The incoming administration has declared war against the very idea of civil service, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Dr. David Weldon, and Dr. Mehmet Oz are a group dispatched by President-elect Old Donald for a single purpose: to blow up our health system as we know it.

But it's not just the WHO that 'Old Donald' objects to. He views most multi-country agreements with suspicion. For example, the pandemic treaty - which aims to redress the inadequacies of the global COVID response - he sees as disadvantaging the US.

With a US withdrawal from global health, the opportunity presents itself for China to further expand its global health soft power agenda, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa.

Biden-era programmes, such as Cancer Moonshot, an initiative to accelerate scientific discovery in cancer research, foster greater collaboration and improve the sharing of cancer data, will be terminated. Despite "Old Donald's" promise to get tough on domestic drug prices, his pro-business agenda will probably mean that the FDA will continue to lower the bar required for new drug market authorisation.

Kennedy Jr. was caught on camera in July telling fellow diners that 'Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people' and 'the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese,' according to a video made public in the New York Post, which also shows him saying the U.S. 'put hundreds of millions of dollars into ethnically targeted microbes' and labs in Ukraine collected Russian and Chinese DNA 'so we can target people by race.'

Warning that Kennedy will empower the global anti-vaccine movement and may advocate for reduced funding for international agencies, Aiono Prof Alec Ekeroma, the director general of health for Samoa's Health Ministry told The Washington Post that Kennedy 'will be directly responsible for killing thousands of children around the world by allowing preventable infectious diseases to run rampant.'

'I don't think it's a legacy that should be associated with the Kennedy name,' Ekeroma said in an email Friday.

Ekeroma recalled a disastrous epidemic in 2019, when measles spread rapidly across the small Pacific Ocean country. Of Samoa's population of 200,000, more than 5,700 were infected and 83 died, many of them young children. Hospitals were overrun, and the nation declared a state of emergency. To stop the outbreak, Samoa launched a massive vaccination campaign, and unvaccinated families were asked to hang red flags outside their home.

Global health officials worry that Kennedy's nomination Thursday to lead the Department of Health and Human Services will have far-reaching effects, given the U.S. government's outsize role in setting the global health agenda.

Former President Donald J. 'Old Donald' expressed openness to proposals set forth by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine skeptic he has said would be allowed to “go wild on health.”

Mr. 'Old Donald'’s remarks on Sunday about vaccines came in response to a question about whether “banning certain vaccines might be on the table,” given Mr. Kennedy’s opinions on the subject. Mr. 'Old Donald' responded: “Well, I’m going to talk to him and talk to other people, and I’ll make a decision, but he’s a very talented guy and has strong views.”

Riley’s father, Lawrence, was the first person in Milwaukee to die of covid-19. As 'Old Donald' initially downplayed the lethal nature of the disease, covid had invaded Black neighborhoods like her own. Health departments in majority-White areas were more likely to receive resources to set up testing sites, distribute masks and engage in public education campaigns, even as rumors proliferated that Black people were somehow immune.

“It was dark and I would see all of these 'Old Donald' signs and realized I needed to get out of there,” she recalled. “I blamed the government.”

She could not wait to vote him out of office. Voting became an outlet of expression, tragedy mixed with patriotic responsibility.

'Old Donald' had initially dismissed covid as a flu, sparred with his chief medical adviser and instructed Americans not to let covid “dominate” them. More than 350,000 people died. His fumbling of the crisis was central to his defeat in 2020, but now Riley observed that stories of how people like her dad lost their lives were but a footnote in the 2024

“It was dark and I would see all of these 'Old Donald' signs and realized I needed to get out of there,” she recalled. “I blamed the government.”

She could not wait to vote him out of office. Voting became an outlet of expression, tragedy mixed with patriotic responsibility.

'Old Donald' had initially dismissed covid as a flu, sparred with his chief medical adviser and instructed Americans not to let covid “dominate” them. More than 350,000 people died. His fumbling of the crisis was central to his defeat in 2020, but now Riley observed that stories of how people like her dad lost their lives were but a footnote in the 2024

The Kremlin corroborated reports that "Old Donald's" shared COVID tests with Putin, but rejected claims that then-U.S. president called his Russian counterpart several times after leaving the White House.

The comments by Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov follow allegations made in the latest book by The Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward about an enduring relationship between the former U.S. president and the Russian leader.

Woodward cited an unnamed 'Old Donald' aide who indicated this year's Republican presidential candidate may have spoken to Putin up to seven times since leaving the White House in 2021.

