Didn t give a damn : Inside a ravaged Spanish nursing home
By ARITZ PARRAMay 28, 2020 GMT
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-madrid-health-spain-ap-top-news-cc24b24790f4328c7f16ea25cb496b64
MADRID (AP) Zoilo Patiño was just one of more than 19,000 elderly people to die of coronavirus in Spain’s nursing homes but he has come to symbolize a system of caring for the country’s most vulnerable that critics say is desperately broken.
When the Alzheimer’s-stricken 84-year-old succumbed in March on the same day 200 others died across Madrid, funeral homes were too overwhelmed to take his body and he was instead left locked in the same room, in the same bed, where he died.
Volunteers came to the rescue as virus raged in Kyrgyzstan
By DARIA LITVINOVAJuly 28, 2020 GMT
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-kyrgyzstan-ap-top-news-understanding-the-outbreak-international-news-08aee6d2f32ba0eca8f5b3ae88b49fd5
MOSCOW (AP) When his mother began deteriorating from the coronavirus two weeks ago, Bektour Iskender knew that hospitals in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, were full. So he turned to Twitter for advice.
He was directed to a volunteer group that made house calls with oxygen concentrators for patients with trouble breathing. Two hours later, volunteers in full protective gear arrived and showed Iskender how to use one of the machines he had borrowed from friends of his relatives. His mother started improving soon after using it.
After Ecuador eased its lockdown, the virus surged in Quito
By GONZALO SOLANOJuly 29, 2020 GMT
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) Struggling to breathe, Luis Gualotuña arrived before dawn Wednesday at a coronavirus testing site in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, which has experienced an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases since the government started to reopen the economy last month.
Hours later, Gualotuña was still in a long line, waiting.
“My throat hurts, my body hurts. I have general discomfort and I came here to find out if I have COVID. There is nothing left to do but wait,” said Gualotuña, a 34-year-old unemployed carpenter.
BERLIN (AP) Austria is seeing the start of a “second wave” of coronavirus infections, the country’s leader said Sunday, urging citizens to comply with reinforced rules to keep down new cases and suggesting that companies keep employees working from home if possible.
Austria had a relatively successful first phase of the pandemic but has joined other European countries in seeing a rise in infections in recent weeks. It recorded 869 new infections on Friday, the highest daily figure since late March. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that day that the government would reimpose measures such as mandatory mask-wearing in shops.
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After mixed messages, Europe warns against vaccine shopping
By ANGELA CHARLTON and DAVE RISINGMarch 5, 2021 GMT
Germany finds itself in a similar situation.
Berlin shifted gears on its cautious policy this week after an independent vaccine panel said the AstraZeneca shots should be used in people over 65. Top German officials on Friday argued against “vaccine shopping” and urged people to take whatever potential protection they’re offered.
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Mixed messaging has left many people in both countries confused or distrustful of governmental guidance on the AstraZeneca jab. Meanwhile, Europe’s infections are rebounding and other people around the continent and the world are clamoring for access to any COVID-19 vaccine they can get.