World News

COVID-19 Interview

Name: Dr. Mohammed Salem

Profession: Medical Resident at Staten Island University Hospital

Description: He is a healthcare worker on the front lines who fights COVID-19

Can you introduce yourself? Name? Where do you work? What do you do?

Yes. Mohammed Salem. I’m a Medical resident at Staten Island University Hospital.

When did you start to see the number of cases begin to grow? How rapidly did it grow/explain the hospital environment?

The number of cases started to grow probably at the end of February and beginning of March. Then at the beginning of March to the middle of March is when it started increasing very rapidly. First, we were literally counting the number of cases one at a time. We were like “oh wow we’re starting to see coronavirus”, but then at one point we couldn’t even keep up.

Do you think the hospital took the proper precautions when you were first hearing about COVID-19? Did you have PPEs (personal protective equipment) readily available for your use? Did you take it seriously?

Unfortunately, I think the entire country didn’t and that’s why we kind of suffered the way we did. If we took precautions from when it was overseas I think everybody would have been more prepared, but we started taking precautions when it got here.

Can you walk me through what your day looked like going to work?

At the highest point, for example, when we would walk into the hospital almost every single day there would be new changes for new places that we’ve opened up as ICUs. In our hospital, we have two main ICUs, one on the second floor and one on the fifth floor, and each of them can hold 20 ICU beds. When things reached the capacity we actually converted the areas where we have the PACU, where patients recover from surgery, we converted that into an ICU. We converted the endoscopy suite, where patients go in for elective procedures into an ICU. The whole area where we had patients under 24-hour observation from the ER became an ICU. Even some of the regular medical floors became ICUs. The biggest problem that we had was that we were just undermanned and understaffed. We had so many ICU patients that were on ventilators and we didn't have enough ICU nurses. As doctors we had to kind of be both doctors and nurses, it was a very difficult time but, alhamdulilla, we got through it.

What were the most common signs that you saw in your patients?

It depends on how sick or how late the patients were coming. Some patients came early, some of them would just come with fever and a cough and we would discharge them from the ER, and there are patients that would come with a cough and fever for several days and we would admit them only because they were requiring oxygen, so they needed oxygen either through their nose or through a mask. Because they needed oxygen, they couldn’t go home. There were the patients that came in and they were really sick meaning their oxygen numbers were below 90 or in the low 80s, and those patients were required to be on a ventilator immediately. We would have to sedate them, paralyze them, and put them on a ventilator.

We are always hearing about how only the elderly are affected by COVID-19, but how many young patients with the virus did you see in the hospital?

So it is true that the eldery and people with preexisting conditions definitely tended to do worse and were intubated a lot sooner, but we did have our fair share of younger patients. By younger I mean late 20s. I had one patient as young as 21 and then we had several patients in their 30s, plenty in their 40s, many in their 50s, and none of them had any preexisting health conditions.

Many frontline workers are being emotionally affected by the overwhelming amount of loss and a lot of times you see as a doctor that there is nothing left you can do to help a patient. How are you coping, maintaining your mental health, and remaining able to continue every day?

So there are times as a healthcare worker or a frontline worker when you are constantly going and going and going, it’s kind of hard for you to take a step back and just realize what had just happened. For example, when I was in the ICU, I had just lost a 41 year old and I had to call her husband and tell him to come in to say his goodbyes. It was probably one of the hardest conversations I’ve had to have with somebody, to tell him that he just lost his wife. While I was talking to him, my pager was going off, so as soon as I finished the conversation, I was called by the ER for the next admission. The time I have between trying to cope and figure out what has happened, what has just hit me emotionally, versus the time of going to see the next patient is very limited, so you kind of just have to keep moving forward. You rely on your friends, your colleagues, your co-residents, your family when you go home if you need emotional support. The hospital offers emotional support. They offer lines and services you can call if you need help, but the pace of it was just so fast that there’s not that much time to take care of what’s going on and you’re just on to the next patient because you are trying to save who you can.

How do you handle the patients’ families as they are not allowed to enter the hospital?

We ended up creating something called the Communications Team. It was the doctors that specialized in certain things that were not happening anymore, like some of the surgeons that were doing elective plastic surgeries or orthopedic surgeries, or whatever it may be, they weren’t doing that anymore. Those doctors were helping us as a Communications Team, so they would come in on rounds with us and after we finished rounding, they would call every patient’s family and tell them the update on what happened during rounds. We had about one iPad on every unit for whichever patients who wanted to call or FaceTime their family. We told families that they can bring in material to the hospital and security would escort it up to the patient’s room so that they could call, and unfortunately, unless the patient was on the brink of passing, we wouldn’t allow families to come in. Some families were allowed to come in and say goodbye.

So you guys had enough iPads?

No. Not at all. We had one resident who was from Staten Island and he wanted to take it upon himself, so he started a GoFundMe page for our hospital, and we tried, we got a bunch of them, but it’s not enough. For the ICUs it was enough because a lot of the patients were on ventilators, so they can’t even talk or FaceTime their families, but for the patients on the floors who can talk, it was challenging. Though I think we did the best we could and people really appreciated the fact that we were doing that.

So let’s get into you actually getting COVID-19. Can you explain the build-up to you getting the virus? Did you know you had it? Did you have any evident signs?

So when the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in our hospital, I was already working in the ICU for two weeks. I was basically seeing the sickest patients from the ICU. All of these patients needed a lot of attention, they needed a lot of care from the doctors in terms of procedures. Basically, we were heavily exposed. What I’m trying to say is, some of these patients, when they’re really sick, don't need regular IVs that you would put in a regular patient, they need something we call an essential line. It is an IV that you put in the neck vein or any other larger vein because those medications they need are very heavy medications. So when you have to do something like that, you’re in their room for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. I was kind of doing that for two weeks before I even got any symptoms. As residents and doctors, walking around, we’d all kind of know we all somewhat got exposed. Especially because at that time, we were only able to get one N95 mask a week. We had to give our badges and sign away one N95, and an N95 mask, if you ever wear one, the cotton thing on there that helps it with the seal, if it gets wet, the seal is going to break. If you’re in a room wearing all of this PPE and wearing a mask and everything and you’re sweating, some of that sweat is going to get in there and it’s going to break the seal. So we all kind of felt that to a certain extent we were definitely exposed. One day when I was at work, I got up and everything was fine, I did my patient rounds, and then I started feeling like I had difficulty swallowing, I had a sore throat. I didn’t pay too much attention to it for that hour or two, and then after that, I started feeling fatigued, so I went home a little early that day. I came home, I took a nap and that’s when I started to feel the chills. At that point is when I told my wife I wanted to leave the house to isolate myself from her and the kids.