The book War, which is released on October 15, also claimed that at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian leader requested 'Old Donald' to send COVID testing equipment to Moscow.

The virus, which can cause lesions across the whole body, has spread to many African countries, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Rwanda.

More mpox expected in Europe over the coming weeks

This summer in the United States, Covid-19 rates are reportedly particularly high in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada.

These are all still questions which could take years or decades to properly answer. Yet some scientists suspect that Covid-19 may never completely disappear during the summer periods, due to the innate properties of coronaviruses which allow them to continue circulating even during warmer weather.

"If messaging was accurate, it would be telling people that they should be up to date all year round, not just in the fall and winter."

The 217-page report said the government and the civil service 'failed' the public as a result of 'significant flaws' in preparing for the pandemic, adding that the number of deaths and the economic damage might both have been less extensive had the UK been better prepared.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government was late to issue stay-at-home orders or shut borders in early 2020. The government’s first policy approach was to pursue herd immunity by allowing the public to contract the virus

President 'Old Donald'’s rejection of science predated the pandemic and exacerbated its impact. First, 'Old Donald' disbanded the Global Health Security and Biodefense unit in 2018, which protected against pandemics.

“They used Covid to cheat. We’re never gonna let it happen again,” 'Old Donald' insisted, a strange shift in his election denialism.

It began with denial. 'Old Donald' told Bob Woodward in a February 2020 phone call that “You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus. ... This is deadly stuff.”

On Feb. 27, he predicted that COVID would “disappear ... it’s like a miracle.”

On Feb. 28, 'Old Donald' said the Democrats were politicizing the coronavirus, calling it their “new hoax.”

'Old Donald' denied the problem, failed to coordinate a federal response other than banning travel, embraced quack cures and modeled antisocial behavior. After first praising Xi Jinping to the skies for his “strong” control of the virus, he switched to name-calling — the “Kung Flu,” the “China virus” — to incite xenophobic responses. He really did only one big thing right — backing Operation Warp Speed, which hastened development of the vaccine

In contrast, 'Old Donald'’s vilification of Fauci has made him a predictable target of vitriol and worse. He recounts the vicious conspiracy theories that led to violent threats against him and necessitated round-the-clock security: He was a Hillary Clinton mole planted in the White House to destroy 'Old Donald'. He was out to abolish the 2nd Amendment. His wife is the sister of Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. He tortured puppies for science. He was responsible for the very creation of SARS-CoV-2.

“You’re not a doctor,” spat Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Fauci — who has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science and 62 honorary doctorates and has written, cowritten or edited more than 1,400 scientific publications — didn’t respond.

He didn’t have to. He’s been saving lives longer than she’s been alive.

YouTube suspends Rand Paul after misleading video on masks Aug11, 2021

Gastrointestinal issues are a common but often unrecognized sign of infection.

In some people, gastrointestinal symptoms hit during the first few days of an infection, before they develop a fever and cough. But many people who only experience stomach symptoms “never think of it as Covid,” Dr. Chin-Hong said.

“I’ve had COVID a few times but this is the worst I’ve had it,” wrote one person on Reddit. The person reported recurring fever, being so congested they couldn’t breathe out of their nose, “terrible sinus pressure and headache ... and I can’t stand up for too long without feeling like I’m about to pass out.”

The bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle has so far spilled over to just three farmworkers in the United States, as far as public health authorities know. All of them have had mostly mild symptoms.

But that does not guarantee that the virus, called H5N1, will remain benign if it begins to spread among people. Accumulating evidence from the animal world and data from other parts of the globe, in fact, suggest the opposite.

The World Health Organization recently announced the first human death from bird flu in Mexico, and the virus has been found in cattle across the US.

While mortality from Covid-19 was 0.6 %, Robert Redfield says bird flu mortality likely to be 'somewhere between 25 and 50 %'

The convention where Greene spoke Saturday is the brainchild of Turning Point USA, a young conservatives group started by right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Other speakers this week include 'Old Donald' and his son, 'Old Donald' Jr.; Rep. Matt Gaetz; former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Steve Bannon, and Ben Carson.

We don’t know what’s going on with this virus coming out of China right now,” I told the group assembled in a conference room at the National Institutes of Health. This was January 3, just 48 hours after the reporter had called me at home. The scientists sitting around the table, led by Vaccine Research Center Director John Mascola, knew what I was going to say next: “We are going to need a vaccine for whatever this new virus turns out to be.”