June 2020. Congratulations, you've earned a Bronze badge for your contribution to OpenPandemics - COVID-19

Dear Black Emergency Managers Association International                                     

Congratulations, you've earned a Bronze badge for your contribution to OpenPandemics - COVID-19
May 25, 2020 - You just earned a Bronze badge for the contribution you've made to OpenPandemics - COVID-19. Thanks for your participation, and we look forward to your continued support!

Help Stop COVID-19 and Future Pandemics in Their Tracks
May 14, 2020 - The OpenPandemics - COVID-19 project helps researchers at Scripps Research look for potential COVID-19 treatments. But that's just the beginning for our newest project, and we need your help.

The Microbiome Immunity Project Must Go On!
May 11, 2020 - Research in the time of a pandemic is more important than ever. Here?s how the Microbiome Immunity Project team is making continued progress while working from home.

Thanks for all your support,

The World Community Grid Team

Mental Health. Zoloft supply. June 3, 2020

A popular anti-depressant drug, Zoloft, is in short supply as stocks diminish following a spike in mental health problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Food and Drug Administration moved the drug to a list of those facing shortages on Friday. 

Overall Zoloft has seen a 12 percent increase in prescriptions—to 4.9 million—over the past year, Bloomberg reports.

Cyclone Nisarga approaches Mumbai. June 3, 2020

Cyclone Nisarga approaches Mumbai. 

Indian authorities began evacuating residents around Mumbai on Tuesday in preparation for a cyclone due to make landfall today. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday that a depression in Arabian Sea “is very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during next 12 hours, and further into a severe cyclonic storm during subsequent 12 hours.” 

It’s the second major cyclone in two weeks to hit India after Cyclone Amphan made landfall in West Bengal and neighboring Bangladesh, killing over 100 people.

Mexico Coronavirus Cases Spike, Suggesting an Underreported Outbreak. June 3, 2020

Mexico Coronavirus Cases Spike, Suggesting an Underreported Outbreak

On Tuesday Carissa Etienne, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Americas warned that the coronavirus pandemic in the Western Hemisphere was only likely to get worse, as the effects of economic inequality exacerbate a public health crisis.

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States and Brazil—which together account for over one-third of cases worldwide—has grabbed headlines, but it’s in Mexico where the pandemic could find its next epicenter.

On Tuesday, Mexico’s health ministry reported 3,891 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily number since the outbreak began. A senior health official has sought to play down the increase. “The coronavirus epidemic is at its maximum level of intensity,” Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexico’s assistant health secretary and a leader in the government response, said on Tuesday. At over 10,000, the number of recorded deaths from coronavirus in Mexico is the third-highest in the Americas, behind United States and Brazil.

No testing, no data. But what should be troubling for Mexico is the lack of necessary data to track the progress of the virus—it has one of the lowest testing rates in all of Latin America.

“The Mexican government, unlike many and perhaps most governments, has declared that its epidemiological policy has no intention of counting each and every case,” López-Gatell, told the Associated Press. “We are not interested in it, because it is useless, costly and not feasible to test everybody in the country.” Mexico has instead focused on increasing the number of hospital beds available to treat patients when they fall ill.

Mourning in Mexico. In Foreign Policy, Maya Averbuch reported from the cemeteries and crematoriums of Mexico City and spoke with the grieving families who are still not being told whether their loved ones died of the coronavirus. “As a dispute has unfolded over Mexico’s management of the crisis, families are asking not for answers about how many overall deaths there might be, but for closure in their specific cases,” she writes.

If you missed it. The Original: Racism-Africans United Against Police Brutality in America, May 29, 2020

Veola Green, Executive Managing Director and Principal

The International Institute of Family Development, Inc.

Veola, thank you for such an informative session and take-aways from your May 29^th session on ‘The Original Pandemic: Racism-Africans United Against Police Brutality in America’ addressing the current crisis that is and has been affecting our community for decades.

 For BEMA International members that missed the session, please take a look and contact Veola to take it to the next stage for actions to move forward.

https://www.facebook.com/youngbossmedia/videos/899453757185343/

CDS

Charles D. Sharp                                                                                             Cornell University Climate Fellow                                                                  Chairman Emeritus\CEO                                                                              Black Emergency Managers Association International                                     1231-B Good Hope Road.  S.E.                                                                     Washington, D.C.  20020                                                                               Office:   202-618-909                                            bEMA International
“Our lives are not our own.  We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness we birth our future.”    David Mitchell.  Cloud Atlas Cooperation, Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and  Partnering (C5&P)             A 501 (c) 3 organization.