term ramifications and damage to our global reputation , we must do what we can to convert this tragedy into hope for the welfare and the future of our communities here at home .
The times demand imaginative approaches to mitigating the suffering and fear .
Rather than firing highly educated , well-trained , enthusiastic Americans and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the unemployed , we should offer them the opportunity to continue with their public service commitment .
They should now be surged to assist with caring for the most vulnerable and those hardest hit here at home .
They can also complement the high-tech coronavirus tracking tools being built by Apple and Google with the old-fashioned , but highly effective testing and contact tracing methods that have worked in public health crises for generations .
This will require the deployment of an army of thousands of trained contact tracers to interview everyone diagnosed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came into contact with during the period they may have been infectious .
And that ’ s just the beginning of the challenge .
Of course , unlike AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers who committed themselves to address domestic challenges , this type of national surge is not what Peace Corps volunteers signed up for .
Most Peace Corps volunteers are inspired to serve their country by a combination of wanting to serve the public interest and the opportunity to do so whilst living and working overseas , learning a foreign language , and experiencing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ volunteers would agree to continue their work in this country , but most would , especially given the rates of unemployment we expect to see in the coming months .
There are so many creative ways we could enlist this army of dedicated public servants to assist in alleviating the suffering that will leave our communities — urban and rural alike — struggling for months or years to come .
I know they are up to the challenge .

As we debate reopening the country in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it is clear that one crucial ingredient will be a massive mobilization of people to make the process work. The public health, community outreach, and large-scale testing and contact tracing programs that experts agree we need will require huge numbers of boots on the ground. So will supporting seniors and the medically vulnerable, who will likely face a much lengthier quarantine.
Where will we find such an army of dedicated and well-trained people? The good news is part of it has already been trained and assembled. American taxpayers have already made the significant investment required to recruit, select, prepare, and medically screen a relief corps of thousands of volunteers to be deployed across the world on missions involving everything from public health and food banks to homeless shelters and medical logistics.
The bad news is last month the Trump administration fired all of them.
There were about 7,300 Peace Corps volunteers serving in over 60 developing countries when the organization’s global operations were suspended. A program that has extended a helping American hand to the world since President John F. Kennedy established it in 1961 was suddenly and unceremoniously withdrawn, at exactly the moment when American leadership, sacrifice, and assistance to the most vulnerable nations in the world would have been especially welcome.
But if there’s an upside, it’s this: The Trump administration now has a golden opportunity to remobilize the Peace Corps and harness its unique energy and willingness to serve, right here in the United States. The thousands of Peace Corps volunteers evacuated from across the globe represent America’s best and brightest, and they’re ready to serve this country right now.
These patriotic Americans answered President Kennedy’s clarion call of “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” by volunteering to live and work for subsistence wages in some of the poorest regions in the world. All Peace Corps volunteers are accustomed to living in challenging, sometimes harsh and dangerous, environments. As a result, they are highly adaptable, resilient, and gritty. They embody America’s can-do attitude. They are not easily intimidated or daunted by real-world crises.
America could really use them right now, couldn’t we?
As a returned Peace Corps volunteer who went on to serve in the Obama administration, my disappointment and frustration with the way the program was halted are both personal and professional. To begin with, there’s a legitimate question as to the wisdom of issuing an evacuation order and returning all volunteers en masse from overseas posts to a country — the United States — that was woefully unprepared to ensure a safe, healthy, and orderly return. But it goes beyond that. This action represents a hasty and panicked retreat from those achingly impoverished countries that so desperately need our assistance in this particular moment. The spirit embodying the Peace Corps ethos demands that our volunteers be sent to and to remain in overseas communities during good times and bad. We have failed both the overseas communities and the volunteers serving them.
But now that the decision has been made, apparently with little serious thought about the long-term ramifications and damage to our global reputation, we must do what we can to convert this tragedy into hope for the welfare and the future of our communities here at home. The times demand imaginative approaches to mitigating the suffering and fear.
Rather than firing highly educated, well-trained, enthusiastic Americans and thrusting them into the growing ranks of the unemployed, we should offer them the opportunity to continue with their public service commitment. They should now be surged to assist with caring for the most vulnerable and those hardest hit here at home.
They can also complement the high-tech coronavirus tracking tools being built by Apple and Google with the old-fashioned, but highly effective testing and contact tracing methods that have worked in public health crises for generations. This will require the deployment of an army of thousands of trained contact tracers to interview everyone diagnosed with COVID-19 and to locate people they came into contact with during the period they may have been infectious. And that’s just the beginning of the challenge.
Of course, unlike AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers who committed themselves to address domestic challenges, this type of national surge is not what Peace Corps volunteers signed up for. Most Peace Corps volunteers are inspired to serve their country by a combination of wanting to serve the public interest and the opportunity to do so whilst living and working overseas, learning a foreign language, and experiencing a different culture. Not all returning volunteers would agree to continue their work in this country, but most would, especially given the rates of unemployment we expect to see in the coming months.
There are so many creative ways we could enlist this army of dedicated public servants to assist in alleviating the suffering that will leave our communities — urban and rural alike — struggling for months or years to come. I know they are up to the challenge.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-28--Mike Pence Didn't Wear A Face Mask At The Mayo Clinic Even Though It Requires Everyone To Wear One

The Mayo Clinic has required all visitors to wear a face mask since April 13 , but the vice president did n't wear one on Tuesday .
BuzzFeed News has reporters across five continents bringing you trustworthy stories about the impact of the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
Vice President Mike Pence ignored a Mayo Clinic policy that requires everyone to wear a face covering during a visit to the Rochester , Minnesota , hospital on Tuesday afternoon .
Photos and video of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care workers and a roundtable on the response to the coronavirus pandemic , showed that the vice president was the only person not wearing a face mask .
Shortly after the images began to circulate on social media , the Mayo Clinic said on Twitter that Pence had been told about its mask policy before he arrived .
In addition to clinic staffers , all members of Pence 's entourage also wore face masks .
The Mayo Clinic deleted its tweet minutes after it was posted .
Despite the deleted tweet , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ BuzzFeed News the vice president 's office was informed about its mask policy .
The spokesperson did not say why the tweet was deleted .
Asked by reporters why he did not wear a mask , Pence said he is tested for the coronavirus `` on a regular basis , and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus . ''
`` Since I do n't have the coronavirus , I thought it 'd be a good opportunity for me to be here , to be able to speak to these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and look them in the eye and say thank you , '' he said .
Since April 13 , the Mayo Clinic has been requiring all patients and visitors at its campuses to wear a mask or face covering in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
`` Patients and visitors are asked to bring their own face covering or mask to wear , '' the clinic stated in a statement announcing the policy .
`` If a patient or visitor does not have a mask , Mayo Clinic will provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the White House coronavirus task force , was touring the facility to learn more about Mayo 's research on and treatment of COVID-19 .
He was accompanied by Dr. Stephen Hahn from the FDA .
In one video , he can be seen greeting multiple people by touching elbows instead of shaking hands .
Video from C-SPAN shows Pence meeting with at least 10 people in one large room , including a clinic employee who has recovered from COVID-19 .
Pence is the only person not wearing a mask .
In the roundtable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including Minnesota Gov .
Tim Walz and Mayo Clinic leaders still wore face coverings , while Pence did not .

