CORONA Main Coronavirus thread
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marsh
On TB every waking moment
4:24 min
Health expert projects 'series of rolling increases' in COVID-19 cases
•Nov 26, 2020
Fox News
Johns Hopkins University Professor Dr. Marty Makary discusses his concerns over the coronavirus spreading as people travel and gather during the holiday season.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Johns Hopkins Study Mysteriously Disappears after it Revealed, In Spite of COVID, No More Deaths in 2020 Than In Prior Years | The Gateway Pundit | by Joe Hoft
Johns Hopkins University keeps a tracker of covid cases around the world and the US. This site is used to scare people into staying in their homes and shut off from the real world. So when a study from Johns Hopkins comes out, showing no increase in deaths in 2020 related to prior years, the...
www.thegatewaypundit.com
Johns Hopkins Study Mysteriously Disappears after it Revealed, In Spite of COVID, No More Deaths in 2020 Than In Prior Years
By Joe Hoft
Published November 27, 2020 at 1:10pm
Johns Hopkins University keeps a tracker of covid cases around the world and the US. This site is used to scare people into staying in their homes and shut off from the real world. So when a study from Johns Hopkins comes out, showing no increase in deaths in 2020 related to prior years, the study has to be taken down.
The Gateway Pundit reported back in August that according to the CDC only 6% of all deaths labeled as COVID deaths are solely related to the virus. The remaining deaths have on average at least 2 – 3 comorbidities present.
Our report on the actual COVID numbers went viral and was even retweeted by President Trump.
Over the weekend, a study was published by Johns Hopkins claiming that COVID-19 has ‘Relatively No Effect on Deaths’ in U.S.
Unfortunately, shortly after being published, the report was deleted from the web.
However, the report was retrieved using the Way-Back Machine and this is in part what was reported:
The report says:
Dr. slams:
We have been reporting on this for months.
The American public is not being given all of the facts.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Fauci Warns of Dark Winter, Encourages Americans to Set Sights on 'Christmas in 2021'
Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that Thanksgiving could mark the beginning of a bleak winter, warning that the pandemic could worsen.
www.breitbart.com
Dr. Anthony Fauci Warns of Bleak Winter: Looking Forward to ‘Christmas in 2021’
114
HANNAH BLEAU27 Nov 20202,308
Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that Thanksgiving could mark the beginning of a bleak winter, warning that the pandemic could worsen throughout the holidays and encouraging Americans to “be careful” as Christmas approaches, though he is personally looking forward to “Christmas in 2021.”
In an interview with USA Today, Fauci explained that he will more than likely forgo his traditional Christmas plans, as he did for Thanksgiving. According to the outlet, he spoke to his three daughters virtually and enjoyed dinner with his wife.
“For my own family, I’m saying we had a really great Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. We’re looking forward to a really great Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2021,” Fauci told the outlet.
“Let’s now make the best of the situation and show our love and affection for people by keeping them safe,” he said, repeating the cries of Democrat governors, some of whom have urged Americans to stay away from their loved ones on the holidays.
Fauci warned that the current surge of the Chinese coronavirus could continue through the new year:
Johns Hopkins University data reported 181,490 new cases of the virus on Thursday. Cases have been spiking across the U.S. despite the fact that leaders in well over two dozen states have imposed state and regional mask mandates, some of which have been in effect for months.
A November 19 Breitbart News analysis found:
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director added that Americans need to “be careful” as the big holidays, such as Christmas and New Year’s, approach, given the nature of such celebrations being indoors with “singing and laughing and eating and drinking.”
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
The Frightening Ease Of Government Overreach
Fri, 11/27/2020 - 15:05
Authored by H.P.Smith via AmericanThinker.com,
On the eve of Thanksgiving, I am reading the news as I have my coffee, as is my regular morning routine, and much of what I read is about the recently reimposed restrictions on multiple aspects of our lives due to COVID-19. The mayor of Los Angeles is calling for people to cancel "non-essential" travel, with the threat of fines and citations for noncompliance. We've seen the same thing for several months in several other states, notably New York, New Jersey, and Michigan. And it is all being done in the name of public safety. They're only concerned with our well-being...right?
Given that the left is so focused on science — mainly when it helps leftists' agenda to do so, mind you — I will cite a recent study from the Annals of Internal Medicine, also cited in an article on American Thinker, that found that the real "death rate" of COVID-19, measured as the Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) is actually 0.26%, or about a quarter of one percent. Matt Rowe's article does a good job of describing fully the definition of IFR, so I won't repeat it all here, but it's essentially the actual rate of death caused by COVID-19 specifically without other underlying causes.
The point is that the science, time and again, does not seem to support the extreme reactions by those in power. The thing that bothers me is how quickly and easily our mayors and governors have used the pandemic as an excuse to flex their dictatorial muscles, and what frightens and angers me is how quickly and easily they've wiped their collective bottoms with the Constitution, with the requisite flush of our rights once their business is completed.
Invasive forms required at the airport, COVID checkpoints at key crossing points in and out of New York City, police checkpoints, and mandatory quarantine periods are all part of the plan to "keep us safe." Neighbors and even children are being encouraged to spy on and report those who would dare oppose the Almighty. I've read enough about 1930s and early 1940s–era Germany to recognize what's going on. Will those who disobey be forced to wear a distinguishing mark of some kind on their clothing?
What is disturbing to me is how quickly and easily so many people fall right into line and accept every new edict and imposition on their freedoms. As in 1930s–1940s Germany, those who were silent and compliant were in many ways complicit in the crimes. We've all heard the famous poem by Martin Niemoller, "First They Came for the Jews." It feels eerily similar to me.
I am not a COVID denier. I know it's dangerous, and with elderly in-laws, the last thing I want is be the one who kills Grandma or Grandpa, so I wear the mask, and I am keeping my hands clean and social distancing. I get it. I just do not accept the massive government overreach in our lives, especially when the science doesn't seem to support it.
The good news is that it does seem as though many people are starting to reach the limits of their patience and tolerance with the overreach. Those not tuned in to CNN, MSNBC, et al. have seen far too many instances of the so-called authorities on COVID getting things really wrong, or simply lying to us about what is going on. Many have read reports of the fudging of numbers at hospitals and even the CDC, and they're starting to stand their ground. There is a movement for impeachment of Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan, and even for Gavin Newsom, the head of the Politburo in California.
Sheriffs and police departments across the country are saying they will not enforce the heavy-handed policies of those in charge, at least partly because those in charge have repeatedly shown us that their lockdowns and mask mandates do not apply to themselves or their wealthy friends and donors. More and more people are saying, "That's enough" and opposing or simply ignoring the diktats and going about their lives.
A group of St. Louis restaurant-owners are now fighting for their livelihoods against the oppressive and arbitrary ban on indoor dining as winter approaches and outdoor dining becomes all but impossible. Those restaurateurs have followed every new health and safety rule, and even gone beyond in many cases, to put the safety of their guests and employees at the highest priority level, but that isn't good enough for the St. Louis County Council, led by county executive Dr. Sam Page. No, Dr. Page apparently is bent on putting these entrepreneurs and small business leaders, as well as all of their employees, out of business and onto the welfare rolls.
All around the country, people are finally saying, "Enough is enough," and they are pushing back against the restrictions and regulations. The true American spirit is showing itself, as it did in the latter half of the 18th century against a previous oppressive regime. Generally, I believe that Americans are patient and tolerant people...well, at least roughly half of them are, anyway...but their patience and tolerance are not infinite. I think that patience is starting to run thin.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Lockdowns Destroy What Makes Us Human
Fri, 11/27/2020 - 14:15
Authored by Zachary Yost via The Mises Institute,
While GMU economist Tyler Cowen may have dismissed the idea of more pandemic lockdowns as being “a straw man” and saying that the extreme measures that started in March of this year “are now behind us,” it seems that governors and other politicians around the country have failed to get the message.
More and more states have begun to once again impose ruinous lockdowns. The media and Twitter are filled with self-righteous scolds shrieking about the impending doom of families gathering together for Thanksgiving. CNN host Jake Tapper suggested that “Christmas is probably not gonna be possible.”
If such people had their way, everyone would remain under veritable house arrest and not see anyone else for months or even years, as the duration of such onerous impositions has gone from “fifteen days to slow the spread” to months or even years into the future. That such ideas are even being considered demonstrates just how out of touch with human reality much of our “expert” class and their hordes of lemming-like followers are.
Things have not changed much from when I addressed some of the disastrous unintended material consequences of lockdowns in April of this year. However, as 2020 has dragged on, it has made clear that at least some of the lockdown logic is rooted in a fundamentally flawed and relatively recent conception of human nature.
Nearly every culture and religion throughout human history has held that humans are both material and spiritual beings. However, living in the secular age as we do, the material aspect of our existence has supplanted the spiritual to such an extent that it is barely recognized to exist.
Russell Kirk goes so far as to claim that the dividing line in contemporary politics hinges on this difference in understanding, stating that “on one side of that line are all those men and women who fancy that the temporal order is the only order, and that material needs are their only needs, and that they may do as they like with the human patrimony. On the other side of that line are all those people who recognize an enduring moral order in the universe, a constant human nature, and high duties toward the order spiritual and the order temporal.”
A purely material outlook on human existence will of course lead to certain policy prescriptions, especially in the face of a pandemic. To deny the spiritual existence of man is to deny the possibility of life after death—only the void of annihilation awaits. From this perspective, it makes sense that one might conclude that earthly life must continue on at any cost—that no tradeoff is too high to put off the coming oblivion.
In contrast, those who retain a more traditional conception of human nature, no matter the specific religion or creed to which they belong, can easily see an entire world of costs to lockdowns that those with a purely materialist perspective are not even capable of understanding.
Humans are social beings. Our very existence and development as human persons rests upon this social nature. Social contract thinkers like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau may fantasize about a solitary human existence, but all evidence from feral or isolated children indicates that without other humans a solitary individual would swiftly perish, not to mention fail to develop self-awareness or the ability to think and speak with language.
Some personalist scholars, such as political theorist David Walsh, argue that our entire conception of self can only be formed in relation to other persons. In contrast to Descartes’s famous line that “I think, therefore I am” a personalist would argue that we are not even capable of understanding the existence of “I” until we have first understood the existence of an “I” in others. Much like we can never truly see our own face, but only the faces of others, which in turn allows us to understand our own unseen face, we cannot become aware of ourselves until we find ourselves in the context of others, and through them recognize the mutual nature of our interior lives that makes us persons.
