5 things you need to know this morning: October 19, 2020

Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.

Five things you need to know

1. Doctor from India dances for COVID-19 patients to bring cheer

Meet my #COVID duty colleague Dr Arup Senapati an ENT surgeon at Silchar medical college Assam .
Dancing infront of COVID patients to make them feel happy #COVID19 #Assam pic.twitter.com/rhviYPISwO

— Dr Syed Faizan Ahmad (@drsfaizanahmad) October 18, 2020

A video of a doctor from India on COVID-19 duty dancing in a protective suit to cheer up patients is winning praise all around the world. The video is of Dr Arup Senapati, a surgeon who works at Assam’s Silchar Medical College. So far, it has over one million views on Twitter.

2. Jacinda Ardern celebrates historic election win in New Zealand

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has won a second term in office after a historic landslide victory.

Ardern's handling of the #COVID19 pandemic earned her party 49% of votes, which could make it the first party to govern New Zealand alone in decades. pic.twitter.com/R2gALyXzqn

— AJ+ (@ajplus) October 17, 2020

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been reelected after a landslide victory. After leading the country through the Christchurch massacre and the COVID-19 pandemic, Ardern is set to form the first majority government the nation has seen in over a decade.

3. Thousands defy emergency orders and transit shutdown as pro-democracy protests continue in Thailand

Size of the crowd at Victory Monument in Bangkok, where protesters against Thai government and monarchy are defying a ban for another day. In total, thousands are out already across the city. #ม็อบ18ตุลา #WhatsHappeningInThailand via @Athit_P pic.twitter.com/T9jqmy0ezl

— Matthew Tostevin (@TostevinM) October 18, 2020

Pro- democracy protesters took to the streets again on Sunday despite a government-declared state of emergency and shutdown of public transport in Thailand. The protesters are demanding monarchy reforms, amendments to the constitution to make the country more democratic and the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who came to power through a military coup in 2015.

4. New wildfire breaks out in Boulder, Colorado amid historic wildfire season in the US

Wild view of the Cal-Wood fire near Boulder - smoke billowing over where my family lives in Louisville (courtesy my cousin Oliver) #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/gw2DU09fWx

— Nick Rothschild (@nick_rothschild) October 17, 2020

A new wildfire known as the CalWood Fire caused evacuation orders and closures in Boulder, Colorado on Saturday. An entire community has already been evacuated, and the smoke plume can reportedly be seen for miles.

5. WHO clinical trial finds that remdesivir has 'little or no effect' on COVID-19 survival

A WHO clinical trial found the drug remdesivir had little or no effect on COVID-19 patients' length of hospital stay or chances of survival. The results of the trial are yet to be reviewed and were uploaded on the preprint server medRxiv. https://t.co/gOm41vDNhR

— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) October 16, 2020

The World Health Organization announced on Friday that the "world's largest randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics" found "conclusive evidence" that remdesivir and three other drugs had "little or no effect" in reducing coronavirus deaths.