Royal coronavirus: How the Queen treats ill-health with alternative medical practices – Express

In her more active days, the Queen was almost always spotted carrying a small leather case during her extensive travels, the contents of which were divided into 60 compartments. Containing a mystifying expanse of herbal and alternative medicinal cures, including controversial homeopathic remedies, aides would replenish her stores before each trip.

Now, as the deadly coronavirus sweeps the globe and edges closer to the royal family - Prince Charles was yesterday confirmed as having tested positive for COVID-19 - their unconventional choices may well help them and the public defeat the virus.

At 94, the Queen has enjoyed what many would consider as a favourable spell of good health.

Seldom has she cancelled official duties as a result of illness, with her alternative medicine receiving a royal patronage in all but name.

Her age, however, puts her well in the vulnerable and at risk group, especially from the deadly coronavirus.

Palace aides have, since the news broke, been thoroughly cross-checking diaries to trace any encounters Charles and the Queen in the past few weeks.

As far as the Queens album of medicines is concerned, she is known to use arsenicum for food poisoning, cocculus for travel sickness, nut vomica for indigestion, and arnica for jet-lag and bruising.

Yet, she is not the only royal known to use natural remedies and homeopathy to replenish health.

Prince Philip, known for his scepticism, wore a copper bracelet for years in an attempt to ward off arthritis.

JUST IN:Jacques Villeneuve tips Lewis Hamilton and co to consider F1 futures

Dr Ali is sure he will make a speedy recovery in using natures bounty, according to the Mail Online.

He told the publication: The Prince is fit and well and rarely falls ill.

Hes in the right place to get better Scotland is good for him.

Meanwhile, coronavirus continues to cripple the UK, the death toll now having reached 465, while nearly 10,000 people have contracted it.

In a bid to slow the virus spread, on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a series of stringent measures intended to up the ante against COVID-19.

This included urging everyone to stay at home, with gatherings of more than two people banned.

Those who can work from home were told to do so, while only essential workers are permitted to travel to their place of work.

Confusion over certain jobs - construction workers, for example - ensued, with many not knowing whether they qualified as key workers.

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Royal coronavirus: How the Queen treats ill-health with alternative medical practices - Express

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market Size, Demand, Analysis, Top Players, Market Shares and Forecast to 2027 – Skyline Gazette

The New Report Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market published by Premium Market Insights, covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

Alternative medicine describes aims to achieve the healing effects of the medicine. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), are among many rebranding of the same phenomenon. Alternative therapies share in common that they reside outside medical science and rely on pseudoscience.

The complementary and alternative medicine market is anticipated to grow in the forecast period due to increasing awareness regarding traditional therapy methods. However, the lack of approved clinical support can is restraining market growth. Moreover, a surge in the number of studios and outlets in the form of startups and well-established firms offering dietary herbal supplements and many other accessories needed for the therapies is expected to benefit the growth of the market in the forecast period.

Top Companies Covered in this Report:1. Columbia Nutritional Inc., 2. Helio USA Inc., 3. Herb Pharm, 4. Herbal Hills, 5. Nordic Naturals, 6. Organovo Holdings Inc., 7. Pure Encapsulations, LLC., 8. Quantum Touch Inc, 9. SOPHiA GENETICS, Inc., 10. The Healing Co.

Get sample copy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market at: https://www.premiummarketinsights.com/sample/TIP00024741

What is the Market Scope?

The Global Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market Analysis to 2027 is a specialized and in-depth study of the pharmaceutical industry with a special focus on the global market trend analysis. The report aims to provide an overview of 3D Printed Medical Implant with detailed market segmentation by Component, Implantation Technology, Application, End User and geography. The global Complementary and Alternative Medicine are expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.

What is the Market Segmentation?

The complementary and alternative medicine market is segmented on the basis of intervention and distribution method. Based on intervention the market is segmented as botanicals, acupuncture, mind, body, and yoga and magnetic intervention. Further on the basis of botanicals the market is categorized as ayurveda, naturopathy and homeopathy. Further on the basis of mind, body, and yoga the market is categorized as yoga, meditation, energy healing, chakra healing and hypnotherapy. On the basis of distribution method the market is categorized as direct contact, e-training and distance correspondence.

What is the Regional Framework?

The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Complementary and Alternative Medicine market based on various segments. It also provides market size and forecast estimates from year 2017 to 2027 with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The Complementary and Alternative Medicine market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of 18 countries globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.

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Fundamentals of Table of Content:

1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.5 Market by Application1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered

2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market Size2.2 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Growth Trends by Regions2.3 Industry Trends

3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market Size by Manufacturers3.2 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Complementary and Alternative Medicine Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans

4 Breakdown Data by Product4.1 Global Complementary and Alternative Medicine Sales by Product4.2 Global Complementary and Alternative Medicine Revenue by Product4.3 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Price by Product

5 Breakdown Data by End User5.1 Overview5.2 Global Complementary and Alternative Medicine Breakdown Data by End User

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Complementary and Alternative Medicine Market Size, Demand, Analysis, Top Players, Market Shares and Forecast to 2027 - Skyline Gazette

The Sad Demise of the Indian Board of Alternative Medicines – Times of India

Dr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal established an Institution namely the Indian Board of Alternative Medicines in the year 1991 in Kolkata, India. The Institution was established to impart education, conduct conferences and publish books in the field of Alternative Medicines, viz. Yoga, Naturopathy, Reiki, Meditation, Acupressure, Acupuncture, etc.

The Institution went onto become the largest institution in India and people from all over the country began to undergo its online and distance education courses, attend its glittery International Conferences and buy its published books.

The Institution over the years received approval from bodies in the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand, as well as its students were receiving attestation from the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. The Institution continuously was receiving praiseworthy messages of support from the Office of the President, Prime Minister, Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers of State, etc. for the Conferences and Seminars organized for popularizing and propagating the system of alternative medicines.

Seeing the growth of the Institution and the surge in demand for the system of Alternative Medicines in India and worldwide, several other institutions also mushroomed in the country and started offering courses in various disciplines of alternative medicines.

N.B.: Institutions of Alternative Medicines only have accord to conduct courses in Alternative Medicines (Yoga, Naturopathy, Acupuncture, Meditation, etc.). They do not have the accord to offer degrees in Medical Science and Surgery, for which additional approval of the Medical Council of India is required.

However, in a very unfortunate turn of events, it was alleged by the State of West Bengal in 2017, one Institution of Alternative Medicines run by one Mr. Romes Badyo out of Barasat, West Bengal, was flouting the Government norms and without any approval or accord from Medical Council of India (MCI) had awarded certain degrees in Allopathic Medicine and Surgery.

The Government of West Bengal in an immediate reaction lodged FIRs against all Institutions of Alternative Medicines with strict instruction to detain and arrest Officials of all such Institutions.

Indian Board of Alternative Medicines headed by Dr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal filed for Quashing of the FIR in the Honble Calcutta High Court pleading that other Institutions may have indulged in malpractice but his Institution has not indulged in the illegal practice of awarding degrees in Allopathic Medicine and Surgery. He welcomed the State Government to conduct an investigation against him but that could also be done without arresting the Officials.

However, just days before the final hearing of the above matter could be concluded in the Honble High Court of Calcutta, the State Government detained the Officials of the Institution, namely Dr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal and his son, Chandan Agarwal.

The State Government also freezed their Bank Accounts, sent details to the Financial Intelligence Unit in New Delhi and conducted a thorough investigation. However, the State Government found no financial mishap on the part of the Institution or its officials, and thereafter all the said Accounts, etc. were de-freezed by the Honble Court. India is a democratic nation where Courts follow the principle of Satyamev Jayate and Truth Always Prevails, sooner or later. In this case, justice has not yet been fully awarded.

Dr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal is a very respected gentleman in the society with more than 25 degrees to his name in various fields, recipient of several awards from national and international bodies and author of tens of books on Health, Healing, Yoga and Alternative Medicines. He has represented IBAM at the United Nations in the USA, has been a Guest Speaker at Conferences of the World Health Organization (WHO), and served as the Chairman of the Haryana Governments Committee for syllabi on Alternative Medicines. He is also the Founding Editor of Health Sciences Journal, a Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India registered body.

His son, Chandan Agarwal, is an established Chartered Accountant.

With the unfortunate event that the father-son duo was made to live through, they have shut down the Institution in Kolkata and have expressed no desire of running it any further in West Bengal.

In the meantime, Dr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal has founded a Private University in Ranchi, Jharkhand, approved by the Government of Jharkhand and UGC, Government of India. He has stated that the courses on Alternative Medicines shall re-commence soon under the University in Ranchi, viz. Pragyan International University, and has no plans of establishing any Institution in West Bengal in the near future.

