Tag Archives: caribbean

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WHO Warns Nations on Loosening COVID Restrictions

(CNN)- The World Health Organization has warned that the world needs a “reality check” on the state of the pandemic, as countries abandon restrictions despite four weeks of rising deaths and seven weeks of rising cases globally.

Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for coronavirus response, said 4.4 million Covid-19 infections had been recorded across the world last week globally and expressed concern about global trends.

“This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic, where we have proven control measures. It is time right now where everyone has to have a reality check about what we need to be doing,” van Kerkhove told a news briefing Monday.

Several countries in Asia and the Middle East have seen large increases in cases, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, noting that “confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures” were primary drivers

Those spikes are occurring despite more than 780 million vaccine doses being administered globally, he said, adding that while vaccines were a vital and powerful tool, they were not the only ones available.

Ghebreyesus emphasized that public health measures — mask wearing, physical distancing, ventilation, hand hygiene, surveillance, testing, tracing and isolation — work to stop infections and save lives. “It takes a consistent, coordinated and comprehensive approach,” he said.

Over the last week in India, all-time high tallies of infections were recorded, as the country of nearly 1.4 billion people continues to roll out one of the world’s fastest vaccination drives.

The country reported 161,736 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a slight dip following six consecutive days of record single-day rises, according to a CNN tally of figures from the Indian health ministry. India’s total caseload stands at more than 13.5 million — second only to the United States and Brazil — including nearly 170,000 fatalities.

India’s total caseload stands at more than 13.5 million — second only to the United States and Brazil — including nearly 170,000 fatalities.

Iran, which has the the highest number of cases and deaths in the Middle East, entered its fourth wave of the pandemic last week, the country’s health ministry said last week.

The country’s total number of Covid-19 related cases have surpassed 2 million since the beginning of the pandemic, with over 4,200 patients currently hospitalized in ICU, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said Thursday.

More than 4,200 patients are currently hospitalized in Iranian ICUs and on Saturday the government imposed a 10-day lockdown across most of the country.

In Brazil, coronavirus cases are spiralling out of control; 4,195 people were recorded dead in just 24 hours last Tuesday, the country’s deadliest day of the pandemic yet. While the state of Sao Paulo and the city of Rio de Janeiro rank among the worst in the country for Covid-19 deaths, both eased restrictions on movement on Monday.

Sao Paulo authorities justified the reopening of schools, sports events and construction stores by pointing out that occupancy rates in intensive care units in the state have fallen from 90.5% to 88.6%.

“This measure clearly shows that the effort made in recent weeks is beginning to give results,” said vice-governor Rodrigo Garcia during a news conference on April 9. But daily numbers are still very grave — on Friday alone, the state registered over 20,000 new cases.

Meanwhile, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, ICU occupancy rates are higher at 92%, but Mayor Eduardo Paes nevertheless has decided to ease restrictions, saying that, “our reality does not allow lockdown,” during a press conference on Friday, adding that shop owners and the general population suffer economically from such measures. Still, he said, “This is no time to relax.”

Europe’s third wave

In Europe, many countries are navigating in the throes of a worrying third wave, with a more contagious variant of the virus appear to be the common culprit behind the chaos in Europe.

Two new studies suggest that the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom, is more transmissible, but the variant does not appear to affect disease severity in someone who gets Covid-19. The new findings clash with separate research that previously suggested the variant may be tied to a higher risk of dying from Covid-19.

In Germany, cases are on the rise, with healthcare workers “breaking down” and the country’s ICU bed occupancy reaching its “peak,” according to the director of the German intensive care association, who warned on Saturday that even with a hard lockdown, numbers will be rising for the next 10-14 days.

Last month, critics warned that Europe’s coronavirus restrictions have come too late and that the continents current problems can be traced back to politicians too eager to start easing.

On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the urgent need for people to be vaccinated to break the third wave.

Meanwhile, England lifted restrictions after more than three months of lockdown on Monday, in a step that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said was a “major step forward” for the country’s “roadmap to freedom.”

As part of “Step 2” in the country’s exit out of lockdown, non-essential shops, gyms, hairdressers, beauty salons and zoos reopened, as well as outdoor areas of pubs and restaurants.

