Monthly Archives: April 2020

Coronavirus long-term health: COVID-19 impact on lungs, heart, kidneys, brain – TODAY

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As more people recover from COVID-19, some will find their ordeal may not end when the infection is over.

With the disease emerging in China a few months ago, doctors are just starting to get a better understanding of how the new coronavirus impacts long-term health.

For now, it appears most patients who have had mild symptoms can expect no lasting harm, experts said.

For the vast majority of people who get the coronavirus, theyre not going to have any long-term consequences for it, Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security in Baltimore and a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told TODAY.

Its going to be like a cold or a flu and they go about their lives once they recover in a week or two from it.

But survivors of the severe type of the illness may face a much more complicated picture, and not just when it comes to their lungs.

COVID-19 seems to be more than a respiratory disorder, with people also experiencing a gastrointestinal version of the disease.

Doctors are also trying to figure out any long-term impact on the heart and other organs, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, a cardiologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado, and a member of the American College of Cardiologys COVID-19 Response Work Group.

Were going to see enormous populations of people who have convalesced who have survived the virus. Then the question is: Do we need to give them echocardiograms? Do we need to do other things to surveil for whatever the long-term (consequences) are? Freeman said.

"I dont think we know the answers to those questions yet."

Heres what doctors have seen so far:

COVID-19 patients who developed acute respiratory distress syndrome a life-threatening lung injury due to infection and had to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit are more likely to have long-term consequences, Adalja said.

There are people who are going to have scarring in their lungs from whats happened and that may not be completely reversible, he noted. Its not just with coronavirus; we see this with all types of pneumonia that lead to ARDS.

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These patients may have diminished lung function thats going to persist, including decreased exercise capacity that leaves them short of breath.

Some COVID-19 survivors had a 20-30% drop in lung function after recovery and gasp if they walk a bit more quickly, doctors in Hong Kong told the South China Morning Post last month.

In such cases, cardiopulmonary rehab may help in rebuilding strength and capacity, though a person may not return completely all the way back to baseline, Adalja said.

About 20% of patients with COVID-19 in China had heart damage during hospitalization, a recent study found.

Another study discovered about 16% patients developed arrhythmia, while other reports indicated cases of acute onset heart failure, heart attack and cardiac arrest after coronavirus infection, the American College of Cardiology warned.

People with the severe form of the illness can also develop myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and sometimes dont fully recover by the time theyre discharged from the hospital, Freeman noted. Its possible this condition could persist in some way.

Whenever theres enormous demand placed on the heart in cases when someone is severely sick and on life support, for example, or dealing with an intense inflammatory response there can always be some element of cardiac injury, he explained.

Plus, any long-term lung disease can have effects on the heart, particularly its right side.

The lungs and heart are coupled tightly, Freeman explained. Sometimes when the lungs are ill, the pulmonary arteries which are what leaves the right side of the heart can also develop inflammation, disease or a thickening.

In addition, viral illnesses can destabilize plaque in the arteries, potentially resulting in a blockage and putting patients at risk of a heart attack, the American Heart Association warned.

Theres no evidence COVID-19 hurts the kidneys of people who have mild to moderate infection, but kidney abnormalities have been seen in 25-50% of patients who develop the severe type of the disease, according to the International Society of Nephrology.

Those patients have more protein and red blood cells in their urine. About 15% of them also develop a decline in filtration function.

The new coronavirus is an infectious organism and can lead to a cascade of immune changes that lead to sepsis, and sepsis is characterized by multiple organ systems being compromised, Adalja said. Some individuals with sepsis can get acute kidney injury.

The long-term health effect of this on COVID-19 survivors is not known, the organization noted.

The longer patients have to remain in the ICU, the more likely they are to suffer long-term cognitive and emotional effects of being sedated. Doctors call it "post-intensive care syndrome" or post-ICU delirium, and describe it as a type of post-traumatic stress.

"Often when patients come out of the ICU, they really struggle to think as clearly as they did before," Dr. Amy Bellinghausen, a pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine fellow at the University of California, San Diego, told NBC News.

She estimated up to two-thirds of ventilated patients may be affected. Possible causes include not getting enough oxygen or blood to the brain, or the medications used to sedate a patient.

Neurologic symptoms may be possible, too. Other coronaviruses that affect humans can invade the central nervous system, so it makes sense COVID-19 may have neurologic manifestations, Dr. Kenneth Tyler, chair of neurology at University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, told Neurology Today.

Indeed, a study published Friday found neurologic symptoms were seen in 36% of 214 COVID-19 patients in China, including dizziness, headache and taste and smell impairment. It's not clear how long they last.

Bottom line: Doctors are still trying to understand any effects that are unique to the new coronavirus.

There may be some differences in the way the immune system reacts to this (virus), Adalja said. Well only learn that from long-term studies of survivors.

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Coronavirus long-term health: COVID-19 impact on lungs, heart, kidneys, brain - TODAY

COVID-19 Linked to Changes to the Brains of Some Sufferers, Scientists Warn – Newsweek

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The coronavirus has been linked to brain dysfunction in patients with severe COVID-19, according to research.

The research letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine involved a small sample of 58 COVID-19 patients treated at two intensive care units (ICUs) at France's Strasbourg University Hospital between March 3 and April 3, 2020.

The participantswho were aged 63 on averagehad acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening complication of COVID-19 where the lungs are unable to provide the vital organs with sufficient levels of oxygen.

Seven of the participants had neurological disorders in the past, including a mini-stroke, partial epilepsy and mild cognitive impairment.

Of the total patients, eight had experienced some form of neurological problem before they were hospitalized, and 39 when sedation and muscle relaxants were withheld. Forty patients became agitated when muscle relaxants were discontinued, and a further 26 experienced confusion, according to a measure used by the team.

In 39 patients, problems with a part of the brain involved in movement were reflected in involuntary muscle spasms on the ankle, "enhanced tendon reflexes" and their toes fanning instead of curling when given a reflex test.

When the authors wrote their letter, 15 of the 45 patients who had been discharged had what is known as dysexecutive syndrome, where their executive functions were disrupted. They felt either disorientated or found it hard to follow commands when asked to make certain movements.

The clinicians performed MRI brain scans on 13 patients, and found abnormalities including inflammation of the lining of the brain and breakdown of the normally tight blood-brain-barrier in eight, and a loss of blood flow in all 11 who had a special type of imaging. Two asymptomatic patients had mini-strokes, the authors said.

The team said it was not clear whether the patients had these problems because of the coronavirus itself, the body's response to infection, or the effect and or withdrawal of medication.

Professor Cris S. Constantinescu of the Division of Clinical Neuroscience at the U.K.'s University of Nottingham Queen's Medical Centre, who did not work on the article, told Newsweek the research "shows that a substantial proportion of people with severe COVID-19 leading to ARDS have neurological problems."

Constantinescu pointed out the issues mostly affected the entirety of patients' brains, and were non-localizing. This indicates that the dysfunction cannot be traced to a specific side or part of the brain.

The letter "adds to the evidence of neurological manifestations of COVID-19 and suggests that those who recover need to be monitored for neurological abnormalities, including possible cognitive deficits. This will also determine whether the deficits reported here are transient," he said.

However, Constantinescu added: "Although this series is substantial, it is limited to severe cases who develop ARDS and are admitted to intensive care.

"Some of the aspects may not be COVID-19 specific, as ARDS of other causes, intensive care stays, and sedation all can contribute to encephalopathic features."

Constantinescu concluded: "Longer-term follow-up studies in people who recover after COVID-19 of various levels of severity will be important."

The letter comes as experts learn about the characteristics of COVID-19 disease caused by the new coronavirus, which was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than two million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, almost 138,500 people have died, and more than 525,800 are known to have survived. As the Statista below shows, the U.S. is the hardest-hit country in terms of cases.

On Monday, a separate team of researchers at the University of California San Diego asked whether we are facing a "crashing wave" of neuropsychiatric conditions linked to COVID-19 in a pre-proof article published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Neuropsychiatric conditions are mental illnesses linked to disease affecting the nervous system, and can range from depression and anxiety to addictions and seizures. They wrote that "the COVID-19 pandemic is a significant source of psychological distress globally." What's more, the virus itself and the immune responses it triggers "may also directly affect brain and behavior." Past pandemics have been linked to neuropsychiatric conditions, they said.

"COVID-19 is projected to affect a remarkably high proportion of the global population, which is unprecedented for a virus with such case fatality and infection rates in modern medicine. Nevertheless, the neuropsychiatric burden of this pandemic is currently unknown, but likely to be significant," the team wrote.

Earlier this month, doctors reported what was thought to be the first known case of a person experiencing brain damage linked to COVID-19 in the journal Radiology.

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COVID-19 Linked to Changes to the Brains of Some Sufferers, Scientists Warn - Newsweek

Skin tingling, neurological disorders: New unexpected COVID-19 symptoms revealed – Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am

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The main symptoms of COVID-19 were known as coughing, shortness of breath, and fever. But recently, more and more it becomes known about new other symptoms of coronavirus infection.

According to Dr. Daniel Griffin, a physician-scientist board certified in Infectious Disease, the phenomenon of paresthesia can be a sign of coronavirus infection.

As the New York Post noted, this disorder is well known to people suffering from diabetes and some autoimmune diseases. However, some patients with COVID-19 complained of the same symptoms (feelings of burns, pricks from needles, light electric shocks on the skin).

The antibodies that the body uses to protect against COVID-19 infection can disrupt the nervous system, causing unusual, not very pleasant, sensations, he noted.

Coronavirus infection can have other neurological symptoms, including tingling or numbness in the arms and legs, according to Harvard Health.