Pragyan International University has been established by an Act of State Legislature of Jharkhand in Ranchi and has received the assent of the Honble Governor.

Disclaimer: This article has been produced on behalf of Indian Board of Alternative Medicines by Mediawire team.

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The Sad Demise of the Indian Board of Alternative Medicines - Times of India

Feds Warn Telemarketers to Stop the Coronavirus Robocall Scams – The Daily Beast

Federal regulators fired a shot across the bow of a host of telemarketing firms on Friday, warning them against propping up illegal robocalling scams seeking to cash in on the coronavirus pandemic.

Staff at the Federal Trade Commission have reason to believe that one or more of your customers may be involved in such illegal telemarketing campaigns, the FTC wrote in letters to nine call center companies dated March 27. Many of these robocalls prey upon consumer fear of the pandemic to perpetrate scams or disseminate disinformation.

Government agencies and private watchdog groups have tallied thousands of such robocalls, which attempt to bilk consumers with offers of discounted health insurance and free coronavirus testing kits. They represent one of several new targets of government-wide efforts to crack down on scammers using the virus outbreak to try to cash in.

There already is a high level of anxiety over the potential spread of coronavirus, FTC chairman Joe Simons said in a statement on Fridays warning letters. What we dont need in this situation are companies preying on consumers by promoting products with fraudulent prevention and treatment claims. These warning letters are just the first step. Were prepared to take enforcement actions against companies that continue to market this type of scam.

The Federal Communications Commission is also monitoring coronavirus-related telemarketing scams. Its even set up a website where visitors can listen to recordings of scam phone calls and find information on weeding out and reporting the scammers.

We are aware of and concerned by scam calls and texts trying to prey on consumers during this crisis, an FCC spokesperson told The Daily Beast last week. We hope consumers will use extreme caution and will refrain from providing any suspicious callers or texters with any personal or financial information. As we review consumer complaints about specific scam patterns, we will work to help consumers stay informed.

Archives of coronavirus-related robocalls set up by the FCC and privately run websites such as NoMoRobo and YouMail reveal some templates for the various scammers trying to capitalize on the outbreak. Many offer free coronavirus testing kits. Others hawk health insurance or various Medicare supplemental plans. Some even impersonate federal agencies themselvesDear citizen, this is United States Department of Health, one recorded caller says, if you wish to talk to a health advisor right now please press one.

Federal law allows the FTC to seek civil penalties against companies engaged in illegal robocalling, which includes any automated marketing calls that make a false or misleading statement to induce any person to pay for goods or services or to induce a charitable contribution.

The novel coronavirus has dominated headlines for weeks now, and fears about its spread provide fertile ground for scammers looking to market fake health care products. Nearly as concerning as overt efforts to extract money from unsuspecting consumers is the disinformation about the virus that these appeals often spread.

The FTC and the Food and Drug Administration have also gone after homeopathic medicine proponents and other natural wellness websites of late over false claims that their products can cure or mitigate the coronavirus. The agencies highest profile target to date is Jim Bakker, a televangelist who has promoted fabricated silver-based cures to the virus on his popular talk show.

The state of Missouri is now suing Bakker to prevent him from making such claims. A post on his website headlined Covid-19 Coronavirus, building immunity, staying healthy and the benefits of Silver Solution is no longer publicly accessible.

Others targeted in the federal governments crackdown on such misinformation have been more obstinate. After receiving a warning letter on March 6, the website Herbal Amy, a natural medicine website that had promoted various plant-based coronavirus remedies, removed the post flagged in the letter from its website. But two weeks after the letter was sent, Herbal Amys Facebook page doubled down on the underlying claims.

Cinchona [tree bark] is the only economically practical source of quinine, a drug that is still recommended for the treatment of malaria and now Coronavirus, the page read. If anyone tells you that herbs don't work, they are either ignorant to facts or lying.

Additional FTC action against other sources of such misinformation indicates that it hasnt slowed up since the commission went after Bakker, Herbal Amy, and five other companies earlier this month. Last week, the FTC sent two more warning letters to companies engaged in similar practices. One of them, corona-cure.com, appears to have removed its website entirely since receiving a warning letter on Thursday. Postings on another website, carahealth.com, claiming that the virus can be addressed through Chinese medicinal herb extracts remained publicly accessible on Sunday afternoon despite a warning letter also sent on Thursday.

Though few news consumers have likely come across sources of information as obscure as those, such misinformation is not confined to fringey alternative medicine Facebook pages. Some large, widely read news outlets have peddled similar alternative medicine and homeopathic remedies.

The health vertical on conservative news giant Newsmax is a hotbed of such claims. As the coronavirus spread, it published debunked claims that originated on an alternative medicine website that regular doses of vitamin C could slow or entirely stop the spread of the virus.

Newsmax has promoted other dubious remedies as well. Zinc Lozenges May Help Combat Coronavirus declared the headline of a March 17 story that linked to a McGill University blog post that found the exact opposite. A story in its health section a week later promoted traditional Eastern medicine remedies as a coronavirus treatment.

Newsmax has not been singled out by federal health authorities for spreading false information about coronavirus treatments. But as it runs those stories, its also served readers with ads that warn of impending financial disaster due to the virus. That was enough to earn a stern warning from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which demanded that the site stop claiming, falsely, that banks might soon raid Americans retirement accounts.

The FDIC has repeatedly sought to contact Newsmax to stop publishing these false ads and to issue a correction to its readers, the agency wrote in a statement. The media organization has not responded to these requests.

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Feds Warn Telemarketers to Stop the Coronavirus Robocall Scams - The Daily Beast

How the Queen relies on homeopathic remedies to keep her well during the coronavirus outbreak – The Sun

THE Queen is known as one of the hardier members of the royal family, having only cancelled royal engagements due to ill health on a handful of occasions.

And according to insiders Her Majesty may have alternative medicine to thank for her good health.

Read ourcoronavirus live blogfor the latest news & updates

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During overseas engagements the monarch would be accompanied by a small leather case with a bewildering supply of homeopathic remedies, according to the Daily Mails Richard Kay.

The case would include arsenicum album for food poisoning, cocculus for travel sickness, nux vomica for indigestion and arnica, for jet-lag and bruising.

And it seems as though the alternative medicine has served the monarch well as she has remained astonishingly resilient throughout her reign.

Apparently homeopathy runs in the family with her father George VI relying heavily on alternative medicine and naming a racehorse Hypericum after a remedy.

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The Queen mother, who lived to 101 was also said to be a fan of homeopathy.

On Wednesday it was confirmed their grandfather, Prince Charles, has tested positive for coronavirus.

A statement fromClarence House confirmed the heir apparent, aged 71, tested positive for Covid-19.

Meanwhile the Queen is "in good health" and isolating with Prince Philip after meeting Boris Johnson two weeks ago.

Buckingham Palace today said the 93-year-old monarch was well after thePM confirmed he had tested positive for the bug.

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How the Queen relies on homeopathic remedies to keep her well during the coronavirus outbreak - The Sun

Ohio Valley Facing Pandemic With A Health System Hollowed Out By Hospital Closures – WKU Public Radio

As new cases of coronavirus mount in the Ohio Valley, health officials are bracing for an onslaught of patients and what could be unprecedented demand for beds, medical staff and specialized equipment.

Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia have disproportionately high rates of people vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19. But the regions capacity to treat them has been sharply reduced by the closure of some 21 hospitals over the past 15 years. An analysis by the Ohio Valley ReSource shows some of the communities where hospitals have closed have some of the nations poorest health outcomes, making them especially vulnerable.

Still more hospitals in the region are being closed now, even as the pandemic unfolds.

Click to hear Liam's story about how Ohio Valley health care systems are handling the coronavirus pandemic.

Tiffany Wilburn-Meeks has lived in eastern Kentucky's Greenup County for most of her 38 years. And the hospital her family has always relied on is only a five-minute drive away.

Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital is where she would go if she was sick growing up, and its where she was considering taking her 23-month-old daughter Darian for speech therapy. Its also where her mom, Judy, would go if an asthma attack turned for the worst.

But I think if she'd had to go to Kings Daughters [Hospital], I don't know that she would have survived the drive because it's 10 or 15 more minutes down the road.

But by May, her family wont be able to rely on Our Lady of Bellefonte anymore. The 220-bed hospital with more than 1,000 employees started by a congregation of Catholic sisters in 1953 with the blessing of the pope via telegram will close its doors.

That would leave 35,000 people in Greenup County without a hospital, forcing those who need intensive medical care to drive to Kings Daughters Hospital in Ashland. This comes as many Ohio Valley public health officials are bracing for the coronavirus to reach their communities.

