marsh
On TB every waking moment
3:03 min
COVID-19 Q&A: Did the protests in Portland contribute to a spike in COVID-19 cases?
•Jun 30, 2020
KPTV FOX 12 Oregon
CORONA Main Coronavirus thread
- Thread starter Heliobas Disciple
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3:03 min
COVID-19 Q&A: Did the protests in Portland contribute to a spike in COVID-19 cases?
•Jun 30, 2020
KPTV FOX 12 Oregon
marsh
On TB every waking moment
12:20 min
Newsom uses bad numbers to continue stay at home orders and the media helps cover it up.
•Jun 30, 2020
Mark Meuser CA attorney -Constitution, political and election Law
Gavin Newson is misusing one statistic in order to continue to deprive Californians of their freedoms and liberties. Newsom relies 100% on the number that their are more positive test results. However, what Gavin is not telling you and the fact that the media is covering up is that Gavin is doing over twice as much testing which means more people are testing positive and a lot more people are testing negative. However, instead of presenting the evidence the way that it is supposed to be presented, instead of looking at all the data, Gavin Newsom is misappropriating his state of emergency powers so that he can continue to rule California as a king.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
34:06 min
Covid-19: Half A Million Dead. And Rising.
•Premiered 6 hours ago
Peak Prosperity
GET Chris' premium report The 8 Steps For Surviving What's Coming here: peakprosperity.com/8steps
Today marks a grim milestone as the world crosses the 10 million covid-19 cases threshold, as well as half a million dead from the virus. And the counts keep rising.
LINKS FROM THIS VIDEO: CDC shrugs shoulders, tosses hands in air https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/29/cdc-s... Riverside CA hits ICU limit https://www.latimes.com/california/st... New H1N1 Virus https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53218704 SARS-2 a big deal – Sandpuppy https://www.peakprosperity.com/forum-... Israeli Patients Not Recovering https://www.timesofisrael.com/its-fri... New Delhi Hospitals close to overwhelm https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19... UK Deaths fall below 5-year average https://www.newscientist.com/article/... NPR – IFR lower than initially thought https://www.npr.org/sections/health-s... A New Low for the Federal Reserve https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/busine...
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
COVID-19 prompts ‘hyper-activity’ in blood clotting cells, research shows
COVID-19 triggered changes in blood platelets could be a contributing factor to the onset of heart attaks and strokes in some patients with the disease, new research reveals.
www.foxnews.com
COVID-19 prompts ‘hyper-activity’ in blood clotting cells, research shows
Finding is key piece to COVID-19 'jigsaw puzzle'
Christopher Carbone
Published 7 hours ago
COVID-19 triggered changes in blood platelets could be a contributing factor to the onset of heart attacks and strokes in some patients with the disease, new research reveals.
Scientists from the University of Utah Health found that inflammatory proteins produced during infection significantly alter the function of platelets, making them "hyperactive" and more prone to form dangerous and potentially deadly blood clots.
Researchers hope that if they can better understand the causes of these changes, they could lead to more effective treatments for patients. Their report appears in Blood, an American Society of Hematology journal.
"Our finding adds an important piece to the jigsaw puzzle that we call COVID-19," said Robert A. Campbell, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, in a statement. "We found that inflammation and systemic changes, due to the infection, are influencing how platelets function, leading them to aggregate faster, which could explain why we are seeing increased numbers of blood clots in COVID patients."
According to scientists, some evidence suggests that COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of blood clotting, which can lead to other cardiovascular problems in some patients.
Researchers studied 41 COVID-19 patients hospitalized at University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City; next, they compared blood from these patients with samples taken from healthy individuals who were matched for age and sex.
The researchers found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, seems to trigger genetic changes in platelets. Those changes also impact how platelets interacted with the immune system, likely contributing to respiratory inflammation that could result in more severe lung injury.
"There are genetic processes that we can target that would prevent platelets from being changed," Campbell explained. "If we can figure out how COVID-19 is interacting with megakaryocytes or platelets, then we might be able to block that interaction and reduce someone's risk of developing a blood clot."
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Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Public immunity to coronavirus could be twice as high as first thought
The findings by Swedish scientists could mean that a third of healthy people who do not show any symptoms of Covid-19 may have developed a level of immunity.
Public's immunity from coronavirus could be twice as high as first believed with a THIRD of people likely not to catch it, research finds
By William Cole
Published: 21:17 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 21:17 EDT, 30 June 2020
- Number of people immune to coronavirus could be twice as high as expected
- Swedish scientists examined T-cells which help the body fight the virus
- There are now 312,654 confirmed Covid-19 cases and death toll stands at 43,730
- Government data shows number of daily fatalities has dropped 10% in a week
Levels of public immunity from coronavirus could be twice as high as first believed after new research looked into the way our bodies fight against the disease.
It could mean that a third of healthy people who do not show any symptoms of Covid-19 may have developed a level of immunity, and built-up areas such as London could be further along the path to herd immunity than first thought.
However, the evidence of immunity does not come from the basic antibodies that scientists have been talking about.
Attempts to measure immunity in the public have mostly proven unreliable until now, because of the focus on antibodies.
But a new study by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, the only European country not to enter lockdown, claims to have data that suggests immunity levels are twice as high as current estimates, according to The Telegraph.
As well as looking at antibodies, the researchers examined levels of T-cells, a type of white blood cell that helps the immune system fight off viruses.
Data shows that 30 per cent of the healthy blood donors studied were found to have developed 'T-cell immunity' - double those found with antibodies.
However, it is not known what level of immunity is given by a T-cell response, although antibodies are believed to only last from three to six months.
The development comes as Government data shows the number of daily fatalities has dropped 10 per cent in a week.
There are now 312,654 confirmed Covid-19 cases and death toll stands at 43,730, although the real number is more likely to be at least 55,000.
At one point early on in the pandemic, the Government was considering a policy of herd immunity, requiring 60 per cent of the population to get infected, but this was dropped on projections that the resulting outbreak would overwhelm the NHS and cause hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Immunity sampling across the country suggests around 7 per cent of people in England have developed antibodies, rising to 17 per cent in London, but this may be higher because of T-cells.
But scientists are increasingly excited about the role played by T-cells, as they believe it may explain why some groups – in particular children – appear to be more immune.
Marcus Buggert, an assistant professor at Karolinska Institutet said: 'What this means is we are probably underestimating the number of people that have some type of immunity.
'If it means that these individuals are totally protected, or if they're going to get a milder or asymptomatic disease in the future, it's hard to say.'