Experts name the following neurological disorders, which may be symptoms of a coronavirus infection:

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Skin tingling, neurological disorders: New unexpected COVID-19 symptoms revealed - Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am

Living With Someone Who Has COVID-19? Here’s How To Stay Healthy : Shots – Health News – NPR

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If one person in the household is sick with COVID-19, everyone else in the home should consider themselves as possibly having an asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection, even if they feel fine, doctors say. sorbetto/Getty Images hide caption

If one person in the household is sick with COVID-19, everyone else in the home should consider themselves as possibly having an asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection, even if they feel fine, doctors say.

By now, you've likely heard the advice: If you suspect that you're sick with COVID-19, or live with someone who is showing symptoms of the disease caused by the coronavirus, be prepared to ride it out at home.

That's because the vast majority of cases are mild or moderate, and while these cases can feel as rough as a very bad flu and even include some cases of pneumonia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says most of these patients will be able to recover without medical assistance. (If you're having trouble breathing or other emergency warning signs, seek medical help immediately.)

But this general advice means anyone living in the same household with the sick person could get infected a real concern, since research so far suggests household transmission is one of the main ways the coronavirus spreads. So how do you minimize your risk when moving out isn't an option? Here's what infectious disease and public health experts have to say:

Physically isolate the person who is sick

If you live in a place with more than one room, identify a room or area like a bedroom where the sick person can be isolated from the rest of the household, including pets. (The CDC says that while there's no evidence that pets can transmit the virus to humans, there have been reports of pets becoming infected after close contact with people who have COVID-19.)

Ideally, the "sick room" will have a door that can be kept shut when the sick person is inside which should really be most of the time.

"It would make sense for the person to just to be in their [contained] area in which we presume that things have virus exposure," says Dr. Rachel Bender Ignacio, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the University of Washington and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. That way, she says, everyone else can move about the home more freely. A door would also make it easier to keep kids out of the isolation room.

Things get trickier if you all live in tighter quarters, like a one-bedroom or studio apartment, or have shared bedrooms. Everyone should still try to sleep in separate quarters from the sick person if at all possible "whether it's one person on a couch, another person on a bed," Bender Ignacio says.

That said, when multiple people share a small living space like that, "it may be very near impossible to avoid exposure," says Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. "If you are somebody that has other medical conditions or you're an advanced age and you're at risk for having a more severe course [of COVID-19], I do think you should take that into consideration and, if it's feasible, move out."

Limit your physical interactions but not your emotional ones

Even as you try to limit your face-to-face interactions with the sick person, remember, we all need human contact. Try visiting via text or video options like Facetime instead. Old-fashioned phone calls work too.

Whenever you are in the same room together, the CDC recommends that the sick person wear a cloth face covering, even in their own home. In practice, however, Adalja notes that "it can be uncomfortable for someone who's sick to wear a mask all the time in their own house" hence, another reason to limit those interactions.

Just make sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after every visit with the ill person.

Consider yourself quarantined, too

Bender Ignacio says if one person in the household is sick, everyone else in the household should consider themselves as possibly having asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection, even if they feel fine.

That means you should quarantine yourselves at home, too, she says, and ask a friend or neighbor to help with essential errands like grocery shopping so you don't run the risk of exposing other people in the store.

"The important consideration is that the entire house should be considered potentially infected for up to two weeks after people who are ill stop having symptoms," Bender Ignacio says. It's important to understand "that anybody leaving that house also has the possibility of bringing the virus out."

If others in the household do get sick, one after the other, that two-week quarantine should restart with each illness, she says which means you all could end up quarantined together for a long time.

If you have to share a bathroom ...

The CDC says anyone sick with symptoms of COVID-19 should use a separate bathroom if at all possible, but for many of us, that's not an option. If you do share a bathroom, the CDC advises that the caregiver or healthy housemates not go into the bathroom too soon after it's used by a person who has the virus.

"The hope is that with more time, if the patient was coughing in the room, fewer infectious droplets would remain suspended in the air," explains Dr. Alex Isakov, a professor of emergency medicine at Emory University and one of the creators of Emory's online tool for checking for COVID-19 symptoms at home. "It would help if you could ventilate the bathroom by opening a window, or running the exhaust fan, if so equipped."

If feeling well enough, experts say, the person who tested positive for the virus should disinfect the bathroom before exiting, paying close attention to surfaces like door knobs, faucet handles, toilet, countertops, light switches and any other surfaces they touched. If they can't do that, then the healthy housemate should wait as long as feasible before entering to disinfect, then wash their hands thoroughly afterward. And this is key each person in the household should use only their own frequently laundered towel.

Bender Ignacio says it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to remove all the bottles and lotions people tend to keep in the bathroom, so you can minimize the number of surfaces you have to disinfect in there. One idea: Everyone in the home might carry the items they'll need to use in the bathroom with them in a caddy, and remove them when they exit.

Handling food and dirty dishes

The whole goal of isolating a sick person is to minimize the areas they might be contaminating, so having them cook their own food in a shared kitchen should be considered a no-no, Adalja and Bender Ignacio agree.

"You just want to limit that person's interaction with other people and around common-touch surfaces" like the kitchen, says Adalja.

Instead, someone else in the house should prepare food for the sick person and take it to their isolation spot. The CDC recommends using gloves to handle and wash their dirty dishes and utensils in hot, soapy water or in the dishwasher. Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handling the used items.

Parenting challenges

Of course, Facetime chats aren't likely to cut it if you're the parent of a young child who is sick. "I think that it's probably unfeasible to mask a sick child in their own home," says Bender Ignacio, adding, "If the child is the one who's sick, they need physical contact. That's important."

Keeping small children away can also be difficult if it is the parent who is sick. "If you have a child and you have a partner and that child is satisfied with the partner's hugs, then that's great," she says.

But "if the sick person is the only caregiver, then there has to be physical interaction," she says. "And I think we should be reassured to some extent that even though children are as likely as adults to get sick, we know now they're much less likely to get severe disease."

As with most things when it comes to parenting, "you just do the best you can," she says.

Laundry

"The good thing about the coronavirus is that it is easily killed by soap and water," says Bender Ignacio.

The CDC advises washing clothes and other fabric items using the warmest water setting appropriate. The agency says it's fine to wash a sick person's clothes with everyone else's and make sure to dry items completely. Wear disposable gloves when handling the sick person's laundry, but don't shake it out first, the CDC says. When you're done, remove the gloves and wash your hands right away.

And don't let the sick person's clothes linger on the floor, says Bender Ignacio. "Make sure that laundry takes the shortest line between the hamper and the washing machine." Consider putting soiled clothes directly in the washer. If you use a hamper, it's a good idea to use a washable liner or a trash bag inside of it, says Bender Ignacio. Otherwise, she advises wiping down the hamper with soapy water afterward.

Disinfecting

Commonly touched, shared surfaces in the house such as tables, chairs, door knobs, countertops, light switches, phones, keyboards, faucets and sink handles should be disinfected daily with a household disinfectant registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the CDC. (It doesn't have to be spray bleach, or a fancy product Comet disinfecting bathroom cleaner, Windex disinfectant cleaner, and many other easily found products are on that list.) The agency advises wearing disposable gloves when disinfecting surfaces for COVID-19.

However, unless you have to change soiled linens or clean up a dirty surface, try not to go into the sick person's room to clean, the CDC says, so you can minimize your contact. Give them their own trash can, lined with a paper or plastic bag that they can then remove and dispose of themselves if possible. Use gloves when taking out the trash and wash your hands right after you remove the gloves, the CDC says.

Protecting vulnerable people in the home

Recovering from COVID-19 at home poses particular challenges if someone else in the home is at higher risk of developing a severe case of the disease. That's of particular concern in multigenerational households. It would probably be safest for that at-risk household member say, a grandparent, or person with cancer or an autoimmune disease to move someplace else temporarily, until everyone else in the family is symptom-free, says Adalja.

However, moving out isn't an option for lots of people, and there's also the chance that the at-risk person might already be infected, in which case they could potentially transmit the virus to anyone else they moved in with, notes Bender Ignacio.

"The best option is to essentially find the safest room or rooms in the house for the most vulnerable people and then exclude everyone else from those rooms," she says. "Visit those people with meals in their room if there is a high concern."

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Living With Someone Who Has COVID-19? Here's How To Stay Healthy : Shots - Health News - NPR

World Hemophilia Day 2020: Theme, Signs And Tips For Healthy Living – International Business Times

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World Hemophilia Day is celebrated every year on April 17 to spread awareness about hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. It is celebratedto markthe birthday of Frank Schnabel, the founder of the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH).

Since 1989, World Hemophilia Day is the day the whole bleeding disorders community comes together to celebrate the continuous advances in treatment while raising awareness and bringing understanding and attention to the issues related to proper care to the wider public, a statement on the website for World Hemophilia Day read.

This year, the WFHcelebrates the 30th anniversary of the World Hemophilia Day. The organizationwas found with a goal to provide better diagnosis and access to care for those people who are diagnosed with the disease but remain without treatment because they could not afford one. The federation conducts various fundraising programs to help such people overcome the disease and to bring them back to life.

We believe that every person with an inherited bleeding disorder deserves access to care and treatment. Our vision of 'Treatment for All' is that one day, all people with a bleeding disorder will have proper care, no matter where they live. The mission of the WFH is to improve and sustain care for people with inherited bleeding disorders around the world, the website stated.

The theme for World Haemophilia Day 2020 is "Get + Involved."The theme focuses on encouraging patients, family members or caregivers, a corporate partner, a volunteer, or a healthcare provider, etcto help increase the awareness and to provide access to adequate care possible everywhere in the world.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hemophilia is usually an inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. This can lead to spontaneous bleeding as well as bleeding following injuries or surgery.Blood contains many proteins called clotting factors that can help to stop bleeding .

People with hemophilia have low levels of either factor VIII (8) or factor IX (9). The severity of hemophilia that a person has is determined by the amount of factor in the blood. The lower the amount of the factor, the more likely it is that bleeding will occur which can lead to serious health problems.

