Good ventilation key to stopping coronavirus spread: Dutch researchers

DutchNews, May 28, 2020

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Good ventilation in public places, such as trams and nursing homes, is crucial to slow down the spread of coronavirus, according to Dutch researchers. 

A team at the University of Amsterdam have found that small cough droplets, potentially containing virus particles, can float in the air in a room for many minutes, especially when the room is poorly ventilated. 

The results were published in the scientific journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine on Thursday. 

The researchers asked healthy human guinea pigs to speak and to cough, and used laser light to analyse the droplets that they produced. 

The light picked up large amounts of small droplets (between roughly one and 10 micrometres in size) during both speech and coughing. Larger droplets (up to one millimeter in size) were also produced during coughing. 

The larger droplets fall to the ground within one second and therefore have a much smaller probability of transmitting viruses, the researchers say. However, the small droplets only move very slowly due to the large amount of air drag they experience.

‘After a single cough, it takes about five minutes for the number of small droplets in the air to be halved,’ the researchers said. These tiny droplets are therefore much more dangerous when it comes to possible transmission of coronavirus. 

When the same experiments were repeated in a well-ventilated room, the results improved dramatically. With only mechanical ventilation turned on, half of the droplets disappeared within 2.5 minutes, but in a room that also had a door and window open, the number of droplets was halved after 30 seconds – ten times faster than in the unventilated room. 

Physical distancing 

The results show that despite keeping 1.5 metres apart, spaces like public transport and nursing homes can still be centres for spreading the virus if they are not properly ventilated. 

In addition, if droplets remain in the air for a long time, proximity tracing via smartphone apps will not give a true picture of contact moments, the researchers said. 

The authorities should, the researchers say, consider recommendations to ensure adequate ventilation wherever possible in public spaces to reduce the risk of the virus spreading in droplets. 

Dutch public heath institute RIVM says on its website that aerosols – or showers of droplets – have not yet been shown to have a role in spreading the virus. The virus primarily spreads through ‘large droplets which do not stay in the air long,’ the RIVM says. 

A spokesman told broadcaster NOS that the guidelines are regularly revised. ‘Our experts will look at this research and see if the guidelines should be adapted,’ the spokesman said.

Dutch health council backs ‘cremation by water’ as safe alternative to burial

DutchNews, May 25, 2020

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The national health council is recommending that a new method of disposing of dead bodies using alkaline hydrolysis be added to the list of legal methods. 

Also known as resomation, or water cremation, the process is a safe and sustainable alternative to burial or cremation by fire, although the technical specifications still need to be worked out, the health council said. 

Resomation is based on alkaline hydrolysis: the body is placed in a pressurised vessel that is then filled with a mixture of water and lye, and heated to around 160 degrees. The elevated pressure prevents the body boiling. Instead, the body is broken down into its chemical components, which takes upwards of three hours. 

The process was patented in the US in 1888 and is legal in some US states and other countries but not in the Netherlands. 

Dutch funeral group Yarden, which wants the government to change the law to make resomation legal, has welcomed the council’s ruling. A survey by Yarden in 2017 showed that 23% of people would consider resomation as an alternative to traditional cremations. 

The health council also looked at the option of composting human remains but said at present there is not enough information to say if this technique meets legal and environmental requirements. 

Reform 

Home affairs minister Kajsa Ollongren pledged in January 2019 that the Dutch rules on funerals would be modernised following pressure from D66 MPs. 

Draft legislation is due to be published before the summer and may include an end to the stipulation that bodies be buried after a wait of at least 36 hours after death. According to Jewish and Islamic tradition, people should be buried as soon as possible after death. 

Families may also be able to pick up urns containing the ashes of their relatives from crematoria earlier than the current one-month wait.