Study co-author Prof Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren added that the finding was 'very good news from a public health perspective'.
Sweden has itself suffered as a result of not implementing lockdown restrictions unlike almost every country across the world, with politicians now saying they were wrong to allow life to continue as normal.
Data on Britain's pandemic released yesterday revealed the number of people dying each week in England and Wales has dropped below average for the first time since the coronavirus crisis spiralled out of control.
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today showed 9,339 people died of any cause in the week ending June 19 — down from an average of 9,404 for the same week over the past five years.
Professor Carl Heneghan, director of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, said: 'It means we are at the end of the first wave of excess deaths and we are now back to normal.'
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Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Dr. Fauci tells Americans to stop going to bars to stem Covid-19
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned Tuesday that Americans should stop going to bars 'right now' to stem the spread of Covid-19.
Dr. Fauci predicts America will have 100,000 new coronavirus cases every DAY as number hits 40,000 'if things don't turn round' and warns 'it could get very bad'
By Geoff Earle
Published: 12:20 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 18:43 EDT, 30 June 2020
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified that the U.S. could start seeing up to 100,000 infections each day
- There are currently about 40,000 infections each day
- But he warned Americans weren't practicing sufficient social distancing
- U.S. infection rates have spiked even as other nations saw theirs go down
- 'I think it's important to tell you and the American public that I'm very concerned because it could get very bad,' he testified Tuesday
- COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South
- Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the HELP Committee chairman, urged the president to wear a mask as an example
- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders quizzed health experts on the idea of having the government distribute masks to every U.S. household
- Dr. Tony Fauci responded there was 'no doubt that wearing masks protects you and gets you to be protected'
- Fauci and other experts testified before the Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci issued a dire prediction about U.S. coronavirus infection rates Tuesday – saying as many as 100,000 Americans could become infected each day if the nation doesn't make urgent behavioral changes.
Fauci made the bleak prediction as new coronavirus cases surged 46 per cent amid new outbreaks in the south and west.
Diagnoses almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms.
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country.
Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April.
Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March.
'We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day,' Fauci told a Senate Committee during testimony. 'I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, so I am very concerned,' he said.
'We can't just focus on those areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk,' he said under questioning from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat.
The vice presidential contender asked Fauci if he would provide an estimate of U.S. deaths, which he declined to do.
'I think it's important to tell you and the American public that I'm very concerned because it could get very bad,' he told her.
Fauci repeatedly pointed to a lack of sufficient social distancing in the country, urging people to avoid groups and wear masks when in a position where they might be exposed to others.
'We're going to continue to be in a lot of trouble and there's going to be a lot of hurt if that does not stop,' he said.
'It is going to be very disturbing, I can guarantee you that,' he said.
At the start of the hearing, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander pleaded with President Donald Trump Tuesday to wear a mask in public to encourage his MAGA-followers – as the nation's top health officials embraced a call for distribution of free masks to encourage their use.
'The president has plenty of admirers,' Alexander, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted at the top of a hearing Tuesday.
The former Education Secretary then predicted: 'They would follow his lead, it would help end this political debate. The stakes are too high for this political debate about pro-Trump, anti-Trump to continue.'
'The stakes are too high for the political debate about pro-Trump, anti-Trump masks to continue,' Alexander said. He had to go into quarantine after coming in contact with an aide who tested positive for the virus, but says he was protected by the staffer wearing a mask.
Alexander's urging came as Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed during testimony with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' suggestion that the government provide masks to the public free of charge.
'Anything that furthers the use of masks whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism I am thoroughly in favor of,' Fauci told Sanders, a democratic socialist who failed to beat back former Vice President Joe Biden in the battle for the Democratic nomination.
Fauci called masks 'extremely important,' saying they protect both the person wearing it and those they might come in contact with.
'There's no doubt that wearing masks protects you and gets you to be protected,' he said.
Fauci had asked him: 'Would you support an effort to greatly increase the production of high quality masks' and to ''distribute them free of charge to every household in America?'
Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Robert Redfield, also pressed by Sanders on the idea, responded that 'universal masks' are 'fundamentally the most important thing we can do' amid the ongoing spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Admiral Brett Giroir of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the assistant secretary of health, agreed. 'Yes sir I agree that that is very important because we need to support mask wearing,' he told Sanders.
Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this year and attended a luncheon with colleagues while awaiting results, swiped at Fauci for not unequivocally calling to reopen schools.
'I don't hear much certitude at all. I hear 'maybe, it depends,'' Paul said.
Fauci that responded that it was a priority. In earlier comments, he said: 'If you are in an area where you have a certain amount of infection dynamics, there are things that can creatively be done about modifying things like the school schedule., alternate days, morning versus evening, allowing them in certain circumstances online virtual lessons.'
Said Fauci: 'Those are the kind of things that we need to consider but also importantly always make the goal that it is very important to get the children back to school for the unintended negative consequences that occur when we keep them out of school.'
President Donald Trump has put the surge in new cases down to increased testing and has pointed to low death rates across the country as a sign that the pandemic is not out of control.
While part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame.
While cases continues to spike, deaths are showing a downward trend across the country. Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week.
In Arizona, deaths increased by 62 percent after recording 249 new fatalities in a week, bringing the death toll to 1,588.
Health officials have warned, however, that the death rate could potentially shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates.
They also point to the current trend of young adults making up the majority of new cases.
Officials say people under 35 years old have been going to bars, parties and social events without masks, becoming infected and then spreading the disease to older, more vulnerable people.
With about 40,000 new cases being reported a day, Dr Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, told Congress he 'would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around'.
'I am very concerned,' he said, adding that areas seeing recent outbreaks are putting the entire nation at risk, including areas that have made progress in reducing COVID-19 cases.
He cited recent video footage of people socializing in crowds, often without masks, and otherwise ignoring safety guidelines.
In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.
In response to the new cases, Louisiana and Washington have temporarily halted the reopening of their economies, with Washington also mandating the wearing of face masks in public.
Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend.
Arizona's Republican governor Doug Ducey followed on Monday by ordering all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days.
The state's cases increased 29 percent in the last week after reporting several record daily increases in cases.
Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark.
Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governor's stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May.
Large crowds of young people were spotted out as recently as Saturday tubing on Arizona's Salt River and about 3,000 students crowded together last week for an indoor rally in Phoenix with President Trump.
'Our expectation is that next week our numbers will be worse,' Ducey said, as he also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17.
Arizona is not alone in its reversal with Texas, Florida and California also backtracking, closing beaches and bars in most areas.