The National Health Portal of India classifies Hemophilia into two types:

According to the CDC common signs of hemophilia include:

National Hemophilia Foundations National Prevention Program provides these five tips for healthy living :

The CDC reports that "Hemophilia occurs in about 1 of every 5,000 male births. Currently, about 20,000 males in the United States are living with the disorder. Hemophilia A is about four times as common as hemophilia B, and about half of those affected have a severe form. Hemophilia affects people from all racial and ethnic groups." The landmark of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, the White Tower, is lit in red on World Hemophilia Day to raise awareness about bleeding disorders, April 17, 2015. Photo: Getty Images/ SAKIS MITROLIDIS

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World Hemophilia Day 2020: Theme, Signs And Tips For Healthy Living - International Business Times

Live healthy to combat diseases, nutritionist urges Nigerians – Guardian

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A registered nutritionist and National Publicity Secretary of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Olusola Malomohas urged Nigerians to imbibe healthy lifestyle as the global community battles Coronavirus pandemic.

Malomo made the call in his monthly healthy living dialogue, an initiative supported by Chi Limited. The dialogue is part of the companys No-Added Sugar campaign.

Malomo said it is widely accepted that people will have different benchmarks for what they choose to call a definition of a successful year, but achieving nutritional goals follow common universal guidelines, which must be adheredto if one wants to live disease-free life. He stated that among the most common goals are those regarding health, fitness and eating habits.

The one goal we need to have posted on our walls is to focus on our health. Having this overarching goal may look too broad, but being healthy involves everything we set as individual targets, such as eating a balanced diet, drinking pure fruit juice, taking long walks or using the stairs.

This one resolution requires that we are mentally committed to being healthy and we take on any activity that ensures our health. While we are looking for specific activities that we need to stay healthy in 2020, having a mindset of being healthy ensures that we do not get disheartened when we miss a gym time or eat a bar of chocolate, he said.

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Live healthy to combat diseases, nutritionist urges Nigerians - Guardian

How to keep healthy while you can’t go out – British Heart Foundation

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14 April 2020

Whether you are shielding, self-isolating or on lockdown, you'll be spending a lot more time at home over the coming months. But there are lots of things you can do to make sure you feel well in your mind and body. Read our easy tips.

A healthy diet can help keep your immune system working well so its a great time to enjoy eating a range of healthy foods and enjoying making delicious food for yourself. If you need any inspiration, search for tasty recipes on the BHF recipe finder.

If you have food in the cupboard or in the freezer, this is a good time to use it. You will probably be surprised at whats lurking in the back of your cupboards those good intention healthy buys, such as pearl barley, lentils and dried fruit. As you might not be used to cooking with some of your ingredients, try starting with the ingredient and then track down the right recipe.

Check out our recipe finderfor some classic, easy-to-cook, basic recipes that can be adapted to form the basis of several different dishes.

Our cottage pie fillingworks just as well on spaghetti or in lasagne, or as a jacket potato topping.

An oven-baked ratatouillecan be served with eggs, grilled meat, or with tinned beans stirred in. You could also serve it with jacket potatoes or pasta for a more substantial meal.

Dont go out to buy food if you can avoid it.

If you need food supplies, you could ask a friend or family member to shop for you and drop the shopping off. Or try online shopping. When you place your order, there will be a place for delivery instructions, where you can write if you need the food dropped off on the doorstep.

Some supermarkets are giving older and vulnerable customers priority for online deliveries. Some are also providing separate opening times for older shoppers check online for details of your local store.

Community groups have also been set up across the UK to help with things like getting food in for people who are self-isolating, older people or those with long-term conditions.

There may not be a group near you, but this list is increasing all the time.

You could also check your local newspaper, or local newspapers website, for information on where to get community support.

Exercise will help boost your immune system and your mood and help you to avoid putting on weight while you're at home. It can also help you manage your heart condition, feel more able to do everyday activities, and reduce your risk of future heart attacks and strokes.

The latest government guidance is that during lock-down people can go out of the house to exercise once a day. A daily walk or jog will mean you get some fresh air and a change of scene. Try to stay at least two metres (six feet) away from people.

You can also exercise indoors.

If youre at home all day, it can be easy to lose any sense of daily routine. So put exercise times in your diary to give some structure to your day. Why not try some morning exercises indoors, and a lunchtime walk? Alternatively, try our video playlist of exercises you can do from the comfort of your living room.

We all need to see and speak to people, and theres lots you could try to help you not to feel lonely. Why not see how many of these you could try?

This is a strange situation for all of us, and its normal to feel scared when things are so uncertain and youre worried about your health. Instead try and take as many steps as possible to protect yourself, feel grateful for what you can, and if you need help, then please speak to someone.

It may also help to get reliable information.

Some people also find that mindfulness and relaxation exercises, getting out in nature, and exercise can help with depression or anxiety.

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How to keep healthy while you can't go out - British Heart Foundation

Travel with your taste buds recipes from around the world by Britain’s top chefs – Telegraph.co.uk

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From zingy chilli crabs in the Caribbean to creamy coconut curries in Kolkata, top chefs share their favourite dishes from around the globe to transport us to far-flung places.

Three years ago I visited Sardinia with a boyfriend, Luca, for Sa Sartiglia, Oristanos Mardi Gras festival, complete with medieval horse racing, drinking and eating. Oristano is one of Sardinias great medieval cities, with cobbled streets and balconies blowsy with bougainvillea. During Sa Sartiglia the equivalent of the Palio horse race in Siena the city-centre piazza shuts down and it becomes the course. Riders get dressed up in elaborate costumes with white masks, bells and silk, and do acrobatics on the horses.

Lucas family home was a stream of friends and family, the TV blaring out live coverage of the race, though it was happening less than 100 yards away there was too much eating to be done to leave the house. There was a table spread with suckling pig, roast lamb and chicken (all from the family farm), rag, ravioli, bread, olives and grilled aubergines. The viola aubergines in Sardinia are enormous and beautiful, and you taste the sun when you eat them.

Serves four to six as an antipasti

Ingredients

80g pine nuts

3 large aubergines, sliced cm thick

handful of mint, chopped

80g feta or ricotta salata

For the dressing

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp date molasses

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tbsp lemon juice

zest of half a lemon, grated

5 tbsp best-quality olive oil

pinch of chilli akes

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3.

Toast the pine nuts on a baking sheet for a few minutes, until golden.

In a griddle pan over a medium heat, grill the aubergines in batches until they have softened, making sure they take a good amount of colour on each side.

Arrange on a platter and sprinkle over the mint, the nuts and the ricotta/feta. Mix the ingredients for the dressing together, whisk well, then drizzle over the top.

Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from the Island of Sardinia by Letitia Clark (Hardie Grant) is out on April 30

My fondest travel memories are from childhood holidays in south Devon. Pottering about in the rock pools on Salcombe beach, seeing bright sea anemones and crabs for the first time, and using our little nets to catch fresh shrimps by the bucketload, which my parents would cook up for tea.

We stayed in the picturesque village of Newton Ferrers. At low tide we could walk right across the causeway to Noss Mayo, all the boats keeled over in the mud. It was and still is very beautiful, a largely untouched landscape on the estuary of the River Yealm where you can see herons, kingfishers and egrets.

My father had a 19ft sailing boat and we would go mackerel fishing with a long line and flies on the string. Any mackerel dish I make still takes me back to these memories of Devon.

To make a great ceviche, coarsely chop 200g mackerel and marinate in lime juice and zest, 20ml olive oil, half a teaspoon of caster sugar, a teaspoon of chopped coriander, a pinch of chili flakes, salt, a teaspoon of finely chopped shallot and a little chopped garlic. Serve with tartar sauce (make your own by adding chopped gherkins, capers, parsley and shallots to mayonnaise).

Muse by Tom Aikens, 38 Groom Place, London SW1 (musebytomaikens.co.uk)

After checking into Soho House Barcelona one Friday last spring, my boyfriend and I headed to the bar for pre-dinner drinks, where we were immersed in the young vibrant energy. We ordered chilled manzanilla (Spanish crisp dry white sherry) with a platter of green olives, almonds and Iberico ham simple Spanish bar food, but it was fantastic, so much so that it has become our ritual aperitif during lockdown.

Early the next morning we visited La Boqueria, a buzzing market with jaw-dropping displays of fresh fish, cured meats, spices, cheeses, vegetables and an extraordinary array of beans. We called at Bar Pinotxo for brunch its the oldest bar in the market, a small counter seating only about 12 people, and the food is sensational and incredibly good value.

We ate lightly smoked sardine fillets, chickpeas with black pudding, slow-cooked beef cheeks and squid with Santa Pau beans (a local bean similar to borlotti). All accompanied by an ice-cold local beer! Inspired, we hit the stalls, and I bought an array of fabulous spices and oils including saffron to recreate a fish dish when I got home for a taste-escape back to this magical place.

Serves four

Ingredients

Olive oil

800g white fish (ling, haddock, hake or whiting), cut into small pieces

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tin of cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp whole almonds, finely chopped

a good pinch of saffron, soaked with warm water

300ml white wine

2 tbsp fresh flat parsley, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan over a medium heat, then add the fish, season and cook for 30 seconds on each side. Transfer to a casserole dish.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and stir in the onions and garlic, cover and cook for two to three minutes. Then stir in the tomatoes. Season and cook for a further five minutes and transfer to the casserole dish with the fish, almonds, and the saffron and water, plus white wine and one glass of water.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, then stir in the parsley and serve with basmati rice or a big green salad and lemon wedges.

Try more recipes in Clodaghs Suppers or get daily inspiration on IGTV @clodagh_mckenna

King prawns in malai curry sauce is a perfect holiday dish. It transports me to Kolkata, one of my favourite places in the world. Usually reserved for special occasions, it takes me back to when I worked at The Oberoi Grand hotel and the Bijoya celebrations between the Durga Puja and Kali Puja festivals. Malai refers to the creamy, tender meat inside a young coconut.

