PASSAIC FIRE CLIMBS TO 11 ALARMS: United States
Not long after a deadly fire overwhelmed comrades in the Bronx, firefighters in New Jersey had their inferno to tackle.
Authorities in Passaic arrived at the Qualco chemical plant on the evening of Jan. 14 to discover a fire that raged out of control at the worst possible time. The evening was cold with heavy winds that could spread the fire in multiple directions. Even worse, five of seven nearby were not working.
In little to no time, the blaze spread to other buildings and grew to an 11-alarm fire, with the focus shifted from trying to save the property to just trying to prevent the flames from reaching the main area of chemicals in the plant. If the fire were to breach the copious amounts of chlorine, that would have trigger scores of evacuations, as the concoction would have been harmful to breathe into the lungs.
Among the fire companies providing mutual aid was the East Orange Fire Department. A most extensive list of other FDs proving assistance was not available as of press time, although the New York Fire Department was said to be on standby if needed.
Despite the fire not mixing with the chlorine, people in the area were still asked to close windows, as the smoke by itself was harmful enough. The smoke went traveled west as Mercer County in New Jersey, south as Sandy Hook, and east as far as Brooklyn in New York. In fact, the plume was so voluminous, it showed up on doppler radar.
During the morning of Jan. 15, firefighters made enough progress for Passaic Mayor Hector Lora to announce that they finally got the fire contained. There is no word as to fatalities, but there were a few injuries.
VOLCANO TRIGGERS TSUNAMI ALERT : PACIFIC
This past weekend, a threat that originated below the surface had people from thousands of miles away worried.
On Jan. 15, an underwater volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga, injuring around 300,000 people and leaving 1.5 million homeless during the 35-second-long tremor.
According to a Tongan Government press release, there were three fatalities: a British national, and two Tongan nationals. The World Health Organization has reported that many people are still missing, whilst around 90 people headed to safety in evacuation centers on the island of Eua, and many others fled to the homes of friends and family.
On the main island of Tongatapu, around 100 houses have been damaged, and 50 completely destroyed, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, which updated journalists in Geneva.
Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, is covered in ash and dust following the underwater volcanic eruption, but the situation is calm there and first clean-up efforts are underway, UN humanitarians said on Jan 17.
Further afield in the Pacific archipelago, an update from the office for the coordination of human affairs (OCHA) indicated that there has been significant damage to infrastructure around the main island of Tongatapu, where several resorts have been destroyed or badly affected, in western coastal areas.
There are no confirmed fatalities so far, but two people are still missing, and assessments are still pending, particularly from the outer islands.
According to reports, the eruption was heard as far away as Alaska, while the tsunami that emanated from the blast flooded the Japanese and US coastlines, also killing two people in Peru.
So far in Tonga, no official contact has been established with two small low-lying islands Mango and Fonoi, although surveillance flights by New Zealand and Australia have revealed substantial damage along western beaches.
Local telephone lines have been repaired, OCHA said, but restoring international phone connections and internet service, remain complicated after the eruption reportedly severed a key communications cable lying on the seabed.
In addition to receiving help from neighboring New Zealand and Australia, Tongan authorities have deployed the national maritime force to the Ha’apai Group of islands.
TWO MORE ASSETS IN COVID FIGHT: WORLD
On Jan. 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended two new drugs for COVID-19, providing yet more options for treating the disease. The extent to which these medicines will save lives depends on how widely available and affordable they will be.
The first drug, baricitinib, is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID-19. It is part of a class of drugs called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors that suppress the overstimulation of the immune system. WHO recommends that it is given with corticosteroids.
Baricitinib is an oral drug, used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. It provides an alternative to other arthritis drugs called Interleukin-6 receptor blockers, recommended by WHO in July 2021.
WHO has also conditionally recommended the use of a monoclonal antibody drug, sotrovimab, for treating mild or moderate COVID-19 in patients who are at high risk of hospitalization. This includes patients who are older, immunocompromised, having underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, and those unvaccinated.
Sotrovimab is an alternative to casirivimab-imdevimab, a monoclonal antibody cocktail recommended by WHO in September 2021. Studies are ongoing on the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies against Omicron but early laboratory studies show that sotrovimab retains its activity.
The panel of experts developing the guidelines also looked at two other drugs for severe and critical COVID-19: ruxolitinib and tofacitinib. Given their uncertain effects, WHO made a conditional recommendation against their use.
These recommendations, forming the eighth update of WHO’s living guidelines on therapeutics and COVID-19, are based on evidence from seven trials involving over 4,000 patients with non-severe, severe, and critical COVID-19.
WHO is in discussions with manufacturers to secure global supply capacity and equitable and sustainable access to the newly recommended therapeutics. The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Therapeutics pillar has been engaging with pharmaceutical companies to seek comprehensive access plans for low- and middle-income countries, so that these treatments can be rapidly deployed everywhere, not just in rich countries. The ACT-A is also looking to expand licensing scope to make the products more affordable.
The two newly recommended drugs – baricitinib and sotrovimab – have been invited for WHO Prequalification, which assesses the quality, efficacy and safety of priority health products to increase access in lower income countries.
CONCERN GROWS OVER U.K. BILL: EUROPE
A new bill being debated by lawmakers in the United Kingdom increases the risk of discrimination and “serious human rights violations” and breaches the country’s obligations under international law, five independent UN human rights experts said on Jan. 14.
If adopted, the Nationality and Borders Bill would “seriously undermine the protection of the human rights of trafficked persons, including children; increase risks of exploitation faced by all migrants and asylum seekers; and lead to serious human rights violations,” Siobhán Mullally, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, said in a statement.
“The bill fails to acknowledge the Government’s obligation to ensure protection for migrant and asylum-seeking children, and greatly increases risks of Statelessness, in violation of international law,” she added.
Seeking and enjoying asylum is a fundamental human right, according to the UN experts.
However, the bill does not respect the UK’s obligations under international human rights and refugee law, but instead dismantles a core protection of democratic societies and pushes vulnerable people into dangerous situations.
If passed, it could penalize asylum-seekers and refugees, violating the principle of non-punishment in international law and discriminating between categories of asylum seekers, which is contrary to international law, the experts said.
They also highlighted the specific risks faced by migrant and refugee women. Under this bill, women who have experienced gender-based violence can be turned away from the UK rather than be allowed to seek and find safety.
“The Government’s repeated public statements on combating trafficking and modern slavery, must be matched by concrete action to ensure equal protection of the law for all victims of trafficking and modern slavery, without discrimination,” underscored the experts.
The experts expressed alarm that the bill would increase the possibility of “arbitrary deprivation of citizenship,” which they reminded, has a troubled history rooted in racism and discrimination, and increases the risk of Statelessness.
“The bill instrumentalizes national security concerns, increasing risks of discrimination and of serious human rights violations, in particular against minorities, migrants and refugees,” they spelled out, urging the Government “to reverse these proposed measures.”
In November, the experts sent a letter to the UK Government, outlining a range of concerns about the bill.
In addition to Ms. Mullally, the other experts who signed the statement were Felipe González Morales, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism and Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including causes and consequences.