Related Article:

Cremation by water is environmentally safe, new research shows

Wuhan lab had three live bat coronaviruses: Chinese state media

Yahoo – AFP, May 24, 2020

The director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology told a Chinese state broadcaster
that the lab has three live strains of bat coronavirus on-site, but that claims the
coronavirus could have leaked from the facility were 'pure fabrication' (AFP Photo/
Hector RETAMAL)

The Chinese virology institute at the centre of US allegations it may have been the source of the COVID-19 pandemic has three live strains of bat coronavirus on-site, but none match the new global contagion, its director has said.

Scientists think COVID-19 -- which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has killed more than 340,000 people worldwide -- originated in bats and could have been transmitted to people via another mammal.

But the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology told state broadcaster CGTN that claims made by US President Donald Trump and others the virus could have leaked from the facility were "pure fabrication".

In the interview filmed on May 13 but broadcast Saturday night, Wang Yanyi said the centre has "isolated and obtained some coronaviruses from bats".

"Now we have three strains of live viruses... But their highest similarity to SARS-CoV-2 only reaches 79.8 percent," she said, referring to the coronavirus strain that causes COVID-19.

One of their research teams, led by Professor Shi Zhengli, has been researching bat coronaviruses since 2004 and focused on the "source tracing of SARS", the strain behind another virus outbreak nearly two decades ago.

"We know that the whole genome of SARS-CoV-2 is only 80 percent similar to that of SARS. It's an obvious difference," she said.

"So, in Professor Shi's past research, they didn't pay attention to such viruses which are less similar to the SARS virus."

Plans for more labs

Conspiracy rumours that the biosafety lab was involved in the outbreak swirled online for months before Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the theory into the mainstream by claiming that there is evidence the pathogen came from the institute.

The United States and Australia have called in recent weeks for an investigation into the origins of the pandemic.

Chinese scientists have said that the virus first emerged at a market selling live animals in Wuhan, though officials in Beijing more recently cast doubt about its origins.

Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi on Sunday blasted what he called efforts by US politicians to "fabricate rumours" about the pathogen's origins and "stigmatise China".

He said China would be "open" to international cooperation to identify the source of the novel coronavirus, as long as any investigation is "free of political interference".

The World Health Organization has said Washington offered no evidence to support the "speculative" claims about the Wuhan lab.

The Wuhan lab has said it received samples of the then-unknown virus on December 30, determined the viral genome sequence on January 2 and submitted information on the pathogen to the WHO on January 11.

Wang Yanyi said in the interview that before it received samples in December, their team had never "encountered, researched or kept the virus".

"In fact, like everyone else, we didn't even know the virus existed," she said. "How could it have leaked from our lab when we never had it?"

At a press conference Sunday, Zhao Chenxin, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, said every Chinese prefecture must have its own P3 laboratory to ramp up preparations against infectious diseases.

Apart from the P3 lab plans -- the second-highest biosafety classification for labs handling pathogens -- Zhao said each city should also have a lower-level P2 laboratory so they could "quickly respond in a major epidemic".

The Wuhan institute has both P3 and P4 labs.

Related Articles:

Theory that Coronavirus Escaped from a Lab Lacks Evidence

"Kryon on Corona", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar 13, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis and the Wuhan lab)

“Virus Truths” – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Kryon.com, April 14, 2020

This live channelling was streamed live for the World-Wide Channeling Retreat

Lee Carroll

To help the reader, this channelling has been revisited [by Lee and Kryon] to provide even clearer understanding. Sometime information is even added or condensed. Often what happens live has implied energy within it, which carries a kind of communication that the printed page does not. So enjoy this enhanced message which was streamed live for the World-Wide Channeling Retreat.

Greetings, dear ones, I am Kryon of Magnetic Service. We come to you at this time, and we know what kind of a time it is. Mid-April 2020 it is, and we know what you’re going through. We have said this so many times, dear ones: Spirit knows your name, knows your situation, knows your feelings, knows your anxieties, and knows your fears. It’s like we stand off to the side, sometimes, watching you cry, and we stand there waiting, waiting – and we’ve talked about it so often and given it in names – a time where we are waiting for you to take our hand. That’s the spiritual free choice of humanity: to see it or not see it; to feel it or not feel it.

