Ethiopia’s technocratic government decided it could not afford a rich-country response to the virus. Though its economy has grown rapidly in recent decades, Ethiopia remains a poor country with a per capita income — adjusted for prices — of just $2,500. When the pandemic began, it had 22 ventilators dedicated to Covid. 

Arkebe Oqubay, senior minister and special adviser to the prime minister, says the government concluded early it could not afford a lockdown that would be difficult to enforce and socially costly. Nor did it immediately stop direct flights from China, a stance for which it was much criticised. Instead, temperature checks were imposed at the international airport. Its first case came from Japan, he says, with later imported infections mainly from Europe.

Instead of strict lockdown, Ethiopia chose a response built around public messaging. “This is not a disease you fight by ventilators or intensive care units,” says Mr Arkebe, “90 per cent of the solution is hand washing and social distancing. The only way we can play and win is if we focus on prevention.”

The government has leaned heavily on a community-based health system built by Meles Zenawi, prime minister until his death in 2012, and his health minister, one Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, now director-general of the World Health Organization. Shunning flashy hospitals, Ethiopia has instead poured what money it can into basic healthcare: vaccination campaigns and child and maternal support.

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David Pilling: No lockdown, few ventilators, but Ethiopia is beating Covid-19 https://t.co/GY1Dfj110Z

— FT Opinion (@ftopinion) May 27, 2020

Well, Judy, what’s happening right now — and we were just at a meeting down at the White House yesterday, one of our meetings, where we went over with several of the governors the kinds of things that are in place. The testing is getting better and better and better.

I mean, I have always been publicly skeptical about that. But, right now, what I’m seeing is that the kinds of testing availability is getting better and better. And, as the weeks go by, I believe strongly that we’re going to be able to address that.

But you make a very good point. When I see some of those pictures of how people are congregating, at a time when there are still infections around, that’s not prudent, and that people need to really take a step back and look at that.

I mean, everybody wants to see us get back to some sort of normality. Everybody wants to open up the country, including an economic rebound. But we need to be really careful that we don’t do it in a way that is, in some respects, stepping over the prudent steps.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci joins @JudyWoodruff to discuss the country’s “terrible ordeal,” how we can contain the virus moving forward and why he is cautiously optimistic about a vaccine.https://t.co/OG30n9tiaJ

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) May 28, 2020

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 207 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and 20 additional deaths.

This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 10,623 and those who have died to 466.

The deaths occurred in 17 elderly individuals from Beaufort (1), Charleston (1), Colleton (2), Darlington (1), Fairfield (3), Florence (1), Horry (2), Lee (1), Orangeburg (1), Richland (3), and Spartanburg (1) counties, and three middle-aged individuals from Beaufort (1), Colleton (1), and Lee (1) counties.

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DHEC today announced 207 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and 20 additional deaths.

This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 10,623 and those who have died to 466. https://t.co/oMy8re3Cx5

— SCDHEC (@scdhec) May 27, 2020

…as Stephen Cottrell, the incoming Archbishop of York, becomes tasked with looking at the CoE’s vision and strategy for the decade ahead, his starting point should be on how the use of all buildings can be maximised as places of worship and the focal point of the varied communities that they strive to serve.

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Prince William offered “gratitude” for the Church’s efforts during the pandemic https://t.co/PTd7RLlmOP

— The Yorkshire Post (@yorkshirepost) May 25, 2020

As diners’ opinions on the suitability of masks for restaurant settings this weekend hardened into bayonets to aim at their opposite number, the founder of a Facebook group which has emerged as the leading clearinghouse for Charleston restaurant information came close to shutting down her site.

“The mask-and-glove debate has become a third job,” Christine England of Lowcountry Eat Out! said on Tuesday in an announcement streamed on Facebook Live, during which she revealed new rules to get the group’s 23,000 members back on topic.

“If you’re going to comment ‘How do we eat with a mask on?’ or ‘Stay home if you don’t like it,’ there are like 3 million COVID groups where you can do that,” she continued. “The goal of this group is to support restaurants.”

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“People are getting more vocal and people are getting more threatening. I had a couple dozen restaurant (people) reach out, and they all said the same thing: This last week has been the worst week of their lives.”https://t.co/ELwBGjO5N4

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) May 27, 2020

The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced that 110,316 tests for COVID-19 have been performed in South Carolina since May 1.

Earlier this month, DHEC and its community partners set a goal to test two percent of the state’s population, or 110,000 South Carolinians, by May 31. As of today, South Carolina has exceeded that goal.

