buzzfeed--2020-02-19--Australia Has 17 Million Facebook Users And Seven Facebook Fact Checkers

Some of the biggest news stories in 2020 — Australia 's bushfires , Trump 's impeachment trial , the spread of the coronavirus — have been in part defined by the viral hoaxes , rumours and fake news spread widely on Facebook 's platforms .
The social media giant , which recently boasted of having 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide who post a billion pieces of content a day , is locked in a constant battle against its users over misinformation .
And it acknowledges it has a problem .
One of the company 's major tools in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Facebook does n't fact check anything itself .
Instead , it uses independent companies to review claims made on its platforms .
In a program launched in late 2016 , the company has 55 partners certified by the International Fact-Checking Network .
Facebook does pay companies for the fact checks , although some companies have refused the money .
When a post is found to contain false information by a fact checker , the company labels the post as false , prompts users if they go to share it and claims that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 80 % .
Considering nearly a third of Australians get their news from Facebook , these fact checkers play an outsized role in determining what gets seen , and in what context , for the country 's 17 million users .
So just how many people are working on figuring out what 's real or not on Facebook in Australia ?
Seven .
Between them , they 've completed 220 fact checks since April 2019 — about one check every one and a half days on average .
Facebook has two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Agence France-Presse ( AFP ) and Australian Associated Press ( AAP ) .
AFP has two digital verification journalists working in Australia — they 've completed 140 checks since launching in April 2019 .
Two sources with knowledge of AAP 's FactCheck operation said the company has five people working in the team : an editor , deputy editor , an open-source & verification editor and two reporters .
AAP 's FactCheck has 80 fact checks listed on its website since May 27 , 2019 .
According to AFP 's Australian fact checking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as one of the reporters — these journalists work with other domestic staff and AFP 's international fact checkers to verify posts made domestically and internationally .
`` The team monitors news from the ANZ region particularly closely , and has published timely fact check reports on important news events , such as the Sri Lankan Easter bombings , Australian bushfires and the novel coronavirus , '' Chan told BuzzFeed News .
`` With misinformation having no boundaries , AFP ’ s fact checkers in Australia also look globally . ''
AAP 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about how many staff work as fact checkers , or the number of checks completed , but said it was an important role for the company .
`` At a time when the public 's trust in media is challenged , AAP Fact Check fulfils a vital need to journalism and the community at large , '' Gillies said to BuzzFeed News in an email .
`` We have invested well in fact checking because this work matters . ''
American news outlet The Hill reported in January 2020 that the US has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full-time staff checking a total of 200 posts per month .
Each partner has said it plans on expanding in the lead-up to the 2020 US presidential election .
Facebook reported 190 million active users in the US and Canada at the end of 2019 .
Neither Facebook nor its Australian fact checking partners have commented publicly on whether they are paid , or how much per fact check .
Facebook referred questions from BuzzFeed News on its Australian fact-checking operation to AFP and AAP .
Nieman Lab reported company 's fact checking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1790 per fact check in July 2019 .
A source employed as a fact checker in Australia said those figures were similar to what their organisation is paid for a check .
The employee was concerned about how well the fact checking program is working to combat misinformation .
`` Lies are cost-effective to generate , unfortunately the truth takes work and it takes time , '' they said .
`` It 's incredible the sheer speed at which lies travel , particularly when they ’ re targeted at groups .
`` [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rid of the controversial stuff and they 're banking most of the ad revenue . ''

Some of the biggest news stories in 2020 — Australia's bushfires, Trump's impeachment trial, the spread of the coronavirus — have been in part defined by the viral hoaxes, rumours and fake news spread widely on Facebook's platforms.
The social media giant, which recently boasted of having 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide who post a billion pieces of content a day, is locked in a constant battle against its users over misinformation. And it acknowledges it has a problem.
One of the company's major tools in this fight is its third-party fact checking program.
Facebook doesn't fact check anything itself. Instead, it uses independent companies to review claims made on its platforms. In a program launched in late 2016, the company has 55 partners certified by the International Fact-Checking Network. Facebook does pay companies for the fact checks, although some companies have refused the money.
When a post is found to contain false information by a fact checker, the company labels the post as false, prompts users if they go to share it and claims that it limits the posts' reach by more than 80%.
Considering nearly a third of Australians get their news from Facebook, these fact checkers play an outsized role in determining what gets seen, and in what context, for the country's 17 million users.
So just how many people are working on figuring out what's real or not on Facebook in Australia? Seven.
Between them, they've completed 220 fact checks since April 2019 — about one check every one and a half days on average.
Facebook has two third-party fact checking partners in Australia: Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Australian Associated Press (AAP).
AFP has two digital verification journalists working in Australia — they've completed 140 checks since launching in April 2019.
Two sources with knowledge of AAP's FactCheck operation said the company has five people working in the team: an editor, deputy editor, an open-source & verification editor and two reporters. AAP's FactCheck has 80 fact checks listed on its website since May 27, 2019.
According to AFP's Australian fact checking editor Esther Chan — who also works as one of the reporters — these journalists work with other domestic staff and AFP's international fact checkers to verify posts made domestically and internationally.
"The team monitors news from the ANZ region particularly closely, and has published timely fact check reports on important news events, such as the Sri Lankan Easter bombings, Australian bushfires and the novel coronavirus," Chan told BuzzFeed News. "With misinformation having no boundaries, AFP’s fact checkers in Australia also look globally."
AAP's editor-in-chief Tony Gillies declined to answer questions about how many staff work as fact checkers, or the number of checks completed, but said it was an important role for the company.
"At a time when the public's trust in media is challenged, AAP Fact Check fulfils a vital need to journalism and the community at large," Gillies said to BuzzFeed News in an email. "We have invested well in fact checking because this work matters."
American news outlet The Hill reported in January 2020 that the US has six fact checking partners, with 26 full-time staff checking a total of 200 posts per month. Each partner has said it plans on expanding in the lead-up to the 2020 US presidential election. Facebook reported 190 million active users in the US and Canada at the end of 2019.
Neither Facebook nor its Australian fact checking partners have commented publicly on whether they are paid, or how much per fact check. Facebook referred questions from BuzzFeed News on its Australian fact-checking operation to AFP and AAP.
Nieman Lab reported company's fact checking partners received between USD$850-$1790 per fact check in July 2019. A source employed as a fact checker in Australia said those figures were similar to what their organisation is paid for a check.
The employee was concerned about how well the fact checking program is working to combat misinformation.
"Lies are cost-effective to generate, unfortunately the truth takes work and it takes time," they said. "It's incredible the sheer speed at which lies travel, particularly when they’re targeted at groups.
"[Facebook]'s asking us to get rid of the controversial stuff and they're banking most of the ad revenue."


buzzfeed--2020-03-19--People Are Calling Evangeline Lilly "Irresponsible" For Refusing To Social Distance

She said , `` I think we all need to slow down , take a breath , and look at @ @ @ @ @ presented with . ''
She believes that `` they do not add up to the @ @ @ @ @ control , pandemonium and insanity we are experiencing . ''

She said, "I think we all need to slow down, take a breath, and look at the facts we are being presented with." She believes that "they do not add up to the all-out, global lockdown, control, pandemonium and insanity we are experiencing."


buzzfeed--2020-03-19--I Went To Japan After The Coronavirus Hit — Here’s What It Was Like Returning To The US

Since the moment I landed in the US , there ’ s been an underlying sense of profound fear in @ @ @ @ @ seems to be growing .
When I check the news or talk to friends or @ @ @ @ @ myself spiraling , becoming obsessed : Do I have it ?
Do my parents ?
@ @ @ @ @ of food ?
What 's going to happen to the world ?
I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ isolating yourself as much as possible , and staying up to date on the news @ @ @ @ @ degree .
To keep the fear in check , in my apartment we ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ the virus to a minimum — we read the news and talk about it , @ @ @ @ @ rest of the day .
If someone breaks the rule , the penalty is an @ @ @ @ @ .
As harsh as it sounds , it encourages me to take a break from @ @ @ @ @ if only for a few hours .

