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Thread: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Wuhan Pneumonia

  1. #316
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    collateral damage

    May 31, 2021
    9:28 PM PDT
    Sports
    As Japan loses training camps, Olympics buzz fades
    Tetsushi KajimotoDaniel Leussink

    4 minute read

    A visitor and the Olympic Rings monument cast shadows on the ground outside the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) headquarters near the National Stadium, the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games that have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan May 30, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

    Ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Japanese city of Kamo spent 70 million yen ($640,000) on horizontal bars, gymnastic mats and other upgrades to training facilities for 42 Russian gymnasts and coaches who now won’t be coming.

    The team scrapped plans for pre-Olympics training in Japan because of the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic, local officials said. Officials in the northwestern city of 25,000 say they regret the lost opportunity to host the team, even more than the money spent.

    The Games, now less than eight weeks away after being delayed by a year, have been upended by COVID-19. Foreign spectators will not be allowed, and more than 100 municipalities have cancelled plans to host overseas teams.

    "Local kids who could be future star gymnasts were disappointed to miss the opportunity to meet the Russian gymnasts," Kamo official Hirokazu Suzuki told Reuters.

    Although there is little Olympic buzz in host city Tokyo, which is under a state of emergency because of the pandemic, in smaller places like Kamo, which had been planning the camp since 2019, the disappointment is perhaps more palpable.

    Most of the cancellations so far have been in the 500 or so municipalities involved in the Olympics "host town" programme, in which foreign teams base their pre-Games training in Japanese facilities.

    In some cases, such as Australia's judo team, the teams pulled out over safety concerns. In others, such as a delegation from Cuba set to stay in Higashimatsuyama city north of Tokyo, the municipalities decided not to host.

    Organisers say the Games will be held safely. Several opinion polls have shown most Japanese people want the event to be cancelled or postponed again.

    The national government earmarked 13 billion yen for municipalities to host training camps while imposing coronavirus measures, officials said.

    Municipalities apart from Tokyo were expected to see a boost of about $110 billion through 2030 from the Games, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said in a March 2017 estimate.

    "Training camps will give a huge impulse to the economies of towns and cities where they are held, but that is being lost," said Katsuhiro Miyamoto, an emeritus professor of economics at Kansai University who studies the economic impact of the Olympics.

    SPORTS EXCHANGE

    Officials in Narita, east of Tokyo, were caught by surprise when the United States' track and field team informed them it had decided to pull out of planned a training camp.

    About 120 athletes and staff, including star sprinter Justin Gatlin, were set to come for the camp, said Kentaro Abe, a municipal official in charge of host town projects.

    Narita's sports relationship with the United States started in 2015, when it hosted the U.S. training camp before the world athletics championships in Beijing.

    "It doesn't mean that our efforts to promote sport exchange between Japan and the United States came to nothing," Abe told Reuters, adding that city would look to continue the relationship.

    In the central city of Toyota, home to the carmaker and Olympic sponsor Toyota Motor Corp, Canadian swimmers and coaches pulled out of pre-Olympics training scheduled to be held over about three weeks in July.

    Such cancellations could add to the pain for towns and regions that are already smarting from a drop-off in tourism.

    At her hotel in western Izumisano city, Eriko Tsujino worries she could lose about 60 bookings from Mongolian and Ugandan national teams if the athletes ditch plans to train in Japan.

    "If they were to cancel at the last minute, it would cause a huge loss," she told Reuters, saying the bookings had still not been confirmed because of the state of emergency.

    After the Russians cancelled their camp in Kamo, officials there decided at the last minute to host a much smaller Portuguese delegation of one female artistic gymnast and two accompanying staff, Suzuki said.

    But the city also sought to keep friendly relations with the Russian gymnasts, asking kids and other locals to show them support with making video messages and letters.

    ($1 = 109.8100 yen)

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  2. #317
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    Our newest web article

    Did Covid close your school? READ Closing Doors, Open Arms: Part 2 by Kurtis Fujita



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  3. #318
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    Coronavirus (COVID-19) Wuhan Pneumonia

    UFC: ‘King of Kung Fu’ Muslim Salikhov says Covid-19 struggles ‘woke me up’, and now he’s on different level
    Dagestani faces fellow veteran Francisco Trinaldo at UFC Vegas 28 with an eye on a title run – and a return to fight in China
    ‘Now I’m in the best shape of my life,’ says Salikhov after shaking off long-term Covid-19 symptoms
    Topic |
    Coronavirus pandemic
    Mathew Scott

    Published: 2:23pm, 3 Jun, 2021


    Muslim Salikhov kicks Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in their welterweight fight at UFC 251. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
    It takes a lot to stop Muslim Salikhov, as a record of being arguably the most successful martial artist to emerge from China’s domestic fight circuits might suggest.
    So when chest pain hit the 36-year-old welterweight in December, and he found himself hardly able to move, Salikhov knew something might be seriously wrong.
    “One morning I woke up and I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move,” says the Dagestani. “All I could do was sit in one position and focus on breathing, and on the pain in my chest. One whole day I sat like that.
    “I had been sick with corona in September, it wasn’t too bad. But I started to train again too early. You know as a fighter you want to train every day and to train as hard as you can. But then the chest pains came and the doctors found I had a blood clot, and it could have been dangerous.”

    The “King of Kung Fu” had of course battled through injuries across two decades of combat that saw him emerge as the first Westerner to be named the “King of Sanda” – as well as claiming multiple world titles – in the Chinese style of kick-boxing, before a move to MMA and to the UFC. But Salikhov had never felt anything quite like this.

    In the end, his months-long battles with the coronavirus forced him out of two scheduled fights, and he’s now not been seen since a split decision win over Brazilian Elizeu Zaleski (22-7) last July.

    Stories like Salikhov’s have echoed across the UFC this past 12 months, as a generation of fighters across all divisions have fought both the effects of Covid-19, and against their natural-born instincts to keep active, and to push themselves to the very limits of their physical abilities on a daily basis.
    Just when the 36-year-old Salikhov (17-2) had battled his way to the brink of a ranking with a 4-0 run, he had to stop, completely, and he had to wait for his body to heal.


