Archives for April 2021

Cities urge people to stay home on Dutch king’s birthday

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Crowds gathered in cities across the Netherlands on Tuesday despite authorities urging people to stick to coronavirus social distancing regulations as the country marked the King’s Day national holiday.

This year, the celebrations for King Willem-Alexander’s birthday came as lockdown fatigue is rising and a day before an easing of some restrictions even though hospitals are having to postpone regular medical procedures so they can focus on the high level of COVID-19 patients.

Even so, clear blue skies and warm weather sent people crowding into city parks and prompted authorities to tell them to go home and urge others to stay away.

Amsterdam’s municipal authorities shut off access to two of the city’s main parks by early afternoon and urged people to stay away from the Dutch capital, saying it was too busy. Two other major cities, Utrecht and Rotterdam, tweeted out similar messages in the afternoon.

In the central city of Arnhem, hundreds packed into a central market square for a demonstration against the government and lockdown measures, prompting city officials to urge people to stay away as the area was full.

The protesters marched through the city chanting slogans including “We are the Netherlands” and “Love, freedom, no dictatorship!” as scores of police monitored the demonstration, which remained peaceful and ended with organizers thanking police and the city’s mayor.

King Willem-Alexander marked his 54th birthday in Eindhoven, a southern city that brands itself as a hub for high-tech innovation, with a largely digital version of the annual royal walkabout.

The king, who publicly expressed regret last year for going on a vacation in Greece during the pandemic, paid tribute to care workers unable to join festivities.

“Our hearts go out to the people who can’t celebrate today,” he said, adding that he hoped for “a normal King’s Day next year.”

The national holiday is usually an occasion for the Dutch to drape themselves in orange clothes, hats and feather boas, sell old toys and books in street markets and crowd the streets of major cities.

Not this year. The capital, Amsterdam, urged residents to celebrate according to lockdown guidelines with a maximum of one visitor, but added “you can still dig out the orange T-shirt or silly hat and hang out the flag.”

In an attempt to prevent rioting, Arnhem Mayor Ahmed Marcouch gave police special powers for the day to check people coming into Arnhem and imposed a limit of 500 people for the demonstration, later raised to 1,000.

Marcouch said that demonstrations are a constitutional right, but that “signals of the risk of rioting at different locations in the city endanger that right to demonstrate.”

On Wednesday, the national lockdown is being eased with measures including the end of a nationwide curfew imposed in mid-January and cafes allowed to reopen their outdoor terraces — under strict conditions — from noon to 6 p.m.

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Mike Corder reported from The Hague.

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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Auto group backs guidelines for partially automated vehicles

DETROIT (AP) — The trade association representing most major automakers is offering guidelines for manufacturers to advertise partially automated driving systems and to make sure drivers are paying attention while using them.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation says its members support the voluntary principles, which come as two federal agencies increase scrutiny of Tesla’s Autopilot diver-assist system after two men were killed in a fiery crash near Houston. Such systems can keep vehicles centered in their lane and a safe distance behind traffic in front of them.

But Teslas on Autopilot have been involved in multiple crashes, including several fatalities, when neither the system nor the driver intervened. The Teslas have had trouble handling stopped emergency vehicles or tractor-trailers crossing in front of the cars. Critics, including some legislators, have said the name Autopilot is deceptive and implies that the cars can drive themselves.

The alliance, which represents at least 20 automakers including General Motors, Ford and Toyota, released the principles ahead of a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday on the future of automotive safety and technology.

The principles say that any vehicle with such a system should have driver monitoring as standard equipment. Cameras should be considered to make sure drivers have eyes on the road, and the monitoring systems should be designed so they can’t be “disengaged or disabled” while the partially automated systems are working, according to the list of principles.

Automobiles should issue warnings and should take corrective action such as disengaging the automated systems or increasing the distance between vehicles if drivers don’t pay attention, the list said.

The alliance includes automakers that account for about 99% of the industry’s vehicle sales in the U.S., but Tesla is not a member. It was not immediately clear if the Palo Alto, California-based company would participate.

The principles, shaped over the past year after discussions with the insurance industry, regulators and consumer groups, are aimed at raising consumer awareness about the limitations of robotic driving systems, said John Bozzella, the alliance’s CEO.

That effort includes dispelling the notion that the technology has advanced to the point that human intervention is no longer needed — something that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised will soon happen with his company’s electric cars.

“There is no vehicle that I know of in the U.S. marketplace today that is a self-driving vehicle,” Bozzella said.

Messages were left seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations office. The company has said that Autopilot is an assistance system and drivers must be ready to intervene at all times.

Yet Tesla continues to market its self-driving technology as “Autopilot” — the kind of misleading moniker that the alliance is trying to discourage with its new guiding principles. Tesla’s critics have blasted Musk and the company for exaggerating the capabilities of its technology, causing drivers to believe they don’t have to worry about taking control of the vehicle or even emboldening some drivers to climb into the back seat while the vehicle is navigating the road on its own.

“There is no question that high-profile crashes have raised consumer acceptance and consumer confidence questions,” Bozzella said. “System names and promotional material should not be misleading. Potential for driver misuse needs to be evaluated as part of the design process.”