I should note this is just my experience and perspective, and that since I flew home on March 6, travel warnings and the spread of coronavirus have evolved, and the World Health Organization has characterized the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. It is important to take government and CDC travel warnings seriously, especially if you're aged 60 or above, have any preexisting medical conditions, or have a weak immune system.


buzzfeed--2020-03-19--A Leaked Video Shows Scared Refugees Questioning Immigration Officials About The Coronavirus

Scared detainees in a Brisbane detention centre voiced their concerns about the coronavirus outbreak to immigration officers in a heated meeting on Thursday afternoon that left most of their questions unanswered , a video leaked to BuzzFeed News shows .
The meeting at the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation ( BITA ) centre was held following the news a Serco staffer who worked at a nearby detention centre had tested positive for COVID-19 , the disease caused by the new coronavirus .
It was the second such meeting in two days .
The sick officer last worked a shift at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being used as a detention centre , on March 7 .
Men held in the hotel are frequently transported back and forth to BITA as it is the only place they can exercise , and people held in both centres are deeply worried about an outbreak of the virus .
At the meeting , held outside at BITA , an Australian Border Force ( ABF ) staffer told detainees that authorities had figured out the shifts worked by the staffer who tested positive .
`` So that process is very well underway at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Queensland health authorities would contact people who had `` close contact '' with that staff member , she said .
The government was made aware of the diagnosis on Wednesday .
The government 's `` key focus '' was on preventing the entry of COVID-19 into the detention network , she said to the men gathered outside .
She reassured the men there were no confirmed cases of the disease in detention at this time .
`` Detainees are required to maintain good personal hygiene , cough etiquette and social distancing , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment , but that 's OK , it 's only for a short amount of time , '' she said .
`` This particular case can deliver to someone else , and now it 's like four people live in one room , and if it 's like simply one got it , it 's gon na be heaps , '' interrupted one man .
He pleaded with her to allocate only one or two detainees to each bedroom , or find alternative accommodation : `` Please , if you can make the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two ? ''
`` We had lots of stress and for me personally I got panic attack last night .
I can die , '' he told the officer .
`` It 's like after eight years we gon na die by the Chinese coronavirus , like , you know , that 's really unfair , please find a solution . ''
The ABF officer repeated throughout the short meeting that anyone with questions or concerns should put them in writing so the government and its service providers could respond properly .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I get answers for you , either from us [ in Brisbane ] or from Canberra '' .
`` It 's quite a fluid situation , so that 's why I ask you to put it in writing , '' she said .
`` It needs to be considered from a whole immigration detention environment , not just BITA , but everywhere , so I ca n't answer straight away . ''
`` This coronavirus is not waiting for paperwork , '' one man said .
`` We really need serious real action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me what your concerns are [ in writing ] so I can get you the answers and that 's the end of the story , '' she replied .
An Iranian refugee detained at BITA told BuzzFeed News people in detention were worried .
`` We are all panicking in here , but we can not do anything , '' he said .
`` We want the people to be out of here and at least they can take care of themselves .
In here we have zero right to access anything that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from this sickness , '' the Iranian man said .
He was concerned that guards and other staff members were not wearing gloves and masks .
He added that written requests and complaints usually took at least three days to get a response .
`` We do n't have time to follow any request or write any requests , '' he said .
An officer for detention contractor Serco told the meeting that it was important detainees keep everything really clean .
`` We 're learning new stuff every hour of every day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are doing everything we can . ''
The ABF officer told the detainees medical contractor International Health & Medical Services had started `` toolbox talks '' this week to help inform the detention community about COVID-19 and allow them to ask questions .
She said that the ABF and its service providers were committed to ongoing communication and undertook to meet regularly with detainees to discuss the coronavirus outbreak .
Since March 11 , detention centre staff have undergone `` additional screening '' , noncontact visits have been implemented and high-traffic areas have @ @ @ @

Scared detainees in a Brisbane detention centre voiced their concerns about the coronavirus outbreak to immigration officers in a heated meeting on Thursday afternoon that left most of their questions unanswered, a video leaked to BuzzFeed News shows.
The meeting at the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation (BITA) centre was held following the news a Serco staffer who worked at a nearby detention centre had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. It was the second such meeting in two days.
The sick officer last worked a shift at the Kangaroo Point Central hotel, which is being used as a detention centre, on March 7. Men held in the hotel are frequently transported back and forth to BITA as it is the only place they can exercise, and people held in both centres are deeply worried about an outbreak of the virus.
At the meeting, held outside at BITA, an Australian Border Force (ABF) staffer told detainees that authorities had figured out the shifts worked by the staffer who tested positive. "So that process is very well underway at this stage," she said. Queensland health authorities would contact people who had "close contact" with that staff member, she said. The government was made aware of the diagnosis on Wednesday.
The government's "key focus" was on preventing the entry of COVID-19 into the detention network, she said to the men gathered outside. She reassured the men there were no confirmed cases of the disease in detention at this time.
"Detainees are required to maintain good personal hygiene, cough etiquette and social distancing, which none of you are doing at the moment, but that's OK, it's only for a short amount of time," she said.
"This particular case can deliver to someone else, and now it's like four people live in one room, and if it's like simply one got it, it's gonna be heaps," interrupted one man.
He pleaded with her to allocate only one or two detainees to each bedroom, or find alternative accommodation: "Please, if you can make the room single? Or at least like two?"
"We had lots of stress and for me personally I got panic attack last night. I can die," he told the officer. "It's like after eight years we gonna die by the Chinese coronavirus, like, you know, that's really unfair, please find a solution."
The ABF officer repeated throughout the short meeting that anyone with questions or concerns should put them in writing so the government and its service providers could respond properly. She undertook to respond to questions "when I get answers for you, either from us [in Brisbane] or from Canberra".
"It's quite a fluid situation, so that's why I ask you to put it in writing," she said. "It needs to be considered from a whole immigration detention environment, not just BITA, but everywhere, so I can't answer straight away."
"This coronavirus is not waiting for paperwork," one man said. "We really need serious real action."
"You need to tell me what your concerns are [in writing] so I can get you the answers and that's the end of the story," she replied.
An Iranian refugee detained at BITA told BuzzFeed News people in detention were worried. "We are all panicking in here, but we cannot do anything," he said.
"We want the people to be out of here and at least they can take care of themselves. In here we have zero right to access anything that will actually cover up or protect us from this sickness," the Iranian man said. He was concerned that guards and other staff members were not wearing gloves and masks.
He added that written requests and complaints usually took at least three days to get a response. "We don't have time to follow any request or write any requests," he said.
An officer for detention contractor Serco told the meeting that it was important detainees keep everything really clean. "We're learning new stuff every hour of every day," he said. "We are doing everything we can."
The ABF officer told the detainees medical contractor International Health & Medical Services had started "toolbox talks" this week to help inform the detention community about COVID-19 and allow them to ask questions.
She said that the ABF and its service providers were committed to ongoing communication and undertook to meet regularly with detainees to discuss the coronavirus outbreak.
Since March 11, detention centre staff have undergone "additional screening", noncontact visits have been implemented and high-traffic areas have had additional cleaning.


buzzfeed--2020-04-22--These British Shop Workers Say They’re Finding Work During The Coronavirus Lockdown Terrifying

As the UK battles with the ongoing coronavirus crisis , a silent army of shop workers are among the frontline workers who are keeping the country going .
With little recognition , they have faced longer shifts , sometimes starting in the middle of the night ; abuse from aggressive customers ; face-to-face contact without appropriate PPE ; and risk to their health from customers who do not observe social distancing rules .
Earlier this month , Tesco said that around 50,000 of its 320,000 UK and Ireland staff were off work — either sick , self-isolating , or shielding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who come into contact with hundreds of people a day say they feel it is only a matter of time until they contract the virus .
Laura* works in a supermarket in the East Midlands and said she is so scared before her shifts that she sometimes starts shaking .
“ I 'm not one normally to suffer anxiety , but I 'm getting extremely anxious before my shifts start , ” she said .
“ Sometimes to the point that I get the shakes .
I am scared.
” “ It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remember to do the social distancing alongside working , trying to keep away from both other staff and customers , ” she said .
“ I would say 85 to 90 % of customers get it and are compliant .
The others are totally not , to both staff and fellow customers.
” “ I am most scared of losing my family and friends foremost , ” she added , “ I ca n't imagine them not being around , of them ending their lives early .
I also get upset thinking that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large older customer base — that I may never see again .
It 's very frightening.
” Another supermarket worker based in Yorkshire , Ewan , told BuzzFeed News that his hours had become more antisocial and that he was starting work at 2am to fulfill online orders .
“ My hours have completely changed as I normally work on the counters and as they ’ ve been closed , ” he said .
“ We ’ ve been moved around the shop , so I do online orders , so picking items @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at 4am and finish at about 8 , but we ’ ve been going in for 2am and finishing between 8:30 and 10.
” Mark is a manager in a discount supermarket in the North East , and he recognises the daily risk that staff are put under .
“ On a day-to-day basis , I feel guilty , ” he said , “ feel guilty putting the team in on the tills and to work on pallets when people are walking around them and you just feel sort of unprotected basically , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You just feel a bit left out.
” At the start of the shift , he sits staff down to catch up with his team , and he said many are very worried .
“ Some of their fears are so genuine , ” he said .
“ One of the girls , her husband finished chemotherapy recently , he ’ s got no immune system ; one of the lads , he ’ s got MS — he ’ s still working through it.
” Mark said his employer has told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if they are concerned about their health , but he said many of them recognise the important role they play during the crisis and want to keep coming to work .
He said that while the company is doing its best , the hardest thing that staff have to deal with is the behaviour of customers — from those who forget to enforce social distancing regulations to those who are downright abusive .
“ I think people generally forget sometimes , ” he said .
“ We 'll be walking around the shop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say , ‘ Can you tell us where this is ?
Excuse me ?
’ And they 'll be close to you and you 'll step back and they 'll say , ‘ Oh , God , yeah sorry ’ .
“ But then there 's some people who seem to revel in the fact that they 're meeting up with our friends in the shop .
They seem to be all ‘ look at me , I do n't care about it ’ .
I just think — none of your family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
People 's responses have been polarised — people are completely not bothered , etc , etc , do n't care about all , or they ’ re overly cautious about it.
” “ We ’ ve had some horrible people in , ” he added .
“ We stopped people coming in as couples , it ’ s all singles , and we ’ ve got a security guard every day , and he ’ s had some horrible abuse , people telling him they hope he gets it , hope he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upsetting him.
” He has also been subjected to abuse himself .
“ It ’ s sporadic but when it happens it ’ s quite intense , ” he said , “ you ’ re stressed anyway , and when something like that happens it takes your breath away , you ’ re quite shocked by it .
“ We ’ re used to shoplifters and things , but abuse like that makes you not want to go back to work sometimes .
”

