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British Columbia Declares COVID-19 Outbreak at Long-Term Care Home

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US Removes Tariffs on Face Masks and Other Medical Supplies From China

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has granted tariff exclusions for face masks and other medical supplies imported from China. Applications from 27 companies were approved, The Wall Street Journal reported. Data from the USTR shows the relief was granted to products including surgical drapes, examination gloves, sanitization products, isolation gowns, and some other products. Medline Industries Inc., one of the applicants, said in the application form that there is currently a critical shortage of face masks due to the coronavirus outbreak. At the same time, there are a very limited number of face mask manufacturers in the United States that can produce FDA-approved face masks, and supplies from other countries are not sufficient to replace imports from China. Shifting supply for face masks will take at…

British Columbia Declares COVID-19 Outbreak at Long-Term Care Home

VANCOUVER—British Columbia declared a COVID−19 outbreak at a long-term care home in North Vancouver after two residents were diagnosed with the virus on Saturday.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the two residents were diagnosed with COVID−19 following an earlier diagnosis of a care worker at the Lynn Valley Care Centre.

She said the Lynn Valley Care Centre is now in an outbreak protocol.

The two care home residents are among six new cases of COVID−19 diagnosed today.

“The last two cases really are the most concerning to us,” Henry told reporters, becoming choked up at one point and wiping tears from her eyes.

“The message that I think is so important for British Columbians today is that you need to stay home if you’re sick,” Henry said. “We are in an extraordinary situation. We need everybody to be aware, to look after your children.”

Henry said two of the other new cases are related to travel to Iran.

Another two people were infected while they were on an earlier cruise on the Grand Princess, a ship that is now waiting to be allowed to dock in the United States after more people were diagnosed with the virus on a new trip.

British Columbia said Friday it activated a pandemics coordination plan to respond to the COVID−19 outbreak and is prepared to escalate the plan if needed.

Henry says of the 27 people who have now tested positive for the new coronavirus, four have recovered and three are now in hospital, with one woman in her 80s in an intensive care unit.

She said the patient in intensive care is currently recovering.

This article is from the Internet:British Columbia Declares COVID-19 Outbreak at Long-Term Care Home

Army Fires Shells 40 Miles in Upgraded Cannon Test

An outsized and upgraded cannon spat shells a distance of 40 miles over the Arizona desert Friday, reaching almost three times as far as its previous incarnation. The army is scrambling to boost the range of its missiles and artillery as the number one modernization priority. That program includes an upgrade to a tank-like howitzer, the Extended Range Cannon Artillery, with three times the range and an autoloader, able to launch one round every 6-10 seconds. On March 6, the prototype, with its unwieldy-looking gun, successfully fired two different types of artillery 40 miles during a demonstration at the Yuma testing range in Arizona, according to Military.com. The upgrade to the 57-year-old M109 armored self-propelled howitzer launched a rocket-assisted 155 mm round and an Excalibur precision-guided round. The Excalibur round…