Many religions, in some form or another, speak of the interconnectedness of the world and of people and of the illusion of separation. While most often associated with Eastern religions such as Buddhism, this spiritual unity is not foreign to Christianity and the West. Indeed, the Christian Trinity is understood to be one God in three persons. Jesus Christ references this unity in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John when he prays “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you…that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”
Leaving the specific religious implications aside, humans have recognized for millennia that when persons gather together we enter into one another on a spiritual level through the recognition of our mutual personhood. However, this spiritual unity that is so essential to our very existence as human persons does not occur in a vacuum, but rather in the context in which we gather in the material world.
Humans could acquire all the nutrients we need by imbibing Soylent Green in solitude, but instead, we often turn our meals into ritualistic social occasions. Shared meals not only provide material nourishment but spiritual sustenance as well. Dancing alone in your kitchen is all well and good, but it pales in comparison to experiencing a crowd of thousands moshing at an electronic dance music festival or the pounding feet of a Sufi sect dancing the dhikr. We are fortunate to be able to access great art at the click of a mouse, but watching Swan Lake home alone on YouTube is no substitute for the experience of seeing it live in a crowded hall as every person is moved to tears.
There are few events more brimming with the spiritual unity of the attendees than a wedding, a celebration of the literal unity of two persons as one in the presence of their friends and loved ones with feasting, singing, and dancing.
Yet how many weddings have been canceled or celebrated in private this year thanks to lockdowns? How many shared meals have not been eaten? Dances left undanced, songs left unsung, conversations not had? How many parents and grandparents in nursing homes did not get to see their loved ones before they departed this earth? How many children have suffered in front of a screen alone all day? These are not mere frivolous luxuries that we humans can do without. The dual material and spiritual contexts of our personhood cannot be separated. These contexts of our families and communities are not nice additions to life, they are human life itself.
There is no denying that during a pandemic there will be a need to alter one’s behavior, but just as no state bureaucrat can successfully plan the economy, no public health official is capable of centrally planning a response for hundreds of millions of people who are all in different conditions of life, with different material and spiritual needs.
Every person must decide for himself what the proper course of action is in light of his unique life circumstances. Ripping these decisions from every person and placing them in the hands of public health bureaucrats has yielded disaster.
Suicide rates are up all around the country, in some places as much as 70 percent compared to the same time last year. Military suicides are up 20 percent. Drug overdose deaths are on track to reach an all-time high. The RAND Corporation has found an upswing in heavy drinking this year. The Associated Press reports on the horrific conditions in nursing homes around the country that may have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of residents in excruciating and horrific circumstances, as their families have been forbidden from caring for them. What’s more, it seems many patients simply withered away, their spirits broken from being locked in veritable solitary confinement with no contact with friends or family for months.
Medical central planning that doesn’t even recognize the spiritual and social aspect of human existence has caused the deaths of untold numbers of people around the country, perhaps more than the virus itself in the long run.
Our vaunted leaders may act like pure materialists when it comes to their dictatorial decrees obliterating society and our very humanity, but on some level they obviously understand the importance of their own spiritual health. Why else would the leaders of California be breaking their own rules to dine at luxurious restaurants or flying to Hawaii for meetings and not be content with takeout and Zoom like the rest of us peasants? But what else can be expected from a system of top-down control?
Humans are both material and spiritual beings. Just as we have material needs that central planners cannot anticipate, so too do we have spiritual needs that can only be filled in a myriad of ways that central planners cannot plan for, especially when they don’t even recognize they are needs at all. When they are not fulfilled, our physical health suffers just as assuredly as if we had a virus. The social and communal aspects of human life, whether a holiday dinner with family, going to church, having a wedding, or even the mundane relations of everyday life are not mere luxuries that can be dispensed with, they are human life itself. People must be free to navigate these difficult times armed with the knowledge of their circumstances that only they possess.
mzkitty
I give up.
Yeesh !!
New LA County 'safer-at-home' order puts new limits on gatherings, closes playgrounds
Los Angeles County's public health director said she doesn't expect the directive to be as sweeping as the one issued at the onset of the pandemic.
Updated 7 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County has issued a new safer-at-home order that places stricter limits on gatherings and occupancy at businesses, as well as closes playgrounds and cardrooms.
The new order, which takes effect Monday and will last at least until Dec. 20, comes as the county sees a disturbing surge in COVID-19 cases.
The county has been averaging more than 4,700 new cases per day, the highest rate since the start of the pandemic. Health officials remain particularly concerned about gatherings that may have happened during Thanksgiving, as well as the upcoming December holidays, that may further increase transmission rates.
Under the new order:
More details of the public health order are available here.
DEVELOPING: This story will be updated.
abc7news.com
New LA County 'safer-at-home' order puts new limits on gatherings, closes playgrounds
Los Angeles County's public health director said she doesn't expect the directive to be as sweeping as the one issued at the onset of the pandemic.
Updated 7 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County has issued a new safer-at-home order that places stricter limits on gatherings and occupancy at businesses, as well as closes playgrounds and cardrooms.
The new order, which takes effect Monday and will last at least until Dec. 20, comes as the county sees a disturbing surge in COVID-19 cases.
The county has been averaging more than 4,700 new cases per day, the highest rate since the start of the pandemic. Health officials remain particularly concerned about gatherings that may have happened during Thanksgiving, as well as the upcoming December holidays, that may further increase transmission rates.
Under the new order:
- All public and private gatherings with someone outside your own household are now prohibited. Exceptions are made for church services and protests protected by the Constitution.
- Occupancy limits at businesses now stand at 35% for essential retail; 20% for non-essential retail like outdoor malls, as well as for personal care services and libraries; 50% for fitness centers operating outdoors, as well as museums, galleries, zoos and aquariums and other recreational businesses like batting cages.
- Playgrounds, except those at childcare and schools, are closed.
- Cardrooms are closed. In early October they had been allowed to reopen with outdoor operations.
More details of the public health order are available here.
DEVELOPING: This story will be updated.
LA County's new stay-at-home order kicks in Monday, one day after 5K new COVID cases reported
Los Angeles County's new stay-at-home restrictions took effect Monday, and county officials say further restrictions could follow if things don't get better.
abc7news.com
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Study finds 84% fewer hospitalizations for patients treated with controversial drug hydroxychloroquine
A peer-reviewed study measuring the effectiveness of a controversial drug cocktail that includes hydroxychloroquine concluded that the treatment lowered hospitalizations and mortality rates of coronavirus patients.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Study finds 84% fewer hospitalizations for patients treated with controversial drug hydroxychloroquine
by Andrew Mark Miller, Social Media Producer
| November 25, 2020 03:02 PM
A peer-reviewed study measuring the effectiveness of a controversial drug cocktail that includes hydroxychloroquine concluded that the treatment lowered hospitalizations and mortality rates of coronavirus patients.
The study, set to be published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents in December, determined that “Low-dose hydroxychloroquine combined with zinc and azithromycin was an effective therapeutic approach against COVID-19.”
A total of 141 patients diagnosed with the coronavirus were treated with the three-drug cocktail over a period of five days and compared to a control group of 377 people who tested positive for the virus but were not given the treatment.
The study found that “the odds of hospitalisation of treated patients was 84% less than in the untreated patients,” and only one patient died from the group being treated with the drugs compared to 13 deaths in the untreated group.
Hydroxychloroquine became a controversial issue during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when President Trump championed the drug as an effective coronavirus treatment, which immediately drew criticism from the media and several health experts.
Twitter censored a video over the summer showing doctors touting the effectiveness of the drug.
Additionally, a July study conducted by the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan concluded that patients taking hydroxychloroquine were more likely to survive the coronavirus.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Banned COVID Kits Come From CCP-Backed DNA Research Firm Endorsed By Obama/Biden » The National Pulse+
The Obama-Biden administration facilitated the expansion of Chinese Communist Party-linked BGI Genomics into the U.S., forcing the Trump administration’s Departments of State and Homeland Security to block states from using the firm’s coronavirus test kits. From Beijing to the Beltway. The Obama...
thenationalpulse.com
Banned COVID Kits Come From CCP-Backed DNA Research Firm Endorsed By Obama/Biden
THE OBAMA-BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FACILITATED THE EXPANSION OF CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY-LINKED BGI GENOMICS INTO THE U.S., FORCING THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DEPARTMENTS OF STATE AND HOMELAND SECURITY TO BLOCK STATES FROM USING THE FIRM’S CORONAVIRUS TEST KITS.
FROM BEIJING TO THE BELTWAY.
The Obama administration allowed the Chinese firm to gain a foothold in the U.S. through its Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), allowing BGI to acquire the California-based firm Complete Genomics.
The 2012 deal was highly controversial, seen by many as a national security threat as it granted a Chinese company access to the genetic data of millions of Americans. Any company in China – public or private – can be requisitioned by the Chinese Communist Party to “support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work.”
A recipient of Chinese government loans, BGI Genomics counts researchers affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, hosts a Communist Party committee, collaborates with Huawei, and is a partner in the Genebank program, a collection of DNA sequences that describes itself as “approved and funded by the Chinese government.
USER BEWARE.
And these concerns have re-emerged in response to the firm offering coronavirus test kits to states nationwide – market access made possible by Biden and Obama’s CFIUS greenlight.
Officials from the U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security were forced to warn authorities in Nevada to refuse using any of the 250,000 coronavirus test kits donated by BGI.
According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, the correspondence “illustrate how the U.S. government actively — if quietly — tried to keep the state out of a project involving the Chinese firm BGI Group.” These warnings “led the office of Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak in April to direct a Nevada hospital not to use any of the donated 250,000 test kits as officials turned down an offered laboratory deal.”
“U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that foreign powers like China could exploit samples to discover the medical history, illnesses or genetic traits of test takers” the report added.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, for example, has identified BGI as having “ties to the Chinese Government,” raising red flags about how the foreign regime could exploit its possession of Americans’ DNA material.
The Trump administration also moved to blacklist various subsidiaries of BGI in response to the firm collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party in repressing Uyghurs through genetic-based surveillance systems.