The lifting of measures coincided with the UK reaching its Covid-19 vaccination target of offering a dose to all adults over 50, the clinically vulnerable and social care workers, the British government said Monday.

Nearly 40 million vaccines have now been given in total in the UK, with adults under 50 expected to begin to be invited in the coming days.

CNN’s Marcia Reverdosa, Rodrigo Pedroso, Maija Ehlinger, Rishabh M Pratap, Vedika Sud and Esha Mitra contributed to this report.

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Canadian Medical Students in St. Vincent Work All Night

Desmond Brown · CBC News · Posted: Apr 14, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 34 minutes ago

Claire Matlock of Kitchener, Ontario, says she and her best friend, both Canadian medical students in St. Vincent, sprang into action to volunteer to get supplies to evacuees following Friday’s volcanic eruption of La Soufrière on the Caribbean island. (Submitted by Claire Matlock)

Claire Matlock went from handling final exams as a medical student in St. Vincent to helping people devastated by the La Soufrière volcano eruption early Friday — and the volunteer efforts of the Kitchener, Ont., resident and her friends have extended far beyond expectations.

Between 16,000 and 20,000 people have been evacuated from the eruption area in the northern region of the island. Over 3,000 of them are staying at more than 80 government shelters.

Though covered in ash, Matlock was safe, as she lives in the capital of Kingstown in the “green zone down south,” which wasn’t as heavily impacted as the “red zone” in the north, she said when contacted by CBC News.

Recognizing the desperate need of the thousands affected by the eruption, Matlock, 27, and fellow medical student Anna Vanhoof, 23, of Bowmanville, Ont., quickly started working to help get food and supplies to them.

“There are lots of people off the grid, not in shelters, who need supplies just as well, and that’s where my friends and I come in and help fill those gaps,” said Matlock.

“As a group of aspiring physicians, it’s in our nature to help people, and many of us are finding ways to be of service between studying for final exams.”

It was Matlock’s social media post that really kicked up their efforts.

That mom that needed formula for her baby now has 10 cases of it today because friends and family back in Canada sent me some money to go to the store and then to her house.

Her post said she was heading out to buy food and supplies for people in need — bars of soap and canned goods, for instance, that would get delivered that day. She also said for anyone wanting to send her “five bucks by e-transfer,” the money would be put to immediate good use.

“It really took off — we raised thousands of dollars very quickly,” said Matlock. “I did not expect that. It’s very grassroots.

“It’s still just my best friend [Vanhoof] and I here, and our local Vincentian friends who are the real MVPs, because they are the ones navigating us down the back street.”

Ash rises into the air as La Soufrière volcano erupts Friday. Since then, there have been other explosions, and experts say activity could continue for weeks. (Kepa Diez Ara/The Associated Press)

Matlock said people in the red zone are especially in need.

“Up north is bad. People have entirely lost their homes — the pyroclastic flows have started,” she said about the dangerously hot post-eruption flow of rock fragments, gas and ash.

“All of us all over the island are dealing with the ashfall, and the mess that it makes just infiltrates everything.

“It’s like a grey, dusty toxic snowfall … and it leaves a very poor air quality,” said Matlock.

She explained how they’re getting supplies to those in need.

“It’s very simple — we text the shelters, they tell us what they need, we go buy it, deliver it and repeat,” she said.

“That mom that needed formula for her baby now has 10 cases of it today because friends and family back in Canada sent me some money to go to the store and then to her house. It’s very efficient and it’s also a good example of how social media can be used for good, and we’re so humbled by all the donations.”

1st eruption in decades

Soufrière has erupted before, including in 1979, the last time it exploded before Friday, and in 1902, resulting in the death of 1,600 people.

An eruption Tuesday morning, on the anniversary of the 1979 eruption, was slightly smaller than Monday’s that sent deadly clouds of hot gas, ash and stone down the mountainsides.

No casualties have been reported since the first big blast early Friday, but island leaders Tuesday estimated the eastern Caribbean island will need hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the eruption, as ashfall and the pyroclastic flows have contaminated water reservoirs and destroyed crops.

Volcanologists say activity from Soufrière could continue for weeks.

Ash covers roads a day after La Soufrière’s eruption Friday, following decades of inactivity. (Robertson S. Henry/Reuters)

Garth Saunders, minister of the island’s water and sewer authority, said some communities have not yet received water.