“We want South Carolinians to know that DHEC is doing everything we can to stop the spread of COVID-19, and a key component of that is increasing our testing capacity,” said Rick Toomey, DHEC Director. “DHEC continues to work with federally qualified health centers, hospitals, and other community partners to expand COVID-19 testing across the state as part of our statewide testing strategy. Together, we can increase the availability of testing and help everyone continue to take the steps needed to help slow the spread of COVID-19.”

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During Mental Health Awareness Week, Revd Jeremy Law, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Coordinator at the Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust, reflects on the impact that the coronavirus emergency has had on the mental health chaplaincy there.

He describes that “the impact of COVID-19 on people’s mental health and wellbeing has been enormous” and expects its effects to “continue for a long time.”

“Staff at GMMH have been caring for people at the end of life with dedication and professionalism” he says and “the effect of loved ones not being allowed to visit service users and accompany the dying has had a profound effect, both on relatives and staff.”

To help hospital staff deal with their emotional and spiritual needs, the chaplaincy team is planning to hold memorial services that staff are welcome to attend, with ongoing support.

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“The Chaplaincy team has long recognised the spiritual compliment to caring for the body and the mind.

For the Trust to so openly recognise the spiritual needs of all is significant.”
– Rev Jeremy Law, GMMH NHS Foundation Trust#MentalHealthAwarenessWeekhttps://t.co/uUzcsiDXzv

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) May 21, 2020

A federal court ruled Monday that South Carolina must allow all voters to use absentee ballots without the signature of a witness to keep coronavirus from spreading at the polls in the June primary election.

“Were it not for the current pandemic, then this element may have cut the other way,” U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs wrote in the finding. “Strikingly, the witness requirement would still apply to voters who have already contracted COVID-19, therefore affirmatively mandating that an infected individual … risk exposing the witness.”

The state had required a witness signature for absentee voters, which several plaintiffs argued in two separate lawsuits would pose an unnecessary risk and could disenfranchise swaths of voters adhering to social distancing measures.

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From P&C: SC absentee voters won’t need a witness due to coronavirus, court rules https://t.co/m0wdORH1G5 #chsnews

— Sam Tyson (@SamInteractive) May 25, 2020

The coronavirus has killed about 14,000 residents of nursing homes in France — half the country’s death toll. We are lucky that, so far, none of those deaths occurred at my grandparents’ home, where the caregivers have been vigilant about social distancing.

As France began easing its lockdown last week, we were finally able to visit, or rather sit outside the home, as my grandparents sat inside, a few feet away. To allow us to hear each other, the staff opened the door, but placed a table with a plexiglass partition in the doorway.

We could see my grandparents only one at a time, since they are in different parts of the home that can no longer mix socially. My grandfather, a former stone mason, misses many things that we cannot yet deliver, like shorts, because of the home’s strict rules. But it is my grandmother’s company that he misses most.

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“As France began easing its lockdown last week, we were finally able to visit, with limits. To allow us to hear each other, the staff opened the door, but placed a table with a plexiglass partition in the doorway.” https://t.co/3f1HBg9RUJ by @ElianPeltier

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) May 26, 2020

“The song is ended, but the melody lingers on.” -Irving Berlin#NeverForgotten

Photo by Thomas Alvarez#MemorialDay pic.twitter.com/5sL4wIWlPq

— U.S. Army (@USArmy) May 25, 2020

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

–Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

In thanksgiving for all those who gave their lives for this country in years past, and for those who continue to serve; KSH.

P.S. The circumstances which led to this remarkable poem are well worth remembering:

It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915 and to the war in general. McCrea had spent seventeen days treating injured men — Canadians, British, French, and Germans in the Ypres salient. McCrae later wrote: “I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days… Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done.” The next day McCrae witnessed the burial of a good friend, Lieut. Alexis Helmer. Later that day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the field dressing station, McCrea composed the poem. A young NCO, delivering mail, watched him write it. When McCrae finished writing, he took his mail from the soldier and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the Sergeant-major. Cyril Allinson was moved by what he read: “The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene.” Colonel McCrae was dissatisfied with the poem, and tossed it away. A fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915. For his contributions as a surgeon, the main street in Wimereaux is named “Rue McCrae”.

Safety is also top of mind for the Rev. Shannon Kershner, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church at 126 E. Chestnut St. along the Magnificent Mile. It’s why the church livestreams its 11 a.m. Sunday services from Kershner’s living room rather than the sanctuary.