So if kids want to play on the playground, will that temper tantrum on the part of the child in form of protest of being shut up indoors, or from the parents! LOL losing their minds, count for protests under the Constitution.?Yeesh !!
View attachment 235158
New LA County 'safer-at-home' order puts new limits on gatherings, closes playgrounds
Los Angeles County's public health director said she doesn't expect the directive to be as sweeping as the one issued at the onset of the pandemic.
Updated 7 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County has issued a new safer-at-home order that places stricter limits on gatherings and occupancy at businesses, as well as closes playgrounds and cardrooms.
The new order, which takes effect Monday and will last at least until Dec. 20, comes as the county sees a disturbing surge in COVID-19 cases.
The county has been averaging more than 4,700 new cases per day, the highest rate since the start of the pandemic. Health officials remain particularly concerned about gatherings that may have happened during Thanksgiving, as well as the upcoming December holidays, that may further increase transmission rates.
Under the new order:
- All public and private gatherings with someone outside your own household are now prohibited. Exceptions are made for church services and protests protected by the Constitution.
- Occupancy limits at businesses now stand at 35% for essential retail; 20% for non-essential retail like outdoor malls, as well as for personal care services and libraries; 50% for fitness centers operating outdoors, as well as museums, galleries, zoos and aquariums and other recreational businesses like batting cages.
- Playgrounds, except those at childcare and schools, are closed.
- Cardrooms are closed. In early October they had been allowed to reopen with outdoor operations.
More details of the public health order are available here.
DEVELOPING: This story will be updated.
LA County's new stay-at-home order kicks in Monday, one day after 5K new COVID cases reported
Los Angeles County's new stay-at-home restrictions took effect Monday, and county officials say further restrictions could follow if things don't get better.
Last edited:
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
"Dark Winter" - Millions Of Americans Are Expected To Lose Their Homes
Fri, 11/27/2020 - 20:30
A dark covid winter is descending on the working-poor of America as millions of adults face eviction or foreclosure in the next few months. Bloomberg, citing a survey that was conducted on Nov. 9 by the U.S. Census Bureau, shows 5.8 million adults face eviction or foreclosure come Jan. 1. That accounts for 32.5% of the 17.8 million adults currently behind rent or mortgage payments.
h/t Bloomberg On Monday, we noted that on Dec. 31 many of the key provisions in the CARES Act are set to expire if there is no action from Congress. This could be catastrophic for 12 million America who will lose access to their Emergency unemployment benefits activated in the aftermath of the covid pandemic, which alone could be a drag of up to 1.5% to growth in 1Q, according to a recent Bank of America report.
Additionally, the expiration of eviction moratorium, mortgage forbearance programs, and suspension of student loan payments could compound the working poors' financial stresses, many of whom, about 21 million of them, are unemployed and receiving benefits from the government.
h/t Bloomberg The survey points out at least half of households in Arkansas, Florida and Nevada are not current on rent and mortgage payments - equating to 750,000 could face an eviction come early 2021.
On a city by city basis, New York City, Houston, and Atlanta had the greatest threat of evictions come early next year.
The most concerning part about the expiration of various CARES programs starting on Jan. 1 is that it removes safety nets for the working poor. A lapse from when expirations hit to Congress and the new Biden administration expected to strike a stimulus deal is expected be short-lived.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
1:11:06 min
Immune 38: COVID-19 and kids with Sallie Permar
•Nov 28, 2020
Vincent Racaniello
_______________________________
34:33 min
TWiV 686: COVID-19 clinical update #38 with Dr. Daniel Griffin
•Nov 28, 2020
Vincent Racaniello
marsh
On TB every waking moment
"F*ck Garcetti!" - Hundreds of BLM Protesters Gather Outside LA Mayor Eric Garcetti's Home (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit | by Cristina Laila
Hundreds of BLM protestors gathered outside of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s home on Saturday.
www.thegatewaypundit.com
“F*ck Garcetti!” – Hundreds of BLM Protesters Gather Outside LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Home (VIDEO)
By Cristina Laila
Published November 28, 2020 at 1:58pm
Hundreds of BLM protestors gathered outside of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s home on Saturday.
This is the 5th straight day protesters have shown up to Garcetti’s home to protest.
Protesters say they are here to protest the consideration of Eric Garcetti to the media’s fake president-elect Joe Biden’s so-called “cabinet.”
WATCH (language warning):
Couple hundred protesters chanting “F*** Garcetti” chants in front of the home of Mayor of LA Eric Garcetti on this Saturday morning. Protesters say they are here to protest the consideration of Eric Garcetti to Joe Bidens cabinet #Garcettiprotest pic.twitter.com/3rYY4KfRBz
“Garcetti is the worst mayor in the nation don’t chose him for transportation,” they chanted.
Democrat Garcetti’s home is protected by a wall and LAPD.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
UN Dubs Self 'Trusted' Pandemic News Source, Teams Up With World Economic Forum To Encourage 'New Social Norms'
Sat, 11/28/2020 - 08:45
The United Nations has 'launched a counter-attack' against coronavirus misinformation - by teaming up with the World Economic Forum to battle coronavirus misinformation and other 'potentially dubious content.'
"When COVID-19 emerged, it was clear from the outset this was not just a public health emergency, but a communications crisis as well," says Melissa Flemming, the UN's head of global communications.
"We’re trying to create this new social norm called ‘pause - take care before you share’ - she continued, adding "We're equipping people, through this new social norm, with a bit of 'information scepticism'."
The new initiative also seeks to rope social media influencers into spreading 'real news' about the pandemic - which we assume means nothing to do with hydroxychloroquine, incredibly low fatality rates for most people below retirement age, or anyone even slightly opposed to business-killing lockdowns.
One also has to wonder how the UN and WEF would cover egregious flip-flops from global health authorities on everything from transmissibility to mask use.
Regardless, the UN's campaign is steadfast in their self-determined authority as arbiters of all things COVID.
"So far, we've recruited 110,000 information volunteers, and we equip these information volunteers with the kind of knowledge about how misinformation spreads and ask them to serve as kind of 'digital first-responders' in those spaces where misinformation travels," said Flemming.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
"Life Won't Ever Be Completely Normal Again" - Renowned Infection/Immunity Expert Warns COVID Is Not Going Away
Sat, 11/28/2020 - 08:10
Authored by Damir Mujezinovic via Inquisitr.com,
In a Thursday interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Dr. Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, said that the novel coronavirus may never go away.
Per Newsweek, which published a translation of the interview, Lipkin said that the public will have to adapt and learn how to “live the rest of our lives with this virus.”
Lipkin said that it is likely future generations will be vaccinated against COVID-19, but noted that additional booster doses may be necessary. The expert described the progress in vaccine development as “staggering,” suggesting that vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer will be able to significantly reduce the spread of the virus.
However, Lipkin pointed out that there could be logistical challenges and that distribution will not be easy.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced earlier this month that their candidate is 95 percent effective at stopping coronavirus, while Moderna said that its mRNA-1273 had an efficacy of 94.5 percent. However, neither of the vaccines can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures, which could be a major issue in some parts of the world.
Achieving “global group immunity” is the end goal, according to Lipkin, who explained that between 60 and 80 percent of the world’s population needs to be immune before normalcy is restored.
24:41 min
Governments across the globe have implemented public health measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, some more successfully than others. China, where the virus is thought to have originated, has been very successful in controlling the pandemic.
Lipkin — who assisted the Chinese government during the 2003 SARS epidemic and advised Saudi Arabia during the MERS outbreak — suggested that it is unrealistic to expect western governments to achieve the same results.
Getty Images / Getty Images
The expert concluded the interview on a more optimistic note, saying that the coronavirus crisis “has also demonstrated our ability to respond with science, compassion and a common goal.”
According to the population data site Worldometers, more than 61 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in the world so far and nearly 1.5 million people have died from complications caused by the disease.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Los Angeles County Officials Announce Three Week Stay-at-Home Order
L.A. County announced Friday a stay at home order effective Monday that urges residents to avoid being with people not in their household.
www.breitbart.com
Los Angeles County Officials Announce Three Week Stay-at-Home Order
2,952
AMY FURR27 Nov 20209,981
Los Angeles County announced Friday a temporary stay at home order effective Monday that urges residents to avoid being with people not in their household.
“The temporary order will be in place for three weeks through Dec. 20 and will allow essential and emergency workers, and those securing or providing essential and permitted services, to leave their homes,” KTLA reported.
On Twitter Friday, the county said coronavirus cases remain at “alarming levels” and the number of those hospitalized continues to increase:
In a press release, public health officials advised residents to stay home as much as possible and wear a mask when they are outside and around other people:
“Today, Public Health has confirmed 24 new deaths and 4,544 new cases of COVID-19. Currently, the five-day average of new cases is 4,751,” the release continued.
Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health, said, due to the recent surge in coronavirus cases, “We must take additional safety measures to reduce the risk of illness and death from this terrible virus and protect our healthcare system.”
“Acting with collective urgency right now is essential if we want to put a stop to this surge. Please remain home as much as possible and do not gather with others not in your household for the next three weeks,” she concluded.
The announcement comes two days after county officials banned outdoor dining, the KTLA report said.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
LA County Stay-at-Home Order Prohibits Private Gatherings with Non-Household Members
Los Angeles County's stay-at-home order specifically prohibits private and public gatherings with individuals outside of a person’s immediate household.
www.breitbart.com
LA County Stay-at-Home Order Prohibits Private Gatherings with Non-Household Members
117
HANNAH BLEAU28 Nov 2020498
Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home order specifically prohibits private and public gatherings with individuals outside of a person’s immediate household.
Officials announced the order on Friday, attributing it to “alarming levels” of new coronavirus cases. While the order encourages residents to wear a mask and limit their appearances in public, it also bars them from gathering with non-household members, even in private settings. While there is an exception for faith-based services and protests, there is no explicit exception for gatherings in private residences.
“Gatherings: All public and private gatherings with individuals not in your household are prohibited, except for faith-based services and protests, which are constitutionally protected rights,” a release from the LA County Department of Public Health reads:
In addition to banning public or private gatherings with people outside of one’s household, the order allows “essential” retail stores to operate at 35 percent occupancy, maximum. Nonessential retail stores are barred at 20 percent occupancy, as are personal care services.
