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How Healthy Are You? How to Gauge Your Own Wellness

Kathryn R. Bown
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How Healthy Are You? How to Gauge Your Own Wellness

Do you know how healthy you are, really? Sure, you might know how you feel right now: energetic, tired, bored, sick, etc. But do you know if you’re living a healthy life? And do you know how susceptible you might be to certain infections or conditions?

The harsh reality is that how healthy you feel doesn’t always reflect how healthy you are. Indeed, it’s possible for seemingly healthy individuals to come down with surprisingly serious medical issues. With all that in mind, today we’ll help you examine your own health in a more objective manner:

Lifestyle Choices

Obviously, people do have a certain level of control over their own physical fitness. As such, decisions like diet composition and how often you exercise can have a big impact on your overall health. The problem, of course, is that judging a lifestyle is very difficult. Relatively few people follow their diets to a strict level –– and not everyone works out as often as they should. On the other hand, people with “bad habits” might still be relatively healthy for other reasons. Nevertheless, actions like eating fast food, smoking, drinking, and remaining sedentary for long periods of time are universally detrimental to health and wellness.

Genetics

The bad news here is that no matter how hard you try, you could be at risk for certain medical conditions simply because members of your family had them. Make no mistake, genetics plays a huge part in determining a person’s long-term health. So, for instance, if your mother and father each had high cholesterol, there’s a good chance you could have high cholesterol too –– regardless of how well you diet and exercise. 

Community Health

Believe it or not, the health and wellness of those around you can have an impact on your own fitness and morale. An obvious example would be someone who is married to a smoker –– since second-hand smoke can be just as damaging as inhaling smoking yourself. On a broader level, though, surrounding yourself with individuals who take their health seriously can improve your own self-discipline.

Ask for Help

It can be very tempting to look for easy solutions to health-and-wellness problems. Yet, quick-fixes rarely provide long-term benefits. (Consider bunion correctors as a real-life example of this axiom in action.) Individuals shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. At the end of the day, it’s imperative for everyone –– healthy, unhealthy, young, old (etc.) –– to consult with a medical professional on a regular basis. Doing so is the best way to take care of yourself and get a clear picture of your overall well-being.

Coronavirus: President Trump Claims He Saw Evidence Virus Started In China Lab

Diane A. Wade
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Coronavirus: President Trump Claims He Saw Evidence Virus Started In China Lab

President Donald Trump has suggested he has seen evidence coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory.

Earlier the US national intelligence director’s office said it was still investigating how the virus began.

However, the office said it had determined Covid-19 “was not manmade or genetically modified”.

China has rejected the lab theory and criticized the US response to Covid-19.

Since emerging in China at the end of 2019, the new coronavirus has killed 230,000 people worldwide including 63,000 in the US.

The pandemic has seen at least 3.2 million people infected, a million of them Americans, since the virus spread from the city of Wuhan.

At the White House on April 30, President Trump was asked by a reporter: “Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus?”

“Yes, I have. Yes, I have,” said President Trump, without specifying.

“And I think the World Health Organization [WHO] should be ashamed of themselves because they’re like the public relations agency for China.”

Asked later to clarify his comment, the president said: “I can’t tell you that. I’m not allowed to tell you that.”

President Trump also told reporters: “Whether they [China] made a mistake, or whether it started off as a mistake and then they made another one, or did somebody do something on purpose?

“I don’t understand how traffic, how people weren’t allowed into the rest of China, but they were allowed into the rest of the world. That’s a bad, that’s a hard question for them to answer.”

Image source Flickr

Coronavirus: US Tops 1 Million Covid-19 Cases

Coronavirus: VP Mike Pence Appears Without Face Mask While Visiting Mayo Clinic

Coronavirus: New York Expands Testing to Pharmacies

In a rare public statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees US spy agencies, said on April 30 it concurs with the “wide scientific consensus” regarding Covid-19’s natural origins.

The statement said: “The [intelligence community] will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”

It was the first clear response from American intelligence debunking conspiracy theories – both from the US and China – that the virus is a bio-weapon.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was founded in the 1950s, houses China’s first Biosafety Level 4 laboratory.

Such labs handle the most dangerous pathogens for which there are few available vaccines or treatments, and one of the areas the Wuhan facility studies is coronaviruses from bats.

President Trump has recently been escalating his war of words with China over the pandemic after what officials within the president’s administration had described as a truce with Beijing.

On April 29, he suggested China wanted him to lose his re-election bid in November.

President Trump has formerly accused Chinese officials of covering up the virus early on and saying they could have stopped the disease from spreading.

He has similarly criticized the WHO and withdrawn US funding for the global body.

China’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, has accused the Trump administration of trying to distract from its own problems tackling the crisis.

The Confusion Around Coronavirus: What Is Fact And What Is Fiction?

Diane A. Wade
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The Confusion Around Coronavirus: What Is Fact And What Is Fiction?

The Coronavirus outbreak has affected virtually everyone on earth in some way or another, redefining social interaction, work productivity and our capacity to enjoy something as simple as the outdoors. With nationwide lockdown expected to go on for some time in countries inflicted severely by the outbreak, such as the UK and US, many people are looking at their governments and public health organisations as a source of complete truth and accountability.

Whilst research into the relationship of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 has been somewhat cloudy and inconclusive, the real facts and evidence on the virus are constantly being discovered and debated. Scientists and health professionals all over the globe are working across the clock to not just try and find a vaccine but to explore the intricate details of the virus and why it has become so deadly. Whilst this has been resoundingly applauded across society, the release of findings, guidelines and stance of governments have been an embarrassing mismatch of contradictory information.

We examine some of the claims voiced by experts and government officials regarding COVID-19 over the course of the last few months, whilst shedding light on certain lifestyle choices which could impact contracting the virus.

Clear As Mud

Let’s rewind back to the start of the year, when regular routine was operated across the globe, except in China where a newfound virus threatened to damage normality in all senses. With news bulletins partially mentioning the outbreak of this unknown virus, government officials played down the prospect of it having a catastrophic effect.

As the virus spread across the world, In the UK PM Boris Johnson ignored advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) to refrain from shaking hands by boasting he was in close contact with those affected, “”I’m shaking hands continuously. I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know. I continue to shake hands.” He went on to assert, “I want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual.”

A large proportion of the news relating to COVID-19 over the course of early March, when the outbreak began to hit western nations, was that the disease only really affected elderly people and that younger, fit adults and children shouldn’t need to worry. Going by what we know now, this was greatly underestimated as despite the majority of deaths attributed to older people with underlying health conditions, younger people who are deemed healthy have still experienced severe symptoms of the virus and have required intensive care. A staggering 40% of patients requiring medical attention were in the age bracket of 20-54 in the US, according to CDC statistics.

Whilst the initial hypothesis that this disease affects older people far greater than younger age groups, there’s no denying that governments miscommunication on the severity of the virus on all age groups has potentially costs thousands of lives.

Furthermore, isolation and social distancing guidelines have become an increasingly contentious and confusing issue. In the UK under the sanctioned lockdown, citizens are required to self-isolate except to:

  • Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home).
  • If you go out, stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people at all times.

Despite the resounding nature of these measures, the clarity of rhetoric used can be construed in many ways. For example, it’s stressed that a person can go out to exercise once daily alone or with members of their household, but no time measures are attached. This essentially means under law, a person or family could stay outside for as long as they wish over a 24 hour period as long as they’re staying active.

As well as this, the fact that most unessential businesses have been forced to close highlights the seriousness of the situation, however construction workers are deemed to be key workers and obviously cannot conduct their work from home in the majority of circumstances. This has led many labourers having to go to work to make ends meet, whilst the 2m social distancing measure implied is nigh on impossible for many who have to work in close proximity. This complete lack of disregard for a huge sector of the economy has again put thousands of people at risk of contracting the virus.

Up In Smoke

Whilst governments and public health officials have been inconsistent in their approach to tackling the pandemic, in regards to smokers (who make up over 1 billion worldwide), the message has been resoundingly clear.

The WHO states, ‘Smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 as the act of smoking means that fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) are in contact with lips which increases the possibility of transmission of virus from hand to mouth. Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.’