Serves two

Ingredients

400g large freshwater prawns, peeled and deveined

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

2 bay leaves

3 red onions, blended to a fine paste

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste

2 green chillies, slit lengthways

250ml shellfish stock

75ml coconut milk

tsp sugar

4-5 green cardamom pods, ground

1 tbsp coriander, chopped

juice of lime

Method

Marinate the prawns in turmeric and salt for five minutes. Saut the bay leaves and onion paste in vegetable oil over a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, sear the prawns in oil for a minute on each side.

Mix turmeric, ground cumin and ginger-garlic paste in 75ml water, add to the sauted onions, and cook gently for two to three minutes, stirring.

Add the remaining salt, green chillies and prawns and stir for a minute.

Add the stock, then mix in the coconut milk and simmer for two or three minutes, adding more stock if necessary.

Season and sprinkle on the ground cardamom and chopped coriander.

Squeeze over the lime juice and serve with basmati rice.

From Spice at Home by Vivek Singh (Absolute Press, 25); cinnamonclub.com

On my first trip to the Philippines with my wife, Irha, she took me straight to Caf Laguna in Cebu, where shes from. Its a popular local restaurant thats always packed. I had eaten Philippine adobo before, in Dubai but the adobo at Laguna was the best Id ever had. It makes such a difference eating a national dish in its place of origin.

Afterwards I had to go to my mother-in-laws house to taste the family recipe. Initially, I was worried: what if I didnt like her mothers version as much? Thankfully it was amazing, and Irhas mother taught me how to cook it. Now we enjoy this recipe as a family at home and it always brings back memories of that astonishing trip.

Pollen Street Social, London W1 (pollenstreetsocial.com)

In this region of Spain, on the Portuguese border, the black pigs roam semi-wild, feasting on acorns before they become exquisite iberico pork. From the pigs, they also make sausages and the most amazing smoked paprika, garlic and cumin-spiked chorizos. I tried it while I was there, grilled over open flames (there may be nothing better than that smell for grabbing attention at a gathering), alongside roasted peppers. Its the finest chorizo Ive found, made even better by the cooling saffron aioli.

Serves four

Ingredients

350g soft, spicy cooking chorizo (about six sausages), peeled

1 large red bell pepper

1 large yellow bell pepper

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tsp thyme leaves

50ml extra virgin olive oil

50ml white balsamic vinegar

2 pinches of saffron strands, infused in a splash of warm water

sea salt and black pepper

200ml aioli or olive oil mayonnaise, to serve

Method

Light the barbecue or use a hot griddle pan.

Put the peppers on the grill and blacken all sides.

Transfer the peppers to the indirect heat zone, and cook for 20 minutes.

Put in a heatproof bowl and cover with cling film.

Leave to steam for 15 minutes, then deseed and peel off the skins. Roughly slice, then put in a bowl with the garlic, thyme, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and seasoning. Marinate for 15 minutes.

Cut the chorizo in half lengthways, place on the grill and cook for two minutes on each side until lightly charred and cooked through.

Whisk the saffron-infused water into the aioli/mayonnaise.

Spoon the marinated peppers on to the plates and serve with the chorizo and a dollop of aioli.

Norma, 8 Charlotte Street, London W1 (normalondon.com)

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Travel with your taste buds recipes from around the world by Britain's top chefs - Telegraph.co.uk

Gudrid Thorbjarnardttir the woman who found the New World 500 years before Columbus – The Guardian

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Passport detailsGudrid Thorbjarnardttir, AKA Gudrid the Far-Travelled, New World explorer.

Place and date of birthIceland, sometime in the late ninth century but you should never ask a Viking woman her age.

Claim to fameGudrid was as well-travelled as her nickname suggests, visiting Norway, Greenland and, later in life, making a pilgrimage to Rome. What makes her truly exceptional, though, is that she sailed to North America in a longship, beating Christopher Columbus to the New World by almost 500 years. According to the accounts recorded in the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, Gudrid lived in America (known to the Vikings as Vinland) for three years. Her son Snorri was the first European to be born there.

Supporting documentationIts an almost unimaginable feat of derring-do, considering the hazards and the available technology, but there are pretty good reasons to believe that it stacks up. Since the 1960s archaeological evidence has emerged to confirm the Vinland sagas extraordinary accounts of a precocious Norse expedition to the New World. The remains of a settlement were discovered at LAnse aux Meadows, on the northern tip of Newfoundland, with typical Viking characteristics and preserved artefacts. Remnants of a spindle used for spinning yarn support the idea that a woman was among the would-be settlers.

Distinguishing marksSadly, Gudrid will never come to life for us in the way later, better-documented explorers do. However, the glimpses we get from the two sagas suggest Gudrid was not only resourceful but a compassionate traveller, who deserves to be better-known.

Last sightedThe Viking settlement in America was abandoned after three years. Gudrid returned to Iceland, where she ran a farm, and eventually converted to Christianity. In her sunset years, she went on a pilgrimage to Rome

Intrepidness ratingConsidering the era, the challenges, the risks, her gender and the cultural norms of the time, Gudrids a 10 out of 10.

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Gudrid Thorbjarnardttir the woman who found the New World 500 years before Columbus - The Guardian

WTTC thanks all those in the travel & tourism sector – Arabian Industry

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rattle the world and its travel & tourism industry, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has thanked all those in the sector going the extra mile to support their communities through these challenging times.

WTTC president & CEO Gloria Guevara said: WTTC wants to pay tribute to the millions of amazing coronavirus heroes throughout the global travel & tourism sector for selflessly going the extra mile to help their communities to overcome and combat the Covid-19 pandemic threat.

We recognise their quiet heroism and phenomenal dedication through using their incredible people skills developed during their normal working lives and wealth of experience to step up and offer essential help and assistance to those on the front line fighting this terrible virus.

Guevara concluded: Whether its tending to the sick, opening hotels for health workers or manning foodbanks, they, like countless others have risen to the challenge and shown with their hearts and actions that we are stronger together and we will win this battle.

WTTC highlighted a number of initiatives around the globe, including furloughed airline crew being deployed to help in hospitals, to operating additional cargo flights and hotels opening their doors to accommodate frontline staff.

The Council also noted that hospitality groups such as Hilton have been working to provide up to a million healthcare professionals with free accommodation.

In March and April, WTTC has called on world governments to support the travel & tourism industry, projected to lose up 75 million jobs if nothing is done. According to WTTCS 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, the sector supported one in 10 jobs (330 million), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.

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WTTC thanks all those in the travel & tourism sector - Arabian Industry

WTTC: Travel & Tourism Sector Key for Economic Recovery in the Americas – Hotel Business

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INTERNATIONAL REPORTThe World Travel & Tourism Council [WTTC], which represents the global travel and tourism private sector, shared a new report detailing the critical role that the industry will have in the Americas economic recovery, once the COVID-19 pandemic has been combatted.

In its latest annual Economic Impact Report (EIR), WTTC shared that in 2019, travel and tourism accounted for 8.8% of the total economy in the Americas and approximately 45 million jobs, or 9.8% of the total workforce. The report also reveals international visitor spend totaled $324 billion, representing 7.3% of all exports.

WTTCs 2020 Economic Impact Report (EIR) shows how the economic recovery in the Americas depends greatly on travel and tourism, said Gloria Guevara, president/CEO, WTTC. In 2019, travel and tourism was a total of 8.8% of the entire economy. Once this pandemic is at an end, producing new jobs and bringing business and leisure travelers back will encourage suppliers of all sizes to restore their efforts to meet the demand.

According to the report, the Americas had a higher percentage of leisure travel with 74% compared to 26% for business travel. In terms of spending, the region relies heavily on domestic, which will be critical to the regions recovery with 81% attributed to domestic spending vs. 19% international spending.

For two consecutive years, travel and tourism GDP growth outpaced the overall economy, growing at 2.2% in 2019, while the economy showed a 1.9% growth.

Over the coming months, it will be crucial to call upon governments all over the world to ensure the survival of travel and tourismwhich currently has up to 75 million jobs at immediate risk globally, with up to 5.9 million at risk in the U.S. alone, she said. The WTTCs ongoing partnerships with government organizations will be key as we look to pave the way to economic recovery.

On a global level, the travel and tourism sector outperformed the 2.5% rate of global GDP growth for the ninth consecutive year in a row, thanks to an annual GDP growth rate of 3.5%. This made it the global economys third-highest sector in terms of GDP growth.

The EIR shows the sector supporting one in 10 (330 million) jobs, making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.

A breakdown by WTTC shows Asia-Pacific to be the top-performing region worldwide with a growth rate of 5.5%, followed very closely by the Middle East at 5.3%. The U.S. and EU both demonstrated a steady growth rate of 2.3%, while the fastest-growing country was Saudi Arabia.

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WTTC: Travel & Tourism Sector Key for Economic Recovery in the Americas - Hotel Business

Three cataclysmic events have changed travel forever this will be the fourth – Telegraph.co.uk

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Like a plane, cruising at 30,000 feet, the travel industry is a robust thing, though its not immune to a bit of turbulence.

The wobbles come from a myriad of sources. High-profile aviation disasters, like the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014, can affect consumer confidence in flying. Civil wars, such as the ongoing one in Syria, can take destinations off the travel map for years or decades. Natural disasters, like the eruption of Eyjafjallajkull in Iceland in 2010, can bring air traffic in an entire continent to a stand-still.

But the travel industry has a way of levelling its wings and carrying on, largely due to the simple fact that we, as a species, do love a good holiday. Not long after air disasters, we board planes without fear. Over time, wars end and destinations are redrawn onto the travel map (Croatia, Vietnam, Rwanda, to give a few recent examples). Ash clouds dissipate. And onwards the travel industry goes.