Did you get tested at the hospital?

Initially no, because they were not testing at the hospital. We did not have enough testing at that time when it happened. I got sick April 5th, which is kind of when things were getting pretty high. I ended up staying at my parents’ place in Wayne to isolate, so I ended up getting tested privately there. It took five days for it to come back and for them to tell me it was positive because things were very slow at that time.

How hard did COVID-19 hit you? How did you feel?

Thankfully, I’m young and healthy. Thank God. It definitely was probably the sickest I’ve been in my entire life, but it is definitely not to compare to what I’ve seen in the hospital and what I see patients go through. I did have fever, cough, chill, muscle weakness, fatigue, but I never had any shortness of breath. I never had any difficulty breathing, so I’m thankful for that.

What was it like quarantining away from your family and how did you take the right steps to ensure that you weren’t spreading the virus to them or anyone else?

Well, the best thing that I did was I completely isolated myself. Because I have a small apartment, it would be very difficult with two babies because there is no way I could hold them back from coming to see and be next to me. That’s why I left and I quarantined at my parents’ house and fortunately, my parents were in Palestine, so the house was completely empty. Yeah so those were the precautions I took, I was completely alone.

How long were you quarantined for before you went back to work?

I started quarantine on Monday, the 6th of April and I went home on the 17th, so two weeks.

What were the requirements for you to be able to go back to work?

I waited until I was symptom-free, The recommendations were to be symptom-free or fever-free, cough free, without taking any medications for at least 72 hours before you were cleared to go back to work. I ended up testing negative, but I was symptom-free starting Sunday before I went home, so I technically could’ve gone home the following Tuesday, but because of me having kids and everything at home, I ended up staying until Friday before I went back home. Then, the hospital actually called me on Wednesday and said that they were testing employees who were out sick, because before that they weren’t, so I actually went and got tested again, but that was my second test and it was negative. I used that as my stipulation to discontinue my isolation or my quarantine.

What was it like after your return? Did you see a great increase in cases? Was that around the peak of the virus?

I left while it was peaking and I came back and the newest thing to me was how many areas of the hospital were converted into an ICU and how many ventilated patients we had. I think we reached about 160 to 170 ventilated patients in our hospital, and like I told you before we only had two ICUs with 20 beds each, which means on a normal maximum if the ICU was maxed out and if every patient in the ICU was ventilated, you’re talking about 40 vented patients. That’s what was very different.

Did a lot of your co-workers catch the virus too? How common is it to see healthcare workers get the virus?

Very common. I don’t have numbers or percentages but personally, I know there are 30 residents per class and I think about five to ten per class got sick.

Do you think we are taking the proper precautions and steps? How important are self-isolation and social distancing?

I think it’s very important because of what you guys have been seeing in terms of #flattenthecurve. The reason why is because in the hospital, we can treat patients, but we can only treat patients to a certain capacity. We can’t give everybody the attention and care that they need at once. Even though self-isolation may not 100 percent eradicate the virus, because we don’t have a new vaccine or new medication out yet, even though there is research about certain things that are working. Regardless, just because we are self-isolating doesn’t mean the virus is being eradicated, it just means that it’s going to slow the spread down from people coming all together and getting sick in the hospital all together at once. For you to be able to get proper care in the hospital, overwhelming the health staff whether it be from the doctors to the transporters getting patients to where they need to be, to the nurses, to the techs, to the respiratory therapists that are helping us with the ventilators, to the environmental people who are cleaning out and decontaminating the rooms from patient to patient, we don’t have enough staff to do that with that high turnover so it is very important to self-isolate and self distance. Like you’ve been seeing on social media, it’s not just to protect yourself, but to protect other people. The same way that your parents would protect you when you were a kid because you were vulnerable, now you need to protect the elderly because they’re the ones who are vulnerable as well.

From a doctor’s perspective, when do you think life will get back to normal if ever?

A normal perspective is completely different from a doctor’s perspective because, from a doctor’s perspective, coronavirus is not just going to disappear. We’re going to be in the hospital everyday and we’re going to be treating coronavirus for at least the next year because the virus is not going to just disappear. It is going to spread from person to person and we’re going to have special COVID units in our hospital. The government may say it’s okay to discontinue isolation and that people can go back to normal, but for me as a physician going to the hospital everyday and being exposed everyday kind of makes it difficult for me to go back and see other people. My life is not going to go back to normal because I’ll be in fear of exposing other people. Also with the fact that we don’t have a 100 percent cure or a vaccine yet, people are going to go back and be reintroduced to each other and I think people after this quarantine are very tired and fed up with being alone, gatherings may get out of hand. If that ends up happening, then as a doctor we are already anticipating and getting ready for a second wave. So we are on edge and we’re trying to see how things are going. We're taking it day by day.

Do you know how far we are from a vaccine?

There’s a group from Oxford who were saying that they were very close and confident because they started studying coronavirus from the time that SARS and MERS came out, which were the two strands prior to COVID-19. They’re very confident in the fact that they may have something in the works very soon. Whereas from the CDC, Dr. Fauci and everybody else is saying that they need another year or so before anything kind of comes to fruition. What we hear and what’s reported is very different from different sources, so we’re really not sure right now.

How do we ensure that something of this great capacity is prevented in the future?