    “That’s the lesson I learned,” says Salikhov. “When you get sick, you stop everything. That’s a hard lesson for fighters but now I’m in the best shape of my life. The experience woke me up. I eat better, I sleep better and I will fight better than I ever have before. I’m on a different level.”
    Muslim Salikov throws a punch at Laureano Staropoli at UFC Fight Night 162. Photo: SingaporeMaven
    And so now Salikhov’s journey begins again this weekend, when he takes on a fellow veteran in Brazilian Francisco Trinaldo (26-7) on the preliminaries of the UFC Vegas 28 card. He wants a finish.
    “He’s tough,” says Salikhov. “He’s old but he has good genetics so being 42 years old is not a problem for him. But I don’t think about that. I prepare like he’s a young man. I know I’m much better than him. I just need to keep winning. I like to finish fights. I don’t like decisions, and that’s what I will aim for again.”
    That Salikhov came to the UFC relatively late – he signed at 33 – has leaned a sense of urgency to his rise up the ranks. He wants a crack at a ranked welterweight and to win his way towards a title shot. But he also knows the clock is ticking – something that was drummed home during his recovery from Covid-19, when Salikhov had plenty of time to think.
    UFC fighter Muslim Salikhov in action during his wushu days in China. Photo: IWUF (International Wushu Federation)
    “Maybe next fight I will get a big name, it doesn‘t matter who,” he says. “I know to get that chance I have to do all I can on Saturday and I have to keep my run going. I’ve been thinking a lot about what is coming next and my fans in China say they want to see me again.
    “Everybody keeps talking about [11th-ranked] Li Jingliang. You know many people in China are waiting for this. I have a lot of fans. He’s also very popular. If we fight I think China will be 50-50. For Chinese fans sanda is still more important and I represent them. They love me and I would love to show them what I can now do in MMA.”
    In the shape of Trinaldo this weekend Salikhov faces a fighter also feeling time encroaching, as evidenced by the fact weight issues have sees him move up a division for the first time. That Trinaldo was once a feared kick-boxer in his own land – and a state champion in the sport – reveals how this one is likely to play out. It should be fast, and furious.
    “But I know I am better than him,” says Salikhov. “It feels like I have been away for a long time. But I am better than ever.”

    This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Covid-19 struggles put Salikhov ‘on a different level’


    Mathew Scott

    Mathew Scott is a Hong Kong-based journalist who specialises in mixed martial arts. He covers the UFC, One Championship and Asian MMA.
    Salikhov is mentioned in a few other threads here (which I may copy over someday) but he deserves his own indie thread.

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  4. #319
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    Reopening the Great Star

    I must revisit soon.
    LOCAL
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    HEATHER KNIGHT
    Reopening Chinatown's Great Star Theater is a gamble for this couple. It could pay off for them and community

    Photo of Heather Knight
    Heather Knight
    June 9, 2021
    Updated: June 9, 2021 4 a.m.

    Great Star Theater in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 7, 2021. Roger and Alice Pincombe have taken over the nearly abandoned 96-year-old theater in Chinatown and restored it. Photos by Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

    San Francisco’s small businesses suffered greatly over the past 15 months. So did nonprofits. So did performing arts venues. So did movie theaters. So did Chinatown.

    So it might seem like the worst possible time to start a new venture that combines all of those into one hugely risky gamble, but Alice Chu and Roger Pincombe are betting big. And here’s hoping their efforts pay off.

    This month, the married couple, who live in an apartment in Twin Peaks and work as software engineers for Salesforce, will reopen the Great Star Theater on Jackson Street after signing a 10-year lease. They’ve formed a nonprofit called, fittingly, the Great Star Theater, and have sunk $150,000 of their own money and donations into the massive project of restoring the theater to its former glory.

    They’ll have a soft opening this weekend and plan to hold an official launch complete with lion dancers in the street on June 18.

    “We’re excited to open and put people back to work and start that community back up,” Pincombe, 33, said of giving the city another venue for live arts groups that lost nearly all their revenue during the pandemic. “There’s always something up in the air, but it always comes together so beautifully.”

    Pincombe’s face lights up when he talks about the theater, and his goal is to make it his full-time work. Chu, 31, who moved from China’s Henan province 10 years ago to obtain her master’s degree in computer science at the University of Southern California, seems to be the practical one and said she’s definitely staying at Salesforce.

    “Slow down! Slow down!” she kept telling her husband as he chattered excitedly while giving me a tour of the theater the other day. “She isn’t done writing!”

    They showed off the new red upholstery on the theater’s 410 seats after the droppings from birds nesting overhead proved disastrous to the previous seat covers. They showed off lovely bathrooms with touchless faucets and art and calligraphy made in China by Chu’s parents hanging on the walls.

    They showed off a huge, used movie screen they installed. Eighty-five new fire sprinklers they added since the old ones were 50 years out-of-date in terms of code compliance. A traditional Chinese altar where actors can pray before going on stage. A downstairs lounge for actors that’s decorated with a mural painted by Chu.

    “We’re honoring the history of the theater, but also making it cleaner and more comfortable,” Pincombe said. “If you could have seen what this place looked like in November when we took over. There have been a lot of last-minute headaches.”

    The theater opened in 1925 as a venue for Chinese opera singers, and Pincombe said Bruce Lee spent time there as a kid watching his dad, Lee Hoi-chuen, a Cantonese opera singer, perform.

    But those wondrous years are long gone — and the theater had become dirty, derelict and abandoned. Sporadic movies, plays and operas showed over the years, but attendance required being OK with revolting bathrooms with no hot water, thick layers of dust and general grunginess.

    The lowest point came in 2015 when the body of a 31-year-old woman was found inside the theater, and police arrested the man who was leasing the space at the time on suspicion of homicide. Prosecutors did not file charges against him due to lack of evidence.


    Paul Nathan (left) and John Anaya prepare for the June 10th opening of Devil in the Deck at Great Star Theater in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 7, 2021. Roger and Alice Pincombe have taken over the nearly abandoned 96-year-old theater in Chinatown and restored it.Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
    So nothing about the theater exactly screamed opportunity and excitement. Except to Chu and Pincombe.