This is further echoed by UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock who says, “It is abundantly clear from the research into previous coronaviruses that smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse.”

It’s also highly evidenced that smoking causes the immune system to weaken, whilst the fact that Coronavirus is a respiratory disease clearly highlights that smoking can have huge effects on those who have contracted the virus or developed symptoms.

This resonant assertion whilst respected, doesn’t cover the borderline product of e-cigarettes. Vaping is seen by many, including PHE, NHS, Cancer Research and The British Lung Foundation as a viable harm-reducing alternative to nicotine consumption. Yet many believe vaping could transmit COVID-19, especially through vape clouds.

Rosanna O’Connor, Director of Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs at PHE refutes this logic, “Public Health England’s 2018 independent evidence review found that to date, there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders. There is currently no evidence that coronavirus can be caught from exposure to e-cigarette vapour.”

In line with this, Leading academic Physician and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Dr Neal Benowitz states,” It is my understanding that exhaled e-cigarette vapor consists of very small particles of water, propylene glycol and glycerin and flavor chemicals, not droplets of saliva. The vaping aerosol evaporates very quickly, while particles that are emitted when coughing or sneezing are large particles that persist in the air for a relatively long period of time. Thus, I would not think that vapers present any risk of spreading COVID-19, unless they are coughing when they exhale the vapor.”

Whilst vaping is only recommended for smokers looking to make the switch over, now could be the ideal time for those who smoke cigarettes to change over their habit. Vape Club’s dedicated guide section provides an extensive knowledge on all aspects of vaping for those unsure of the harm-reducing benefits when compared to tobacco.

Summing Up

Of course, many of us can feel like we’re left out in the cold with all of the differing opinions and claims floating around. It’s essential to be able to use common sense in the majority of social situations, with a large proportion of the population across the world adhering to guidelines and ultimately taking pressure of health services.

It’s also worth pointing out whilst the public couldn’t really conceive what was about to come in the early stages of Coronavirus, governments and health experts were briefed on the grimness of the situation about to hit as early as last year. This complete unpreparedness and lack of initiative has unfortunately paid dividends at the cost of thousands, potentially millions of lives, in what will inevitably come to be the biggest health crisis of our generation.

There is still a lot more to discover regarding COVID-19 and its existence, which will no doubt come to light in the ensuing months and years.

Why Use CNC Turning For Your Project?

Nancy Clayson
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Why Use CNC Turning For Your Project?

CNC turning and milling are two of the most common processed used to create custom parts and components on a lathe.  These areas of precision engineering are the state of the art versions of very ancient forms of machinery – the lathe – which was used back as far as the Ancient Egyptians.  Today’s equipment is very different from those historic versions and works in different ways.  So how do you know when CNC turning is needed for a project versus CNC milling?

If you aren’t doing the work yourself, then the precision engineering firm you are working with will understand these processes and know which one is right.  But it never hurts to understand the basics, what the differences are, and which might be the right one for the job.

CNC turning versus CNC milling

Both of these processes allow users to create patterns as well as add details to metals that simply cannot be done by hand.  With CNC milling, codes are programmed into a computer and the mill then drills and turn along the axes to cut the materials to match the designs entered into the computer.  Programs allow for the most precision cuts while users can also adjust things manually to speed up or slow down the process as needed.

CNC turning uses computer-controlled machines to make the final product.  It has a single-point cutting tool that inserts parallel to the material and makes cuts.  The material is rotated at different speeds to allow the cutting tool to make cylinder shaped cuts to very precise measurements.  It is ideal for circular or tube-shaped parts from larger pieces.  While it is mostly automated, speeds can be adjusted manually.

Benefits of CNC turning and milling

Both of these systems have a few core benefits that make them ideal for a range of projects, ahead of manual or traditional methods of turning and milling.

High precision levels

For starters, CNC machining allows the highest precision possible for any project.  There’s just no way that a human can match the precision of a computer and this opens up many possibilities in terms of what can be made and the size it can be made.  CNC machining can produce hundreds of identical parts down to 0.01mm and sometimes less.

Large quantities

Often a project needs a lot of a certain part and creating these by hand simply isn’t practical.  That’s where CNC machining comes in – it is simple to create large numbers of parts that are all identical and often in a short time frame.  For some parts, a machine can create 30 or more parts per hour – this would take at least three for manual machining.

Speed of manufacture

It is worth mentioning the speed of manufacture again as the benefit of CNC turning or milling.  It can take around an hour to set up the machine then some parts can be created in as little as two minutes while the same piece made manually would take at least twenty minutes.  Even if there is only a need for a few pieces for a prototype, the speed of creation means it can be ready and tested in a very short time, allowing the project to move ahead.

When is CNC turning needed?

Now we have established the difference between these two main types of CNC machining and the benefits they bring, it is worth looking at some examples of when CNC turning is needed as opposed to milling.

In simplest terms, if something is round, you will turn it.  There are plenty of examples of this including things like washers, ball bearings, casters and even chess pieces.  Turning works on rounded pieces and therefore if you need something round, this is the system that will be used.

In the majority of cases, the smaller the batch of parts needed, the more likely that turning is the right choice.  CNC turning is perfect for short run volumes and prototypes that are less than 60-65mm in size.  Anything larger than this and each part will need to be to checked individually when turning is used, which can impact the cost of the production and the time involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS-EmKjWiQA

When is CNC milling needed?

For anything that isn’t round (and a few things that are), CNC milling is a common choice.  It can be used to fabricate a part from start to finish but can also work as a secondary process for something already made.  So, it might be that you have an item that has been created with CNC turning and then milling is used to make further alterations to it to complete the design.

Whatever the project, CNC machining experts will know what process to use – or if more than one is required.  This means you always get the right quality piece for your needs.

Coronavirus: US Tops 1 Million Covid-19 Cases

Diane A. Wade
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Coronavirus: US Tops 1 Million Covid-19 Cases

The US passed a grim milestone, with more than a million cases of Covid-19 recorded.

There are now 3,098,391 confirmed cases worldwide and 216,160 deaths, Johns Hopkins University says.

The House of Representatives has abandoned plans to return to Washington next week. Several states, including Georgia and Texas, have pressed ahead with plans to reopen amid the infection rise.

President Donald Trump was speaking earlier at a White House event about supporting small businesses through the coronavirus pandemic.

As he closed the event, President Trump expressed his pride at the work being done by his government and tried to compare the scale of the outbreak with the Spanish Flu pandemic.

He said: “We’re going through a period of time the likes of which we’ve never seen in this country before, certainly even if you go back into 1917 – it was the worst of all time but it was also not as bad here.

“It was very bad, it was very rough – it was a bad one. But it wasn’t quite like what we’re going through right now.”

Coronavirus: VP Mike Pence Appears Without Face Mask While Visiting Mayo Clinic

Coronavirus: New York Expands Testing to Pharmacies

However, the Spanish Flu pandemic happened in 1918, not 1917. It also had a far higher death toll than the coronavirus pandemic has had so far.

According to Johns Hopkins University tracking, more than 50 million people died of Spanish Flu worldwide while the current death toll from the coronavirus is about 216,000.

Some 675,000 Americans died in the 1918 pandemic, while some 58,000 are thought to have died with Covid-19.

In other developments, the organizers of the Academy Awards have announced that they will bend their own rules to let films only released on streaming platforms be eligible for nomination.

Under current rules, films have to be screened in a cinema in Los Angeles for at least seven days to qualify for awards.

On April 28, Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement that their commitment to theatre releases was “unchanged and unwavering” but said the pandemic has made the rule change necessary.

The Academy’s new policy is only temporary while most cinemas are closed because of coronavirus.

Many scheduled movie releases have been completely delayed by the pandemic.

Coronavirus: VP Mike Pence Appears Without Face Mask While Visiting Mayo Clinic

Kathryn R. Bown
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Coronavirus: VP Mike Pence Appears Without Face Mask While Visiting Mayo Clinic

Vice-President Mike Pence has appeared without wearing a face mask while visiting the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota despite the medical centre’s own rules that visitors wear personal protective equipment.

In a deleted tweet, the Mayo Clinic said Mike Pence had been notified in advance of its policy requiring masks.

The vice-president leads the White House coronavirus taskforce.