Vice President Mike Pence ignored a Mayo Clinic policy that requires everyone to wear a face covering during a visit to the Rochester, Minnesota, hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
Photos and video of Pence's visit, which included meeting health care workers and a roundtable on the response to the coronavirus pandemic, showed that the vice president was the only person not wearing a face mask. Shortly after the images began to circulate on social media, the Mayo Clinic said on Twitter that Pence had been told about its mask policy before he arrived.
In addition to clinic staffers, all members of Pence's entourage also wore face masks.
The Mayo Clinic deleted its tweet minutes after it was posted.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-28--Doctors Are Posting Nudes To Protest What They Say Is A Shortage Of Coronavirus Masks

`` The nudity should symbolize that we are vulnerable without protection , '' said one German doctor taking part in the protest .
BuzzFeed News has reporters across five continents bringing you trustworthy stories about the impact of the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
Doctors in Germany treating coronavirus patients are protesting what they say are shortages of masks , gloves , and visors by posing naked .
The group of doctors calls its protest Blanke Bedenken , which roughly translates as Bare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ draw attention to what they say is a lack of available personal protective equipment ( PPE ) and supplies like disinfectants .
They are also encouraging other doctors and health care workers to join in by submitting their own pictures .
A spokesperson for the group said the page had been live since April 22 but had received a big influx in pictures since it was covered by the German newspaper Bild on Monday .
The response to the protest had been “ absolutely positive ” so far , the spokesperson said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only buy more PPE but make better use of its existing supplies .
Ruben Bernau , one of the doctors taking part in the protest , said the group was inspired by the French doctor Alain Colombié , who posted a picture of himself sitting in his office naked apart from an armband with the words “ cannon fodder ” on it .
In a message directed at French President Emmanuel Macron , Colombié wrote that French doctors were being asked “ to go to the front without weapons and no defenses.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are vulnerable without protection , '' Bernau said .
Jana Husemann , another doctor taking part in the protest , said , `` We want to and must continue to take good care of our patients , especially those who need a personal examination .
`` This includes those with chronic diseases , acute wounds , as well as coronavirus patients.
” According to a study from an association of German health insurers cited by the Guardian , doctors in Germany are lacking more than a 100 million single-use masks .
Germany @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the pandemic , with a considerably lower death rate than other countries with large numbers of cases .

They hope their nudes will draw attention to what they say is a lack of available personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies like disinfectants.
They are also encouraging other doctors and health care workers to join in by submitting their own pictures.
A spokesperson for the group said the page had been live since April 22 but had received a big influx in pictures since it was covered by the German newspaper Bild on Monday.
The response to the protest had been “absolutely positive” so far, the spokesperson said, adding that the German government had to not only buy more PPE but make better use of its existing supplies.
Ruben Bernau, one of the doctors taking part in the protest, said the group was inspired by the French doctor Alain Colombié, who posted a picture of himself sitting in his office naked apart from an armband with the words “cannon fodder” on it.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-16--Rudy Giuliani Doesn’t Know What He’s Going To Do During The Coronavirus Outbreak

Rudy Giuliani stepped out of his apartment on Sunday night and , like he does most Sundays , walked into Nicola ’ s Restaurant on the Upper East Side .
“ That place is [ usually ] packed on a Sunday night — packed , packed , packed , ” he said .
“ When I walked in , I was the first one there — I got the best table in the house.
” He had dinner , some drinks .
“ By the time I left there was no more than 10 people.
” Giuliani gets the freakout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t really get it .
He wants people to wash their hands and drink lots of water and cough into their elbows , but these empty flights ?
Eating dinner at home ?
Canceling playdates ?
What is this , a war ?
“ When I walked down my city yesterday and I saw her empty , I said , this is out of a movie .
Like Mars has invaded , or — it reminded me of the man in the closet , that HBO thing.
” ( He probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Amazon thing . )
“ I mean , I was looking for the Nazis coming down the street .
I mean , it 's a little too much.
” In fact , the city he was once mayor of has been far from empty , and many , like Giuliani , went out to dinner and bars and cafés over the weekend despite the urging of public health professionals .
That is set to change on Tuesday , after Bill de Blasio , the current mayor , ordered all restaurants to switch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York implements a series of measures to try to keep people at home .
Giuliani doesn ’ t know what he ’ s going to do .
“ One of my good friends pointed out to me I could starve to death because I do n't know how to cook , ” he said .
“ Could you put out an advertisement for a cook — for a nice man , eats reasonably , not picky ?
” Surely he could make ... something .
“ I 've been trying to learn — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some guy was gon na show me how to make pasta .
I could probably do it by instinct.
” At 75 , Giuliani is in the range of people for which the coronavirus could be very serious if caught .
But , reached by phone on Monday , he said he was feeling fine and was in an unusually chipper mood .
The president ’ s personal lawyer has faded from the headlines ( and , mainly , into a podcast studio ) after months of shouting — on Fox , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would listen — about his conspiracy theory connecting Joe Biden to corruption in Ukraine , an elaborate plot against the president ’ s presumptive rival for the election in November that prompted an impeachment trial that engulfed Washington and now feels several light-years away .
But now is the time of the coronavirus , and everything is upside down .
We live in a world where Sen. Ted Cruz , a staunch Republican , is praising Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for giving “ good advice ” on how to behave in these uncertain times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of California , is praising Trump for some of his handling of the crisis , and is in turn getting praised by right-wing personalities like Tomi Lahren .
Those who were once enemies , are now — at least temporarily — partners .
What is a yeller like Giuliani to do ?
Jump on the bipartisan train of kindness .
In the course of our 20-minute conversation , Giuliani offered — with no prompting — defenses of Biden , Barack Obama , Nancy Pelosi , and Chuck Schumer .
He didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coughing into his hand during the Democratic debate on Sunday night ( coughing into your elbow is not “ the way we were taught ” and “ I probably would ’ ve done the same thing ” ) .
For some reason he brought up Obama , and said he was once unjustly criticized for underestimating the deaths in a war zone ( the military was to blame because they were “ sucking his you-know-what ” ) .
Pelosi and Schumer , he said , “ got a little political , but they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t even have harsh words for de Blasio , who drew the ire of the city and much of the internet after he was caught distinctly not socially distancing himself by attending his favorite gym on Monday morning .
“ Look , you know I 'm a reflexive critic of de Blasio , ” Giuliani said .
“ I empathize with the position the mayor is in , and the governor and the president .
After all , these people did not invent this virus.
” What the actual hell is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whole world truly has gone topsy-turvy , rest assured that Giuliani borders on coronavirus truther , questioning whether it really is that different from the flu .
He worries that canceling playdates will turn children into “ a bunch of social invalids ” and compares the harsh measures being implemented by federal and local governments to if he had decided to crack down on crime by “ locking everybody up.
” He thinks that , come November , when the president is up for reelection , everyone will have forgotten about the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not something the country , and the world , will be grappling to recover from for a still-unknown period of time , even if the pandemic subsides by then ( which is no certainty ) .
“ I do n't think it 'll be tough for his reelection because I think it 's going to be over with by June or July , by nature of science , ” he said , relying on theories that COVID-19 could be seasonal , which remains unknown .
“ By mid-July , given the human memory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it .
The only people remembered West Nile in the off-season was me and my Department of Health.
” “ The minute that people do n't have the illness , they go back to watching the basketball games , ” he said .
“ And by the time we get to September and October , the Yankees are five games ahead .
I 'm not gon na be thinking about the coronavirus.
” Giuliani , who toyed with the idea of extending his term and delaying New York City ’ s mayoral election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said it was too soon for Trump to consider something similar .
“ Oh , no , no .
It 's way too early on the general election , way too early… .
By July , this is going to look very different than right now.
” Giuliani said he had talked to Trump in recent days , and that the president didn ’ t sound more stressed than usual .
“ I have to tell you about Donald J. Trump — he is never overwhelmed.
” Giuliani said Trump asked for what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nile Virus outbreak in New York , and the anthrax attacks in the wake of 9/11 .
“ I told him my first bit of advice on emergency management , which I learned from reading Winston Churchill , ” Giuliani said .
“ Tell people all the facts , tell them the unvarnished truth , even scare them if you have to , but never leave them that way , always find a way to give them hope in the end.
” In his press briefing Sunday night , Trump tried to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell reporters that Americans shouldn ’ t worry about running out of groceries , and then skipping out to “ make some calls.
” On Monday , he stayed longer , and told Americans to avoid being in groups of more than 10 people , while admitting , in response to a question , that the virus was not under control .

