[[GRETA]]
On Plugged In:
Treating COVID-19.
Nearly 40 million people ...
around the world …
have been infected ...
with Coronavirus.
More than a million …
have died.
President Donald Trump says ...
He thinks he has been cured:
[[SOT Donald Trump]]
“And now I’m better, and who knows, maybe I’m immune, I don’t know”
Medical experts …
are a bit more cautious:
We examine coronavirus …
treatment options ...
From therapies to vaccines.
On Plugged In:
Treating COVID 19.
###
Hello and welcome …
to Plugged In ...
I’m Greta Van Susteren ...
reporting from Washington, DC.
A week after his battle with COVID-19
President Donald Trump...
says he is no longer contagious …
with COVID-19 …
and now is back …
on the campaign trail.
His opponent …
former Vice President Joe Biden …
is criticizing President Trump’s …
quick return …
to large campaign events …
as “reckless.”
In the United States …
the average number …
of daily cases …
is up 15 percent …
since the beginning …
of October …
with outbreaks …
in the Northeast …
and upper Midwest.
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: COVID FLU (TV)
HEADLINE: Flu Season Mixes with Pandemic in the Northern Hemisphere
TEASER: Flu season is fast approaching in the Northern Hemisphere. Countries there are still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors fear what they are calling a “twindemic” when two potentially fatal viruses could overwhelm the health care system and cost lives.
((NARRATOR))
Doctors say it's more important to get a flu shot this year than ever before. The CDC recommends anyone six months or older get the vaccine.
((for radio: Dr. Susan Rehm specializes in infectious disease at Cleveland Clinic.))
((Dr. Susan Rehm, Cleveland Clinic))
(Mandatory cg: Cleveland Clinic))
“We anticipate that there will be some people coming up who have both COVID-19 and influenza at the same time, which would be very devastating obviously, and increase the risk of death from one or both of them, so anything we can do to prevent influenza and to prevent COVID, of course, we want to do.”
((NARRATOR))
Both are respiratory viruses. Both are potentially lethal. And flu season is practically here.
((for radio: Lavanya Vasudevan ((pron: lah VAHN- yah Vah - SOO-duh-van)) is a community and family health professor at Duke University.)
((Lavanya Vasudevan, Duke Global Health Institute))
"We are going into this season with our hands tied behind our back....and we're also working in a climate where trust in vaccines continues to erode."
((NARRATOR))
The CDC reports a sharp drop in routine childhood immunizations. Doctors say there's been a significant a drop in office visits because of the pandemic. But they also say there's nothing to fear.
((for radio: As we hear from Dr. Susan Rehm at Cleveland Clinic)).
((Dr. Susan Rehm, Cleveland Clinic))
((Mandatory cg: Cleveland Clinic))
“All of the healthcare facilities are taking extra precautions to make the environment safe for people who come in.”
((Mandatory courtesy: Cleveland Clinic))
((NARRATOR))
Even when there isn't a pandemic, Professor Vasudevan says people justify opting out of getting a flu shot.
((Prof. Lavanya Vasudevan, Duke University)) ((Duke 7:34 - 7:43))
"The flu vaccine is not always the most effective vaccine, so people use that as an excuse to not get the vaccine.
((for radio: Professor Thomas Denny heads the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.))
((Thomas Denny, Duke Human Vaccine Institute)
"In recent years, we've been anywhere from probably a low number of 20%, and we've been as high as 60, 65% successes."
((NARRATOR))
Experts say even an imperfect vaccine can reduce the severity of infection.
((Lavanya Vasudevan, Duke Global Health Institute))
"There are also a number of myths associated with the flu vaccine like getting the flu vaccine will actually give you the flu which is not possible, because the virus particles in the flu shot are dead, so they cannot multiply and give you an infection."
((NARRATOR))
CDC data shows that, during past flu seasons, 80% of children who died from influenza were not vaccinated. And research from Duke University shows only a third of American adults got a flu shot in 2018.
Those most at risk for hospitalized or death from flu infections, are young children, pregnant women, elderly and people with underlying conditions. Also at risk are African Americans and other minorities.
((Lavanya Vasudevan, Duke Global Health Institute))
"It worries me a lot that communities that are the hardest hit by COVID are also very heavily impacted by flu, and we know that vaccination rates are lower in these communities."