While the number of confirmed cases in her region have not reached levels in larger cities, she knows the number will grow.

If it does, there's no way that Kings Daughters is going to be able to handle that, she said. It is terrifying, and I'm afraid that people will die as a consequence of the hospital closing.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Kings Daughters Hospital said they were working daily with Our Lady of Bellefonte to potentially expand the capacity of Kings Daughters if patient needs surge due to coronavirus.

Wilburn-Meek started an online petition to try to call attention to the situation and save the hospital, but she isnt optimistic shell be successful. And more than a dozen communities across the Ohio Valley are facing a similar situation.

Our Lady of Bellefonte will join at least 21 other hospital closures in the Ohio Valley within the past 15 years. The Ohio Valley Resource estimates those 21 closures represented more than 1,000 hospital beds in total.

Some shuttered hospital sites are now vacant parking lots. Some have been turned into addiction rehab facilities or urgent care facilities, but those often have limited or no in-patient services.

These closures have left a hollowed out healthcare infrastructure in the Ohio Valley, and leading healthcare professionals worry that the loss of hospital beds, skilled staff and equipment combined with a population that is especially vulnerable to COVID-19 disease could hinder how well the region can respond to the coronavirus.

Running Out

For 15 years, Marlene Moore was lead nurse of the intensive care unit at Ohio Valley Medical Center in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia. She would make determinations about who would be admitted and who would be discharged, who would be transferred to other departments and hospitals, and helping younger nurses with questions and assistance.

That time came to an end when the company that owned OVMC and another hospital in nearby Martins Ferry, Ohio, announced last year both hospitals would close. Along with Belmont Community Hospital also closing, three hospitals in total last year shuttered in the Wheeling metropolitan area.

It was just devastating, because especially at our smaller hospitals, the employees know everybody. I mean, from housekeeping, to dietary to the lab, to all the departments, Moore said. It affected the whole valley.

Moore started working last month at what is now the only hospital in town, Wheeling Hospital, where a coronavirus patient is currently being treated.

She said because Wheeling Hospital often has many beds filled with patients having other needs, those needing a bed for coronavirus treatment may have to travel a half-hour or more to hospitals in Steubenville, Ohio, Columbus or Pittsburgh.

And its the kind of people her hospital tends to serve that has her particularly worried.

We have such an older population here. And if you get several that come in at the same time with severe respiratory distress, you're going to run out of ICU beds, you're going to run out of ventilators, you're actually going to run out of places to treat these people, she said.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found West Virginia led the nation in how vulnerable its population is to coronavirus because of old age and preexisting conditions. More than half of all adults in West Virginia and more than 45% of all adults in Kentucky were at high risk of serious illness from coronavirus because of advanced age, pre-existing conditions, or both.

A report from Kaiser Health News also found there are only 325 ICU beds for more than 12,000 people over the age of 60 in Ohio County, where Wheeling is located. People over the age of 60 make up 28% of the countys population.

According to an Ohio Valley Resource data analysis, 4 of the 18 counties that lost hospitals over the past 15 years also have some of the worst health outcomes in the nation. Those counties have some of the countrys highest rates of chronic respiratory disease deaths, cardiovascular disease deaths and diabetes prevalence.

Amid closures, remaining Ohio Valley hospitals are reinforcing their capacity for beds, equipment and personal protective equipment for worst case scenarios.

A statement from the West Virginia Hospital Association said hospitals are canceling or rescheduling elective surgeries to free up more beds, in compliance with a state emergency order. Hospitals are converting different departments into infectious disease units, and developing alternative treatment sites. One hospital in Athens, Ohio, has now set up a triage tent to treat potential patients outside.

Rising Costs

Even if Ohio Valley hospitals are able to accommodate a surge of coronavirus patients, the financial toll it could take could devastate rural healthcare providers.

A report last year from Navigant Consulting showed that 16 rural hospitals in Kentucky about a quarter of all rural hospitals in the state were at high risk of closing due to unstable financial situations. Some of the reasons cited for financial struggles include population loss with fewer people to serve, and more patients insured through Medicare and Medicaid, which often undercompensates hospitals for treatment.

Those ongoing challenges will only be made worse by the pandemic.

The payment mechanism for treating these patients is not clear at this point. The unusually long length of stay I think is a concern with the very sick of these patients who typically end up, or have ended up, on ventilator care, which is very expensive and resource intensive to deliver, said Bud Warman, Kentucky Hospital Association Vice President and former CEO of Highlands Regional Medical Center in east Kentucky. They haven't always had potentially this much volume of wants to deal with.

The American Hospital Association is asking for $100 billion from Congress to offset anticipated coronavirus costs, while some rural hospitals struggle to ration protective medical supplies. A bill being considered by the Kentucky Senate would also provide a loan program for struggling rural hospitals.

Warman also said when hospitals have closed in Appalachia, there are often few options remaining for the people the provider served.

In some cases, they just don't have adequate transportation to get them that longer distance, Warman said. If they're deciding between food on the table or traveling 50 miles to see a doctor or to seek health care, oftentimes, they make the choice for food on the table. It sounds dire, but the fact is in many parts of our state, many parts of Appalachia, that is the case.

Whats Left

In central West Virginia, Michael Brumage is leading one of the remaining options for those without easy access to a hospital.

As Chief Medical Officer of Cabin Creek Health Systems, he directs several Federally Qualified Health Centers that provide preventative care and substance abuse treatment, often for people who are low-income or uninsured. His experience also extends across multiple organizations: Brumage serves as director of the Preventative Medicine Residency Program in the WVU School of Public Health, was former executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, and former health officer for Kanawha County and Putnam County, West Virginia.

His staff is preparing to treat patients who have respiratory symptoms outside of the centers in order to prevent the spread of the virus inside their buildings, and theyll also have curbside service for those with respiratory symptoms.

Our public health system has been underfunded for many, many years, at the federal, state and local levels, Brumage said. So we're fortunate, I think that there are federally qualified health centers, that there are free and charitable clinics that are able to pick up the slack.

But even with his centers, there are still intensive, in-patient services that he cant provide, that a hollowed out healthcare infrastructure has left lacking.

Brumage was born in Fairmont Regional Medical Center in Fairmont, West Virginia. So was his sister. Hes had several relatives whove been hospitalized there over the years. The hospital is set to close this week.

It's befuddling to me how they can close this hospital during a pandemic, when there are going to be so many more beds that need to be filled. It staggers the imagination, Brumage said.

While a hospital is being built to replace Fairmont Regional, Brumage is worried that it will be too late for the demand for hospital beds, ventilators and skilled staff needed to respond to the pandemic.

There will be many competing economic priorities once this clears to restore the American economy, Brumage said. But shame on us if we don't invest in our public health infrastructure, and if we don't invest in our overall health infrastructure, and if we don't look for ways to make health care equitable for all Americans.

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Ohio Valley Facing Pandemic With A Health System Hollowed Out By Hospital Closures - WKU Public Radio

A psychological explanation for why some people believe coronavirus hoaxes and conspiracy theories – PsyPost

As the world continues to deal with the life-altering effects of the novel coronavirus, a small but not-insignificant number of individuals have been expressing their fears about COVID-19 through the language of government conspiracies and wild alternative health cures.

Last week, one online conspiracy network suggested that COVID-19 is an act of biological terrorism to attack Chinese trade. Last month, a popular online site said the virus was a hoax manufactured to induce global fear and would therefore be a boon to Big Pharma. A website based in Toronto claims COVID-19 is the result of 5G cellular networks plus the common cold.

Press TV, part of the state sponsored media in Iran, suggested Zionists were behind the spread. As recently as last week, some public officials in the United States government continued to underplay the seriousness of the virus.

As reported by the New York Times, popular conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh called the virus a plot by the Chinese, and conservative commentator and FOX TV host Sean Hannity read and gave credibility to a tweet calling COVID-19 a fraud to spread panic in the populace, manipulate the economy and suppress dissent.

Why have conspiracy theories so readily circulated during the COVID-19 pandemic? What type of person believes medical conspiracy theories?

I research new religious movements. I decided to explore this question because of the ubiquity of conspiratorial thinking within some of these communities. What can belief in alternative theories tell us about ourselves?

What challenges might conspiratorial thinking, circulated online and in popular media, present to public health advocates in the coming year?

Conspiracy theories connecting the COVID-19 pandemic to the state of Israel are flourishing. One source, part of a large global conspiracy community, claims the novel coronavirus is an act of Israeli bioterrorism.