Prior to the pandemic, more people than ever before were going on holiday there were 1.4 billion tourist arrivals in 2018, up 6 per cent on the previous year. Travel and tourism accounted for 319 million jobs worldwide and generated $8.8 trillion to the global economy, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

So yes, the travel industry is a behemoth, but this means that when a catastrophic global event causes it to fall to its knees, the earth tremors. And when the travel industry rises again, the way we go on holiday tends to look rather different to how it did before.

In the last 100 years there have been three cataclysmic moments for travel: World War Two, 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis. With swathes of the world on lockdown, borders closed and global air capacity down 65 per cent an event IATAs CEO Alaexandre de Juniac has described as aviations gravest crisis the coronavirus pandemic will undoubtedly be looked back on as the fourth major event in the history of modern travel.

Nobody knows how coronavirus will change the world, and the way we travel across it in the years to come. To make an educated guess, we must look back at the times when travel has been grounded before.

Commercial travel, which was still in its relative infancy at the time, came to a halt for large parts of the world between 1939 and 1945, though this was not the thing that shook up travel and tourism in the years that followed.

Through the history of aviation, military aircraft and engines have always paved the way and commercial aviation has swiftly followed in the slipstream. In the late Thirties and early Forties, Britain and Germany scrambled to develop the jet engine; the first ever fighter jet, the German Messerschmitt Me 262, took flight in 1940 and the British Gloster Meteor made its first flight in 1943.

In the years after the war ended, all of the major powers were developing jet engine technology, and we were soon boarding jetliners to far-flung places. The first commercial jetliner was the British de Havilland Comet, developed at Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, which entered service in 1952. However, after three high-profile disasters, another model, the Boeing 707, took its place and became the market leader.

And so the jet set was born, and a new, slightly odd phenomenon that humans had never felt before was also born: jet lag. In the decades after, aviation boomed and has become affordable for the masses, to the point where 39 million flights took off in 2019. Theres an argument the Jet Age would have happened, at some point, anyway. Whats almost certain, however, is that the technological advancements made during World War Two made it happen sooner.

When two aircraft flew into the World Trade Centre in New York City, one flew into the Pentagon, and United Flight 93 was hijacked and brought down southeast of Pittsburgh, all of the 4,000 planes flying above American airspace were ordered to land as soon as possible. Civilian air traffic wouldnt resume for another three days, although the impact the 9/11 attacks had on air travel, globally, lives on to this day.

Its easy to forget just how much aviation security has changed since that day. Prior to the event, security checks did exist in some countries rolled out after a series of aircraft hijackings in the Sixties and Seventies although they were nothing compared to what we go through now.

Today we have to remove our shoes and belts at security, only bring liquids of 100ml or less on board, and in some airports are required to go through full body X-Ray scanning machines to detect anything hidden beneath our clothing. Frisking is a perfectly normal experience in airports, these days. Understandably, some of the worlds tightest checks are now in the US, where the Transportation Security Administration, born in the wake of 9/11, has since spent $56.8 billion on aviation security.

When the financial crisis hit in 20072008, many industries were ravaged as the world entered a global recession travel was no exception. The immediate impact was that people around the world tightened their purse strings; we delayed or cancelled our holiday plans and companies cut corporate spending on things like business travel.

With this new mindset, in the wake of the crisis travellers became more frugal and focused on experiences rather than lavish material goods. So the desire to travel resumed, and the stage was set for a little disruptor called Airbnb to launch in late 2008. Holiday lettings existed before Airbnb, of course, but largely offline and certainly not grouped together on one platform. By 2017, Airbnb was bigger than the worlds top five hotel firms combined, and today has over five million online listings and makes $2.6 billion in gross bookings. Following its lead, a number of digitally led start-ups were born in the wake of the financial crisis and continue to disrupt the travel market just look at how Uber, Monzo and Whatsapp have changed the way we travel, spend and communicate on holidays.

Another trend following the financial crisis was the boom of the outbound traveller from emerging markets. In 1997, people from developing countries made up 21 per cent of international travel arrivals. By 2009 that was 31 per cent. In just five years after the financial crash, by 2014 the number was up to 41 per cent. We can view the financial crash perhaps not as the cause, but certainly as the catalyst for accelerated change in the travel industry in the last decade.

Few industries have been hit as harder, and faster, by the coronavirus pandemic than travel. The scale is quite tough to comprehend, and makes sad reading for anyone in the industry: the WTTC predicts a global loss of 75 million jobs and over $2 trillion in revenue. We are seeing this happen in real time. On April 2, British Airways suspended over 30,000 of its staff, the same day that Heathrow closed a runway. From agents to independent guidebook publishers, and indeed the behemoths like Lonely Planet too, travel businesses face a very difficult time ahead.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of The Advantage Travel Partnership, told the Telegraph: We are now beginning to realise that travel is no longer the right of the fortunate but a luxury to be protected and celebrated. We have had to stop and appreciate what its like to leave our homes freely, let alone jump on a plane for a spontaneous weekend break to Madrid.

Once we begin the slow re-entry into normal life we will be changed travellers with different priorities. Whilst there will no doubt be a desire to travel in many of us, we will, I suspect, remain cautious and our choices will be influenced by different factors.

So what big changes could we be looking at, once the pandemic ends and the world gets back to normal?

One area that is ripe for disruption is business travel. Companies around the world are being forced into new ways of digital working and conferencing, and after months of working this way processes will surely get sleeker and become the new normal. After the pandemic, many businesses will be looking for ways to cut costs without losing staff; will there be any justification for a 2,000 return business class flight from London to New York to attend a meeting or conference, in the post-Covid world?

The cruise industry could be one of the hardest hit areas of travel. Early on in the crisis, the Diamond Princess ship had the highest number of coronavirus cases outside of China, culminating in 712 passengers testing positive and 11 deaths. More recently, the MS Zaandem has been stranded off the shores of Florida after struggling to find anywhere else to dock in South America, with 9 confirmed cases on board and 2 deaths. These stories will likely linger in the memory for anyone tempted to book a cruise holiday in the coming months and years.

Aviation will also take a big hit. Some, like easyJet, have grounded their entire fleet while others continue with minimal services.According to air travel analyst OAG, global air capacity has now fallen to 37.8m seats a remarkable 65pc fall since the start of January. As a result, Southwest has become the world's biggest airline. While Flybe was, sadly, the first to collapse as a result of coronavirus in early March. There are concerns that with low cash supplies, many airlines won't survive if the world remains in lockdown for many more months;Iata has warned of mass insolvencies should the grounding persist beyond May.

One likely change will be the change in how we approachhygiene on our travels. In the same way that 9/11 led to a new era of security processes, it is plausible that cruises and airlines will introduce more stringent processes to ensure passengers are healthy and doing everything they can to prevent the spread of disease. Is it ridiculous to imagine all air passengers will have their temperatures checked before boarding a flight, as is currently happening on arrival in many airports, and either refused boarding or put in a particular seat on the plane if they are unwell? Emirates has already started testing passengers before boarding flights and we may well see more follow suit. EasyJet has also announced this it could resume flights with the middle seats taken out of action. One thing for sure is that we will be seeing a lot more face masks and hand sanitizers on our travels from now on.

We could well see some other behavioural shifts, after coronavirus. With millions of holidaymakers having to cancel plans and request refunds for trips booked long in advance, could we see a rise in last-minute holidays? Quite possibly. And with stories of so many people stranded overseas, I also wouldnt be surprised if we saw a rise in close-to-home holidays after this is all over, with people still skittish about the possibility of a sudden return of coronavirus. More likely these will be short-term shifts, as people adjust to normality and grow in confidence over time. Whether we'll be booking with Airbnb, or not, is another question Laurence Dodds writes that the once-triumphant start-up is now fighting for its life and even if it survives the pandemic, it may not have a place in what comes next.

Travellers who do go overseas will need to check their insurance policy closely, as many companies have redrawn their terms and conditions in the wake of coronavirus, coming with more limitations about what is covered in future pandemics. "Covid-19 has turned the industry on its head," said PK Rao, president of insurance company INF Visitor Care. "There will be major changes pertaining to the underwriting and policies written for travel plans."

Are there any positive changes afoot? The big immediate one is the positiveenvironmental impact of coronavirus. In the last three months, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have fallen across the world as countries enter lockdown and transport grinds to a halt. Satellite images have shown nitrogen dioxide emissions fading away over Italy, Spain and parts of the UK since the countries entered lockdown. Many people who were reducing flying, such as one of our journalists, didnt realise it would be quite so easy.

The question of whether this pause in emissions were seeing now will last comes down to whether we will keep travelling, and particularly flying, at the scale we did before coronavirus, or if the whole ordeal will shift our behaviours and actually keep us closer to home.

It seems fanciful to imagine a world with decreased appetite for flying. However, a 2018 study from Zurich University found that when people were unable to drive, but were given a free e-bike instead, they drove much less when they eventually got the car back. A similar study from Kyoto University found that when a motorway closed, forcing drivers to use public transport, the same thing happened committed drivers soon became dedicated public transport users.

We have been stripped of the luxury of flying, or indeed catching trains or driving off on a road trip, and are being forced to find other sources of inspiration and escapism. Rather than yearning for a far-away beach, many are yearning for simpler pleasures like pub gardens and visits to see our beloved families. So could we see a drop in appetite for international travel, as we take our proverbial e-bikes to the pub garden?

It seems unlikely. While we may see a slow-down in bookings into 2021, as coronavirus looms large in the memory, and domestic travel will cut muster in the short term, I have no doubt that we will continue travelling the wider world in time. The resuming of air traffic may not be the best news from an environmental standpoint, although it will be welcomed by the millions of families around the world whose livelihoods are dependent on tourism, and will bring great relief to those economies that rely on the tourist dollar.