    They attended a circus-themed show there on their first date after meeting on a Chinese dating app and reached out to its landlord to ask about managing the theater. She finally got back to them last summer, and they settled on lease terms in November. The couple declined to provide the details.

    They’re hoping their newly beautiful theater will draw crowds to the neighborhood who will go out to eat and drink after the shows — a mix of movies, plays, variety shows, circuses and others. Chinatown’s small businesses suffered during the pandemic not only from strict shelter-in-place rules, but also racism fueled by the former president’s insistence on calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” and even “kung flu.”

    The recent spate of violence against Asian people, particularly elders, has also negatively impacted Chinatown and its residents’ feelings of safely walking around their own neighborhood.

    Chu said she’s reached out to many local organizations to introduce herself and her husband and see how the couple and their new theater can help.

    Amy Lee, 29, is the founder of Revive SF Chinatown, a group that aims to bring young people back to Chinatown, holds weekly events to support neighborhood businesses and organizes larger events. Lee grew up near Chinatown and recently moved back to her childhood home.

    “Pre-pandemic, the businesses were surviving, but the atmosphere was obviously different,” she said. “It wasn’t as happy compared to when I was growing up. People don’t really come and stay — they come and do their errands and then go home to the Richmond and Sunset.”

    She said she’s “very excited” about the reopening of the Great Star Theater and already has tickets to one of its first shows.

    “Having a space that provides entertainment and something that brings joy is very important,” she said.


    An altar backstage at Great Star Theater in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 7, 2021. Roger and Alice Pincombe have taken over the nearly abandoned 96-year-old theater in Chinatown and restored it.Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
    Jeff Lee, vice president of the 88-year-old Wah Ying Club, a Chinatown social group, said he remembers being the only one of his mother’s six kids growing up in Chinatown who would begrudgingly attend Chinese operas with her at the Great Star.

    “The condition was after the opera, she’d take me out for a midnight snack,” he said with a laugh.

    He said his group and the wider neighborhood is excited about the reopening.
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  5. #320
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    live frogs

    Trending in China
    Chinese man who ate five live frogs ‘for strength’ hospitalised with parasitic infection

    He had hoped the folk remedy could help him get stronger after he broke two bones in years past
    Other people in China have got sick after eating frogs hoping to get stronger
    Topic |
    China Society
    Mandy Zuo
    Published: 7:00pm, 11 Jun, 2021


    A man in China was hospitalised after he got a parasitic infection from eating five live frogs. Photo: Getty Images
    A man in eastern China developed a parasitic infection after swallowing five live frogs because he believed they would make him stronger, a local hospital said.
    The man, aged 53 and surnamed Sun, ate the amphibians after his fellow villagers told him they could give him more strength.
    He was taken to hospital after he developed a persistent fever and weakness, said the First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine, Zhejiang University in an article posted on WeChat on Thursday.
    The man, surnamed Sun, ate the frogs because he believed it would give him strength. Photo: Martin Williams
    The farmer routinely worked the fields in the Yuhang district of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. Sun told doctors earlier this month that he caught the frogs near the farmland and swallowed them whole.
    Sun said he decided to try out the folk remedy because he wanted to improve his fitness after suffering breaking his collar bone and a shoulder blade several years ago.
    “I caught five frogs in total and they were all quite small, about a thumb’s length each,” he was quoted as saying.
    He had to go to three hospitals to find the cause of his mysterious illness. He did not realise the frogs might be the cause, so he did not tell the doctors about them until the final stop made a detailed inquiry.
    By then, he had had a fever for about two weeks, and his lungs had shown multiple lesions and fibrosis, doctors said.
    Every year, we receive patients infected with parasites. A great portion of them fall ill because they eat improperly.
    First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine, Zhejiang University in an article posted on WeChat
    A biopsy later suggested that Sun was infected with Spirometra mansoni, a tapeworm commonly found in frogs.
    Luckily, the worms had not invaded his eyes or brain, the two organs in the human body that are most prone to infection. If that had happened, Sun would have experienced symptoms similar to a stroke.
    He has now recovered after anti-parasitic treatment, according to the article.
    “Every year, we receive patients infected with parasites. A great portion of them fall ill because they eat improperly,” said Qu Tingting, a doctor from the hospital’s infectious disease department, in the WeChat post.
    The live frog remedy is a folk medicinal practice that is widely adopted in other parts of China.
    A 26-year-old man from Changsha, Hunan province, was found to have been infected by the same parasite in the brain after he ate “plenty of” frogs during his childhood in the hopes of helping to heal a bone injury, the Changsha Evening News reported in January.
    He never thought eating the frogs was risky until one day he could not speak clearly and lost the use of his limbs in early 2021, the news report said.
    Other people eat frogs’ larvae, also believing they will give them strength.
    In April 2018, a video showing a woman making a young girl eat live tadpoles on Weibo triggered a public outcry. The woman said they would help the kid keep healthy while serving her a bowl of swimming tadpoles with a spoon.



    Mandy Zuo

    Mandy Zuo joined the Post in 2010 and reports on China. She has covered a wide range of subjects including policy, rural issues, culture and society. She worked in Beijing before relocating to Shanghai in 2014.
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    masked mercy

    June 16, 2021
    4:41 AM PDT
    Last Updated 4 hours ago
    Asia Pacific
    Giant Buddhist goddess in Japan gets face mask to pray for end of COVID-19

    Reuters

    2 minute read

    June 16 (Reuters) - Workers scaled a giant statue of a Buddhist goddess in Japan on Tuesday to place a custom-made mask on her face, an act meant to be a prayer for the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

    It took four workers three hours to carry the massive mask on ropes up the 57 m-high (187 ft) white statue of the Buddhist goddess Kannon - the Goddess of Mercy - at the Houkokuji Aizu Betsuin temple in Fukushima Prefecture.

    They then unfurled the mask made with pink net fabric, measuring 4.1 m by 5.3 m and weighing 35 kg (77 pounds), across the lower half of the statue's face.