Outdoor fitness centers, zoos, aquariums, and minigolf courses are permitted to operate at 50 percent capacity.
The order also requires individuals to wear masks during outdoor recreation activities, “except for swimming and distancing.”
Per the order:
Indoor dining services at bars, restaurants, and breweries will remain closed “as customers are not wearing face coverings during their visit which results in an increased chance of transmission of the virus.”
“Restaurants, wineries and breweries remain open for pick-up, delivery, and take-out. Breweries and wineries remain open for retail sales at 20% occupancy,” the department added.
Even Tommy Vietor, former National Security Council spokesperson for former President Barack Obama, concluded that the newly announced rules — which essentially prohibit backyard gatherings with neighbors — make “zero sense and are completely unenforceable”:
LA Public Health reported 4,544 new cases of the virus on Friday:
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer acknowledged the sacrifice residents have made over the past few months but added that “acting with collective urgency right now is essential if we want to put a stop to this surge.”
“Please remain home as much as possible and do not gather with others not in your household for the next three weeks,” she added.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
‘Fine Me’: Texas Trump Supporters Defy COVID-19 Curfew near the Alamo
A group of Trump supporters in Texas came out to the Alamo Friday night in defiance of a COVID-19 curfew put in place by the mayor of San Antonio.
www.breitbart.com
‘Fine Me’: Texas Trump Supporters Defy COVID-19 Curfew near the Alamo
279
BOB PRICE28 Nov 2020385
A group of Trump supporters in Texas came out to the Alamo Friday night in defiance of a COVID-19 curfew put in place by the mayor of San Antonio. The group chanted “fine me!” to the city’s mayor, who put a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in place. The order bans any social activity including congregating “in any area outside of an individual’s household.”
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg (D) issued an emergency order placing an outdoor curfew on residents of the city, NEWS4SA reported. The curfew began at 10 p.m. on November 26. The order bans all outdoor social activities from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. until Monday morning. The mayor threatened a $1,000 fine for violations. Each day counts as a separate violation, the order states. The order exempts outdoor activities for the purpose of engaging in or seeking the services of essential or nonessential businesses.
This is Texas Freedom Force called the mayor a “Boston liberal” and his order unconstitutional. The group called for a rally at the Alamo for Saturday night at 10:30 p.m.
On Friday night, a group of flag-waving Trump supporters took to the streets and shouted “fine me!” Fox4 reported.
“Mayor Nirenberg, it’s 11 p.m., we are outdoors doing a social gathering (this is illegal) I want you personally to come out here and fine me my $1,000, because guess what? I’m not even paying it anyway,” an unidentified man said on a megaphone.
The rally continued, apparently without police intervention, until sometime after midnight, the local Fox affiliate reported.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
2:19:39 min
TWiV 687: Peter Hotez sticks to the vax
•Nov 28, 2020
Vincent Racaniello
Peter Hotez joins TWiV to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, including why it went out of control in the US, the hijacking of public health practices by anti-science extremist groups, prospects for control, and whether we will be prepared for the next one. Show notes at https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-687/
[COMMENTS: If you can stand the leftist posturing and sort of chuckle at their hubris and dogmatism, it is sort of interesting. Certainly lets you see their point of view and bias. They actually blame the Russians, Q-Anon and the Koch brother for disinformation. ]
Last edited:
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
The Strangely Unscientific Masking Of America
Sat, 11/28/2020 - 21:00
Authored by Jenin Younes via The American Institute for Economic Research,
I remember vividly the day, at the tail end of March, when facemasks suddenly became synonymous with morality: either one cared about the lives of others and donned a mask, or one was selfish and refused to do so. The shift occurred virtually overnight.
Only a day or two before, I had associated this attire solely with surgeons and people living in heavily polluted regions. Now, my friends’ favorite pastime during our weekly Zoom sessions was excoriating people for running or socializing without masks in Prospect Park. I was mystified by their certitude that bits of cloth were the only thing standing between us and mass death, particularly when mere weeks prior, the message from medical experts contradicted this new doctrine.
On February 29, the U.S. surgeon general infamously tweeted:
Anthony Fauci, the best-known member of the coronavirus task force, advised Americans not to wear masks around this time.
Similarly, in the earliest weeks of the pandemic, the CDC maintained that masks should be worn only by individuals who were symptomatic or caring for a sick person, a position that the WHO stood by even longer.
As rapidly as mask use became a matter of ethics, the issue transformed into a political one, exemplified by an article printed on March 27 in the New York Times, entitled “More Americans Should Probably Wear Masks for Protection.”
The piece was heavy on fear-mongering and light on evidence. While acknowledging that “[t]here is very little data showing that flat surgical masks, in particular, have a protective effect for the general public,” the author went on to argue that they “may be better than nothing,” and cited a couple of studies in which surgical masks ostensibly reduced influenza transmission rates.
One report reached its conclusion based on observations of a “dummy head attached to a breathing simulator.” Another analyzed use of surgical masks on people experiencing at least two symptoms of acute respiratory illness.
Incidentally, not one of these studies involved cloth masks or accounted for real-world mask usage (or misusage) among lay people, and none established efficacy of widespread mask-wearing by people not exhibiting symptoms. There was simply no evidence whatsoever that healthy people ought to wear masks when going about their lives, especially outdoors. Yet by April, to walk the streets of Brooklyn with one’s nose and mouth exposed evoked the sort of reaction that in February would have been reserved for the appearance of a machine gun.
In short order, the politicization intensified. President Trump refused to wear a mask relatively early on, so resistance to them was equated with support for him. By the same token, Democratic politicians across the board eagerly adopted the garb; accordingly, all good liberals were wearing masks religiously by the beginning of April. Likewise, left-leaning newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post unequivocally promoted mask-wearing after that March 27 article, with no real analysis or consideration of opposing views and evidence.
The speed with which mask-wearing among the general public transitioned from unheard of to a moral necessity struck me as suspicious. After all, if the science was as airtight as those around me claimed, surely masks would have been recommended by January or February, not to mention during prior infectious disease outbreaks such as the 2009 swine flu. It seemed unlikely that the scientific proof became incontrovertible sometime between late February and late March, particularly in the absence of any new evidence surfacing during that time period.
Perhaps none of this is particularly surprising in this hyper-political era. What is shocking is the scientific community’s participation in subverting evidence that does not comport with the consensus. A prime example is the Institute of Health Metrics Evaluation’s (“IHME”) rather astounding claim, published in the journal Nature-Medicine and echoed in countless articles afterward, that the lives of 130,000 people could be saved with a nationwide mask mandate.
As my colleague Phil Magness pointed out in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, the IHME model was predicated upon faulty data: it assumed that 49% of Americans were wearing masks based on a survey conducted between April and June, while claiming that statistic represented the number of Americans wearing masks as of September 21. In fact, by the summer, around 80% of Americans were regularly wearing them. (Ironically, had Dr. Fauci and the Surgeon General not bungled the message in March, mask use probably would have reached much higher rates much earlier on).
This called into question the accuracy of the 130,000 figure, since many more people habitually used masks than the study presumed.
Although Magness contacted Nature-Medicine to point out the problem, after stalling for nearly two weeks, the journal declined to address it. Needless to say, the damage had been done: newspapers such as the New York Times undoubtedly would fail to correct the error and any retractions certainly would be placed far from the front page, where the initial article touting the IHME figure appeared. Thus, as expected, the unfounded claim that 130,000 lives could be saved with a nationwide mask-mandate continues to be repeated, including by president-elect Joe Biden and National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins.
That the science behind mask-wearing is questionable at best is further exemplified by a letter to the editor written in response to Magness’s article. Dr. Christopher Murray acknowledged that rates of mask-wearing have steadily increased, but then concluded that masks should be used because they are “our first line of defense against the pandemic” and current IHME modeling indicates that “if 95% of U.S. residents were to wear masks when leaving home, we could prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans” because “masks work,” and “much deeper pain is ahead if we refuse to wear them.”
None of this accounts for the failure of either Nature-Medicine or the IHME modelers to recognize and correct the error. Moreover, neither the IHME modelers nor Dr. Murray provide any evidence that masks work. They assume masks are extremely effective at preventing spread of the coronavirus, and then claim that the model is correct for that reason. This sort of circular reasoning is all-too typical of those who so vociferously insist that masks are effective without going to the trouble of substantiating that contention – or differentiating what is likely a modest benefit from mask-wearing in specific indoor locations and around high-risk individuals from the media-driven tendency to depict masks as a silver bullet for stopping the virus in all circumstances.
Coverage of a recent mask study conducted in Denmark likewise epitomizes the failure of the scientific community to rigorously engage with results that do not fit the prevailing masks-as-a-panacea narrative. The first randomized and controlled study of its kind, it found an absence of empirical evidence that masks provide protection to people wearing them, although it apparently did not assess whether they prevent infection of those who encounter the wearer. The report was covered in a New York Times article bearing the patronizing headline, “A New Study Questions Whether Masks Protect Wearers. You Need to Wear Them Anyway.”
Noting that the results “conflict with those from a number of other studies,” primarily “laboratory examinations of the particles blocked by materials of various types,” the author remarked that, therefore, this research “is not likely to alter public health recommendations in the United States.” Notably, laboratory examinations, as opposed to the Danish study, do not account for the realities of everyday mask usage by non-medical professionals.
The author then quotes Susan Ellenberg, a biostatistician at the University of Pennsylvania, who claims that the study indicates a trend: “‘in the direction of benefit’ even if the results were not statistically significant. ‘Nothing in this study suggests . . . that it is useless to wear a mask,’” according to Dr. Ellenberg.
Nor does anything in this study suggest that it is useful to wear a mask, a fact that Dr. Ellenberg (and the headline) conveniently ignores. Furthermore, if a result is statistically insignificant, it should not be used to make the case for any proposition — as even I, a layperson, know.
Scientists ought to dispassionately analyze data that contradicts their biases and assumptions, and be open to changing their beliefs accordingly. That the results of the only randomized, controlled study were and continue to be automatically discounted demonstrates that, when it comes to the subject of masks, anything approximating the scientific method has gone out the window. That is all the more evident given the lack of interest that mask proponents have shown in conducting a randomized, controlled study themselves.