Image source Twitter

Coronavirus: New Zealand Ends Community Transmission of Covid-19

Coronavirus: New York Expands Testing to Pharmacies

The government’s own coronavirus-prevention advice is that people should wear face coverings “in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain”.

The Mayo Clinic itself requires all patients and visitors to its medical centers to wear a mask or face covering.

VP Pence’s visit came on the same day that the US coronavirus caseload topped one million and the number of deaths surpassed 57,000.

President Donald Trump has himself previously said he has no plans to wear a mask.

The vice-president defended his decision to flout hospitals rules as necessary in order to meet with staff and patients.

He said: “As vice-president of the United States, I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus.

“And when the CDC issued guidelines about wearing a mask, it was their recognition that people that may have the coronavirus could prevent the possibility of conveying the virus to someone else by wearing a mask.

“And since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible healthcare personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you.”

According to news website Axios, Mike Pence has never once worn a mask while in public since the pandemic began while continuing to travel throughout the country.

A Mike Pence aide was the first White House member to test positive for the virus in late March.

Coronavirus: New Zealand Ends Community Transmission of Covid-19

Diane A. Wade
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Coronavirus: New Zealand Ends Community Transmission of Covid-19

New Zealand claims it has stopped community transmission of Covid-19, effectively eliminating the virus.

With new cases in single figures for several days – one on April 26 – PM Jacinda Ardern said the virus was “currently” eliminated.

However, officials have warned against complacency, saying it does not mean a total end to new coronavirus cases.

The news came hours before New Zealand moved out of its toughest level of social restrictions.

From April 28, some non-essential business, healthcare and education activity will be able to resume.

Most people will still be required to remain at home at all times and avoid all social interactions.

PM Ardern said at the daily government briefing: “We are opening up the economy, but we’re not opening up people’s social lives.”

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Coronavirus: New York Expands Testing to Pharmacies

New Zealand has reported fewer than 1,500 confirmed or probable cases of coronavirus and 19 deaths.

The country’s Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, said the low number of new cases in recent days “does give us confidence that we have achieved our goal of elimination”.

Ashley Bloomfield warned that “elimination” did not mean there would be no new cases “but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from”.

PM Ardern said there was “no widespread undetected community transmission in New Zealand”, adding: “We have won that battle.”

However, the prime minister said New Zealand “must remain vigilant if we are to keep it that way”.

New Zealand brought in some of the toughest restrictions in the world on travel and activity early on in the pandemic, when it only had a few dozen cases.

The country closed its borders, started enforcing quarantine of all arrivals in the country, brought in a stringent lockdown and mounted an extensive testing and contact tracing operation.

Beaches, waterfronts and playgrounds were shut on March 26, as were offices and schools. Bars and restaurants were also closed, including for takeaway and delivery.

PM Ardern said modeling indicated New Zealand could have had more than 1,000 cases a day if it had not brought in the lockdown so early.

She said New Zealand could never know how bad it would have been but that “through our cumulative actions we have avoided the worst”.

The country’s remote location and easily sealable borders played in its favor when the virus broke out, experts say.

However, the government has also been praised for the clarity of its messaging throughout the crisis.

Coronavirus: New York Expands Testing to Pharmacies

Nancy Clayson
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Coronavirus: New York Expands Testing to Pharmacies

New York, the epicenter of the US Covid-19 outbreak, will allow pharmacies to carry out tests for the virus, Governor Andrew Cuomo says.

He said some 5,000 pharmacies would be able to carry out testing, with the aim to provide 40,000 per day.

As of April 25, the US has more than 938,000 confirmed cases. Almost a third of the 53,751 deaths happened in New York City alone.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump did not hold his daily briefing, saying it was not worth his “time or effort”.

Speaking on Twitter on April 25, the president blamed the media for asking “nothing but hostile questions”. Donald Trump was heavily criticized after suggesting at the previous White House news conference that injecting disinfectant could potentially be used as a treatment for the virus.

The president’s remarks have been condemned as dangerous by doctors and manufacturers, as disinfectants are hazardous substances and can be poisonous if ingested.

In NYC, calls to the hotline for exposure to certain household chemicals more than doubled in the 18 hours after President Trump’s remarks – 30 cases compared to 13 for the same time frame last year.

Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit

Coronavirus: US Death Toll Becomes World’s Highest
Coronavirus: US Becomes First Country to Record Over 2,000 Deaths In A Single Day

President Trump’s tweet appears to confirm reports that the conferences may be coming to an end because polls suggest they have not bolstered his popularity among voters.

On April 24, his briefing was unusually short – lasting just over 20 minutes – and he took no questions from the media.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on April 25 that antibody screenings would be expanded at four hospitals, beginning with frontline medical workers.

He also said independent pharmacies would be allowed to collect samples for diagnostic tests.

It is part of a drive to find out how widely the virus has spread across the state of 20 million people.

He said: “Twenty-one days of hell, and now we are back to where we were 21 days ago. Testing is what we are compulsively or obsessively focused on now.”

New York healthcare staff and essential workers – such as police officers, firefighters, bus drivers and shop assistants – would be able to get tests even if they did not have any symptoms of infection, he said.

According to Governor Cuomo, this was important not just for their own safety but also to protect the public.

Coronavirus: Global Death Toll Surpasses 200,000

Diane A. Wade
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Coronavirus: Global Death Toll Surpasses 200,000

According to recent figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 200,000 people worldwide have now died with the coronavirus.

There are more than 2.8 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, the tally shows.

It comes after the US death toll passed 50,000, as Americans endure the world’s deadliest outbreak.

Chinese state media reported the first known death linked to the virus on January 11. More than 210 countries and territories have since reported cases.

Five countries have now reported death tolls above 20,000 although the way fatalities are counted varies widely.

The US, Spain and Italy have seen the highest number of reported fatalities.

France, which does include deaths in care homes in its statistics, said its toll had risen by 369 on April 25.

There have been 22,614 virus deaths in France since the start of March, but health officials say the mortality rate in hospitals is falling, and the number of people in intensive care has dropped for the seventeenth consecutive day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says patients who have recovered from the virus may not be protected against re-infection.

Coronavirus: Wuhan Increases Death Toll By 50%

Coronavirus: US Death Toll Becomes World’s Highest

Coronavirus: US Becomes First Country to Record Over 2,000 Deaths In A Single Day

Earlier this week, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted upward trends in Covid-19 cases in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America and South America.

Dr Tedros said that while most of the epidemics in Western Europe appeared to be stable or in decline, for many countries the disease was just getting started.

He said: “And some (countries) that were affected early in the pandemic are now starting to see a resurgence in cases.”

One such country is Singapore, which was initially praised for its success in containing the virus, but has since seen a surge of infections linked to industrial worksites and tightly packed worker dormitories.

Elsewhere in Asia, Chinese authorities reported no new deaths for the tenth consecutive day on April 25, and South Korea had its second day without a death.

Statisticians have cautioned that a reported death toll may not always give the full picture of a country’s epidemic.

The US has seen the most coronavirus deaths of any individual country, for example, but also has a far larger population than most.

With 330 million people, the US population exceeds the total number of people living in the five largest countries in Western Europe – the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Many European countries have reported more deaths per head of population than the US, and Europe as a whole has reported more deaths overall.

Death rates also depend on who is counted. Some countries are including deaths in care homes in their data, giving a fuller picture, whereas others only count deaths in hospital where Covid-19 has been confirmed.

Coronavirus: Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska Allow Some Stores to Reopen

Nancy Clayson
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Coronavirus: Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska Allow Some Stores to Reopen

Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska have allowed some stores to reopen after measures imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as the US death toll passed 51,000.

Salons and spas could reopen in Georgia and Oklahoma while Alaska lifted restrictions on restaurants.

On April 24, President Donald Trump walked out of a shorter than usual briefing, refusing to take questions.

The president has faced criticism after suggesting that injecting household disinfectant into patients could be beneficial.

Donald Trump’s remarks have been condemned as dangerous by doctors and manufacturers. Disinfectants are hazardous substances and can be poisonous if ingested and even external exposure can be dangerous to the skin, eyes and respiratory system.