Nationally, 7 percent of diagnostic tests came back positive last week, which is up from 5 percent the prior week.
Twenty-one states reported positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning.
The WHO considers a positivity rate above 5 percent to be a cause for concern because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.
Officials say that if a positivity rate is too high - above 5 percent - it could indicate that the state is only testing the sickest patients and not casting a wide enough net to see how much the virus is spreading.
Arizona's positivity test rate was 24 percent last week, Florida's was 16 percent, and Nevada, South Carolina and Texas's were all 15 percent, according to the analysis.
It comes as deputy director of the CDC, Dr Anne Schuchat, said on Monday that the virus was now spreading too rapidly to control.
'We have way too much virus across the country... it's very discouraging,' she told The Journal of the American Medical Association.
'This is really the beginning. I think there was a lot of wishful thinking around the country that, hey it's summer. Everything's going to be fine. We're over this and we are not even beginning to be over this. There are a lot of worrisome factors about the last week or so.'
Elsewhere across the country, leaders in several states have ordered residents to wear masks in public and have halted reopenings in a dramatic reversal amid the alarming surge in coronavirus cases.
Among those implementing the face-covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August.
Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Monday that he's postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing.
Indoor shopping malls were cleared to start business again in New Jersey on Monday.
Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas said Monday that they would require people to wear masks. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's order will require people to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces starting Wednesday.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she will issue an executive order mandating the use of masks in stores and shops, restaurants, and in any situation where social distancing of 6 feet (2 meters) cannot be maintained, including outside. The order goes into effect Friday.
'The evidence could not be clearer: Wearing a mask is not only safe, but it is necessary to avoid another shutdown,' Kelly said.
In Texas, a group of bar owners sued on Monday to try to overturn Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's order closing their businesses. They contend Abbott doesn't have the authority, and they complained that other businesses, such as nail salons and tattoo studios, remain open.
'Gov. Abbott continues to act like a king,' said Jared Woodfill, attorney for the bar owners. 'Abbott is unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights.'
But Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that Abbott is on the right path, and he added that Trump should order the wearing of masks.
'States that were recalcitrant ... are doing a 180, and you have the same states now wearing masks,' Cuomo said. 'Let the president have the same sense to do that as an executive order, and then let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it, because we know it works.'
One of Cuomo's Republican counterparts, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, on a conference call with Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House coronavirus task force, also asked Pence and Trump to issue a national call to wear masks.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has opposed a statewide mask requirement but said in response to Jacksonville's action that he will support local authorities who are doing what they think is appropriate.
Less than a week after Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement, city officials announced on Monday that coverings must be worn in 'situations where individuals cannot socially distance.'
Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients in Houston's ICU are now under 50 and health workers warn many are seriously ill and 'feeling like death' - as cases continue to spike among young adults across the country - as cases continue to spike among young adults across Texas and health workers warn many are getting seriously ill.
During the first surge of cases in mid-April, the majority of patients being treated for coronavirus in the Houston Methodist hospital system were older than 50.
In a disturbing generational shift, about 60 percent of current patients are under that age bracket. Almost one in three who are now occupying ICU beds are also under 50.
Infections are currently spiking among young adults in states like Texas where bars, nightclubs and restaurants reopened - prompting younger generations to start going out again, many without wearing masks.
While health experts have been warning that such behavior poses a bigger danger to older people who cross their paths, current trends in hospitalizations show that younger people do face the possibility of severe infection and death from COVID-19.
Houston Methodist CEO Dr Marc Boom told CNBC's Squawk Box that the current surge had 'completely flipped' since the early stages of the pandemic.
He said about 40 percent of patients were under the age of 50 in mid-April and one in five were in ICU.
'We are definitely seeing this affect young people and they're getting quite ill,' he said.
The Houston Methodist hospital system is part of the Texas Medical Center's cluster of major public and private hospitals in the city.
Tritico Saranathan, a nurse in one of Methodist's designated virus wards, told the New York Times she had noticed a difference in the age of patients compared to mid-April - and warned that many were 'just feeling like death'.
'We're seeing a lot of people in their 30s - they're out there partying and not wearing their masks,' she said.
'As soon as the city opened up, they were very eager to go to the bars, to the clubs, to the restaurants, just to hang out in groups. And no one was social distancing or wearing a mask.
'What I'm seeing is that they're pretty sick - the younger ones are pretty sick. They're struggling a lot with respiratory issues. They're having a hard time breathing.'
Dr Faisal Masud, who is the medical director for critical care across all of Houston Methodist's hospitals, said he had also noticed 30 to 35 years old being admitted.
He said the younger people who were severely ill tended to be obese or have health conditions like diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure.
'I think that there was a sense of being invincible or this is not their problem, even if they caught it, no big deal,' he said.
At Methodist, the majority of COVID-19 patients are currently in designated medical wards and not in intensive care. Health officials say that could be a result of the current surge in younger - and often healthier - patients.
As of Monday, there were a record 5,900 coronavirus patients in hospitals across Texas. Daily hospitalizations across the state have been consistently increasing since mid-June.
There are 1,400 ICU beds available across the states and just over 5,600 ventilators.
In Harris County, which covers much of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the county, the majority of COVID-19 cases are people aged between 30 to 39.
The second most affected age bracket to 20 to 29 year olds.
Health officials have described young people's actions in states like Texas as irresponsible behavior as photos show packed bars and restaurants after the state lifted restrictions.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott reversed that decision last Friday when he ordered all bars to close.
It comes as some Texas hospitals have been warning they are running out of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients.
The Texas Medical Center system had created a COVID-19 'war room' to handle a 66 percent surge in additional ICU patients with strategies including reassigning staff, putting beds closer together and using regular beds for emergency use.
They calculated last week that they would run out of space on July 6 if the current increase in Texas severe cases continues.
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Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
New COVID cases surge 46% in US in a week with 31 states seeing uptick
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises occurring in the West and South of the country.
New coronavirus cases surge nearly 50% across US in one week with 31 states now seeing an uptick in infections - as Arizona becomes latest hotspot state to reverse reopening by closing bars, gyms and water parks
By Emily Crane
Published: 10:56 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 14:50 EDT, 30 June 2020
- COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South
- Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks
- Daily cases have been increasing to record highs in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April
- Infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned that the US was 'going in the wrong direction' with the pandemic and said cases could soar to 100,000 per day if current behaviors remain in place
- In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double
- In Arizona, where Governor Doug Ducey on Monday ordered all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close again, cases had risen 29 percent in a week
- Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March
- Part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame
- While cases continues to spike, deaths do appear to currently be declining across the country. Health officials warn the death rate could shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country.
Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April.
Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March.
Infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned that the US was 'going in the wrong direction' with the pandemic and said cases could soar to 100,000 per day if current behaviors remain in place.
President Donald Trump has put the surge in new cases down to increased testing and has pointed to low death rates across the country as a sign that the pandemic is not out of control.
While part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame.
While cases continues to spike, deaths are showing a downward trend across the country. Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week.
In Arizona, deaths increased by 62 percent after recording 249 new fatalities in a week, bringing the death toll to 1,588.
Health officials have warned, however, that the death rate could potentially shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates.
They also point to the current trend of young adults making up the majority of new cases.
Officials say people under 35 years old have been going to bars, parties and social events without masks, becoming infected and then spreading the disease to older, more vulnerable people.
With about 40,000 new cases being reported a day, Dr Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, told Congress he 'would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around'.
'I am very concerned,' he said, adding that areas seeing recent outbreaks are putting the entire nation at risk, including areas that have made progress in reducing COVID-19 cases.
He cited recent video footage of people socializing in crowds, often without masks, and otherwise ignoring safety guidelines.
In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.
In response to the new cases, Louisiana and Washington have temporarily halted the reopening of their economies, with Washington also mandating the wearing of face masks in public.
Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend.
Arizona's Republican governor Doug Ducey followed on Monday by ordering all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days.
The state's cases increased 29 percent in the last week after reporting several record daily increases in cases.
Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark.
Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governor's stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May.
New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms.
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country.
Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April.
Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March.
Infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned that the US was 'going in the wrong direction' with the pandemic and said cases could soar to 100,000 per day if current behaviors remain in place.
President Donald Trump has put the surge in new cases down to increased testing and has pointed to low death rates across the country as a sign that the pandemic is not out of control.[...]
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Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Passengers flying to NY will have to fill out 'health questionnaire'
Passengers flying to the tri-state region from 16 states will be asked to quarantine for 14 days as NY Gov Andrew Cuomo says travelers to his state will also be given a 'health questionnaire'.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut extend 14-day coronavirus quarantine to EIGHT MORE states
By Valerie Edwards
Published: 13:51 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 17:55 EDT, 30 June 2020
- Passengers flying to the tri-state area from 16 states with high rates of coronavirus will be asked quarantine for 14 days
- Last week, the tri-states agreed that visitors from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, the Carolinas, Texas and Utah would need to quarantine
- On Tuesday, an additional eight states were added to that list: California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee
- NY Gov Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that travelers to his state will be given a 'voluntary health questionnaire' when they board their flights
- Cuomo warned that those out-of-state travelers could lead to a rise in infections in a state that's seen a gradual decline in COVID-19 fatalities and cases
Passengers flying to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from 16 states with high rates of coronavirus will be asked to quarantine for 14 days as New York Gov Andrew Cuomo says that travelers to his state will also be given a 'voluntary health questionnaire'.
Last week, the tri-states agreed that visitors from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Utah would need to quarantine upon flying into the tri-state area.
But due to increasing cases in an additional eight states, governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced that California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee have all met the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory.
According to a statement from Gov Cuomo, the advisory will require individuals who have traveled to New York from those states, all of which have significant community spread, to quarantine for 14 days.
The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average.
'As an increasing number of states around the country fight significant community spread, New York is taking action to maintain the precarious safety of its phased, data-driven reopening,' Cuomo said in a statement.
In an attempt to keep a count of who is traveling to New York from those states, the state's Department of Health is asking airlines to distribute a questionnaire to passengers once they board their flights.
Health Department spokeswoman, Jill Montag, told USA Today, that the questionnaires are voluntary and 'there are no penalties for passengers who don’t fill them out'.
'As we have just starting collecting data, response rates are not available. People we have identified from the questionnaires as requiring quarantine will be contacted by Health Department staff and/or contact tracers for follow-up.'
Nearly 900 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in hospitals in New York, according to the state Department of Health, and 13 individuals who had tested positive for COVID-19 died Monday in hospitals or nursing homes.
Just 1 per cent - or 524 - of 52,025 individuals tested for COVID-19 on Monday were positive, an amount that has shrunk even as the state has tested tens of thousands more people since the spring.
Individuals who violate a state or local quarantine or isolation order under the advisory can face a civil penalty of up to $10,000, according to Cuomo's executive order.
With the addition of the eight states, that brings nearly 50 per cent of the nation's population under a quarantine if they enter New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases.
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 per cent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country.
Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April.
Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus spread in March.
President Donald Trump has put the surge in new cases down to increased testing and has pointed to low death rates across the country as a sign that the pandemic is not out of control.
While part of the 46 per cent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame, public health experts are warning that the virus is now spreading too quickly to control.
Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week.
In Arizona, deaths increased by 62 per cent after recording 249 new fatalities in a week, bringing the death toll to 1,588.
Health officials have warned, however, that the death rate could potentially shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates.
They also point to the current trend of young adults making up the majority of new cases.
Officials say people under 35 years old have been going to bars, parties and social events without masks, becoming infected and then spreading the disease to older, more vulnerable people.
In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.
In response to the new cases, Louisiana and Washington have temporarily halted the reopening of their economies, with Washington also mandating the wearing of face masks in public.
Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend.
Arizona's Republican governor Doug Ducey followed on Monday by ordering all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days.
The state's cases increased 29 per cent in the last week after reporting several record daily increases in cases.
Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark.
Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governor's stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May.
Arizona is not alone in its reversal with Texas, Florida and California also backtracking, closing beaches and bars in most areas.
~~
Travel advisory in effect for passengers flying from 16 states to New York, Connecticut and New Jersey
Last week, the tri-state region issued a travel advisory for the following states:
1. Alabama
2. Arkansas
3. Arizona
4. Florida
5. North Carolina
6. South Carolina
7. Texas
8. Utah
But due to increasing cases in an additional eight states, governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced more restrictions:
9. California
10. Georgia
11. Iowa
12. Idaho
13. Louisiana
14. Mississippi
15. Nevada
16. Tennessee
.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Personally I think they're using COVID as an excuse to take a dig at Trump. ymmv.
www.dailymail.co.uk
(fair use applies)
European Union REFUSES to open its borders to American travelers because soaring coronavirus means U.S. is not 'safe'
By Frances Mulraney and Associated Press
Published: 03:36 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 20:47 EDT, 30 June 2020
Americans travelers will be refused entry into the European Union for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S.