((NARRATOR))
Vasudevan says public health professionals need to work with community leaders to spread the word that flu vaccines can save lives, make them easily accessible and to provide the vaccine for free.
((Carol Pearson, VOA News, Washington))
[[ GRETA ]]
During his three-day hospitalization....
at Walter Reed Medical Military Center…
President Trump’s treatment plan....
devised by his doctor.....
Shawn Coney, included:
The antiviral drug Remdesivir…
Dexamethasone.......
a steroid used as....
an anti-inflammatory agent…
Famotidine for stomach acid ...
Zinc...
Vitamin D…
Melatonin, to help with sleep ...
Aspirin ...
brief supplemental oxygen.....
And the Commander-in-Chief received....
a dose of an experimental antibody cocktail....
developed by the drug maker Regeneron…
######
Monica Gandhi: In March, we actually had nothing. Nothing Nothing. And it felt like the beginning of HIV, because I'm also an HIV doctor, where you had nothing to offer someone. It was awful. And so instead, you would just do-- we would just do supportive care, which means giving them oxygen and turning them over, which can help people if they're lying on their front,
help people get better oxygenation to their lungs and just keep them clean and do sort of routine care. But there was nothing specific to do for this virus which felt terrible. And it was part of the reason that the hydroxychloroquine and treatments that could in in a test tube look like it could work against the virus, we just gave freely to patients because we didn't know what else to do. Now hydroxychloroquine has been studied in enough trials that we know it doesn't work. But there was such desperation, you feel so helpless that you were giving anything that could work in a test tube. Now the situation is different. There is, for severe disease, steroids, which is amazing because it's cheap and available and everyone can get it. It's not something that a drug company is going to charge three thousand dollars a month for. And that was exciting to have a treatment that is globally available, it's only for severe disease. Second is an antiviral which is Remdesivir, which does cost three thousand dollars. I mean it is not going to be and isn't available globally.And then third, what we've heard of recently is these monoclonal antibodies, which are very experimental still. They were given to President Trump, but that was still not approved by the FDA. These are still in trials, but there's biological plausibility why an antibody directed against the virus itself could help your immune system fight that virus. And those are hopeful. But they're not available for most people.
Greta Van Susteren: Some people are what we call long haulers, is that they develop covid-19. They get sick. It seems to be handle or finished and done. But then they start and we start seeing them having other medical problems. Is there are those, Is there any sort of thought about that?
Monica Gandhi: It is-- this phenomenon of long haulers is not yet described as well as it will be. What I mean by that is that there is a lot of anecdotal, a lot of people not feeling well afterwards. But the quantification of that we need more precise estimate.The one good thing about this, your idea that, one's ideas that could this, these symptoms go away, is that this is an RNA virus and it doesn't stay in your body. HIV stays in your body. HIV is a what's called a retrovirus. And it actually intercolates into your very chromosome and you need lifelong therapy to combat HIV. But coronavirus is an RNA virus that will leave eventually. it will leave and then it's your immune system that is causing these longer-term symptoms. And now we need to figure out what we should give for that. How do we shorten that course? And hopefully symptoms will resolve over time because your immune system will calm down over time.
Greta Van Susteren: Is there something when you look at the coronavirus, where you can say, “yes, this one is not going to change so that when we do get a vaccine, that we know that we got it”?
Monica Gandhi: Yeah. This is a great question. I mean, we've never developed a vaccine or needed to against Coronavirus because the only other severe coronaviruses, MERS and SARS, stopped in their tracks from before we needed, before we had a major worldwide problem, in the sense that SARS, the first virus in 2003 had 8,098 cases worldwide. But it was 8,098 as compared to thirty-five million and counting here with SARS-COV-2. And it was - so we haven't had to do this before, a worldwide vaccine against a coronavirus. On the other hand, the coronavirus does not change, it's an RNA virus, so is influenza. But it doesn't change its surface to the same degree as influenza does. So that's hopeful.
Coronavirus is mutating. This one is mutating.But it doesn't change to the same extent. And these vaccine candidates that we have out there, MRNA, one is an MRNA vaccine candidate and one's proteins on the surface, don't seem to be in areas that we've seen major changes with the Coronavirus changing itself to evade those vaccines. So I'm hopeful that the Coronavirus vaccine is not going to be something that you have to get every year like we do with the influenza vaccine and that it will give us durable immunity.