An article in the Los Angeles Times went even further: it twisted the findings of the Danish study to argue, incomprehensibly, that the research demonstrated more mask-wearing is warranted. The author cited, as supposedly compelling evidence that masks work, the low Covid-19 death rates in Singapore, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Indeed, according to the latest YouGov poll, administered in mid-November, 83% of Americans now wear masks in public, higher rates than Vietnam (77%) and Taiwan (82%).
Furthermore, there are other explanations, apart from widespread mask usage, for the remarkably low death rates in these countries. Some scientists believe that previous exposure to other coronaviruses in these regions may confer partial or total immunity to SARS-CoV-2. Others have speculated that obesity, environment or genetics could be the reason that Europe and the United States have substantially higher death rates than many Asian and African countries; after all, obesity is one of the most significant risk factors for severe illness.
To conclude on the basis of low death rates in several countries that masks prevent coronavirus transmission is patently absurd, illogical, and unscientific. A casual observer might also note that coronavirus cases (albeit not necessarily deaths) are rising in many parts of the world, regardless of mask mandates or rates of implementation. While not a controlled experiment, this fact at least ought to be addressed when making such sweeping claims.
Ultimately, I do not have the credentials to determine whether or not –or to what extent — masks work. But it is obvious that the issue has become so politicized that mainstream media outlets, politicians, and even scientists seize upon the slightest bit of favorable evidence, dismiss out of hand anything that conflicts with their theory, and most egregiously of all misrepresent the data, to support the conclusion that masks worn by asymptomatic people prevent coronavirus transmission.
And masks are only one part of this story: school closures, lockdowns, and social distancing all have been dogmatically embraced as a means of controlling infection. The substantial evidence that these mechanisms are not effective, particularly beyond their duration, has been automatically rejected for too long. This is not science: it is politics, and those within the profession who have refused to examine their confirmation biases, or manipulated the evidence to score political points, are utterly unqualified for the job.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
COVID Antibody Drugs From Regeneron, Eli Lilly Raise Concerns About Supply Shortages
Sat, 11/28/2020 - 17:30
Powerful drugs recently authorized by the FDA are expected to help patients suffering from the earliest stages of COVID-19 avoid the most severe symptoms. President Donald Trump even once referred to Regeneron's antibody treatment as a "cure" for the virus.
But there are still some issues that have yet to be resolved.
The US, like several other developed nations, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure supplies of Eli Lilly and supplies of the Regeneron.
Officials are working to establish sites to infuse the medications to patients with mild to moderate disease who had until recently been advised to stay home.
Both the Eli Lilly and Regeneron monoclonal antibodies mimic proteins the body normally makes to block the virus from entering cells; they were cleared by the FDA earlier this month. They’re the first drugs authorized specifically for non-hospitalized patients, and are targeted at those at risk of severe symptoms because of older age, obesity and other chronic conditions.
Experts told Bloomberg that while Trump touted Regeneron’s therapy after receiving it in October, infectious disease doctors noted that the evidence supporting the drugs’ use in Covid-19 is not yet definitive. Yet there’s hope they could help the country battle its worst-ever coronavirus surge, as average daily infections soared to almost 170,000 over the last week. About 90,500 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday.
Coronavirus-beset hospitals around the US are grappling with more infected staff, said Allison Suttle, chief medical officer at Sanford Health, a nonprofit health system based in South Dakota. Treatment that keeps patients from being admitted to overcrowded hospital wards is offering a tantalizing reprieve, she said.
The US has paid Eli Lilly $375 million to lock in supplies of its antibody medication - the amusingly-named "bamlanivimav", equivalent to 300,000 vials of the antibody, bamlanivimab, over the next two months. The government has also awarded Regeneron $450 million to make and supply enough doses of its antibody cocktail for another 300,000 patients through the end of January. Both companies intend to scale up supply for the U.S. next year.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Chinese Government Stepping Up Propaganda To Change COVID Origin Story
Their latest gambit is to promote the story that the coronavirus traveled to China via frozen food imports...
Sun, 11/29/2020 - 12:50
Authored by Rick Moran via PJMedia.com,
The Chinese Communist government is stepping up its PR campaign to try and convince the world that the coronavirus did not originate in the Chinese city of Wuhan a year ago, but was brought to China from elsewhere.
Their efforts have been, at the very least creative.
Their latest gambit is to promote the story that the coronavirus traveled to China via frozen food imports - a nearly impossible feat, say epidemiologists. The communist propagandists have pointed the finger at Italy, India, and on “many continents” before the poor Chinese became victims of the coronavirus. They see China as a double victim; unwitting patients who got sick from a virus that arrived from elsewhere and then unfairly blamed for starting it.
It probably works with the Chinese masses, but with few others.
Guardian:
This isn’t necessarily false, but China has been resisting that kind of investigation for months. Now all of a sudden they want to cooperate with the rest of the world?
It’s just more PR flak because if investigators ever got close to the truth, China would find a way to shut it down quickly.
The WHO has recently announced a full-blown investigation into the origins of the coronavirus with a blue-ribbon panel of experts heading up the project.
South China Morning Post:
Most importantly, the international team will include cutting edge scientists who study the emergence of diseases as they travel from animals to humans.
This will be the key that unlocks the mystery of the coronavirus’s origins. The question is, will China let them get that far? After fighting for a year to shift blame for the virus origins to everyone but themselves, I find it difficult to believe that the Chinese communists will suddenly develop an interest in getting to the bottom of the coronavirus detective story. They have too much invested in lying about its origins to give up now.
Expect this team of experts to eventually give up in disgust at China’s stonewalling.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
'Highly Speculative': WHO Official Pushes Back On Chinese State Media Claims COVID-19 Originated In Europe » The National Pulse+
The World Health Organization’s top emergency expert pushed back against Chinese Communist Party claims that COVID-19 originated in Europe, calling the theory “highly speculative.” The official, Mike Ryan, noted “it’s highly speculative for us to say that the disease did not emerge in China,”...
thenationalpulse.com
‘Highly Speculative’: WHO Official Pushes Back On Chinese State Media Claims COVID-19 Originated In Europe
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S TOP EMERGENCY EXPERT PUSHED BACK AGAINST CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY CLAIMS THAT COVID-19 ORIGINATED IN EUROPE, CALLING THE THEORY “HIGHLY SPECULATIVE.”
The official, Mike Ryan, noted “it’s highly speculative for us to say that the disease did not emerge in China,” during a virtual briefing in Geneva. The remarks came in response to a question about whether or not COVID-19 could have emerged somewhere besides China.
“It is clear from a public health perspective that you start your investigations where the human cases first emerged,” he added.
The World Health Organization official’s words represent a rejection of the Chinese Communist Party-peddled narrative that COVID-19 existed abroad before it was discovered in China.
naturallysweet
Has No Life - Lives on TB
We need a Mauri Povich for China.
"You are the father!"
"You are the father!"
marsh
On TB every waking moment
The Floodgates of Welfare Fraud Have Opened | The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator | USA News and Politics
The Floodgates of Welfare Fraud Have Opened
Who’ll come up with a vaccine for this pandemic offshoot?
by SCOTT CENTORINO
November 28, 2020, 12:01 AM
“It’s only money.”
When you book a non-refundable boat rental to go fishing — and then the forecasted “sunny day” turns into torrential thunderstorms, these are the words your mind struggles to find. We clench our jaws, mutter under our breath, and try to put one more of life’s inevitable but harmless hiccups in perspective.
But when it comes to welfare fraud, it’s not only money. And as Congress has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by spending more and more, scammers have responded by taking more and more.
In the Paycheck Protection Program, one Miami man stole nearly four million dollars for himself and a new $300,000 sports car. He is not alone. In the unemployment program, a “perfect storm” has made landfall as fraudsters line their pockets with the benefits meant for needy Americans who are now shut out of the system. The Inspector General has estimated that cybercriminals have stolen $8 billion in unemployment benefits.
But it’s only money, right?
Wrong. Welfare fraud is not, as the Left would have us believe, just an unfortunate but predictable cost of public assistance.
Welfare fraud threatens our health. It cheapens our work. And it undermines the values that keep our families and communities together.
When taxpayers shell out more than $85 billion in a single year on improper payments in Medicaid alone, it cheats the individuals with disabilities on Medicaid’s waiting lists.
But is also cheats taxpayers. Their own work has been wasted, all while real solutions for fraud prevention have been on the table for years.
The Left says nobody wants to be on welfare programs. For individuals with disabilities, seniors, and poor children, it’s a fair point. But it still doesn’t change the reality that welfare serves more than the truly needy.
It has been 25 years since Congress passed limited reforms in the cash welfare program in the 1990s. Yet, a single, able-bodied man in his mid-30s can still apply for and receive Medicaid, public housing, and food stamps (in many places) without working, training, or volunteering at all. And millions of Americans do just that.
The Left says nobody wants fraud either. But in both cases — welfare for the able-bodied and welfare fraud — the Left takes the approach that a penny spent is better than a penny earned. And that’s an easy way to guarantee the status quo.
On the Right, some leaders pay lip service to the issue. But lip service is limp service.
Those who understand the importance of ending welfare fraud do more than treat it as the corroding agent on public trust that it is. They also see the political opportunity to unite Ronald Reagan’s coalition of business-minded conservatives, lunch-pail Democrats, and frustrated moms on a single issue.
The Americans of every background who don’t take available benefits consciously choose to work hard. They choose to keep their families and their neighborhoods moving forward.
And every dollar the government diverts from workers to fraudsters could have been spent on school-supplies for more effective virtual learning, at the local restaurant struggling to stay open, or to help the needy Americans they know personally.
Just look at how strongly Americans favor tightening rules, closing loopholes, and updating data cross-checks. The numbers look more like the approval ratings of a golden retriever puppy than anything in the world of politics. That’s because it’s not only money.
States have the tools to combat welfare fraud. Policymakers can and should implement common-sense reforms to lock-out fraudsters from Medicaid, require more frequent reporting for changes in circumstances for food stamps, and utilize welfare crosschecks with records for death, residency, wages, employment, and lottery winners.
These policies — coupled with a commitment to program integrity on the part of policymakers — have the power to root out systematic fraud in welfare programs across the country.
If leaders seize these reforms, they can take credit for ending the most common forms of welfare fraud once and for all.