President Trump said on April 24 that the comments – made at a news conference one day earlier – were sarcastic and taken out of context.

Customers visiting the newly reopened businesses in Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska will be expected to continue adhering to social distancing measures. However, some cities and areas have decided to keep their lockdowns in place.

In Georgia, which has one of the fastest reopening timetables in the US, bowling alleys, spas, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors and other personal care businesses will be allowed to resume operations. On April 27, dine-in restaurants and theatres will be allowed to re-open.

With unemployment claims reaching 26 million people – or around 15% of the population – since mid-March, many states are feeling the pressure to resume trading.

“Donald Trump” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

Coronavirus: President Trump Suggests Injecting Disinfectant Into Body to Treat Covid-19

Coronavirus: President Donald Trump Asks Harvard University to Return Stimulus Money

However, health experts have warned that the steps might be happening too soon, amid fears they could spark another wave of infections.

After being criticized by President Trump, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp tightened some of the sanitation and social distancing requirements for restaurants.

In the April 24 White House briefing that lasted just over 20 minutes, President Trump asked people to continue to follow rules around social distancing and the use of face masks.

Also on April 24, President Trump signed a $484 billion economic stimulus bill into law, saying he wanted to “rush economic relief to our citizens”. It is the fourth Covid-19 relief package passed by Washington, and allocates funds towards greater testing, hospitals and a small business loan program.

The US has by far the highest death toll and case count in the world. But despite recording more than 890,000 cases, the US population of 330 million is much higher than other countries badly hit by the virus, such as Spain and Italy.

Recent steep rises in the daily US death toll are also partly due to the inclusion of “probable” virus deaths – on April 14, the CDC said their case counts would include both confirmed and probable cases and deaths.

A probable Covid-19 death is one that meets clinical and epidemiological criteria but has not been confirmed by testing.

It is also important to note that many mild cases remain unreported, so the death rate from confirmed cases is not the same as the disease’s overall death rate.

Testing efforts are key to tracking the actual mortality and spread of the disease. VP Mike Pence, the Covid-19 taskforce leader, said the US had conducted 4.9 million tests thus far, and that the government was working with governors to expand testing.

Coronavirus: President Trump Suggests Injecting Disinfectant Into Body to Treat Covid-19

Diane A. Wade
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Coronavirus: President Trump Suggests Injecting Disinfectant Into Body to Treat Covid-19

American medical community has lambasted President Donald Trump for suggesting research into whether coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body.

The president also appeared to propose irradiating patients’ bodies with UV light, an idea dismissed by a doctor at the briefing.

Another of the president’s officials had moments earlier said sunlight and disinfectant were known to kill the infection.

Disinfectants are hazardous substances and can be poisonous if ingested.

Even external exposure can be dangerous to the skin, eyes and respiratory system.

During April 23 White House coronavirus task force briefing, an official presented the results of US government research that indicated coronavirus appeared to weaken more quickly when exposed to sunlight and heat.

The study also showed bleach could kill the virus in saliva or respiratory fluids within five minutes and isopropyl alcohol could kill it even more quickly.

William Bryan, acting head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, outlined the findings at the news conference.

While noting the research should be treated with caution, President Trump suggested further research in that area.

He said: “So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous – whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light.”

“And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside of the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting,” he continued.

“And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?

“So it’d be interesting to check that.”

Pointing to his head, President Trump went on: “I’m not a doctor. But I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.”

The president turned to Dr. Birx and asked if she had ever heard of using “the heat and the light” to treat coronavirus.

“Not as a treatment,” she said.

“I mean, certainly, fever is a good thing. When you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But I’ve not seen heat or light.”

“I think it’s a great thing to look at,” President Trump said.

Image source Wikipedia

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However, doctors warned the president’s idea could have fatal results.

Pulmonologist Dr. Vin Gupta told NBC News: “This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it’s dangerous.

“It’s a common method that people utilise when they want to kill themselves.”

John Balmes, a pulmonologist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, warned that even breathing fumes from bleach could cause severe health problems.

He told Bloomberg News: “Inhaling chlorine bleach would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs. The airway and lungs are not made to be exposed to even an aerosol of disinfectant.

“Not even a low dilution of bleach or isopropyl alcohol is safe. It’s a totally ridiculous concept.”

President Trump has previously hyped a malaria medication, hydroxycloroquine, as a possible treatment for coronavirus, though he has stopped touting that drug recently.

This week a study of coronavirus patients in a US government-run hospital for military veterans found more deaths among those treated with hydroxychloroquine than those treated with standard care.

Spice Up Your Kitchen: 5 Must-Know Kitchen Updating Ideas

Dana R
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Spice Up Your Kitchen: 5 Must-Know Kitchen Updating Ideas

Kitchen updates don’t have to blow out your savings account and test your patience. With our ideas to update your kitchen you can easily take it from 1 to 10 in a weekend (or less)!

Read on for our favorite 5 easy kitchen updating ideas that are budget-friendly.

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Coronavirus: Face Mask to Be Compulsory Across Germany

Nancy Clayson
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Coronavirus: Face Mask to Be Compulsory Across Germany

Germany has announced plans to make face masks compulsory to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Bremen became the final federal region to back the measures, with its senate set to confirm the decision on April 24.

Face mask use will be compulsory on public transport throughout Germany, and nearly all states will also make face coverings mandatory when shopping.

Last week, when she announced the ease of lockdown measures, German Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly recommended the use of face masks.

Different European countries have issued different guidance on the use of face masks.

Austria made them compulsory when shopping at the start of this month.

On April 22, Switzerland confirmed it would not make its citizens wear masks as it loosened its restrictions.

Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has confirmed 145,694 cases and recorded 4,879 deaths in total.

April 22 data showed a second consecutive day that new infections rose, with 281 deaths compared with 194 reported on April 21. Johns Hopkins University in the US puts the number of German deaths at 5,117.

Germany’s federal vaccines institute approved clinical trials for a possible vaccine involving humans on April 22. About 200 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55 will be tested with variants of the drug, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech.

Scientists at the University of Oxford are set to start trials on humans on April 23, the UK government says. Separate trials are also taking place in Seattle.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

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The new rules come into force in most German lands from April 27, once they pass in local legislatures. However, where face masks will be required differs from state.

All 16 lands will make facial coverings a necessity on public transport. However, in Berlin, it will not be compulsory to wear a mask when shopping.

This is also the case in the northern land of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: that land has announced a fine of €25 ($27) for anyone caught without one on public transport. Other states have yet to specify punishments.

Rhineland-Palatinate in the south-west says pupils will be given reusable masks as they slowly start to return to school at the beginning of May, while in Bavaria masks are mandatory for everyone aged seven and over from April 27.

Even the type of mask is not consistently specified. PM Winfried Kretschmann of Baden-Württemberg has said medical masks should be reserved for health workers, while scarves or cloth covers would be sufficient for people on the street.

Many land leaders had previously questioned the need to impose the measures on residents.

Thuringia’s premier, Bodo Ramelow, said that as neighboring lands Bavaria and Saxony had announced measures, his eastern state had decided to follow suit.

Since the outbreak began, the World Health Organization (WHO) has consistently said only the ill and those caring for the ill need to wear masks.

Research suggests face masks are not as effective as frequent hand washing with soap and water, and can give users false confidence.

A number of European countries are starting to make masks compulsory on public transport and in shops, including Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Coronavirus: US Green Cards to Be Suspended for 60 Days

Diane A. Wade
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0
Coronavirus: US Green Cards to Be Suspended for 60 Days

Applications of foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the US will be suspended because of the coronavirus crisis, President Donald Trump said.

A day after he announced the move in an ambiguous tweet, President Trump said the measure would protect American jobs.

It is not clear how effective it will be as most visa services have already been suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Critics say President Trump is trying to distract attention away from his response to the virus. The US has nearly 45,000 deaths.

Democrats also accuse the Trump administration of using the pandemic to crack down on immigration. The issue has traditionally been a strong campaigning theme for President Trump, a Republican, but has taken a back seat during the crisis and in the lead-up to the November election.

Image source Wikipedia

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At a White House coronavirus briefing, President Trump said the executive order with the decision was likely to be signed on April 22. The ban could be extended “much longer” depending on how the economy was doing, he said.