Pandemics have been going on for a long time and every now and then a virus will mutate and evolution will take its course and a virus can cause a pandemic. This isn’t the first pandemic that the world undergoes, it’s just that in 2020 it was shocking that this happened. How we can ensure it never happens again, I think there probably needs to be more prepared. One thing we definitely did not do well enough was taking into consideration what was happening in other countries and when it was happening. We kind of just felt like this might not reach us, but when it got out from China and ended up hitting other countries and reached Italy the way it did, at that point, we started to learn that, hey, this is the reality and it’s coming. When it finally got here is when we started to adjust. I think that after this pandemic is over, I’m pretty sure the WHO and the CDC will make adjustments in terms of having some kind of backup plan in preparation. If you look back at some of the epidemiologists who really studied viruses and pandemics, people were speculating that something like this was going to happen for a long time, but we never had taken it seriously enough. What’s so special or different about coronavirus is that you can carry the virus and be asymptomatic and spread it for so long, whereas most viruses that we’ve seen, you’d have to be sick or have a fever for you to be even contagious. That’s what made it really hard to control, that asymptomatic people could be spreading this virus. It made preparation very difficult, but in the future, hopefully, we will learn from this and be able to prevent something like this from happening, but I really don’t know, you’d have to ask higher-level experts about how we can prevent this from happening ever again.

Any concluding remarks?

Yeah. In conclusion, I would say that for you guys now, you’re approaching almost the third month of being quarantined and self-isolated at home. You’re approaching summer break where everybody wants to go outside, have fun, meet their friends, and go out and play, especially because you’ve been isolated for so long. I would say just be very careful and very cautious. You don’t want to live your life in fear, but at the same time, you do want to take the necessary precautions to prevent something from happening. So, keep your distance, wear your masks, cover your sneezes, cover your coughs with your elbow, wash your hands frequently, try to stay home as much as possible, and don’t join any large gatherings.

2020 Democratic Nominee Election

On March 1st, there were a total of six democratic presidential candidates. Four days later, only two remained. What happened? Between lack of funds, not enough support, and the results of Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klochubar, Micheal Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren all decided to drop out within a week, leaving Joe Biden to compete with Bernie Sanders.

Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor of Indiana, announced the end of his campaign on March 1st, just two days before Super Tuesday. After his performance at the South Carolina primary, he resolved that dropping out was “the right thing to do, when we looked at the math”. Before Pete made the decision, he had 26 delegates, while Bernie and Biden had over 500. Amy dropped out on March 2nd for similar reasons - she had 7 delegates, and her financial support could not compete with her rivals’. In any case, both Pete and Amy endorsed Joe Biden, giving him the advantage over Bernie.

Shortly after Super Tuesday, Bloomberg ended his campaign and also endorsed Joe Biden. According to the New York times, though he spent more than 500 million dollars on the campaign, he remained optimistic saying he ran “to defeat Donald Trump” and that he was “leaving for the same reason.” Elizabeth Warren, who could not keep up with Biden and Bernie left the race a day later and did not endorse anyone, saying “she needed to sleep on it”.

In the history of presidential elections, Super Tuesday plays a large role in determining the winning nominee. Since it is the day where the most caucuses are held, candidates have to capitalize on delegates. This Super Tuesday, Biden won 10 states, while Bernie only won 4. However, Bernie Sanders won California - the state with the most electoral votes.

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden have conflicting policies when it comes to immigration, climate change, and Health Care. While Biden believes it is in the best interest for America to follow the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), Bernie proposed the Medicare for all policy, whereby healthcare would be free for all citizens.

In terms of climate change, Biden intends to enact a plan through which all greenhouse gas emissions would be eradicated. On the other hand, Bernie wants to create an environment where, by 2030, all energy would be 100% renewable. Both plans include proponents of the New Green Deal. On immigration, Biden plans to reverse most of Trump’s actions. His plan involves investing four billion dollars in Central America. In contrast, according to CNN, Bernie’s immigration platform “calls for a large scale restructuring of the system through legislative and executive action”.

Ultimately, Biden and Bernie’s unmatched support caused Pete, Amy, Bloomberg, and Warren all to drop out of the race. While the two candidates differ on foreign policy, healthcare, and climate change among other things, they both desperately want to beat Donald Trump. Super Tuesday only served to bolster the tension between the two nominees, and only the future can tell who will win.

The Yemen Humanitarian Crisis

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen has reached its peak and is one of the worst in the world. Currently, Yemen is facing the consequences of a Civil War that is bringing extreme destruction to their nation. Millions of people are homeless, starving, and struggling to stay alive. According to the UN Refugee Agency, 4.3 million people (about 80% of the country’s population), have been forced to flee their country. Grocery stores have spiked up their prices and there is a lack of basic human necessities. The war began in March of 2015 and is still on-going.

The war was instigated by a conflict in their government that followed the uprising of the Arab Spring. In 2011, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president of Yemen at the time, had to pass over his authority to Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Hadi faced attacks and revolts from Saleh’s supporters which allowed for the emergence of the Houthi movement. The Houthis took control of the northern land in Yemen, and eventually took over the capital of Sana’a. Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other mostly Sunni Arab nations were fearful that a military-backed Shia government was forming, so they sent airstrikes aiming to defeat them.

Since the start of the Yemen Civil War, the United Nations estimated that 17.8 million people are living without clean water and 19.7 million people are deprived of sufficient healthcare as reported by the World Bank Group. There are hundreds of diseases circling throughout Yemen, such as measles and cholera, and almost 1.5 million people have been affected by this. As of 2019, The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) recorded 30,000 deaths. About 18,000 of those deaths were directly caused by the violence of war. BBC reports an estimated 2 million children that are malnourished. After the war had begun, it was common for airports and harbors to shut down, making it impossible for civilians to flee the country. According to the International Rescue Committee, over half of Yemen’s healthcare facilities have been demolished. Along with that, this conflict is preventing millions of children in Yemen from receiving an education and many schools have been taken over by armed forces. Millions of families are being split and losing their homes, and are suffering with no hope of surviving or ever escaping.