The EU announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, excluding U.S. travelers further because of the recent worrying spike in cases.
Travelers from other big countries such as Russia, Brazil and India will also miss out.
Citizens of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay will now be allowed into the EU's 27 member states.
They can also enter the four other nations in Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone.
The EU said China is 'subject to confirmation of reciprocity', meaning it must lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before it will allow Chinese citizens back in.
Countries considered for the safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travelers.
As Europe's economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries.
More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic.
Still, many people both inside and outside Europe remain wary of travel in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings.
There are concerns in particular about U.S. travelers, where spikes in cases are causing the rollback and slowdown of state reopenings.
New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms.
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises occurring in the West and South of the country.
Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April.
Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March.
Part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame but health experts say lack of social distancing since stay-at-home orders were lifted in most states from Memorial Day is also a factor.
In contrast, aside from a notable recent outbreak tied to a slaughterhouse in western Germany, the virus' spread has generally stabilized across much of continental Europe.
Countries now being allowed to enter the EU have seen a drastic decline in coronavirus cases and have managed to combat the spread within their own borders.
On June 8, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the coronavirus outbreak in the country had been crushed.
She has since come under fire after travelers to the country weren't placed in proper quarantine or tested, leading to further infections, but there are still only 20 active cases in the entire country.
This compares to more than 1.7million active cases in the U.S.
Canadian travelers will also now be allowed entry to the EU.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that Canada is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but voiced concern over cases in the neighboring U.S.
Canadian medical officials released their latest forecasts on Monday, showing the number of overall deaths could be between 8,545 and 8,865 by July 12.
The current Canadian death toll is 8,522 compared to more than 125,000 in the U.S.
In Japan, the second country in the world to report coronavirus cases after China, deaths have been kept low compared to the U.S. with many of the population wearing masks.
It has just over 18,600 coronavirus cases whereas the U.S. is nearing 2.6million. Japan's population is about a third of the U.S. population.
Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high too, meaning their citizens are also unlikely to be allowed into the EU any time soon.
Spared disaster in the outbreak's early days, they are all now at the mercy of the fast-spreading virus and have seen cases spiral out of control in recent weeks.
In Brazil and India cases have tripled in a month.
Brazil, a South American country home to 210million people, is now experiencing arguably the worst outbreak in the world after the total number of people to have had Covid-19 rocketed from 411,821 on May 28 to more than 1.31million on Sunday.
It has the second highest number of cases in the world with more than 1.3million.
Brazil also has the second highest number of deaths with a death toll of more than 59,300.
In India, cases soared from 158,333 a month ago to 528,859 today, according to the Our World in Data project.
Meanwhile, more than 60 per cent of daily new cases came from countries in the Americas on Sunday, according to data published by the WHO.
More than a third of 190,000 new infections on Sunday occurred in Brazil and a fifth of them were in the US.
Tens of thousands of travelers had a frantic, chaotic scramble in March to get home as the pandemic swept across the world and borders slammed shut.
EU envoys to Brussels have launched a written procedure which would see the list endorsed Tuesday as long as no objections are raised by member countries.
The list is expected to contain up to 15 countries that have virus infection rates comparable to those in the EU.
The countries would also have to lift any bans they might have on European travelers.
The list of permitted nations is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added or even dropping off depending on if they are keeping the disease under control.
It must be passed by a 'qualified majority' of EU countries, meaning 15 EU countries representing 65 percent of the population.
Four EU diplomats said they expected it to secure the required backing.
The list will act as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they will almost certainly not allow access to travelers from other countries, but could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations.
In March, President Donald Trump suspended all people from Europe´s ID check-free travel zone from entering the U.S., making it unlikely now that U.S. citizens would qualify to enter the EU.
The EU imposed restrictions on non-essential travel to its 27 nations, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are part of the Schengen open-borders area, in March to halt the spread of the virus.
Non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban.
The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors.
Greece is mandating COVID-19 tests for arrivals from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation until results are known.
The Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden.
The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January.
Britain now requires all incoming travelers - bar a few exceptions like truck drivers - to go into a self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks.
The requirement also applies to U.K. citizens.
~~~~~~~~~~
WHERE EU SAYS IS SAFE.. AND IS UNSAFE
On the safe list:
Algeria
Australia
Canada
Georgia
Japan
Montenegro
Morocco
New Zealand
Rwanda
Serbia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
Uruguay
On the unsafe list:
United States
Russia
Brazil
India
.
Europe REFUSES to open borders to Americans because US is not 'safe'
The European Union announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks.
European Union REFUSES to open its borders to American travelers because soaring coronavirus means U.S. is not 'safe'
By Frances Mulraney and Associated Press
Published: 03:36 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 20:47 EDT, 30 June 2020
- The European Union will continue to deny entry to U.S. travelers for at least another two weeks
- 14 'safe' countries whose citizens can enter the EU were announced Tuesday
- The U.S. is not on the list because of soaring levels of coronavirus
- New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week
- Cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks
- It means no American tourists can travel to popular summer destinations like Paris, the south of France, Italy or Spain
- People from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan are among those able to now travel to the European Union
Americans travelers will be refused entry into the European Union for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S.
The EU announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, excluding U.S. travelers further because of the recent worrying spike in cases.
Travelers from other big countries such as Russia, Brazil and India will also miss out.
Citizens of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay will now be allowed into the EU's 27 member states.
They can also enter the four other nations in Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone.
The EU said China is 'subject to confirmation of reciprocity', meaning it must lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before it will allow Chinese citizens back in.
Countries considered for the safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travelers.
As Europe's economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries.
More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic.
Still, many people both inside and outside Europe remain wary of travel in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings.
There are concerns in particular about U.S. travelers, where spikes in cases are causing the rollback and slowdown of state reopenings.
New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms.
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises occurring in the West and South of the country.
Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April.
Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March.
Part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame but health experts say lack of social distancing since stay-at-home orders were lifted in most states from Memorial Day is also a factor.
In contrast, aside from a notable recent outbreak tied to a slaughterhouse in western Germany, the virus' spread has generally stabilized across much of continental Europe.
Countries now being allowed to enter the EU have seen a drastic decline in coronavirus cases and have managed to combat the spread within their own borders.
On June 8, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the coronavirus outbreak in the country had been crushed.
She has since come under fire after travelers to the country weren't placed in proper quarantine or tested, leading to further infections, but there are still only 20 active cases in the entire country.
This compares to more than 1.7million active cases in the U.S.