As the UK battles with the ongoing coronavirus crisis, a silent army of shop workers are among the frontline workers who are keeping the country going.
With little recognition, they have faced longer shifts, sometimes starting in the middle of the night; abuse from aggressive customers; face-to-face contact without appropriate PPE; and risk to their health from customers who do not observe social distancing rules.
Earlier this month, Tesco said that around 50,000 of its 320,000 UK and Ireland staff were off work — either sick, self-isolating, or shielding — on full pay. Shop staff who come into contact with hundreds of people a day say they feel it is only a matter of time until they contract the virus.
Laura* works in a supermarket in the East Midlands and said she is so scared before her shifts that she sometimes starts shaking.
“I'm not one normally to suffer anxiety, but I'm getting extremely anxious before my shifts start,” she said. “Sometimes to the point that I get the shakes. I am scared.”
“It is more stressful, as you have to remember to do the social distancing alongside working, trying to keep away from both other staff and customers,” she said. “I would say 85 to 90% of customers get it and are compliant. The others are totally not, to both staff and fellow customers.”
“I am most scared of losing my family and friends foremost,” she added, “I can't imagine them not being around, of them ending their lives early. I also get upset thinking that there are customers — we have a large older customer base — that I may never see again. It's very frightening.”
Another supermarket worker based in Yorkshire, Ewan, told BuzzFeed News that his hours had become more antisocial and that he was starting work at 2am to fulfill online orders.
“My hours have completely changed as I normally work on the counters and as they’ve been closed,” he said. “We’ve been moved around the shop, so I do online orders, so picking items.
“Normally these colleagues go in at 4am and finish at about 8, but we’ve been going in for 2am and finishing between 8:30 and 10.”
Mark is a manager in a discount supermarket in the North East, and he recognises the daily risk that staff are put under.
“On a day-to-day basis, I feel guilty,” he said, “feel guilty putting the team in on the tills and to work on pallets when people are walking around them and you just feel sort of unprotected basically, even though you've got the PPE. You just feel a bit left out.”
At the start of the shift, he sits staff down to catch up with his team, and he said many are very worried.
“Some of their fears are so genuine,” he said. “One of the girls, her husband finished chemotherapy recently, he’s got no immune system; one of the lads, he’s got MS — he’s still working through it.”
Mark said his employer has told staff that they can go on furlough if they are concerned about their health, but he said many of them recognise the important role they play during the crisis and want to keep coming to work.
He said that while the company is doing its best, the hardest thing that staff have to deal with is the behaviour of customers — from those who forget to enforce social distancing regulations to those who are downright abusive.
“I think people generally forget sometimes,” he said. “We'll be walking around the shop they'll come up to you and say, ‘Can you tell us where this is? Excuse me?’ And they'll be close to you and you'll step back and they'll say, ‘Oh, God, yeah sorry’.
“But then there's some people who seem to revel in the fact that they're meeting up with our friends in the shop. They seem to be all ‘look at me, I don't care about it’. I just think — none of your family have had it then, have they? People's responses have been polarised — people are completely not bothered, etc, etc, don't care about all, or they’re overly cautious about it.”
“We’ve had some horrible people in,” he added. “We stopped people coming in as couples, it’s all singles, and we’ve got a security guard every day, and he’s had some horrible abuse, people telling him they hope he gets it, hope he dies from coronavirus — it’s upsetting him.”
He has also been subjected to abuse himself. “It’s sporadic but when it happens it’s quite intense,” he said, “you’re stressed anyway, and when something like that happens it takes your breath away, you’re quite shocked by it.
“We’re used to shoplifters and things, but abuse like that makes you not want to go back to work sometimes.”


buzzfeed--2020-04-22--Keir Starmer Told MPs At The First "Virtual" PMQs That Dozens Of British Firms Offering PPE Had Been

Keir Starmer Told MPs At The First "Virtual" PMQs That Dozens Of British Firms Offering PPE Had Been "Ignored"

At his first PMQs as opposition leader , Keir Starmer called on the government to work with Labour to secure contracts for British manufacturers to supply frontline workers responding to the coronavirus with protective equipment — after he said dozens of companies in the UK had not had a reply from the government to their offers to help .
Labour has said that following a letter from shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves to cabinet office minister Michael Gove expressing concerns about the shortages of PPE , dozens of British companies have said their offers to help the government “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposition party said it had heard from 36 companies , including Issa Exchange Ltd in Birmingham , which said it had offered a quarter of a million aprons and masks ; Network Medical Products in Ripon , which said it could provide 100,000 face visors per week ; and CQM Learning , which had offered to provide 8,000 face shields per day .
Labour said it had passed the details of these companies over to the government to help support the national effort to get equipment to the front line .
Speaking in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There 's a significant gap between promise and delivery , and over the last few days , it 's emerged that British manufacturers have got in touch with many members of the opposition , probably members from across the house , saying that they offered to help produce protective equipment but they did n't get a response from the government . ''
The Labour leader said that while he understands `` due diligence '' and that the government could not take up every offer , that `` some of those who offered to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so they clearly could have supplied in this country , and something 's going wrong . ''
`` There 's a pattern emerging here , '' he added , `` we were slow into lockdown , slow on testing , slow on protective equipment , and now slow to take up these offers from British firms . ''

At his first PMQs as opposition leader, Keir Starmer called on the government to work with Labour to secure contracts for British manufacturers to supply frontline workers responding to the coronavirus with protective equipment — after he said dozens of companies in the UK had not had a reply from the government to their offers to help.
Labour has said that following a letter from shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves to cabinet office minister Michael Gove expressing concerns about the shortages of PPE, dozens of British companies have said their offers to help the government “have not received a reply.”
The opposition party said it had heard from 36 companies, including Issa Exchange Ltd in Birmingham, which said it had offered a quarter of a million aprons and masks; Network Medical Products in Ripon, which said it could provide 100,000 face visors per week; and CQM Learning, which had offered to provide 8,000 face shields per day.
Labour said it had passed the details of these companies over to the government to help support the national effort to get equipment to the front line.
Speaking in the chamber, Starmer said: "There's a significant gap between promise and delivery, and over the last few days, it's emerged that British manufacturers have got in touch with many members of the opposition, probably members from across the house, saying that they offered to help produce protective equipment but they didn't get a response from the government."
The Labour leader said that while he understands "due diligence" and that the government could not take up every offer, that "some of those who offered to help are now supplying to other countries, so they clearly could have supplied in this country, and something's going wrong."
"There's a pattern emerging here," he added, "we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment, and now slow to take up these offers from British firms."


buzzfeed--2020-04-29--News O'Clock: Bill Gates, Dr. Fauci and a Coronavirus Vaccine Walk Into A Bar