We will fly off to exotic climes one day, soon enough. But if history is anything to go by, we will be looking down on a very different world.

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Three cataclysmic events have changed travel forever this will be the fourth - Telegraph.co.uk

We can all be inspired by thoughts of future travel – The Voice Online

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THE WORLD Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is launching a new marketing campaign, #TogetherInTravel, aimed at galvanizing the global travel and tourism community and showing how the sector is a vital part of our zest for life.

Going live on April 20, the campaign encourages travellers from around the world to share the hashtag #TogetherInTravel along with a video simultaneously uniting everyone in solidarity at the same moment.

The marketing campaign comprises three key elements; a highly visual and emotive video; a hashtag, #TogetherInTravel, to stimulate the conversation across social platforms and a microsite,TogetherInTravel.com, to host the video and user generated content and stories.

Travel and tourism is a critical sector to the global economy, accounting for one in four of all new jobs worldwide.

WTTC has developed the campaign in conjunction with one of its members, marketing and communications firm MMGY Hills Balfour.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of WTTC, said: Dreaming is part of our zest for life and our new campaign encourages thoughts of the brighter days ahead.

Travel and tourism is a critical sector to the global economy, accounting for one in four of all new jobs worldwide and contributing 10.3% to GDP.

Our sector touches everyone. It builds communities, reduces poverty in the world and improves the social impact of everyday lives. Yet we are uniquely exposed at this time due to Covid-19.

The concept for the #TogetherInTravel campaign was borne out of a desire to rally everyone who is passionate about travel, to unify those who are working hard to rebuild the sector and to spread a message of solidarity that we are one global community, and one where travel brings us closer, at the right time.

Our message is that everyone can still stay inspired with future travel ideas and bookings and in the meantime be part of a virtual space for sharing, connecting, and collectively inspiring.

We want to thank Amanda Hills, President of MMGY Hills Balfour and her team for their efforts in building this campaign with donated time, and we hope that as many people as possible will share the video, as we look forward to a future time when we will be able to travel again.

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We can all be inspired by thoughts of future travel - The Voice Online

Inside the creepy abandoned US theme park used to film Jurassic World and Planet of the Apes – The Sun

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A THEME park in the US has been left abandoned for 15 years after it was badly damaged due to Hurricane Katrina.

Originally called Jazzland, Six Flags New Orleans is now a creepy shadow of its former self - and is popular with blockbuster film producers.

It is currently used as a filming location, for movies including Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Jurassic World.

The 140-acre park was only open to the public for five years - first opening in 2000 - before it was forced to close its doors when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005.

With 80 per cent of New Orleans of flooded, the park too suffered from 20ft deep water.

While the water drained away a month later, the attractions were too damaged, and in 2006 the decision was made to close down for good.

Now, despite it being illegal to visit the grounds and you can be arrested for trespassing, creepy images have revealed the theme park which has now been taken over by wildlife and nature.

Creepy statues of clowns, mermaids and Mardi Gras figures now lay broken and dirty, having been left to rot over the years.

Grafitti can be found on most of the buildings, while rubbish and debris remains from the water.

Six Flags New Orleans originally had seven themed lands, which included DC Comics Super Hero Adventures and Looney Tunes Adventures.

With season tickets costing just $34.99 (28) in 2003, therewere also plans to open a water park expansion in 2005, although was never built due to the hurricane.

Some of the most popular rides included the Mega Zeph, a wooden roller coaster track built to withstand hurricane-force winds and the SpongeBob SquarePants The Ride motion simulator.

The only ride to survive the hurricane with the least damage was an inverted rollercoaster ride called Batman: The Ride, which was removed from the park in 2007 and re-opened at Six Flags Texas as Goliath.

Since its closure, what to do with the abandoned theme park has still to be decided.

Initial plans to reinvent it asa theme park, with names of Legend City Adventure Park or Dreamlanding Festival Park have bee suggested, along with a Nickelodeon attraction, although they have all been scrapped.

The concept of a Jazzland Outlet Mall was also suggested, although other competitors led to this also being cancelled.

Current plans include the park's demolishment, although this has stalled due to estimated costs of more than 1m.

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An abandoned Disney theme park in Florida that closed down after 9/11 and the deaths of three teenagers is to get 269million revamp.

Disney's River Country water park closed in 2001, although new plans for a 900-room lakeside lodge with a Princess and the Frog themed restaurant are thought to be for the area.

Camelot theme park in Lancashire and Nara Dreamland in Japan are just some of the other theme parks left to rot since they closed their doors.

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Inside the creepy abandoned US theme park used to film Jurassic World and Planet of the Apes - The Sun

Vaccination cards and seat spacing: Air travel in a post-coronavirus world could be vastly different, experts say – Stuff.co.nz

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The global coronavirus pandemic will change air travel as we know it, with more emphasis on passenger health and in turn, higher airfares, experts say.

For years airlines and travellers have been enjoyinga golden age of travel. Low oil prices and fierce competition meant affordableairfares for passengers while a strong global economy, increased collaboration and new fuel efficient aircraft allowed airlines to create new and exciting products and routes.

But the deadly Covid-19 virus which has spread throughout the worldbrought that golden age toa grinding halt as passenger demand fell off a cliff and countries around theworld closed their borders in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata),which represents nearly 300 airlines, said some 25 million jobs wereat risk of disappearing as airlines grounded their fleets and began cost cutting measures in an attempt to survive the Covid-19 crisis.

READ MORE:* Will coronavirus spell the end of the golden age of long haul travel?* Coronavirus: Predicted drop in trade would be 'akin to the Great Depression', transport association says* Coronavirus: Airlines to see $514 billion drop in revenue, IATA says* Coronavirus: 128,000 job losses and $13 billion hit to GDP after three months of travel restrictions, Iata says* Airlines could be broke by May: Capa - Centre for Aviation

As of early April, the number of flights globally was down 80 per cent compared to the same time in 2019 and passenger revenue was expected to fall 55 per cent in 2020

Iata chief executive Alexandre de Juniac said the industry had never been shutteredon this scale before.

"Consequently, we have no experience in starting it up. It will be complicated,"deJuniacsaid.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF

Air travel as we know it will change, say industry experts.

"We will have to adapt operations and processes to avoid reinfections via imported cases."

A multi-stakeholder approach would be essential, he said.

"We are not expecting to re-start the same industry that we closed a few weeks ago."

He said the industry did not want to repeat mistakes made after the September 11 terror attacks when many new processes were imposed in an uncoordinated way.

"We ended up with a mess of measures that we are still sorting out today."

After September 11 global travel demand slumped and a range of new measures were introduced to the aviation sector to improve security and reduce the chance of future plane hijackings.

Greater airport screening and security was introduced, identification checks became more strict, cockpit doors were locked and made bulletproof and passengers were banned from bringing liquids of certain amounts on planes.

JOHN ANTHONY/STUFF

Aviation consultant Christoph Mueller says airfares would need to increase if social distancing is required on planes.

Aviation consultant Christoph Mueller, who has been chief executive of Malaysia Airlines and Aer Lingus, spoke with Capa - Centre for Aviation about what the future of aviation might look like.

Just like with 9/11, greater measures around passenger screening at airports would be born out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said an international regulator would need to step in so each country wasn't coming up with different types of screening and legislation.

"Someone who is backed really with the intelligence expertise has to draw up very very quickly the rules of the game," Mueller said.

"We have to get to grips very very soon to have consistent measures all over the world which are guarded really by medical professionals to tell us and the travelling public what is safe and unsafe."

AP

Strict screening measures were introduced to the aviation sector after 9/11. Covid-19 will have a similar impact, experts say.

It would probably have to start with "a very high yardstick" which could be lowered as the situation improved, he said.

"It needs to be an understandable and universal rule for each and everybody otherwise we will fail."

Increased screening measures would come at a huge cost to the aviation industry, he said.

If social distancing was required on planes that would also cost airlines because they would not be able to carry as many passengers. As a result airfares would need to go up, he said.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF

Passengers may need to queue at airports to be medically checked before flying in the future.

One of his main concerns, he said, was that the airline industry would be set back 10 to 15 years with regard to innovation, predominantly on the customer facing side.

The industry had reached a stage where money was available to digitalise the industry across the board ranging from customer experience to airline operations, he said.

"Literally each and every process in an airline could have been made more efficient.

"My biggest fear is that right now these funds will not be available for the forseeable future and the industry falls behind."

Corporate travel, traditionally a big revenue stream for airlines, would be heavily impacted in the future as a result of Covid-19, he said.

SUPPLIED

A need for social distancing in cabins would affect airline's margins and result in more expensive airfares.

Historically when the aviation sector was hit with a crisis, such as 9/11 and the Sars epidemic, corporations had introduced new travel regulations which meant fewer people were allowed to travel, he said.

There would also be a psychological impact on passengers who may be deterred from air travel due to the perceived risks, he said.

Those fears would dissipate faster in Asia where there was lower penetration of Covid-19 than in the United Statesand Europe, he said.

The recovery of air travel in Asian was more likely to be a "v shape", he said.

Capa chairman Peter Harbison said health had come to the forefront of the aviation sector and it would change the way the industry operated.

"This sort of event will recur,"Harbison said.

"We're looking at the same sort of impact that 9/11 had on security."

Passengers would need to be medically checked before passing through an airport and boarding an aircraft, he said.

There may perhaps be half as many people on an aircraft in future due to social distancing rules, which would need to be standardised across the industry, he said.

While domestic travel may recover in the near term, border controls were going to substantially restrict any short-term international travel, he said.

"International is going to stay very very difficult for probably quite a long time."

DAVID HALLET/STUFF

Airports are arguably higher risk environments than aircraft for transmission, Capa chairman Peter Harbison says.

Economist Benje Patterson said a vaccination would need to be available before 100 per cent free movement of people internationally could occur.