“The windward [eastern] coast is our biggest challenge today,” he said during Tuesday’s news conference, about efforts to deploy water trucks. “What we are providing is a finite amount. We will run out at some point.”

The island’s prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves, said people in some shelters need food and water, and he thanked neighbouring nations for shipping items including cots, respiratory masks, and water bottles and tanks.

In addition, the World Bank has disbursed $20 million US to the government of St. Vincent as part of an interest-free catastrophe financing program.

“We have to get stuff rolling in to people,” Gonsalves told a news conference on the local NBC Radio station.

Students hope exams get postponed

Matlock said it’s taken a lot of preparation for her and her friends to keep going through the chaos.

“We try to go [to get supplies] as early as we can between exams,” she said. “The hardest one to find is water right now. Those are stripped off the store shelves, so whenever the pipes come back on, all of us fill up. But we’ve resorted to boiling water from the pool for cooking or bathing, and we’re just doing our best with what we have.”

She also said she and fellow medical student are “pushing for [finals exams] to be postponed.”

“We’re pulling all-nighters here, but it’s hard to focus. It’s hard to buckle down because as future physicians you have to study for 12 hours a day with your head in a  book, and it’s hard to study every bone in the body when things outside are so broken and all of us want to help.

“We’re hoping that they postpone them, but until anything is official we have to continue to study,” added Matlock.

With files from Craig Norris and The Associated Press

CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News

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WestJet Won’t Fly to Caribbean Until June 4

Canada’s WestJet today announced it will extend its temporary suspension of international sun flights to destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean until June 4, 2021.

“We are extending our suspension with the clear expectation that as more Canadians are vaccinated, government policy will transition,” said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO.

“We continue to advocate for the replacement of mandatory hotel quarantines with a testing regime that is equitable and consistent with global standards at all points of entry into our country. Alongside an accelerated and successful vaccine rollout, this policy transition will support the safe restart of travel and help stimulate the Canadian economy, where one in ten jobs are tourism related.”

Guests with affected itineraries will be proactively notified of the cancellations. Since November 1, 2020, WestJet has been providing refunds for all travelers, regardless of fare class booked where WestJet initiated the cancellation.

“We remain focused on a long-term solution that will serve the best interests of Canadians,” continued Sims. “A safe travel-restart framework is the most effective way to support those interests and restore jobs.”

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St. Vincent Seeks Water, Funds as Volcano Keeps Erupting

By KRISTIN DEANE and DÁNICA COTO

  KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) — Leaders of volcano-wracked St. Vincent said Tuesday that water is running short as heavy ash contaminates supplies, and they estimated that the eastern Caribbean island will need hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the eruption of La Soufriere.

Between 16,000 to 20,000 people have been evacuated from the island’s northern region, where the exploding volcano is located, with more than 3,000 of them staying at more than 80 government shelters.

Dozens of people stood in lines on Tuesday for water or to retrieve money sent by friends and family abroad. Among those standing in one crowd was retired police officer Paul Smart.

“The volcano caught us with our pants down, and it’s very devastating,” he said. “No water, lots of dust in our home. We thank God we are alive, but we need more help at this moment.”

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a press conference on local station NBC Radio that St. Vincent will need hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the eruption but did not give any details.

He added that no casualties have been reported since the first big blast from the volcano early Friday. “We have to try and keep that record,” he said. Gonsalves said some people have refused to leave communities closest to the volcano and urged them to evacuate.

Falling ash and pyroclastic flows have destroyed crops and contaminated water reservoirs. Garth Saunders, minister of the island’s water and sewer authority, noting that some communities have not yet received water.

“The windward (eastern) coast is our biggest challenge today,” he said during the press conference of efforts to deploy water trucks. “What we are providing is a finite amount. We will run out at some point.”

The prime minister said people in some shelters need food and water, and he thanked neighboring nations for shipments of items including cots, respiratory masks and water bottles and tanks. In addition, the World Bank has disbursed $20 million to the government of St. Vincent as part of an interest-free catastrophe financing program.