Tesla uses sensors on the steering wheel to determine if a driver’s hands are there. But unlike most other automakers, Autopilot does not use cameras to make sure drivers are engaged. Critics say Tesla’s system can easily be fooled.

The alliance’s principles also come as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board investigate the Houston-area Tesla crash in which local authorities say no one was in the driver’s seat. Tesla says the steering wheel was damaged, indicating a human was behind the wheel at the time of the crash, and the seat belts were unbuckled.

Harris County, Texas, authorities say investigators are sure that no human was driving the car. One man was found in the front passenger seat, the other in the back seat. They were going to use search warrants in their investigation.

NHTSA has sent investigators to 28 Tesla crashes, with 24 of the investigations still active. The agency, which has regulatory authority over the auto industry, says that with the change to President Joe Biden, it is taking another look at automated vehicle regulations.

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Liedtke reported from San Ramon, California.

Iraqi medics recount horrors from Baghdad’s hospital inferno

BAGHDAD (AP) — It was a night of unimaginable horror as flames engulfed the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital: deafening screams, a patient jumping to his death to escape the inferno and relatives staying by their loved ones, refusing to abandon coronavirus patients tethered to ventilators.

Iraqi doctors, medical staff and rescue workers who witnessed the first moments of the catastrophic blaze described the scenes to The Associated Press, many overcome by trauma and saying that night is forever seared in their memory.

The fire, which erupted late Saturday at the Ibn al-Khatib hospital’s coronavirus ward, raged for hours before claiming 82 lives and injuring 110 people. The death toll could still climb, with many of those hurt listed in serious condition.

Officials said the blaze was set off by exploding oxygen cylinders; days later, speculation has run rampant about what caused them to explode. Authorities have yet to issue the results of an official investigation.

Iraq, a nation toughened by decades of dictatorship, war and sectarian conflict — and now struggling to cope with the pandemic — remains in shock. Senior health officials have been fired or suspended amid allegations of negligence.

Doctors have warned of systemic mismanagement, describing Iraqi hospitals as ticking bombs because of lax safety rules, especially around oxygen cylinders. They say hospitals often lack smoke detectors and that visitors routinely smoke cigarettes around oxygen cylinders or bring in electric stoves to cook for the patients.

Sabah Samer, a doctor, and Yousif Hussein, a paramedic, were among the first to charge toward the blaze to try and help the victims. They say the hospital was a firetrap, especially the COVID-19 ward.

“The fire spread so quickly because of the combustible oxygen cylinders,” said Samer. “The walls of the rooms were padded with plastic and nylon, which fed the fire.”

He said he remembers the cylinders exploding one after another for almost every minute that he was inside, with flames shooting through the hospital windows. He said he counted at least 20 explosions.

Samer and other rescuers said it was impossible to reach many of the patients — they could hear screams and pleas for help from the second floor of the hospital.

One patient, a nurse with COVID-19, jumped through the window to his death, his body in flames. His charred remains were retrieved from the hospital courtyard later, Samer said.

Many have since pointed to blatant shortcomings in the hospital’s safety measures. Fire extinguishers did not work and emergency exits were inexplicably shut.

Dr. Kamal al-Rubaie, 28, was on the hospital’s second floor ICU ward, filled with COVID-19 patients on oxygen when the fire started. He was about to offer condolences to the family after one of his patients had died when he saw the first spark.

He said he had feared the oxygen cylinders ever since his first rotation at the ward last October. Each room inside the respiratory care unit typically stored over a dozen cylinders, with each patient needing between two to three a day. There were 30 patients in the unit at the time, he said.

In the day-to day patient care, there weren’t enough hospital staff to check that each cylinder was functioning properly. The task often fell on untrained relatives of patients, al-Rubaie said. Other doctors who have worked at the hospital said the same.

Given the risks in storing oxygen cylinders, which have to be kept far from combustible materials, modern hospitals have adopted centralized oxygen supply systems. These were even established in Iraqi hospitals in the 1980s under Sadaam Hussein but fell into disrepair during the embargo years, when U.N. sanctions prevented Iraq from trading oil and crippled the economy, and also after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

With Iraqi health facilities aging, oxygen cylinders have become the norm. And though Ibn al-Khatib did have a functioning centralized oxygen system, patients preferred the cylinders, seeing them as better for individual care.

What triggered the first cylinder to explode remains unclear — some speculate a patient’s visiting relative was using a little electric stove or another heat source next to a cylinder.

Al-Rubaie doesn’t remember seeing a heat source and also, just the presence of a stove cannot explain how it might have sparked the fire, he said. Oxygen can only strengthen a fire that is already burning, he added.

Samer described how he rushed to a virus patient hooked up to a ventilator in one of the hospital rooms that was surrounded by fire, grabbed the man and his cylinder to carry him out. Every moment he carried them were filled with terror.

“The cylinder could explode at any moment,” he said.

As Hussein, the paramedic, moved patients outside, crowds of volunteers turned up, adding to the chaos. Some came running out of the burning hospital and told him the three fire extinguishers on the second floor were empty. They had tried to put out the flames with blankets.