Jews have historically been blamed for global viral events, including the Black Death in the 1300s, which led to massive pogroms against European Jewry. The common narrative goes that people in the Middle Ages needed a scapegoat because they did not know about the germ theory of disease. However, 130 years after Russian microbiologist Dmitri Ivanovsky and Dutch scientist Martinus Willem Beijerinck (working independently) discovered the existence of viruses, Jews continue to take the brunt of conspiratorial blame.The Anti-Defamation League in the United States, a leading anti-hate organization, has tracked a growing number of anti-Semitic conspiracies, which claim that Jews are either behind the COVID-19 pandemic, or stand to profit from it.

Infowars Alex Jones claimed a product called DNA Force Plus could help fight off COVID-19: it is currently on sale for US$89.95 for one month supply. Another popular supplement advocate suggests a cocktail of over 11 different supplements to combat coronavirus, costing over US$170 a month. Other purported cures include vitamin C dosing, faith healing and homeopathic vaccines. There is no evidence that any of these work.People seek alternative medicine for many reasons, including distrust of authority, consumer-centered individuality and the belief that the treatment will work. While no vaccine for coronavirus currently exists, that hasnt stopped televangelist Jim Bakker from selling his colloidal silver tincture for US$125 a bottle. The state of Missouri has filed a law suit against Bakker alleging fraudulent treatment claims.

As demand for alternative medicine grows, Canadian researchers recently looking at internet health scams found, most of the alternative products marketed online either severely misrepresented the efficacy for the given health concern and/or had no strong scientific evidencebase to support their use as advertised.

Since being declared a global pandemic, there is evidence that demand for alternative medicine has increased. Some alternative medicine has been shown to be effective, but many of the options being marketed today have not. As Timothy Caulfield professor of health law at the University of Alberta writes: trust in science is crucial right now.

Conspiratorial thinking can be founded on legitimate concerns and transcends socio-economic, racial, educational and gender boundaries. This complicates our tendency to view conspiracies as perpetuated by tinfoil-hat wearing people.

A number of theories have been proposed to account for conspiratorial thinking.

University of Chicago political scientists Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood explored medical conspiracy theories. They found approximately 50 per cent of Americans believe in at least one general conspiracy theory, and more than 18 per cent believe in three or more medical conspiracies.

Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, Oliver and Wood wrote:

Although it is common to disparage adherents of conspiracy theories as a delusional fringe of paranoid cranks, our data suggest that medical conspiracy theories are widely known, broadly endorsed and highly predictive of many common health behaviours.

Perhaps the explanation for the broad appeal of such theories points to something more fundamental to the experience of being human? When people talk about quarantines, hoarding and conspiracies, they can ignore the elephant in the room: death.

Research suggests that we use different management techniques to deal with the terror of death. Where sickness can act as a reminder of our finitude, simple health-management solutions can offer a sense of autonomy over our bodies.

This may explain why some conspiracy websites are downplaying the danger of COVID-19 to adults by focusing on the older age of the victims. In other words, pandemics are scary, and they remind us that we are mortal.

Even if medical conspiracies are mostly confined to the fringe, the effects of conspiratorial beliefs on public health may end up exacerbating the spread of the virus. People may continue to ignore quarantine orders. A future vaccine for COVID-19 may come up against a growing anti-vaccine movement. Will people continue to be receptive to anti-vaccine conspiracy rhetoric in the age of COVID-19?

Conspiracy theorists, like all of us, are trying to make sense of a complicated world. Having a sense of control against an ineffable source of power which describes the novel coronavirus in many ways may speak to some of our collective fears and motivations in the face of mortality. After all, nothing offers direct evidence of human finitude and frailty like a viral pandemic.

By Jeremy Cohen, Doctoral Candidate, Religious Studies, McMaster University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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A psychological explanation for why some people believe coronavirus hoaxes and conspiracy theories - PsyPost

Can India explore its alternative medicines to slow down Coronavirus? – Free Press Journal

Mumbai: Well, there is no prescribed treatment to Coronavirus (at least the last time I checked). But the only option left is prevention, prevention and prevention (and if an ailment is diagnosed let your immune system do the fight). That was the whole point of washing hands with soap, wearing masks, social distancing, etc. While modern medicine is working hard for a prescribed treatment or a vaccine, the big question is whether our traditional medicines like Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Naturopathy really help.

Prevention is better than cure

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Ayurveda Medical Association of India, President, Dr Raju Thomas, said, There is no vaccine for coronavirus not just in traditional medicines but also in modern medicines. At present, everyone is just talking about prevention. If you are talking about prevention, we could suggest the inclusion of some alternative medicines. Thomas reiterated that he is not talking about vaccines but prevention or immunity-boosting medicines. But in passing, Thomas mentioned there are medicines and ingredients in Ayurveda that could be helpful.

Dr Rohit Sane, MD and CEO at Madhavbaug said, Social distancing is a strong message. Along with it, there is a need to talk about boosting immunity as well. He added social distancing is perceived by many as a means to relax or sleep at home. If people are not sleeping, they are eating. Rather this time should be used to exercise and stay healthy. He suggested that amla (gooseberry) is a good ingredient to boost immunity along with the right exercise. He went on to explain, It is important to reduce consumption of glucose and increase antioxidants levels as glucose allows the virus to grow. Sane revealed that his institution, Madhavbaug, which has 240 clinics and has around 3 lakh patients, is sharing awareness videos and publishing information about COVID-19. More information needs to be there for people to not panic.

Alternative medicines

If you take a cue from China, many say that Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) worked for the Chinese in their fight against COVID-19. They say that TCM was effective for over 90 per cent of the coronavirus patients treated. In a press conference in China, Yu Yanhong, Party chief of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine had claimed that a total of 74,187 COVID-19 patients, or 91.5 percent of the total confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland, have received TCM treatment. Now, China is mulling over combining traditional Chinese medicine with western medicine for other illnesses as well. It is claimed that TCM drugs helped in slowing the progression of the disease, improving the cure rate and reducing mortality and boosting the recovery of Covid 19 patients (according to Xinhua).

One should not forget that while the herbs used in China might differ from those used in India, some ingredients of the herbs are however similar to those used in Indian traditional medicines.

Thomas, whose association is very active in Kerala, said that his association has been trying to convince Kerala government to support them in encouraging people to use some Ayurvedic medicines as preventive medication.

Extending helping hand

And in case the situation in India gets worse and there is a rise in Coronavirus cases, there is a chance that non-allopathic doctors might have to extend their helping hand. Already in the interiors of Palakkad, Kerala, the officials have taken help of Ayurvedic doctors to check the temperature and for the initial monitoring. There is no doubt about it. Ayurvedic doctors will come forward if there is a need, added Thomas. Echoing the same thought, Dr Ajit Kailasrao Funde, President, Maharashtra Council of Homeopathy said, Our doctors will come forward in times of crisis, but they would need some basic training. Funde felt that during a crisis, having training before putting them in the frontline is always needed.

In China, the authorities took the help of 4,900 Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) medics to help in the Hubei region, one of the regions badly hit by Coronavirus.

If Ayush had taken off

India has one government doctor for 10,000 people and one doctor for a population of 1,457. According to the World Health Organisation, there should ideally be one doctor per 1,000 people. At present, there are about 9.26 allopathic doctors (modern medicine) available. But experts feel India needs an additional 5 lakh or more. Meanwhile, India is home to around 7.8 lakh Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic doctors; and a poor healthcare system.

If there is a large-scale spread of Coronavirus, it will be difficult to tackle it as India is neither equipped in terms of equipment nor in terms of the number of doctors. If the whole Ayush plan had taken off faster, maybe there would have been less pressure in our existing (ailing) healthcare infrastructure and doctors, said Sane.

In the 2019 budget, the up-gradation of existing state government AYUSH dispensaries and sub-health centres to AYUSH health and wellness centres (HWCs) was proposed. But the programme is expected to reach its peak in 2023.

Failure in documentation

The biggest challenge for Indias traditional medicines have been lack of data and it continues to hurt them at large, while China has been using its learning to help not just its population but other countries in Africa too. This is mainly because they have documented their diagnosis and the medicines that worked.

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Can India explore its alternative medicines to slow down Coronavirus? - Free Press Journal

Is there any alternative medicine against the novel coronavirus? – Newsd.in

As there is no vaccine till now and in the absence of a scientifically proven cure or preventive for novel coronavirus infection, should one use alternative medicine?

One must be going through many forwarded WhatsApp messages that suggests Homeopathy is the antidote or there are multiple advisories from the AYUSH Ministry on coronavirus. Its long list of recommendations includes Unani concoctions Sharbat Unnab and Tiryaq Arba, and the homeopathic medicine Arsenicum Album 30 for post-exposure prophylaxis for doctors and caregivers.