“The empty sanctuary is really a statement of our love and action,” Kershner said. “It’s an expression of God — love your neighbor, essentially — love for our health care professionals and other essential workers who would be harmed if we were to somehow contribute to the spread.

“I’m going to be in my living room, just as all my members are. There’s an intimacy to it, as well as a solidarity that’s been really interesting to discover.”

Along with its worship services, the church in the wealthy downtown community moved online the many classes offered through its Center for Lifelong Learning — 700-plus church members are over 70. Kershner and seven ministers try to do phone checks on each of them.

“Church meetings are on Zoom,” Kershner said. “Bible study is on Zoom. Prayer meetings are on Zoom. In the beginning, we were thinking: If we can just get through Easter, things will go back to normal. Then, we realized that wasn’t going to happen and that we were going to have to remain in this adaptive mindset.

“Then, it was: OK, how can we sustain the ministry that we’re doing in all these new ways, getting clearer about what needs to be our priorities? One thing that became clear is that people really want to feel connected.”

Read it all.

As Chicago wrestles along with the rest of America about how best to reopen, clergy of diverse faiths across the city and suburbs say the reopening debate has turned a spotlight on the changing face of religion in the era of COVID-19. https://t.co/zq5MFXKfGa

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) May 22, 2020

The Prince of Wales has spoken of his shock and heartbreak at the devastation wreaked by Covid-19.

In a video message released today for the Remember Me virtual book of remembrance, launched today by St Paul’s London, Prince Charles speaks of those who “have experienced, personally, and in our community life, the shock of sudden change in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

For too many among us, he says, this has brought tragedy and heartbreak.

Prince Charles, who has himself had the virus, says: “For some, relatives have not been able to be present at the time of their loved one’s passing. For many, the loss of their loved ones has been made all the more agonisingly painful by the necessary restrictions on funerals, travel and gatherings. For all of us, there has been anxiety in the present as we have wondered what the future will be….

Read it all.

The Prince of Wales has spoken of his shock and heartbreak at the devastation wreaked by #Covid19, in a video message released today for the #RememberMe virtual book of remembrance, launched today by @StPaulLondon @RememberMeMemo https://t.co/nKyWlccOyH #CatholicNews

— The Tablet (@The_Tablet) May 22, 2020

Tentative signs that the worst of the economic damage has been done by the coronavirus pandemic emerged yesterday in closely-watched readings from Britain, the eurozone and the United States.

Private-sector output in all three continued to fall this month but bounced back more than expected from record lows in April, three reports showed. A further report showed that new claims for unemployment benefits in the US fell for the seventh consecutive week, although they remained at an extreme level.

Economists said that although the readings had improved, they continued to highlight the severe damage being wrought by the pandemic, from which recovery would be slow, especially in Britain. IHS Markit’s “flash” composite purchasing managers’ index, which measures changes in output, new orders and employment in the services and manufacturing sectors, climbed to 28.9 in Britain this month, from 13.8 in April. The same index for the eurozone rose to 30.5 from 13.6, and in the US it increased to 36.4 from 27.4.

Read it all (subscription).

https://t.co/W4b4SeoEh3

— Catherine Jones (@cathyjones173) May 22, 2020

We will never forget our first patrols while deployed. Donning protective gear like body armor and a Kevlar helmet carried new weight as we realized the gear was our only protection against bullets and explosions. As we left our patrol bases, every step was deliberate and the slightest unexpected movement would heighten our awareness and draw our full attention.

Health care workers in the Covid-19 era can relate to this feeling. The simple protection once offered by wearing gloves while examining a patient has given way to putting on layers of personal protective equipment, and improvising when it is in short supply. This gear now stands between them and a serious infection — and possibly bringing that infection home to their families.

We straddle the worlds of combat and medicine. Each of us has served in the U.S Armed Forces and are now students at Harvard Medical School. As part of the school’s Civilian-Military Collaborative, we were asked by a residency director how we might advise the program’s residents who worried about their safety as they faced the Covid-19 crisis.

A few themes emerged from these discussions about the similarities between the battlefields of war and of Covid-19: a sense of duty toward a greater purpose, a responsibility to others, and a sense of camaraderie.

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Opinion: Lessons from the military on how to balance caring for patients against the risk of personal harm – https://t.co/iS7857co6M pic.twitter.com/zISKOCgorE

— Mazen M (@MazenSalama) May 20, 2020

This is what “normal” will look like for the foreseeable future.

