US is leading record increase in global cases
The World Health Organization on Sunday reported a single-day record of more than 230,000 new coronavirus infections globally, with the United States again leading the list with more than new 66,000 cases. The figures are believed to far underestimate actual case totals.
The three largest case counts have been recorded in the past three days. The previous record was Friday, with more than 228,000 newly recorded cases worldwide in a 24-hour span.
Hackers attacking health care records
Hacking incidents have climbed 75% in North America and 125% in Europe in recent months on information technology systems leveraging COVID-19, much of it at health care facilities, says Wendi Whitmore, a cybersecurity expert and vice president of IBM X-Force.
More employees working from home and cashstrapped medical facilities stretched thin are making many systems vulnerable.
Electronic health records, according to an FBI report, are more valuable than a credit card number because health records can be used to file fraudulent insurance claims, obtain prescription medication and advance identity theft.
“You have to be eternally vigilant,” said Colin Zick, a co-chair of the privacy and data security practice at Foley Hoag. “As long as we’ve got an open internet that is highly unregulated, that’s the downside.” Karen Weintraub
DeVos defends push for in-class learning
There’s nothing in the coronavirus data to suggest that kids returning to in-classroom learning this fall would pose a danger to others, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Sunday. DeVos, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” downplayed the possibility of kids spreading the virus.
She also downplayed President Donald Trump’s threat to strip federal funding from schools that decline to open classrooms, saying there is “no desire to take money away” from schools struggling to meet guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those guidelines are “meant to be flexible,” DeVos said.
“Parents are expecting that this fall their kids are going to have a full-time experience with their learning, and we need to follow through on that promise,” DeVos told “Fox News Sunday.”
Vatican to shipowners: Don’t take advantage of maritime workers
The Vatican marked “Sea Sunday” by warning shipowners not to take advantage of the maritime workers whose tireless efforts have helped supply food and other necessities during the pandemic. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson noted that, while many nations completely shut down for months, “the maritime industry continued its operation, adding a multitude of challenges to the already problematic lives of the seafarers, and putting them on the front line in fighting against the coronavirus.”
Turkson said many maritime workers have been pressed into extended service, some spending ten months aboard ships without a break.
“Some unscrupulous ship-owners, crewing agencies and managers use the excuse of the pandemic to dismiss their obligations to guarantee their labor rights, including proper wages and the promotion of safe and secure working environments for all them,” the cardinal added.