Canadian travelers will also now be allowed entry to the EU.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that Canada is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but voiced concern over cases in the neighboring U.S.
Canadian medical officials released their latest forecasts on Monday, showing the number of overall deaths could be between 8,545 and 8,865 by July 12.
The current Canadian death toll is 8,522 compared to more than 125,000 in the U.S.
In Japan, the second country in the world to report coronavirus cases after China, deaths have been kept low compared to the U.S. with many of the population wearing masks.
It has just over 18,600 coronavirus cases whereas the U.S. is nearing 2.6million. Japan's population is about a third of the U.S. population.
Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high too, meaning their citizens are also unlikely to be allowed into the EU any time soon.
Spared disaster in the outbreak's early days, they are all now at the mercy of the fast-spreading virus and have seen cases spiral out of control in recent weeks.
In Brazil and India cases have tripled in a month.
Brazil, a South American country home to 210million people, is now experiencing arguably the worst outbreak in the world after the total number of people to have had Covid-19 rocketed from 411,821 on May 28 to more than 1.31million on Sunday.
It has the second highest number of cases in the world with more than 1.3million.
Brazil also has the second highest number of deaths with a death toll of more than 59,300.
In India, cases soared from 158,333 a month ago to 528,859 today, according to the Our World in Data project.
Meanwhile, more than 60 per cent of daily new cases came from countries in the Americas on Sunday, according to data published by the WHO.
More than a third of 190,000 new infections on Sunday occurred in Brazil and a fifth of them were in the US.
Tens of thousands of travelers had a frantic, chaotic scramble in March to get home as the pandemic swept across the world and borders slammed shut.
EU envoys to Brussels have launched a written procedure which would see the list endorsed Tuesday as long as no objections are raised by member countries.
The list is expected to contain up to 15 countries that have virus infection rates comparable to those in the EU.
The countries would also have to lift any bans they might have on European travelers.
The list of permitted nations is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added or even dropping off depending on if they are keeping the disease under control.
It must be passed by a 'qualified majority' of EU countries, meaning 15 EU countries representing 65 percent of the population.
Four EU diplomats said they expected it to secure the required backing.
The list will act as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they will almost certainly not allow access to travelers from other countries, but could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations.
In March, President Donald Trump suspended all people from Europe´s ID check-free travel zone from entering the U.S., making it unlikely now that U.S. citizens would qualify to enter the EU.
The EU imposed restrictions on non-essential travel to its 27 nations, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are part of the Schengen open-borders area, in March to halt the spread of the virus.
Non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban.
The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors.
Greece is mandating COVID-19 tests for arrivals from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation until results are known.
The Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden.
The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January.
Britain now requires all incoming travelers - bar a few exceptions like truck drivers - to go into a self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks.
The requirement also applies to U.K. citizens.
~~~~~~~~~~
WHERE EU SAYS IS SAFE.. AND IS UNSAFE
On the safe list:
Algeria
Australia
Canada
Georgia
Japan
Montenegro
Morocco
New Zealand
Rwanda
Serbia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
Uruguay
On the unsafe list:
United States
Russia
Brazil
India
.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Houston Hospitals Deleted and Changed Charts That Track ICU Capacity
The Texas city is the latest to spin the severity of the pandemic with soothing colors and words that obscure the fact that its ICUs are overloaded.
www.vice.com
Houston Hospitals Deleted and Changed Charts That Track ICU Capacity
The Texas city is the latest to spin the severity of the pandemic with soothing colors and words that obscure the fact that its ICUs are overloaded.
by Hannah Smothers
June 30, 2020, 3:42pm
In the middle of a long peak in coronavirus cases in Houston—with a record-breaking 2,017 suspected COVID-19-related hospitalizations in Harris County as of Monday—the Texas Medical Center deleted charts tracking ICU capacity from its website for three days, only to bring them back with a friendlier look and lighter on the info residents need to understand what the state of the medical response is to coronavirus.
The charts were removed just as the TMC, which is the largest medical complex in the world, reported on Thursday that it reached 100 percent of its ICU capacity and warned it would exceed “unsustainable surge” levels by July 6. Over the weekend, Houstonians swarmed urgent cares and drive-throughs for testing, and more than one-fifth of them returned positive. By Sunday, the TMC uploaded new charts painting a much less alarming picture of the pandemic in Houston.
Houston is far from the first city to obscure data on coronavirus cases in a way that downplays the severity of an outbreak. (The greater Houston area is also familiar with the political tool of hiding unfavorable statistics: A former Houston radio DJ once told Texas Monthly that a detective told him the city stopped looking for the bodies of boys killed by 1970s serial killer Dean Corll when the count surpassed the national mass murder record.) The entire country has failed so spectacularly in tracing and tracking confirmed cases that it’s pointless to compare stats in the United States to other countries, because so many decisions about how much information to give Americans, and in what format, is left up to the personal taste of politicians and health care administrators.
In New York City, the once-epicenter of the pandemic, a general lack of testing (even worse in prisons and nursing homes) left innumerable cases out of the total. It was clear as early as March 3 that Washington state wasn’t testing nearly enough people and some unknown number of residents in Seattle were likely infected with COVID-19 as a result. Within Texas, discrepancies in case tracking can come down to a county judge’s personal preference on including prison numbers, which aren’t properly reported anyway.
Zach Despart and Mike Morris at the Houston Chronicle were the first to report the TMC quietly deleted and changed its public-facing data. The old charts were shades of orange and red—the classic warning colors—and showed ICU capacity as a circle-shaped meter with an obvious danger zone. The new charts are colored in calming shades of blue, and somehow manage to shift the unsustainable surge point out to at least mid-July, though exact dates are seemingly removed.
The updated charts are also divided up into anodyne “phases,” as if it were routine and normal to be overflowing with fatally sick people. “Phase 3” is functionally the same as unsustainable surge levels, but much easier a concept to swallow than, “there are more patients here than can be reasonably treated.”
A TMC hospital CEO tried to explain the sudden shift in the projected date that the world’s largest medical system would exceed its capacity to properly treat people by pointing to Governor Greg Abbott’s recent ban on elective surgeries. How true that is, and how much the TMC is simply trying to convey fortitude it does not have, are answers the public decidedly does not get to have, so long as the people in charge of the data can mess around with it willy nilly, and at the worst possible time. The testimonies from Houston physicians who work inside the TMC paint a vivid picture of what’s actually happening in ICUs around the city, just as testimonies from New York City hospital workers did throughout March, April, and May: There is not enough space or energy to treat the number of people who need it.
