Archive for category: World

While millions around the world are self-isolating or living in lockdown due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Venezuela’s ‘rich kids’ are seemingly ignoring all advice, causing fury throughout the rest of the poverty stricken country.

The recent acknowledgement of a drug-fuelled party has sparked outrage, especially after Socialist president Nicolas Maduro confirmed that ‘practically everyone at the party is testing positive’ following reports that Covid-19 has spread throughout the Los Roques archipelago throughout the last month.

Reports of a group of artists arriving at Los Roques to film music videos attracted scores of young people who flooded the area in an attempt to be in the videos.

However the artists have denied the partygoers were not guests, even though they were seen in the area.

It is feared that Venezuela’s poor health system could be at risk if a major outbreak occurs in the country, as the majority of hospitals are already struggling for electricity, medical supplies and even water.

The party was hosted in the middle of March and was attended by some of Venezuela’s elite ‘Bolichicos’. The children of the ruling elite, the advantaged generation have been able to pay to travel to the island and party, while the majority of the country is struggling with a food crisis.

While it is still not clear how many people have caught the virus the increase in the amounts of infections has caused members of the government concern.

On state television in March, Maduro confirmed “there was a party, on an island, and practically everyone at the party is testing positive”. However only a few days later he appeared to backtrack saying, “Who is going to criticize a party? They didn’t know they were sick”, leading many to wonder if he had been contacted by the parents of those involved.

Despite Maduro’s comments, many citizens – especially in the Caracas slum of Petare – are angry with one resident commenting:

“We’re struggling to eat, but they’re running free, drinking, chasing girls without a second thought about the rest of us. Here, we are fighting just to get by.”

Seen as an oasis for those with money, Los Roques attracts the relatives and aides of many of the country’s top officials, many of which travel to the islands via private planes.

And following the travel restrictions placed not only by the White House but also by governments across the world, areas such as Madrid, Miami and New York are off limits to those wanting to continue partying.

It was reported that the recent activities in Los Roques had been arranged by businessmen who are connected to the government including Jesus Amoroso, whose father is the leading anti-corruption official for Maduro. Both Maduro and Amoroso have had problems with the U.S. recently with the former being indicted only last month on narcotics charges while Amoroso has been sanctioned by America following allegations of him undermining Venezuela’s democracy.

It has also been alleged that prostitutes from London and Madrid were flown in specifically for the party shortly before all air travel to Spain was cancelled.

Although Puerto Rican reggaeton artists Justin Quiles and Zion were spotted on the island, their spokeswoman confirmed they were at the island filming a music video and stayed away from any social events. Both artists have since tested negative for Covid-19.

Fellow artist NakaryNK had also shared photos however she has also confirmed she was only there in a working capacity and did not attend any parties.

It is common knowledge that these sorts of parties have drugs flowing freely, in particular psychedelic 2C-B drugs. Also known as ‘pink cocaine’ due to the powdery substance and the high costs, as well as being pink.

There were further reports that several larger groups also headed to a local hot spot – known locally as Corrupt Cay – although they have denied they were aware the virus was spreading.

One partygoer has since been unofficially reported as saying that ‘one of the girls had the virus and nobody knew,’ in an audio message that had been leaked across social media.

He also told how both his girlfriend and himself had to leave the party due to them both having high fevers. He also confirmed he knew of six more people who had tested positive for coronavirus.

When the party finally finished everyone got themselves tested and it seems many have since shut down their social media accounts – many believing this is due to their embarrassment of the way they partied during a pandemic.

Yet there are some partygoers who have defended the situation. Jesus Amoroso posted a photograph of himself in front of a luxury SUV, with his middle fingers up, saying “suck it gossipers’. An action that has clearly further angered residents.

Since the outbreak amongst the elite’s children, police have made several arrests of those who were partying in Los Roques. These include a suspected madam who provided the prostitutes for the party.

A raid at a party in Caracas found ecstasy pills, a handgun and eight women who allegedly belong to a prostitution ring.

New data suggest that coronavirus may have been more prevalent in the U.K. much earlier than experts first thought.

According to figures from NHS England, the first coronavirus-related death is thought to have occured on 28th February which is almost a full week before what was previously acknowledged. The first official death was reported on the 5th March.

The revelations come as there is growing pressure to understand the exact pattern of the virus, given that there are some inconsistencies with the data being reported. This has been put down to the sheer logistics of reporting the daily deaths and infection rates, along with the cut off points on certain dates for obtaining the necessary data. If certain figures are late, it can cause the daily figure to appear skewed, painting a less severe picture of daily deaths followed by a second spike day as the numbers catch up. There has also been concerns that deaths in non-hospital settings, such as care homes, are not included in the daily figures, so they can only be taken as an indicator at best of the current position.

Whilst it is accepted that the figures are not totally accurate, they do help to show the pattern of deaths with regards to age groups. It shows that over half of the patients who have died so far were over 80 years of age, with a further 40% falling between 60-79 years, 7% occurring between 40 and 59 years and less than 1% being under 40 years. The youngest reported death in the U.K. was of a 13 year old boy in London. There is growing acceptance from medical experts and the general public that although the recovery rate remains very good for the vast majority, some people will suffer adversely and subsequently die, and that from time to time this does include people who are seemingly ‘low risk’. Some experts have indicated that this is in fact also the case with traditional flu, but this risk is rarely discussed publicly to any significant degree. Thousands of people die from seasonal flu each year, so there is some risk associated with this, although there is a vaccine for both Influenza A and B strains and more understanding of how to treat it. The trouble with COVID-19 is that there is still only a few months of research into this new virus and its effects on the body are still not fully understood. There is no vaccine and no treatment, so all that can be done is to manage the symptoms and make the patient as comfortable as possible whilst it tries to fight the virus.

Another sticking point in the evaluation of deaths caused by coronavirus is the issue of testing. The U.K. is far behind many other countries when it comes to testing patients, with priority being given to critically ill patients first. Now that there is surplus demand within this category, the test is now being made available to frontline NHS workers to help determine which of those displaying symptoms and self-isolating do in fact have the virus. Testing negative would enable these workers to return to work even if their symptoms have not completely disappeared, as it could be concluded that the cause of them is not coronavirus. But there are currently no tests for those outside of these groups, including those who have died at home or in other care facilities. There could therefore be much higher numbers of coronavirus related deaths occurring that we simply don’t know about.

Whilst the WHO has emphasized that testing is the only way to fully understand the virus, the U.K. government is keeping an open mind with regards to how it progresses with mass testing. There are currently several different types of test being considered in addition to the current test which looks for evidence of the virus within the body right now. The other type of test being explored is an antibody test which would help to show whether someone had previously had the virus and was now essentially immune. This immunity may however be temporary as it is not yet known how long a person will remain immune to the virus. Until this is known in more detail, the U.K. is reluctant to proceed with any kind of immunity ‘certification’, which would enable those who had contracted and recovered from the virus to return to work safely in the knowledge that they would not be able to pass the virus onto anyone else.

Many experts are in agreement that the full scope and impact of the virus will only be fully realised at the end of the epidemic, when historic data can be analysed in detail and the entire progression mapped out. At present, we are right in the midst of the outbreak and the future is completely out of sight for the moment. All that we can do at this stage is follow the scientific advice and take all the steps we can to flatten the curve as much as possible, so that fewer people contract the virus and even fewer end up needing critical care support in hospitals.