Rudy Giuliani stepped out of his apartment on Sunday night and, like he does most Sundays, walked into Nicola’s Restaurant on the Upper East Side.
“That place is [usually] packed on a Sunday night — packed, packed, packed,” he said. “When I walked in, I was the first one there — I got the best table in the house.” He had dinner, some drinks. “By the time I left there was no more than 10 people.”
Giuliani gets the freakout over the coronavirus pandemic, but he doesn’t really get it. He wants people to wash their hands and drink lots of water and cough into their elbows, but these empty flights? Eating dinner at home? Canceling playdates? What is this, a war?
“When I walked down my city yesterday and I saw her empty, I said, this is out of a movie. Like Mars has invaded, or — it reminded me of the man in the closet, that HBO thing.” (He probably meant Man in the High Castle, that Amazon thing.) “I mean, I was looking for the Nazis coming down the street. I mean, it's a little too much.”
In fact, the city he was once mayor of has been far from empty, and many, like Giuliani, went out to dinner and bars and cafés over the weekend despite the urging of public health professionals. That is set to change on Tuesday, after Bill de Blasio, the current mayor, ordered all restaurants to switch to delivery or takeout only as New York implements a series of measures to try to keep people at home.
Giuliani doesn’t know what he’s going to do. “One of my good friends pointed out to me I could starve to death because I don't know how to cook,” he said. “Could you put out an advertisement for a cook — for a nice man, eats reasonably, not picky?” Surely he could make...something. “I've been trying to learn — I'm a couple of days behind. Some guy was gonna show me how to make pasta. I could probably do it by instinct.”
At 75, Giuliani is in the range of people for which the coronavirus could be very serious if caught. But, reached by phone on Monday, he said he was feeling fine and was in an unusually chipper mood.
The president’s personal lawyer has faded from the headlines (and, mainly, into a podcast studio) after months of shouting — on Fox, into the ear of any journalist who would listen — about his conspiracy theory connecting Joe Biden to corruption in Ukraine, an elaborate plot against the president’s presumptive rival for the election in November that prompted an impeachment trial that engulfed Washington and now feels several light-years away.
But now is the time of the coronavirus, and everything is upside down. We live in a world where Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch Republican, is praising Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for giving “good advice” on how to behave in these uncertain times. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, is praising Trump for some of his handling of the crisis, and is in turn getting praised by right-wing personalities like Tomi Lahren. Those who were once enemies, are now — at least temporarily — partners. What is a yeller like Giuliani to do?
Jump on the bipartisan train of kindness. In the course of our 20-minute conversation, Giuliani offered — with no prompting — defenses of Biden, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer.
He didn’t get why people were teasing Biden for coughing into his hand during the Democratic debate on Sunday night (coughing into your elbow is not “the way we were taught” and “I probably would’ve done the same thing”). For some reason he brought up Obama, and said he was once unjustly criticized for underestimating the deaths in a war zone (the military was to blame because they were “sucking his you-know-what”). Pelosi and Schumer, he said, “got a little political, but they backed off it right away.”
He didn’t even have harsh words for de Blasio, who drew the ire of the city and much of the internet after he was caught distinctly not socially distancing himself by attending his favorite gym on Monday morning. “Look, you know I'm a reflexive critic of de Blasio,” Giuliani said. “I empathize with the position the mayor is in, and the governor and the president. After all, these people did not invent this virus.”
What the actual hell is going on?
Lest you think the whole world truly has gone topsy-turvy, rest assured that Giuliani borders on coronavirus truther, questioning whether it really is that different from the flu. He worries that canceling playdates will turn children into “a bunch of social invalids” and compares the harsh measures being implemented by federal and local governments to if he had decided to crack down on crime by “locking everybody up.”
He thinks that, come November, when the president is up for reelection, everyone will have forgotten about the coronavirus, as if the economic fallout is not something the country, and the world, will be grappling to recover from for a still-unknown period of time, even if the pandemic subsides by then (which is no certainty).
“I don't think it'll be tough for his reelection because I think it's going to be over with by June or July, by nature of science,” he said, relying on theories that COVID-19 could be seasonal, which remains unknown. “By mid-July, given the human memory, you're not gonna remember it. The only people remembered West Nile in the off-season was me and my Department of Health.”
“The minute that people don't have the illness, they go back to watching the basketball games,” he said. “And by the time we get to September and October, the Yankees are five games ahead. I'm not gonna be thinking about the coronavirus.”
Giuliani, who toyed with the idea of extending his term and delaying New York City’s mayoral election in the wake of Sept. 11, said it was too soon for Trump to consider something similar. “Oh, no, no. It's way too early on the general election, way too early…. By July, this is going to look very different than right now.”
Giuliani said he had talked to Trump in recent days, and that the president didn’t sound more stressed than usual. “I have to tell you about Donald J. Trump — he is never overwhelmed.”
Giuliani said Trump asked for what he learned from dealing with the West Nile Virus outbreak in New York, and the anthrax attacks in the wake of 9/11. “I told him my first bit of advice on emergency management, which I learned from reading Winston Churchill,” Giuliani said. “Tell people all the facts, tell them the unvarnished truth, even scare them if you have to, but never leave them that way, always find a way to give them hope in the end.”
In his press briefing Sunday night, Trump tried to do something like that, coming out to tell reporters that Americans shouldn’t worry about running out of groceries, and then skipping out to “make some calls.” On Monday, he stayed longer, and told Americans to avoid being in groups of more than 10 people, while admitting, in response to a question, that the virus was not under control.


buzzfeednews--2020-03-01--Coronavirus Fears Have Closed The Louvre And Prompted Warnings Against Kissing In France

Before the museum reached its decision , people who had bought tickets for Sunday waited outside for hours as the doors remained closed .
The museum apologized and is offering them refunds .
`` Despite discussions between museum staff , management and its preventive [ medicine ] doctor , the Louvre was unable to open today , '' said Sophie Grange , the assistant director of communications .
The Louvre Museum was closed on Sunday after its staff met to discuss `` the health situation '' surrounding the coronavirus , workers ' fears and prevention , a representative for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lines at the Louvre this morning .
No word on opening .
The security people are just says they don ’ t know when or if the Louvre will open today .
# Louvre Grange said another meeting with staff on health and safety protocols will be held Monday .
It 's unclear when the Louvre will re-open .
Millions of people visit the museum every year , and about 3/4 of them are from foreign countries .
Andre Sacristin , a Louvre employee and union representative , told the AP that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus because the museum sees tens of thousands of visitors a day from around the world .
`` We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere , '' Sacristin said .
`` The risk is very , very , very great , '' he said , adding that `` it 's only a question of time . ''
There are no known cases of any Louvre employees having the coronavirus , but French leaders spent the weekend warning residents and visitors about the threat of the virus .
On Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of any gathering that exceeds 5,000 people in a confined space .
And any event of this size that had been planned previously is cancelled .
Officials have also recommended that people stop greeting each other with kisses , the iconically French gesture also called `` la bise , '' to limit physical contact .