The Floodgates of Welfare Fraud Have Opened
Who’ll come up with a vaccine for this pandemic offshoot?
by SCOTT CENTORINO
November 28, 2020, 12:01 AM
“It’s only money.”
When you book a non-refundable boat rental to go fishing — and then the forecasted “sunny day” turns into torrential thunderstorms, these are the words your mind struggles to find. We clench our jaws, mutter under our breath, and try to put one more of life’s inevitable but harmless hiccups in perspective.
But when it comes to welfare fraud, it’s not only money. And as Congress has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by spending more and more, scammers have responded by taking more and more.
In the Paycheck Protection Program, one Miami man stole nearly four million dollars for himself and a new $300,000 sports car. He is not alone. In the unemployment program, a “perfect storm” has made landfall as fraudsters line their pockets with the benefits meant for needy Americans who are now shut out of the system. The Inspector General has estimated that cybercriminals have stolen $8 billion in unemployment benefits.
The massive increase in public assistance during the pandemic hasn’t created a new problem. It has simply pumped more money into a system already penetrated by scammers, making fraud more lucrative. Americans often open their morning newspapers to find stories of restaurant owners stealing food stamp dollars, schemes to raid public housing benefits, and sophisticated operations to swindlemillions of dollars out of Medicaid.But it’s only money, right?
Wrong. Welfare fraud is not, as the Left would have us believe, just an unfortunate but predictable cost of public assistance.
Welfare fraud threatens our health. It cheapens our work. And it undermines the values that keep our families and communities together.
When taxpayers shell out more than $85 billion in a single year on improper payments in Medicaid alone, it cheats the individuals with disabilities on Medicaid’s waiting lists.
But is also cheats taxpayers. Their own work has been wasted, all while real solutions for fraud prevention have been on the table for years.
“Hard-earned tax dollars” has become such a cliché that we barely hear the modifier anymore. But it’s true. The government takes those dollars from people who open storefronts in the morning and from people who work on road crews late into the night with a warm bed waiting for them. It takes them from people who spend all day on their feet waitressing at Waffle House and pushing hospital beds through emergency room hallways.The Left says nobody wants to be on welfare programs. For individuals with disabilities, seniors, and poor children, it’s a fair point. But it still doesn’t change the reality that welfare serves more than the truly needy.
It has been 25 years since Congress passed limited reforms in the cash welfare program in the 1990s. Yet, a single, able-bodied man in his mid-30s can still apply for and receive Medicaid, public housing, and food stamps (in many places) without working, training, or volunteering at all. And millions of Americans do just that.
The Left says nobody wants fraud either. But in both cases — welfare for the able-bodied and welfare fraud — the Left takes the approach that a penny spent is better than a penny earned. And that’s an easy way to guarantee the status quo.
On the Right, some leaders pay lip service to the issue. But lip service is limp service.
Those who understand the importance of ending welfare fraud do more than treat it as the corroding agent on public trust that it is. They also see the political opportunity to unite Ronald Reagan’s coalition of business-minded conservatives, lunch-pail Democrats, and frustrated moms on a single issue.
The Americans of every background who don’t take available benefits consciously choose to work hard. They choose to keep their families and their neighborhoods moving forward.
And every dollar the government diverts from workers to fraudsters could have been spent on school-supplies for more effective virtual learning, at the local restaurant struggling to stay open, or to help the needy Americans they know personally.
Just look at how strongly Americans favor tightening rules, closing loopholes, and updating data cross-checks. The numbers look more like the approval ratings of a golden retriever puppy than anything in the world of politics. That’s because it’s not only money.
States have the tools to combat welfare fraud. Policymakers can and should implement common-sense reforms to lock-out fraudsters from Medicaid, require more frequent reporting for changes in circumstances for food stamps, and utilize welfare crosschecks with records for death, residency, wages, employment, and lottery winners.
These policies — coupled with a commitment to program integrity on the part of policymakers — have the power to root out systematic fraud in welfare programs across the country.
If leaders seize these reforms, they can take credit for ending the most common forms of welfare fraud once and for all.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
CDC Admits Their Numbers on COVID Are off by a Huge Amount.
By T.LaDuke | Nov 29, 2020 8:30 AM ET
Well, you really can’t be surprised with the bumper car of numbers that we have seen with COVID-19 given by the government that they would admit once again that they estimated how many people have caught this. This time though the number is pretty darn high.
According to the Center for Disease Control, many more millions of Americans so far have caught the COVID-19 and they now say it could be as high as 1/3 of the country.
From the New York Post…
That makes ya feel all warm and fuzzy inside doesn’t it?
So, close to 100 million people have had it, close to 45 million have been sick by it and around 2.5 million people have been to the hospital for it. Now, these numbers are probably off just like all the other guesstimates we have been given since the Chinademic started and we have shut down the country based on guesses. This also makes me question how many deaths are actually from COVID-19 and not just someone who was 85 and in hospice caught it and was tested for it before they passed.
If there is any silver lining in this mess it is that this has shown we need to totally revamp the way the government handles these things.
The Feds, led by the CDC, have totally blown this in terms of projections and it has had real-life consequences for the American people. Corrupt power-hungry politicians like Fredo of CNN’s older brother in New York have taken this ‘crisis’ to shove unfunded mandates down the throats of citizens and close places of worship down based on faulty projections. Screw the Consitution if it feeds your power-hungry ego. I just wrote about how, the other day, Gov Corrupt out of NY got caught wanting to have his dear old Mum over for Thanksgiving but once the word got out had to cancel
That installs confidence right? The unwashed peasants must live by one set of rules but the elites should live by another. Unless of course the elites get caught then they must save face.
This has been a mess from the get-go and if Joe Biden is sworn in as the next President you can bet that nothing will be done to reform the CDC or any government agency. They will just get bigger and give more power and you can guess who gets screwed in that scenario.
We do.
mzkitty
I give up.
Hmmm.............. do you trust this?
www.theguardian.com
Moderna Covid vaccine has 94% efficacy, final results confirm
US company submits data to start approval process with regulators around the world
www.theguardian.com
Capt. Eddie
Veteran Member
Not for a second.Hmmm.............. do you trust this?
View attachment 235555
Moderna Covid vaccine has 94% efficacy, final results confirm
US company submits data to start approval process with regulators around the world
marsh
On TB every waking moment
22:27 min
210 - Overdose and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Obama’s Drug Czar Michael Botticelli on America’s...
•Nov 30, 2020
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of opioid overdose have increased dramatically but this is only due in part to disruption of services and increased isolation. Michael Botticelli, former head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Obama administration and 32 years into his own recovery, talks with guest host Brendan Saloner about how America’s opioid epidemic was already on a terrible trajectory prior to the pandemic, policy solutions to address overdose, the importance of combating stigma against addiction, and what needs to happen next.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Mon, 11/30/2020 - 17:50
Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,
Could it be possible that the phrase “dark winter” has some sort of deeper meaning that most of us are not meant to understand? We have heard that phrase over and over again in recent weeks, and usually it has been used in discussions regarding the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it also turns out that “Dark Winter” was also a code name for a high level simulation that was conducted back in 2001. That simulation envisioned a scenario in which a widespread smallpox attack was unleashed inside the United States. As you will see below, the simulation was “designed to spiral out of control”, and the hypothetical consequences were absolutely disastrous.
The reason why this is a concern is because so many of these “simulations” and “exercises” end up mirroring real life events that happen at a later date.
For example, most of you have probably heard about Event 201 by now. On October 18th, 2019 a group of prominent individuals gathered in New York City to simulate what would happen during a worldwide coronavirus pandemic…
Of course COVID-19 started spreading in China just a few weeks later.
We have seen this same pattern happen so many times, and now we are being told over and over again that a “dark winter” is ahead.
For example, Joe Biden specifically warned us about a “dark winter” during the final presidential debate in October…
It is interesting to note that he repeated the phrase twice.
It is almost as if he was determined to make sure that he said it correctly.
And then he started using the phrase over and over again on the campaign trail and he kept using it even after the voting was over.
For example, here is an instance where he used the phrase on the Monday after the election…
I never thought too much about his use of that phrase, but could it be possible that it is actually some sort of a code word or signal?
We do know that it was a code word for a high level exercise that was held in 2001. The following comes from Wikipedia…
It is interesting to note that smallpox is a highly infectious disease that involves sores appearing on the skin.
For those that have read my latest book, you already understand why that detail is so important to me.
And as I already mentioned above, this exercise was specifically designed “to spiral out of control”…
Could it be possible that Biden and others are using the phrase “dark winter” to signal that something is about to spiral out of control?
I don’t know. I am just asking the question.
In Operation Dark Winter, the spread of smallpox also resulted in a “massive loss of civilian life”…
So let me try to summarize what we have learned.
Operation Dark Winter envisioned a scenario in which a highly infectious disease that causes sores on the skin spirals out of control and causes a “massive loss of civilian life”.
And suddenly Joe Biden and other elitists have begun repeating this phrase over and over again as we head into 2021.
Be sure to bookmark this page so that you can refer back to it later.
Reality is often stranger than fiction, and the table has been set for some really, really strange things to happen.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Groundhog Day - COVID & "The Science"
Mon, 11/30/2020 - 16:20
Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth,
When politicians across the globe tell you they listen to “the science” when defining their COVID measures, they don’t really, they are lying. What they listen to is a shred of science as formulated by their local virologists and epidemiologists, which is inevitably questioned by other scientists.
If this were not the case, the entire world would now be taking the same measures, and there would not be any discussions in the scientific community.
Still, when measures are imposed in various countries, they are imposed as some kind of law. Lockdowns are popular among failed and failing politicians, because they see it as a failsafe measure (there’s nothing more extreme). But that is only because they have never moved beyond the “COVID is the only problem we have” mindframe.
Still, even then, it would be wise to recognize these measures as arbitrary. That’s why they differ from one place to another; they make it up as they go along, guided by their limited understanding of the issue. What US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch opined on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decree on closing churches, as the court struck down the decree, is a fine example of why they are arbitrary:
Things tend to be better defined when courts of law rule on them. That’s what courts are for. Which is why we should pay attention when a Portuguese court states that PCR tests are 97% unreliable. We don’t pay attention, because our media ignore that ruling. And we continue to use the PCR test on a massive scale, even if its own inventor says it shouldn’t be used for this purpose. And so says the box that it comes in. “The science”? No, it’s not.