Adam Billing, a retired police officer who lived and tended to his crops on land near the volcano, said he had more than 3 acres of plantains, tannias, yams and a variety of fruits and estimates he lost more than $9,000 worth of crops.

“Everything that (means) livelihood is gone. Everything,” said Billing, who was evacuated. “We have to look at the next couple of months as it’s not going to be a quick fix from the government.”

The volcano, which had seen a low-level eruption since December, experienced the first of several major explosions on Friday morning, and volcanologists say activity could continue for weeks.

Another explosion was reported Tuesday morning, sending another massive plume of ash into the air. It came on the anniversary of the 1979 eruption, the last one produced by the volcano until Friday morning. A previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.

“It’s still a pretty dangerous volcano,” said Richard Robertson with the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center. “It can still cause serious damage.”

___

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press videographer Orvil Samuel contributed to this report.

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Haiti: Moise Vows to Get Kidnapped Priests Released

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse says he will “do everything the law allows” to secure the release of 10 people who were kidnapped by a gang in the town of Croix-des-Bouquets on Sunday.

All but three of those kidnapped are Catholic clergy, among them a French nun and a French priest. They were seized on their way to the installation of a new parish priest.

Kidnappings have surged in Haiti, with the Catholic Church describing the situation as “a descent into hell”. This is too much. The time has come for these inhuman acts to stop,” Bishop Pierre-André Dumas said.

Growing problem

The 10, among them five priests and two nuns, were kidnapped on Sunday morning, Father Loudger Mazile told Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

The church of St Rock where one of the kidnapped priests lives and works is seen in Port-au-Prince, Haiti April 12, 2021The French priests are part of the France-based Society of Priests of St James

The kidnappers have demanded $1m (£727,000) in ransom. A police source told AFO that a gang calling itself 400 Mazowo was most likely behind the kidnapping.

Kidnappings like that on Sunday have become increasingly common in Haiti, with some figures suggesting they have risen by 200% over the past year.

While at first well-off businesspeople were the main targets, victims have come from all walks of life. Religious groups have not been spared.

On 1 April, armed men burst into a service at an evangelical church on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and abducted the pastor and three other people. The service was being live-streamed on social media at the time.

The four were released three days later after an undisclosed sum was paid in ransom but the brazenness of kidnapping a pastor in the middle of a service on Holy Thursday shocked many Haitians.

What’s the reaction been?

The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince issued a strong statement in the wake of the latest kidnapping, saying that the levels of violence by armed gangs had reached “unprecedented levels”.

The statement also condemned what it described as a lack of action from officials: “The public authorities who are doing nothing to resolve this crisis are not immune from suspicion. We denounce complacency and complicity, wherever they come from.”

President Moïse responded by saying that he would “not give up” until the 10 had been freed. “I am aware that the state must make more of an effort in the battle against this disaster that is kidnapping and organised crime in the country,” he said.

French officials said the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime (OCLCO) had been mobilised.

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Volcano: SV&G PM’s Plea for Homeless Assistance, International Help Offered

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) — SV&G Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has made an impassioned plea for assistance for the homeless as the authorities continue to put measures in place to deal with the impact of an erupting La Soufriere volcano.

Gonsalves, speaking at the daily news conference aired on the State-owned NBC Radio, said there were many homeless people living on the streets of the capital and urged Vincentians to assist in their care.

“You know we have had a few of them around Kingstown and the ash would be making life difficult for them and it is an important category which has been identified and we have to take care of all human beings,” he said.

“But I would say to persons, if you know such individuals take them to a shelter, please, help in that way, be a good Samaritan because a lot of people are stretched doing a lot a lot of things. So I want to urge initiatives in that way also,” Gonsalves said, noting that the State cannot do everything regarding the disaster alone.

He said all hands must be on deck as the country deals with the catastrophe

So far there has been no reported casualties as a result of the eruptions caused by the volcano that last erupted in 1997.

United Kingdom assistance

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom yesterday said it is providing £200,000 emergency assistance to St Vincent and the Grenadines.

A statement from the British High Commission in Barbados said that the rapid crisis funds will help provide life-saving humanitarian supplies like shelter, sanitation kits and protective equipment.

