Tag: pandemic

Pandemic has accelerated adoption of digital currency: ECB President

Turner Wright – September 11, 2020

The pandemic has seen consumers adopt digital payments in increasing numbers and the trend was accelerating, said the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde.

She also indicated a panel of euro-zone central bank officials is set to reveal a verdict on a European central bank digital currency (CBDC) imminently.

Speaking at an online conference hosted by Deutsche Bundesbank on Sept. 10, Lagarde, stated that EU residents had embraced digitalization, with e-commerce sales increasing roughly 20% between February and June, even as total retail sales declined 1.2%. She said the volume of online payments had experienced “double-digit growth rates” since the start of the outbreak.

“The pandemic has served as a catalyst, accelerating the transition towards a digital new normal,” Lagarde stated. “A vast majority of consumers expect to continue to use digital services as often as they do now or even more often.”

Other institutions have reached the same conclusion as data comes in regarding the economic fallout of COVID. An August report from Singapore’s DBS Bank stated that “the ongoing pandemic has added fuel to the move toward a society with less cash dependence.”

Lagarde supports the ECB developing a CBDC to address the move towards digitalization, in addition to faster and cheaper cross-border payments. Last September, when she was the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the ECB president said she would focus on ensuring EU institutions adapt to the changing financial environment by being open to crypto.

https://cointelegraph.com

Many Americans See The Hand Of God At Work In Current Events

– July 23,2020

2020 has been an incredibly bizarre year up to this point, and this has many people wondering if the hand of God is at work.  And the worse things get, the more this sort of speculation will heat up.  When things get crazy, people search for answers, and that can be a good thing.  Because the truth is that during normal times most of us are way too self-absorbed and most of us spend far too little time thinking about the things that really matter.  2020 has really shaken up a large portion of the U.S. population, and we should hope that all of this shaking ultimately moves our society in a more positive direction.

Right now, COVID-19 is dominating the headlines day after day, and the debates that I have seen on social media platforms about this pandemic have often gotten quite heated.

I knew that many people had extremely passionate opinions about COVID-19, but what I didn’t realize is that a large percentage of them are also convinced that God is somehow involved.  In fact, an Associated Press/NORC survey found that 63 percent of all religious Americans believe that this pandemic is “a sign from God”…

Sixty-three percent of religious Americans say that the novel coronavirus pandemic is a sign from God, telling humanity to change its ways of living, according a new poll.

The poll, which was conducted by the Associated Press/NORC, surveyed 1,002 U.S. adults who say they believe in God.

I was stunned to see a number that high.  The Bible does tell us that there will be “pestilences” in the last days, and it would have been very interesting to see how many respondents to that survey believe that this COVID-19 pandemic is one of those pestilences.

In any event, if this pandemic actually does inspire vast numbers of Americans to live better lives, that would definitely be a positive outcome.

Unfortunately, that does not appear to be happening.  Instead, surveys have shown that Americans are increasingly turning to drugs, alcohol and television during this pandemic, and a survey that was released just this week found that Bible reading in the United States dropped precipitously “between January and June”.

http://endoftheamericandream.com

New strain of flu found in China has potential to become a pandemic, scientists warn

Holly Ellyatt – June 30, 2020

Scientists have identified a new strain of flu carried by pigs in China that they say has the potential to become a pandemic.

The new strain is descended from the type of flu — known as “swine flu” — that emerged in 2009 causing the first global flu pandemic in 40 years.

The scientists published their peer-reviewed findings in U.S. science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. They said the new strain of flu, which they called “G4 EA H1N1,” is a variation of swine flu, and includes the “G4″ genotype that has become predominant in swine populations since 2016.

As with swine flu, the new strain has been identified as having “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus.”

The scientists, who studied flu viruses in pig populations between 2011 and 2018, noted that around 10% of swine industry workers they tested in China had already been exposed to the virus, which they described as “of concern.” That rate increased among younger workers, aged 18-35, “indicating that the predominant G4 EA H1N1 virus has acquired increased human infectivity.”

“Such infectivity greatly enhances the opportunity for virus adaptation in humans and raises concerns for the possible generation of pandemic viruses,” the scientists, who work at several Chinese universities and the country’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, noted.

They recommended close monitoring of swine populations — and anyone working with them.

“Controlling the prevailing G4 EA H1N1 viruses in pigs and close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in swine industry, should be urgently implemented,” they wrote.

https://www.newsmax.com

Church refuses to close during lockdown, angering locals. Now it has been burned to the ground.

Sarah Taylor – May 21, 2020

A Mississippi church whose leadership refused to close the church’s doors during the state’s COVID-19 lockdown is now no more.

An as-yet identified suspect reportedly burned the church down Wednesday morning.

The First Pentecostal Church of Holly Springs was vandalized, which caused an explosion to the rear of the facility.

Authorities are investigating the vandalism as a criminal act of arson.

One message spray painted on the church property read, “I bet you stay home now you hypokrits [sic].”

Stephen Crampton, an attorney for the church, told WHBQ-TV on Thursday that the unknown vandal or vandals spray-painted the church and set it on fire.

“There was a major explosion in the back of the church that blew out the front,” Crampton said.

Crampton also said that he believed the church was targeted for “being outspoken and somewhat firm about seeking to protect their constitutional rights” by refusing to close during the pandemic.

https://www.theblaze.com

After Coronavirus Response Failures, Almost Half of Italians Want to Leave the EU

Chris Tomlinson – April 14, 2020

A Tecnè poll has revealed that Italians are becoming more and more critical of the European Union, with 49 per cent saying they want Italy out.

Just 51 per cent of the Italian public said they want to remain in the EU, which has been widely criticised across the country for lack of solidarity with Italy since the start of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

The poll is a far cry from previous surveys, according to newspaper Il Giornale, which cited a November 2018 study which showed consensus was far more favourable to the European Union, saying opposition to an Italian exit has fallen by 20 per cent in two years.

The EU reaction to the Italian coronavirus outbreak, which has led to the deaths of more than 20,000 people across the country so far, led to some Italians burning EU flags on social media and Italian politicians taking down EU flags from offices and public spaces in protest.

The reaction from Italians led European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to issue an apology earlier this month that was published by newspaper La Repubblica.

“It must be acknowledged that in the first days of the crisis, faced with the need for a common European response, too many have thought only of the problems of their own homes,” she said and added: “They did not realise that we can defeat this pandemic only together, as a Union. It was malicious behaviour and could have been avoided.”

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte later issued a warning to the EU saying that the political bloc may collapse if other member states do not act with solidarity and help countries most affected by coronavirus.

https://www.breitbart.com

‘Risk of Failure Real’: Italy’s PM Giuseppe Conte Warns Coronavirus Could Bring About EU’s Downfall

Sputnik News – April 9, 2020

As Europe has become the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic, with almost 700,000 confirmed cases, and Italy particularly hard-hit, the pandemic has become a stress-test for EU unity, as stark differences have thwarted an agreement on more support for coronavirus-hit economies, with talks suspended.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has warned that the European Union risks failing amid the coronavirus global pandemic, reported the BBC.

According to Conte, the EU must “rise to the challenge” of what he referred to as “the biggest test since the Second World War” and take concerted efforts to extend much-needed aid to the countries that were worst hit by the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory virus.

The Italian Prime Minister insisted that Europe’s leaders were “facing an appointment with history”.

“If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real,” said Conte.

As the infection rate in Italy shows signs of decelerating, and the death toll gradually starting to diminish, Giuseppe Conte warned viewers  against lowering their guard and emphasised that the national lockdown could only be eased slowly.

https://sputniknews.com