Passengers would need a certificate of vaccination to board international aircraft, he said.

Once Alert Level 4 restrictions in New Zealand were lifted it would be a while before border restrictions for international air travel were completely relaxed, he said.

However, there was a potential middle ground in the short term that could allow for an earlier reopening of borders, he said.

SUPPLIED

Economist Benje Patterson says rapid testing kits could allow for a middle ground in opening our borders.

That would involve rapid testing of all international passengers for coronavirus, both prior to boarding and on arrival in the country, he said.

"Anyone with a positive result would denied boarding, self-isolated or quarantined," Patterson said.

To get to such a middle ground would require widespread availability of rapid test kits, that could be performed with high accuracy, low cost and without encroaching on medical laboratory testing resources, he said.

"Already there are positive signals coming out that such rapid testing is around the corner."

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Vaccination cards and seat spacing: Air travel in a post-coronavirus world could be vastly different, experts say - Stuff.co.nz

Who should be included in the libertarian canon – UConn Daily Campus

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Many are familiar with the long intellectual tradition of progressivism within academia. While progressive ideas may hold true, it is important students are exposed to the full breadth of knowledge academia holds. Without ideological diversity, students lose the critical thinking skills to discern between important ideas. Who I think should be included in the libertarian canon is merely a sample, but sufficient enough for readers to get their feet wet in libertarianism. My methodology is multidisciplinary, ranging from literature, to economics and more. All of the figures in this article are a product of my own research and I have never been formally taught any of them in school, which is why it is doubly important this message is expressed. Besides, one of the main tenets of libertarianism is self-directed education.

Firstly, lets discuss literature. My favorite author, George Orwell was a libertarian socialist. Another author, Ayn Rand, was a libertarian capitalist. Ive read both 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell and enjoyed them, thoroughly. Both were a critique of the overreach of government and totalitarianism. Some readers believe Snowball and Napoleon from Animal Farm represent dictators, Stalin and Trotsky.

Orwell also coined such phrases as The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians, and If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. In short this man stood up for and advocated what he believed in: libertarianism.

As for Ayn Rand: I listened to half of her audiobook, Anthem. The book is written in first-person, plural pronouns. Individuality in the book is deemphasized. In fact, individuality is an important theme in her books and her philosophy, which she called Objectivism. Though I disagree with major components of Objectivism it believes altruism is evil I appreciate that it stresses capitalism, individualism and limited government. Ive been learning a lot about Ayn Rands work through her think tanks and through Yaron Brook, businessman and president of the Ayn Rand institute.

Economics is where the vast majority of libertarian theories arises. It goes without saying that I believe students should study the works of F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. As Hayek says, The argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful tools human reason can employ, but an argument against all exclusive, privileged, monopolistic organization, against the use of coercion to prevent others from doing better. Despite these economists long accolades and contributions to society, my favorite economist is someone else, an obscure economist from Virginia.

I first became a fan of economist Bryan Caplan when I was googling libertarian quizzes, several years ago. From there, I became curious about his work, watching lectures, interviews and debates he participated in. I eventually bought two of his books, The Case Against Education and Open Borders. Caplans statistics were educational and pointed to an idea he called signalling, the idea that educations mere purpose is to convey intelligence, conformity and conscientiousness. In Open Borders, he explained a philosophical thought experiment my favorite about a man named Marvin. I had emailed Dr. Caplan last summer, out of sheer curiosity, about his positions of abolishing the FDA and anti-discrimination laws, ideas hes defended in the past. He answered my emails, thanking me for emailing him, along with a link for senior economics students, using statistics to convey why the general public is not bigoted. Overall, it was an interesting read, but Im not sure if Im ready to repeal anti-discrimination laws just yet, but he definitely deserves to be in the canon.

Overall, this is a sampling of who should be in the libertarian canon. You are free to research, enjoy and discern between opinions. I hope this article helps someone in exploring libertarianism, even if they decide libertarianism is not for them.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual writers in the opinion section do not reflect the views and opinions of The Daily Campus or other staff members. Only articles labeled Editorial are the official opinions of The Daily Campus.

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Who should be included in the libertarian canon - UConn Daily Campus

The insipid libertarian memes of COVID-19 – Ryan Bohl – Elemental

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What a time to be alive. The libertarian right is suddenly rediscovering their balls after years of watching the GOPs steady entrenchment of presidential power under Trump. And their memes are here to tell you tyranny is upon us!

Perhaps youve seen some of these floating around your social media newsfeed, or at least seen a version of them. You may ask, how do I know these are specifically libertarian memes? Well, like all memes, ownership is fluid but I will say I did take them from popular posts in libertarian Facebook groups and Reddit. Even if the creators were not libertarian themselves (perhaps Russian?), the audiences sure ended up being so.

There are far too many memes to repudiate comprehensively, let alone in a Medium post, but I thought Id grab a few recurrent ones Ive seen. When given even a dash of scrutiny, the memes find themselves collapsing faster than Trumps poll numbers.

The I dont know what quarantine means meme

Americas school system has failed again! This meme doesnt know what quarantine means, and for some reason the creator didnt bother to Google the dictionary definition. Quarantine is not just about sick people its also about exposed people. Because COVID-19 is so virulent (with an r-nought of perhaps up to 5.7, meaning its super spreadable) and also often asymptomatic, we 1). have to assume its been spread a lot more than it has been and 2). a lot of people have it and we dont know it.

Hence the widespread measures that look like quarantines the public health strategy assumes that a lot of people have been exposed, and its so many that there is no viable neighborhood by neighborhood strategy, let alone an individual by individual one.

The meme also just totally ignores modern quarantine practices: immigrants and cargo crews coming into the United States are routinely quarantined if its believed they may have been exposed to some kind of infectious disease; often, the threshold is as simple as Been anywhere near Ebola lately? Many of them are healthy. Most of all, this has been standard practice since the word quarantine was invented in the 14th or 15th century.

At its core, quarantine is about individual rights the rights of millions of people not to get sick and die. The exchange is the temporary suspension of movement for others. And thats the real problem here: its not just that the meme doesnt understand quarantine, its that its arguing that the temporary interruption of daily life for some is pure tyranny. My God, what if I cant visit the Olive Garden for unlimited breadsticks for a few months?

The I want to bring back gilded age depressions meme

Woof here! This meme suggests that businesses affected by COVID-19 lockdowns should be slaughtered like the sickened wild hogs they are. There are a few libertarian fetishes tickled by this meme: hunting, blood, and disproportionate punishment for personal failure. In the 21st century, the only ones who survive should be the ones who trick their fellow citizens into purchasing artificially scarce goods and services.

Of course, this memes underlying principles are based on an often fatal combination of myth and fantasy. The myth is that businesses are entirely responsible for their own success and not part of an interconnected economic and political system in which even good ideas do not immediately achieve success. The fantasy is that adopting Darwinian capitalism would somehow be a better world, and not revert the U.S. back into the late 19th centurys murderous cycle of booms and depressions rather than Americas current cycle of booms and recessions.

The I dont understand how laws work meme

Ah yes, proof positive that we are but on the cusp of totalitarianism. Apparently, this really did happen but the meme is still stupid. According to reports, the man was part of a group told to disperse; everyone else did, but because this guy is probably a dick, he refused to. So he was arrested.

And yet this libertarian meme makes it out as if this is 1). widespread and 2). not reasonable. First of all, we dont have any evidence that police across the nation are arresting thousands of people for lockdown violations, and the arrests that are happening are resulting in fines, not concentration camps. Its like the memes creator thinks that Hitlers rise to power was paved with traffic tickets.

So to answer the memes question, yes, its about a virus, because law enforcement had a non-compliant individual violating a reasonable anti-pandemic order multiple times and had no choice but to end social distancing to ensure the order still had any meaning. Pretty sure tanks didnt roll out the next day in LA.

The Im really bad at history one

Heres the problem with historical comparisons: they most often tell you how things are not repeating themselves. You can do the broad strokes things (Rome got so corrupt it fell apart, so corruption is bad), but when you get into specific policies, let alone your news of the day, youre gonna end up looking dumb.

The idea behind this meme is that the tyranny of the British in 1776 is somehow the same as the tyranny of public health officials in 2020. But boy does that ignore a lot of history including all the times public health officials used to quarantine our asses before vaccines were invented for pandemics like measles, polio, and the Spanish flu. Somehow that all gets ignored, in addition to the very big fact that the American Revolution wasnt even remotely fought over Britains right to impose quarantines during pandemics.

Instead, this is just lazy libertarian ahistorical math: one tyranny is the same as all the others. It says something foolish and wrong, and contributes nothing to the public debate happening over how the U.S. should approach COVID-19.

That surely wont stop more from coming, though. The best we can do is lambast them.

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The insipid libertarian memes of COVID-19 - Ryan Bohl - Elemental

COVID-19 is killing minor parties’ ability to get candidates on the ballot in Minnesota – MinnPost

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The most fertile places for Minnesotas minor political parties to gather signatures to get their candidates on the ballot are lakes and festivals. But COVID-19 has made both off-limits for party petitioners and going door-to-door isnt a viable alternative.

So the leaders of Minnesotas Libertarian, Green and Independence-Alliance parties have asked state lawmakers for emergency relief to let them gather those signatures electronically.

Secretary of State Steve Simon has included that provision among several others related to the peacetime emergency caused by the coronavirus. But that request has been caught up in the fight over expanded vote by mail in Minnesota.

Under state election law, minor parties must gather signatures of 2,000 registered voters to place a U.S. Senate candidate before fall voters; 1,000 signatures for a U.S. House candidate; and 500 for state House and Senate candidates. They must collect those signatures from May 19 to June 2 (though they have more time for a presidential nominee).

Minnesotas requirements are already a heavy lift, the parties complain, which is why they are part of a federal lawsuit that is set to be heard on May 19.