It said urgently needed technical experts will support relief efforts on the ground, support emergency telecommunications, and restore critical lifeline facilities, like transport links

The UK said the initial funds are being made available through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to support the regional response, through the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

World Bank support

Also yesterday, the World Bank said it is providing US$20 million to support the St Vincent and the Grenadines Government as it responds to the crisis.

“Our hearts are with the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines during this crisis,” said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank country director for the Caribbean.

“We are committed to supporting the response efforts at this critical time when the country faces this new disaster while already managing the social and economic effects of the pandemic.”

The Washington-based financial institution said that the funds are being disbursed from a contingent credit line known as the Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat-DDO), approved in June 2020. The Cat-DDO instrument is designed to provide immediate liquidity to support a country’s efforts to recover from disasters triggered by natural hazards or a public health emergency.

Flights suspended

Meanwhile, the Antigua-based regional airline, LIAT, has announced the suspension of all flights in the southern part of its network due to the volcanic activity in St Vincent.

Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines had also announced cancellations of several flights to Barbados, St Vincent, Dominica, Grenada, and Guyana over the last weekend.

 

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World View: BLM Protests, Iran Attack, India Virus Surge, More

April 13, 2021

Alternate text

Police in Minneapolis have clashed with protesters for a second night after authorities said an officer intended to fire a Taser, not a handgun, in the fatal shooting of a Black man during a traffic stop.

Meanwhile, the defense for a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s shooting is set to start presenting its case.

India is battling against a surge in coronavirus infections

And in Tokyo things are starting to stir around Olympic venues.  

Also:

  • President Biden courts Republicans to back infrastructure plan.
  • Attack on Iranian nuclear plant muddies US-Iran talks.
  • Muslims open Ramadan with socially distanced prayers.

MIKE CORDER

The Associated Press

The Hague, Netherlands

The Rundown

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Brazil: As Pandemic Worsens, Officials Ease Restrictions

Sao Paulo (CNN)Last week, Brazil saw its deadliest day since the start of the pandemic, with 4,195 people killed in just 24 hours. The state of Sao Paulo and the city of Rio de Janeiro rank among the worst in the country for Covid-19 deaths. Yet both plan to ease movement restrictions starting on Monday.

Sao Paulo will reopen state schools, sports events, and construction stores. Rio de Janeiro will allow bars and restaurants to operate again, overturning restrictions that have been in place since March.

Sao Paulo authorities justify the reopening by pointing out that occupancy rates in intensive care units in the state have fallen from crisis-level 90.5% to 88.6%.

“This measure clearly shows that the effort made in recent weeks is beginning to give results,” said Vice-Governor Rodrigo Garcia on a press conference on April 9.

But daily numbers are still very grim: On Friday alone, the state registered over 20,000 new cases.

Meanwhile, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, ICU occupancy rates are higher at 92%, but Mayor Eduardo Paes nevertheless has decided to ease restrictions. “This is an answer for anyone who thinks that restrictions are of no use by preventing parties and crowds. Our reality does not allow lockdown”, Paes said in a press conference held on Friday, adding that shop owners and the general population suffer economically from such measures. Still, he said, “This is no time to relax.”

Bolsonaro shrugs off criticism he is 'genocidal' as Brazil reports record 4,000 daily deaths

Bolsonaro shrugs off criticism he is ‘genocidal’ as Brazil reports record 4,000 daily deaths

Easing restrictions is the opposite of what many institutions and medical specialists say Brazil needs: a national and coordinated lockdown. At the moment Brazil has only fully vaccinated 2.8% of its population — just over 6 million people, in a country of 210 million.

Currently, Brazil’s public and private health systems are under immense pressure, with ICUs in at least 17 states overwhelmed with over 90% occupancy. Intubation medication and oxygen have repeatedly run low at points during the pandemic. On Thursday the National Council of Municipal Health Secretariats declared that about a fifth of all the country´s cities were at risk of running out of medical oxygen over the next ten days.

Only a lockdown can prevent April from becoming “even worse” than March — the country’s most fatal month of the pandemic so far, with 66,573 deaths recorded — according to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a public biomedical research center that is currently working with vaccine-maker AstraZeneca.

“Lockdowns are a bitter remedy, but they are absolutely necessary in times of crisis and collapse of the health system like the one the country is experiencing now. Just this will prevent more deaths and effectively save lives,” wrote Fiocruz scientists in a recent report.