After vowing to suspend “all immigration” to the US on April 20, President Trump apparently changed his original plan after a backlash from some business leaders. It would reportedly impact immigrants given temporary working visas, like farm laborers and hi-tech employees.

More than 20 million Americans have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus outbreak, and President Trump said the government had a “solemn duty” to ensure they regain their jobs.

He said: “It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad.”

The president added that there could be some exemptions to the measure.

He also said: “We want to protect our US workers and I think as we move forward we will become more and more protective of them.”

President Trump’s order could spark legal challenges.

The US has the highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world – more than 820,000 – according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the disease globally.

Green cards give immigrants legal permanent residence in the US and the opportunity to apply for American citizenship.

In a typical year, nearly one million green cards are issued in the US. The majority – roughly 70% – go to those with relatives living in the US, according to a 2018 report from the US Senate. For employment-based green cards, a common form of the residency status, roughly 80% are issued to those already in the country, shifting from a temporary visa to permanent residence.

Overcoming Barriers to Change Management

Clyde K. Valle
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Overcoming Barriers to Change Management

Sometimes, you can come across barriers to change. Here, we look at how to overcome them.

There are many lessons that have been learned by project managers responsible for carrying out major transformation initiatives (many of them in hindsight!) but one alternative insight is that project management could be considered as 80% art and 20% science (Andrew Barnitz).

The art part of project management refers to that which forms the initiative to build a bridge between the solutions with the expected and measurable business outcomes. The art part could be considered creative and intangible and the science refers to the factors that can be measured through monitoring the project such as controlling budgets, communicating with team members i.e. the scope of the project.

In this way we can view the artistic element as understanding how the project is embraced and adopted by employees and other relevant parties such as stake holders and contractors (the change management) and the scientific element as how it is actually designed and developed (project management).

In the past, the focus of many companies has been on the scientific side when instigating change and yet to use the above analogy – only 20% of the power has lain in this realm. It makes sense therefore to focus the bulk of energy on ensuring the acceptance of the project instead because after all – it is this initiative that will lead to the ultimate success of any project undertaken.

We can now understand therefore that much lies in the ability to integrate the two processes; the management of change and the management of the project itself. However, even in 2020 this ideology is still in its infancy so how do companies get on board? The answer can be found by considering the series of steps below:

Role clarity

Companies may wish to consider appointing both a project manager AND a change manager. A project manager is accountable for the ultimate success or failure of a project; the stages of planning, executing and the projects conclusion. They are also responsible for managing teams so that the actual work is undertaken and that goals are met in accordance with key stakeholders etc.

A change manager will also play a key role in ensuring the project is adopted by employees so that objectives are met on time and budget. This manager needs to be people focused and concentrate on the personal and emotional side to help execute changes to processes, systems, job roles and the re-organisational structure of the company.

Perhaps a clearer cut way of describing the difference is that project managers are solution focused whereas change managers are outcome focused. Naturally there is a cross over between the two roles but determining the responsibilities of the manager/s leading the project can mean that time and money can be more effectively spent from the outset.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Being aware of barriers

The biggest barrier is convincing non-believers! Because the job scope of a project manager has – up until this stage – been somewhat clouded or open ended; many managers do not have the capability to learn change management and this is where change consultants can help.

Another barrier for logically minded managers is accepting the notion that change management cannot be easily measured so it can feel like you are talking another language to executives when trying to explain the need for money to be invested in the necessity for change management especially if they are the ones in charge of the project budget!

A third barrier is location. Change management may be accepted more easily by foreign companies who are focused on the psychology of their employees but in general it is still struggling to be accepted in a huge percentage of business boardrooms!

Dealing with these barriers

It is necessary to influence leadership on the benefits of integrating the two approaches and explain that the combined strengths can help to literally transform a business and deliver the desired outcome.

The benefits of combing the two approaches are as follows:

  • Enhanced employee engagement
  • Increased ROI
  • Avoidance of change saturation or conversely over emphasis on the logistics of a project
  • The ability to measure tolerance of a company’s tolerance to change and project management in general

Focus on the actual integration

a. It begins with education and informing all involved on the benefits of additional change management and how it is crucial to the overall success of the project.

b. Expectations then need to be set on how the actual change work will be carried out by using facts and insights that can be gained through change readiness surveys on employees and stake holders as well as carrying out impact assessments.

c. Use friendly terminology and no fluff language to explain the processes involved at all stages whilst continually assessing acceptance and supportiveness.

d. Present a united front to all involved.

e. Collaborate with the project manager, other executive members of staff and key stakeholders to form a master project plan that can then be delivered throughout all involved.

Effective integration is the key to successful results

When any organisation undertakes projects; whether that’s to improve performance, grab opportunities or resolve key issues, it is ultimately the employees themselves who will have to change and it is acceptance of a new way of working that will lead to successful results.

Companies can employ change management training to assist with this process and deliver the two-pronged approach of change management and project management. As we have already explained; there is an interdependent connection between the art and science of project management, and it is important that both the roles of project and change management not only co-exist but use each other to complement and combine individual skill sets. As Leonardo Da’ Vinci said (and it is incredible to see that this expression can be applied to project management 5 centuries later):

“To develop a complete mind: study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else”.

Why Isn’t Anyone Following Me On Instagram?

Nancy Clayson
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Why Isn’t Anyone Following Me On Instagram?

If you just searched the words “why isn’t anyone following me on Instagram,” then you’re obviously frustrated. You put in a lot of work to establish your brand and create content. You are now attempting to build your audience, but no dice. No one’s following you. All of these other brand and business accounts seem to have figured out the secret, and you want to know what it is.

What are you doing wrong? Let’s address some of the possibilities.

Image source Public Domain Pictures

Your content is boring

Content is the most important part of your Instagram account and strategy. It’s the ultimate reason why people follow you. Without content, you have nothing to share, and therefore no audience.

Simply having content is not enough. Images detailing promotions and sales won’t cut it — neither will poorly-shot photos of you and your friends if you have a personal brand. Every picture, every video, needs to be well-produced, dynamic, and interesting. How else will you capture people’s attention?

You post too inconsistently

It’s possible that people decide not to follow you because you post too inconsistently. Do you post three times a week, or once a month? Your content may have caught someone’s eye and they want to see more, but upon visiting your profile, they discover that you post so irregularly and infrequently that they decide you aren’t worth their time. They follow hundreds or even thousands of people already, and they aren’t interested in an account that will be drowned out.

You might also be posting too much. There is no definitive number of times per day or week to publish new material — it’s different for everyone — but posting too often makes you seem spammy. No one wants you clogging up their feed.

You don’t post at the right times

Besides the frequency at which you post, it’s also possible that people aren’t seeing your content to begin with. No wonder no one is following you! The time of day you post matters, such as in the morning when people wake up, in the afternoons when they get home from work, and at night before they go to bed.

The precise times of day to post at depends on your audience. Instead of relying on trial and error or guesswork to figure out when your audience is most active online, you can use analytics tools like Sprout Social, Buffer, and Later to tell you when the best opportunities are to share new material.

You’re trying too hard

Ask yourself: are you trying too hard? Are you trying too hard to be people’s friend, or win their affections? It’s true that users want to know you are accessible — such as through returned engagement and customer service — but don’t expect too much from your followers. They do not want to be friends with brands as if they are people, they just want you to care about their feedback.

It’s also against your best interests to try to seem more popular than you are. Purchasing fake followers for false social proof is more noticeable than you think. Users can see that you have a high follower count and low engagement rate, so don’t resort to something unethical. If you are struggling to attract followers and put your content in front of the right eyes, then you can buy targeted Instagram followers from other sources.

You keep forgetting hashtags

You may be neglecting hashtags. Hashtags are an integral component of Instagram and help keep an extremely cluttered platform navigable. With over a billion users and the even higher number of posts, hashtags categorize content so that people can find material and profiles that they are interested in.

Are you using hashtags in your posts? If not, you need to remember to tag them with relevant keywords. There is no definite number that will guarantee you perfect visibility, but most experts agree on 8-10. Make sure your hashtags are pertinent to your brand and not simply whatever is trending (though it is beneficial to pay attention to trending hashtags in your niche).