Maj. Gen. Khalid Bohan, the head of Iraq’s civil defense, recounted the many letters sent over the years to various ministries, urging them to install or update safety systems — only to be told “”there are no financial allocations.” A smoke detector and a fire system must be in place and hospital administrators bear this responsibility, he told Iraqi state TV after the fire.

Fire safety systems are included in the design and cost breakdown of most hospitals, doctors said. But in practice, they are seldom put in place, raising new questions about corruption among officials.

Samer said a fire safety system could have contained the blaze and saved lives.

His last memory from that night were the deafening cries of those who could not be reached inside the hospital.

DoorDash offers lower-priced delivery plans amid criticism

DoorDash is launching lower-priced delivery options for U.S. restaurants, responding to criticism that the commissions it charges are too high for the beleaguered industry.

The San Francisco delivery company said Tuesday it will offer a new basic plan that will charge restaurants 15% per order for delivery, or around half the cost of previous plans. That plan will limit the delivery area and shift more delivery costs to customers — they might pay $4.99 instead of $2.99, for example.

Restaurants can pay more — commissions of 25% or 30% — for other plans if they want a larger delivery area, more visibility in DoorDash’s app or lower customer delivery fees.

DoorDash said local restaurants and chains with less than 75 locations are eligible for the new rates. The company wouldn’t say how many of its partner restaurants meet that criteria. But DoorDash delivers from nearly 400,000 restaurants using a network of 1 million freelance drivers.

Even before the pandemic, DoorDash, Grubhub and other delivery companies had a rocky relationship with restaurants, who criticized their high fees, lack of transparency and sometimes spotty service. That relationship was further tested by the pandemic, which closed dining rooms, greatly expanded customer demand for delivery and forced many restaurants to shift to carryout and delivery to survive.

Sympathetic lawmakers temporarily capped delivery companies’ commission fees — generally at 15% — in dozens of cities and states during the pandemic in an effort to help restaurants. In those cities, DoorDash said, the new rates will go into place once those caps expire.

But DoorDash insisted the caps weren’t the reason it changed its fees. Instead, the company said it was acting in response to restaurant owners who wanted more options. DoorDash Chief Operating Officer Christopher Payne said the company spent the last six months developing a plan that would help restaurants but still ensure drivers — and DoorDash itself — can make money.

“One size fits all really doesn’t work with restaurants,” Payne said.

Payne said restaurants can change their plans depending on their needs at any given time. A new restaurant that wants to boost traffic and visibility might elect a plan with a higher commission fee, while an established restaurant that doesn’t rely much on delivery might choose a lower-cost plan.

DoorDash said it’s also dropping its commission fee for pickup orders — which customers place through the DoorDash app but pick up themselves — to 6% from 15%.

DoorDash rival Uber Eats has also been experimenting with lower-priced plans in recent months. A light plan — with a 5% commission fee — lets restaurants use their own drivers, for example.

Hungarian traveling circus stays fit for post-COVID opening

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Human and four-legged performers alike are preparing to bring Hungary’s largest traveling circus back on the road after the COVID-19 pandemic halted its shows for more than a year.

From its offseason home in Sada, a small village just outside the capital, Budapest, the Florian Richter Circus is holding rehearsals in cautious anticipation of when performances may begin again.

A state of emergency was declared in Hungary only a day before the troupe was to begin its spring season last year, and pandemic restrictions limiting events and public gatherings have meant the circus hasn’t brought in any income since.

“It has been almost a year and a half now with nothing. Obviously I have to think as a businessman, as an artist, and as a father at the same time,” said Florian Richter, the circus’ owner. “I’m the motor of this circus, so can’t give up, I can’t get emotional.”

In addition to human performers, nearly 50 different animals, including Indian elephant Sandra, eight camels, five zebras, three ponies and 32 horses, make up the members of the troupe. Feeding the animals and paying their handlers has used up almost all of the circus’ financial reserves, and Richter said he still don’t know when pandemic rules will allow performances to resume.

“It’s all money, money, money. Lots of money has to be spent because a ranch of this size costs a lot to maintain,” he said.

The human performers must also remain fit, both physically and mentally, so they can jump into action as soon as restrictions are lifted. Circus artist Kevin Richter, Florian’s son, said he and the troupe’s other acrobats have held rehearsals throughout the pandemic “to be ready for any opening.”

“It’s very difficult for all the members. It is not easy to train without knowing what will happen tomorrow or even next month,” he said during a break in his acrobatic group’s training. “We used this time to practice new acts, to keep ourselves fit for any possibility of a premiere.”

Hungary in recent weeks has started lifting its pandemic restrictions following a successful vaccination campaign. A further relaxation of rules is expected in coming days, even as deaths and infections remain high.

While the circus troupe hopes to be able to go forward with its traditional July 1 summer premiere, its two-legged members realize that the course of the pandemic could result in yet another lost season.

“The virus situation may be such that it will be canceled, but not being ready isn’t an option for us,” Richter said. “This is what gives the whole team the energy and the motivation to stay united. Our aim is to present the country’s best travelling circus show.”

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Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Archives for April 2021

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