And for all those countries that close their stores and schools, this from Canada should perhaps, no, definitely, open eyes:
If only 1.5% of COVID deaths happen outside of long term care homes, the “science” doesn’t say close your schools and stores and make everyone wear a mask 24 hours a day, the science says pump massive amounts of resources into those care homes in order to stop the misery there. Closing stores will not do that. It will have other, very negative, effects though, while you’re not taking care of the care homes.
This is from Peter Andrews, a geneticist and science journalist: Landmark Legal Ruling Finds That Covid PCR Tests Are Not Fit For Purpose
Then there are the vaccines that everyone’s so hyped up about. Gilbert Berdine, MD, writing for the Mises Institute, has some questions about the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines (anything to do with why Twitter suspended the institute’s account)?
What exactly is a “case” of COVID? It can’t be a positive PCR test, not if those are only 3% reliable. So “the science” must be doing something wrong, and with them just about any government on the planet.
And yes, Pfizer and Moderna have dollar signs in their eyes. There are many questions about the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, and I can’t help thinking they are linked to the fact that it’s not-for-profit. Likewise, the complete silence about Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is also curious. We want to solve the problem only if our own scientists and the Big Pharma they work for can do it?
What The COVID Vaccine Hype Fails To Mention
Next, we get a look, through the American Institute for Economic Research, at a report that Johns Hopkins University somewhat mysteriously pulled from its website: New Study Highlights Alleged Accounting Error Regarding Covid Deaths
And when you see the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal report that some 53 million American may already have been infected, you must ask what the use is of all the COVID measures at this point in time. If this is true in the US, chances are it is true in virtually any other location.
Looks like everybody has it and only people in care homes die from it, and on top of that many of those people didn’t actually die from COVID but from some other affliction. And for that we are closing down our entire societies, force massive amounts of businesses into bankruptcy, force millions upon millions into unemployment. All while relying on a test method that is 97% unreliable.
Total COVID19 Cases In US May Be Eight Times Higher Than Reported
What we need is actual science. Not “a science” or “some science”, but undisputed science. Einstein’s E=MC2 is science, that’s the level we need. Not disputable pseudo-science. Yes, there’s panic among politicians and scientists alike, yes, there is Long-COVID, yes there are people with multiple organ failure, but you will still have to do risk-assessment, you must look at how many people are involved.
And if you’re talking 0.01% of people, you need to wonder if it’s worthwhile to close down your entire society in a Great Reset kind of fashion. Likewise, forcing everyone to wear facemasks outside is something that must be evaluated as per risk factors. What is the risk of infecting anyone while just passing them in the street? It’s never zero, but no risk is ever zero. And if it’s 0.001%, does that justify turning your streets into a zombified society that puts everyone on edge?
“The science” needs to evolve, and it doesn’t appear to have done that. We’re back to square one all the time. COVID equals Groundhog Day. “Well, that didn’t help, so let’s do more of the same”. By now, the science, to remain believable, should have developed, moved on. It hasn’t. The hope for vaccines has taken on desperate levels, and the reliance on Big Pharma doesn’t help. Nor does the outright rejection of Russian, Chinese, Cuban vaccines. All nations with excellent medical resources, but ignored for political reasons. This is not the time to play politics. It’s a time for science to step up to the plate.
Are things much worse in countries that leave their stores open? Are they in places that don’t make people wear facemasks 24/7? The “science” should answer those questions by now. What else are they doing? But it’s not happening. COVID vs “The Science”: 1-0.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
California's Newsom Warns Of "Dramatic, Arguably Drastic" New Restrictions To Come As Hospitalizations Hit Record Highs: Live Updates
Mon, 11/30/2020 - 16:00
Summary:
- California Gov hints at more drastic COVID action
- Vietnam confirms first COVID case in 89 days
- NYC positivity rate tops 4%
- NY sees another 6k+ new cases
- WHO: treat slowdown in cases with caution
- NJ Gov tightens restrictions
- NYC limits viewing times for Rockefeller Christmas tree
- Moderna sends in emergency application
- Hong Kong orders civil servants to work from home
- Italy approves fourth stimulus package
- California tops 15k cases
- France sees fewest new cases in nearly 2 months
- Germany's Merkel says Germany can't continue compensating companies for lost sales
- Hong Kong imposes new restrictions
- Canada expands travel ban
- UK's Johnson says tiered system will have 'sunset' date of Feb. 3
Update (1555ET): California Gov Gavin Newsom just warned that more drastic steps could be taken to contain the virus after the state reported another 15k+ new cases yesterday. The Golden State could be facing "much more dramatic, arguably drastic" measures to contain the spread of the virus. The state also broke its record for hospitalized patients yesterday: The state reported 7,415 coronavirus hospitalizations, with more than 1,700 of those patients in ICUs. The number of hospitalizations broke the state’s previous record of 7,170 in July.
Health officials are preparing for a wave of virus cases over the next two or three weeks that could be linked to Thanksgiving gatherings. Authorities had urged residents to stay home and limit their interactions with others, but millions nationwide defied the advice. California has had nearly 1.2 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began, with 19,121 virus-related deaths. The state reported 7,415 coronavirus hospitalizations on Sunday, citing the most recently available data from the previous day. More than 1,700 of those patients are in ICUs. The number of hospitalizations broke the state’s previous record of 7,170 in July.
Newsom added that the state has 11 "surge" hospitals that it will be activating,
A record number of the state's 58 ocunties will be facing 'purple'-level restrictions, which returns people to lockdown-like restrictions. The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the US topped 200,000 for the first time Friday. Previously, the highest daily count was 196,000 on Nov. 20, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Since January, when the first infections were reported in the US, the nation’s total number of cases has surpassed 13 million. More than 265,000 people have died.
* * *
Update (1300ET): Vietnam confirmed its first locally transmitted case of the coronavirus in nearly three months on Monday after authorities confirmed the infection of a man related to a flight attendant who had tested positive after returning from Japan two weeks ago.
The country’s health minister ordered provinces and state agencies to tighten screening and controls and contact tracing efforts were launched after the 32-year-old man was confirmed as the first reported domestic infection in 89 days.
* * *
Update (1215ET): New York City’s COVID-19 positive test rate has climbed to 4.03%, based on a seven-day average, while the daily test rate was 4.69%. The lower 7-day number is skewed by lower testing number from last week, said Mayor Bill de Blasio during a press briefing on Monday. He also announced that in-person viewing of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree would be controlled, and limited to 5-minute sessions.
Meanwhile, Gov Cuomo released the latest statewide numbers, showing yet another new multimonth high in hospitalizations, as he warned that hospitals are "dangerously" close to capacity."
Too bad he doesn't have that Navy ship that they never used last time.
The statewide positivity numbers remained north of 6k.
All this follows record numbers in the US, though cases slackened over the weekend.
* * *
Update (1125ET): The WHO's Dr. Tedros has apparently noticed the slowdown in new cases (which has been attributed to tightening restrictions in Europe and the US), but he doesn't want the world to get complacent and let its guard down.
But we thought people were suffering from "covid fatigue" and not following any of the guidelines anyway.
View: https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1333442814357585920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1333443318261362689%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Ffrance-sees-covid-cases-fall-7-week-low-global-deaths-near-15-million-live-updates
1:10:43 min
* * *
Update (1020ET): NJ Gov Phil Murphy on Monday revealed that he would cancel youth sports for the rest of the year, among other measures, as COVID hospitalizations spike, according to a report from NBC New York.
After being reduced two weeks ago to 150 from 500, the limit will be cut again to 25, the source told News 4 New York, speaking anonymously because the policy has not yet been announced publicly. Additionally, K-12 sports won't resume until Kanuary.
The crackdown comes amid a surge in infections in the state. Whereas New Jersey was reporting about 1,000 new cases a day at the end of October, it's now routinely posting more than 4,000 new cases a day.
Meanwhile, another coronavirus shutdown is not out of the question for New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday.
"In terms of a shutdown, I don't anticipate it, and I sure as heck don't want to go that route," Murphy said on "Fox News Sunday." "I would just beg folks, particularly in the holiday season, keep your guard up."
"For the next two to three months we're in the fight of our lives...there's a lot of private transmission," said Murphy, a Democrat.
Murphy has blamed a handful of factors for the state's abysmal COVID stats, but he has so far been reluctant to return to full-on lockdown.
Meanwhile, across the Hudson in NYC, officials are planning on limiting viewing times for the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The tree has already made headlines this year thanks to a small rare owl that was found in its branches after being transported from upstate NY.
* * *
As we joked earlier, yet another Q4 Monday has been dominated by news about COVID-19 vaccines as Moderna is moving to submit its emergency use application to the FDA for approval. Meanwhile, a new update to Moderna's research shows that out of 196 cases of the virus, researchers determined that the vaccine was 94.1% effective, in line with preliminary findings released earlier this month. None of the participants in the trial who’d received the vaccine developed severe Covid-19.
What's more, all 30 severe cases observed in the study occurred in participants who received placebo shots.
In other news from earlier in the day, Hong Kong has ordered civil servants to return to a 'work from home' arrangement, with Chief Executive Carrie Lam urges private sector employers to implement a similar order. Restaurants must now limit diners to two per table, down from the current rule of four. Gyms and sports venues will be allowed to stay open for now, while this round of restrictions will start on Wednesday and last for two weeks, Lam said. The city reported 76 cases on Monday, most of them local including nine of unknown origins. Hong Kong's COVID cases have surged by double digits for 11 straight days.
California reported 15,614 new cases, pushing the 14-day average to a record. The total number of infections in the state now stands at almost 1.2 million. Another 32 new deaths were reported, with fatalities at 19,121.
In California, the COVID-19 positivity rate reached 6.1%, the highest since the end of August, while the state’s two most prominent cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, imposed new curbs in the past two days as case numbers surged. The rate of positive tests fell to 11.1%, just over half, roughly half its level from December. The number of patients in intensive care continued to decline from a peak almost two weeks ago. Deaths linked to the virus increased by 198 to 52,325, the smallest daily increase in a month.
