There are more than 1.45 million confirmed cases of infection of the COVID-19 coronavirus worldwide as of 8 April, with more than 83,000 confirmed deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 308,000 people have reportedly recovered from the disease.
Remote work has changed both business and family life. Japan is showing how these shifts can impact the wider culture, says Ryan Takeshita, Editor-in-Chief of HuffPost Japan. Japan’s famous workaholic culture is beginning to transform, he writes, as companies realize that remote work is possible. In others cases, families have begun to divide up housework as both partners spend more time at home. While these changes are small, Takeshita says, “the subtle actions initiated by each individual…can serve as crucial points in envisioning the future course”.
As coronavirus forces billions of people around the world into lockdown, another sizeable population has also been hard hit — stray animals. While pet owners in many countries are still allowed to walk their dogs, thousands of other animals — the exact numbers are unknown — are starving and turning feral. The mass closure of restaurants has also deprived hungry animals of leftover meals, forcing them to take greater risks. For many, the restrictions are tantamount to a death sentence. “We are seeing an increase in the numbers of cats in areas where we feed, some appear to have been abandoned, while others have roamed far from their usual spots in search of food,” says Cordelia Madden-Kanellopoulou, a co-founder of Nine Lives Greece, a network of volunteers dedicated to reducing the overpopulation of stray cats in Athens and other cities. According to the municipality, the stray dog population in Athens is put at hundreds while the cats run into the thousands. “It is a huge worry to us that strays could be exposed to more cruelty and poisoning, being more visible and hungrier now, and thus more likely to trust and approach people,” said Madden-Kanellopoulou. Greek officials over the weekend said an online platform had been created for food donations and veterinary services for strays and pets whose owners are unable to care for them. “During the lockdown, we make sure that all dogs have enough food so that they don’t become aggressive. This week we will also start installing feeders in different areas of the city making sure that dogs and cats are fed regularly,” said Serafina Avramidou, city of Athens councillor for animal welfare. Avramidou said she has also already signed more than 350 permits for volunteers to visit feeding areas without getting fined.
The US authorized pharmacies on Wednesday to carry out tests for the coronavirus, including newly developed antibody tests that detect whether a person who has recovered from illness had COVID-19. Health secretary Alex Azar, announced that all tests approved by regulators could be carried out by pharmacies as the country seeks to ramp up its testing efforts. “The Trump Administration is pleased to give pharmacists the chance to play a bigger role in the COVID-19 response, alongside all of America’s heroic healthcare workers,” he said. A nasal swab test can detect whether a person currently has the coronavirus. After they have recovered, a test that looks at whether their body developed antibodies that fought off the virus and can be used — even if the person never showed symptoms. There are different kinds of antibody tests and they can’t yet tell whether a person has sufficient antibodies to be protected against future infection. A Chinese study posted this week, but not yet peer reviewed, showed that some former patients had relatively low levels of antibodies in the blood. In Washington on Wednesday, a private medical center announced that it was offering a 15-minute serology test, at a cost of $290.