Coronavirus Pandemic: Two young siblings tested positive in Srinagar

On all of this, here is what World Health Organization has to say: While some western, traditional or home remedies may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms of COVID-19, there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease. WHO does not recommend self-medication with any medicines, including antibiotics, as a prevention or cure for COVID-19. However, there are several ongoing clinical trials that include both western and traditional medicines.

Doctors are discouraging the use of drugs recommended by practitioners of alternative medicine because a drug has to be developed keeping in mind its safety and efficacy.

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Is there any alternative medicine against the novel coronavirus? - Newsd.in

TerrAscend’s Award-Winning Apothecarium to Debut Its First Two Pennsylvania Dispensaries – Canada NewsWire

Apothecarium retail locations in Lancaster and Plymouth Meeting to open in mid-April

Pennsylvania patients to benefit from pre-ordering, drive-through, and in-store pick ups

TORONTO, March 30, 2020 /CNW/ -TerrAscend Corp. (CSE: TER; OTCQX: TRSSF) ("TerrAscend" or the "Company") a leading North American cannabis operator, today announced it will open its award-winning Apothecarium ("The Apothecarium") branded dispensaries in two Pennsylvania locations; one in Lancaster and a second in Plymouth Meeting. Both locations will serve Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients. The Architectural Digest "Best Designed" modern-meets-tech dispensaries willprovide safe access to medical cannabis products, and can be easily navigated by seniors, first-time dispensary visitors, and patients with qualifying medical conditions.

The Apothecariumin Lancaster, located at 2405 Covered Bridge Dr., will be a new dispensary location for TerrAscend, as it expands its East Coast footprint, and will open in mid-April. The store will carry a wide variety of TerrAscend's medical cannabis products manufactured and sold under the Ilera brand, including flower, vaporizable and activated oils, concentrates, capsules, tinctures, topicals and ancillary products. The location will also carry other producers' products to ensure a suite of offerings that meets patient needs. The 4,300 square-foot inviting and intuitively designed location was specifically selected for patient accessibility and proximity to local bi-ways.

The Plymouth Meeting dispensary, located at 420 Plymouth Rd is currently an Ilera Healthcare Dispensary, and will reopen as The Apothecarium in April as well. The renovated 3,000 square-foot location will retain its outstanding team, continue its excellent patient-centric service and offer an enhanced patient experience with this rebranding initiative. Additionally, the Plymouth Meeting location, housed in a former bank, recently opened Pennsylvania's first drive-through pick up to allow patients to access their medicine while maintaining physical distancing.

The opening of these new retail locations comes as TerrAscend increases its cultivation and manufacturing capabilities in Pennsylvania. The Company currently supplies its products to 65 of the 76 dispensaries in the state. To service increased demand for its wholesale business, TerrAscendhas recently tripled its cultivation footprint and hashired 30 new positions at its 140,000 square foot facility. The Company continues to actively recruit employees for cultivation and manufacturing, as well as the new Apothecarium retail outlets.

This announcement coincides with residents across the state facing a public health crisis with the recent outbreak of COVID-19. Both Pennsylvania retail facilities are classified as "essential services" and will remain open under local and state guidelines to serve patients. The Apothecarium has implemented strict protocols to protect the health of employees, customers and patients at each location. Procedures include: taking employee temperatures at the beginning of each shift; thoroughly cleaning equipment in high-traffic areas; using hand-sanitizer between transactions; allowing non-essential employees to work from home; encouraging online pre-ordering with store or drive-through pick up; and practicing physical distancing from fellow employees, customers and patients.

Both locations will have an on-site certified pharmacist to dispense medicine, offer one-to-one consumption guidance and personal consultations with patients and caregivers in-person. The Company is also coordinating with the PA Department of Health to implement a telehealth program.

"During these uncertain times, patients and caregivers want to know that they have safe and convenient access to the medical products that support their health and well-being," said Greg Rochlin, CEO of Ilera, a wholly owned subsidiary of TerrAscend. "We're proud to bring The Apothecarium, an award-winning West Coast operation, to Pennsylvania to provide exceptional care during these unprecedented times."

"TerrAscend is thrilled to bring its best-in-class retail experience to patients on the East Coast," said Jason Ackerman, Executive Chairman of TerrAscend. "The Apothecarium is a proven, progressive retail model with integrated e-commerce services and pick-up programs that is well-positioned to serve the robust Pennsylvania market. We look forward to continuing our expansion across the area with the Apothecarium brand."

The Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About TerrAscendTerrAscend provides quality products, brands, and services to the global cannabinoid market. As the first North American Operator (NAO), with scale operations in both Canada and the US, TerrAscend participates in the medical and legal adult use market across Canada and in several US states where cannabis has been legalized for therapeutic or adult use. TerrAscend was the first cannabis company with sales in the US, Canada, and Europe. TerrAscend operates a number of synergistic businesses, including The Apothecarium, an award-winning cannabis dispensary with several retail locations in California; Arise Bioscience Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of hemp-derived products; Ilera Healthcare, Pennsylvania's premier medical marijuana cultivator and processor; and Valhalla Confections, a manufacturer of premium cannabis-infused edibles. TerrAscend holds a cultivation permit in the State of New Jersey and is pending approval for a vertically integrated medical cannabis operation with the ability to operate up to 3 Alternative Treatment Centers. Additionally, TerrAscend holds a Medical Cannabis Processor License in the State of Utah. For more information, visit http://www.terrascend.com.

Caution Regarding Cannabis Operations in the United States Investors should note that there are significant legal restrictions and regulations that govern the cannabis industry in the United States. Cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the US Controlled Substances Act, making it illegal under federal law in the United States to, among other things, cultivate, distribute or possess cannabis in the United States. Financial transactions involving proceeds generated by, or intended to promote, cannabis-related business activities in the United States may form the basis for prosecution under applicable US federal money laundering legislation.

While the approach to enforcement of such laws by the federal government in the United States has trended toward non-enforcement against individuals and businesses that comply with medical or adult-use cannabis programs in states where such programs are legal, strict compliance with state laws with respect to cannabis will neither absolve TerrAscend of liability under U.S. federal law, nor will it provide a defense to any federal proceeding which may be brought against TerrAscend. The enforcement of federal laws in the United States is a significant risk to the business of TerrAscend and any proceedings brought against TerrAscend thereunder may adversely affect TerrAscend's operations and financial performance.

SOURCE TerrAscend

For further information: Adam Kozak, Chief Financial Officer, [emailprotected], 1-905-273-0213; Rob Kelly, Investor Relations, Mattio Communications, [emailprotected], 1-416-992-4539

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Free medical consultation app for NRIs stranded in COVID-19 affected countries – The Indian Express

Written by Rahul V Pisharody | Hyderabad | Updated: March 30, 2020 2:50:18 pm While the focus is on NRIs, especially the Telugu community abroad, Makthala says the TITA wants to expand the services to rural areas once the coronavirus pandemic is controlled. (Photo credit: TITA)

A new app developed by a Hyderabad-based software professionals industry body is promising free medical consultation online to Indians stranded in COVID-19 affected countries. The app, Digithon COVID19 Clinic, aims to connect those showing symptoms of the disease with medical experts likes Pulmonologists, Psychologists, Nutritionists, and general Physicians, etc.

The idea of the online clinic came to Sundeep Kumar Makthala, the founder and president of Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA), during his interactions with software professionals who are now confined to their rooms in countries like Italy, France, and the Netherlands, severely affected by the virus. A nationwide lockdown initiated from March 24 has ensured no one could travel to India. Several Indians are still stuck in various countries.

Those countries have refused to give treatment to those who are not their citizens. I spoke with Akhil, a student locked up in his room in Italy. He has mild-fever and cough but he does not find basic medical advice. In such a situation, we have decided to connect the dots, Makthala told indianexpress.com. The teleconsultation app was launched Sunday.

The TITA has developed the technical infrastructure to ensure end-to-end functionality with the possibility of n-number of parallel connections for video interaction between an expert and possible patient. We have a 30-member tech team working on this exclusively from Hyderabad, Chennai, and Seattle. Sixteen pulmonologists and 25 psychologists are on board at the moment. The service is free of cost and all that we are requesting from experts is to donate their valuable time for our sessions, said Makthala.

For starters, only non-resident Indians in countries severely affected by COVID-19 are allowed to request for online consultation. A user can request a video session on the app. On the other hand, a doctor willing to donate his time can make himself available through the app. The length of the session and the number of sessions required will be decided by the doctor himself. The schedule will be fixed and the video session will be recorded. A voice-to-text medical transcription will be generated and this can be used as a record for purposes like for insurance claims, he explained.

While the focus is on NRIs, especially the Telugu community abroad, Makthala says the TITA wants to expand the services to rural areas once the coronavirus pandemic is controlled.