The United Nations office in Brazil has also asked for the country to impose movement restrictions, warning that an accelerating death rate and absence of a national coordinated plan are “leading the country to a catastrophe.”

Brazil has never had a real lockdown

Since the pandemic began, Brazil has seen a patchwork of local restrictions on movement or activity, but they never really amounted to an effective broad lockdown, neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis told CNN.

Nicolelis, a prominent Brazilian scientist, created one of the nation’s first scientific committees to study the coronavirus and develop tactics to counter the disease, and has advised on regional Covid-19 strategies. He and other medical experts and civil society groups are part of Brazil’s “April for Life” campaign, which is calling for the federal government to impose an immediate nationwide lockdown.

“Lockdown is when you restrict the flow of people — streets, roads, flights, in addition to achieving strict social isolation. That has never been achieved widely in Brazil, we had only a few exceptions,” said Nicolelis. “In general, we had the application of a few restrictive measures with low levels of adherence from people.”

April for Life estimates that a strict national lockdown for 30 days, with strict rules on the movement of people, could save 22,000 lives.

“If you look at the Brazilian curves in Rio de Janeiro and even in São Paulo, you see peaks and valleys. Death spikes, then they temporarily close a few things and you see a small fall, but the fall is not sustainable. In the end, you do not curb the transmission of the virus efficiently, but instead, you make an environment for new variants to arise,” said Nicolelis.

He says that Brazil needs greater federal leadership; an accelerated vaccine rollout; and a federally enforced national lockdown in which only essential services are allowed and most movement is banned.

“The virus is a collective organism, and it is only possible to fight it collectively. It is of no use to close one city if we are to leave the rest open, you need coordinated action, otherwise, the virus will keep growing back,” he says.

Traveling to Brazil during Covid-19: What you need to know before you go

Traveling to Brazil during Covid-19: What you need to know before you go

Yet Brazilian authorities have resisted adopting such measures to contain the spread of the virus. The country’s federal government, led by President Jair Bolsonaro, has in fact shown a fierce opposition to imposing any restrictions, out of concern for the economy.

“Whoever closed the markets and shops and obliged the people to stay at home, it wasn’t me,” Bolsonaro said on Saturday, during a visit to the periphery of Brasilia, dismissively referring to mayors and governors who have adopted local restrictive measures.

“I have the power of by signing a document to decree a lockdown in the whole country, but this will not be made, and our army will not go to the streets to impose people to stay at home,” the maskless President declared.

His newly appointed Health Ministry, Marcelo Queiroga, has also rejected the idea. “The (president’s) order is to avoid the lockdown,” Queiroga said on April 3.

Local lockdowns have worked

Three hours drive from Sao Paulo, Edinho Silva is one of few mayors in Brazil who have gone against the tide.

He imposed a full lockdown in the city of Araraquara, closing commerce including supermarkets and public transport, and forbidding the circulation of people for 10 days in February — a decision that prompted death threats against him.

He took the dramatic step after seeing hospitals in the agribusiness-oriented town start to fill up. The city of 250,000 people, was the first in the state of Sao Paulo to see its health system collapse under the weight of new Covid-19 cases, forcing it to transfer severe cases out of packed ICUs and into other cities.

“(Locking down) was a tough decision that required sacrifices, especially from small and medium businessmen, because there is no financial aid for them in Brazil. But with the contamination curve we had, I had nothing else to do,” said Silva.

Shortly after, he started to receive death threats from Bolsaro supporters, Silva told CNN. “Does anyone know where Mayor Edinho lives? I just want a (fight) round with him. Then I am going to stab him from the bottom to top,” one man said on social media, according to Silva. Police are now investigating the threats.

Despite the personal risks, Silva’s strict approach seems to have worked.

Since the end of the 10 day lockdown, some restrictions have remained on the city, including a night curfew from 9pm to 5am and limited hours for bars and restaurants — and Araraquara’s Covid-19 case numbers and deaths have steadily dropped.

For three consecutive days last week, Araraquara registered no deaths due to Covid-19. It’s a small sign of hope, but one that stands out amid Brazil’s accelerating coronavirus crisis.