Grange said another meeting with staff on health and safety protocols will be held Monday. It's unclear when the Louvre will re-open.
Millions of people visit the museum every year, and about 3/4 of them are from foreign countries.
Andre Sacristin, a Louvre employee and union representative, told the AP that the staff is quite fearful of potentially contracting the coronavirus because the museum sees tens of thousands of visitors a day from around the world.
"We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere," Sacristin said. "The risk is very, very, very great," he said, adding that "it's only a question of time."
There are no known cases of any Louvre employees having the coronavirus, but French leaders spent the weekend warning residents and visitors about the threat of the virus.
On Saturday, the French government announced a ban of any gathering that exceeds 5,000 people in a confined space. And any event of this size that had been planned previously is cancelled.
Officials have also recommended that people stop greeting each other with kisses, the iconically French gesture also called "la bise," to limit physical contact.


buzzfeednews--2020-05-05--Why Is Everyone’s Sense Of Time So Messed Up During The Coronavirus Pandemic?

What five novels from the quarantine lists have to say about living through COVID-19 and the surreal aspects of 2020 — from waiting to isolation to loneliness .
Eventually the coronavirus pandemic will be an event that happened , rather than a period of time people lived through .
The weirdness with time lately — April flashed by after March felt like years , days and weeks slipped from their usual rhythms into a fluid haze , and something that you yourself did in February could seem like it came from a ghost life — might originate with the fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real historical period .
This kind of sheer disruption has happened in the last few decades in the aftermath of hurricanes or 9/11 , but probably not at this universal scale since earlier pandemics or wars .
If you look back at coverage of the 1918 flu pandemic from that fall , you ’ ll find stories about influenza behind dozens of World War I headlines .
There are bigger stories and little updates , like a surge in the sale of black fur or Cleveland ’ s reopening “ as before ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the surgeon general on the “ rules to avoid respiratory diseases.
” The papers carry incremental news about ill-fated provisional governments in Russia , and suffrage and Prohibition in the United States .
Each — the flu pandemic , WWI , the vote , Prohibition , and the USSR — eventually flattened into capital-h History , with linear data points inside a larger beginning and end , and deeper complications to be explored at a remove .
Now , though , we ’ re living inside a vague period .
You ca n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the beginning or end of the pandemic .
Isolated from each other , physically and in the sharp inequalities of this disease , there ’ s no easy way to compare experiences .
This could still be the beginning of the pandemic .
As Jessica Morgan recently observed , “ Living through a massive historical event that unravels the very fabric of global society sucks , and I hate it !
” If there is one common aspect of the pandemic it might be that big wait : We will all be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scorchingly unequal as our current lives might be — indefinitely .
Everyone is waiting for the peak , the reopening , the vaccine , the testing ramp-up , for this to be over , things to go back to normal , or for things to never be normal again .
“ The whole town seemed like a railway waiting room , ” Albert Camus writes , deep into The Plague , which , as you 've heard by now , concerns the bubonic plague fictionally sweeping Oran , Algeria .
“ None of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exalted emotion ; all had trite , monotonous feelings , ” his narrator notes .
“ ‘ It 's high time it stopped , ’ people would say , because in time of calamity the obvious thing is to desire its end , and in fact they wanted it to end.
” To pass the time , I ’ ve been reading novels like The Plague from quarantine lists .
My apartment 's full of nuclear explosions , pandemics , hallucinations , dystopias , drugs that put you to sleep for months , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often brings isolation and illness together is the surreal : Zombies shut down cities ( Ling Ma ’ s Severance and Colson Whitehead ’ s Zone One ) ; a mass extinction event leaves one survivor in the Austrian mountains ( Marlen Haushofer ’ s The Wall ) ; a mercenary searches for a woman in a ruined , sci-fi world ( Anna Kavan ’ s cult classic , Ice ) ; Frankenstein builds the creature , who revolts against the scientist — and in turn , the creature ’ s retribution for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If all that sounds dark , there ’ s still a counterintuitive warmth to be found : You might be stunned at the kinds of little thoughts and cares found deep in novels from 10 , 70 , 200 years ago that still resonate .
Whatever you ’ ve thought , you ’ re not alone .
Isolation can be difficult to depict on its own terms — nothing happens , not exactly .
But narrative fiction deals well with the subject .
A novel can capture what happens inside someone ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resonance of Jane Austen , for instance , arguably rests on the fundamental loneliness of her protagonists , and the resolution of that alienation .
And even if their authors had other ideas ( Severance has a lot to say about consumerism and the immigrant experience , for instance ) , apocalyptic plots can externalize and dramatize isolation .
In The Wall , a couple goes to town during a holiday weekend in the countryside and never returns .
Instead , their nameless friend finds herself permanently alone , with the titular wall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dead from the living .
The novel , a sort of existential , pacifist ’ s Robinson Crusoe , takes the form of a journal as Haushofer ’ s narrator records her daily progress ( the state of the wood pile and potatoes , the health of the cow ) toward survival , intermixed with her reflections on her life before .
“ Sometimes I try to treat myself like a robot : do this and go there and do n't forget to do that , ” she writes .
“ But it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I 'm a bad robot ; I 'm still a human being who thinks and feels , and I shall not be able to shake either habit .
That 's why I 'm sitting here , writing down everything that 's happened.
” Living without a fixed point ahead , except her limited ammunition for hunting and the constraints of winter , she writes of a devotion to keeping her clock wound and the dates notched , until the clock ceases to function , and a fever leaves the journal untouched for an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then , gets lost .
The book , published during the Cold War ’ 60s , works so thoroughly that you can find yourself thinking , Well , here ’ s this woman , totally alone at the end of the world !
Like it ’ s a nonfiction account and somehow the world restarted between then and now .
Loneliness , of course , has been written about quite a bit since the pandemic began , primarily in the context of those who live by themselves — the ones separated by an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isolation will begat loneliness during this indefinite separation .
This is hardly exclusive to the physically distanced , however .
You can feel alone because you have no opportunity to recoup yourself , or because you stand apart from the people who surround you .
You can feel intact seven weeks into what might look like a lonely quarantine from the outside .
That ’ s because isolation , solitude , and loneliness are distinct states , as Hannah Arendt explains at length at the very end of The Origins of Totalitarianism .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in a situation in which I can not act , because there is nobody who will act with me — without being lonely , ” she writes .
“ And I can be lonely — that is in a situation in which I as a person feel myself deserted by all human companionship — without being isolated.
” Anyone who knows something about the subject can tell you : The pain and promise of loneliness is the idea that you might be able to fix it .
Much like the novel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19th century , brought to the fore by the industrial revolution and the rise of mass movement .
Still , Arendt , writing in 1951 , delves into what Cato , Epictetus ( a Greek philosopher , who ’ d been a slave ) , and Martin Luther wrote on the subject , long before the modern city .
Her concern was specific : Arendt viewed loneliness as “ the common ground for terror.
” And , she argued , the individual requires the company of others to confirm both the individual ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the individual ’ s accurate feel for what occurs around them .
( This is the central dilemma of Frankenstein , an enlightenment novel wrecked by horror movie reduction , in which the monster understands how cruelly alone he is in a world repulsed by his appearance . )
“ What makes loneliness so unbearable is the loss of one ’ s own self which can be realized in solitude , ” Arendt writes , “ but confirmed in its identity only by the trusting and trustworthy company of my equals.
” Is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all that hazy time right now ?
That sounds obvious in a way — there are no weddings , or baptisms , or graduations to mark the passage of time in big ways ; no commutes , or Friday afternoons , or Monday mornings to mark the passage of time in small ways .
But the ambient sense of self and our sense of internal logic relies on moving through literal places , and the cumulative effect of community on a person .
You hear this when people talk about dying main streets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or even something as simple as never going into the same restaurant your late parent loved anymore .
If you ’ ve walked an empty city street during the pandemic , you know the way businesses , cars , and pedestrians — even the places you ’ ll never enter and the people to whom you ’ ll never speak — make up the ambient vibe of a place by virtue of their unsettling absence .
“ The silent city was no more than an assemblage of huge , inert cubes , between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men , carapace in bronze , with their blank stone or metal faces , conjured up a sorry resemblance of what man had been , ” Camus writes in The Plague .
Severance ’ s protagonist , Candace , looks up one day from her Times Square office and realizes she ’ s entirely alone as the pandemic advances .
“ There were no tourists , no street vendors , no patrol cars .
There was no one.
” At first , this results in her photographing the city anonymously , taking requests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the world about what ’ s become of places they knew ; later , truly alone , she realizes she must leave .
In Kavan ’ s Ice — a modernist book with fluid set pieces that dissolve and glitch into each other — the nameless narrator weaves from frozen , military-ruled , abandoned countries back to warm towns , full of life , searching for a nameless girl .
Each time he returns to one realm , the other is almost forgotten .
But as he moves through the cold , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people writing about emptied-out cities and towns right now — “ a scene made of nylon with nothing behind , ” “ a discarded film set.
” “ In a peculiar way , ” Kavan ’ s narrator observes , “ the unreality of the outer world appeared to be an extension of my own disturbed mind.
” In this indeterminate , interim stage of the pandemic , there ’ s been a lot of conjecture about What Office Life Will Look Like , or restaurants , or baseball .
The occasional certainty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ read like science fiction — for some other group of people , not us , going through the new routines in a 3D rendering .
Those pieces don ’ t always , and can ’ t really , dwell on what happens “ when this is over ” : that even if you wanted big changes , what you loved about your life before might forever change — people and places in your area missing , or slipping away in the aftermath , never to return — perhaps changing our own senses of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t think people really can contemplate , realistically , what that part looks like — the nature of our lives changed less in the thermometer-gun ways , and more in the emotional , sentimental , casual ones .
The beauty of novels , actually , is that they offer endings , even the ones that slip any kind of conclusion .
Monster and creator die .
The couple escapes .
The lack of resolution is the resolution .
Here , instead , we live through the passage of the virus , apart and @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Eventually the coronavirus pandemic will be an event that happened, rather than a period of time people lived through.
The weirdness with time lately — April flashed by after March felt like years, days and weeks slipped from their usual rhythms into a fluid haze, and something that you yourself did in February could seem like it came from a ghost life — might originate with the fact we’re actually living through a real historical period. This kind of sheer disruption has happened in the last few decades in the aftermath of hurricanes or 9/11, but probably not at this universal scale since earlier pandemics or wars.
If you look back at coverage of the 1918 flu pandemic from that fall, you’ll find stories about influenza behind dozens of World War I headlines. There are bigger stories and little updates, like a surge in the sale of black fur or Cleveland’s reopening “as before” after four weeks, and ads from the surgeon general on the “rules to avoid respiratory diseases.” The papers carry incremental news about ill-fated provisional governments in Russia, and suffrage and Prohibition in the United States. Each — the flu pandemic, WWI, the vote, Prohibition, and the USSR — eventually flattened into capital-h History, with linear data points inside a larger beginning and end, and deeper complications to be explored at a remove.
Now, though, we’re living inside a vague period. You can't locate the relative distance between right now and the beginning or end of the pandemic. Isolated from each other, physically and in the sharp inequalities of this disease, there’s no easy way to compare experiences. This could still be the beginning of the pandemic. As Jessica Morgan recently observed, “Living through a massive historical event that unravels the very fabric of global society sucks, and I hate it!”
If there is one common aspect of the pandemic it might be that big wait: We will all be doing what we’re doing — scorchingly unequal as our current lives might be — indefinitely. Everyone is waiting for the peak, the reopening, the vaccine, the testing ramp-up, for this to be over, things to go back to normal, or for things to never be normal again.
“The whole town seemed like a railway waiting room,” Albert Camus writes, deep into The Plague, which, as you've heard by now, concerns the bubonic plague fictionally sweeping Oran, Algeria.
“None of us was capable any longer of an exalted emotion; all had trite, monotonous feelings,” his narrator notes. “‘It's high time it stopped,’ people would say, because in time of calamity the obvious thing is to desire its end, and in fact they wanted it to end.”
To pass the time, I’ve been reading novels like The Plague from quarantine lists. My apartment's full of nuclear explosions, pandemics, hallucinations, dystopias, drugs that put you to sleep for months, and monsters.
In fiction, what often brings isolation and illness together is the surreal: Zombies shut down cities (Ling Ma’s Severance and Colson Whitehead’s Zone One); a mass extinction event leaves one survivor in the Austrian mountains (Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall); a mercenary searches for a woman in a ruined, sci-fi world (Anna Kavan’s cult classic, Ice); Frankenstein builds the creature, who revolts against the scientist — and in turn, the creature’s retribution for his own loneliness destroys them both. If all that sounds dark, there’s still a counterintuitive warmth to be found: You might be stunned at the kinds of little thoughts and cares found deep in novels from 10, 70, 200 years ago that still resonate. Whatever you’ve thought, you’re not alone.