In Connecticut, restaurants are reopening with outdoor-only dining and tables 6 feet (2 meters) apart. In Beverly Hills, California, the rich and glamorous are doing their shopping from the curb along Rodeo Drive. And preschools around the U.S. plan to turn social distancing into an arts-and-crafts project by teaching kids how to “create their own space” with things like yarn and masking tape.

As the U.S. and other countries loosen their coronavirus restrictions, it’s back to business, but not business as usual. In fact, it is becoming all too clear that without a vaccine against the scourge, the disruptions could be long-lasting and the economy won’t be bouncing right back.

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NEW YORK (AP) — This is what “normal” will look like for the foreseeable future. https://t.co/wIeIXw0Ihk

— Arizona Daily Star (@TucsonStar) May 20, 2020

In his latest move to reopen the economy after shutting it down to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Henry McMaster is now allowing attractions and amusement parks to reopen on Friday, just in time for Memorial Day weekend.

The governor’s order on Wednesday lifted restrictions on arcades; tourist attractions such as museums, aquariums, planetariums, mini-golf and go-kart racing; indoor children’s play areas; bingo halls; and venues operated by social clubs such as the VFW.

However, night clubs, bowling alleys, concert venues, theaters, auditoriums, performing arts centers, racetracks and adult entertainment venues still are not allowed to reopen.

Read it all.

Breaking: South Carolina Gov. @henrymcmaster reopens yet another part of the state’s economy, just in time for Memorial Day weekend @thestate #readlocal https://t.co/wkJzVqJZ35

— Jamie Self (@jamiemself) May 20, 2020

Dr. Max Lazarus, a resident at a hospital on Long Island, N.Y., went into emergency medicine exactly so he could respond to crises.

He remembers pushing stretchers around the lobby of Bellevue Hospital as a volunteer in the emergency room during Hurricane Sandy.

“This is what I signed up for,” he says. “It forces you to grow in a way that I don’t think anything else could.”

But Lazarus says nothing could fully prepare him to watch patients call their family members before going on a ventilator.

“You tell them that hopefully they will wake up but there is a chance they may not,” he says. “It’s not the way anyone should die, alone on a ventilator.”

Lazarus, 29, still thinks about two patients he treated early in the pandemic — one was a bit younger than he is, the other a bit older.

“And they died,” he says. “They really stick out.”

Read it all.

The pandemic has magnified long-standing concerns about labor and mental health among medical residents who say they are being mistreated by hospitals under unprecedented stress.https://t.co/QNq7Wt1mtK

— NPR (@NPR) May 20, 2020

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Read it all.

An article in the NYT about how, here in Kentucky, we’re thinking about fall. As I told a friend, all options for fall are horrible. So how do we determine the balance between safety, health, research, student needs, and finances? All variables matter.https://t.co/4HqS89Juav

— Andrea Erhardt (@Andrea_Erhardt) May 19, 2020

However, countries like China placed them in quarantine to observe them. Similar reports came from other countries as well, including Korea, where the local CDC reported in mid-April that hundreds of patients had tested positive again. The medical authority observed the evolution of the new patients in the weeks since then, and delivered the best possible preliminary news about coronavirus reinfections: It’s not a relapse.

The KCDC officials published the findings of the study online, revealing that it investigated 285 “re-positive” cases, as well as their 790 contacts. Of those, 27 contacts were positive, 24 of which were cases that were previously confirmed. The other three were cases that were exposed to a religious group or a case in their families, so there is a high likelihood that they were infected by someone other than the “reinfected” individual.

The study says that it took 45 days on average from initial symptom onset to test positive a second time, or 14.3 days from discharge. As many as 44.7% of the patients had symptoms including cough and sore throat, the report says. 60% of them were tested for screening, regardless of symptoms.

The doctors also discovered neutralizing antibodies in all re-positive cases as well as the newly confirmed cases, which is a marker of COVID-19 immunity.

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Study finds that people who test positive for coronavirus after recovering are not infectious https://t.co/TdkT3ozP0c pic.twitter.com/kMXremqtSY

— BGR.com (@BGR) May 19, 2020

An experimental vaccine may help protect against a coronavirus infection, preliminary results from people and mice suggest.

One or two doses of an mRNA vaccine prod people’s bodies to make as many or more antibodies against the coronavirus as are made by people who have recovered from COVID-19, researchers from Moderna, Inc., announced May 18.

Moderna, based in Cambridge, Mass., and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., worked together to develop the vaccine, known as mRNA-1273 (SN: 2/21/20).