“Lockdown is not a choice, it is imposed by reality,” says Silva. “If you don’t adopt it, you’ll pile up coffins, there’s no other way.”

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US: 40 Arrested at Protest of Another Cop-Black Man Killing

About 40 people were arrested just north of Minneapolis in a second night of unrest over the police shooting of a black man.

Protesters in the city of Brooklyn Center defied a curfew and threw objects at police, who responded with flash grenades and tear gas.

Police said Daunte Wright, 20, was shot and died after an officer mistook her gun for a Taser during a traffic stop.

The shooting came as the high-profile George Floyd murder trial continues.

In a courtroom just a few miles away, ex-police officer Derek Chauvin is charged with murdering the African American man in May last year.

Derek Chauvin’s defence team on Monday asked for the jury members to be sequestered – separated from other people – as they might be swayed by the latest events. The judge denied the request.

The officer who shot Mr Wright was named on Monday as Kim Potter, 48, who has worked for Brooklyn Center Police for 26 years.

Mr Wright was pulled over on Sunday for a traffic violation, but there was a struggle when he tried to get back into his car.

After mistakenly drawing her gun, the officer said: “Holy shit, I just shot him.”

What happened overnight?

The curfew went into force at 19:00 (midnight GMT) across four counties with a huge law enforcement deployment.

In a press briefing after midnight local time, Minnesota State Patrol colonel, Matt Langer, said officers had reached out to organisers of protests to try to keep them peaceful but “unfortunately those efforts weren’t successful and the organisers weren’t able to influence the desires of the crowd”.

Col Langer said officers had been “shelled pretty significantly with objects” including fireworks.

He said protesters had pushed against the fence of the Brooklyn Center police headquarters and a decision had been made to push back the crowd.

There were “sporadic” incidents of looting in the area and in other parts of Minneapolis and neighbouring St Paul.

In response to the unrest, US President Joe Biden said peaceful protest was “understandable” but added: “I want to make it clear again: there is absolutely no justification, none, for looting.”

Shortly before midnight, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot issued a positive tweet, saying: “Our city is calm now, thank you all who came out to peacefully protest then went home.”

He also said he had spoken to Daunte Wright,’s father and would “do everything to ensure justice is served”.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
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‘You took his life, for what?’

BBC’s Barbara Plett-Usher reports from the scene

One sign at the protest captured the mood: “During the trial!!?” it read in bright orange letters.

“It’s ridiculous,” said the young man carrying it. “They know they have a delicate relationship with the black community right now and they should look to be making amends, not this.”

City officials had said the shooting could not have happened at a worse time, with tensions high over the George Floyd case.

Some protesters threw bottles and shot fireworks toward police lines. They vented their rage as officers in riot gear stood impassively. “You took his life, for what?” screamed a young woman.

“He was a son, he was a father, he was a black man that deserved to live.”

“Do you know the difference between a gun and a Taser?” shouted someone else. “Hell yeah,” roared the crowd, scorning the police chief’s belief that the shooting was a tragic mistake.

“There’s no room for accidents,” said one man. “The fact is that we lost another young black male to a police officer.’

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What happened to Daunte Wright?

Police Chief Tim Gannon gave details of the police action after officers pulled Mr Wright over, saying he believed the shooting that followed to be “an accidental discharge”.

During a news conference on Monday, he played a short video from the body camera worn by the policewoman which shows Mr Wright trying to get back into his car as officers attempt to handcuff him on the side of the road.

An officer can then be heard saying “Taser, Taser, Taser” – normal police procedure before firing one of the stun guns. Mr Wright is seen to get into his car and drive away, while the same officer admits, using an expletive, to having shot him.

Daunte Wrightimage copyrightKatie Wright
image captionDaunte Wright’s mother, Katie, said her son called her as he was being pulled over by police

Fatally wounded, Mr Wright crashed a few streets away.

“It is my belief the officer meant to deploy their Taser but shot him with a single bullet,” Chief Gannon said, adding: “There’s nothing I can say to lessen the pain.”

The officer has been placed on administrative leave – temporary leave with benefits and salary still paid.

Mayor Elliot has said she should be fired. He will make a decision on Tuesday about whether Chief Gannon will keep his job, the StarTribune reported.