The UN’s Supreme Council for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (SCMCHA) is doing all they can to help the people of Yemen. Mane Al-Assal, the head of SCMCHA's Department of International Cooperation said, "We informed them that if we work together towards a common goal to help people in need then we will not disagree, but not if they bring in political considerations." According to BBC News, non-governmental organizations have claimed that all of the resources and goods are stuck in warehouses and their permits are being denied. Many sources say that there is hope for Yemen to rise from their current state and relieve the nation and their civilians of one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

Cameroon Village Massacre

Cameroon has been in a state of chaos for the past three years. On February 14th, 2020, a small Cameroon village named Ntumbo was attacked by armed people. 32 people, 14 of them children, were killed, and many more were injured, including a pregnant woman.

The massacre has been blamed on the Cameroon government and military by multiple eyewitnesses. In their reports, military officers invaded the village, killing at random, and burned down their homes. In the words of a survivor of the attack, Rignyu Solange, who was interviewed by CNN, “My sister and her family were killed in their sleep as the military torched houses because they suspected that separatist fighters were hiding in the village. I want the perpetrators of this act to be severely punished".

However, the government denied these allegations, generating confusion in the story. Instead, the army spokesman, Atonfack Guemo, said that only a woman and four children were killed in the crossfire between military and separatist forces. In her story, a stray bullet hit a gas tank and spread flames through the village homes, and "this caused the death of five persons; a woman and four children, contrary to social media reports," without any direct or intended harm being done to the civilians of the village.

This conflict between the government and its people of the English-speaking regions is representative of the greater conflict plaguing the country of Cameroon: the Anglophone Revolt. The Anglophone Revolt is the Cameroonian revolt of the English-speaking regions against the French-speaking government. The English-speaking people of Cameroon have snapped after being mistreated for years by the country’s government. While some strive to simply change the attitude of the current government, others wish to split from them completely, ideals from which the title of “separatists" originates from.

Over the course of this revolt, 670,000 citizens of Cameroon have been internally displaced, while 60,000 have fled from the country altogether to avoid the intensifying conflict, mostly to Nigeria. Both separatists and the government have been accused by the United Nations and other nations of human rights violations. According to James Nunan of the United States, "Since December there has been a surge in violence throughout the two anglophone regions of Cameroon with thousands of civilians displaced". The escalating violence in the Cameroonian region has been grounds for concern from other countries, specifically the human rights violation on both sides in the conflict, as the United States of America has cut off a trade program from the country.

Despite the longevity of the conflict and the dangerous fallout, there is still no foreseeable conclusion to the conflict and its repercussions on Cameroon and surrounding regions.

Australian Fires

Bush fire season in Australia is normally from April to September, but this year it came a little early. Since November 11th, Australia has been suffering from deadly wildfires - the worst in its history. These fires are spread throughout Australia, but areas in the southeast like New South Wales and Victoria are most severely affected. It is believed a combination of hot, dry weather conditions and lightning ignited these blazes. An astonishing 16 million acres of land have burned down, causing the injury or death of as many as one billion animals. Furthermore, it is reported that there are at least 25 human deaths and many more injuries.

The raging fires generated a vast amount of smoke and about 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The smoke rose as high as 10 miles into the atmosphere and brought about bad air quality in New Zealand. According to NASA, the smoke had already traveled halfway across the globe and is expected to make a full circuit. Schools, businesses, hospitals, and police stations were shut down. The power was out, and to top it off, most roads were closed. It is important to realize the fires in Australia are different from other wildfires. For instance, the fires in Siberia and California, happened in loosely populated areas. In Australia, the fires occurred in heavily populated, urban areas like New South Wales.The situation caused the regime of South Wales to declare a state of emergency in the beginning of January.

It started to precipitate in the South coast, specifically in Sydney, Hunter, and in Victoria around January 16th. This event was met with happiness from people all over the country. The number of blazes has decreased significantly since then, and the worst of the fire season is expected to be over. Incidentally, there were record breaking amounts of rain in some parts of Australia, and hail the size of golf balls is reported to have fallen. At its peak, there were more than 130 bush fires in New South Wales, but after the rain, that number decreased to 87. However, rain has not fully extinguished the fires; the situation is still severe. In fact, the rain and hail could engender new problems like flash floods and landslides. The lightning is reported to have even started more bush fires. According to fire-fighters in Australia, landslides and floods would hit the land that has already been burned even harder.

The Australian fires will go down in history as one of the largest fires. It has had a severe impact on parts of Australia like the entire east coast, New South Wales, and Victoria. More than one billion animals and 20 humans died as a result, and 16 million acres of land were scorched.

Prince Harry and Dutchess Meghan Markle Step Back from the Royal Family

On January 8, Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan Markle announced on Instagram their decision to step back as senior members of the Royal Family. The couple’s announcement caught the world off guard and left them wondering what led them to make such a life altering decision. Their exit from the Royal Family is now being referred to as ‘Megxit’. This name is a take on ‘Brexit’, what people called Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union back in March of 2019. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s choice to leave the Royal Family will not only strongly affect their lives but will also change the way things are run in Buckingham Palace.

The main question is why the couple decided that they no longer wanted to be members of the Royal Family. They have an eight-month-old son, Archie, and their main goal is to protect him. Many outlets report that Meghan Markle felt pressured to release photos of her child when she did not intend to expose him to the public. She also did not expect to be faced with as much scrutiny as she did after joining the Royal Family. Markle said in an interview, “When I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy, but my British friends said to me, ‘I’m sure he’s great, but you shouldn’t don’t do because the British tabloids will destroy your life,” Sources say that Markle knew that the Royal Family was not for her when she received hate for keeping her son’s christening as a small and private event. Her husband Prince Harry was in full support of her decision and it’s reported that he wanted to step back from the Royal Family for a while as well. The couple wants to make their own income and not live a life under the public eye open from criticism. Their original intention was to remain supporters of the Queen without collecting funds, but the Palace did not give them that option, it was either stay or leave with no in-between.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be losing a lot because of their decision. Firstly, they will lose their royal titles of His and Her Royal Highness. This will take effect in the spring, but for now, they are facing a lot of backlash by the media. Queen Elizabeth of the Royal Family supports their decision but is not totally on board. In a public statement she made, she said, “We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.” As for Prince Harry’s military appointments, he will step back from those as well and can only wear his uniforms from when he served. They are not completely losing their relations to the Royal Family though, they will just no longer be working members. Prince Harry and his son still remain in line for the throne.