We’ve said it so many times: This planet acknowledges one God, a beautiful, loving God, and it acknowledges this all over, yet, there seems to always be a wall. It’s a wall that Humans have built and designed that’s always between us, yet, that was not the design, dear ones, ever. You’re never alone. Your soul is filled with the essence of God. That means we are not somewhere else. This veil that you talk about is inside you. You realize this, don’t you? It’s not off in the sky somewhere. And I say this and preface this, so you’ll know why I’m going to give you the information that I’m giving you today.

Yes, I’m going to talk about the elephant under the table. Yes, I’m going to talk about that which is the virus. I’m going to talk about the aftermath that is coming. I’m going to talk about some things you should know that might be encouraging to some, and I’m going to give information that will make others roll their eyes and say, “Well, I don’t think so, Kryon.” You’ll see that in a moment.

I’m going to give you information, just a little bit, about what you’re seeing that’s so sad, yet, it doesn’t have to be sad. It’s all about this microbe, this virus, that you say is taking so many lives. I’m going to give you some information right now that is not that new. It is something that has already been considered by some on the planet already. It is being worked on, but I want to push it forward, so many of you will understand and know that this virus itself is not taking your lives. It’s something else, dear ones.

Oh, the virus gets you to that place where you’re very close to either death or recovery, but then, suddenly, something else takes place and I want to talk about that “something else” right now. I want to speak of this because I want science to know and I want medicine to know. This scenario has already been considered by those already working the puzzle and, yet, they’re not really certain what they’re seeing. What I’m going to tell you next, dear ones, I hope is taken to heart by those who may be listening here. Those who would listen to channelling are not necessarily the frontline scientists of the planet, and I’m aware of that. Let us turn to what the facts are showing right now.

The virus is not killing you.

The virus will often take someone, perhaps, who is weaker, to a level that is dangerous. With that danger, the doctors will put them into a hospital and give the best care that they know how to give. Some of the patients go into that which you call the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Surrounded by ICU specialists and doctors and nurses who care about them and are doing their best to save their lives, these health care professionals watch their efforts fail. Instead of seeing that which is a normal response within an ICU protocol, or that which is normal for a virus of this kind, they observe something completely different.

They watch a dramatic and quick downturn, and, sometimes, an almost immediate death. They are mystified, since there shouldn’t be this scenario happening, and they’re scratching their heads and saying, “that should not have happened.”

Dear ones, they are correct. Indeed, it should not be that way, and so, there’s another component to this – there is something else happening. This is factual, dear ones, and you can ask the physicians on the front lines and the nurses who have watched and seen those who are put on the ventilators who seem to be recovering, and then they lose them.

There is something else going on, dear ones, and now I will tell you what it is – and it’s not sinister or esoteric. It’s just chemistry. What I tell you now, hopefully, will lead to an understanding, so that, in the future, this virus does not have to be the “killer flu.” It will only be “the flu.” I’m telling you now the potential of what will be discovered and, if you roll your eyes at this, talk to me in a few years and see if you are going to roll your eyes then.

Number One:

Dear ones, your immune system has never seen this. Most of you have a robust immune system, but for those who don’t, your system will overreact to the virus. You might say that the immune system is what is killing the Human Beings, not the virus. The virus will take the dysfunction of your body to a certain level, and then the immune system, which has never seen this before, will completely overreact and cause quick death.

Now, I just gave you a key: If your medical science could encapsulate that immune system so it will not overreact, this flu will never kill another Human. You absolutely know the flu season is coming back. However, it will simply be the flu and it won’t be a killer flu anymore, because you will have figured it out. I just gave you something to work on and to know, and, if you think I am wrong, simply ask those doctors in the ICU if they have seen this phenomenon. They will say, “Yes, and we know there’s something else. We wish we knew what it was.”