.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Arizona faces new closures as hospitals prep for virus surge
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona hospitals are hiring out-of-state nurses, squeezing in more beds and preparing for the possibility of making life-and-death decisions about how to ration care as they get ready for an expected surge of coronavirus patients in one of the nation's worst hot spots.
apnews.com
Arizona faces new closures as hospitals prep for virus surge
By JONATHAN J. COOPER and JACQUES BILLEAUD
today
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona hospitals are hiring out-of-state nurses, squeezing in more beds and preparing for the possibility of making life-and-death decisions about how to ration care as they get ready for an expected surge of coronavirus patients in one of the nation’s worst hot spots.
Parents, teachers, businesses and their customers also are hunkering down for at least a month of new closures imposed by the state in a belated effort to slow the spread of the virus and limit overcrowding at hospitals.
Arizona and several other states that were reopening their economies have clamped back down over the past week as they eclipsed records for infections and hospitalizations. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, however, went further than others by ordering gyms and movie theaters to close and postponing the start of school until mid-August.
Texas shut down bars and reduced restaurant capacity, while Florida, where some beaches have been closed, banned alcohol consumption at bars. In contrast, Ducey shut down all bars for 30 days, including in Scottsdale, where employees and young customers crammed into nightclubs without wearing masks or practicing social distancing.
Like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Ducey ordered tubing businesses to close after images over the weekend showed large numbers of tubers on the Salt River without masks. While Texas limited the number of people at water parks, Arizona closed them altogether for 30 days.
Tom Hatten, founder and chief executive of Mountainside Fitness, a chain of about 20 gyms across metro Phoenix, said Tuesday that he has no plans to shut down. He has filed court paperwork seeking an injunction against Ducey’s closure order, calling it arbitrary and irrational.
Hatten also said several of his health club’s facilities were cited by police Tuesday for being open.
Under Ducey’s order, the citations carry a fine up to $2,500 if convicted.
Hatten said it doesn’t make sense that casinos, restaurants and big-box stores can stay open, while gyms are forced to close.
“We are just as concerned about this virus as everyone. But singling out and closing health clubs, after we sat closed for two months, is not going to keep the virus from spreading,” Hatten said.
Ducey’s executive order allows local police to enforce closures and government agencies to revoke business licenses.
In another sign of upheaval, cities are canceling Fourth of July fireworks shows, among them Peoria, Chandler and Marana. Others had already made plans to cancel.
Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit Phoenix on Wednesday and meet with Ducey at the airport before speaking to reporters. It wasn’t clear if he had other plans before returning to Washington. Pence’s last-minute trip replaces a planned campaign event in Tucson and meeting with Ducey in Yuma.
An additional 44 people have died from COVID-19, bringing the total since the beginning of the outbreak to 1,632, health officials said. They reported nearly 4,700 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, an inflated number because of an undercount Monday.
Arizona has seen skyrocketing infections this month after Ducey allowed his stay-at-home order to expire on May 15. Over the past seven days, nearly one in four coronavirus tests has been positive, a rate far higher than any other state. The positivity rate is a measure of how widespread the disease is in the community.
Preparing for an influx of patients, hospitals are activating plans to add more beds and staff. State officials have authorized “crisis standards of care,” which tell hospitals which patients should get a ventilator or other scarce resources if there is a shortage.
If there are more patients than can be cared for at ideal levels, patients are given a score based on their life expectancy and the likelihood their organs will fail. Hospitals are told not to consider factors like race, gender, sexual orientation or disabilities.
Emergency rooms are not yet overwhelmed, but COVID-19 is taking its toll, said Dr. Frank DelVecchio, who works in emergency rooms at several Phoenix-area hospitals, including Valleywise Health. Nurses caring for coronavirus patients take a significant amount of time suiting up to protect themselves and can’t quickly jump from room to room, he said.
“This is just off the charts, sick patients. We’re letting people go home that we’d never let go home if they were this sick,” including patients with low oxygen, DelVecchio said. “We’re trying to get you home oxygen. We’re trying to tell you to come back if worse. Because there’s not much we can do for you.”
People who have attempted or considered suicide are getting stuck for a day or more in emergency rooms because psychiatric facilities won’t accept them until they have COVID-19 test results. Because suicidal patients require constant monitoring, they are sometimes placed in hallways or less private areas while awaiting results, DelVecchio said.
Dignity Health, which operates several hospitals in the Phoenix area, is converting more areas to treat COVID-19 patients and preparing to put multiple patients in private rooms, spokeswoman Carmelle Malkovich said. It’s bringing nurses from underutilized hospitals in its system to Arizona and hiring traveling nurses and respiratory therapists throughout July.
HonorHealth, another big hospital chain in the Phoenix area, is prepared to implement the first phase of its surge plan as soon as this week, officials said in a statement. They did not explain what that means.
.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Airlines defend moves to full-capacity flights
The airline industry defended American Airlines on Tuesday for its new policy to fill planes to capacity following criticism from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director…
thehill.com
Airlines defend moves to full-capacity flights
By Alex Gangitano
06/30/20 12:36 PM EDT
The airline industry defended American Airlines on Tuesday for its new policy to fill planes to capacity following criticism from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield over concerns about spreading the coronavirus.
Redfield said there was “substantial disappointment with American Airlines” about the move in a Senate hearing on Tuesday following a question from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the policy.
Airlines for America (A4A), which represents and advocates for major U.S. airlines, defended the decision to fill planes on the basis that maintaining social distancing isn’t possible on planes anyway. American Airlines is a member of A4A.
“You can’t social distance on an airplane. We believe there are safety measures in place on a multilevel basis that makes flying safe, in fact safer than many other activities,” A4A CEO Nicholas E. Calio told reporters on a press call following Redfield’s statement.
Calio noted that you can’t socially distance on an airplane like you can at a grocery store.
“We don’t fly people if we feel it is not safe to fly them,” Calio said. “We are taking extraordinary measures, working with public health officials and others to keep our passengers healthy.”
He also noted American Airlines’ policy tells passengers if their flight is full and allows them to rebook.
The company announced on Friday it will book flights to capacity, effective July 1, following a similar United Airlines policy.
"We are unwavering in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our customers and team members," an American Airlines spokesperson told The Hill in a statement on Tuesday. "We have multiple layers of protection in place for those who fly with us, including required face coverings, enhanced cleaning procedures, and a pre-flight COVID-19 symptom checklist — and we’re providing additional flexibility for customers to change their travel plans, as well. We know our customers are placing their trust in us to make every aspect of their journey safe, and we are committed to doing just that."