Greta Van Susteren: When I see these outside outdoor events, I mean the recent one at the White House which we've now categorized as a super spreader. There are people outdoors where there's great ventilation. They were, they didn't wear masks, but and they were close contact. But but they were outside. Is it possible and can you tell whether or not even the even the virus that the president had, was the first one or one that was that has mutated slightly or somewhat and that maybe his, because he's at least he appears to have recovered rather quickly?
Monica Gandhi: In the case of the president, I think that he may not have had the viral --for a while, I thought he would have had a lot of viral inoculate because he doesn't mask consistently. But it's true that this event was outside and that would like wave the virus away and make it so that you don't get as much of a viral inoculum, if that's where he got the virus is one of these out side events. He got a lot of treatment. And that also could have prevented him from having a severe manifestation. He got this experimental monoclonal antibodies. and they do have biological plausibility to think that they're going to work to prevent severe disease, not to treat severe disease even though they're being studied in that way, too. In his case, he got them to prevent severe disease because he wasn't yet in the hospital. Well, he wasn't yet having high amounts of oxygen that we would think that's what you'd need for to qualify for steroids. But giving someone an antibody itself, it's very specifically designed for coronavirus could really have been the trick for him. I don't know, actually. He also got lucky. Lots of things happened. This is the bizarre, protean manifestation to this disease. We don't know that special ingredient, that some people get very sick and some people don't. And yes, he got lucky and he seems to be doing well ten, twelve days later.
Greta Van Susteren: In the beginning, we were all washing everything that came into our house wiping down boxes and bags and everything. And then that seemed to. As time marched on is that we were told that the virus couldn't survive on the surface particularly long. Then I read the other day, the Australian National Science Agency has now concluded that this virus is extremely robust and can last 28 days on a surface and that their study has even been peer reviewed. So where are we in terms of whether we should be wiping off everything comes into our homes? And how long can this virus last on surfaces?
Monica Gandhi: Where we are with that is that don't be scared of surfaces. That's what I want to do as the ultimate message. Because even if the virus can exist on surfaces, which is true, that study, the Australian study that you just mentioned on human skin, the virus is in such small amounts that that is not the main route of transmission.You would have to actually have 100 people cough on a surface, then in that wet surface, grab it with your hand and stick it right in your nose.We should stop wiping down every surface, that's environmentally not good for the environment either. And think about the main way, which is respiratory spread and cover the nose and mouth.
Greta Van Susteren: Doctor, thank you very much.
Monica Gandhi: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
((INTRO: ))
[[Even though businesses are reopening around the world, the pandemic is still a reality. Many offices are taking people’s temperature before they are allowed inside. In some industries handheld thermometers may not be efficient enough. Thermal imaging systems allow temperatures to be taken without anyone needing to be physically close to the person being evaluated. The demand for these types of devices is skyrocketing globally. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details.]]
((NARRATOR))
In this COVID era, many businesses such as this salon require guests to first pass a temperature test with something like this before entering.
((RADIO TRACK: In many businesses such as salons and clinics, guests have to first pass the temperature test with a handheld thermometer before entering, which is labor intensive and not efficient says Daniel Putterman CEO of Kogniz, an artificial intelligence platform that detects body temperature.))
((Daniel Putterman, Kogniz CEO))
"Temperature screening is something that we should do in perpetuity. And we can only do it with automation."
((Mandatory cg: “Thermoteknix Systems Ltd”))
((NARRATOR))
Many businesses that expect heavy foot traffic are looking for COVID deterrent devices that can screen temperatures quicker to get more people through the door efficiently.
That’s where thermal imaging systems come in – and everyone seems to want one.
((End Courtesy))
((Skype Logo))
((Chris Bainter, FLIR Global Business Development VP))
“Schools, theme parks, sports stadiums.”
((End Skype Logo))
((RADIO: That was Chris Bainter of FLIR, a company that develops thermal imaging systems which have seen increased demand.))
((Mandatory cg: “FLIR"))
((NARRATOR))
Although temperature taking technology does not diagnose disease and not everyone with COVID-19 has a fever, global demand is skyrocketing.
((End Courtesy))
(RADIO: So says Max Salisbury of Thermoteknix Systems))
((Max Salisbury, Operations Director, Thermoteknix Systems Ltd ))
((Mandatory cg: Skype))
“We were originally shipping, like I said, 10 a month and we're up to about 100 a day.”
