Doctor dies of coronavirus after leaving retirement to fight the pandemic
A retired British doctor who returned to work to help battle the country’s coronavirus outbreak died of the disease this week, according to new reports.
Dr. Alfa Saadu, 68, died Tuesday morning after suffering from the infection for two weeks, his son Dani said in a social media post, Metro UK reported.
He worked at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, until his passing.
“‘My dad was a living legend, worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years saving people’s lives here and in Africa,” Dani wrote. “Up until he got sick, he was still working part-time saving people.”
Dani told Huffington Post UK that his father was “a very passionate man, who cared about saving people.”
“As soon as you spoke to him about medicine his face would light up,” he said. “He loved to lecture people in the world of medicine — he did so in the UK and Africa.”
“He was a massive family man and we did everything together,” he added. “Family came first. He left two sons and a wife, who is a retired doctor herself in occupational health.”
Saadu migrated to the UK from Nigeria and stepped down from his role as medical director of the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in 2016, according to the report.
“Alfa was well-known at the trust for his passion for ensuring our patients received high quality care,” Lance McCarthy, chief executive at the hospital, said in a statement issued to Metro. “He was a committed member of the team and is remembered fondly by many. His family and friends are in our thoughts at this sad time.”
Bukola Saraki, former president of the Nigerian Senate, tweeted a tribute to Saadu, saying he will be “sorely missed.”
“Dr. Sa’adu provided leadership for our people in the diaspora,” he wrote.
The doctor’s son said his father’s death should be a wake-up call for the public.
“The coronavirus is not a joke, please take it seriously and listen to the government,” he wrote, according to Metro. “Please stay safe and protect your loved ones — nothing is more important.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/04/01/living-legend-retired-british-nhs-worker-dies-of-coronavirus/
Photo Credit: twitter
Italian nurse strangles doctor girlfriend, claims she gave him coronavirus
An Italian nurse who claimed his doctor girlfriend gave him the coronavirus strangled her in a fit of rage, according to a report.
Antonio De Pace, 28, called the police Tuesday and confessed that he had killed his partner, Lorena Quaranta, over the infection, The Sun and local media reported.
Police arrived at their apartment and found Quaranta, 27, dead and De Pace on the floor with his wrists cut.
“I killed her because she gave me coronavirus,” De Pace told investigators after being taken into custody.
Prosecutors found both De Pace and Quaranta had tested negative for the virus and called De Pace’s claims “nonsense,” according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
The couple worked together in a Sicilian hospital fighting the pandemic in one of the worst-hit countries, where more than 13,000 people have died due to COVID-19.
De Pace was rushed to the hospital where they had worked, with their colleagues managing to treat him and save his life, according to The Sun.
In the days before her death, Quaranta had been active on her Facebook page commenting on the challenges facing medical personnel in Italy.
“Now more than ever we need to demonstrate responsibility and love for life. You must show respect for yourselves, your families and the country,” she reportedly wrote.
”You must think and remember those that dedicate their lives daily to looking after our sick.”
Photo Credit: facebook
Fast and Furious film ‘F9’ pushed back a year due to coronavirus
Universal Pictures is moving back the release of the ninth Fast and Furious film by a year amid the coronavirus outbreak. The studio on Thursday said that “F9” will now open on April 2, 2021. It had been previously scheduled to open on May 22, 2020.
The Fast and Furious movies are always big earners at the domestic and international box office and the absence of “F9” will impact the 2020 box office in a major way. The past two films have made over $1 billion. It is the first major summer movie to be delayed because of the outbreak.
Thursday also saw the postponement of “A Quiet Place II,” and is just the latest film to be delayed because of concerns about the virus and public safety. The releases of the James Bond film “ No Time to Die ” and “ Peter Rabbit 2 ” were also postponed.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
Photo Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
Pentagon looking to provide up to 100,000 body bags for civilians in virus outbreak
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon is looking to provide up to 100,000 body bags for use by civilian authorities as the coronavirus outbreak worsens in the United States with a high death toll expected in coming weeks.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested 100,000 such bags to the U.S. Department of Defense, a Pentagon official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is working with the current contractor on additional capacity, the official said.
The initial delivery will come from DLA stocks as the contractor ramps up production, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The DLA does not yet have a specific delivery date request from FEMA, but the agency wants the bags as soon as they are ready.
Bloomberg had reported earlier that the Pentagon was looking at buying more body bags and that it will draw some initially from a stockpile of 50,000 that it maintains.
A FEMA spokesman cited by Bloomberg said that the agency was making “prudent” plans for future needs, which included preparations for “mortuary contingencies” from U.S. states.