Back in Europe, Italy’s government has approved a fourth stimulus package to support businesses hit by the latest restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The package is worth 8 billion euros ($9.6 billion), according to a Monday statement. It delays tax deadlines for companies and expands cash handouts for workers
France added 9,784 cases, with the seven-day average falling to 11,1182, the lowest since Oct. 2. The rate of positive tests fell to 11.1%.
Finally, in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned the company can’t continue compensating businesses for lost sales beyond next month. Instead, more targeted measures will be needed.
Globally, the number of COVID-19 cases exceed 62.7 million, while deaths topped 1.45 million.
Here's some more news from overnight and Monday morning:
US COVID-19 total cases rose to around 13.14mln from a previous of around 13.00mln and total death rose to around 265.2k from around 264.0k. (Newswires)
New York City Mayor De Blasio announced that the city’s public schools will begin to resume in-person classes from December 7th. (Newswires)
Canada extended its travel restriction for arrivals from US until at least December 21st, while it will extend mandatory isolation order and temporary travel restrictions from other countries aside from US to January 21st. (Newswires)
UK COVID-19 cases +12,155 (prev. +15,871) and deaths +215 (prev. +479), while Italy cases +20,648 (prev. +26,323) and deaths +541 (prev. +686). (Newswires)
UK PM Johnson said the tiered virus system would have a sunset of February 3rd in which he promised to give parliament another chance to vote on the system in early February to avoid a mass Tory rebellion. It was separately reported that UK PM Johnson appointed Junior Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi as the minister in charge of vaccine distribution (Newswires/Telegraph/Sky News).
UK is set to become the first western country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine in which the regulator could grant approval to Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine within days, while reports added that deliveries would start within hours of the approval and first injections could begin from December 7th. (FT) European Medicines Agency is set to consider approval of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine next month and will also consider Moderna’s vaccine (FT).
Moderna (MRNA) announced amendment of current supply agreement with the UK government for an additional 2mln doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in which the UK government has now secured 7mln doses of MRNA-1273 (Newswires).
German Economy Minister Altmaier stated that the partial shutdown could be extended until early spring 2021. There were separate reports that Italy was reported to loosen COVID restrictions in Lombardy, Piedmont, Calabria, Milan, Turin from Sunday, while Ireland PM Martin unveiled a plan to lift the lockdown and stated that they are encouraged by falling virus numbers (Newswires).
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
WHO Urges Global Governments To "Manage" All Social Activity
Mon, 11/30/2020 - 13:26
Dr. Michael Ryan, Director of Global Alert and Response of the World Health Organization (WHO), told journalists at a press briefing on Monday that "pinch points," otherwise known as places where people gather, must be "managed."
Ryan spoke about numerous types of public areas, such as airports, public transportation, and even places like ski resorts that governments must "manage" to prevent further spreading of COVID-19.
He called on governments around the world to investigate "all forms of gatherings that lead to people congregating are moving en masse and how they are going to de-risk those processes."
Ryan said if governments don't believe those processes cannot be de-risked, governments should "curtail, postpone, and or even manage" those processes.
In other words, just like Thanksgiving - Christmas is likely canceled in the Western world.
For more on this, listen to Ryan from the 28-minute mark.
Who @WHO 1:10:43 min
While the pandemic is reshaping the world, the WHO, which is arguably parroting its main source of funds - China, is now demanding governments across the globe to "manage" what the world's population can "safely" undertake based on their "science."
And this all comes as China, a strategic rival of the US, is attempting to become the world's superpower - through a new approach - that is - "health... for your own good!"
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Dr. Fauci Finally Confirms That Children Don't Catch Or Transmit COVID-19 In Large Numbers
Mon, 11/30/2020 - 11:45
Authored by Stacey Lennox via PJMedia.com,
Better late than never. Perhaps because he believes Joe Biden will be inaugurated in January, Dr. Fauci is finally admitting that children do not get terribly ill from or transmit COVID-19 in any significant way. Weird, since Switzerland figured this out in April. Detailed genetic studies in Iceland showed that children were not passing the virus to adults in any significant numbers in June. And German researchers asserted that children could actually act as a brake on transmission within the community.
But good old “follow the science” Fauci was wringing his hands and hedging his bets in the media and during congressional testimony. Most notably, he got into a heated exchange with Senator Rand Paul, who is also a doctor.
7:00 min
Senator Paul correctly noted Sweden’s experience, which never closed their primary schools and did not see a spike in childhood illness. Germany also reopened schools in July with no significant issues. Since the summer, most industrialized countries have reopened schools, and many do not enforce distancing or mask-wearing. But this did not impress Dr. Fauci.
Paul noted the devastating effects of school closures, especially on disadvantaged children. It is only in the next decade that we will understand the impact of all the missed support services on these children. However, we do know many are not logging in for digital learning. Failure rates have also gone up where children only engage in distance learning.
Doctors and other agencies note increases in child abuse, depression, and other mental health issues in children. There has also been an uptick in self-harm and suicidal ideation. This, over a respiratory virus with an infection fatality rate (IFR) of 0.13%, according to the WHO, which is very stratified by age and tends to affect the very elderly.
This debate raged on through the summer, when President Trump said reopening schools was a priority. It became gobsmackingly stupid when mayors and governors began to convert public space to daycare centers where children could engage in distance learning. Yet, they would not reopen schools. State leaders who chose to, such as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis in Florida, were widely criticized.
They were also widely covered for a bumpy first week. Then nothing bad happened. So, you really don’t hear about them anymore, likely because these states would blow up the preferred narrative. Your children can’t go to school because Donald Trump is president, basically. A health official in Los Angeles even said the quiet part out loud.
Because Dr. Fauci and other Health Experts™ would not realistically frame the virus’s risk for children, teachers’ unions used the pandemic as cover for their destructive political agenda. In many urban districts, they refused to return unless political demands were met. We also saw just how far left these organizations were when they joined radical protests with the Democratic Socialists of America and other groups. Their list of demands was a cornucopia of dangerous policies, such as defunding the police. Now, one of these radicals will likely lead the Department of Education. Fabulous.
But now that the Very Bad Orange Man is presumed to be leaving office, Dr. Fauci can report what this author and many other outlets have been reporting for months:
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1333091922286682114
.09 min
Actually, it was what anyone who was paying attention should have expected. By the time the virus ripped through Italy, it was apparent that the elderly and those with preexisting conditions were at the greatest risk. Dr. Birx was communicating that in the earliest briefings. Once the Iceland genetic and German studies came out, it should have been confirmed. As we watched other nations’ experiences, especially those that never closed schools, we could have made reasonable assumptions and moved forward.
But we didn’t. And our children will be paying for years to come in some of the more ridiculous areas of the country. New York City and Kentucky just closed schools again. Los Angeles has never opened them. One has to wonder what excuse they will use now—or if one is no longer necessary because they believe they won an election.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
12:12 min
211 - Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley on Targeted COVID-19 Restrictions
•Dec 1, 2020
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Prior to Thanksgiving, the city of Philadelphia announced new COVID-19 restrictions to last for six weeks until January 1—some of the strictest recommendations the country has seen since the spring. Health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley talks with Stephanie Desmon about these targeted restrictions the city hopes will prevent the current surge from overwhelming hospitals or killing large numbers of people, what contact tracing data are saying about how and where most people are getting infected, and why there’s more pushback now even though cases are exponentially higher than they were in the spring.
TP: THE Christmas present of 2020!
marsh
On TB every waking moment
UK Minister: You Might Be Banned from Venues Without Vaccine Passport
The UK's vaccine minister Nadim Zahawi has said that Britons may be barred from accessing services if companies demand proof of inoculation.
www.breitbart.com
UK Minister: You Might Be Banned from Venues Without Vaccine Passport
212
VICTORIA FRIEDMAN1 Dec 2020444
The UK’s new vaccine minister Nadim Zahawi has said that while coronavirus vaccinations will not be mandatory, Britons may be barred from going to the cinema or getting on an aeroplane without it if service providers demand proof of inoculation.
Conservative MP Nadim Zahawi is the newly-appointed Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment and will oversee the rollout of the vaccination in England.
Mr Zahawi said that of the three vaccines currently being developed in the UK — by Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Moderna — the Pfizer product is the most far along and likely to be widely rolled out first.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One on Monday, Mr Zahawi confirmed that the vaccine would not be compulsory and would remain voluntary.
However, the demand for “immunity passports” to secure service — such as by Australian airline Qantas — may make the jabs effectively compulsory by any other definition.
When host Sarah Montague asked if could follow that British businesses could demand an immunity passport before a person can go to a stadium to watch a football match, the COVID vaccination minister did not deny such an outcome, rather adding that the government was looking for a system comparable to the NHS’s ‘Test and Trace’ app, which tracks the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Zahawi said: “We are looking at the technology and of course a way of people informing their GP that they’ve been vaccinated.
“But also I think you’ll probably find that restaurants, bars, and cinemas and other venues — sports venues — will probably also use that system as they’ve done with the app.”
The Times had reported on Monday that the NHS is working on updating the Test and Trace app to include the information in its data architecture so that Britons can confirm their inoculation status.
The vaccine tsar admitted that without the availability of Big Government’s tech, there would be no demand for such ‘COVID passports’ by service providers, saying: “In many ways, the pressure from both ways: from service providers who will say, ‘Demonstrate to us that you’ve been vaccinated,’ but also we will make the technology as easy and accessible as possible.”
Sarah Montague asked Mr Zahawi whether or not it would become “virtually impossible to do anything if you don’t have the vaccine”, with the minister responding: “I think people have to make a decision, but I think you’ll probably find many service providers will want to engage in this in the way they did with the [Test and Trace] app.”
The minister’s comments come after reports that the government is also working on coronavirus stamps for passports in order to boost the travel and tourism industry. The government is also reportedly working on so-called “freedom passes” for those who have tested negative for the Chinese coronavirus, which could allow them to be free from having to wear a mask or to visit family members during lockdowns.
Former Brexit Party MEP, now Lady Fox of Buckley in the House of Lords, Claire Fox responded to Zahawi’s remarks on Monday evening, saying: “When Boris assured us that no-one would be forced to vaccinate, he forgot to add, ‘but if you don’t, you will be effectively prevented from being part of the public sphere, ever’. Public shaming next? I want to be an enthusiastic advocate for vaccines.
This COERCION doesn’t help.”