The couple will also no longer be living in the United Kingdom. Many sources say that they have their eye on Canada and want to live a life as regular citizens. They have not announced how they plan to bring home income, however, a report by The Telegraph says that Prince Charles will support them until they can adjust to their new life. They will likely move to media work as Meghan Markle has already signed a deal with Disney Channel.

A Deadly Virus in China

Starting in early January, a deadly virus has begun spreading in Wuhan, a southeastern Chinese city, beginning with a 61-year-old man who died of pneumonia, before moving on to a 69-year-old man known only as Xiong the following week. From there, the disease has spread rapidly across the city, reaching 41 cases by January 17th, 2020, and reaching 300 a few days later. WHO (World Health Organization) and the Chinese government have identified the virus as a “corona virus”, a deadly virus which is a cousin to the SARS disease, another deadly disease spread across Asia in 2002-2003, killing more than 700 and infected thousands. It is unknown whether this disease will spread to the scale of its predecessor, since many actions are being taken against it, including isolation of the possible source. On January 1st, Wuhan shut down the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market for investigation and disinfection, as it was linked to almost all patients of the disease. Currently, the main worry of the government and hospitals is the possible spread of the disease outside China as residents begin to travel across the world for New Years festivities. So far the disease has been traced to Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, but it is unknown where it will strike next.

The “corona virus” class of diseases is a type of disease that spreads primarily between animals, but can rarely (and in this case) be zoonotic, meaning they can spread to humans. As stated by a virologist at the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong, Leo Poon, who was also the man who first discovered the corona virus in Wuhan: "What we know is it causes pneumonia and then doesn't respond to antibiotic treatment, which is not surprising, but then in terms of mortality, SARS kills 10% of the individuals,". Other information on the nature of the corona virus is its symptoms, which could possibly include runny noses, coughing, sore throats, headaches and fevers.

This disease has the potential to become a major medical issue on an international scale. Although, at this time, it has only spread in China and parts of other East-Asian countries, its biological relation to SARS disease, a disease that killed thousands of people in the early 21st century. As stated by Brendan Murphy, a medical officer in Australia, “"You cannot absolutely prevent entry into the country of a disease like this. The incubation period is probably a week, it's about identifying those with a high risk and making sure people with a high risk know about it and know how to get medical attention.". The measures being taken by the Chinese and international governments currently end at travel restrictions and international warning, however, this may not be the last time the world sees the Wuhan corona virus.

The Victoria Park Hong Kong Protest

Recently, the Republic of China proposed a bill that has been marked as a controversial topic across China. The bill seemed to betoken the extradition of prisoners from Hong Kong to mainland China. This issue has caused an outrage within China’s borders and around the world, giving rise to multiple movements and protests dedicated to opposing the law, such as the one in the retail heart of the territory, Causeway Bay. On Sunday, December 8th, 2019, in Victoria Park, more than 800,000 citizens of Hong Kong came together to protest the signing of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Bill of 2019 (the name of the aforementioned bill). The protest was organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, an organization dedicated to the political and social well-being of Hong Kong. For the first time since August, the protest was granted police approval for its non-violent nature. This protest, however, may be the inception of something more prominent since the protesters are now becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of concession from the Chinese government. This fact was highlighted in a statement made by the CHRF following the protest: “Hong Kong's human rights violations and humanitarian crisis are reaching the tipping point now". Although this protest occurred too recently for any judgments to be made on its long-term significance, it has the potential to make an impact due to the apparent mental state of the protest, and the fact that tensions may come to a boiling point in the near future.

The reasoning behind this protest and others like it are seeded deep within the historical roots of the political relations between Hong Kong and the rest of the Republic of China. Although the autonomy of a single region or city within a country outside of the United States may seem like a foreign concept, Hong Kong has always been a special case when it comes to the political infrastructure of China. From 1841 to 1997, Hong Kong was under the rule of the British, and only after it gained independence did it enter China. Hong Kong had a sense of autonomy unlike any region or territory within China’s borders, with its own constitution, legal system, and express rights (freedom of speech, assembly, etc.). However, it does not have its own elected representative or leader, which makes Hong Kong and China’s relationship unique and strained, which has caused many conflicts between the two regions. This myriad of political and social tension is not bound by China’s borders, but instead affects the political status of the country and its allies, along with its general diplomatic relations all over the world. The protest in Victoria Park has escalated the state of conflict in Hong Kong’s borders, an issue that will continue to shake the Republic of China and the whole world.

Muslims in Chinese Concentration Camps

China has been keeping thousands of Muslims in concentration camps for months now. Uighur Muslims and many other minorities are being tortured in concentration camps in Xinjiang, China. As of August 2019, it is reported that one million Muslims are in concentration camps. According to the United States government and human rights organizations, at least ten percent of the Uighur population is locked up. International rights groups charge that Chinese authorities are engaging in mass arbitrary detention, torture, and mistreatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

According to Chinese officials, there are three types of people found at the camps, all of which they say have committed crimes. According to the Chinese government, they detained those who have committed a minor offense like wearing a burqa, those who have committed a more serious offense and were given the choice to attend instead of going to jail, and those who are sent for rehabilitation after a prison term. Many are considering China’s actions as cultural genocide and a new holocaust. At a news conference in Beijing on Monday, Shohrat Zakir, the chairman of the Xinjiang government, denied accusations that they were treating the Uighurs in their concentration camps poorly. He claimed that they were there voluntarily. Additionally, he would not say how many people were currently or previously held in Xinjiang.