Heres a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: What can cause a COVID-19 patient to relapse after recovery? | COVID-19 lockdown has cleaned up the air, but this may not be good news. Heres why | Can alternative medicine work against the coronavirus? | A five-minute test for COVID-19 has been readied, India may get it too | How India is building up defence during lockdown | Why only a fraction of those with coronavirus suffer acutely | How do healthcare workers protect themselves from getting infected? | What does it take to set up isolation wards?

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Coronavirus: Empowered group likely to firm up medical emergency plan in next few days – The Indian Express

Written by Harikishan Sharma | New Delhi | Updated: March 31, 2020 8:01:25 am The geographical distribution of health infrastructure was also assessed, sources said. (File Photo)

A day after the government formed an empowered group of officers on medical emergency management plan, the six-member group, headed by NITI Aayog member V K Paul, held its first meeting on Monday and discussed the various scenarios in which the number of COVID-19 cases can change in the coming month.

The group is expected to come up with a medical emergency action plan in the next few days, a source said.

The group, which comprises senior officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Cabinet Secretariat, Department of Biotechnology, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), also took an assessment of supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators required to deal with emergency situations, it is learnt.

The geographical distribution of health infrastructure was also assessed, sources said.

The group under Paul is one of the 11 empowered groups of officers constituted by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Sunday for planning and ensuring implementation of COVID-19 response activities.

Another empowered group constituted for coordinating with private sector, NGOs and international organisations for response-related activities also had its first meeting under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

Sources said the group interacted with representatives of industry bodies such as FICCI and CII, and 32 civil society organisations (CSOs).

During the meeting, Kant is learnt to have urged CSOs to support the local administration in addressing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and by running decentralised kitchens and shelters for homeless and migrant workers, partner with state and local governments to minimise adverse effects of the spread of coronavirus.

He is learnt to have asked them to identify the infected patients and those most affected, and assisting people requiring hospital admissions; establishing and operating quarantine and isolation centres in taluk headquarters of more rural districts.

Heres a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: What can cause a COVID-19 patient to relapse after recovery? | COVID-19 lockdown has cleaned up the air, but this may not be good news. Heres why | Can alternative medicine work against the coronavirus? | A five-minute test for COVID-19 has been readied, India may get it too | How India is building up defence during lockdown | Why only a fraction of those with coronavirus suffer acutely | How do healthcare workers protect themselves from getting infected? | What does it take to set up isolation wards?

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Explained: What can cause a COVID-19 patient to relapse after recovery? – The Indian Express

By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Updated: March 30, 2020 12:02:01 pm Health workersat KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital, in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Monday, March 30, 2020. (AP Photo: Vincent Thian)

In the last few days, there have been reports of recovered COVID-19 patients testing positive a second time. Since the exact behaviour of the novel coronavirus is still being studied, immunity against it is not fully understood.

For instance, previous coronavirus outbreaks have been inconsistent: a study on the coronavirus that caused MERS revealed that patients are unlikely to get re-infected within a short duration of the original infection; but, after the SARS outbreak, cases of relapse that were reported.

Theoretically, various factors can cause relapse in patients recovered from COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is like viruses that cause any other flu. Therefore, there is always a probability of mutation as in the case of influenza viruses. The mutation, theoretically, can make an individual vulnerable to reacquire the COVID-19 infection.

Patients who test positive for COVID-19 develop protective antibodies. Theoretically, there can be a relapse even in patients who have antibodies. At this stage, it is not fully understood as to how the long the antibodies provide protection against the viral infection.

Dont miss from Explained: Where does virus go from here?

Also, in the absence of any vaccination, it is not known whether the immunity acquired by the persons is permanent. Another scenario that can lead to relapse is when immunity is compromised, if the patients have underlying conditions and if they are dependent on immunosuppression drugs.

Experts also have pointed out that a false negative RTPCR test the RNA test being conducted to diagnose COVID-19 infection can lead to a patient testing positive a second time after testing negative in between. There have reports from Spain about imported RNA test kits giving inaccurate results.

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Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak and what you should/should not do? Write to explained@indianexpress.com

Heres a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: What can cause a COVID-19 patient to relapse after recovery? | COVID-19 lockdown has cleaned up the air, but this may not be good news. Heres why | Can alternative medicine work against the coronavirus? | A five-minute test for COVID-19 has been readied, India may get it too | How India is building up defence during lockdown | Why only a fraction of those with coronavirus suffer acutely | How do healthcare workers protect themselves from getting infected? | What does it take to set up isolation wards?

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Strengthen your lungs, relax, and boost your immunity by working on these pressure points – ABS-CBN News

Culture Spotlight

Former Health Secretary Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan says that you can protect your body from COVID-19 by simply doing intentional pressing. BY BARBARA MAE DACANAY

Boosting ones immune system, one of the main recommendations against COVID-19, remain a chief concern on everyones minds. While many take vitamins and supplements for this, there are those that are turning to more alternative means.

Take Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, a former Department of Health Secretary who promotes natural preventive measures in the fight against coronavirus, advocates for one method particularlyacupuncture. The doctor is one of the countrys pioneering acupuncturists, which he started in 1979.

Galvez Tans interest in acupuncture began in the mid-70s, when he took seriously his mission to be a barriodoctor nationwide. Thetough job included crafting community health programs, and training health workers to combat tuberculosis and other diseases aided by Church-based groups, local and international non-government organizations. He made a vow to look after thehealth care of poor people and not leave the Philippines for greener pastures. He spent two months in medical missions in Palawan in 1968 while he was still 20-year-old student at the University of the Philippines (where he finished medicine in 1974). I was born with this desire to helpothers. There is an inner voice that constantly gives meencouragement that this is the way to live life to the fullest, hesays.

"When my wife Rebeccaand I prepared to transfer from Manila to Mindanao for outreach missions, she began studying acupuncture under Dr. Benjamin Aquino and Dr. Liu, a graduate of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Sheintroduced me to acupuncture, Galvez Tan shares. "Ieventually studied acupuncture under Dr. Aquino after our intermittent missions to the Cordillera in Negros.

At the time, acupuncture was useful for themarginalizedbecauseonly five percent of 85 million members of Philhealth could avail of hospitalization and western medicine, Galvez Tan says.Acupuncture was legislated as acceptable medical practice in hospitals after 22 yearswhen President Fidel Ramos signed the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act (or TAMA, also known as Republic Act 8423) in 1997. It also establishedthePhilippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC), a government agency in charge of training, regulating, and accreditingacupuncturists, including otheratypicalhealthpractitioners.

The law was sponsored by the late Senator Juan Flavier whose passion was todevelop herbal medicine in the country. Galvez Tan headedthealternative medicine program of the health department in 1992, andsucceeded Flavier in 1995, when the latter ran for the senate.

Flavier sent government doctors to study acupuncture in China from 1992 to 1995.Iofficially went to Beijing to sign an agreement between China and the Philippines to continue thetraining in acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) foranother five years (until 2000), Galvez Tan says.Later on, private and government hospitals did not encourage the use of acupuncture because the training program stopped after 2000. The best trained Filipino acupuncturists are growing older, the doctor laments.

To attain a mega immune system that can aggressively defeat COVID 19, Galvez Tansuggests self-massage sessions with intentional pressing on two major points:

Large Intestine 11 (LI 11, Quichi in Chinese, and Pool at the Bend in English), found at the lateral (or dorsal) space near the elbow, between the forearm and the lower hand; and Spleen 6 (SP 6, San Yin Jiao in Chinese, and Three Yin Intersection in English), measured four fingers up to the highest point of the ankle.

There are two importantact-pressure points that can strengthen the lungs and make it fight orwithstand pneumonia, a complication triggered by COVID 19.TheyincludeLung 5 (LU 5, Chiza in Chinese, and Cubit Marsh in English),located at the upper-central part of the lower arm;and Large Intestine 4 (LI 4, Hegu in Chinese, and Joining Valley in English), found between the thumb and the index finger (pointer).

Pericardium 6 (P 6, Nei Guan in Chinese, and Pool at the Bend in English), located four-fingers up the ankle, is an anti-panic pressure point: ithas a calming effect, which is needed for healing, says Galvez Tan.

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Strengthen your lungs, relax, and boost your immunity by working on these pressure points - ABS-CBN News

Explained: For how long can virus in this outbreak survive on clothes? – The Indian Express

By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Updated: March 31, 2020 3:30:41 pm Cloth used as protection in a cafe in Australia. (Reuters Photo)

Does the novel coronavirus survive on your clothes, and if so, for how long? The answer to the first question is that it probably does survive, but it is not clear for how long.

Studies have looked at how long the virus can survive on various surfaces plastic, steel, cardboard and even in the air, but none has looked at fabric yet.