You can listen to today 's episode above !
Another option : check it out on the iHeartRadio app , Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen to your favorite shows .
Casey Rackham : The CDC has new guidelines for what to look out for with Covid-19 .
There 's going to be a black live-action Disney Prince finally .
And we talked to BuzzFeed News ' Ryan Broderick .
He 's been calling out some of the internet 's wildest Coronavirus conspiracy theories and well , hold onto your butts .
CR : And I 'm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Can I just say really quick how glad I am that we 're not doing this podcast as a video series ?
HB : That is a hard agree for me on that fact because ai n't nobody trying to look like fully internet presentable every day like this .
Like that 's just not happening .
CR : No , and I 'm starting to , at the beginning of all this , I was like showing my face during every Zoom meeting and now I 'm just straight up not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , face down listening to what one person is saying .
HB : Oh man .
The Coronavirus bits that are taking place out there are truly inspiring though .
I mean , I personally do not subscribe to the theory of business on top , party down below because I 've seen too many people make that fatal error and forgetting that their camera is on .
CR : Oh yeah .
I mean definitely .
And I know that would happen to me , although I had something happen to me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did n't think would happen .
I was wearing like a long sleeve shirt with a scoop neck and where the camera was on me , my dad said it looks like you 're only wearing sleeves .
And I was like , great , great .
So I still somehow looked like naked to everyone but I had sleeves on .
It was great .
HB : What a look .
Who would even promote that ?
Hot topic ?
Is that the vibe ?
This morning even , there was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happen on live television .
He went for a workout , went to do his Hiit , kept his shorts on with the business top , tie and everything , and did not realize his camera angle was showing all of his down below .
So poor dude .
That has to suck .
CR : Do you know what I found out though ?
Who that man was ?
It 's Christopher Reeve 's son .
HB : Oh snap .
Wait .
Oh man .
If anyone should know about how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it should be him .
Okay , and now I have to break this up because it 's time for the Corona update and today I 've got three things that you should probably know about .
CR : All right , let 's go .
HB : Number one , the centers for disease control now says there are nine main symptoms of Covid-19 to be on the lookout for .
They include cough , shortness of breath or difficulty breathing , fever , chills , repeated shaking with chills , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or new loss of taste or smell .
That 's an update from its last guidance a few weeks ago when CDC only listed cough , shortness of breath or difficulty breathing , and fever as the main symptoms .
And for the record , this still is n't comprehensive .
One of the things researchers have been the most surprised by is just how different the symptoms of Covid-19 present from case to case sometimes .
CR : Great .
Great , great .
So I 'm super excited to just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the next couple of months .
I was on an exercise bike the other day and then I was sore the next day obviously , and I was like , Oh , those are my body aches .
Those are the chills .
HB : That 's the Covid .
That 's the Covid .
So that 's not what they are saying .
But on the other hand , if you have any of those symptoms and we 're not on an exercise bike , it is probably a pretty good time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can .
All right , number two , the President ignored warnings from intelligence services about the Coronavirus in January and February .
Every day Trump gets what 's called the president 's daily briefing with top info from the intelligence agencies letting him know what 's going on around the world .
Trump hates reading it and apparently does n't even pay much attention during the oral briefing he gets up to three times a week .
HB : The Washington Post says in their story that between January and February he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his PDB about the Coronavirus and how bad it could be in the US and how it was spreading overseas , which just really throws a wrench in his claim that nobody could have seen this pandemic coming .
CR : Okay , I got a really vivid image when you 're talking about people reading the briefs to him .
It seems like it would be like a Disney or Hallmark movie where it 's like a young Prince or like a know it all Prince who has n't really taken his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all and everyone 's like dressing him , making him right , telling him what to do and then usually it means someone comes along and rights him , but I do n't know if that 's happening here .
HB : No .
Also , he 's 73 .
He is not a young spoiled Prince .
Okay .
Onto number three , which is surprisingly even for me , a spot of potentially good news .
An Oxford university group is possibly closing in on a Coronavirus vaccine .
Oxford 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's way of inoculating against an earlier strain of Coronavirus was safe for humans , so that 's a huge headstart , which has meant that it is moving on to test its methods on about 6,000 people by the end of May .
They 've had some good tests on monkeys so far .
HB : A lab in Montana used the Oxford vaccine trial on a set of monkeys that was then exposed to the Coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and they were all still fine a month later .
Again , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up with a vaccine sooner and this one could just not work , but hey , positive news .
CR : Wow , okay .
You never give me positive news so I 'm going to keep this rolling with some more good news .
It is time for today 's good news , bad news .
As you might guess from the name , this is where I bring you some of the most , oh my God , yes , and most no thanks stories from around the internet .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is finally giving us a black live action Disney Prince .
Niles Fitch plays teenage Randall in This Is Us and will appear as Prince Tuma in Disney+ original movie Secret Society of Second-Born Royals .
CR : And I am so super excited because Niles Fitch is actually my favorite character in This Is Us .
I do a bad thing while I watch the show and that it 's that I only watch Randall 's family 's storyline .
HB : No , that 's appropriate .
I got to say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CR : I get like really annoyed by everyone else and so sometimes I 'll have to go back and watch someone else 's to figure out how it affected Randall and his family .
But usually I find them the most entertaining .
HB : So what is this movie ?
CR : Okay .
I 'm sorry .
So the plot sounds wild .
It follows a princess who learns she has super powers and joins a group of other super powered second-borns .
I do n't know what it means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Also , if you 're thinking what about Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog , let 's just remember that Disney kept him racially ambiguous and also Tiana , the first black princess , spent most of the movie as a frog .
So there 's that .
HB : Never forget .
I do n't know what this movie is .
It sounds like Royal X-Men , which I guess we should expect since Disney bought 20th Century Fox and owns Marvel .
Why not throw some superheroes into this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 'm like really into this .
I love Sky High so much .
So I love kids with super powers .
So it 's just like , I 'm going to be like super into this .
It 's just going to be like a ragtag group of second-borns .
I mean , what an origin story .
They 're just born second and there go .
HB : And there you go .
Now you have super powers and you 're rich and powerful .
What are the odds .
Also just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black Disney Prince to quote Beyonce Beychella , `` Ai n't that 'bout a bitch ? ''
CR : Oh boy .
I mean , are we surprised with Disney right now ?
No , that it 's taken this long that it checks out .
So anyways , onto some bad news , we are apparently still body shaming people in the middle of a pandemic .
And that includes the likes of Chrissy Teigan , who is an actual model .
So Chrissy posted a video of herself on Saturday in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which you could tell by how she made fun of those traps .
I never post those traps .
So here I am trapping you in thirst with thirst .
CR : And of course because it 's the internet , she got dragged .
Someone was mean enough to call her SpongeBob shaped , like square shaped .
And then she ...
I know , that 's like ridiculous .
And then she basically got online to say that everyone is used to surgically enhanced curves and then she said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whole life and let me tell you , it 's paid off nicely in many ways . ''
HB : What a wildly new insult .
I 've never heard someone called SpongeBob shape .
I got to put that one out there .
I 've never seen that thrown around as an insult .
CR : I do n't know .
I 'm just like literally so ...
When I saw it , I 'm just like literally over this conversation already because I 'm like , how are we still just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is different .
I do n't know like how many times people have to say it .
It just like does n't make sense that people are still doing it .
It 's so frustrating .
I 'm sure she has to deal with it all the time .
And as she pointed out , if she did get surgery , people would be shitting on her too .
Like that 's just how it 's going to work .
She 's never going to win .
HB : Never .
So Chrissy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I hope you are , please , if you want to come on News O'clock and yell about this with us , we are more than happy to have you on board .
All right , when we come back , we 've got Ryan Broderick with us to explain those weird conspiracy memes your aunt keeps tagging you in on Facebook .
Stay right there .
HB : It 's time for Say More .
This is where we get to talk to some of the best people out there into spending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : There 's a lot , and I mean a lot , of just weird ass conspiracy theories out there about the Coronavirus .
They range from what caused it to what can cure it to which secret society is to blame .
So today we 're diving into that world .
Thoughts and prayers for us please .
HB : We 're joined in this impossible journey by BuzzFeed news tech reporter and internet conspiracy theory Sherpa , Ryan Broderick .
Thank you for joining us .
Ryan Broderick : No problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hole , shall we ?
CR : Yes , please .
So there 's some wild things floating around out there , but none of them seems to be causing more IRL damage than the 5G Coronavirus conspiracy .
Can you walk us through that one ?
RB : Yeah , it 's definitely a confusing one .
It 's been around for a long time .
I 'm sure like everyone kind of remembers the panic over wifi or cell phone signals giving you cancer , things like that .
Well this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about technology has found its way into the Coronavirus era , namely because these 5G truthers think that 5G cellular technology gives you physical ailments .
And you can see 5G towers , you ca n't see the Coronavirus .
RB : So it 's very simple for them to say , actually the thing that 's making you sick is the thing you can see .
And more importantly , the thing that you can burn down as we 've seen in the UK over the last month , where people are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus that you ca n't see or ca n't understand .
And people really love that because a virus is scary and invisible and nothing you can do about it .
Whereas 5G cellular technology , you can blame all you want on it .
So it 's very useful .
HB : Setting that one aside for a second .
Two of the names that I 've seen pop up the most often in these weird Coronavirus Facebook posts that I 've seen floating about the internet have been Dr. Anthony Fauci @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bill Gates .
Why these two and what are people saying about them ?
RB : Right .
So with Anthony Fauci , it 's a lot to do with the fact that Trump supporters have to believe that everything that Trump says and does makes sense and has a purpose .
Because if it does n't , they just live in a chaotic nightmare world .
So they have to believe that everything that Trump does is right .
So if a doctor goes on TV and contradicts the President , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the President is n't particularly scientifically informed .
Shocking .
I know .
So the fear and mistrust of Anthony Fauci is definitely related to that .
Bill Gates is a very different scenario where , and we talk about conspiracy theories , we talk about people who believe fake news .
But I do want to make it clear that I think that these people are rational actors and they are responding to something that is real , which is that in the way society works , rich people have a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : And I think that when you have something like the QAnon movement or Trump 's hardcore supporters , they are reacting to this fact that they do n't feel in control of their own world .