((End Skype Logo))
((mandatory cg: “Thermoteknix Systems Ltd”))
((NARRATOR))
Many companies, including Thermoteknix, have developed infrared cameras that read body heat.
((End Courtesy))
((Skype Logo))
((Max Salisbury, Thermoteknix Systems Ltd Operations Director))
((Mandatory cg: Skype))
“An infrared camera is about 110,000 of those point and shoot cameras. They're not shining a laser. They are waiting for the heat to hit them.”
((End Skype Logo))
((mandatory cg: “FLIR”))
((NARRATOR))
FLIR says its temperature screening devices, including a camera have become more efficient through the years.
((FOR RADIO: FLIR'S Chris Bainter says the company's temperature screening devices have become more efficient through the years.))
((End Courtesy))
((Skype Logo))
((Chris Bainter, FLIR Global Business Development VP))
((Mandatory cg: Skype))
“Now you're seeing more machine learning and artificial intelligence to help automate pieces of that screening process, which allows for faster throughput and consistent accuracy.”
((End Skype Logo))
((mandatory cg: “ThermalPass”))
((NARRATOR))
Instead of a camera, ThermalPass uses infrared sensors to read your body temperature.
((End Courtesy))
((FOR RADIO: ...says the company's president Michael Lende.))
((Skype Logo))
((Michael Lende, ThermaPass President))
“There's no risk of it not measuring at all points in my body.”
((End Courtesy))
((NARRATOR))
The company Kogniz offers an infrared and an optical sensor along with....
((mandatory cg: “Kogniz”))
...a camera that not only screens body temperatures, but...
((End Courtesy))
((video of demo via Teams -- NO Credit Needed))
...also detects whether someone is wearing a mask or keeping social distance.
((FOR RADIO: ...says Kogniz's Daniel Putterman))
((Daniel Putterman nat pop))
"So it becomes a completely automated platform"
((NARRATOR))
While temperature taking devices...
((mandatory cg: “ThermalPass”))
...can be a deterrent to disease, health officials suggest more testing to diagnose COVID-19.
((End Courtesy))
((VOA Video of people taking temp in salon))
((Elizabeth Lee, VOA News))
Joseph Allen: We have been in the sick building era, meaning our buildings or have not been designed to help protect us from infectious diseases. So we chronically under ventilate our buildings, we use low level filtration, and many buildings are finding that to be a problem right now, whether it be office buildings, schools, in an airport. Every indoor place that we spend our time are usually under ventilated and have low level of filtration. We need to change that. So we've been in this era for the past 40 years really, where we've stopped designing buildings for people, as crazy as that sounds, we stopped putting human health at the center of our decisions around how to design operate and maintain buildings and we're seeing the impact of that right now with COVID.
Greta Van Susteren: In an airborne transmission is there, I mean there's a way to quantify it how long like a coronavirus can stay suspended? I mean how small is it? how you know how long does the area remain threatened.
Joseph Allen: That's a really good question, Greta. I mean, if we think about, even for a cough or sneeze or just talking like this or just breathing; we emit a continuum of particles of different sizes. Some will be very large like you might see a singer spit right and these are going to settle out due to gravitational forces. But the reality is that most of the particles are small, and even the larger ones rapidly evaporating become small particles. So there's been this misunderstanding. Largely, going back to medical textbooks that are decades old that a five micron particle, that's the size of the particle will settle out in six feet or two meters, that's where that guidance comes from. But that that really doesn't follow what we know from basic aerosol physics. And basic aerosol physics says a five micron particle will travel beyond six feet, and will stay aloft for 30 minutes. Smaller than five microns will also travel beyond six feet, and stay aloft for hours. And most of the particles when we caught saying just breed are in that smaller size fraction. So, the six foot distancing is a good rule but it's also should be thought of as a minimum distance. And if you're indoors, we absolutely have to have other controls in place because the distancing won't matter because the particle concentrations will build up indoors, unless you're diluting air cleaning or wearing a mask. So you're minimizing how much gets out in the first place.
Greta Van Susteren: Alright, we talked about buildings but a subway car is are sort of like a building, to me. An airplane is like a building, to me it's in the sense that were contained.