Concentrate not on the virus vaccine, but on the immune system. Figure out why this reaction is taking place and work the puzzle of the immune system, so that there is no devastating horror for so many and hurt for so many hearts. Inappropriate death, it is.

You have gone into a habit of looking for an outside cure to always come forward and give you protection. Realize, dear ones, that this is an “add on” to an already wonderful immune system that begs for help. What if you, someday, have no need for any vaccine, and instead, you become super-strong in your resistance? What if everything can be solved and cured by enhancing YOUR system instead of something from the outside? What if this strength comes from organic substances and enhanced support for your own system instead of going to a pill? This would be a new paradigm for mainstream health.

That’s number one.

Number Two.

I would like to give you some information that may seem cryptic, but it’s information about the aftermath. This information all falls within previous channels, which speak of a coming energy of change. Let’s get away from the health right now and take a look at the economies of the planet.

There are many who have said this situation is devastating to the economies. I will tell you something, dear ones, it is not devastating, it’s a pruning. Many have told you about the coming crash. Books have been written, futurists have said so, and the message is that the stock market itself has systemic problems and can’t survive. That means, in its very design, it’s going to fail. I told you some time ago that this didn’t have to happen, and the way around it would be an integration of new energy and alteration of policies so it wouldn’t fail.

Within that message was a lot of head scratching. “Kryon, what do you mean, integration?” I will tell you what it is: It’s the virus. It is integrating a full stop and a regroup. Because what is going to happen when the stock market comes back, and it will, is a rebound that is different from a surge. Dear ones, it is not set to fail. Already, it has started to leap forward with any kind of good news. On bad news, it doesn’t. Think about it: It’s not dead. However, many have said so, since they are seeing indicators that respond to an old system, not a situation that the planet has never seen. There is NO MODEL to fall back on to predict anything from here on.

What happens within the system and the commerce around the system is a reboot. This restart tends to correct the systemic problems that it had naturally from the stagnation that it was in. Some would say, “Well, what about the stores that are closed, where the companies are saying they’re not going to reopen? Isn’t that going to cause a crash?” Dear ones, listen: Many will not reopen because they shouldn’t have been open. Their very existence in a bloated market was about to cause the shift. A reboot is a pruning out of the things that should change, so that, when you rebound, those stagnant systemic issues are no longer there. So, systems that were not working, processes that were almost broken, will not be rebooted. When you come from zero and start coming back, those dysfunctional attributes will no longer exist. Do you see how this works?

Let me put it in another way: When a Human Being is in trouble, and really needs to have help with the systemic issues of their own mind, they perhaps find a health worker, a psychiatrist, or a psychologist. The Human mind often creates fear by itself. It overreacts. It brings itself down and often creates its own demise. It fears fear, and can’t crawl out of the hole it digs for itself.

A wise health worker will know what to say: They’re going to tell them: “You’ve got to stop everything and take a breath. Go to zero and recalibrate yourself. Stop everything and get away from what is ‘normal’ so you can get out of the loop of depression and anxiety and sameness.” Can you see where this is going? This is great advice, and it works.

Every lightworker knows how this works: You go to a place of meditation and zero point. All over the world, meditators know how this works. You have to stop everything. You stop going to work, you stop with your family, you stop everything, and you stand there, or you sit there, and pause for whatever length of time, and consider what is important to you and what is not.

You have to go to that place where nothing is moving. When you do, your intuition is free to come in and say, “Oh my – I see what’s wrong. I see this situation over here that doesn’t serve my life. I thought it did, but I was too busy to notice how dysfunctional it really was. Oh, I see this relationship over here, and I thought it was one thing, and now I realize it’s another. Maybe I ought to take another look. I was too busy with myself and my own issues. I was too afraid to change my established surroundings. No wonder I couldn’t see these things. No wonder I couldn’t sleep well.”