    A drone picture shows a mask placed on a 57-metre-high statue of Buddhist goddess Kannon, to pray for the end of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic at Houkokuji Aizu Betsuin temple in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan in this handout photo taken on June 15 2021. OISO ALL SUPPORT/Handout via REUTERS

    The statue, built 33 years ago, is hollow with a spiral staircase that can be climbed to the height of the goddess' shoulder. People visit the statue, which is holding a baby, to pray for the safe delivery of babies and to ask for blessings for their newborns.

    Temple manager Takaomi Horigane said workers came up with the idea for the face mask in discussions on the restoration of the statue after it was damaged in an earthquake in February.

    Horigane said they plan to keep the mask on the statue until the COVID-19 situation is under control in Japan.

    Reporting by Rikako Maruyama and Akira Tomoshige; Writing by Karishma Singh; Editing by Tom Hogue
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  7. #322
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    Olympic condoms

    Tokyo Olympic Games 2020
    Tokyo Olympics athletes warned not to use 160,000 free condoms
    Organisers say condoms are souvenirs to take home
    Competitors must ‘avoid unnecessary forms’ of contact

    In 2016, Olympic athletes were openly encouraged to make use of free condoms in Rio - but Tokyo 2020 is warning athletes to take them home instead. Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy
    Justin McCurry in Tokyo
    Fri 18 Jun 2021 06.02 EDT

    The organisers of the 2020 Olympics have repeatedly vowed to put on a “safe and secure” Games during the coronavirus pandemic. But safe sex – or anything approaching intimacy for that matter – will be forbidden for athletes competing in Tokyo.

    The International Olympic Committee this week repeated demands that residents of the Olympic village must observe social distancing guidelines to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19, threatening rule-breakers with a range of penalties, including fines, disqualification or even deportation.

    Athletes, according to the public health measures outlined in the latest Olympic playbook, must “avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact”.

    That has left Japanese organisers red-faced after questions were raised about the fate of 160,000 condoms that, in keeping with Olympic tradition, are due to be handed out in the village this summer.

    Hundreds of thousands of free condoms have been distributed since Seoul 1988 to encourage safe sex during the unofficial Olympic sport of bed-hopping among athletes from over 200 countries who spend weeks living in close quarters. However, if the 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes observe Covid-19 rules to the letter during their stay in Tokyo, this year’s consignment will go unused.

    The mixed messaging has baffled observers, including the celebrated Japanese mountaineer, Ken Noguchi, who said handing out prophylactics while imploring their owners to keep them under wraps was “something I just can’t comprehend”.

    Games organisers have belatedly spun the anomaly into a safe sex message. The condoms are not intended for use in the athletes’ village, they said. Instead, they are meant to be taken home and used to raise awareness of HIV and Aids.

    Four Japanese manufacturers had been banking on the Games to market their speciality – ultra-thin condoms made of polyurethane that are said to heighten the pleasure of safe sex.

    But, according to Agence France-Presse, Games requirements mean they are only permitted to distribute thicker, latex-based versions, which some have described as offering an inferior experience.

    “When I learned about the requirement, I thought, ‘Oh my god … can that be right?’” an industry source told AFP. “We had really counted on being able to offer these ultra-thin ones.”

    While the IOC has said up to 80% of prospective Olympic and Paralympic village residents will be fully vaccinated by the time the Tokyo Games open on 23 July, they will spend much of their time there a safe distance from their fellow residents.

    Organisers were originally planning to provide meals in vast dining halls, but are now encouraging athletes to eat – and sleep – alone.
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    To all you dads, happy belated Father's Day too!

    Summer solstice: Hundreds attend Stonehenge despite advice
    Published4 hours ago
    REUTERS
    People were seen climbing over a fence to get into the ancient stone circle
    Hundreds of people attended the summer solstice at Stonehenge despite official advice asking them not to travel to the site in line with Covid restrictions.

    As a result English Heritage pulled a live feed of the sunrise at the neolithic monument in Wiltshire at 04:52 BST due to safety concerns.

    People were seen climbing over a low fence to access the stones.

    Wiltshire Police said the event was peaceful but added the number of people at nearby Avebury had caused issues.

    More than 200,000 people from around the world tuned in to the live stream for the solstice but ended up watching pre-recorded footage of the stones until the feed returned at around 05:00 BST, showing largely cloudy skies.

    Video from the scene showed about a hundred people inside the stone circle and a banner reading "Standing for Stonehenge".

    Revellers gather to celebrate the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge ancient stone circle, despite official events being cancelled amid the spread of the coronavirus

    English Heritage had been preparing to welcome visitors in person until the government delayed the easing of covid restrictions into July.

    It said the "difficult decision" to cancel planned celebrations was made following discussions with Wiltshire Council and Wiltshire Police.

    It meant the organisation held a virtual event for the second consecutive year.

    Apologising for the live stream outage, host Ed Shires said: "We have been disappointed that a number of people have chosen to disregard our request to not travel to the stones this morning and that is the reason why we haven't been able to bring you the pictures that we would have liked to have done.

    "It is disappointing to see that happen but unfortunately in those kind of situations we have to put the safety of our staff members first and that's why we have had some interruption this morning."

    A spokeswoman for English Heritage added: "The Covid-19 restrictions were extended for a reason and it was disappointing to see, during a pandemic, people act in a way that put themselves, our staff and the police at risk."


    What is the summer solstice?
    It is the longest day of the year, with the most hours of sunlight. The word solstice comes from the fact the sun appears to stand still - from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

    The summer solstice always occurs between the 20th and 22nd June in the northern hemisphere, and during a leap year it always falls on the 20th.

    This is because the calendar year does not match exactly the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun - the calendar is approximately a quarter of a day short, which is why we have leap years, to bring the calendar back in line with the Earth's orbit.

    While the summer solstice is the day that has the most hours of sunlight, it can signal warmer weather is on the horizon because the UK's weather typically becomes hotter during July and August.

    English Heritage did not elaborate on how the attendance of people at the site prevented them from showing a live feed of the sunrise.

    Normally, more than 10,000 people would gather to watch the sun rise over the stones on the longest day of the year.

    At nearby Avebury stone circle, about 24 miles (38km) from Stonehenge, police closed off an area near to the site when crowds began gathering on Sunday evening.