Joseph Allen: I agree with you these are just unique indoor environments, but the same fundamentals apply. So on an airplane it's actually a lower risk environment than most people think and it's for this reason, you actually get 10 to 20 air changes per hour. And actually, subway cars do a pretty good job of ventilating as well. The problem is like, you know, I lived in New York, New York City for a while. And if you're on a subway, a rush hour, right, the ventilation system is designed for a certain number of people. And if you're in rush hour, right, you could be jammed right in. And that's that, then the ventilation systems not really going to help because you're essentially breathing right on top of somebody, there's no way around it. So we still have to de-densify our subway cars and subway as best we can. If we wear a mask, we could really drive down risk. Same thing with buses, you know, you want to open up the windows, they have a ventilation system that's running, we have to be sure it's bringing in as much outdoor as possible, open up the windows just a little bit can really help. And but I should say most importantly, in all of these environments, school, office, airplane bus, the engineering controls really help.They really do. But the number one risk reducing strategy is wearing the mask.
Greta Van Susteren: I know you weren't there. But do you have any thought on this, is this sort of super spread event in the Rose Garden about two weeks ago, when the President was sick after I don't know if he got sick then but everyone who entered had the antigen, they had a rapid test right there. Negative. There are some people who congregated inside and a little reception about 15 or 20 people. And then they all went outside and there was an event that went on for about an hour. And then about I think about nine or 10 people later tested positive. Any thoughts about that? Is that a sick building and not using what you call the layered approach? I mean, or is that just really bad luck?
Joseph Allen: yea, you know well I think it's more than bad luck. I think it was a matter of when not if in terms of when we would have an outbreak in this White House for this exact reason. They relied on a sole strategy, and that was testing. So if someone got by that testing strategy, and then they met in the Rose Garden, they met indoors, they didn't follow basic physical distancing. They weren't wearing masks. Right. So they weren't taking these other strategies seriously. You know, I wrote an article in the Washington Post talking about the White House Rose Garden event as a super spreading event. And it's shocking to think that they only had one control in place that was testing. They don't do this for physical security. I wrote about it in the article, they have a fence, if somebody climbed the fence, they probably get dogs, if they got past dogs, they’d meet Secret Service. If they got into the building, who knows what would await them, there's multiple layers of defense here. And so the White House was really grossly irresponsible in terms of the strategies put in place. Strategies that every business I've talked to, and every school is actually putting in place. And to your point about what's holistic risk reduction, we talk about this layered defense approach. We call the hierarchy of controls, there are five parts -you eliminate the hazard and prioritize work from home, you substitute activities, who are the core people that have to be there? Engineering controls is third, healthy building strategies we've been talking about. Fourth administrative controls, how do you de-densify that space? How do you maintain physical distancing, and fifth is PPE for personal protective equipment. In this case, it's masking. And if you think about that hierarchy, which I've written about going back to April, and it's something my field has used for decades to protect workers, and recognize the White House did one strategy and ignored all the others. Well, it's irresponsible. And that's why I think it's I agree with Dr. Fauci. It was a super spreading event definitely. And they were irresponsible in just relying on one strategy to protect the president and everyone around him.
Greta Van Susteren: Doctor, thank you very much for joining me.
Joseph Allen: Thanks so much for having me.
((INTRO))
[[ For several months, it looked like Malaysia had managed to contain the spread of COVID-19. But a recent surge in cases has many Malaysians worried. As Dave Grunebaum reports, the rising health concerns are taking an increasing toll on local businesses.]]
((Natural Sound from Chong calling out to people walking by))
“Hi, Welcome, welcome sir, lunch?”
((video of Chong in front of the restaurant and few people in shopping mall corridor))
((NARRATOR))
Alex Chong hopes to pick up some customers for his restaurant, but this shopping mall is very light on foot traffic at a time of day when it’s typically busy.
((Alex Chong, Managing Director))
“I’m totally blank. I don’t know what to do.”
((natural sound pop of food frying in the kitchen))
((video of kitchen and dining areas))
((NARRATOR))
Chong’s company owns nine restaurants including this one, called Leleh.
After several rough months at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, business began to bounce back in August and September. But this month, Chong’s restaurants have seen a dramatic drop in customers once again.
((Alex Chong, MBA Crew Managing Director))
“So people are just staying at home and they are more afraid.”
((NARRATOR))
The reason, significant increases in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Malaysia. The country had record-high numbers of new cases several days last week.