Most viruses, however, have been known to survive longer on nonporous surfaces such as steel, than on porous ones such as cardboard. And fabric is porous. A good thing about porous surfaces is that they tend to trap the virus, making it tougher to transmit than it would have from, say, plastic.

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In any case, it is imperative to keep clothes clean. There are no advisories for clothes. WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines say do laundry at 60-90C for linen. We believe detergents can kill the virus, said Dr Tanu Singhal, infectious disease expert. But no data is available for coronavirus. Care should be taken to wash clothes of infected people separately.

The Health Ministry advises on its website: Clean clothes, bedclothes, bath and hand towels, etc. of ill persons using regular laundry soap and water or machine wash at 60-90C with common household detergent. Dry it thoroughly. Place contaminated linen into a laundry bag. Do not shake soiled laundry and avoid direct contact with the skin and clothes with the contaminated materials. About masks, it advises: If using cloth masks, wash them at least daily.

Heres a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: What can cause a COVID-19 patient to relapse after recovery? | COVID-19 lockdown has cleaned up the air, but this may not be good news. Heres why | Can alternative medicine work against the coronavirus? | A five-minute test for COVID-19 has been readied, India may get it too | How India is building up defence during lockdown | Why only a fraction of those with coronavirus suffer acutely | How do healthcare workers protect themselves from getting infected? | What does it take to set up isolation wards?

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How Researchers Produce Sharp Images of a Black Hole – Universe Today

In April of 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration history made history when it released the first image of a black hole ever taken. This accomplishment was decades in the making and triggered an international media circus. The picture was the result of a technique known as interferometry, where observatories across the world combined light from their telescopes to create a composite image.

This image showed what astrophysicists have predicted for a long time, that extreme gravitational bending causes photons to fall in around the event horizon, contributing to the bright rings that surround them. Last week, on March 18th, a team of researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) announced new research that shows how black hole images could reveal an intricate substructure within them.

The study that describes their findings, titled Universal interferometric signatures of a black holes photon ring, recently appeared in the journal Science Advances. The team was led by Michael Johnson, an astrophysicist with the CfA, and induced members from Harvards Black Hole Initiative (BHI), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, and multiple universities.

As Johnson explained in a recent CfA press release:

The image of a black hole actually contains a nested series of rings. Each successive ring has about the same diameter but becomes increasingly sharper because its light orbited the black hole more times before reaching the observer. With the current EHT image, weve caught just a glimpse of the full complexity that should emerge in the image of any black hole.

As the law of General Relativity tells us, gravitational fields alter the curvature of spacetime. In the case of a black hole, the effect is extreme and causes even light (photons) to infall around them. These photons cast a shadow on the bright ring of infalling gas and dust that is accelerated to relativistic speeds by the black holes gravity.

Around this shadowed region is a photon ring produced from photons that are concentrated by the strong gravity near the black hole. This ring can tell astronomers a lot about a black holes since its size and shape reveal the mass and rotation (aka. spin) of the black hole. Because of the EHT images, black hole researchers now have a tool with which to study black holes.

Since the 1950s, astronomers have learned a great deal about them by studying the effect they have on their surrounding environment. In other words, the study of black holes has been indirect and theoretical in nature. But with the ability to take images of these celestial objects, astronomers can finally study them directly and glean real data.

George Wong, a physics graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was responsible for developing software to produce simulated black hole images. This software is what allowed for images that were of the highest resolution to date to be computed and allowed their team to decompose them into the predicted series of sub-images. As Wong indicated:

Bringing together experts from different fields enabled us to really connect a theoretical understanding of the photon ring to what is possible with observation. What started as classic pencil-and-paper calculations prompted us to push our simulations to new limits.

What was especially surprising to the researchers, however, was how the substructure revealed by the black hole image creates new opportunities for research. While the subrings they revealed are normally invisible to the naked eye on images, they produce very clear signals when observed by arrays of telescopes using interferometry.

This presents astronomers with a relatively easy way to expand on the work conducted by the EHT collaboration thus far. While capturing black hole images normally requires many distributed telescopes, the subrings are perfect to study using only two telescopes that are very far apart, said Johnson. Adding one space telescope to the EHT would be enough.

The fields of astronomy and astrophysics have experienced multiple revolutions in recent years. Between the first-ever observations of interstellar objects, the confirmation of gravitational waves, and the first direct observations of a black hole. These firsts have enabled research that promises to unlock a number of enduring mysteries about the cosmos.

The teams research was made possible in part by grants issued by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DoE), and multiple scientific and research foundations.

Further Reading: CfA

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How Researchers Produce Sharp Images of a Black Hole - Universe Today

Infinite Visions Were Hiding in the First Black Hole Images Rings – The New York Times

A year ago a team of radio astronomers startled the world with the first photograph of a black hole, lurking like the eye of Sauron in the heart of a distant galaxy. Now it appears there was more hiding in that image than we had imagined.

When you point a telescope at a black hole, it turns out you dont just see the swirling sizzling doughnut of doom formed by matter falling in. You can also see the whole universe. Light from an infinite array of distant stars and galaxies can wrap around the black hole like ribbons around a maypole, again and again before coming back to your eye, or your telescope.

The image of a black hole actually contains a nested series of rings, said Michael Johnson of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, not unlike the rings that form around your bathtub drain.

Dr. Johnson was lead author of a study, describing the proposed method that would allow our telescopes to pry more secrets from the maw of any black hole, that was published in the March 18 edition of the journal Science Advances.

He and other authors of the paper are also members of the team operating the Event Horizon Telescope, a globe-girding network of radio telescopes that made that first image of a black hole. Their telescope saw these rings, but it didnt have enough resolution to distinguish them, so they were blurred into a single feature.

The work, scientists with the project said, pointed toward new ways to shed light, so to speak, on the properties of black holes, particularly by adding a radio telescope in space to the existing E.H.T. network.

This paper is, in my professional capacity, very cool! Shep Doeleman, also of Harvard-Smithsonian and leader of the E.H.T. collaboration, said in an email.

Andrew Strominger, a Harvard theorist and co-author of the paper, said, Understanding the intricate details of this historic experimental observation has forced theorists like myself to think about black holes in a new way.

Einstein thought that was crazy, but astronomers have found that space is littered with these apocalyptic creatures. There seems to be a supermassive black hole, weighing millions or billions of times more than the Sun, lurking in the center of every galaxy.

The Event Horizon Telescope, named after the edge, the point of no return from a black hole, consisted of eight radio observatories on six mountains and four continents. All that observing power was yoked together by a technique called very-long baseline interferometry, to achieve the resolution of a telescope as big as the Earth. For 10 days in April 2017 they pointed it at the center of the giant galaxy M87 in the Virgo constellation, where there is a black hole as massive as six billion Suns belching tongues of radio fire.

The resultant image of gases heated to billions of degrees swirling around the cosmic drain matched the predictions of Einsteins theory, as far as anyone can tell. A copy of the telescopes vision now resides in the permanent photography collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

But the Event Horizons work has barely begun, Dr. Doeleman said. For one thing the scientists are trying to make a movie of the supermassive black hole in the center of our own Milky Way galaxy; a summertime attempt was recently called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

If they could increase the size of their event horizon network by adding an antenna in space, Dr. Doeleman said, they could gain enough resolution to see individual photon rings, as they are called, turning the event horizon into a true cosmic laboratory for testing our most fundamental theories.

As Peter Galison of Harvard, another E.H.T. collaborator said, As we peer into these rings, we are looking at light from all over the visible universe, we are seeing farther and farther into the past, a movie, so to speak, of the history of the visible universe.

Dr. Johnson said there were several space radio telescopes on the drawing boards that could fit the bill. One is a Russian mission called Millimetron, which is optimistically hoping to launch in 2029. Another is the Origins Space Telescope, which has been proposed to NASA for a launch in 2035.

Dr. Johnson said astronomers dont know the mass of the M87 black hole they revealed last year to better than 10 percent accuracy, nor do they know if and how fast it is spinning. A space mission with a radio antenna would allow them to see the ring structure and determine the M87s mass to an accuracy of a fraction of a percent, and could estimate its spin.

All this if Einstein was right, he added. Other theories of gravity and other types of compact objects (wormholes, naked singularities, boson stars) would suggest a very different ring structure.

So this is a way of studying exactly what lies at the centers of galaxies, in a way that we can never learn from larger scale measurements such as the orbits of stars or gas, Dr. Johnson said.

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Infinite Visions Were Hiding in the First Black Hole Images Rings - The New York Times

New mission would provide a road map in the search for alien atmospheres – CU Boulder Today

A new spacecraft proposed by scientists at CU Boulder could soon be NASAs nose in space, sniffing out the environments beyond Earths solar system that might host planets with thick atmospheres.