buzzfeednews--2020-05-06--The Coronavirus Is Keeping Addiction Counselors From Their Patients. So The Industry Has Transformed

The Coronavirus Is Keeping Addiction Counselors From Their Patients. So The Industry Has Transformed.

BuzzFeed News has reporters across five continents bringing you trustworthy stories about the impact of the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
No one gets turned away .
That was the principle for Options Recovery Services , a Bay Area addiction treatment network : If you showed up asking for help , you got it .
But when the coronavirus pandemic caused a nationwide shutdown , addiction and mental health practitioners scrambled to find a way to keep treating patients .
They faced a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centers put staff and people already in treatment at a greater risk of infection .
But turning them away can mean leaving people to battle their addictions without help .
Many of Options Recovery Services ’ walk-ins are people recently released from jail or psychiatric institutions .
Overdose deaths have drastically increased in the Bay Area in recent years with the rise of fentanyl .
“ If we turn them away we may be picking how they die , ” said Tom Gorham , executive director of Options ’ drug treatment program .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Gorham decided to keep the doors open despite the coronavirus pandemic .
It ’ s personal for him .
Alcohol once led him to a life of crime and homelessness .
One day when he was in jail he met Davida Coady , the founder of Options Recovery Services .
He got clean and made helping others his life ’ s work .
He ’ d end up marrying Coady .
But the decision to keep taking in patients off the street did not initially go over well with staff , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It was very unpopular at first , ” Gorham said .
They talked through it and after instituting a slew of safety measures — social distancing , temperature checks , face masks , frequent hand-washing — kept the doors open .
Staff were told that they were not required to physically come to work , but Gorham said everyone has .
So far there have been no infections among the roughly 120 patients being housed .
“ They are very , very grateful and they ’ re letting us know , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come from traumatic backgrounds .
They ’ ve never seen this kind of love and caring in their entire life and they ’ re overwhelmed .
So that ’ s really beautiful that this moment has created this opportunity , in a way , for them to really redefine their lives like we ’ re all basically doing.
” Elsewhere , centers have closed physically but kept operating by moving to Skype and Zoom and other streaming platforms .
Addiction professionals across the country told BuzzFeed News that they first scrambled to adapt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up having lots of uptake for their new remote services .
“ We ’ ve kind of had to reinvent ourselves over the past six weeks , ” said Gerry Schmidt of Valley HealthCare System in Morgantown , West Virginia .
It ’ s a large , comprehensive network with about 370 employees over 18 sites .
Almost all of their outpatient services have been converted to telehealth — video or phone calls .
They ’ ve maintained some limited in-person services such as patients coming for blood draws or injections .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have the technology at home for telehealth ?
Valley HealthCare has set up computers at their sites so that people can come in and videoconference with a clinician in another room .
There have been challenges , such as getting enough personal protection equipment , but Shmidt said overall the transformation has been incredibly successful .
“ I ’ m amazed at how resilient our clients are , ” said Schmidt .
“ They ’ ve been really receptive of it , as have our clinicians.
” It is by no means a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treating substance abuse and mental health disorders , much of what they look for is nonverbal .
It ’ s harder to get a sense of how stable a patient is from a little box on a screen , especially in group settings .
Things like smelling for drugs or alcohol can be extremely useful and are obviously impossible remotely .
“ I have a couple patients that are anorexic and I typically weigh them in the office , ” said Malcolm Horn .
“ When I see them face to face I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little thin .
I can ’ t do that with telehealth .
I see them from the shoulders up.
” Horn runs a team of mental health counselors at the Rimrock Foundation in Billings , Montana .
She ’ s already been doing telehealth for five or six years because many of their clients live in rural areas .
She calls group meetings the first line of defense against substance abuse , but said that some of their patients opted out until face-to-face is possible again .
“ Is it better than nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Is it what I would prefer to do ?
No.
” The industry had been moving toward telehealth for years , but it was slowed by a variety of technical and regulatory hurdles .
There were privacy concerns and restrictions on what videoconference technology could be used .
There were jurisdictional issues around treating someone in a different state , and concerns about fraud .
But at the drop of a hat , coronavirus changed everything .
The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services quickly moved to relax its restrictions .
Billing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been opened up .
The Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness , which represents payers , said its members are all covering telehealth services now .
There is also a feeling among many that there is no going back — the outbreak has permanently changed the industry .
Turning Point Counseling Services in Fairbanks , Alaska , was seeing 400 patient visits per week before the coronavirus .
When a clinician got sick , they switched entirely to telemedicine .
After going through the bumps of getting their whole practice online , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for video sessions .
“ Our experience is this works .
We are not waiting for this COVID thing to pass over , ” said Turning Point CEO Gunnar Ebbesson .
“ We are doing the work.
” Ebbeson says telehealth has `` completely changed the landscape of what ’ s possible ” in terms of providing addiction and mental health services to far more people .
That ’ s something that could soon become necessary .
Every clinician quoted in this story said they expect the conditions caused by the coronavirus to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when this is over .
People being stuck inside fearing for their health and stressed about losing their jobs is a societywide recipe for more substance abuse .
“ This has been a public health disaster waiting to happen and here we are , ” said Gorham .
“ We didn ’ t want to address it before , now here you go .
It ’ s in our laps .
”