The Troop Support unit of DLA is responsible for managing the Pentagon’s stockpile of the green nylon, 94-inch by 38-inch body bags, which are normally used in war zones.
The development comes as the United States is looking at an increasing number of deaths from the coronavirus outbreak, with Reuters’ tally showing more than 4,500 deaths and over 200,000 infections in the country.
President Donald Trump and his top healthcare advisers urged Americans to follow strict social distancing measures ahead of a “tough two weeks” that could see at least 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
Photo Credit: reuters
Pentagon says it still hasn’t sent ventilators because it hasn’t been told where to send them
Washington (CNN)Despite having committed to transferring 2,000 ventilators in military stocks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services to fight the coronavirus outbreak, the Pentagon has not shipped any of them because the agencies have not asked for them or provided a shipping location, the Pentagon’s top logistics official said Tuesday.In order to ship the badly needed equipment, the Defense Department has to be given a location to send them by civilian authorities who have to decide where the items are most needed.”There was discussion with HHS on where to send them. And then they said hey wait, we’re trying to take a look at the demand that’s required, and so we were asked to just wait while there was just some sorting through on that. And I won’t speak on behalf of them, but we were in a position to provide 2,000,” said Lt. General Giovanni Tuck.Tuck said he had no details on the HHS decisions, but added that “we haven’t provided any, because as of last night, we were asked to just hold on the ones that we have, and then we will push them when they’re ready for them.”
He emphasized there are 1,000 ventilators fully ready to be shipped as soon as the Pentagon gets a destination of where to send them. The other 1,000 can also be assembled and shipped within days of getting the order he indicated.The uncertainty comes as health experts continue to say there is a serious need for more respirators and ventilators to deal with the surge of coronavirus patients at hospitals across the country. Medical professionals have also asked for help related to testing for the virus but several days after Pentagon officials offered to assist in this area, it remains unclear if they have begun to do so.Civilian Pentagon officials had repeatedly said they are making ventilators and five million N-95 respirator masks available. So far only 1.5 million masks have been shipped by the Pentagon. Another 500,000 are to be shipped within days.But HHS and FEMA have given DoD no indication of when or where they precisely want the other three million items to go.An HHS official told CNN that, “many of the DOD ventilators are deployable ventilators and require special training while the ventilators in the HHS Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) are the types of ventilators commonly used by US hospitals and are better suited for immediate use.”The same official pointed out that other ventilators have been deployed with military deployments, like those aboard Navy hospital ships in California and New York who are treating non-Covid-19 patients.FEMA spokeswoman Lizzie Litzow did not comment on the fact that the Pentagon’s ventilators have not been deployed but said the government is working to ensure “ventilators are shipped to the states in the amount needed to manage the immediate crisis. In the case of ventilators, immediate is defined as requirements necessary to sustain life within a 72-hour window.”On March 17 Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at a briefing that the department is prepared to distribute up to 2,000 ventilators “as needed.””We are prepared to distribute to HHS up to 2,000 deployable ventilators for use as needed. These machines are different from their civilian equivalents and require special training to operate, but we are committed to supporting HHS’s requirements in any way we can,” he said at the time.”The department has made our 14 certified coronavirus testing labs available to test non-DOD personnel as well, and we will soon offer two additional labs for that purpose. We hope this will provide excess capacity to the civilian population,” Esper added.During that briefing, Esper acknowledged that “when you look at the numbers of people that are projected that may need ventilators, 2,000 doesn’t put much of a dent into it, but we can offer what we have.”
Unclear if Pentagon has tested civilians
Additionally, it remains unclear if the Pentagon has tested any civilian patients for the virus more than two weeks after Esper said it had offered to do so.”We are not maxing our capacity in our labs around the world,” Joint Staff Surgeon Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs said at a Pentagon press conference last week, adding that the Defense Department is currently operating 16 labs capable of conducting the test.
“We have not received an RFA, a request for assistance, from HHS that I’m aware of,” he said. “But we do have capacity in some of our labs. We’ve identified that to HHS.”Several hours after the Pentagon said it had not received a request for assistance with testing, HHS told CNN it had since made an “initial request for assistance” from the Defense Department.”HHS has submitted an initial request for assistance to DOD and both departments are in the process of assessing the capabilities to partner on testing,” the statement from HHS said.CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for an update but has not yet received a response.Meanwhile, the military continues to grapple with an increasing number of positive cases within its ranks.As of Tuesday morning, 716 US service members had tested positive for the virus. and The first military death related to Covid-19 was announced on Monday.The surging cases are the latest sign that the virus has become a national security challenge.
