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Why COVID-19 is killing U.S.diabetes patients at alarming rates

America’s mortality rates from diabetes have been climbing since 2009 and exceed most other industrialized nations. Blacks and Latinos suffer from diabetes at higher rates than whites and have disproportionately suffered from COVID-19.

“Diabetes was already a slow-moving pandemic. Now COVID-19 has crashed through like a fast-moving wave,” said Elbert Huang, a professor of medicine and director of the University of Chicago’s Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy.

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About 400,000 global airline jobs lost or at risk due to virus

Job losses in related industries including aircraft manufacturers, engine makers, airports and travel agencies could reach 25 million, according to the International Air Transport Association. The hotels and lodging sector in the U.S. sees 7.5 jobs lost for every one in aviation. Airbus SE and Boeing Co. are cutting more than 30,000 positions.

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WHO chief says comments questioning his independence ‘untrue and unacceptable’

A WHO advance team has been in China for nearly two weeks, organising a WHO-led international mission to investigate the origins of the virus. Scientists believe it emerged in a food market in the central city of Wuhan late last year.Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO was seeing intense transmission of the coronavirus in relatively few countries.

“Two-thirds of all cases are from 10 countries. Almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries,” he said, referring to the United States, Brazil and India.

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Siemens to roll out flexible working app for 100,000 staff

Staff worried about COVID-19 infections among fellow workers can also use a contact tracing feature on the app created under a partnership with U.S. software developer Salesforce.

It can also block desks in an area if information is received about a person suspected of having the virus, said Siemens, which already sells the app to external customers.

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Modern nursing homes safer in pandemic; virus level in nose, throat may help guide treatment

Two studies published on Wednesday in the journal Nature add to evidence that the malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are not helpful against COVID-19. One study found no notable antiviral effect of hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19 in primates. The other found no effect of chloroquine in infected human lung cells in test tubes.

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Twitter shares rise on record yearly growth in daily users

Twitter’s average monetizable daily active users (mDAU) increased 34% year over year to 186 million, above analysts’ estimate of 176 million, in a rise it said was primarily driven by external factors such as shelter-in-place requirements and increased conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic.Chief Executive Jack Dorsey opened a conference call with analysts by apologizing for the hack that compromised the accounts of high-profile users last week, saying “we feel terrible.” In a statement, Dorsey said Twitter had taken steps to improve its security and “resiliency against targeted social engineering attempts.”

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