No one gets turned away. That was the principle for Options Recovery Services, a Bay Area addiction treatment network: If you showed up asking for help, you got it.
But when the coronavirus pandemic caused a nationwide shutdown, addiction and mental health practitioners scrambled to find a way to keep treating patients. They faced a terrible choice. Taking people into outpatient centers put staff and people already in treatment at a greater risk of infection. But turning them away can mean leaving people to battle their addictions without help.
Many of Options Recovery Services’ walk-ins are people recently released from jail or psychiatric institutions. Overdose deaths have drastically increased in the Bay Area in recent years with the rise of fentanyl.
“If we turn them away we may be picking how they die,” said Tom Gorham, executive director of Options’ drug treatment program. “I’m not going there.”
Gorham decided to keep the doors open despite the coronavirus pandemic. It’s personal for him. Alcohol once led him to a life of crime and homelessness. One day when he was in jail he met Davida Coady, the founder of Options Recovery Services. He got clean and made helping others his life’s work. He’d end up marrying Coady.
But the decision to keep taking in patients off the street did not initially go over well with staff, who were afraid for their safety. “It was very unpopular at first,” Gorham said. They talked through it and after instituting a slew of safety measures — social distancing, temperature checks, face masks, frequent hand-washing — kept the doors open. Staff were told that they were not required to physically come to work, but Gorham said everyone has.
So far there have been no infections among the roughly 120 patients being housed.
“They are very, very grateful and they’re letting us know,” said Gorham. “A lot of people come from traumatic backgrounds. They’ve never seen this kind of love and caring in their entire life and they’re overwhelmed. So that’s really beautiful that this moment has created this opportunity, in a way, for them to really redefine their lives like we’re all basically doing.”
Elsewhere, centers have closed physically but kept operating by moving to Skype and Zoom and other streaming platforms. Addiction professionals across the country told BuzzFeed News that they first scrambled to adapt to the outbreak, but have ended up having lots of uptake for their new remote services.
“We’ve kind of had to reinvent ourselves over the past six weeks,” said Gerry Schmidt of Valley HealthCare System in Morgantown, West Virginia. It’s a large, comprehensive network with about 370 employees over 18 sites. Almost all of their outpatient services have been converted to telehealth — video or phone calls. They’ve maintained some limited in-person services such as patients coming for blood draws or injections.
But what about people who don’t have the technology at home for telehealth? Valley HealthCare has set up computers at their sites so that people can come in and videoconference with a clinician in another room. There have been challenges, such as getting enough personal protection equipment, but Shmidt said overall the transformation has been incredibly successful.
“I’m amazed at how resilient our clients are,” said Schmidt. “They’ve been really receptive of it, as have our clinicians.”
It is by no means a perfect solution for everyone. For people treating substance abuse and mental health disorders, much of what they look for is nonverbal. It’s harder to get a sense of how stable a patient is from a little box on a screen, especially in group settings. Things like smelling for drugs or alcohol can be extremely useful and are obviously impossible remotely.
“I have a couple patients that are anorexic and I typically weigh them in the office,” said Malcolm Horn. “When I see them face to face I can see hey, you look a little thin. I can’t do that with telehealth. I see them from the shoulders up.”
Horn runs a team of mental health counselors at the Rimrock Foundation in Billings, Montana. She’s already been doing telehealth for five or six years because many of their clients live in rural areas. She calls group meetings the first line of defense against substance abuse, but said that some of their patients opted out until face-to-face is possible again. “Is it better than nothing? Yes,” she said. “Is it what I would prefer to do? No.”
The industry had been moving toward telehealth for years, but it was slowed by a variety of technical and regulatory hurdles. There were privacy concerns and restrictions on what videoconference technology could be used. There were jurisdictional issues around treating someone in a different state, and concerns about fraud. But at the drop of a hat, coronavirus changed everything.
The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services quickly moved to relax its restrictions. Billing insurance companies for telehealth services has also been opened up. The Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, which represents payers, said its members are all covering telehealth services now.
There is also a feeling among many that there is no going back — the outbreak has permanently changed the industry. Turning Point Counseling Services in Fairbanks, Alaska, was seeing 400 patient visits per week before the coronavirus. When a clinician got sick, they switched entirely to telemedicine. After going through the bumps of getting their whole practice online, they’ve now seen near-100% attendance for video sessions.
“Our experience is this works. We are not waiting for this COVID thing to pass over,” said Turning Point CEO Gunnar Ebbesson. “We are doing the work.”
Ebbeson says telehealth has "completely changed the landscape of what’s possible” in terms of providing addiction and mental health services to far more people. That’s something that could soon become necessary. Every clinician quoted in this story said they expect the conditions caused by the coronavirus to lead to a rise in PTSD-type symptoms when this is over. People being stuck inside fearing for their health and stressed about losing their jobs is a societywide recipe for more substance abuse.
“This has been a public health disaster waiting to happen and here we are,” said Gorham. “We didn’t want to address it before, now here you go. It’s in our laps.”


buzzfeednews--2020-05-06--Wildlife Traffickers Are Setting Up Fake Zoos On Facebook To Sell The Scales Of Endangered Pangolins