Beyond its spread within the armed forces, top US commanders around the globe had previously expressed concerns that as allies shut down borders and travel, there’s a risk that military readiness may start degrading, according to several defense officials.Still, the Department of Defense stressed in a news release Monday that it has “adopted dramatic mitigation measures to protect service members, civilian employees, contractors and their families from Coronavirus.””These include mandating social distancing, termination of certain work and training activities and providing testing and care for our community members.”
via: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/31/politics/pentagon-ventilators/index.html
Photo Credit: CNN
Washington man teaching his dog how to drive leads police on 100 mph chase, wrecks
Washington police arrested a driver this past weekend after he led them on a chase that reached speeds over 100 mph with his dog in his lap.
Police said the unidentified man told them he was teaching the pit bull how to drive, but was steering the 1996 Buick Park Avenue himself.
The unidentified 51-year-old allegedly struck two cars in Seattle and was spotted by police about 40 miles north on I-5. After he refused to pull over, police deployed a spike strip to slow him down, KOMO reported. Part of the pursuit was captured on a highway traffic camera.
Traffic congestion is down considerably in and around Seattle, due to stay-at-home measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
He eventually pulled off of the highway and crashed on a side road. Police told CNN that neither he or the dog were seriously injured, and the car suffered only minor damage.
Police booked him on several charges, including DUI, reckless driving, hit-and-run and felony eluding.
via: https://www.foxnews.com/auto/washington-dog-drive-police-wrecks
Photo Credit: Washington State Patrol
The Dead Alligators From ‘Tiger King’ Once Belonged to Michael Jackson
Tiger King: Murder, Madness and Mayhem is, as promised, crazy. The number of connections to Hollywood that have been revealed in its wake — to Britney Spears, Shaquille O’Neal and Beyoncé — is its own separate can of crazy.
Well, here’s another: Joe Exotic’s alligators — who were “boiling alive in a towering inferno,” as he put it, when someone allegedly burned down the Joe Exotic TV studio and reptile enclosure at G.W. Zoo — once belonged to Michael Jackson.
The Michael Jackson connection actually headlined the news when The L.A. Times reported on the arson in 2015, with Joe Maldonado-Passage (né Schreibvogel) confirming “seven alligators and a crocodile died in the March 26” fire.
John Finlay, ex-husband (or “husband”) to Joe, confirmed the gators’ former owner on Lights Out with David Spade. “One of the previous managers had gotten us Michael Jackson’s alligators from Neverland Ranch,” he said. “We had gotten some other ones from friends and stuff.”
When ET spoke with Finlay, he named working with the large reptiles — which he says were far more dangerous than the tigers — as a good memory from his time at the zoo. “They were the more fascinating animals of any of them,” he told Kevin Frazier, revealing that he might return to working with gators “in the future.”
Just don’t expect Finlay to become the Gator King anytime soon. “No, no, no. There are many more skilled people out there than me! I just go by Gator,” he said. “My nickname at the park was Gator Man, but since I left the park, I dropped the ‘Man’ part and it’s just strictly Gator.”
Photo Credit: Netflix / Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Russell Wilson, Ciara announce initiative pledging 10 million meals
Russell Wilson and wife Ciara continue to do their part to assist in efforts to help those most deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and the Seattle Seahawks superstar on Tuesday announced a new initiative that will certainly benefit those in dire need.
Wilson took to Twitter to reveal that he and Ciara have partnered with Wheels Up on an initiative that has a goal of providing 10 million meals for Feeding America.
Wilson took to Twitter to reveal that he and Ciara have partnered with Wheels Up on an initiative that has a goal of providing 10 million meals for Feeding America.
Wilson went on to share video of himself and other principals involved in the initiative addressing the situation during an appearance on CNBC.
Feeding America has estimated that a $1 donation can provide 10 meals. According to that remarkable statistic, Wilson and Ciara have pledged $1 million for the organization’s relief efforts.
As noted, these most recent efforts by Wilson and Ciara amid the devastating impacts to many families from the coronavirus pandemic was not their first. Earlier in March, the couple pledged funds to donate one million meals to Seattle’s Food Lifeline, a non-profit that serves the needs of food banks in the region.
As of Tuesday morning, there are 164,785 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University, with the death toll continuing to mount at a staggering rate with each passing day.
It goes without saying that the charitable acts from the likes of Wilson and Ciara — among countless others from the sports world — undoubtedly are making a huge difference in the ongoing relief efforts amid the pandemic. The hope is that their actions will inspire those with the means to help to do the same.
Article via MSN