You don’t follow other people, either

If you want people to follow you, it’s important to follow other people, too! It’s not necessary to follow everyone who follows you (and no one likes it when someone follows them, only to be unfollowed as soon as it’s reciprocated), but you should follow a few of your fans and other strategic accounts. Participating in your field’s conversation means being able to interact with other users and brands.

So, why isn’t anyone following you on Instagram? It’s because you need to be strategic about your campaign, and not focus on only a few details. Why do you think people aren’t following you, and how will you fix it?

How to Find the Best Flowers to Order Online

Dana R
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How to Find the Best Flowers to Order Online

Every year, people all across the globe spend more than $34 billion on flowers. Many of them patronize one of the many flower shops scattered around the world to do it.

But these days, it’s never been easier to order flowers online when you want to buy them for yourself or send them to someone special. You can find the best flowers for just about any occasion online in a matter of minutes and have them delivered on the same day in most instances.

It doesn’t matter if you want to freshen up your living room with a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers or show your mom how much you love her by surprising her with a bouquet of roses. You can pick out the perfect flowers online and have the best floral delivery service drop them off at any time.

Want to see just how easy it is to find the best flowers online and order them? Here are the steps you should take to experience it for yourself.

Begin by Taking a Look at Some of the Sites That Sell Flowers Online

The first thing you’re going to want to do if you’re interested in buying the best flowers online is take a look at some of the sites that specialize in selling them. This part of the process is going to be easier said than done.

There are more than 30,000 florists throughout the U.S. right now. And many of them have set their sights on providing people with the opportunity to buy flowers online in recent years.

The good news for you is that most of these florists are locally owned and operated and will only deliver flowers to those in their cities and towns. But the bad news is that there are still so many options out there for people interested in ordering flowers online, which can make it hard to pick one.

Start your search by familiarizing yourself with as many of these options as you can. Googling things like “flowers online order” and “best delivery flowers” should provide you with the names of some reputable companies.

You should consider both companies in the vicinity of your general location as well as companies that serve the entire nation.

See What Other People Have Said About Ordering Flowers From These Sites

Once you’ve compiled a list of the best floral delivery service options, poke around online and see what other people have said about ordering flowers from the sites you’re considered. You can learn a lot about them and what they bring to the table.

In a perfect world, you want to work with a flower delivery service that has pretty much nothing but great reviews. The reviews that you read from their past customers should say things like:

  • “WOW! My flowers arrived right on time and were so fresh. I can’t wait to order more flowers from this site in the future!”
  • “I ordered a bouquet of roses for my wife from this site last month and she is STILL raving about them. They were super fresh and looked even better than they did online!”
  • “I can’t believe what a great customer service team this site has. They helped me place a last-minute order and made sure the best flowers showed up at my front door on the morning of my anniversary. I will be back again next year!”

Even the best floral delivery service is going to get a negative review every now and then. But you should steer clear of working with a site if their reviews are filled with things like: “Flowers came TWO DAYS late and company didn’t seem to care. No refund and, more importantly, no apology. AWFUL!”

Check out the Different Types of Flowers Available Through the Sites

Do you have your sights set on ordering very specific types of flowers for yourself or someone else? You should keep in mind that not all sites that specialize in delivering flowers carry every type of flower.

Visit the sites that you’re thinking about using and browse through the different floral arrangements that they have listed. Look at the photos of the arrangements and, if they have them, scroll through the product descriptions for them as well.

These product descriptions should break down which flowers appear in each of the arrangements and give you a better idea of which flowers will be available to you if you order them through a particular site. Some of the most popular flower options are:

  • Roses
  • Carnations
  • Lilies
  • Daisies
  • Orchids
  • Gardenias
  • Tulips
  • Sunflowers
  • Dahlias

The great thing about flowers is that, if one type isn’t available for whatever reason, there is usually another type that would serve as a great substitute for it. But if you have a type of flower that you’re dead set on using, it’s a good idea to glance through what a site has to offer before placing an order through it.

Find out If the Sites Will Allow You to Create Customized Flower Bouquets

The average person doesn’t know a whole lot about what goes into creating a floral arrangement from scratch. It’s a big part of the reason why they choose to buy floral arrangements from flower shops or order the best flowers online.

Most people would prefer to leave the flower arranging to the professionals. They’re able to get a much better-finished product in the end when they buy a pre-made floral arrangement as opposed to trying to design it themselves.

With that being said, there are some people out there who do know a heck of a lot about creating beautiful flower bouquets. They know what they want a floral arrangement to look like and they expect to be able to order one that has been customized to their specifications.

Do you fall into this category? If so, you should know that not all floral delivery sites are going to allow you to customize the flower bouquets you order from them. Some take so many orders every day that they don’t have time to do too many customizations to their floral arrangements.

If you would like to order a customized flower arrangement for yourself or send one to someone you know, you’ll need to find a site that’s open to customization. A smaller site with more time to devote to customer service would probably be best.

See What Kinds of Floral Delivery Options Each Site Offers

Are you ordering flowers for yourself and not all that concerned about when they arrive as long as they show up at some point? Then you don’t have to spend too much time sifting through the floral delivery options you’ll get from different sites.

But if you’re ordering flowers for a birthday, an anniversary, a holiday, or another special occasion, you should be concerned about the floral delivery options that will be available to you. You do not want to place an order for flowers from a company that can’t deliver them on time.

Ideally, you should try to find a site that promises next-day and same-day delivery options. This will illustrate their commitment to delivering flowers as quickly as possible and give you options when it comes to when you will send flowers to someone.

Compare the Flower Prices That Each Site Extends to Customers

Unfortunately, a lot of the people who go looking for a site to provide them with flower delivery services make cost their No. 1 concern. They don’t think about most of the other things here and choose a service based solely on how much they charge for flowers and deliveries.

This is not the best way to track down a great site that’s going to provide you with superior products and services. More than likely, you’re going to end up sending subpar flowers to someone and hoping that they arrive on time if you take this approach to buying flowers online and go with your cheapest option.

Instead, you should compare the prices that a bunch of different sites offer for similar bouquets. Check out the prices for both the flowers that these sites sell and the delivery services that they provide.

Doing this will give you a much better idea as far as which sites provide great deals and which sites seem to be charging way too much for either flowers or delivery. This will make it easy for you to stay well within your budget when ordering the best flowers online.

Consider Ordering Floral Arrangements From a Flower Subscription Service

Thus far, we’ve focused mainly on how to go about searching for sites that make it their mission to provide people with flowers for special occasions. You might order from these sites once or twice a year, if that.

But it’s worth noting that there is another option for those who want to order the best flowers for themselves or for a special someone. You can look into using a flower subscription service that will send you flowers every week, every two weeks, or every month.

If you enjoy being surrounded by flowers all year round, this type of subscription service might be perfect for you. You can have flowers sent directly to your home as often as you would like without having to do anything other than keep your subscription active.

This type of subscription service would also make a great gift if you’re looking for something to buy your parent, your grandparent, your best friend, or your neighbor. People will absolutely love getting a flower delivery on a regular basis and will thank you over and over again for it.

The great thing about signing up for a flower subscription service—outside of all the gorgeous flowers, of course—is that these services know they need to fight to earn your repeat business every time they send flowers your way. It’ll guarantee that you find the freshest, most beautiful flowers waiting for you at your front door every time a floral arrangement is delivered.

Analyze How Fresh Flowers From a Site Are When They Arrive

You can do every single thing that we mentioned on this list and find what you think is the best floral delivery service in the business. But the truth is that you’re not really going to know if they’re the best until you see the flowers they send out.

There are plenty of sites out there that put up incredible photos of flowers and promise to offer the fastest delivery services around. They also claim to offer the best prices and great customer service to match.

But until you see the types of flowers that they send out for yourself, there’s no surefire way of knowing where they stand compared to other sites. You need to check out their flowers when they arrive to see how fresh and fragrant they truly are.

This will let you know whether or not you should order flowers from them again. If they don’t hit the mark, there are so many other great sites that would love to have your business.

Buying the Best Flowers Online Is Even Easier Than You Might Think

When different companies started selling their flowers online, ordering them turned into a crapshoot for many people. Those ordering flowers weren’t exactly sure what was going to show up.

