Precious Anderson's son at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, April 9, 2020. Photo / Victor J. Blue, The New York Time
Precious Anderson's son at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, April 9, 2020. Photo / Victor J. Blue, The New York Time
Welcome to the weekend. Many of us will be hoping this is the last weekend in stage 4 lockdown with the Government this week releasing information about what life will look like under stage 3.
For the meantime though, please continue to do your bit and stay home.
To help you pass the time in your bubble we've pulled together some of the best pieces from our premium international syndicators this week. There's a mix of Covid-19 content for those wanting more information, and content on a range of other topics for those looking for a break from the virus.
Happy reading.
Hope, and new life, in a New York maternity ward fighting Covid-19
The obstetrics unit at Brooklyn Hospital Center, which delivers about 2,600 babies a year, is typically a place of celebration and fulfilled hopes. But amid the pandemic, it has been transformed.
Nearly 200 babies have arrived since the beginning of March. Twenty-nine pregnant or delivering women have had suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19. They have been kept separate from other patients, and medical workers wear protective clothing when attending to them. Hallways where women walked as they endured labour are empty, with the mothers-to-be confined to their rooms. Multiple doctors and nurses in the department have fallen ill.
After Precious Anderson's condition improved, Dr. Byer showed her child to her on a live video feed. Photo / Victor J. Blue, The New York Times
He could have seen what was coming: Behind Trump's failure on the virus
Throughout January, as President Trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on other issues, an array of figures inside his government — from top White House advisers to experts deep in the Cabinet departments and intelligence agencies — identified the threat, sounded alarms and made clear the need for aggressive action.
The president, though, was slow to absorb the scale of the risk and to act accordingly, focusing instead on controlling the message, protecting gains in the economy and batting away warnings from senior officials. It was a problem, he said, that had come out of nowhere and could not have been foreseen.
An examination however reveals the president was warned about the potential for a pandemic but that internal divisions, lack of planning and his faith in his own instincts led to a halting response.
"Nobody knew there would be a pandemic of this proportion," Trump said. He has repeatedly said no one could have seen the effects of the coronavirus coming. Photo / Erin Schaff, The New York Times
How the 'greatest rock and roll band in the world' got its logo
It began life as a tiny emblem, something to adorn a 45 rpm single or the band's letterhead. It quickly became ubiquitous and, ultimately, the most famous logo in rock 'n' roll. Over 50 years, the legendary "tongue and lips" of the Rolling Stones has been emblazoned on everything from T-shirts and lighters to stage sets, appearing in countless variations throughout the decades. And while many who love it are fans of the band, the logo has in many ways transcended the Stones.
The Iconic Rolling Stones 'Tongue' logo, original artwork created by John Pasche in the early 1970s. Photo / Getty Images
How a drug company became a virus 'super spreader'
On the first Monday in March, Michel Vounatsos, chief executive of the drug company Biogen, appeared in good spirits. The company's new Alzheimer's drug was showing promise after years of setbacks. Revenues had never been higher.
Onstage at an elite health care conference in Boston, Vounatsos touted the drug's "remarkable journey." Asked if the coronavirus that was ravaging China would disrupt supply chains and upend the company's big plans, Vounatsos said no.
But even as he spoke, the virus was already silently spreading among Biogen's senior executives, who did not know they had been infected days earlier at the company's annual leadership meeting.
The Biogen headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo / AP
Examining the sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden
Tara Reade, a former Senate aide, has accused Joe Biden of assaulting her in 1993 and says she told others about it. A Biden spokeswoman said the allegation is false, and former Senate office staff members do not recall such an incident.
Tara Reade worked as a staff assistant in Joseph R. Biden's Senate office in 1993, helping manage the office interns. Photo / Max Whittaker, The New York Times
Shailene Woodley: 'I was very, very sick in my early 20s'
Shailene Woodley isn't used to being at home. Since she began acting at age 5, she's spent much of her life on set in TV shows and movies.
But now that the coronavirus has upended everything, 28-year-old Woodley has sheltered at home for the last few weeks, social distancing with no company besides her dog. It's the longest she's lived in her own home since she was 17.
"I can play the game of being an extrovert when I need to - it's a big part of my job - but my happy place is honestly being alone." Photo / Rozette Rago, The New York Times
Emmanuel Macron: It's time to think the unthinkable
Until now, French President Emmanuel Macron has always had a big plan for the future.
After winning power in a surprise election victory in 2017, the hyperactive French president announced a blizzard of ambitious proposals for reforming the EU that perplexed his more cautious European partners. When he chaired the G7 group of big economies last year, he tried to reconcile the US and Iran and make peace between Russia and Ukraine. His government has legislated furiously to modernise France.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, has left even Macron groping for solutions to a global health crisis that has killed almost 140,000 people, and wondering how to save the French and world economies from a depression comparable to the crash of 1929.
Macron believes the coronavirus pandemic will transform capitalism — but leaders need to act with humility.
More tigers live in captivity in backyards, roadside zoos and truck stops in the United States than remain in the wild. This phenomenon is driven by people like Joseph Maldonado-Passage, the star known better as Joe Exotic in Tiger King, Netflix's hit documentary series.
Many of the interview subjects featured in Tiger King say the story was presented to them as one that would expose the problem of private big cat ownership in this country, following in the tradition of many conservation-themed documentaries.
Instead, big cats and the issues affecting them are completely lost in the show's "soap-opera-esque drama."
Two of 39 tigers rescued in 2017 from Joe Exotic's G.W. Exotic Animal Park, now in the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. Photo / Getty Images
Why am I having weird dreams lately?
The question of whether "anyone else" has "been having" strange dreams ("lately") is perennially popular online. In recent weeks, however, the question has been posed with increasing frequency.
The answer is: Yes, someone else is having weird dreams lately. (Always.) But are we — humanity — dreaming with more frequency, and more vividly, right now? The answer is: Also, likely, yes — at least for many people.
Many people are experiencing strange dreams during this time. Photo / 123RF
Lesson from Singapore: Why we may need to think bigger
The cautionary tale for lifting countries out of lockdown at the moment is Singapore. For weeks, public health officials have been enviously lauding its response to Covid-19.
Singapore officials have been screening and quarantining all travellers from outside the country since the beginning of the pandemic. Their contact tracing is second to none. Every time they identify an infection, they commit to determining its origin in two hours. They post online where identified infected people work, live and have spent time so that potential contacts can be identified. They enforce quarantines and isolation of such contacts, with criminal charges for those who violate orders.
And yet, in the last week, they've put the entire country into lockdown.
Handling a sample while running a test for Covid-19. Increasing the amount of testing is essential to managing the outbreak, experts say. Photo / Getty Images
The heartbreaking last texts of a hospital worker on the front lines
Lying in a hospital bed last month, Madhvi Aya understood what was happening to her.
She had been a doctor in India, then trained to become a physician assistant after she immigrated to the United States. She had worked for a dozen years at Woodhull Medical Center, a public hospital in Brooklyn, where she could see the coronavirus tearing a merciless path through the city.
Within days of her last shift as a caregiver, Aya became a patient.
Madhvi Aya, left, and her husband, Raj, with their daughter Minnoli at her graduation from Floral Park Memorial High School last June. Photo / Minnoli Aya via The New York Times