China is denying all the allegations against them regarding the camps. The Chinese government claims that no one is being harmed. Rather than camps, China refers to the facilities as “re-education” centers. They told NBC News that Uighurs receive lessons in law and culture, Mandarin, and skills (like shop-keeping, hospitality, animal husbandry, and e-commerce). They also told them that for the students to ‘graduate’, they must pass an exam, but would not provide any further details. According to Dennis Wilder, a former National Security Council director for China and former CIA deputy assistant director for East Asia and the Pacific, this claim is false. He says, “They're really about crushing, to some degree, the Muslim culture, the Uighur culture – getting people to feel much more bonded to the Communist Party than to their own religious beliefs.”

Although China claims their “re-education” camps are safe, many leaked documents and data claim otherwise. The documents revealed instructions to the deputy-secretary of the Xinjiang Communist Party which made it clear that the camps should be conducted as high-security prisons, with strict discipline, tough punishments, and no escape routes. They also revealed how every aspect of the detainees’ lives in the camps is monitored and controlled. In a feature by David Stavrou in Haaretz, Sayragul Sauytbay, a Kazakh-Muslim woman, describes her experience in one of Xinjiang’s "re-education" camps. She said she was brought in to teach Chinese and Communist propaganda to the other prisoners, but instead, she witnessed inhumane barbarity before being granted asylum in Sweden. Sauytbay also described horrific conditions during her detention, including inadequate health care, crowding, and almost nonexistent hygiene. Prisoners who were observant Muslims were forced to eat pork, a food that is or forbidden in Islam.

A top official in China claimed everyone previously held has now “graduated” and is happy. They have yet to provide any evidence of their release and still will not allow investigations of the facilities, leaving questions as to whether or not the Uighur Muslims and others who were detained in the camps were released. Government officials claim that the only remaining people in the camps are those who are there voluntarily. Uighurs and Kazakhs abroad say that they have seen no evidence of large-scale releases as well.

China is currently facing an immense amount of criticism from the rest of the world. President Xi Jinping of China called for greater tolerance of “well-intentioned” criticism. He claimed that he would show internet users greater tolerance and patience and pledged to accept all online criticism towards China’s Communist Party.

Iranian Protests

On November 15th, Iranian authorities revealed to the public their decision to drastically increase gasoline prices. Within two days, this move sparked violent protests throughout the Middle East. In some areas, Iranian security forces opened fire on the demonstrators, resulting in upwards of 200 casualties. Exacerbating the situation for Iranians, shortly after the riots began, the Iranian government blocked nearly all Internet access.

The Iranian government’s reason for increasing prices was they wanted to “blunt the effects of crippling US sanctions “ on Iran's financial system. Before November, Iran was known for its cheap gas prices. After the unrest that Iranians experienced over the last decade (like the 2009 election conflict), they were astonished when gas prices rose 50% without warning. According to the Los Angeles Times, this, combined with the fact that Iran provides 5% of the world’s oil, spurred them to begin protesting. Incidentally, most protesters were originated from low-income neighborhoods or cities, suggesting that the decision was made by the upper class.

Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization focused on human rights, documented 208 deaths in the demonstrations. Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili claimed that this statement was false in a news conference. He said “numbers and figures given by hostile groups are sheer lies. Real statistics are seriously different from what they announce”. Esmaili did not offer any numerical evidence to support his claim.

The Iranian government did not admit to the killings for two weeks. Initially, it simply acknowledged the 200 deaths as “a result of the protests”, taking no blame and offering no further explanation. However, in early December, on state television, the Iranian government admitted to killing the “rioters” because they were a threat to government facilities. Some reports included that demonstrators possessed heavy weapons and firearms. But videos taken by Iranian residents and passerby suggest otherwise - such videos showed the government with assault rifles while the protesters were armed with only large rocks or signs. In addition to the death toll, there were a number of Iranians imprisoned - one official estimated there were 7,000 Iranians detained.

The Internet blackout aforementioned ended two weeks into the protests. It is predicted that the blackout was an attempt to cut off communication between the rest of the world and other Iranians. This blackout was the largest observed in Iran’s history. Some political activists asked America to step in and put the blackout to a halt. The Trump administration released the following statement as a response: “The U.S. supports the Iranian people in their peaceful protests against the regime that is supposed to lead them”. In other words, the government of the United States did not take action, but it sided with Iranians and denounced the slashing of communication.

The protests involving the sudden increase in gas prices can be described as Iran’s worst political unrest since the Islamic Revolution. The Iranian government killed over 200 Iranian demonstrators and claimed that their actions were justified because the protesters were a severe threat to government-owned facilities. Plus, the Iranians experienced an Internet blackout unlike any before, raging them on.

Rohingya’s Time for Justice?

The persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Mynamar is not far from being regarded as the present day Holocaust. While limited media attention has been given to the matter, the severity of the persecution of Rohingya Muslims has come to the point where it can be termed genocide. The prejudice and communal violence against Rohingya Muslims is not old - it dates back to even before current Myanmar leader Suu Kyi came into power. What is new however, is action being taken to address the issue. On December 11th, the United Nations conducted a three day long hearing in the International Court of Justice to determine whether Myanmar is responsible for conducting the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

Myanmar's prejudicial treatment of Rohingya Muslims dates back to 2012 when religious violence resulted in 150,000 Rohingya Muslims losing their homes and fleeing to Malaysia. It was at this point that Rohingya Muslims became refugees. The situation escalated in August, 2017 at which point the Myanmar military began violently targeting Rohingya Muslims. Communal violence perpetrated by the predominantly Buddhist government against the Muslim minority group was justified by leader Suu Kyi as a way of addressing terrorist threats. Mass exodus of the Rohingya Muslims was carried out; thousands of people were killed, villages were burnt down, and many fled gaining the title of Rohingya refugees. Forced to leave their homeland and stripped of any rights of citizenship, by October of 2017 over 600,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh seeking refuge from the government of their own native land.