Their approach uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, a genetic molecule that cellular machinery reads in order to build proteins. In this case, the mRNA contains instructions for building the coronavirus’ spike protein, which helps the virus enter human cells. The vaccine induces human cells to make the spike protein. The immune system then makes antibodies to latch onto the spike proteins. Should a vaccinated person encounter the virus later, those vaccine-stimulated antibodies may prevent the virus from infecting healthy cells.

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Early results suggest a coronavirus vaccine works, but more human trials are needed. https://t.co/K4BFMG0At3

— Science News (@ScienceNews) May 18, 2020

This [past] week, nearly all U.S. church leaders (96%) express confidence in their church’s survival rate despite current disruptions. A quarter (25%) is confident, with another seven in 10 (71%) stating they are “very” confident in this scenario. Three percent remain unsure, and a single percent doubts their church doors will reopen again.

What makes the majority of pastors so sure their church will reopen again? Three in five (60%) believe their people are excited and anxious to return to church. One-quarter attributes this confidence to their current financial standing, with 21 percent saying their finances have remained stable during the crisis and another 4 percent voicing optimism that their finances will recover. One in 10 (11%) believes that God will not allow their church to close.

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On churches re-opening, “ I’m encouraging church leaders to do, especially smaller churches, is to find out what your peers are doing in other churches.” – Thom Rainer https://t.co/uwtwCH5v5I

— Barna Group (@BarnaGroup) May 18, 2020

Religious leaders have welcomed the announcement that churches can reopen for private prayer as lockdown restrictions ease.

Drive-in services will also be permitted, providing social distancing is maintained and those attending do not get out of their cars.

The leaders of the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Irish Council of Churches all expressed their appreciation for the careful preparation that preceded the announcement, which included consultation with them.

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Religious leaders call limited reopening for Northern Ireland’s churches a sign of hope #coronavirus #COVID19https://t.co/4VVYvxqC7m pic.twitter.com/K514QVONSz

— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) May 18, 2020

“The most important thing in my world at this point is spending time loving and laughing,” he said. “Just living life to the fullest and loving every moment.”

Chase is taking the time to tell his story because he wants to touch people and spread what he has learned through his cancer journey.

“The precious people in your life, the amount of time they are in your life, take every moment you have. Enjoy and give everything you can in those relationships,” he said. “And know there is so much possible with love when your love includes God.”

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Chase’s life may end up being shorter than others. But that’s not yet a given. He is not discouraged. And he has not been shortchanged. Not many people, after all, find their Sadie. https://t.co/ygBImzJY3U via @indystar

— Dana HunsingerBenbow (@DanaBenbow) May 15, 2020

Mr Welby has spoken openly of his own mental health struggles. He revealed he was suffering from depression last year in a Thought for the Day broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and separately said he was taking anti-depressants.

Speaking this week to the BBC’s religion editor Martin Bashir, he described “an overwhelming sense the world is getting more and more difficult and gloomy”.

Explaining how his own mental health has affected his behaviour, he said: “You turn inwards on yourself a lot. You become, frankly, narcissistic. And when you have good friends or family who spot it, they can say ‘might it not be an idea to talk to someone’. Which I did.”

He added: “There is nothing pathetic about it. It is no more pathetic than being ill in any other way. And we just need to get over that.”

Read it all.

BBC News – Coronavirus: Archbishop Justin Welby says austerity would be catastrophic – ‘wealth is not an idol to be worshipped but an asset to be deployed for the benefit of all people’:https://t.co/cjgVF7exKK

— Leigh Daynes (@LeighDaynes) May 18, 2020

Screw all of you now I see exactly why the only thing left to do is suicide. — a Facebook post by a St. Louis paramedic in April

After Kurt Becker, a paramedic firefighter in St. Louis County, saw that post, which included a profanity-laced screed of frustration and despair over the job, he sent a copy to the man’s therapist with a note saying, “You need to check this out.”

“I’m reading this, and I’m ticking off each comment with, ‘stress marker,’ ‘stress marker,’ ‘stress marker,’ ” said Mr. Becker, who manages a 300-person union district. (The writer is in treatment and gave permission for the post to be quoted.)

Read it all.

“We got a letter from our chief saying there’s a national shortage of gloves, gowns, masks & goggles because the public is taking them,” said Brendan, a paramedic firefighter. “Then we walk into Walmart & see 90% of people have better masks than we do.”https://t.co/G3rurnr51U

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 17, 2020

Brazil has overtaken Spain and Italy to become the country with the fourth-largest number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the world.