And so, just as Human to Human you know this works, you understand that what you have to do to correct yourself is to stop and take a breath. What happens is you start to balance yourself and breathe, meditate, take time. Then your intuition starts to flow in, and that intuition will be without all the busyness and without all the things that disturbed you before. It will be without all the fears or those who tell you this and that and have opinions that conflict your soul. It all goes away with the stop, and instead, the intuition flows in that is beautiful, from your own spirituality, from your own soul, from across the veil. It often speaks to you through the sunsets and the time alone. It will tell you the truth – Number One: You are dearly loved. Number Two: Take a hard look at the things around you because now is the opportunity to eliminate them and start afresh. Then, as you do, you’ll be healthier you’ll be a sweeter person – because you’ll understand what works and what does not.

As goes the Human, goes the planet.

Dear Human Being, the planet is in reboot mode right now. There has never been anything to create this kind of unity on the planet, not even the end of a world war. This is new. Take a look. It’s on purpose, you might say, from a virus, by the way, which came from nature but didn’t get to you naturally. I’ll talk on that some other time.

I would like to tell you right now that, when this situation is over, and it starts to come back, it’s going to come back a different way. Say goodbye to “normal.” It’s going to come back fresher. It’s going to come back with systems that are correcting themselves because they’re starting over. New ideas will abound. Industries may disappear, not because of the virus, but because of the stop. They will be recognized as no longer necessary. New industries and new inventions are going to pop up because of this.

I’m telling you that, whatever you think is going to happen, you’ll be wrong. This is the reboot regarding the energy shift we have talked about for many years. When all around the naysayers say, “Well, recovery really can’t happen with the economy we have.” They’re right! It can’t! It simply can’t happen with a stock market the way it is. You see, nothing will be “as you currently have” when it returns.

You are at zero right now, and you’re going to come rebounding back differently. There is so much hope for this planet because of this. I tell you these things in love and compassion because you’ll see, with time, that it’s true. You may have difficulty understanding why this had to happen or why that had to happen. It’s the salvation of humanity. It’s the beginning of a higher consciousness and understanding and togetherness of humanity.

You let a microbe bring you to your knees. What if, instead, the next time, it’s love? What if, next time, it’s understanding and compassion for one another? That could sweep over this planet with health, with love, and make things happen that never happened before. This is not what you think.

I give you these things, in love, to tell you there is not only hope for the future, there is hope for a different future. You’re not going to return to the same-old, same-old, and that goes for politics, and that goes for broadcast news, and that goes for what you are going to find out later – what really happened with the “outbreak” of what you call Covid-19. These things will happen because you need them, and you will correct things because of what you discover. This will be a much better planet to live on, believe me. You are not returning to the old world ever again.

I am Kryon, in love with humanity, and I’ll be back.

And so it is.

KRYON

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"Kryon on Corona", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar 13, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis and the Wuhan lab)

Small-scale testing of Dutch corona medicine ‘within six months’

DutchNews, May 15, 2020

Illustration: Depositphotos.com

Dutch research into an antibody which can block infection by coronavirus has found potential sponsors in three big pharmaceuticals and small-scale testing could begin within six months months, broadcaster NOS reports. 

To turn the antibody into a medicine and enable large-scale production, the research team at Utrecht and Erasmus universities will need to partner up with a big pharmaceutical company. 

Principal investigator Berend Jan Bosch told the broadcaster that he has been approached by two or three big companies who are ready to ‘invest millions’ in developing a medicine. The patent would remain in the hands of the researchers, while the pharmaceutical in question will take a licence to the antibody. None of the interested parties were named. 

The antibody is currently being tested on animals. If all goes according to plan, a small-scale trial among consenting patients could be carried out within six months, Bosch said. 

Bosch, fellow researcher Frank Grosveld  and a team of international investigators went public with the finding in mid March and recently published a paper in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. 