Wildlife traffickers are openly selling critically endangered pangolins and their scales on Facebook , setting up profiles for fake petting zoos that direct potential buyers to private WhatsApp numbers where deals are made .
In an investigation published Wednesday , the Tech Transparency Project found half a dozen public posts selling pangolin scales simply by searching for the name of the animal written in Vietnamese .
Many of the pages offered pangolin scales , which are used in traditional Chinese medicine .
The Tech Transparency Project is a research initiative by the Campaign for Accountability , a nonpartisan , nonprofit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world 's most trafficked animal , ” the Tech Transparency Project ’ s executive director , Daniel Stevens , told BuzzFeed News .
“ And it 's still easy to find these animals to buy on Facebook.
” Two of the pages discovered by the Tech Transparency Report were taken down by Facebook after BuzzFeed News contacted the platform for comment .
Facebook said it does n't tolerate the illegal trading of endangered wildlife and their parts on our platforms and will take down pages or events and associated accounts when they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The site 's moderators use a combination of technology , reports from NGO partners , reports from our community , and human review to detect and remove violating content .
“ We prohibit the trading of endangered wildlife or their parts , '' a spokesperson for Facebook told BuzzFeed News .
`` It 's illegal , it 's wrong , and we have teams devoted to stopping activity like this . ''
The main way traffickers sell pangolins on Facebook is by creating fake listings for zoos .
On three pages viewed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the profile as a zoo or animal rescue service , even though the pages had titles like “ Pangolin Scales for Sale in Vietnam '' and “ Rhino Horns and Pangolin scales for sale in China.
” Many of the pages also direct potential buyers toward WhatsApp numbers .
“ We discretely hunt and sell Rhino Horn and pangolin scales contact us for more information on purchase , WhatsApp me , ” one page read .
Sarah Uhlemann , international program director and senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity , told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the Tech Transparency Project ’ s researchers were able to find pangolins on Facebook .
Uhlemann said she was able to find online vendors the same way that the Tech Transparency Project team did : by googling the word “ pangolin '' in simplified Mandarin .
“ It 's not that hard to find , ” she said .
“ I would say that the Vietnamese link is not surprising to me .
”

Wildlife traffickers are openly selling critically endangered pangolins and their scales on Facebook, setting up profiles for fake petting zoos that direct potential buyers to private WhatsApp numbers where deals are made.
In an investigation published Wednesday, the Tech Transparency Project found half a dozen public posts selling pangolin scales simply by searching for the name of the animal written in Vietnamese. Many of the pages offered pangolin scales, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The Tech Transparency Project is a research initiative by the Campaign for Accountability, a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization.
“The pangolin is the world's most trafficked animal,” the Tech Transparency Project’s executive director, Daniel Stevens, told BuzzFeed News. “And it's still easy to find these animals to buy on Facebook.”
Two of the pages discovered by the Tech Transparency Report were taken down by Facebook after BuzzFeed News contacted the platform for comment.
Facebook said it doesn't tolerate the illegal trading of endangered wildlife and their parts on our platforms and will take down pages or events and associated accounts when they are found to violate these policies. The site's moderators use a combination of technology, reports from NGO partners, reports from our community, and human review to detect and remove violating content.
“We prohibit the trading of endangered wildlife or their parts," a spokesperson for Facebook told BuzzFeed News. "It's illegal, it's wrong, and we have teams devoted to stopping activity like this."
The main way traffickers sell pangolins on Facebook is by creating fake listings for zoos. On three pages viewed by BuzzFeed News, the moderator had listed the profile as a zoo or animal rescue service, even though the pages had titles like “Pangolin Scales for Sale in Vietnam" and “Rhino Horns and Pangolin scales for sale in China.” Many of the pages also direct potential buyers toward WhatsApp numbers.
“We discretely hunt and sell Rhino Horn and pangolin scales contact us for more information on purchase, WhatsApp me,” one page read.
Sarah Uhlemann, international program director and senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, told BuzzFeed News she wasn’t surprised that the Tech Transparency Project’s researchers were able to find pangolins on Facebook. Uhlemann said she was able to find online vendors the same way that the Tech Transparency Project team did: by googling the word “pangolin" in simplified Mandarin.
“It's not that hard to find,” she said. “I would say that the Vietnamese link is not surprising to me.”


buzzfeednews--2020-05-06--Her Husband Fought For And Then Against Fidel Castro. Now Adam Driver Is Starring In A Hollywood Mov

Her Husband Fought For And Then Against Fidel Castro. Now Adam Driver Is Starring In A Hollywood Movie About Him.

Olga Morgan Goodwin told BuzzFeed News she hopes Yankee Comandante will reveal to a new audience a compelling figure who had largely been written out of history .
Hollywood actor Adam Driver was n't born when William Morgan blazed a path across Cuba with a band of guerrillas , helping Fidel Castro seize control of the country during a critical period of the revolution .
But when Morgan 's widow learned last week that 36-year-old Driver was starring in a movie to be made about her late husband , the memories came flooding back from a conflict that forever changed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' said Olga Morgan Goodwin , a Cuban native who met her husband during the fighting in 1958 .
`` He wanted the freedom for my country .
He gave his life for my country . ''
Though movie productions have been shut down because of the coronavirus , filming for the Yankee Comandante is tentatively set for 2021 , with director Jeff Nichols attached to a feature film that resurrects the life of an American who helped lead a revolution that changed the course of the Cold War .
In an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Goodwin said she was heartened by the news last week , but admitted she has never heard of Driver , who starred in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and has twice been nominated for an Academy Award .
`` I do n't watch a lot of TV , '' said Goodwin , who now lives in Ohio .
`` I just do n't have the time . ''
Though two books and a PBS documentary have been created about Morgan , a former gun runner for the mob whose life changed dramatically when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she hopes the movie will reveal to a larger audience a compelling figure who had once disappeared from the archives of history .
The rights to the movie by Imperative Entertainment come eight years after Focus Features optioned the story with George Clooney as the director , but never moved forward with the filming .
The movie is based on an article in the New Yorker by David Grann .
In the late 1950s , Morgan cut a swashbuckling figure who captured international attention in the media — as well as the FBI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House — after he led his rebel unit to a remarkable series of victories over the Cuban army at the height of the revolution .
At the time , the guerrillas led by Fidel Castro had promised reforms and elections once they ousted the corrupt regime of Fulgencio Batista , who seized power years earlier in a coup .
A strapping figure with blonde hair and blue eyes , Morgan , the so-called Yanqui Comandante , turned up in the mountains for adventure , but quickly became serious as he witnessed atrocities carried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A native of Ohio , Morgan was featured in the New York Times , which published a statement he wrote on behalf of his guerrilla unit that embraced the principles of democracy but criticized the United States for backing the Batista regime .
By late 1958 , he and his men cleared the central mountains of soldiers so that Castro and Che Guevara , the legendary Argentine revolutionary , could sweep to victory at a time when Cuba — just 90 miles from Florida — was pivotal in the balance of power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Union .
Though Castro promised to step down as temporary leader , he later canceled elections and forged ties with the Soviets — prompting Morgan to turn against the Cuban dictator and raise a small army to take control .
Goodwin said her husband grew angry over the executions ordered by Guevara , a key supporter of Castro , even after the enemy soldiers surrendered .
`` Right away , they started attacking people .
No court .
Nothing , '' she said .
After running guns to the mountains for a counterrevolution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Castro 's agents , stood trial , and was ordered to be shot during a dramatic execution witnessed by an American priest .
Led to the execution wall , Morgan refused to be blindfolded and proceeded to hug the head of the firing squad before he was lined up and killed .
`` He died for my people , '' said Goodwin .
While Morgan is the focus of the movie , Goodwin 's own harrowing ordeals after his death have become a part of his story .
Just days after his execution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison , where she led women inmates in protests for better conditions .
After waging hunger strikes , she was beaten and frequently thrown in solitary confinement , where she would be fed scraps of bread and rice and woken up by rats crawling over her body , she said .
In 1971 , she was released after a decade , but could not return to her family home in central Cuba because the secret police would show up .
So she ended up living in a convent in Havana while her parents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her marriage to Morgan .
`` Olga paid the price , '' said Adriana Bosch , an award-winning filmmaker who produced the first documentary about Morgan , American Comandante , for PBS in 2015 .
`` They both had that strong romantic streak .
That same streak would account for their love and it 's the same streak that would account for their tragedy . ''
Goodwin was able to escape from Cuba in a scene that rivaled some of the battles in the mountains years earlier .
She hopped on one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the infamous Mariel boatlift in 1980 , barely making it to the US shore after the Cuban navy fired shots into the hull .
Instead of settling in Miami , she moved to Toledo to be near Morgan 's mother , Loretta , and later met her current husband .
During those years , she became close to her mother-in-law and eventually made two promises to her that Goodwin would carry the rest of her life .
First , Goodwin pledged to restore Morgan 's US citizenship , which was stripped in 1959 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The other promise was to bring back his remains to the US for reburial in Ohio .
Though Morgan was criticized by a senior member of Congress for helping Castro and was targeted by FBI and CIA investigations , Goodwin argued her husband fought to help free Cuba from oppression and ultimately died fighting the same enemy that threatened his native country : communism .
“ He loved this country , ” she said .
With the help of a local lawyer , Gerardo Rollison , the State Department granted her request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to returning his body , it was a far more daunting task .
Goodwin and her lawyer have written letters to presidents Bush and Obama , Pope Francis , and the Castro government , pleading for his remains .
Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio met with then-president Castro in 2002 to ask for the remains .
Nine members of Congress wrote a letter to then-president Raul Castro in 2009 .
But so far , Cuban leaders have not budged .
To this day , Morgan remains buried in a remote corner of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a Cuban historian and Miami radio show host , said Morgan is revered among thousands of Cubans in the exile community of Miami because he gave his life for them .
But to the Cuban government , he ’ s still considered an enemy .
`` [ They ] do n't want to leave a place where people can put flowers for a martyr , '' said Encinosa .
Goodwin said she will continue to fight .
The Cuban government is `` waiting for me to get older and older and older @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her late husband remained loyal to the cause of freedom in Cuba , and held no grudges against the people who put him to death .
In a letter he wrote to her that was smuggled out of La Cabana prison shortly before he was executed , he said that Cuba would solve its own problems .
`` I do not want blood spilled over my cause , '' he wrote .
`` Those who are putting us on trial and condemning us have their job to do , and are acting according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's politics .
So if they are guilty of so many injustices , leave it to history to straighten out such faults .
Revenge is not the answer .
It 's better that I die because I have defended lives . ''
Encinosa , who has written extensively about the Cuban revolution , said Morgan remains an admired figure to Cuban Americans , not just because he was a formidable leader , but because of his own personal transformation .
He said Morgan arrived in Cuba with a checkered past .
He had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and had worked for the Ohio mafia .
But by the time he died , he had `` found himself as a human being , '' said Encinosa .
As he rose into leadership , he witnessed the farmers being beaten by government soldiers and discovered for the first time that he could help the Cuban people .
`` A guy who was a loose cannon with a criminal record , '' he said .
`` He became a hero . ''