    People inside the stone-circle during Summer Solstice at Stonehenge, where some people jumped over the fence to enter the site to watch the sun rise at dawn of the longest day in the UK. The stones have been officially closed for the celebrations, which see huge crowds inside the circle, due to the coronavirus lockdown extension.

    PA MEDIA
    People ignored official advice not to travel to the site, but police said most were well behaved

    Supt Dave Minty, from Wiltshire Police, said: "Most people have been well behaved.

    "We have seen some build up in some areas around Avebury in particular, that we would have hoped to have avoided, but everything has been peaceful.

    "It is just the numbers that have caused us some issues up on the Ridgeway."

    He said a woman was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and had since been released.

    PA MEDIA
    Leading druid King Arthur Pendragon performed a ritual during summer solstice at Stonehenge
    Senior druid King Arthur Pendragon said it was unnecessary to completely close the sites.

    "It was never going to be massive anyway," he said.

    "If you think about it a lot of the people who come to the solstice fly in from America, and all around the world, that wasn't going to happen this year, so I don't know why they didn't just let us in.

    "I'd rather have been in there... but as it goes we did what we could."

    Presentational grey line
    At the scene with BBC reporter Karen Gardner
    Hundreds of cones had been placed on the roads closest to Stonehenge to prevent parking, but cars and vans were still squeezed into the few available slots.

    At about 04:50 BST about 200 to 300 people had stepped over the low fence to be among the stones as the sun rose behind a bank of grey cloud.

    It may have been the summer solstice, but it was as cold a morning as I can remember this year, there was a real chill in the air.

    I drove the short distance to the Avebury stones where a couple of hundred people - many who had camped out or slept in their vehicles overnight - also ignored the pleas from the authorities not to move among the monuments.

    It all seemed very good-natured, with the security guards and police at both sites fairly relaxed.

    Presentational grey line
    Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk
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  9. #324
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    Coronavirus (COVID-19) Wuhan Pneumonia

    Iko needs his own thread. Perhaps someday we'll link up all his previous threads here too.

    \
    Tinwarotul Fatonah | Rosiana ChozanahKamis, 01 Juli 2021 | 18:30 WIB
    Iko Uwais Positif Covid-19, Sedang dalam Pengawasan Ketat Oleh Dokter


    Iko Uwais dan Audy Item [Instagram]
    Suara.com - Aktor kenamaan Iko Uwais mengabarkan bahwa ia terinfeksi virus corona Covid-19. Ternyata suami Audy Item tersebut sudah sudah terkonfirmasi sejak minggu lalu.

    Namun, lelaki 38 tahun tersebut baru mengalami gejala beberapa hari ini.

    "Dear teman-teman dan keluarga. Aku ingin menginformasikan bahwa pekan lalu aku positif Covid-19 dan sekarang sudah menunjukkan beberapa gejala," tulis Iko Uwais dalam bahasa Inggris di akun Instagram, Kamis (1/7/2021).

    Iko mengatakan bahwa saat ini ia sedang beristirahat dengan pengawasan ketat oleh dokter dan berkonsentrasi untuk mendapatkan kekuatannya serta fokus pada pemulihan.


    "Tidak ada yang membuat masa pemulihanku terasa menggembirakan selain dukungan dari teman dan sanak keluarga semua," sambungnya.

    Pada akhir kata Iko mengingatkan untuk tetap menjaga kesehatan dan keamanan.


    Iko Uwais positif Covid-19 (Instagram)
    Pengumuman tersebut membuat beberapa sahabat sang aktor ikut mendoakan kesembuhannya.

    "Semoga lekas sembuh Dek," tutur Joe Taslim.

    "Bismillah sehat kuat semangat sayang. Love you @ikouwais," komentar sang istri.

    "Kata Allah Iko harus rehat bentar. Cepet sembuh bro Iko! Selalu memantau karya-karyanya ke depan. Bangga," imbuh Baim Wong.
    googtrans
    Iko Uwais Positive for Covid-19, Is Under Strict Monitoring By Doctors
    Tinwarotul Fatonah | Rosiana ChozanahThursday, 01 July 2021 | 18:30 WIB
    Iko Uwais Positive for Covid-19, Is Under Strict Monitoring By Doctors
    Iko Uwais and Audy Item [Instagram]
    Suara.com - The famous actor Iko Uwais reported that he was infected with the Covid-19 corona virus. It turns out that Audy Item's husband has been confirmed since last week.

    However, the 38-year-old man had only been experiencing symptoms for a few days.

    "Dear friends and family. I want to inform you that last week I was positive for Covid-19 and now I have shown some symptoms," wrote Iko Uwais in English on his Instagram account, Thursday (1/7/2021).

    Iko said that he is currently resting under close supervision by doctors and is concentrating on gaining his strength and focusing on recovery.

    "Nothing has made my recovery happier than the support from all of my friends and family," he continued.

    At the end, Iko reminded to maintain health and safety.

    The announcement made several of the actor's friends join in praying for his recovery.

    "I hope you get well soon, Dek," said Joe Taslim.

    "Bismillah, healthy, strong, dear, love you @ikouwais," commented the wife.

    "God said Iko should rest for a while. Get well soon bro Iko! Always monitor his future works. Proud," added Baim Wong.
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  10. #325
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    3 a day

    Jul 9, 2021 11:11am PT
    Cannes Has an Average of Three COVID Cases Per Day, But No ‘Cluster,’ Says Festival Official

    By Elsa Keslassy


    Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
    Cannes Film Festival’s general secretary Francois Desrousseaux squashed rumors swirling around the festival about skyrocketing coronavirus cases and told Variety Friday that four days into the festival, there is no Covid-19 cluster at Cannes.

    “Out of several thousand people getting testing here on a daily basis, there are an average of three cases per day,” said Desrousseaux, who hammered out protocols with the festival’s organizers, producers and Cannes regional authorities. Salivary RT-PCR tests have been carried on at a 300 square-meter lab tent adjacent to the Palais des Festivals.

    All unvaccinated guests as well as attendees traveling from the U.S. and countries listed as orange such as the U.K. have had to take tests every two days in order to enter the perimeter of the Palais des Festivals where the Marché des Films and most screenings are taking place.