Astrophysicist Kevin France is leading the development of that mission, called the Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution (ESCAPE). Hes hoping it will provide the critical reconnaissance work in humanitys search for life far away from home.

NASA and the entire astronomical community have made the search for signs of life on exoplanets a priority, said France, an assistant professor in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS). We believe that detectable life outside the solar system probably relies on the presence of an atmosphere.

This month, the space agency gave him and his colleagues an important go-ahead to start the hunt for habitable environments: ESCAPE will be one of two candidates vying to be the next satellite to launch under NASAs ambitious Explorers Program.

A concept design for theExtreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution (ESCAPE) spacecraft in an alien star system. (Credit: Brandy Coons/Laura Murray/CU Boulder)

If selected, the mission, which would have a budget of no more than $145 million, could pack a lot of scientific punch for the cost.

These promising proposals under the Explorers Program bring out some of the most creative, innovative ways to help uncover the secrets of the universe," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASAs Science Mission Directorate, in a statement. "From studying stars and planets outside our solar system to seeking answers to the largest cosmic mysteries, I look forward to the breakthrough science from these modest size missions.

The proposed mission, a joint effort of LASP, JILA and the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) at CU Boulder, wouldnt seek out exoplanet atmospheres directly. Instead, ESCAPE would take a close look at distant stars.

Allison Youngblood, a research scientist at LASP, explained that some stars probably dont make good homes for habitable planets. In particular, stars that spit out a lot of high-energy radiationin this case, extreme ultraviolet lightcan strip the atmospheres away from orbiting worlds. Think of it like a strong gust blowing through a pile of leaves.

This high-energy radiation is absorbed in the highest layers of a planet's atmosphere and regulates the escape of an atmosphere to space, said Youngblood, part of Frances ESCAPE team. We must measure the extreme ultraviolet radiation from exoplanet host stars to be able to say whether or not exoplanets can hang on to their atmospheres.

Over the course of its proposed two-year mission, which could begin in 2025, ESCAPE would survey the radiation streaming from more than 200 stars.

By doing that, France hopes to narrow down the list of the spots where scientists might expect to find the signals of flourishing life.

Were going to be able to make a road map of the most promising habitable worlds that NASA will spend its resources studying over the next 20 years, France said.

For now, he and his colleagues are buckling down. NASA has given the team $2 million dollars to develop their concept for ESCAPE further, and the agency will make its final decision in 2021.

The teams vision is definitely ambitious, France said. ESCAPE would measure about 7-feet-long and weigh more than 300 poundsa roughly Shaquille ONeal-sized chunk of machinery in low-Earth orbit.

ESCAPE also makes use of a new type of telescope designone that would be capable of measuring the faint extreme-ultraviolet radiation from distant stars, data that astronomers have so far not been able to collect.

Over the next nine months, were going to be making and testing engineering models of some of the more critical parts of the system in order to demonstrate that our design is actually going to perform as well as we think its going to, said Brian Fleming, a research professor at LASP and the instrument scientist for ESCAPE.

In other words, the researchers have some busy months ahead of them.

We were extremely excited when we found out we were selected, France said. Then maybe a day later it hit us that, Oh my gosh, we actually have to do all this. Its very gratifying to see it all come together and for NASA to be excited about it.

Other CU Boulder members of the ESCAPE team include Zachory Berta-Thompson and Adam Kowalski, assistant professors in APS; James Green, a professor in APS; and Jeffrey Linksy of JILA; and James Mason and Nick Kruczek, research scientists at LASP. Tom Patton leads the projects engineering team at LASP.

The effort also brings together researchers from the Ball Aerospace, Southwest Research Institute, and the National Solar Observatory, based in Boulder. ESCAPE also has science and technical partners at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center and numerous other universities and science institutions around the world.

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New mission would provide a road map in the search for alien atmospheres - CU Boulder Today

Pollution down, sky clearer: Amateur astronomers have a good time – Hindustan Times

Amateur astronomers in cities across India are making the best out of a bad situation to observe celestial objects --stars, constellations and planets -- in skies that have become unusually clear because of reduced pollution after the all-India lockdown came into force on March 25 to stop the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19).

The night skies, especially, have brightened with many more stars visible, according to astrophysicists in Kolkata who are monitoring celestial events with a telescope.

The stars, which were earlier only eight times brighter compared to the black sky in the background, have become at least 13 times brighter now compared to the black background. With the help of our telescopes we can now observe stars which were at least three times fainter earlier, said Sandip K Chakrabarti, director of Indian Centre for Space Physics (ICSP) and former head of the astrophysics and cosmology department at the SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences.

HT reported on March 24a general improvement in air quality across the world amid lockdowns to check the spread of Covid-19. The European Space Agency (ESA) has released satellite images showing a plunge in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels. In India, the government has cancelled flights and trains and taken public transport off the roads.

Constellations such as the Orion, Auriga, Gemini and Canis Minor have become much brighter now. One can see these constellations much clearly because of the drop in air pollution levels, said Basudev Bhattacharya, president ofthe Sky Watchers Association in Kolkata.

The concentration of aerosols that used to scatter light and create a dense haze have dropped because of the lockdown. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi has revealed that morning and evening peaks in PM 2.5 (particulate matter 2.5, fine, respirable pollution particles) levels have flattened out.

As a result of this, several stars and planets have become much brighter. The Canopus star in the southern hemisphere is looking quite bright. Planets such as Jupiter, Mars and Saturn have become brighter and can be seen before dawn around 4 am. Venus is also looking brighter in the evening sky, said J Khemchandani, secretary of Ahmedabads astronomy club.

The sky is now dotted with stars, many of which were earlier not visible. Earlier, only two objects from the deep sky were visible. But now I can see at least five including the Little Beehive star cluster, Messier 36, Messier 37 and Messier 38. These could be seen in the western sky in the evening. Earlier I could see only two to three stars of the Scorpio constellation. But now I can see the entire constellation. Even the pole star is shining brightly over the last one week or so, said Sneh Kesari, an amateur astronomer in Delhi.

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Pollution down, sky clearer: Amateur astronomers have a good time - Hindustan Times

April’s full moon is a supermoon, and rises on the 7th – Brainerd Dispatch

But this closeness doesnt last. The very next day, it will be obvious that Saturn has moved away from Mars. In fact, both Saturn and Jupiter are heading westward, away from the red planet. On the 9th, Saturn will be almost exactly midway between Mars, to the left, and Jupiter. By months end, the gap between Mars and Saturn will have opened to nearly 20 degrees.

While Saturn and Jupiter are pulling away from Mars, Earth is moving closer. During April the distance to Mars drops from 135 million miles to 114 million miles. Also, Jupiter is slowly drifting closer to Saturn. In December these two planets make a very close pass.

In the evening sky, Venus visits the lovely Pleiades star cluster. On the 1st, the cluster hovers close above the queen of planets. The next night, Venus has arrived at the border, and on the 3rd the planet appears to be another star in the cluster. On the 4th, Venus is above the Pleiades, and from then on the two objects rapidly separate. The one wrinkle is the bright waxing moon that shines those nights, so keep your binoculars handy.

And if that werent enough, Aprils full moon is one of the closer ones this year and qualifies as a supermoon. It rises the evening of the 7th, looking not only bigger and brighter than usual, but very round because itll be only a couple of hours or so from the moment of perfect fullness. Also, have a look on the 25th, when a young crescent moon of the next cycle appears below Venus and next to Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, the bull.

April ends with an astronomically based holiday that the ancient Celts (and many contemporary ones) called Beltane. It was celebrated on May 1, which began formally at sundown April 30 and was one of four cross-quarter days falling midway between an equinox and a solstice. The night of April 30 was when evil spirits that had been wreaking havoc since Halloweenanother cross-quarter dayhad a last fling. At dawn on May 1, they had to begin their annual six-month exile from the world of humans. Beltane was, and is, a celebration of the coming summer and hopes for an abundant harvest.

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The University of Minnesota offers public viewings of the night sky at its Duluth and Twin Cities campuses. For more information and viewing schedules, see:

Duluth, Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium: http://www.d.umn.edu/planet

Twin Cities, Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics: http://www.astro.umn.edu/outreach/pubnight

Check out the astronomy programs at the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum Exploradome: http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/education/exploradome

Find U of M astronomers and links to the world of astronomy at http://www.astro.umn.edu

8/22/19 Contact: Deane Morrison, University Relations, (612) 624-2346, morri029@umn.edu

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Minnesota Starwatch is a service of the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, located in the Tate Laboratory of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis MN 55455.

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April's full moon is a supermoon, and rises on the 7th - Brainerd Dispatch