This trial marks a remarkable fall for grace for Myanmar's leader, Suu Kyi who has previously received a Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights efforts in the country. Yet, the Myanmar leader is ready to defend in court the very same army that kept her under house arrest for 15 years.

The case was brought to the United Nations by Gambia, a small, predominantly Muslim country in Africa and was backed up by 58 other majorly Muslim countries. According to Gambia’s submission to the United Nations, the case rests on the allegation of "widespread and systematic clearance operations”. A UN fact-finding mission that explored the allegations made in Gambia’s petition found “compelling evidence” of the atrocities carried out by the Burmese.

Gambia chose to take action after its official visit to the Rohingya Muslim refugee camps in Bangladesh. Gambian officials heard stories of mass violence, rape, killing, and torture that prompted them to take action.

This investigation into the Rohingya genocide has put Mynamar’s leader Suu Kyi in the spotlight. The previous Nobel Peace Prize winner is accused of being complicit in giving clearance to the various military led atrocities in the Rakhine state.

While the UN hearing marks the first time that the Rohingya crisis has been brought to the center of the stage, the outcome may not be ideal. Most starkly, any outcome made by the ICJ has no way of enforcement. While the UN hearing initiates a step towards justice for Rohingya Muslims, it may take a long time before the Rohingya Muslims are given their rights.

The End of Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty

The Israeli-Jordanian relationship has found itself more strained than ever. On October 10th, Jordan announced its decision to end a 25 year-old peace deal between the two countries that allowed for Israeli farmers to work and farm on Jordanian borderlands. This decision could affect a lot more than just the agricultural sector; it could set a precedent for the relationship the two countries will have in the near future.

There is little support for the treaty from Jordanian citizens - a majority of whom are of Palestinian origin. Consequently, the treaty is unpopular in Jordan where anti-Israeli sentiment is profound. As a result of mounting public pressure from the Jordanian population, King Abdallah submitted a one year notice of termination of the treaty to Israel. The King stated in Parliament on Sunday, “I announce the end of the work in the special annex in the two areas Ghumar and Baqoura, in the peace treaty and impose our full sovereignty on every inch of them.” The King was met with applause from Parliament and fellow politicians for both his statement and his decision.

Many can view this foreign policy decision as Jordan’s way of condemning Israel’s actions towards Palestine. Jordan is one of the only two Arab countries to have peace settlements with Israel. However, a lack of progress in peace between Palestine and Israel as well as religious tensions between Jews and Muslims have heavily eroded the political connection between the two countries. Recent events between Jordan and Israel also signify a bittering relationship. In 2017, tensions were high when an Israeli security guard killed two Jordanian citizens. Only last month, Jordan called back its ambassador in Israel as a result of the detention of two Jordanian men without charge or trial.

The diplomatic relationship between the two countries began in the 1940’s with the signing of this peace treaty, which established Jordan’s sovereignty over Al Baqoura and Al Ghoumar enclaves while giving Israeli farmers the right to farm on those lands. However, the end of the treaty also ended Israel’s lease to these lands. This came as a major blow to several Israeli farmers. While those already farming on the disputed land will be allowed to continue doing so, the extended borders would make the process a lot more difficult and taxing. Furthermore, any new farming attempts by Israel would not be allowed. According to Eli Arazi, a member of an agricultural community that has been farming on the land, “It was like a punch to the face.” Arazi is a part of a kibbutz, or agricultural community, that has been working on lands in al Baqoura. His kibbutz has been actively cultivating crops on the lands for seventy years. This decision also has an impact on Israeli tourism.

Clearly, the decision on Jordan’s part to repeal the foundation of Jordanian and Israeli relationships is a strategic one. The decision indirectly demonstrates Jordan siding with Palestine and expresses unhappiness with Israel’s actions towards Palestine. But even more profoundly, it signals the deterioration of the relationship between the two countries. Only the future can tell how this decision will impact Jordan and Israel’s relationship.

Oculus Article: Burning of the Amazon Rainforest

Since January 2019, a large part of South America known as the Amazon Rainforest has been in flames. At the time, it was thought that the combustion of the forest was spontaneous, and the reason for this was unknown. But now, NASA has released new research giving scientific reason to the flames spreading across the Amazon Rainforest, and as it was theorized, it was due to human activity.

In order to uncover the natural reasoning behind the destructive event, NASA examined the statistics spanning decades looking for trends among the data, specifically ones regarding the moisture in the air around the Amazon and how much was required. As stated by Armineh Barkhordarian of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA, who is also the lead author of this study, "We observed that in the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in dryness in the atmosphere as well as in the atmospheric demand for water above the rainforest". There are two possible reasons for this change in moisture: natural climate variability (changes in climate that happen randomly without human intervention), or climate change caused by human activity. When looking at the data in comparison to the data of climate variation, Armineh Barkhordarian said, “We determined that the change in atmospheric aridity is well beyond what would be expected from natural climate variability,”, meaning the only plausible reason for the carnage in South America was climate change. The vapor pressure deficit, or the difference between the amount of air and possible amount of moisture in that air, had been raised. This was a result of elevated greenhouse gases and humans burning down parts of the forest for land (since they produce aerosol to absorb the sun’s heat and raise the general temperature). This elevated dryness caused droughts in the area, which was uncommon since the Amazon Rainforest does not experience dry seasons like other areas. This means that the forest was much more susceptible to random fires - the amount of them increased by 85% this year. In retaliation, there was a ban on humans using fire and producing aerosol for 60 days by Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, but it was not enough; other factors still caused the fires to spread across the forest. One of these factors is the disruption of the water cycle so rain can’t extinguish existing fires, as explained by Sassan Saatchi, another author of the same study as Armineh Barkhordarian. He said "It's a matter of supply and demand. With the increase in temperature and drying of the air above the trees, the trees need to transpire to cool themselves and to add more water vapor into the atmosphere. But the soil doesn't have extra water for the trees to pull in. Our study shows that the demand is increasing, the supply is decreasing and if this continues, the forest may no longer be able to sustain itself.".