Left-over material 

The antibody, a remnant of earlier research into coronaviruses like SARS and MERS, was found in a freezer at the Utrecht university lab for animal science. ‘We started work on it and found that one of the antibodies not only bind to the virus but block the infection of the cells as well,’ Bosch said. 

The presence of the old material meant the team had a head start in the international scramble to find a medicine or vaccine to combat the virus which has killed 303,000 people worldwide so far. Israel too has discovered antibody, Bosch said, but is about three months behind the Dutch team. 

The medicine will be used in two ways, Bosch said. ‘It can be given to people who already have the virus but also to people who don’t have it so the antibody protects them if they are exposed to the virus.’ 

Even if a vaccine were to be ready next year, the medication will still be useful for people who react badly to vaccines and people with underlying medical problems who are unable to produce antibodies at all, Bosch said.

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"Some Virus Truths for you to Consider", Streamed, US, Apr 14, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>43.09 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis and the Immune System) (Text version) - New

"Corona 2", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>3,12 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)

"Corona 1", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - 

(>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)

Canada offers seniors $500 each for pandemic expenses

Yahoo – AFP, May 12, 2020

A man gestures to healthcare workers as he visits his mother-in-law at a Toronoto
assisted living center on Mother's Day: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced
a onetime payment to seniors to help them through the coronavirus pandemic (AFP
Photo/Cole Burston)

Ottawa (AFP) - Canada announced Tuesday a onetime payment of up to Can$500 (US$360) for seniors -- who as a group have suffered the most COVID-19 sickness and fatalities -- to help defray added pandemic costs of living.

An estimated seven million elderly Canadians qualify for the aid.

"The last few weeks have been particularly tough for our seniors and their families," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a daily briefing.

"Our parents and our grandparents are most at risk of catching the COVID-19 virus and of suffering the most serious consequences right across the country," he said.

The pandemic, he said, exposed shortfalls in care at nursing homes, where roughly 80 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Canada occurred. The crisis led to the military being sent in to help feed and care for residents.

A lockdown has also left many elderly Canadians isolated, and facing additional costs for prescription drugs or grocery deliveries, for example, "which means they can't take advantage of sales in stores," Trudeau said.

"It's hard on their morale, as well as on their finances," he said.

Madagascar virus potion scorned because it's from Africa: president

Yahoo – AFP, May 11, 2020

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina sips Covid Organics, which he
touts as a remedy for coronavirus (AFP Photo/RIJASOLO)

Antananarivo (AFP) - Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina on Monday batted away criticism for promoting a homegrown "remedy" for COVID-19, charging that the West has a condescending attitude toward traditional African medicine.

"If it wasn't Madagascar, and if it was a European country that had actually discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt? I don't think so," he told French media in an interview.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned that the Covid-Organics infusion, which Rajoelina has touted as a remedy against the deadly coronavirus, has not been clinically tested.

The drink is derived from artemisia -- a plant with proven anti-malarial properties -- and other indigenous herbs.

"African scientists... should not be underestimated," he told France 24 and Radio France International (RFI).

"I think the problem is that (the drink) comes from Africa and they can't admit... that a country like Madagascar... has come up with this formula to save the world," said Rajoelina, who claims the infusion cures patients within 10 days.

Already Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Tanzania have taken delivery of consignments of the potion, which was launched last month.

"No country or organisation will keep us from going forward," Rajoelina said in response to the WHO's concerns.

He said proof of the tonic's efficacy was in "the healing of our sick".

Madagascar has officially reported 183 coronavirus infections and 105 recoveries, with no deaths.

"The patients who were cured were cured through the administration of Covid-Organics alone," the president said.

He referred to the remedy as "an improved traditional medicine", adding that Madagascar was not conducting clinical trials but "clinical observations" in accordance with WHO guidelines.