Hollywood actor Adam Driver wasn't born when William Morgan blazed a path across Cuba with a band of guerrillas, helping Fidel Castro seize control of the country during a critical period of the revolution.
But when Morgan's widow learned last week that 36-year-old Driver was starring in a movie to be made about her late husband, the memories came flooding back from a conflict that forever changed their lives.
"This is history," said Olga Morgan Goodwin, a Cuban native who met her husband during the fighting in 1958. "He wanted the freedom for my country. He gave his life for my country."
Though movie productions have been shut down because of the coronavirus, filming for the Yankee Comandante is tentatively set for 2021, with director Jeff Nichols attached to a feature film that resurrects the life of an American who helped lead a revolution that changed the course of the Cold War.
In an exclusive interview with BuzzFeed News, 84-year-old Goodwin said she was heartened by the news last week, but admitted she has never heard of Driver, who starred in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and has twice been nominated for an Academy Award. "I don't watch a lot of TV," said Goodwin, who now lives in Ohio. "I just don't have the time."
Though two books and a PBS documentary have been created about Morgan, a former gun runner for the mob whose life changed dramatically when he arrived in Cuba, Goodwin said she hopes the movie will reveal to a larger audience a compelling figure who had once disappeared from the archives of history.


buzzfeednews--2020-05-06--An Entire City Has Been Told To Download A Controversial Contact Tracing App — Or Face Jail

BuzzFeed News has reporters across five continents bringing you trustworthy stories about the impact of the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
NEW DELHI — Residents of a city in India have been issued with an ultimatum : install the government ’ s controversial coronavirus contact tracing app on their smartphones or be punished .
“ Not installing the app will be considered as a violation of lockdown orders , ” said a police order released in Noida , on the outskirts of New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has reviewed the order , which was published in Hindi .
Those caught without the app could face a fine of 1,000 rupees ( around $ 13 ) or up to six months in jail .
A senior police officer from the Noida police department told Indian media that the cops would conduct random checks on roads and at state borders to ensure that people have the app installed .
It ’ s unclear what happens if someone doesn ’ t have a smartphone or is out on the streets without one .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not respond to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News .
The move has sparked outrage from Indian privacy activists who say that it is illegal and unconstitutional .
“ This order is coercive and runs afoul of the constitutional principles of personal liberty , ” said Apar Gupta , director of the Internet Freedom Foundation ( IFF ) , a New Delhi–based digital rights organization .
“ If it ’ s challenged in court , it will be a tough case for the government to justify because it is unreasonable.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenge .
More than half of India ’ s 1.3 billion citizens do not have smartphones .
But India ’ s government , led by nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi , has been increasingly pushing citizens to install its own contact tracing app to lead normal lives .
The app , called Aarogya Setu , which means “ a bridge to health ” in Hindi , uses a combination of self-declared personal information like travel history and symptoms , as well as Bluetooth and location data , to hand out green , yellow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their risk of coronavirus infection .
More than 90 million people in India have downloaded it in under a month .
But privacy advocates are concerned about the app ’ s potential as a tool for state surveillance both during and after the pandemic .
Among other things , it requires constant access to people ’ s location data and requires Bluetooth to be always on .

NEW DELHI — Residents of a city in India have been issued with an ultimatum: install the government’s controversial coronavirus contact tracing app on their smartphones or be punished.
“Not installing the app will be considered as a violation of lockdown orders,” said a police order released in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, on Tuesday. BuzzFeed News has reviewed the order, which was published in Hindi. Those caught without the app could face a fine of 1,000 rupees (around $13) or up to six months in jail.
A senior police officer from the Noida police department told Indian media that the cops would conduct random checks on roads and at state borders to ensure that people have the app installed. It’s unclear what happens if someone doesn’t have a smartphone or is out on the streets without one. Representatives from the Noida police department did not respond to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.
The move has sparked outrage from Indian privacy activists who say that it is illegal and unconstitutional.
“This order is coercive and runs afoul of the constitutional principles of personal liberty,” said Apar Gupta, director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a New Delhi–based digital rights organization. “If it’s challenged in court, it will be a tough case for the government to justify because it is unreasonable.” The IFF is currently working on a legal challenge.
More than half of India’s 1.3 billion citizens do not have smartphones. But India’s government, led by nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been increasingly pushing citizens to install its own contact tracing app to lead normal lives. The app, called Aarogya Setu, which means “a bridge to health” in Hindi, uses a combination of self-declared personal information like travel history and symptoms, as well as Bluetooth and location data, to hand out green, yellow, and orange passes to people showing their risk of coronavirus infection. More than 90 million people in India have downloaded it in under a month.
But privacy advocates are concerned about the app’s potential as a tool for state surveillance both during and after the pandemic. Among other things, it requires constant access to people’s location data and requires Bluetooth to be always on.