But these days, the companies that specialize in selling the best flowers online have perfected the craft of creating beautiful floral arrangements and shipping them out to their customers. They have the whole process down to a science.

That has made it a little difficult for people to narrow down their choices and select one site over all the rest when ordering flowers online. But it’s made it so much easier for them to order flowers and to trust that they’re going to look amazing when they arrive.

If you’ve never tried ordering flowers online, give it a try today. You’ll be blown away by how simple it is to order them and have them sent anywhere you want.

Find out more about ordering flowers online by reading through the articles on our blog.

Coronavirus: US Oil Prices Fall to Lowest Level Since 1999

Clyde K. Valle
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Coronavirus: US Oil Prices Fall to Lowest Level Since 1999

The price of US oil has dropped to a level not seen since 1999, as demand dries up and storage runs out.

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US oil, dropped 14% to $15.65 in Asia trading on April 20.

The oil market has come under intense pressure during the coronavirus pandemic with a huge slump in demand.

US storage facilities are now struggling to cope with the glut of oil, weakening prices further.

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The oil industry has been struggling with both tumbling demand and in-fighting among producers about reducing output.

Earlier this month, OPEC members and its allies finally agreed a record deal to slash global output by about 10%. The deal was the largest cut in oil production ever to have been agreed.

However, analysts said the cuts were not big enough to make a difference.

Meanwhile, concern continues to mount that storage facilities in the US will run out of capacity, with stockpiles at Cushing, the main delivery point in the US for oil, rising almost 50% since the start of March, according to ANZ Bank.

“We hold some hope for a recovery later this year,” the bank said in its research note.

The drop was also driven by a technicality of the global oil market. Oil is traded on its future price and May futures contracts are due to expire on April 21. Traders will be keen to offload those holdings to avoid having to take delivery of the oil and incurring storage costs.

Brent oil, the benchmark used by Europe and the rest of the world, was slightly weaker, down 0.8% to $27.87 a barrel.

Coronavirus: Spain to Allow Children Outside After Six Weeks of Confinement

Diane A. Wade
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Coronavirus: Spain to Allow Children Outside After Six Weeks of Confinement

Spain will allow children outside after six weeks of confinement, the country’s prime minister has announced.

Spanish children have been kept at home since March 14, under strict measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Now PM Pedro Sánchez aims to relax the rule on April 27 so they can “get some fresh air”.

Meanwhile, Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who has young children herself, this week pleaded with the government to allow children outside.

Spain has seen more than 20,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic and almost 200,000 reported cases.

In a TV briefing on April 18, PM Sánchez said Spain had left behind “the most extreme moments and contained the brutal onslaught of the pandemic”.

However, the prime minister said he would ask parliament to extend the country’s state of alarm to May 9 as the achievements made were “still insufficient and above all fragile” and could not be jeopardized by “hasty decisions”.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Coronavirus: Spain Loosens Restrictions as Number of New Infections Continues to Drop

Another 410 deaths were reported on April 19 – fewer than the previous day. The latest death toll is well down from the peak of the pandemic, and the government allowed some non-essential workers to resume construction and manufacturing on April 13.

However, the main lockdown measures remain in place, with adults only allowed out to visit food stores and pharmacies or work considered essential. Children have been barred from going outside their homes completely.

Spain’s eight million children have already spent five weeks in confinement and there has been growing unease at the risk to their health.

The Spanish Children’s Rights Coalition has warned of mental and physical health problems for children as a result of such measures and called for boys and girls to be allowed outside to play and do some physical activity.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau demanded: “These children need to get out. Wait no more: Free our children!”

Coronavirus: Orthodox Easter Celebrated Under Lockdown

James J. Williams
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Coronavirus: Orthodox Easter Celebrated Under Lockdown

Orthodox Christians from all over the world are celebrating the most important festival in their calendar this weekend amid a series of restrictions and bans on traditional observance.

Authorities in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have said congregations must not attend services.

However, in Georgia, worshippers will still be able to attend churches.

Russia’s Orthodox Church has agreed to break from its annual traditions and is urging millions of believers not to attend church. Worshippers usually attend late-night processions to receive blessings. This year Mass will only be held in the presence of priests and other clergy.

In Greece, restrictions on movement have so far been widely praised for curbing the spread of coronavirus.

This Easter authorities have banned attendance of church services, which would normally attract hundreds of thousands of worshippers.

When the Holy Fire arrives in Athens on Saturday evening it will be taken to the Jerusalem patriarchate in Athens and unusually will not be distributed to churches elsewhere.

The Church has backed the ban and thousands of police have been deployed to prevent Greeks using the holiday to visit relatives or second homes.

Image source: kremlin.ru

Easter 2020: Pope Francis Urges People Not to Yield to Fear Over Coronavirus

In Romania, people have been told they will not be allowed to leave their homes to receive the Holy Fire on Easter night or take bread splashed with holy water and wine, as is traditional. However, the Holy Light will be distributed to the homes of believers who request it.

The neighboring country, Bulgaria, has imposed a curfew on the capital Sofia to stop traffic in and out of the city to stop people heading off on holiday.

Churches in Serbia and Montenegro have told worshippers to celebrate Easter at home.

However, North Macedonia’s Orthodox Church says it will not use force to prevent people going to church.

InUkraine, officials have said riot police will be deployed if believers start gathering at churches in big numbers.

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II held a Good Friday service without a congregation at a monastery north-east of Cairo. The service was televised live on Coptic Orthodox TV channels and showed deacons and priests gathered with gaps between them to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The Holy Flame was taken on Saturday, April 18, to the Church of the Holy Nativity in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

The traditional Holy Fire ceremony went ahead in a near-deserted Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The church was closed last month and only a handful of Orthodox clergy, some of them wearing black masks, were allowed in for the ceremony.

A candle is traditionally lit with the Holy Fire in the crypt of the Holy Sepulchre by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus.

Instead of the flame being passed on to thousands of pilgrims, this time the ceremony was attended by the Armenian Orthodox patriarch, four assistants and Coptic and Syrian archbishops, Israeli media report.

The church bells tolled and the flame was carried out of the church by Theophilos III and others to be taken to Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv and flown to 10 countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVfwETJoZ40

Coronavirus: Wuhan Increases Death Toll By 50%

Kathryn R. Bown
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Coronavirus: Wuhan Increases Death Toll By 50%

Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus originated last year, has raised its official Covid-19 death toll by 50%, adding 1,290 fatalities.

The city’s officials attributed the new figure to updated reporting and deaths outside hospitals. China has insisted there was no cover-up.

China has been accused of downplaying the severity of its virus outbreak.

Wuhan’s 11 million residents spent months in strict lockdown conditions, which have only recently been eased.

The latest official figures bring the death toll in Wuhan to 3,869, increasing the national total to more than 4,600.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, China has confirmed nearly 84,000 Covid-19 infections, the seventh-highest globally.

The new coronavirus has had a huge impact on China’s economy, which shrank for the first time in decades in the first quarter of the year.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

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In a statement released on April 17, officials in Wuhan said the revised figures were the result of new data received from multiple sources, including records kept by funeral homes and prisons.

Deaths linked to the virus outside hospitals, such as people who died at home, had not previously been recorded.

According to the statement, the “statistical verification” followed efforts by authorities to “ensure that information on the city’s Covid-19 epidemic is open, transparent and the data [is] accurate”.

The statement added that health systems were initially overwhelmed and cases were “mistakenly reported” – in some instances counted more than once and in others missed entirely.

A shortage of testing capacity in the early stages meant that many infected patients were not accounted for, it said.

A spokesman for China’s National Health Commission, Mi Feng, said the new death count came from a “comprehensive review” of epidemic data.

In its daily news conference, the foreign ministry said accusations of a cover-up, which have been made most stridently on the world stage by President Donald Trump, were unsubstantiated. “We’ll never allow any concealment,” a spokesman said.

The April 17 revised figures come amid growing international concern that deaths in China have been under-reported. Questions have also been raised about Beijing’s handling of the epidemic, particularly in its early stages.

In December 2019, Chinese authorities launched an investigation into a mysterious viral pneumonia after cases began circulating in Wuhan.