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Why Minneapolis is tense

The trial of Derek Chauvin over the death of George Floyd has been under way in the city for two weeks now.

Mr Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest operation in Minneapolis last May. The footage of the incident sparked global protests against racism.

On Monday, Mr Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson called for jury members to be asked about the Daunte Wright shooting to determine if what they had heard could affect their verdict.

He repeated a call for the jury to be kept separate from the public, but Judge Peter Cahill said full sequestering would only start when closing arguments began.

Law enforcement officials have been bracing for possible unrest once the jury reaches a verdict.

George Floyd’s death sparked waves of protests around the city, many peaceful but some violent with hundreds of buildings damaged.

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World’s Wealthy People at Heart of Climate Change

BBC- The world’s wealthy must radically change their lifestyles to tackle climate change, a report says.

It says the world’s wealthiest 1% produce double the combined carbon emissions of the poorest 50%, according to the UN.

The wealthiest 5% alone – the so-called “polluter elite” – contributed 37% of emissions growth between 1990 and 2015.

The authors want to deter SUV drivers and frequent fliers – and persuade the wealthy to insulate their homes well.

The report urges the UK government to reverse its decision to scrap air passenger duty on UK return flights.

And it wants ministers to re-instate the Green Homes Grant scheme they also scrapped recently.

The document has come from the UK-based Cambridge Sustainability Commission on Scaling Behaviour Change.

It’s a panel of 31 individuals who study people’s behaviour relating to the environment. They were tasked to find the most effective way of scaling up action to tackle carbon emissions.

Their critics say the best way to cut emissions faster is through technological improvements – not through measures that would prove unpopular.

But the lead author of the report, Prof Peter Newell, from Sussex University, told BBC News: “We are totally in favour of technology improvements and more efficient products – but it’s clear that more drastic action is needed because emissions keep going up.

“We have got to cut over-consumption and the best place to start is over-consumption among the polluting elites who contribute by far more than their share of carbon emissions.

SUV car parked on a London street.image copyrightGetty Images

“These are people who fly most, drive the biggest cars most and live in the biggest homes which they can easily afford to heat, so they tend not to worry if they’re well insulated or not.

“They’re also the sort of people who could really afford good insulation and solar panels if they wanted to.”

Prof Newell said that to tackle climate change, everyone needs to feel part of a collective effort – so that means the rich consuming less to set an example to poorer people.

He continued: “Rich people who fly a lot may think they can offset their emissions by tree-planting schemes or projects to capture carbon from the air. But these schemes are highly contentious and they’re not proven over time.

The wealthy, he said, “simply must fly less and drive less. Even if they own an electric SUV that’s still a drain on the energy system and all the emissions created making the vehicle in the first place”.

Sam Hall, from the Conservative Environment Network, told BBC News: “It’s right to emphasise the importance of fairness in delivering (emissions cuts) – and policy could make it easier for people and businesses to go green – through incentives, targeted regulation and nudges.

“But encouraging clean technologies is likely to be more effective, and more likely to enjoy public consent, than hefty penalties or lifestyle restrictions.”

But Prof Newell said existing political structures allowed wealthy firms and individuals to lobby against necessary changes in society that might erode the lifestyles of the rich.

The recent report of the UK Climate Assembly, for example, proposed a series of measures targeting carbon-intensive behaviours such as shifting away from meat and dairy produce; banning the most polluting SUVs; and imposing frequent flyer levies.

The Treasury told BBC News that a frequent flyer levy might require the government to collect and store personal information on each passenger.

This could raise issues of data processing, handling and privacy issues. It would also be hard to keep track of people with multiple passports.

But the commission’s report said: “The goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change cannot be achieved without radical changes to lifestyles and shifts in behaviour, especially among the wealthiest members of society.

“If change across society is to be brought about at the speed and scale required to meet agreed climate targets, we need to shrink and share: reduce carbon budgets and share more equally.”

The report is the latest in a long-running dialogue over what it means to be “fair” while tackling climate change.

Poorer nations such as India have consistently argued that they should be allowed to increase their pollution because it’s so much lower per person than emissions from rich nations.

The issue forms part of the tangled tapestry of negotiations behind next week’s climate summit organised by President Biden and the COP climate summit in the UK scheduled for November.

Follow Roger on Twitter.

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