Officials on Saturday reported 14,919 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 233,142. Only the US, Russia and the UK have higher numbers.

The death toll in Brazil over 24 hours was 816, bringing the total to 15,633 – the world’s fifth-highest figure.

Experts warn that the real figure may be far higher due to a lack of testing.

The mayor of the country’s most populous city, São Paulo, warned on Sunday that the city’s health system could collapse. Bruno Covas said the public hospitals in the city reached 90% capacity for emergency beds, with demand still growing.

Read it all.

BBC News – Coronavirus: Brazil overtakes Spain and Italy as new cases grow https://t.co/PQ04FCfvVs

— Salim Kikeke (@Salym) May 17, 2020

Supercomputers in Europe being used to research Covid-19 were hacked this week, according to several laboratories. Some of the computers remain offline following the attack.

Supercomputers in Switzerland, Germany, and the UK were affected. It’s not clear if the attacks were linked or who was behind them.

Supercomputers can assist in researching Covid-19 and other maladies by running simulations to study the disease’s effect on cells and to gain further insight on potential treatments.

Several affected labs said that only the login portal to the supercomputers were affected, not the machinery that runs the computations. That could mean that an attacker was seeking to breach the system in order to steal research or to disrupt the progress of researchers, according to an employee of one of the supercomputing sites, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

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Supercomputers in UK, Switzerland & Germany hacked this week; some were being used for Covid research. Perpetrator not known & unclear if incidents related. https://t.co/GlfmMePY2O by @WilliamTurton

— Ryan Gallagher (@rj_gallagher) May 16, 2020

Local churches of several denominations have worked together to take the lead in establishing an Emergency Community Network for the rural area centred on Carlton, (between Selby and Goole) in the south of the Diocese of York.

Invited by North Yorkshire County Council, Curate of Carlton and Drax the Revd Becky Allright has been heavily involved in co-ordinating a number of organisations and groups to offer a single route for people to request and access support during the Coronavirus lockdown which began in March 2020 and whose end date is still not known.

“In the parish there are no other ‘infrastructure’ organisations that cover the entire area, so there are five [civil] parish councils, two Methodist Circuits, one Roman Catholic church, and three different GP practices, so none that cover the whole geography,” explains Becky.

Set up in March by a group of friends and volunteers, the network has been running whilst everyone is in self isolation.

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Churches lead in launch of Carlton and Villages Network, Diocese of Yorkhttps://t.co/Ncox4uix8u pic.twitter.com/bo9V2t3orR

— National Churches Trust (@NatChurchTrust) May 15, 2020

Scrub-a-dub-dub, it’s Bill Murray in a bathtub.

The Charleston resident and movie star video-chatted with Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night from his home — more specifically, from his bathtub.

“If there’s anyone that can shake us out of this pandemic doldrum, it’s my guest tonight,” Kimmel begins the video. “He’s joining us tonight from Murray Manor. Please welcome Bill Murray.”

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Charleston’s Bill Murray talks about wearing masks, missing RiverDogs from his bathtub | Charleston Scene | https://t.co/r8rC7tf9TP https://t.co/bZAVHJIs9R

— Victoria Hansen (@VHansenSCRadio) May 15, 2020

[Dimitri ] Christakis says the serious effects of this crisis on children like Phoebe have been overlooked.

“The decision to close schools initially, and now to potentially keep them closed, isn’t, I think, taking the full measure of the impact this is going to have on children,” he told NPR. “Not just the short term, but the long term.”

The problem, Christakis says, isn’t just learning loss, which is expected to fall particularly hard on low-income children with unequal access to distance learning. Recent research from a large testing association on the “COVID-19 slide” suggests children may return in the fall having made almost a third less progress in reading, and half as much progress in math, compared with what they would have in a typical school year.

Mental health and social-emotional development, Christakis argues, have been less discussed: “The social-emotional needs of children to connect with other children in real time and space, whether it’s for physical activity, unstructured play or structured play, this is immensely important for young children in particular.” A new study in JAMA Pediatrics, he says, documents elevated depression and anxiety among children under lockdown in China.

A third major risk, says Christakis, is child abuse.

Read it all.

Nightmares. Tantrums. Grief. Violent outbursts. Even suicidal thoughts.

Parents across the country shared their concerns with NPR — worried that their young children’s mental health is suffering amid the coronavirus crisis and school closures.https://t.co/YPcUmf3nHD

— NPR (@NPR) May 14, 2020