And so to have an incredibly wealthy man like Bill Gates show up and say that he wants to help and he wants to develop vaccines and he cares a lot about pandemic research , they do n't trust that .
And I think it 's because the wealth inequality that is present in that scenario @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in completely irrational and bizarre and extremely racist and violent ways .
But I do think that that is the heart of it , which is that why is this rich man able to exert so much influence over how I live my life ?
HB : Right .
And so that then mutates into , well Bill Gates secretly took out a patent on a Coronavirus vaccine and he and Fauci are working together to make sure that nobody gets it without Bill Gates making even more money .
RB : Oh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we do need to bring up the patent thing , which is that , and I 've dug into a little bit this myself and you can check out my feed on BuzzFeed news to read more about it , but a lot of people , when they , and we 've all felt this way on the internet where you 're just like up late at night and you 're Googling and you are n't really reading stuff and you 're screenshotting things and all of a sudden everything just seems really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuff , they do n't really know what patents are , which is that you 're patenting a virus to study it and not to develop it .
As one virologist recently told me this week , Covid-19 would make a terrible bio weapon .
It is just not a particularly useful bio weapon .
HB : That 's good to know .
Good to know .
RB : Angela Rasmussen , a virologist I spoke to this week said , `` Look , it 's a pretty shit bio weapon .
Do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know , people do n't really understand how this works .
And also the scientific community is n't really used to this much public attention .
So we find ourselves in a very strange moment where the American public is desperate for answers about scientific data , but they do n't have the patience or perhaps education or even interest to learn enough about it to understand it .
CR : So is it all just ignorance and fear causing these conspiracies to spread ?
Because I feel like people also have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : There 's definitely a grift component to this , particularly in the 5G community .
I found a bunch of websites that are selling these thumb drives you plug into your computer for hundreds of dollars that these 5G truthers are selling as a preventative method for protecting your brain from 5G , which is not a thing .
HB : So wait .
It 's like a USB , microwave-proof , tinfoil hat situation ?
RB : Yeah , but it costs $ 350 .
To answer your question though about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a historian this week about what types of fake news were popular during the 1918 pandemic because my personal theory is that nothing on the internet is new .
It 's just faster .
Right .
And the historian I was talking to did say that one of the big hoaxes of the time was called sunshine therapy , which is that medical workers at the time misunderstood the effects of sunlight .
They thought , Oh , you put the patients outside , the sun will cure them .
What was probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better and thus able to go outside .
You know , it 's like a carriage before the horse situation .
But what 's interesting is that the second most shared medium piece on Facebook right now , in the last six months , it 's been shared 800,000 times .
Guess what it 's for ?
Sunshine therapy .
RB : So it just goes to show you that these sort of fake cures and ailments , they last hundreds of years in certain situations .
Like a very popular cure for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alcohol .
Well , that has come back as well .
CR : So what are some of the other conspiracy theories that have been spreading overseas ?
I saw something wild about Iran go by my feed the other day .
What was that ?
RB : Ah , so that 's what I meant by ingesting strong alcohol .
So this is a very longterm piece of medical misinformation .
In Iran , there were deaths and injuries after a rumor spread on WhatsApp and Facebook that if you drank really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proof alcohol , it would essentially clean your insides and rid you of the virus , which is not true .
That does not work .
RB : It 's not totally dissimilar from our President perhaps suggesting that you should ingest bleach inside of yourself .
It 's just a serious , serious lack of scientific understanding .
And I do n't want to make huge light of these things because I do think it reveals like a fear and a desperation from the average person .
We see this with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like they 're in control of their health .
So they do crazy things like eat a bunch of zinc and vitamin C or take a bath in bleach to reenergize their vibrations or whatever the hell .
Like none of this is real , but it makes people feel like they 're in control .
And that 's all I think anyone really wants right now is a sense of control .
HB : Ryan , thank you for giving me more of a sense of control right now , helping me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we see flying around and I 'm sure the audience feels the same .
So thank you so much for coming through and giving us all these facts .
RB : No problem .
And I will say if you want to cure the Coronavirus with UV light or sunlight , I had a medical expert tell me yesterday that you would literally need to burn yourself alive with it to get rid of the Coronavirus .
So please do n't do that .
CR : Hayes , I hope you 're ready @ @ @ @ @ @ @ game and yours , Got to Pick One .
HB : Oh man , I am in fact not ready for this .
Okay .
What 's today 's topic ?
CR : Okay , we 're going all in on '90s nostalgia music .
The oldies as the kids would say now .
CR : Never .
Okay , quick reminder for how this works .
We have two categories , each with four choices .
You can only pick one .
The other three will have never existed .
Our first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '90s .
CR : Sorry .
Okay .
Your choices .
NSYNC .
NSYNC : I do n't want to see you out that door .
Baby bye , bye , bye .
Bye-bye .
The Backstreet Boys : Tell me why .
Ai n't nothing but a heartache .
Tell me .
Boyz II Men : I 'll make love to you , like you want me to .
98 Degrees : Give me just one night , una noche .
HB : This one is a tough one .
Okay .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 'm most torn between right now are Boyz II Men and NSYNC .
And I 'm going to have to say that I got to keep Boyz II Men around .
I 'm so sorry .
I got to .
They have to be around for the culture .
NSYNC , I 'm sorry .
Backstreet Boys , they were great for what they did for the people .
However .
CR : No , I completely agree with you .
Okay .
So that is who I was going to choose .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this horrible memory of this time that I crashed a date night with my parents .
This was like three years ago and we went to this restaurant and we were waiting for our food and there 's a candle and then all of a sudden , Boyz II Men , I 'll Make Love to You starts playing .
And I 'm just sitting across from my parents in silence .
So if they did n't exist , then I would n't have that memory .
But also , I still want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mean it does wipe out a bunch of memories of middle school and high school dances , but you know what , for that , I think the trade off is worth it .
CR : Okay , so onto the second category .
90s girl groups .
Your choices are the Spice Girls .
The Spice Girls : Yo , I 'll tell you what I want , what I really , really want .
So tell me what you want , what you really , really want .
The Dixie Chicks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Na , na , na , na , na , na .
Goodbye .
Destiny 's Child : Say my name , say my name .
When no one is around you , say baby , I love you .
If you ai n't running- HB : This is unfair .
I completely got to say up front that this is entirely unfair because I think that the world is at a loss if any of these are taken away .
All right ?
So I think Destiny 's Child , as much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything of that era , I think that Beyonce would have been okay .
She would have made it through at some point .
So I think I 'm going to give it to the Spice Girls for so many memories .
CR : I think that 's a good one .
How I 'm looking at this one very specifically is which one do I want to sing at karaoke ?
Like which one would I be so sad if we went out to karaoke and someone did n't sing this ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Spice Girls and TLC .
Oh , okay .
I think I 'm going to go with the Spice Girls just because that 's like a really good group one .
Everyone 's going to jump in on If You Want to be my Lover .
I just think I have to do it .
CR : I have to do it .
HB : Absolutely .
Yes .
I remember being in fifth grade when the Spice Girls first made it over here .
I remember seeing them on All of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ platform , chunky wedges being everywhere all of a sudden .
And I remember being a 10 year old boy going , I do n't know what you mean by ginger .
Is that the spice ?
Like the actual spice ?
I do n't .
I do n't know , but sure .
Why not ?
Okay .
Think we 're idiots .
We want to hear which 90s boy or girl bands you would have picked to keep around .
Just open the voice memo app on your phone .
Record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where you 're sending this from .
An email to us at newso'clock @ buzzfeed.com .
That 's news o'clock , all one word , at BuzzFeed .
CR : Or DMS on Twitter at News O'clock .
We 're going to be gathering up the best answers you all send in and compiling them into one mega list , so be sure to listen out for yours .
HB : Okay .
We 're trying something new today with a bit that we 're calling Rant O'clock .
HB : I mean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our space to air out some takes , hot or otherwise about something we spotted out there on our timelines .
CR : Wait , is this going to just turn into that one Family Guy bit ?
HB : Absolutely not , but thank you for putting that fear into my head .
CR : Okay .
So what are you ranting about today ?
I am very ready .
HB : Okay , so there 's this tweet from CNBC , the network , that 's been going around Twitter .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ week as Coronavirus creates massive potato surplus .
CR : Wait , okay .
I want to eat more potatoes .
What is wrong with this ?
HB : Thank you for asking .
So I 'm mad because just who is telling the Belgians to eat more fries ?
So yes , there is a potato surplus in Belgium right now and yes , Belgium fries are absolutely delicious .
As someone who 's had to go on a fry-atus at points in my life because I would absolutely eat them for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apparently there are 750,000 tons of potatoes that might have to be destroyed because restaurants are n't open to use them .
CR : Hayes , I am not seeing a problem .
HB : But the story that people are sharing , it 's all quoting a guy named Romain Cools .
Mr. Cools , which is such a good name , is the Secretary General of a group called Belgapom , which is the Belgian potato lobby .
They 're working with supermarkets that people eat more frozen fries because industrial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closed .
I mean of course he is urging people to eat more French fries .
He represents the potato growers and other spud related companies .
Now if doctors or the Belgian government were like , `` Hey friends , please shovel more fried potato into your face . ''
That 's interesting .
HB : But the dude is a shill for big potato who wants to keep his members happy and rolling in those sweet , sweet tater dollars .
So if you are really worried and want more people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out .
Give them out to the Belgian people for free .
And that 's my rant today .
CR : Okay , so you 're choosing to be mad at big potato .
HB : Yes , yes I am .
CR : Okay , fine .
Here at Rant O'clock , we can be our pettiest selves .
HB : Thank you for that affirmation .
And I just want to go on the record to say that I do believe that the steak fry is underrated as a French fry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that out there as just a really strong and good opinion .
CR : Okay .
We 're not going to agree with each other , but I know what we can agree on and it 's that actually , probably tater tots are the best form .
HB : Okay , fine .
I can live with that .
CR : That 's it for today .
Join us tomorrow for an exploration of TV in the time of Coronavirus .
HB : And remember , where there 's a will , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's a Will in your way , you tell Will to fix his mask and maintain social distancing .
CR : Be sure to subscribe to News O'clock on the iHeart radio app , Apple podcasts , or wherever you go for your sound stories .
HB : And please take the time to leave us a rating and review .
It helps us figure out what you like about the show or what you love about the show , and tell your friends about us so that they could set their alarms @ @ @ @ @ @ @