    Desrousseaux said “Since the start of the festival on Tuesday, there were a maximum of six cases found on a single day.” “If we look at the proportion of cases compared with the number of people tested, we’re well below the national average,” he pointed out.

    Popular on Variety
    Once people are tested positive to Covid-19, they are required to self-isolate immediately and are not allowed inside the perimeter of the the Palais des Festivals where security staff scan QR codes upon all entrances.

    In view of those cases, Cannes’ organizers have now demanded that every festival staffer undergo a test every two days, rather than every five days which is the normal requirement for event employees, said Desrousseaux.

    Cannes’ hands-on and resourceful mayor, David Lisnard, has also deployed Covid-sniffing dogs around the Palais, near the red carpet entrance.

    The festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux and president Pierre Lescure reminded attendees that wearing a mask is mandatory in all indoor venues, following headlines saying that too many people had removed their masks during screenings and didn’t observe enough social distancing, including during the opening night ceremony on Tuesday.

    “Understandably, people were particularly enthusiastic to reunite after such a long time during the first 24 hours, but we are making sure that sanitary rules are now strictly observed by everyone; and have more staff on the ground in charge of enforcing the protocol,” said Desrousseaux. “We have to be fully conscious that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic.”
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  11. #326
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    It begins...

    JULY 15, 2021 11:47 PM UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
    Virus outbreaks at Olympic hotels sow frustration, stoke infection fears

    By Ju-min Park, Eimi Yamamitsu, Antoni Slodkowski

    5 MIN READ


    TOKYO (Reuters) - Coronavirus outbreaks involving Olympic teams in Japan have turned small-town hotels into facilities on the frontline of the pandemic battle, charged with implementing complex health measures to protect elite athletes and a fearful public.


    FILE PHOTO: The exterior of the Hamanako hotel, where dozens of Brazilian Olympic team members stay and a COVID-19 cluster has been detected, is pictured in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
    Infections here have hit at least seven teams arriving in Japan barely a week out from the July 23 opening ceremony and after host city Tokyo reported its highest daily tally of new COVID-19 infections since late January.

    Health experts and hotel staff say the outbreaks underscore the risks of holding the world’s largest sports event during the middle of a global pandemic in a largely unvaccinated country.

    In one example, 49 members of Brazil’s judo team are being kept in isolation after eight COVID-19 cases were discovered among the staff at a hotel where they are staying in Hamamatsu, southwest of Tokyo.

    None of the judokas have tested positive but frustration over their isolation is mounting as health officials work to contain the outbreak.

    “People from the city’s public health centre are tracking down close contacts here,” a staff member at the Hamanako hotel who did not want to be identified told Reuters. “There are dozens of regular guests as well but we’re getting cancellations now.”

    The staff member said athletes are using designated lifts and those who work with them are prioritised for COVID-19 testing. Meals are held in the dining area in separate spaces and the athletes are staying on separate floors.

    City official Yoshinobu Sawada said teams were required to sign formal agreements to follow coronavirus protocols on eating, movement and transportation restrictions. The infected hotel staff have been moved to quarantine centres.

    Other outbreaks tmsnrt.rs/3r8Zv98 among athletes include members of Olympic delegations from Uganda, Serbia, Israel and several other nations either testing positive or isolating in their hotels after being designated as close contacts.

    The organising committee did not immediately respond to Reuters’ questions seeking comment.

    COMPLEX, COSTLY MEASURES
    Games organisers tell hotels to report people with a high temperature during Olympic team check-ins and say organisers and public health centres will handle outbreaks or suspected cases, according to documents the organisers sent to hotels.

    Hotels need to provide room service or food delivery to athletes in isolation, and run different hours or separate spaces for meals between Olympic guests and regular guests.

    The documents say organisers will not cover costs for hotels to equip rooms with acrylic dividers or provide separate dining spaces for the athletes.

    Tokyo 2020 playbooks for athletes and sports federations call for attendees to physically distance themselves from others, to wear masks, and to get tested daily.

    Those playbooks are working and being enforced, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has said, and there was “zero” risk of Games participants infecting residents..

    Tokyo entered its fourth state of emergency earlier this week amid a rebound in cases that pushed Games organisers to ban spectators from nearly all venues. More than 1,300 new cases were reported on Thursday, the most in six months.

    Most people in Japan think the Games should not go ahead and only 18% are fully vaccinated.

    UNVACCINATED CLEANING STAFF
    Six hotel officials spoken to by Reuters were mostly worried about separating athletes from regular guests as well as the safety of their staff.

    Azusa Takeuchi from the Lake Biwa Otsu Prince Hotel, which is hosting 53 members of New Zealand’s rowing team, said staff were taking COVID-19 tests every four days, wearing masks and providing contact-free services.

    Similar measures were in place at the Ebina Vista Hotel on the outskirts of Tokyo, according to an Olympic official staying there, who said he was housed on the seventh floor but not permitted to use a lift.

    “There are guards at each floor 24/7 preventing us from using them. Instead we are allowed to go from hotel restaurant to our rooms and back using only external evacuation stairs,” said the official, who did not want to be identified.

    Other measures, confirmed by the hotel, include breakfast for the athletes served before 6:30 a.m. at the restaurant or through meal boxes delivered to hotel rooms.

    Koichi Tsuchiya, the hotel manager, said he worried about his staff.

    “I’m scared someone from the cleaning staff would get infected. People entering guest rooms are scared,” said Tsuchiya, adding that some staff were not vaccinated. “This is making us nervous.”

    Tsuchiya also worried about his visitors.

    “Travel agents brief the athletes before arrival: you can’t do this, this is not allowed, that is banned. I’m sure the athletes are extremely stressed,” he said.

    “As staff, we’re doing our best to help them relax. But this is the situation we’re in, so the infection countermeasures are the priority.”

    Additional reporting by Elaine Lies, Sakura Murakami, Rocky Swift, Ami Miyazaki and Mari Saito; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
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  12. #327
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    facts

    July 20, 2021
    3:22 AM PDT
    Last Updated 6 hours ago
    Asia Pacific
    Factbox: Coronavirus outbreaks at the Tokyo Olympics
    Reuters

    2 minute read

    People receive the first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Central Vaccination Center, inside the Bang Sue Grand Station, Thailand, June 21, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha


    The logo of the Tokyo Olympic Games, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office building in Tokyo, Japan, January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo


    TOKYO, July 20 (Reuters) - The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, will be held under unprecedented conditions including tight quarantine rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections.

