Category Archives: Multimedia

Art exhibition to support struggling musicians

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Helium London and Pavement Licker are hosting a charity exhibition and auction for the next three weeks in London.

‘Pressing Matters’ will showcase contemporary artwork created using test pressing vinyl. The exhibition will run until May 29 with free admission at the Matches Fashion store:

Over 20 musicians have donated rare pieces for the occasion. The line-up includes contributions from the likes of Bicep, Charlie XCX, The Rolling Stones and more.

There will also be a panel discussion in line with Mental Health Awareness Week. The artists and musicians will take part in a number of talks from May 10 to 16 at the same location.

The artwork will be auctioned on Helium London’s website from May 24 to 29.

Music Support is an organisation that helps people in the UK music industry who are struggling with mental health and addiction. The charity offers helplines, training and safe hubs at festivals.

The live music industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. With concert and club venues shut for over a year, it has cost over 170,000 jobs, according to The Guardian. 

CEO and founder of Helium London, Jennifer McCormick says: “[The exhibition] has brought together phenomenal talent without prejudice and forged new creative relationships, all united in breaking down barriers surrounding addiction and mental health.”

If you are struggling with mental health, call Music Support’s helpline on 0800 030 6789 or email helpline@musicsupport.org  

The Indian Variant likely to be declared ‘Variant of Concern’

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The Indian Variant (B.1.617) that was first detected within the UK on the 22nd February 2021, is likely to be considered a ‘Variant of Concern’ according to reports.

Currently, The Indian Variant has over 400 cases across the UK, and makes up 10% of Covid cases in London and despite numbers being relatively low, its status as ‘Variant under Investigation’ is highly likely to be changed on Friday

If changed to a ‘Variant of Concern’, a response from PHE (Public Health England) would suggest ordering surge testing, similar to the South African variant.

The strain – B1.617.2 – is one of three related variants first seen in India which have been detected in the UK and designated “under investigation” by PHE.

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

The other two are the B1.617.1 and B1.617.3.

The most recent data by PHE, confirm 193 cases of the B1617.1 variant, up by 61 since the last update on April 21.

The B1.617.2 variant shows 202 cases, and the B1.617.3 variant shows just five cases.

According to internal documents from PHE, dated to May 5 and seen by The Guardian, the ongoing risk to public health from the variant subtype B1617.2 is “high”.

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, told The Guardian that “at the current doubling rate (B1617.2) could easily become dominant in London by the end of May or early June”.

Want to read more global COVID-19 news? Check out our interactive map.

Featured image: Photo by Giacomo Carra on Unsplash

The Last of Us Part 2 new release date confirmed after story leaks emerge online

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The release date for the Last of Us part 2 has been brought forward after its third delay because of coronavirus as well as story spoilers being leaked online.

Although NaughtyDog Studios and its Vice President Neil Druckmann were devastated by the spoiler leaks, they are still urging fans to look forward to the game and that nothing compares to actually playing the game yourself and taking in its emotional experience first hand.

The following video highlights all the key details including why the game was delayed and in an interview with WNOL, two gamers who came across the spoilers share in detail their thoughts on how they feel about the game.

WARNING: Video contains violence and gore from gameplay footage:

(Music by: bdProductions Royalty free Background Music Youtube)

(Feature image: TheSixthAxis)

(Leaves foliage and butterfly image in video by: NaughtyDog.com @Naughty_dog_inc Instagram)

(Controllers and video game cover panning: Dina’s footage/recording)

by Dina Nazari

The deadly impact of COVID-19 in war-torn Yemen

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In the midst of war, Yemen has reported its first two deaths and new cases bringing the total to six. International organizations fear that if the outbreak worsens, the healthcare system will not be able to cope as it has been run down by the ongoing conflict that has led to the worst humanitarian crisis.

(Image source: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)

By Karina Corral

How South Korea’s COVID-19 exit strategy is proving to be efficient

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South Korea’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported no new domestic Coronavirus cases for the first time since February.

Out of the total 10,765 cases recorded, four new imported infections were reported – all of which were tested and tracked in the airport. Overall, 1,065 were imported cases. Among these cases, 9,059 have been discharged with a total of 247 deaths so far.

The health authorities also revealed that no local transmission of the infection occurred during the parliamentary election this month – where strict safety measures were in place for voters.

So, what makes South Korea’s COVID-19 exit strategy more efficient?

Watch our video to find out how the nation has tackled the pandemic.

Locked in for your protection, but just how safe are you?

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Lockdown measures have been introduced over recent weeks to slow down the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19), these same measures are putting one group more at risk.

Men, women and children who live with abusers have no way of escape from their abusers during quarantine. Activists from Brazil, Germany, Italy and China are already seeing a rise in abuse. Read more

The difficulties of testing for COVID-19 in the United States

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The impact of COVID-19 is being felt globally and as the number of cases keeps rising, people are wondering how testing is being counted. 

The United States became the country with the most cases of coronavirus worldwide on March 26 with over 100,000 positive cases of the virus. 

The Centers for Disease Control, which is based in the states says that there are 95 public health laboratories spread across all 50 states that are verified to test for COVID-19. The CDC also states that certified laboratories no longer need to get their tests verified by the Food and Drug Administration before putting tests into action but have 15 days after designing the test to communicate to the FDA, according to a CDC diagnostics policy document. 

Typically during a health crisis the CDC is the first to develop diagnostic tests in the U.S. however due to problems manufacturing their test the CDC and FDA have allowed commercial manufactures and certified public health labs to make the tests more readily available to the public, according the U.S. FDA. 

Due to public health labs making their own tests there are no FDA guidelines on recording the tests, whether positive or negative of coronavirus, this has led to some inaccuracies in numbers and ordinary people to take charge. 

Data Source: Our world Data Coronavirus Testing

As of April 1 there have been 1,149,960 tests taken in the United States, according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

The project comes after officials plead for more tests and numbers of testing are being questioned. 

The COVID Tracking project was started by journalists to attempt to gather correct testing numbers throughout the country from state and local governments, verified news sources and the federal government. It is made up of journalists who contribute by attending official press conferences and ask local, state and federal leaders how many cases there are and 100 volunteers who gather data.  

In comparison, in the UK the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England reports there have been 152,979 people tested, positive and negative, for coronavirus.

In the UK “the results of these tests are submitted to PHE through the Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS). Confirmed positive cases are matched to ONS geographical area codes using the home postcode of the person tested as supplied by the laboratory information systems,” according to a PHE COVID-19 dashboard document.

Photo by: Brian McGowan on Unsplash

In order to be tested in the United States, you must exhibit symptoms call your local doctor and then be referred to a testing center near you, register for a spot on the list to get tested, attend and wait in line, then wait for test results days later.

“If we had all the resources in the world and could wave a magic wand, we would be happy to test these people, but they’re not there, so I’m afraid we’re having to prioritize,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN.

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