You can listen to today's episode above! Another option: check it out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Check out the full episode transcript here:
Casey Rackham: The CDC has new guidelines for what to look out for with Covid-19. There's going to be a black live-action Disney Prince finally. And we talked to BuzzFeed News' Ryan Broderick. He's been calling out some of the internet's wildest Coronavirus conspiracy theories and well, hold onto your butts.
Hayes Brown: The date, April 28, 2020.
CR: The time, news o'clock.
HB: Hello friends. I'm Hayes Brown.
CR: And I'm Casey Rackham. Welcome to News O'clock. Can I just say really quick how glad I am that we're not doing this podcast as a video series?
HB: That is a hard agree for me on that fact because ain't nobody trying to look like fully internet presentable every day like this. Like that's just not happening.
CR: No, and I'm starting to, at the beginning of all this, I was like showing my face during every Zoom meeting and now I'm just straight up not. I'm like on my couch, face down listening to what one person is saying.
HB: Oh man. The Coronavirus bits that are taking place out there are truly inspiring though. I mean, I personally do not subscribe to the theory of business on top, party down below because I've seen too many people make that fatal error and forgetting that their camera is on.
CR: Oh yeah. I mean definitely. And I know that would happen to me, although I had something happen to me yesterday on a family Zoom that I didn't think would happen. I was wearing like a long sleeve shirt with a scoop neck and where the camera was on me, my dad said it looks like you're only wearing sleeves. And I was like, great, great. So I still somehow looked like naked to everyone but I had sleeves on. It was great.
HB: What a look. Who would even promote that? Hot topic? Is that the vibe? This morning even, there was a Good Morning America reporter who had this happen on live television. He went for a workout, went to do his Hiit, kept his shorts on with the business top, tie and everything, and did not realize his camera angle was showing all of his down below. So poor dude. That has to suck.
CR: Do you know what I found out though? Who that man was? It's Christopher Reeve's son.
HB: Oh snap. Wait. Oh man. If anyone should know about how to dress to hide your secret identity, it should be him. Okay, and now I have to break this up because it's time for the Corona update and today I've got three things that you should probably know about.
CR: All right, let's go.
HB: Number one, the centers for disease control now says there are nine main symptoms of Covid-19 to be on the lookout for. They include cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or new loss of taste or smell. That's an update from its last guidance a few weeks ago when CDC only listed cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, and fever as the main symptoms. And for the record, this still isn't comprehensive. One of the things researchers have been the most surprised by is just how different the symptoms of Covid-19 present from case to case sometimes.
CR: Great. Great, great. So I'm super excited to just be afraid of everything my body does the next couple of months. I was on an exercise bike the other day and then I was sore the next day obviously, and I was like, Oh, those are my body aches. Those are the chills.
HB: That's the Covid. That's the Covid. So that's not what they are saying. But on the other hand, if you have any of those symptoms and we're not on an exercise bike, it is probably a pretty good time to stay as couch locked as you can. All right, number two, the President ignored warnings from intelligence services about the Coronavirus in January and February. Every day Trump gets what's called the president's daily briefing with top info from the intelligence agencies letting him know what's going on around the world. Trump hates reading it and apparently doesn't even pay much attention during the oral briefing he gets up to three times a week.
HB: The Washington Post says in their story that between January and February he got more than a dozen warnings in his PDB about the Coronavirus and how bad it could be in the US and how it was spreading overseas, which just really throws a wrench in his claim that nobody could have seen this pandemic coming.
CR: Okay, I got a really vivid image when you're talking about people reading the briefs to him. It seems like it would be like a Disney or Hallmark movie where it's like a young Prince or like a know it all Prince who hasn't really taken his duties on. He's over it all and everyone's like dressing him, making him right, telling him what to do and then usually it means someone comes along and rights him, but I don't know if that's happening here.
HB: No. Also, he's 73. He is not a young spoiled Prince. Okay. Onto number three, which is surprisingly even for me, a spot of potentially good news. An Oxford university group is possibly closing in on a Coronavirus vaccine. Oxford's Jenner Institute last year show that it's way of inoculating against an earlier strain of Coronavirus was safe for humans, so that's a huge headstart, which has meant that it is moving on to test its methods on about 6,000 people by the end of May. They've had some good tests on monkeys so far.
HB: A lab in Montana used the Oxford vaccine trial on a set of monkeys that was then exposed to the Coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and they were all still fine a month later. Again, no guarantees and someone else could come up with a vaccine sooner and this one could just not work, but hey, positive news.
CR: Wow, okay. You never give me positive news so I'm going to keep this rolling with some more good news. It is time for today's good news, bad news. As you might guess from the name, this is where I bring you some of the most, oh my God, yes, and most no thanks stories from around the internet. So first up, good news. Disney is finally giving us a black live action Disney Prince. Niles Fitch plays teenage Randall in This Is Us and will appear as Prince Tuma in Disney+ original movie Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.
CR: And I am so super excited because Niles Fitch is actually my favorite character in This Is Us. I do a bad thing while I watch the show and that it's that I only watch Randall's family's storyline.
HB: No, that's appropriate. I got to say it. That's really appropriate.
CR: I get like really annoyed by everyone else and so sometimes I'll have to go back and watch someone else's to figure out how it affected Randall and his family. But usually I find them the most entertaining.
HB: So what is this movie?
CR: Okay. I'm sorry. So the plot sounds wild. It follows a princess who learns she has super powers and joins a group of other super powered second-borns. I don't know what it means, but I'm into it. Also, if you're thinking what about Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog, let's just remember that Disney kept him racially ambiguous and also Tiana, the first black princess, spent most of the movie as a frog. So there's that.
HB: Never forget. I don't know what this movie is. It sounds like Royal X-Men, which I guess we should expect since Disney bought 20th Century Fox and owns Marvel. Why not throw some superheroes into this?
CR: I mean, I'm like really into this. I love Sky High so much. So I love kids with super powers. So it's just like, I'm going to be like super into this. It's just going to be like a ragtag group of second-borns. I mean, what an origin story. They're just born second and there go.
HB: And there you go. Now you have super powers and you're rich and powerful. What are the odds. Also just the fact that this is the first black Disney Prince to quote Beyonce Beychella, "Ain't that 'bout a bitch?"
CR: Oh boy. I mean, are we surprised with Disney right now? No, that it's taken this long that it checks out. So anyways, onto some bad news, we are apparently still body shaming people in the middle of a pandemic. And that includes the likes of Chrissy Teigan, who is an actual model. So Chrissy posted a video of herself on Saturday in a swimsuit making fun of those traps, which you could tell by how she made fun of those traps.
Chrissy Teigan:
I never post those traps. So here I am trapping you in thirst with thirst.
CR: And of course because it's the internet, she got dragged. Someone was mean enough to call her SpongeBob shaped, like square shaped. And then she ... I know, that's like ridiculous. And then she basically got online to say that everyone is used to surgically enhanced curves and then she said, "I've been a square my whole life and let me tell you, it's paid off nicely in many ways."
HB: What a wildly new insult. I've never heard someone called SpongeBob shape. I got to put that one out there. I've never seen that thrown around as an insult.
CR: I don't know. I'm just like literally so ... When I saw it, I'm just like literally over this conversation already because I'm like, how are we still just judging women by their bodies? Everyone is different. I don't know like how many times people have to say it. It just like doesn't make sense that people are still doing it. It's so frustrating. I'm sure she has to deal with it all the time. And as she pointed out, if she did get surgery, people would be shitting on her too. Like that's just how it's going to work. She's never going to win.
HB: Never. So Chrissy, if you're listening, and I hope you are, please, if you want to come on News O'clock and yell about this with us, we are more than happy to have you on board. All right, when we come back, we've got Ryan Broderick with us to explain those weird conspiracy memes your aunt keeps tagging you in on Facebook. Stay right there.
HB: It's time for Say More. This is where we get to talk to some of the best people out there into spending some quality time with us.
CR: There's a lot, and I mean a lot, of just weird ass conspiracy theories out there about the Coronavirus. They range from what caused it to what can cure it to which secret society is to blame. So today we're diving into that world. Thoughts and prayers for us please.
HB: We're joined in this impossible journey by BuzzFeed news tech reporter and internet conspiracy theory Sherpa, Ryan Broderick. Thank you for joining us.
Ryan Broderick: No problem. Let's go down the rabbit hole, shall we?
CR: Yes, please. So there's some wild things floating around out there, but none of them seems to be causing more IRL damage than the 5G Coronavirus conspiracy. Can you walk us through that one?
RB: Yeah, it's definitely a confusing one. It's been around for a long time. I'm sure like everyone kind of remembers the panic over wifi or cell phone signals giving you cancer, things like that. Well this sort of skepticism or suspicion or paranoia about technology has found its way into the Coronavirus era, namely because these 5G truthers think that 5G cellular technology gives you physical ailments. And you can see 5G towers, you can't see the Coronavirus.
RB: So it's very simple for them to say, actually the thing that's making you sick is the thing you can see. And more importantly, the thing that you can burn down as we've seen in the UK over the last month, where people are attacking cell phone towers rather than a virus that you can't see or can't understand. And people really love that because a virus is scary and invisible and nothing you can do about it. Whereas 5G cellular technology, you can blame all you want on it. So it's very useful.
HB: Setting that one aside for a second. Two of the names that I've seen pop up the most often in these weird Coronavirus Facebook posts that I've seen floating about the internet have been Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Health and Bill Gates. Why these two and what are people saying about them?
RB: Right. So with Anthony Fauci, it's a lot to do with the fact that Trump supporters have to believe that everything that Trump says and does makes sense and has a purpose. Because if it doesn't, they just live in a chaotic nightmare world. So they have to believe that everything that Trump does is right. So if a doctor goes on TV and contradicts the President, that shakes their understanding of reality where maybe the President isn't particularly scientifically informed. Shocking. I know. So the fear and mistrust of Anthony Fauci is definitely related to that. Bill Gates is a very different scenario where, and we talk about conspiracy theories, we talk about people who believe fake news. But I do want to make it clear that I think that these people are rational actors and they are responding to something that is real, which is that in the way society works, rich people have a lot more agency than poor people.