The country reported the cases to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN’s global health agency, on December 31.

However, WHO experts were only allowed to visit China and investigate the outbreak on February 10, by which time the country had more than 40,000 cases.

The mayor of Wuhan city has previously admitted there was a lack of action between the start of January – when about 100 cases had been confirmed – and January 23, when city-wide restrictions were enacted.

Around that time, Dr. Li Wenliang, who tried to warn his colleagues about an outbreak of a SARS-like virus, was silenced by the authorities. He later died from Covid-19.

Coronavirus: President Trump Unveils “Opening Up America Again” Guidelines

Diane A. Wade
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Coronavirus: President Trump Unveils “Opening Up America Again” Guidelines

President Donald Trump has given governors guidance on reopening state economies in the coming months as the new coronavirus continues to spread across the US.

“Opening up America Again” guidelines outline three phases for states to gradually ease their lockdowns.

President Trump promised governors they would be handling the process themselves, with help from the federal government.

However, there has been a mixed reception to the plans, with a leading Democrat calling them vague and inconsistent.

The US currently has 699,044 confirmed cases and 36,849 deaths due to the virus, and President Trump has suggested some states could reopen this month.

In his daily briefing on April 16, the president declared “the next front in our war – opening up America again”.

He said: “America wants to be open and Americans want to be open. A national shutdown is not a sustainable long-term solution.”

The president said that a prolonged lockdown risked inflicting a serious toll on public health. He warned of a “sharp rise” in drug abuse, alcohol abuse, heart disease, and other “physical and mental” problems.

He told reporters that healthy citizens would be able to return to work “as conditions allow”. He said Americans would continue to be called upon to maintain social distancing measures and to stay home if they are unwell.

President Trump said that reopening the US economy would be done “one careful step at a time” but he called on state governors to move “very, very quickly, depending on what they want to do”.

Shortly afterwards, leading Democrat Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, called the new guidelines “vague and inconsistent”.

Nancy Pelosi said the document did “nothing to make up for the president’s failure to listen to the scientists and produce and distribute national rapid testing”.

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The Trump administration’s 18-page guidance document details three phases to reopen state economies, with each phase lasting, at minimum, 14 days.

The guidelines include some recommendations across all three phases including good personal hygiene and employers developing policies to ensure social distancing, testing and contact tracing.

Phase one includes much of the current lockdown measures such as avoiding non-essential travel and not gathering in groups. But it says large venues such as restaurants, places of worship and sports venues “can operate under strict physical distancing protocols”.

If there is no evidence of a resurgence of the coronavirus, phase two allows non-essential travel to resume. The guidance says schools can reopen and bars can operate “with diminished standing-room occupancy”.

Under phase three, states which are still seeing a downward trend of symptoms and cases can allow “public interactions” with physical distancing and the unrestricted staffing of worksites. Visits to care homes and hospitals can resume and bars can increase their standing room capacity.

Opening-Up-America-Again-GuidelinesDownload

According to the document, some regions could begin returning to normal after a month-long evaluation period, at the earliest.

In places where there are more infections or where rates begin to rise, it could take longer.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the co-ordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, told at the April 16 briefing that as states worked through the three phases, they could allow for more and more employees to return to work in increments.

Phase three would be the “new normal”, she said, and would still include suggestions that vulnerable people should avoid crowded spaces.

Tips for Making Your Engagement Special

Lisa.Felice
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Tips for Making Your Engagement Special

Getting engaged is a big deal. Making the decision to get married is a major commitment and one of the most special times in your life. You can celebrate your engagement properly by planning ahead and taking the time to enjoy every moment.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Find the Perfect Ring

First of all, to make the engagement special for your significant other, find the perfect engagement ring. Pay attention to your partner’s style of jewelry to get a good idea of what they like so you can match the ring to their personality.

Make sure that you get a band in a color and metal that they prefer, whether that is yellow gold, white gold, or platinum. You should also choose the cut and carat of the diamond to reflect your partner’s tastes.

An alternative to a traditional diamond that you may want to consider, is called a CVD, or chemical vapor deposition diamond. These gems are man made. They are grown in a lab over the course of about a month, and so they cost less than traditional diamonds.

CVD diamonds are of high quality and identical to traditionally mined diamonds. These diamonds will still have certain imperfections and different grades that are evaluated by a jeweler and affect the cost. Another advantage of a CVD diamond is that there are no negative impacts on the environment that can occur from mining practices.

Image source: Wikipedia

Plan the Proposal

Once you have the perfect ring, you should plan your proposal. The day that you propose should be a special day that is fitting for you and your partner. Decide if you should propose in a public setting, or if the moment should be private between the two of you. Some people prefer a private engagement, while others enjoy being surrounded by their family and friends. This is a personal choice, and you may be able to get some insights into your partner’s preferences through casual conversation or by asking advice from those closest to her.

Choose the place that you will propose carefully. It should happen in a special place that has significance to you both. Make the proposal meaningful and from the heart. The words that you use don’t have to be fancy, they just need to be thoughtful and convey your deep feelings. Most people prefer that a proposal is a surprise, so try not to give away what you plan to do.

You may also want to ask your partner’s parents for their blessing before you propose.

Montgomery Bigamy Case: A Conroe Judge’s Change of Heart Isn’t Enough

Nancy Clayson
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Montgomery Bigamy Case: A Conroe Judge’s Change of Heart Isn’t Enough

Press release

New developments in the Conroe bigamy case making headlines around the country.

Just days after getting slapped by the Texas Court of Appeals, State District Court Judge Patrice McDonald vacated her own court order that had forced a Willis man to pay tens of thousands of dollars to the woman who lied to him.

Last week the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont issued an order saying that if the Conroe Judge didn’t reverse her decision unfairly condemning Mark Athans, they would do it for her.

Image source: Montgomery Police County

Montgomery Bigamy Case: Ninth Court of Appeals Slaps Down Conroe Judge

The Court of Appeals acted after Judge McDonald placed Mark Athans in contempt and threatened jail time when he refused to pay $34,000 in support to Charity Lenee Parchem.  Athans could prove Parchem was a serial bigamist but the judge refused to consider the evidence.

A South Dakota court has already voided the marriage. Parchem pleaded guilty to being married to another guy when she married Athans. Judge McDonald didn’t care.

Despite Judge McDonald’s forced change of heart, Athans still has to spend tens of thousands of dollars to appeal the court decision. 

“This is more injustice on this poor guy,” says Wayne Dolcefino, President of the Houston-based investigative media firm, Dolcefino Consulting.

“It’s bad enough his wife lied to him. Judge McDonald should pay for the Athans appeal out of her own pocket. She has cost him a fortune. Then she should resign.”

Coronavirus: US Lost 20 Million Jobs Over the Last Four Weeks

Clyde K. Valle
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Coronavirus: US Lost 20 Million Jobs Over the Last Four Weeks

More than 20 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits over the last four weeks, according to Department of Labor filings.

Another 5.2 million Americans lost their jobs last week as businesses remain shut amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The economic crisis comes as the number of US virus cases exceeds 629,000.

The surging joblessness is a stark reversal for the world’s biggest economy where the unemployment rate had been hovering around 3.5%. Economists now expect that rate to have hit double digits.

While the 5.2 million new claims in the week ended April 11 were down from 6.6 million the previous week, the numbers still eclipse prior records.

Many economists warn that elevated numbers will linger, with Goldman Sachs researchers expecting some 37 million claims by the end of May.

Photo Getty Images

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Electronics chain Best Buy this week said it would furlough more than 50,000 employees, while Royal Caribbean Cruises announced it would cut or suspend about a quarter of its American workforce.

The moves come as retail sales plunged by a record 8.7%, while manufacturing output dropped by the most in more than 74 years.

The US has expanded its unemployment program, making disbursements bigger and more people – including the self-employed – eligible. Requests to participate have overwhelmed state offices, which process the applications.

On April 16, the Small Business Administration, which is in charge of administering that $349 billion program, announced it had run out of money.

President Donald Trump is expected to issue “new guidelines” for reopening the economy in parts of the country where experts believe the rate of infection is under control.

On April 15, the president said: “There has to be a balance. We have to get back to work.”

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