    Nevertheless, a number of cases have emerged among athletes and other people involved with the Games.

    Following is a list of cases, in chronological order.

    JUNE 20 - A coach with Uganda's squad tests positive on arrival at Narita airport and is quarantined at a government-designated facility. The rest of the team heads by bus for their host city, Izumisano, near Osaka in western Japan.

    JUNE 23 - A Ugandan athlete tests positive, according to Izumisano officials.

    JULY 4 - A member of Serbia's rowing team tests positive on arrival. The other four team members are isolated as close contacts.

    JULY 9 - One Lithuanian and one Israeli athlete test positive, according to reports. Later reports say the Lithuanian's results were unclear and subsequently tested negative.

    JULY 14 - A masseur for the Russian women's rugby sevens team tests positive, forcing the team into isolation for two days, the RIA news agency reports. Officials in Munakata, southwestern Japan, confirm one staff member was hospitalised and say none of the team members could be considered a close contact.

    - The refugee Olympic team delays its arrival in Japan after a team official tests positive in Doha. The infected official is in quarantine without symptoms, with 26 of the 29 refugees set to remain in their Doha training camp.

    - Seven staff at a hotel in Hamamatsu, central Japan, where dozens of Brazilian athletes are staying, test positive, a city official says.

    - Twenty-one members of the South African rugby team are in isolation after they are believed to have been in close contact with a case on their flight.

    JULY 15 - Eight athletes from the Kenya women's rugby team are classified as close contacts after a positive coronavirus case is found on their flight to Tokyo, says an official with the southwestern city of Kurume, where they were set to hold a training camp.

    - U.S. basketball player Bradley Beal’s Olympic dream is cut short when USA Basketball announce he will miss the Games after entering coronavirus protocols at the training camp in Las Vegas.

    - An Olympic athlete under a 14-day quarantine period tests

    positive for the virus before moving to the Olympic Village, the organising committee reports, without giving details. It says one member of the Games personnel and four Tokyo 2020 contractors also tested positive.

    JULY 16 - Australian tennis player Alex de Minaur tests positive for COVID-19 before his departure for Tokyo, the Australian Olympic Committee says.

    - A member of the Nigerian Olympics delegation is in hospital after testing positive at Narita airport, according to media reports. The person, in their 60s, has only light symptoms but was admitted to hospital because of their advanced age and pre-existing conditions, TV Asahi says, adding it was the first COVID-19 hospitalisation of an Olympics-related visitor.

    - An Olympic-related non-resident under a 14-day quarantine period tests positive for the virus, the organisers say, without giving further details. Three Tokyo 2020 contractors, all of whom are residents of Japan, also tested positive, organisers say.

    JULY 17 - Fifteen people test positive for the virus, the organisers say, including the first case at the athletes' village - a visitor from abroad involved in organising the Games. The rest are two members of the media, seven contractors and five members of the Games personnel.

    JULY 18 - Ten people, including two South African male soccer players staying at the athletes' village, tested positive for the virus, organisers say. This is the first time athletes have been found positive within the village. The others are one athlete under a 14-day quarantine period, one member of the media, one contractor and five Games personnel.

    JULY 19 - Three people - one member of the Games personnel, one member of the media and one contractor - tested positive for the virus, organisers say. Twenty-one people in the South African soccer delegation are categorised as close contacts, following positive test results for two soccer players from that country. The number of close contacts is later revised down to 18.

    Those identified as close contacts can still take part in competition if they are found negative in a test conducted within six hours of the start of their event.

    An alternate on the U.S. women's gymnastics team tests positive and another alternate is a close contact, USA Gymnastics say. They remain at the team's training camp just east of Tokyo.

    JULY 20 - Nine people, including one athlete staying at the Olympic village, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the organisers say. The other eight were a volunteer worker, a member of the Games personnel and six contractors.

    Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Elaine Lies; Editing by Michael Perry, Lincoln Feast, Kim Coghill and Timothy Heritage
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  13. #328
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    302 dead

    Death toll from China floods jumps to 302, as Covid outbreak complicates recovery
    CNN Expansion Hong Kong July 2020 795169, Jessie Yeung
    By Jessie Yeung, CNN

    Updated 12:59 AM ET, Tue August 3, 2021

    (CNN)The death toll from floods that ravaged central China last month now stands at 302, local authorities said Monday -- more than triple the last estimate.

    Heavy rainfall hit the province of Henan on July 20, causing flooding in numerous towns and cities. Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of 12 million people, was one of the hardest- hit areas, with entire neighborhoods submerged and passengers trapped in flooded subway cars.
    A total of 50 people are still missing across Henan, the vast majority of them from Zhengzhou, said Wu Guoding, the provincial deputy governor, at a news conference on Monday.

    Rescue workers paddle through a flooded street in Zhengzhou, China, on July 23.
    Of the total deaths, 292 were from Zhengzhou, Wu said. Most were killed from floods and landslides, while several dozen were killed from house collapses, and another 39 drowned in underground spaces including basements and garages.
    The drowning deaths include 14 who died in a flooded subway line, where many passengers were stranded in subway cars up to their necks in floodwater, as fast-moving currents ripped through the network of underground tunnels.
    Dramatic videos showing people clinging to ceiling handles to keep their heads above water shocked the nation and made headlines around the world. More than 500 passengers were evacuated from the subway line, authorities said several days after the initial flooding.
    Another six deaths were from a road tunnel that had been fully inundated, trapping passengers in their cars inside. Rescue teams spent days pumping out floodwater from the tunnel in downtown Zhengzhou.

    A flooded subway station in Zhengzhou, China, on July 21.
    In a statement on Monday, China's State Council said it was establishing a team to "investigate and evaluate" the flooding and deaths. The team will review if there was "dereliction of duty," and will "hold people accountable in accordance with laws and regulations," said the statement.
    The flooding hit smaller cities and villages as well, with rivers swelling beyond warning levels and numerous reservoirs overflowing, affecting hundreds of thousands of people, according to state-run media. The severity of the flooding was captured by numerous videos shared on Chinese social media, which showed people and cars swept away in surging torrents.