RB: And I think that when you have something like the QAnon movement or Trump's hardcore supporters, they are reacting to this fact that they don't feel in control of their own world. And so to have an incredibly wealthy man like Bill Gates show up and say that he wants to help and he wants to develop vaccines and he cares a lot about pandemic research, they don't trust that. And I think it's because the wealth inequality that is present in that scenario is absolutely frightening. And they react in completely irrational and bizarre and extremely racist and violent ways. But I do think that that is the heart of it, which is that why is this rich man able to exert so much influence over how I live my life?
HB: Right. And so that then mutates into, well Bill Gates secretly took out a patent on a Coronavirus vaccine and he and Fauci are working together to make sure that nobody gets it without Bill Gates making even more money.
RB: Oh God. I mean, yeah, we do need to bring up the patent thing, which is that, and I've dug into a little bit this myself and you can check out my feed on BuzzFeed news to read more about it, but a lot of people, when they, and we've all felt this way on the internet where you're just like up late at night and you're Googling and you aren't really reading stuff and you're screenshotting things and all of a sudden everything just seems really conspiratorial. These people, they Google stuff, they don't really know what patents are, which is that you're patenting a virus to study it and not to develop it. As one virologist recently told me this week, Covid-19 would make a terrible bio weapon. It is just not a particularly useful bio weapon.
HB: That's good to know. Good to know.
RB: Angela Rasmussen, a virologist I spoke to this week said, "Look, it's a pretty shit bio weapon. Don't worry guys." So you know, people don't really understand how this works. And also the scientific community isn't really used to this much public attention. So we find ourselves in a very strange moment where the American public is desperate for answers about scientific data, but they don't have the patience or perhaps education or even interest to learn enough about it to understand it.
CR: So is it all just ignorance and fear causing these conspiracies to spread? Because I feel like people also have to be trying to make money.
RB: There's definitely a grift component to this, particularly in the 5G community. I found a bunch of websites that are selling these thumb drives you plug into your computer for hundreds of dollars that these 5G truthers are selling as a preventative method for protecting your brain from 5G, which is not a thing.
HB: So wait. It's like a USB, microwave-proof, tinfoil hat situation?
RB: Yeah, but it costs $350. To answer your question though about is this ignorance, I spoke to a historian this week about what types of fake news were popular during the 1918 pandemic because my personal theory is that nothing on the internet is new. It's just faster. Right. And the historian I was talking to did say that one of the big hoaxes of the time was called sunshine therapy, which is that medical workers at the time misunderstood the effects of sunlight. They thought, Oh, you put the patients outside, the sun will cure them. What was probably happening is that you're just getting better and thus able to go outside. You know, it's like a carriage before the horse situation. But what's interesting is that the second most shared medium piece on Facebook right now, in the last six months, it's been shared 800,000 times. Guess what it's for? Sunshine therapy.
RB: So it just goes to show you that these sort of fake cures and ailments, they last hundreds of years in certain situations. Like a very popular cure for the 1918 influenza pandemic was ingesting strong alcohol. Well, that has come back as well.
HB: Yep. Wow.
CR: So what are some of the other conspiracy theories that have been spreading overseas? I saw something wild about Iran go by my feed the other day. What was that?
RB: Ah, so that's what I meant by ingesting strong alcohol. So this is a very longterm piece of medical misinformation. In Iran, there were deaths and injuries after a rumor spread on WhatsApp and Facebook that if you drank really, really, really, really high proof alcohol, it would essentially clean your insides and rid you of the virus, which is not true. That does not work.
RB: It's not totally dissimilar from our President perhaps suggesting that you should ingest bleach inside of yourself. It's just a serious, serious lack of scientific understanding. And I don't want to make huge light of these things because I do think it reveals like a fear and a desperation from the average person. We see this with the wellness industry where people want to feel like they're in control of their health. So they do crazy things like eat a bunch of zinc and vitamin C or take a bath in bleach to reenergize their vibrations or whatever the hell. Like none of this is real, but it makes people feel like they're in control. And that's all I think anyone really wants right now is a sense of control.
HB: Ryan, thank you for giving me more of a sense of control right now, helping me wrap my brain around all these things we see flying around and I'm sure the audience feels the same. So thank you so much for coming through and giving us all these facts.
RB: No problem. And I will say if you want to cure the Coronavirus with UV light or sunlight, I had a medical expert tell me yesterday that you would literally need to burn yourself alive with it to get rid of the Coronavirus. So please don't do that.
HB: Pro tip.
CR: Hayes, I hope you're ready because it's time for my favorite game and yours, Got to Pick One.
HB: Oh man, I am in fact not ready for this. Okay. What's today's topic?
CR: Okay, we're going all in on '90s nostalgia music. The oldies as the kids would say now.
HB: Ah.
CR: Never. Okay, quick reminder for how this works. We have two categories, each with four choices. You can only pick one. The other three will have never existed. Our first category today, boy bands of the '90s.
HB: I hate this already.
CR: Sorry. Okay. Your choices. NSYNC.
NSYNC: I don't want to see you out that door. Baby bye, bye, bye. Bye-bye.
CR: The Backstreet boys.
The Backstreet Boys: Tell me why. Ain't nothing but a heartache. Tell me.
CR: Boyz II Men.
Boyz II Men: I'll make love to you, like you want me to.
CR: And 98 Degrees.
98 Degrees: Give me just one night, una noche.
HB: This one is a tough one. Okay. So I think the two that I'm most torn between right now are Boyz II Men and NSYNC. And I'm going to have to say that I got to keep Boyz II Men around. I'm so sorry. I got to. They have to be around for the culture. NSYNC, I'm sorry. Backstreet Boys, they were great for what they did for the people. However.
CR: No, I completely agree with you. Okay. So that is who I was going to choose. And then very quickly, I had this horrible memory of this time that I crashed a date night with my parents. This was like three years ago and we went to this restaurant and we were waiting for our food and there's a candle and then all of a sudden, Boyz II Men, I'll Make Love to You starts playing. And I'm just sitting across from my parents in silence. So if they didn't exist, then I wouldn't have that memory. But also, I still want them to exist.
HB: I mean it does wipe out a bunch of memories of middle school and high school dances, but you know what, for that, I think the trade off is worth it.
CR: Okay, so onto the second category. 90s girl groups. Your choices are the Spice Girls.
The Spice Girls: Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want.
CR: TLC.
TLC: Don't go chasing waterfalls.
CR: The Dixie Chicks.
The Dixie Chicks: That Earl had to die. Na, na, na, na, na, na. Goodbye.
CR: And Destiny's Child.
Destiny's Child: Say my name, say my name. When no one is around you, say baby, I love you. If you ain't running-
HB: This is unfair. I completely got to say up front that this is entirely unfair because I think that the world is at a loss if any of these are taken away. All right? So I think Destiny's Child, as much as I love Say My Name and everything of that era, I think that Beyonce would have been okay. She would have made it through at some point. So I think I'm going to give it to the Spice Girls for so many memories.
CR: I think that's a good one. How I'm looking at this one very specifically is which one do I want to sing at karaoke? Like which one would I be so sad if we went out to karaoke and someone didn't sing this? And for me that is definitely between the Spice Girls and TLC. Oh, okay. I think I'm going to go with the Spice Girls just because that's like a really good group one. Everyone's going to jump in on If You Want to be my Lover. I just think I have to do it.
HB: That's so true.
CR: I have to do it.
HB: Absolutely. Yes. I remember being in fifth grade when the Spice Girls first made it over here. I remember seeing them on All of That on Nickelodeon. I remember the platform, chunky wedges being everywhere all of a sudden. And I remember being a 10 year old boy going, I don't know what you mean by ginger. Is that the spice? Like the actual spice? I don't. I don't know, but sure. Why not? Okay. Think we're idiots. We want to hear which 90s boy or girl bands you would have picked to keep around. Just open the voice memo app on your phone. Record your brilliant opinion including your name and where you're sending this from. An email to us at newso'clock@buzzfeed.com. That's news o'clock, all one word, at BuzzFeed.
CR: Or DMS on Twitter at News O'clock. We're going to be gathering up the best answers you all send in and compiling them into one mega list, so be sure to listen out for yours.
HB: Okay. We're trying something new today with a bit that we're calling Rant O'clock.
CR: Okay. Yes. I love ranting.
HB: I mean, same. And this will be our space to air out some takes, hot or otherwise about something we spotted out there on our timelines.
CR: Wait, is this going to just turn into that one Family Guy bit?
HB: Absolutely not, but thank you for putting that fear into my head.
CR: Okay. So what are you ranting about today? I am very ready.
HB: Okay, so there's this tweet from CNBC, the network, that's been going around Twitter. Belgians urge to eat fries twice a week as Coronavirus creates massive potato surplus.
CR: Wait, okay. I want to eat more potatoes. What is wrong with this?
HB: Thank you for asking. So I'm mad because just who is telling the Belgians to eat more fries? So yes, there is a potato surplus in Belgium right now and yes, Belgium fries are absolutely delicious. As someone who's had to go on a fry-atus at points in my life because I would absolutely eat them for every meal, I can relate and apparently there are 750,000 tons of potatoes that might have to be destroyed because restaurants aren't open to use them.
CR: Hayes, I am not seeing a problem.
HB: But the story that people are sharing, it's all quoting a guy named Romain Cools. Mr. Cools, which is such a good name, is the Secretary General of a group called Belgapom, which is the Belgian potato lobby. They're working with supermarkets that people eat more frozen fries because industrial freezers are getting crowded as restaurants stay closed. I mean of course he is urging people to eat more French fries. He represents the potato growers and other spud related companies. Now if doctors or the Belgian government were like, "Hey friends, please shovel more fried potato into your face." That's interesting.
HB: But the dude is a shill for big potato who wants to keep his members happy and rolling in those sweet, sweet tater dollars. So if you are really worried and want more people to eat those potatoes, give them out. Give them out to the Belgian people for free. And that's my rant today.
CR: Okay, so you're choosing to be mad at big potato.
HB: Yes, yes I am.
CR: Okay, fine. Here at Rant O'clock, we can be our pettiest selves.
HB: Thank you for that affirmation. And I just want to go on the record to say that I do believe that the steak fry is underrated as a French fry cut and I just want to put that out there as just a really strong and good opinion.
CR: Okay. We're not going to agree with each other, but I know what we can agree on and it's that actually, probably tater tots are the best form.
HB: Okay, fine. I can live with that.
CR: That's it for today. Join us tomorrow for an exploration of TV in the time of Coronavirus.
HB: And remember, where there's a will, there's a way and where there's a Will in your way, you tell Will to fix his mask and maintain social distancing.
CR: Be sure to subscribe to News O'clock on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you go for your sound stories.
HB: And please take the time to leave us a rating and review. It helps us figure out what you like about the show or what you love about the show, and tell your friends about us so that they could set their alarms and never miss another News O'clock.