((video of Azri and friends))
Hakimi Azri enjoyed lunch out with a few friends, but he says occasions like this are becoming rarer for him because the rising count of cases has convinced him to spend more time at home.
((Hakimi Azri, Kuala Lumpur))
“Only just go to work and then just go immediately back to the house. Even for my colleague and my friends, I can say they’re doing like that.”
((video in Chong’s restaurant: cashier counting money, employees setting tables))
((NARRATOR))
Chong says business at his restaurants is down more than 50% compared to just a few weeks ago. He says if this continues for a few more weeks, he might have to close down two of his restaurants and lay off about 20 employees.
((Alex Chong, MBA Crew Managing Director))
“We’ll have to shut down those locations where our landlords don’t give us rebates, our landlords don’t help us with the rentals”
((NARRATOR))
((video of fruit shop))
Lim Brothers Fruits has been serving this Kuala Lumpur neighborhood for 45 years.
((Natural sound pop of spoon scraping across the bowl as fruit salad is made))
They’re known for their fresh-made spicy fruit salad. But they say business has dropped almost 40% in just the past week. They say they’re now barely breaking even and cannot handle any more strain on the bottom line.
((Ben Lim, Lim Brothers Fruits))
“Much more fear, concern about the businesses will be affected on the rental of this shop and the salary of our staff.”
((NARRATOR))
Just as some local businesses were thinking the worst might be behind them, this resurging health crisis is showing the economy is continuing to struggle.
((Dave Grunebaum for VOA News, Kuala Lumpur.))
((INTRO))
[[Doctors and local politicians in Turkey are voicing concern that the government is downplaying the scale of the resurgent coronavirus outbreak. The latest official figures suggest there are around 1,700 new infections and around 60 deaths every day across the country – but doctors say the numbers don’t add up. As Henry Ridgwell reports, opposition politicians accuse the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of a cover-up.]]
((NARRATOR))
Sanliurfa in Turkey’s Anatolia region is among the cities worst-hit by Turkey’s coronavirus resurgence, according to official figures. But doctors here say it’s far worse than the government is making out.
Kenan Gengeç runs a clinic in the city center.
((Dr. Kenan Gengeç, Head of Sanliurfa Clinic (male in Turkish) ))
“These days they publish daily official cases of around 1,500 infections nationally. But some days, in Sanliurfa alone, we have 600 to 700 cases. It is very obvious that the numbers they publish are not correct.”
((NARRATOR))
Those concerns were raised two weeks ago by the mayors of Turkey’s two biggest cities – Istanbul and Ankara. They warned of a mismatch between statistics from the Ministry of Health and the numbers they were receiving locally. Both mayors are from the opposition Republican People’s Party.
Dr. Gengeç believes the government is trying to limit economic damage.
((Dr. Kenan Gengeç, Head of Sanliurfa Clinic (male in Turkish) ))
“It is tourism season and because of this they have economic concerns. They are worried that the public will be angry, and they don't want people to see their failures with such high numbers. So, they don’t give the correct information.”
((NARRATOR))
Turkey’s Ministry of Health and the governor of Sanliurfa province declined interviews with VOA. Sanliurfa-based journalist Ibrahim Uygur says the government is not providing enough information.
((Imrahim Uygur, Local Journalist (in Turkish) ))
“Until one month ago, they published how many positive cases were in Sanliurfa but now they don't release that information. Now we can only publish the daily number the government gives for all of Turkey.”
((NARRATOR))
Sanliurfa residents also appeared sceptical of government numbers.
((Mustafa Uma, Sanliurfa Resident (male in Turkish) ))
“I believe that the real numbers are much higher.”
((Mehmet Veysel Akdeniz, Sanliurfa Resident (male in Turkish) ))
“The reason why the virus is so prevalent in Sanliurfa is because no one cares about the rules. They don't wear masks. They are not ashamed. They go to weddings and many catch the virus.”
((NARRATOR))
Turkey denies any cover-up. In recent days the government has imposed new restrictions following a surge in cases. Face masks are now compulsory outside the home, and social gatherings like weddings are limited to one hour – with dancing and catering banned.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News))
[[GRETA]]
That’s all the time …
we have for now.
Thanks to my guests …
Dr. Monica Ghandi ...
And Dr. Joseph Allen.
Stay up to date …
with our website …
VOANews.com.
And follow me on Twitter @Greta.
Thank you for being Plugged In.
###