This disastrous fire does not only affect the Amazon Rainforest and South America - it can have lasting consequences affecting the future of the entire world. Trees, in general, are major regulators of global climate change as they absorb the damaging carbon dioxide we produce, turning it into oxygen. The Amazon Rainforest has a total of about 390 billion trees, meaning it absorbs tons of carbon dioxide, heavily regulating the climate change problem society has been creating. The incineration of these trees could mean that the world will see the effects of climate change, since the trees will no longer be there to stop them. The flames of the Amazon Rainforest will eventually turn into a natural disaster affecting the entire world unless the trees are brought back.

China Places Restrictions on Video Games for Minors

On November 5th, China announced that it will be imposing restrictions on video games for minors. Though officials did not provide a proper timeline or specifics on when they will take action, the government has already outlined how restricting video games would improve the health of children. All children under the age of 18 will be banned from playing online video games between 10 PM and 8 AM. They will be restricted to 90 minutes of gaming on weekdays and three hours on weekends or holidays. The restrictions that will be put in place also impose limits on the amount of money one can spend on online video games per month. Children from 8 to 16 years old can pay up to $28 a month and anyone above 16 years old can pay up to $57 per month. The official government guidelines will be applied to all gaming platforms operating in the country.

There are many reasons as to why China is enforcing strict video game limitations and curfews. The most important reason for the enforcement of these policies is that the Chinese government believes excessive online gaming is harmful to the health of young gamers. Official Chinese studies and reports show the rapidly increasing rates of near-sightedness (myopia) in minors. (Our Foreign Staff) In a vision report conducted in 2015, nearly 500 million people in China suffered visual impairment. President Xi Jinping blames video game addiction, along with heavy schoolwork and phones, to be the reason behind increasing rates of myopic children. (Zialcita) In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified gaming addiction, or gaming disorder, as a mental health condition. (Huang) Many countries have recognized excessive gaming as a major public health threat and set up health clinics to provide treatment to those affected by their gaming addiction. A disorder called Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) was recently recognized by public health officials. IGD is diagnosed when an online gamer plays compulsively to the exclusion of other interests, including school and family life. Excessive gaming has also been the cause of a few deaths, but only in extreme cases.

China is the second-largest gaming market in the world behind the United States. In 2018, China first introduced gaming regulators and began developing age restriction systems. A spokesman from China’s General Admission of Press and Publication told Xinhua News Agency, “(This notice) has emphasized the responsibility of corporations and has executed the government’s duty to supervise.” (Cheung)

Chinese officials will require everyone to register accounts for online games with their phone number and real name to help government entities regulate playing time. Along with that, all video game companies will be required to obtain a license to get published in China. Because of all of these restrictions and the halt on the government approving games, China’s gaming industry is suffering its slowest growth in a decade.

Royal Visit

About a month ago, Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, visited South Africa. The purpose of this visit was Prince Harry’s attempt to follow in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana, and spread some good in the world. Following his suit, Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton also visited Pakistan in a similar effort to retrace Diana’s footsteps. They are now among many other royal couples who have visited a South Asian country. The last visit from another royal couple was in 2006 when Prince Charles and his wife Camilla took their own journey to the country. These visits depict the strong relationship Pakistan holds with Britain.

It was announced in June that the royal couple would be visiting Pakistan in October. The couple has already concluded their visit and is now posting exclusive content from their journey. The Pakistani people were ecstatic to accommodate the couple earlier this month and expressed great admiration. These visits convey the message that the two countries are willing to maintain the friendship they already have. In fact, the High Commissioner for Pakistan to the United Kingdom said that: “‘The upcoming royal visit is a reflection of the importance the United Kingdom attaches to its relations with Pakistan. The two countries enjoy historical links which both sides wish to strengthen further.’”

When Prince William visited a Pakistani schoolhouse, a young girl talked to him about how much she admired his mother. The Prince responded by informing the girl how sweet her comment was, and how he himself was a fan of his mother. He also mentioned how Diana came to Pakistan three times. Diana had touched the hearts of many in her short life, including her children, which again highlights the reason for the couple’s visit. William and Kate planned a five-day tour of the country in the hopes of addressing some of the issues Diana stressed from her visits. They talked about the significance of education and mental health and the need for the students to spread positivity. They also ensured that the students were learning in an educationally conducive environment, suitable for their mental growth.

During their time in Pakistan, they visited programs that promote empowerment for the younger generation as well as different organizations that work to provide quality education for those young students. In fact, one of the paramount goals of the UK is to facilitate proper education for girls in Pakistan. Climate change was another subject on the couple’s agenda. The royal couple learned about the challenges Pakistanis faced and forged unforgettable friendships with them. They traveled near the Afghanistan border in order to witness the impact of climate change and global warming near the Chiatibo glacier. The Duke and Duchess met with the President of Pakistan and his wife. They also visited Prime Minister Imran Khan for lunch in central Islamabad. Khan had been present at the time of Diana’s visit and expressed the love Pakistan had for her. On Tuesday, the 15th of October, William also gave a speech at the Pakistan National Monument emphasizing the UK’s undying support for Pakistan. On October 17th, they visited an orphanage and a hospital. They also took the time to visit a mosque in Lahore, where Kate covered her head out of respect. Regarding their visit, they commented about how much they enjoyed the time they spent in Pakistan. They familiarized themselves with Pakistani culture by wearing the traditional garb and even trying their hand at a sport loved throughout the country: cricket.

The couple left Pakistan on October 18th. Pakistani officials greatly appreciated William and Kate’s visit, and hope that this visit will urge Pakistan to further their criticism regarding India’s decision to end all self-autonomy in Kashmir. To ensure the safety of the royal couple, there were 1,000 police who secured William and Kate along their journey. The visit has done nothing other than boost the friendship between Pakistan and Britain, leaving hope for a brighter future. All of this is based off of official reports and may or may not properly reflect public opinion in Pakistan of the visit.