Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 06, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 A 8 WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I CANADA / WORLD OTTAWA - Manitoba MP Jim Carr began stem-cell treatment Tuesday as he battles a blood cancer. He is undergoing an autologous trans- plant, which involved taking his own stem cells in February, and then under- going intensive chemotherapy before having those stem cells reintroduced through the veins. That procedure is much less risky than using a donor's stem cells to treat multiple myeloma, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Carr, 68, wrote Tuesday that he ex- pects to be recovering at the Health Sciences Centre "for a few weeks." Tuesday's treatment had been resched- uled twice as the COVID-19 pandemic postponed elective surgeries. Stem-cell transplants generally im- prove blood cancers, by having the body produce more healthy blood. How- ever, it does increase the risk of infec- tion in the immediate aftermath. Carr's son Ben wrote on Facebook that he went to visit his father Tues- day morning from the front porch. "He was energetic and ready to fight," Ben wrote. The MP for Winnipeg South Centre announced his diagnosis last October, which came with the discovery of kid- ney failure. "The past few months have been a challenging and unprecedented time for everyone but I know that we will get through this and emerge stronger than ever," Carr wrote in his statement. Carr served as energy and trade minister for the Liberals' four-year majority mandate. After last October's election and diagnosis, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made Carr his special adviser for the Prairies, which is not a cabinet post. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Carr begins stem-cell transplant for cancer DYLAN ROBERTSON SPOKANE, Wash. - The world's lar- gest hornet, a two-inch killer dubbed the "Murder Hornet" with an appetite for honey bees, has been found in Wash- ington state, where entomologists were making plans to wipe it out. The giant Asian insect, with a sting that could be fatal to some people, is just now starting to emerge from win- ter hibernation. "They're like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow- orange face," said Susan Cobey, a bee breeder at Washington State University. "It's a shockingly large hornet," said Todd Murray, a WSU Extension ento- mologist and invasive species special- ist. "It's a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honey bees." The hornet was sighted for the first time in the U.S. last December, when the state Department of Agriculture verified two reports near Blaine, Wash., close to the Canadian border. It also re- ceived two probable, but unconfirmed reports from sites in Custer, Wash., south of Blaine. The hornet can sting through most beekeeper suits, deliver nearly seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee, and sting multiple times, the de- partment said, adding that it ordered special reinforced suits from China. The university said it isn't known how or where the hornets arrived in North America. It normally lives in the forests and low mountains of eastern and south- east Asia and feeds on large insects, in- cluding wasps and bees. It was dubbed the "Murder Hornet" in Japan, where it is known to kill people. The hornet's life cycle begins in April, when queens emerge from hiber- nation, feed on plant sap and fruit, and look for underground dens to build their nests. Hornets are most destructive in the late summer and early fall. Like a marauding army, they attack honey bee hives, killing adult bees and devouring larvae and pupae, WSU said. Their stings are big and painful, with a potent neurotoxin. Multiple stings can kill humans, even if they are not aller- gic, the university said. Farmers depend on honey bees to pol- linate many important northwest crops such as apples, blueberries and cher- ries. With the threat from giant hornets, "beekeepers may be reluctant to bring their hives here," said Island County Extension scientist Tim Lawrence. An invasive species can dramatically change growing conditions, Murray said, adding that now is the time to deal with the predators. "We need to teach people how to recognize and identify this hornet while populations are small, so that we can eradicate it while we still have a chance,'' Murray said. The state Department of Agriculture will begin trapping queens this spring, with a focus on Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan and Island counties. Hunting the hornets is no job for or- dinary people. "Don't try to take them out yourself if you see them," Looney said. "If you get into them, run away, then call us!'' - The Associated Press The giant 'murder hornet' has been found in Washington state. 'Murder Hornets,' with sting that can kill, land in U.S. EVAN VUCCI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. President Donald Trump and Tony Stallings, vice-president of integrated supply chain at Honeywell International Inc., right, listen to a worker during a tour of a Honeywell International plant that manufactures personal protective equipment, Tuesday in Phoenix, as Honeywell CEO Darius Adamczyk and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows watch. P HOENIX - Making himself Ex-hibit A for reopening the country, U.S. President Donald Trump vis- ited an Arizona face mask factory Tues- day, using the trip to demonstrate his determination to see an easing of stay- at-home orders even as the coronavirus remains a dire threat. Trump did not wear a mask despite guidelines saying they should be worn inside the factory at all times. "The people of our country should think of themselves as warriors. We have to open," Trump declared as he left Washington on a trip that was more about the journey than the destination. In Arizona, Trump acknowledged the human cost of returning to normalcy. "I'm not saying anything is perfect, and yes, will some people be affect- ed? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open and we have to get it open soon," he said. Trump had said he would don a face mask if the factory was "a mask en- vironment," but in the end he wore only safety goggles during a tour of the Honeywell facility. Nearly all factory workers and members of the press as well as some White House staff and Se- cret Service agents wore masks. Senior White House staff and Honeywell exec- utives did not. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks when they can't socially distance, such as in supermarkets, especially in places with high transmission rates. In the area where Trump spoke, a large video monitor listed safety guidelines, one of which said, "Please wear your mask at all times." Vice-President Mike Pence created a stir recently when photos showed him maskless in a visit to the Mayo Clinic surrounded by hospital officials and doctors all wearing masks. He said that he hadn't known it was a requirement and that he is tested for the virus fre- quently. He wore a mask at an event a few days later. Trump's visit came as the White House said it hopes to wind down its coronavirus task force in the coming month as the president shifts his focus from battling an "invisible enemy" to rebooting the economy. The president spent about three hours in Phoenix, touring the Honeyw- ell factory and holding a roundtable on Native American issues. Aides said the trip would be worth the nearly eight hours of flight time as a symbolic show that the nation is taking steps back to normalcy. The trip was also expected to be a marker of Trump's return to a regular travel schedule, as he hopes the nation, too, will begin to emerge from seven weeks of virus-imposed isolation. After weeks cooped up in Washing- ton, with little exposure to how the virus has been affecting Americans' day-to-day lives, Trump got a first-hand view of one big impact. At the airport, Air Force One parked next to dozens of grounded commercial airliners with covered engines and taped-over probes and vents. Trump's first stop was a meeting with Native American leaders during which he distributed 1,000 Abbott quick virus tests. "Native Americans have been hit hard by the terrible pandemic," Trump said. "Hopefully, that will be helpful to you." Trump sees economic revival as a political imperative, as his allies have noted an erosion in support for the president in recent weeks. Republicans believe Trump's path to a second term depends on the public's perception of how quickly the economy rebounds from shutdowns meant to slow the spread of the virus. That includes in Arizona, a key swing state, which Trump carried by less than four percentage points in 2016. "I love Arizona. I have a lot of friends in Arizona. I've had great success over the years in Arizona," Trump boasted as he left. But even as many Americans have adhered to strict social-distancing guidelines, the numbers of new infec- tions and deaths from the virus have not decreased as quickly as hoped. In- deed, when the New York metropolitan area's progress against the virus is taken out of the equation, numbers for the rest of the U.S. are moving in the wrong direction. The infection rate is rising even as states move to lift their lockdowns, an Associated Press analy- sis found Tuesday. Nonetheless, the White House has begun discussions about winding down its coronavirus task force, which has already been meeting less frequently, Pence said. Its members have become fixtures on television sets across the na- tion, with Americans hungry for infor- mation and marooned at home. "I think we're having conversations about that and about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work and for the ongoing efforts to take place on an agency-by-agency level," Pence said at the White House. He said the group could wind down its work by early June. "We're now looking at a little bit of a different form, and that form is safety and opening," Trump said in Arizona, "and we'll have a different group, prob- ably, set up for that." Asked about his statements in Feb- ruary playing down the threat of the virus, Trump told ABC in an interview that medical experts also had under- estimated the risk and added: "I want to be optimistic. I don't want to be Mr. Doom and Gloom. It's a very bad sub- ject. I'm not looking to tell the Amer- ican people when nobody really knows what is happening yet, 'Oh this is going to be so tragic.'" Trump is seeking to pivot his focus away from the virus's spread and to- ward more familiar - and, aides hope, politically safer - ground: talking up the economy. As more states have begun to ease closure orders, despite warnings that that could lead to spikes in new cases, Trump has been trying to highlight his administration's work in helping businesses and employees rebound. To that point, aides said the president would hold more frequent roundtables with CEOs, business owners and bene- ficiaries of the trillions of dollars in federal aid already approved by Con- gress, and begin to outline what he hopes to see in a future "phase four" recovery package. Pence told reporters at a White House briefing Tuesday that the U.S. could be "in a very different place" come late May and early June "as we continue to practice social distancing and states en- gage in safe and responsible reopening plans." The administration is beginning to eye that window as the appropri- ate time for federal agencies to begin managing the pandemic response "in a more traditional way," he said. Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force co- ordinator, said the federal government would still keep a close eye on the data if the task force disbands. "It took us a while to build that cap- acity and we'll make sure that we're watching that at a federal level," she said. Trump and his White House team have been operating in a virus-safe bubble, thanks to the rapid coronavirus tests provided to senior staff and any- one who meets with the president. Trump has been repeatedly talking up the administration's response to the virus, despite persistent criticism that he dragged his feet and failed to adequately increase production of per- sonal protective equipment and testing supplies. "We did everything right. Now it's time to get back to work," he said. He added that the country has "the best testing," with more than seven million now completed, even as some experts say millions more people must be test- ed every week for the country to safely reopen. - The Associated Press Trump tours mask plant ZEKE MILLER, JILL COLVIN AND DARLENE SUPERVILLE President dons safety goggles during visit to Arizona factory MIAMI - The family of a cruise crew member who died after testing positive for COVID-19 filed a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises on Tuesday, saying the company failed to protect its employees as the pandemic ravaged sailings around the world. The wrongful death case filed in cir- cuit court in Miami says Pujiyoko, 27, worked in housekeeping on the Sym- phony of the Seas and suffered from flu-like symptoms including a fever and shortness of breath but was not tested for six days. The lawsuit also argues Royal Carib- bean failed to follow basic safety pre- cautions by allowing buffets and par- ties and mandating crew members to participate in drills even after the U.S. government had issued a no-sail order to curb coronavirus infections. For the cruise ships that were at sea when the order took effect, companies negotiated for their passengers to dis- embark, wrangling with countries and local governments wary of sick travel- lers. But for the most part, crew members remained on board vessels floating off- coast. Pujiyoko, of Bali, Indonesia, was dis- embarked in a life boat and taken to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale on March 30, seven days after first reporting to the ship's medical facility. He died on April 11. Michael Winkleman, a maritime lawyer representing the family, says Pujiyoko had no underlying conditions and had passed pre-employment and re-employment medical screenings to work for Royal Caribbean. Winkleman says he will be arguing the arbitration agreements that limit crew members from suing cruise com- panies don't apply to this case because his contract was terminated by Royal Caribbean. The company said it does not com- ment on pending litigation. The complaint seeks an undeter- mined amount but says his family is entitled to the income the man would have continued to earn and the cost of funeral expenses. - The Associated Press Cruise line sued by family of dead crew member ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON A_08_May-06-20_FP_01.indd A8 5/5/20 10:02 PM ;