    Covid challenges
    An outbreak of coronavirus has compounded the challenges facing Zhengzhou as the city struggles to recover from the devastating floods.
    As of Monday, Zhengzhou has reported 13 locally-transmitted symptomatic cases, and 50 asymptomatic cases, which are counted separately, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
    Most cases are linked to an outbreak at a hospital, where janitors, medical staff and patients are among those infected. Only a few of the confirmed cases in Zhengzhou have no clear links to the hospital -- but they either live nearby or have traveled in the hospital's vicinity, according to state-run media Global Times.
    Genomic sequencing has confirmed that the Zhengzhou cases are infected with the highly transmissible Delta variant -- which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last week could spread as easily as chickenpox, even among fully vaccinated people.
    As authorities continue cleanup, search and rescue, and investigation efforts into the floods, they must also now launch a mass testing effort for all residents, according to Global Times.
    It's not clear whether the Zhengzhou outbreak is linked to another cluster of Delta infections in the eastern city of Nanjing, which has spread nationwide in the past two weeks.
    The ongoing outbreak -- China's worst in months -- began in late July when nine airport cleaners in Nanjing were found to be infected during a routine test. Since then, locally-transmitted Covid cases have been reported in at least 16 provinces across China, including a tourist hot spot in the southern province of Hunan and the capital Beijing.
    The country reported 90 new symptomatic cases and 23 asymptomatic cases on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission. Most of the infections have been confirmed as the Delta variant, according to health officials in different regional news conferences.
    Millions of people are now under restrictions on movement. Nanjing has launched several rounds of mass testing for its 9.3 million residents, and has locked down residential compounds with confirmed cases. Public spaces like bars, gyms and libraries are closed.
    Similar measures and partial lockdowns have snapped into place in the city of Zhangjiajie, where a theater performance with thousands of attendees has fueled concerns of a super-spreader event. Restrictions have also ramped up in the national capital Beijing, which has banned people from medium- or high-risk areas from entering.
    CNN's Beijing bureau contributed reporting.
    90 new symptomatic cases and 23 asymptomatic cases is a surge?
    Last week's USA numbers were Cases: 85,866 Hospitalized: 46,447 & Deaths: 341

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  14. #329
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    Ghost vaxing

    Ghosting Covid-19: Spirits get 'vaccinated' with offerings from JB store

    AUGUST 18, 2021
    PUBLISHED AT 4:20 AM
    ByLAM MIN LEEASIAONE


    Facebook/Yee Hen Trading

    Mansions are out and Covid-19 jabs are in — for paper offerings, that is.

    This seventh lunar month, a prayer paraphernalia store in Malaysia is offering 'Hell Covid-19 Vaccine' for the dearly departed as well as wandering spirits.

    While many might think the store's just keeping up with the times, there's a touching reason behind its latest paper offering.

    Store owner Raymond Shieh told The Star: "I felt bad for my customers, who told me that they wanted to fulfil their deceased loved ones' wishes of getting the Covid-19 vaccine.

    "I decided to give it a go since I specialise in handmade prayer paraphernalia."



    The 45-year-old said that he took about two days to come up with the prototype which consists of a large syringe and vaccine bottles.

    Sheih then shared photos of his latest creation on Facebook, and that was when enquiries poured in.

    Each 'Hell Covid-19 Vaccine' set, which can be customised to a customer's preference, costs about RM30 (S$9.60).



    As the world continues to battle the deadly coronavirus, other pandemic-related paper offerings have sprouted in prayer paraphernalia stores.

    A store in Tampines was seen selling 'face masks for ancestors' last August, but another one in Jalan Bukit Merah took it a notch further by offering a 'Virus Prevention Care Pack' consisting of face masks, hand sanitiser sprays, infrared thermometers, and safety goggles.

    Others decided to make their own paraphernalia.

    A day before the 'gates of hell' opened this year, a granny in Singapore borrowed her grandson's stapler, swiftly fashioning a face mask out of joss paper and raffia string.

    After his Facebook post went viral, Eugene Lim had to put a disclaimer: "If it's not obvious enough, no, we do not wear it. It's incense paper. We burn it."

    No matter how unusual these paper offerings are, don't forget to burn them in the metal bins.
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    Coronavirus (COVID-19) Wuhan Pneumonia

    Sonny Chiba Dies: ‘Kill Bill’ Actor & Martial Arts Legend Was 82
    By Tom Grater
    International Film Reporter
    @tomsmovies

    August 19, 2021 7:48am

    Sonny Chiba
    AP
    Sonny Chiba, the Japanese actor and martial artist known internationally for appearing in the Kill Bill films and The Fast and the Furious, died of Covid complications, his agent confirmed to Deadline. He was 82.

    “He was a great friend and an awesome client. Such a humble, caring and friendly man. I will surely miss him,” said the actor’s agent Timothy Beal.

    Chiba was a prolific actor in Japanese film and TV, racking up more than 125 credits for the famed Toei studios, and was also a noted stunt choreographer. In his later career, he attracted attention internationally by playing the sushi chef and retired samurai Hattori Hanzo in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Volume 2. Tarantino was a noted fan of Chiba; in his screenplay for True Romance, Christian Slater’s character is a fan of the actor.

    After being talent spotted by the famed Toei film studio in the 1960s, Chiba (born Sadaho Maeda) starred in a variety of TV series before appearing in breakthrough film The Street Fighter, which was an international hit and led to New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye dubbing the actor ‘Sonny’.

    He then appeared in a swathe of martial arts movies through the 1970s, 80s and 90s, acting and coordinating stunts, as well as on occasion directing.

    Chiba would go on to act in Takashi Miike’s Deadly Outlaw: Rekka, Battle Royale II and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

    Here is a reminder of his skills, from an English language trailer for his 1974 breakthrough, The Street Fighter, which helpfully added X-rays as blows landed to help audiences understand the damage inflicted by Chiba’s lightning quick fists and feet:

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