Related Article:

WHO cautions against use of Madagascar anti-virus potion

WHO cautions against use of Madagascar anti-virus potion

Yahoo – AFP, Philippe Alfroy, May 7, 2020

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina drinks a sample of Covid Organics which
he touted as a remedy for coronavirus (AFP Photo/RIJASOLO)

Johannesburg (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Thursday advised governments to clinically test a herbal drink touted by Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina as a remedy against coronavirus.

The Covid-Organics infusion is derived from artemisia -- a plant with proven anti-malarial properties -- and other indigenous herbs.

Rajoelina hopes to distribute the infusion across West Africa and beyond, claiming it cures COVID-19 patients within 10 days.

Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Niger have already received consignments of the potion. Others such as Tanzania have expressed interest.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned that there are no published scientific studies of the herbal tea and that its effects have not been tested.

"We would caution and advise countries against adopting a product that has not been taken through tests to see its efficacy," WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said in a press briefing on Thursday, calling on Madagascar to take the drink "through a clinical trial".

Moeti said that in 2000, African governments had committed to taking "traditional therapies" through the same clinical trials as other medication.

"I can understand the need, the drive to find something that can help," Moeti said. "But we would very much like to encourage this scientific process in which the governments themselves made a commitment."

Rajoelina defended his tonic during a coronavirus screening campaign in Madagascar's eastern city of Toamasina on Thursday.

"The WHO has indicated that artemisia could lead to a cure for coronavirus," the president said, promising to submit the drink to clinical trials.

Scepticism remains

Earlier this week, the WHO recognised artemisia as a "possible treatment" for COVID-19. But the organisation also repeated its calls for more rigorous testing.

South Africa's Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Wednesday said Madagascar had reached out for "help" with scientific research.

"Our scientists would be able to assist with this research," Mkhize tweeted, adding that South Africa would only "get involved in a scientific analysis of the herb".

The country has the highest number of coronavirus cases in sub-Saharan Africa, with 7,808 infections and 153 fatalities recorded to date.

Neighbouring eSwatini -- a tiny landlocked nation wedged between South Africa and Mozambique -- said it would not consider Rajoelina's tonic for the time being.

"It is important as a country to first ascertain where such herbal products have been tested," she said Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi on Thursday.

"We have to do adequate proper research and be sure that the product works."

To date eSwatini has reported 123 cases of coronavirus, including two deaths.

Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has debunked claims that it had ordered a package of Covid-Organics from a "third country".

"We are aware that several claims of a COVID-19 cure have been made in different parts of the world," ECOWAS said in a statement on Wednesday.

"But we can only support and endorse products that have been shown to be effective through scientific study."

Ministry introduces code word ‘Masker 19’ for domestic abuse

DutchNews, May 1, 2020

Photo: Depositphotos.com

As of Friday victims of domestic violence can use the code word ‘masker 19’ (mask 19) at pharmacies so staff can help them contact social services, the health ministry has announced. 

The same code is already being used in France and Spain. Although no figures are available as yet, help organisations in the Netherlands are afraid incidents of domestic violence have been increasing in the Netherlands over the past weeks because the lockdown is forcing people to spend more time in the home. ‘

Pharmacies provide a safe and trusted environment, pharmacy association KNMP chair Aris Prins told broadcaster NOS. ‘Questions about masks are common and if people ask for ‘masker 19’ it won’t attract much attention,’ he said 

The scheme will make it easier for people to ask for help, Prins said. If they are accompanied by others, staff will contact the relevant service on their behalf. 

Last week, the ministry launched an information campaign aimed urging victims to ask for advice by contacting domestic violence prevention organisation Veilig Thuis (0800 2000). The organisation has also added a chat function to its internet site. 

But not everyone is able to use the phone without alerting an abusive partner so a ‘low threshold method is needed to alert help victims of domestic violence in a particularly difficult time’, health minister Hugo de Jonge said. 

People who are in immediate danger must call the police at 112, the ministry said.