We can only get so many signatures every day, and we only have 14 days to do it, maybe it limits the number of candidates for us, said Chris Holbrook, the chair of the Minnesota Libertarian party. The coronavirus only underscores the structural problems that we started suing on last year in the first place.

He said the Libertarians get 80 percent of the signatures needed by petitioning around the lakes in Minneapolis and at festivals like Grand Old Day in St. Paul. The parks will likely remain closed and Grand Old Day has been cancelled this year.

MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan

Libertarian Party Chair Chris Holbrook

The Libertarians are working with the Green Party and the Independence-Alliance Party to win the changes at the capitol.

Were all in the same boat, Holbrook said of the other parties. They have their different political philosophies and ideologies, and were not merging our political efforts with the exception of all minor parties are going to get screwed if they dont give us some option to participate.

The lawsuit is asking the U.S. District Court for injunctive relief to extend the petition window to the August 11 state primary date. At the same time, the minor parties have also asked Gov. Tim Walz to use an executive order to change the dates or lower the signature requirements. Finally, the parties are also asking the legislature to allow electronic signatures so we dont endanger the public or ourselves in getting our candidates on the ballots.

But Holbrook said the changes minor parties have asked for have previously been blocked by legislative Republicans, and that he expects a similar reaction this year.

The bill before the House State Government Finance subcommittee addressing some of the minor parties concerns tries to do a lot of things. Initially, the purpose of the bill was to appropriate money sent to the states by Congress for cybersecurity projects. While some of that money was eventually cleared for use by Secretary of State Steve Simon, an argument between DFLer Simon and the GOP-controlled Senate over voter ID and provisional balloting has left the rest, some $7.39 million, unappropriated. (In the meantime, Congress has sent even more money to the states, this time for COVID-19 related expenses related to elections; Minnesotas share is $6.9 million.)

Amendments to the bill, House File 3499, would give Simon the authority to make other election changes if the COVID-19 crisis continues through the primary and general elections. Those changes could include ordering the closure of high-risk polling places such as those in long-term care facilities. It would also authorize remote filing for office as well as extend the period before and after elections for absentee ballots to be processed and counted. Finally, it would respond to the request of the minor parties to be allowed to gather petition signatures electronically.

It is not really right and fair to make supporters of those parties go door-to-door or to public places to gather physical human signatures, Simon told the House committee Thursday. We might have our differences with people from non-major parties, but to ask them to go out and hustle signatures in public places doesnt seem very safe.

MinnPost photo by Greta Kaul

Secretary of State Steve Simon

Vote-by-mail has drawn opposition for national and state Republicans, making it unlikely to pass the GOP-controlled Senate. But Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, said he was leery of giving Simon any of the emergency powers the bill envisions. Instead, the Legislature could return to pass changes related to COVID-19 should they be needed as the election dates draw nearer.

Im hesitant to say were gonna wrap this up in a bow and let the secretary figure it out, Nash said. The Legislature has to continue operating as the Legislature. We have the election certificates, we have the ability to make these changes, committees are still meeting, we have a commitment to address election issues.

Rep. Michael Nelson, a DFLer from Brooklyn Park and chair of the committee, said the committee will keep working on the bill. I dont see this as us handing huge powers to the Secretary of State, Nelson said.

Current law does not allow any changes to polling places after December, 2019, for example, so moving or combining them because of concerns over COVID exposure must be authorized by the Legislature. There are things that have got to get done in here, he said.

Continued here:

COVID-19 is killing minor parties' ability to get candidates on the ballot in Minnesota - MinnPost

We need to be the Rosa Parks: Trump ally plans Wisconsin protest of coronavirus restrictions – POLITICO

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Moore said in the video he had spoken to an unnamed donor in the state who promised to pay the bail and legal fees for anyone who gets arrested during the rally.

Were going to see a lot more of [the protests], Moore predicted. So, this is a great time, gentleman and ladies, for civil disobedience."

"I think actually think we should have started this a week or two ago, Moore said in Friday's interview with CBSs Major Garrett. "I don't think we can wait two or three or four more weeks for testing The rate of infection to the economy is very similar to the rate of infection of this disease."

Business leaders on Wednesday called on Trump during his councils first conference call to increase the scale and scope of coronavirus testing before people felt safe to leave their homes.

Moore, who has argued the Federal Reserve should be responsive to the president, was picked by Trump for a seat on the central banks board in March 2019. The former Trump campaign adviser withdrew from consideration in May 2019 after his selection spurred public and private criticism, including from many GOP lawmakers who expressed wariness over disparaging comments he made about women and fellow Republicans.

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We need to be the Rosa Parks: Trump ally plans Wisconsin protest of coronavirus restrictions - POLITICO

Berkeley institution Top Dog is on the ropes. But they still wont take federal aid. – SFGate

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Tony Robinson grills a sausage for an order. Top Dog, a Berkeley food institution, has stayed open with take out orders during the Covid-19 shelter-in-place order in Berkeley, Calif. on April 14, 2020.

Tony Robinson grills a sausage for an order. Top Dog, a Berkeley food institution, has stayed open with take out orders during the Covid-19 shelter-in-place order in Berkeley, Calif. on April 14, 2020.

Photo: Douglas Zimmerman/SFGate

Tony Robinson grills a sausage for an order. Top Dog, a Berkeley food institution, has stayed open with take out orders during the Covid-19 shelter-in-place order in Berkeley, Calif. on April 14, 2020.

Tony Robinson grills a sausage for an order. Top Dog, a Berkeley food institution, has stayed open with take out orders during the Covid-19 shelter-in-place order in Berkeley, Calif. on April 14, 2020.

Berkeley institution Top Dog is on the ropes. But they still wont take federal aid.

For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

You never forget your first trip to Top Dog.

The tiny, Berkeley-born grab-and-go grill is a rite of passage for Cal students, slinging superlative sausages late night til 3 a.m. along with a side of libertarian literature.

Top Dog opened in 1966, during the heart of the Free Speech Movement, and 54 years later, it still features walls plastered with everything from yellow-ish newspaper clippings pushing for the privatization of the postal service to "Freedom Works Better Than Government" bumper stickers.

All of which has made the coronavirus pandemic uniquely difficult for its owners, Richard and Renie Riemann.

"We dont want to take money from the government," Renie says. "Our political background is for smaller government regulations how can we turn around and do the opposite? This will challenge what we believe in."

Will it ever.

Top Dog has closed two of its three locations since the coronavirus pandemic forced a shelter-in-place order for six Bay Area counties including Alameda County and was forced to lay off one-third of its 19-person staff.

Renie, who graduated from Cal in 1967 and married Richard in 1968, said shes hopeful Top Dog can last through April.

"Its a pretty scary time," she admits from inside of a tiny office behind Top Dogs Durant Avenue location the only one still open. "Were trying to stay afloat, but the hardest part is bringing in enough money for rent for all three places and utilities."

The city of Berkeley launched a $3 million relief fund on March 22, offering $10,000 grants to struggling small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to help cover operational expenses (payroll, rent, working capital).

The federal government approved the CARES Act on March 27, which includes the Paycheck Protection Program. The government assistance program offers loans to brick-and-mortars like Top Dog that they promise to fully forgive provided at least 75% of the borrowed dollars are going to payroll costs, and the other 25% are to interest on mortgages, rent, and/or utilities.

Riemann has zero interest in both.

"Theres always something of a catch," she said of borrowing money from the government. "We need a lot more transparency in general. Ive talked to other businesses and customers, and theyre all disgusted by the way money is taken in and we dont know whats happening to it.

"Were fixing our own potholes it just doesnt make sense."

Renie, 76, spends her days in the office and still eats a sausage almost every day (for "quality control"). Like everyone else, she shouts her order from Top Dogs doorway to keep the recommended 6 feet of social distance, and marvels at a grill thats slightly less full of sizzling dogs than usual.

She wears a mask and remembers to wash her hands, but generally feels a bit helpless.

"With the '89 earthquake, my first thought was I need to help somehow. I need to work in a cafeteria, or help at a hospital. But now, Ive realized Im not 30 anymore. I feel 30, but Im 76, and I cant expose myself that would put my husband at risk."

And Renie is at risk, but that seems beside the point for her.

Instead, her full attention is on keeping the business alive not only for her and her husbands legacy, but for the Top Dog employees in their wills. Thats right: Four Top Dog employees will be bequeathed the Top Dog empire when the owners pass.

"A lot of our staff has been around for a long time our main manager, Jeremy (Bower), hes gonna be 60. I think he came on board when he was 18. Theyre all in the will," she says. "My husband and I said, 'You know, we have to keep this going, because when we depart we want to leave this to you guys.'"

To that end, Top Dog has asked for some forgiveness from local suppliers that have deferred bills, plus it haspartnered with Uber Eats to expand its reach locally ("thats been helpful," she says), and, less locally, theres been a slight uptick in mail orders from Old Blues.

"Cal has had so many people come through it; theres still a nostalgia for us," she says. "We just got an order back East, somebodys father who was a Cal grad, probably my age, and they remembered he liked Top Dog. It was costly to them, but I can appreciate it. Id do something like that. And every little bit helps.

"Most businesses like us have a thin profit margin, thats the scary part. You dont have a big buildup of back money to ride this out. Were staying afloat as long as we can."

Its just not entirely clear how long that will be.

"Were struggling along, weve got a skeleton crew, were just hoping the pandemic wont last too much longer for peoples health first of all, but also so we can all go back to business."

The one still-open Top Dog is located at 2534 Durant Ave. in Berkeley and open 10 a.m. to midnight. You can mail order sausages and buns at topdoghotdogs.com.

Grant Marek is the Editorial Director of SFGATE. Email: grant.marek@sfgate.com | Twitter: @grant_marek

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Berkeley institution Top Dog is on the ropes. But they still wont take federal aid. - SFGate