buzzfeed--2020-04-21--People Are Copying And Pasting Themselves Into Photos As The Latest Meme About Coronavirus Isolation

Once he finished , he got a friend to put the images together in Photoshop and posted it to the @ @ @ @ @ `` Day 20 of Quarantine : Me and the boys still having fun '' .
@ @ @ @ @ pandemic , large parts of the world have been mostly confined to their homes because @ @ @ @ @ Many like Jaan are only spending time with , well , themselves — which has @ @ @ @ @ meme : people editing photographs and videos to add multiple versions of themselves , creating @ @ @ @ @ like they 're not so alone .
Ryan , 26 , has n't been finding @ @ @ @ @ recently moved across the US and self-isolation has made it impossible to meet anyone new @ @ @ @ @ for ways to pass the time so he decided to copy one of his favourite @ @ @ @ @ the popular Getty Museum Challenge .
But , if you look closely , you 'll @ @ @ @ @ creative to depict all the painting 's characters .

Once he finished, he got a friend to put the images together in Photoshop and posted it to the subreddit r/QuarantineActivities with the title "Day 20 of Quarantine: Me and the boys still having fun".
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, large parts of the world have been mostly confined to their homes because of social distancing rules.
Many like Jaan are only spending time with, well, themselves — which has given rise to a tremendous meme: people editing photographs and videos to add multiple versions of themselves, creating content that makes it look like they're not so alone.
Ryan, 26, hasn't been finding quarantine so easy. He recently moved across the US and self-isolation has made it impossible to meet anyone new.
He's been searching for ways to pass the time so he decided to copy one of his favourite paintings, joining in with the popular Getty Museum Challenge. But, if you look closely, you'll see he had to get creative to depict all the painting's characters.


buzzfeed--2020-04-17--London Police Officers Have Been Criticised For Failing To Enforce Social Distancing During The "Cla

London Police Officers Have Been Criticised For Failing To Enforce Social Distancing During The "Clap For Carers"

When asked about the footage on LBC radio on Friday morning , London mayor Sadiq Khan said he suspected police and the ambulance service will be asking `` questions in relation to this '' .
`` Clearly the advice does not appear to have been followed , '' he told host James O'Brien .
`` A number of people were not 2 metres apart , and these rules are there for all of our wellbeing and health , and we have to be cognisant of the facts that when this goes into social media people can get the wrong impression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am sure there will be questions . ''
He added : `` I suspect and I have no confirmation that the Met and London Ambulance Service will be asking these kind of questions in relation to this .
The police have a difficult job to make sure the rules are observed and I think they will both be asking questions . ''
But in a statement , Scotland Yard said only that it would remind officers about the importance of social distancing .
A Met spokesperson said : `` Officers , along with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last night on Westminster Bridge to celebrate the work of all key workers .
`` A large number of members of the public also gathered to express their gratitude .
While many people adhered to social distancing guidance , it appears that some did not .
`` We regularly remind our officers of the importance of social distancing where practical , and will continue do so . ''
BuzzFeed News approached the Home Office for comment on the way the officers on the bridge had handled the incident , but a government spokesperson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a statement , they said : “ The government asks that everyone takes responsibility and adheres to social distancing rules so that we can safely show our appreciation for those who are working so hard to fight coronavirus.
” Police have been given new powers by Parliament to enforce social distancing measures introduced during lockdown , as the government aims to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus .
More than 3,200 fines have been handed out by officers to people found to be breaching the rules .
Last week , the chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was forced to backtrack after suggesting his officers would be searching supermarket trollies and baskets to make sure people were n't buying nonessential items .
Home secretary Priti Patel said his comments were `` not appropriate '' .
The National Police Chiefs Council issued new guidelines this week to officers on what is and what is n't allowed .
These state , for example , that stopping to rest while doing exercise is fine , but prolonged sitting on a park bench after short exercise is not .

Metropolitan Police officers have been criticised for failing to observe or enforce social distancing measures as a crowd of people gathered on London's Westminster Bridge during the weekly "Clap for Carers" on Thursday evening.
Several UK police forces have been criticised for taking a heavy-handed approach to enforcing social distancing, for example by moving on people who were sunbathing alone or having picnics 2 metres away from others, and by suggesting they may search supermarket trolleys to ensure that shoppers were only buying essential items.
But a video posted to Twitter on Thursday night showed police officers and members of the public standing close together while showing their support for NHS and care staff as part of the weekly national round of applause.
The footage also shows two paramedics on the scene, although they were standing away from the majority of the crowd.
The footage was shared on twitter by Damir Rafi, a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital, which stands at the foot of the bridge across the Thames from Parliament.


buzzfeed--2020-01-23--These Pictures Give A Glimpse Of What It's Like Inside The Chinese City On Lockdown That's At The Ce

These Pictures Give A Glimpse Of What It's Like Inside The Chinese City On Lockdown That's At The Center Of The Coronavirus Outbreak

The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 17 people went into lockdown Thursday , @ @ @ @ @ outbound flights suspended , and some roads out of the city blocked .
The 11 @ @ @ @ @ Wuhan , in central China , are now effectively unable to leave .
Chinese officials @ @ @ @ @ 600 cases of the virus , which has infected travelers in Japan , South Korea @ @ @ @ @ and the US .
On Thursday it was announced that a second city , Huanggang @ @ @ @ @ from Wuhan and home to 7 million people , would go into lockdown at midnight @ @ @ @ @ virus causes fever , shortness of breath , fatigue , headaches , and coughing .
@ @ @ @ @ to spread from person to person .
The lockdowns in Wuhan and Huanggang come ahead @ @ @ @ @ one of the busiest travel periods in China .
These pictures from inside Wuhan give @ @ @ @ @ city is like during the transport lockdown .

The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 17 people went into lockdown Thursday, with public transport closed, outbound flights suspended, and some roads out of the city blocked.
The 11 million people who live in Wuhan, in central China, are now effectively unable to leave. Chinese officials say there are more than 600 cases of the virus, which has infected travelers in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the US.
On Thursday it was announced that a second city, Huanggang, which is 45 miles from Wuhan and home to 7 million people, would go into lockdown at midnight.
The CDC says the virus causes fever, shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, and coughing. It has already been shown to spread from person to person.
The lockdowns in Wuhan and Huanggang come ahead of Lunar New Year, one of the busiest travel periods in China. These pictures from inside Wuhan give a glimpse of what the city is like during the transport lockdown.