American Airlines had previously blocked off 50 percent of the main cabin middle seats and has been notifying customers if their flight is crowded when they check in. Other airlines have been blocking all middle seats, including Delta, JetBlue and Southwest.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske said on the press call that the agency has implemented social distancing during check points in airports and opened more security lanes to maintain it.
Pekoske also defended the federal government’s decision not to take passengers’ temperatures at check points, which A4A has requested, and not to require masks in airports, which the Airports Council International-North America has requested.
“Temperature checks are not a guarantee that passengers that don’t have an elevated temperature don’t have COVID-19,” Pekoske said.
He added that no decision has been made on whether the government will conduct temperature checks, echoing previous statements from the agency.
Major U.S. airlines announced earlier this month that masks are required on flights, and customers who refuse to wear the protective gear could be placed on a do not fly list. Masks are required inside 20 of the 30 large hub airports in the U.S., according to the American Association of Airport Executives.
TSA has relied on airports to make those policies.
“We encourage passengers to follow the CDC guidance, which recommends masks in public spaces,” Pekoske said.
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CDC director: ‘Substantial disappointment’ with American Airlines filling planes to capacity
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield at a congressional hearing Tuesday expressed “substantial disappointment” with American Airlines for its new po…
thehill.com
CDC director: 'Substantial disappointment' with American Airlines filling planes to capacity
By Peter Sullivan
06/30/20 11:46 AM EDT
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield at a congressional hearing Tuesday expressed "substantial disappointment" with American Airlines for its new policy of filling its planes to capacity despite the coronavirus.
Redfield said under questioning from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), that American Airlines's new policy, announced Friday, contrasts with other airlines that had allowed middle seats to remain open to increase distance between passengers to help limit the spread of the virus.
"I can tell you that when they announced that the other day, obviously there was substantial disappointment with American Airlines," Redfield said at a Senate Health Committee hearing. "A number of the airlines had decided to keep the middle seat [open]."
American Airlines's new policy of filling its planes to capacity will begin on Wednesday. The airline did say it would notify passengers and allow them to move to more open flights when available, at no extra cost.
In contrast, Delta Air Lines is capping capacity at about 60 percent and Southwest Airlines at about 67 percent, according to The Associated Press. The policy of United Airlines matches American's.
Sanders told Redfield that he hopes the CDC or another government agency orders the airlines and other travel companies to ensure that there is distance between passengers.
"I just hope very much that the CDC or the appropriate agency basically tells these companies that that is unacceptable behavior," Sanders said. "They're endangering the lives of the American people."
Airlines for America, which represents and advocates for the major U.S. airlines, defended American's new policy on Tuesday. American Airlines is a member of A4A.
“You can’t social distance on an airplane. We believe there are safety measures in place on a multi-level basis that makes flying safe, in fact safer than many other activities,” A4A CEO Nicholas E. Calio told reporters on a press call following Redfield’s statement.
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DeSantis: Florida 'not going back' on coronavirus reopening, despite new case surge
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that the state will not reimpose sweeping shutdowns amid rising coronavirus infections, saying that going back to lockdowns would cripple the economy without saving lives.
www.foxnews.com
DeSantis: Florida 'not going back' on coronavirus reopening, despite new case surge
DeSantis drew the line even as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week ordered all bars closed, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told residents to stay home.
Gregg Re
Published 1 hour ago
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that the state will not reimpose sweeping shutdowns amid rising coronavirus infections, saying that going back to lockdowns would cripple the economy without saving lives.
DeSantis drew the line even as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week ordered all bars closed, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told residents to stay home and declared that the state was “on pause." Just last week, after the state recorded 25,000 new infections in just five days and 9,000 in one day alone, Florida once again prohibited the on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars; there are no restrictions on occupancy at gyms or stores.
"We're not going back, closing things," DeSantis told reporters. "I don't think that that really is what's driving it, people going to a business is not what's driving it. I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that's natural. Obviously, you had a lot of different activities going on in different parts of the state. ... So that's just the reality."
Protests around the country, and in Florida, have seen a dramatic decline in social distancing in recent weeks. While data show that infections in Florida outpace new testing, the numbers also indicate that many of the newly infected are young and are not becoming seriously ill.
DeSantis added that doomsday predictions about Florida's coronavirus numbers were off-base, and urged young residents to "protect the vulnerable" by socially distancing and steering clear of the elderly -- stopping short of other governors, who have suggested residents should generally stay home.
"We're open, we know who we need to protect, most of the folks in those younger demographics, although we want them to be mindful of what's going on, are just simply much much less at risk than the folks who are in those older age groups," DeSantis added.
Earlier this month, DeSantis adopted a different posture, telling constituents that the worst was over.
“In our phase two, we will be going with bars being able to operate consistent with this guidance diminished standing room occupancy so basically outdoor seating with social distance, a certain amount indoors, but you’re seated to get served. I mean ... go enjoy. Have a drink. It’s fine," DeSantis said. “We want to kind of not have huge crowds piling in.”
At the same time, DeSantis has issued a stark warning to businesses that defy the state’s social distancing guidelines, threatening to revoke business licenses from bars and restaurants.
“If you go in and it’s just mayhem, like ‘Dance Party USA’ and it’s packed to the rafters, that’s just cut-and-dry and that’s not just an innocent mistake,” DeSantis said.
As Florida’s reported cases spiked to record highs the past two weeks, though, DeSantis' administration ordered bars to essentially shut down again. Officials in New York and New Jersey have also debated slowing their reopenings as a result.
That move sent Kylie Davis, a 23-year-old bartender in Tampa, Fla., back to unemployment. She had returned to work May 23 after two months without a job, struggling to collect unemployment benefits from Florida’s backlogged system. The tips, she said, were good.
“People were so understanding,” she said, “that we had been out of work for a while and were extremely generous.”
Yet after a few weeks, Davis was coughing and exhausted and had lost her sense of taste and smell. On June 12, she tested positive for the virus and couldn’t return to work when Florida bars reopened.
The jarring reversal underscores what many economists had been stressing for months: That the economy and the job market can’t regain their health until business shutdowns have lasted long enough to reduce infections and most Americans feel confident enough to return to restaurants, bars, hotels, shopping malls and airports.
“It is the virus, not lockdowns, that dictates the course of the economy,” said Yongseok Shin, an economist at Washington University and a research fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “We cannot have a full economic recovery without reining in the epidemic."
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DeSantis says Florida ‘not going back’ on reopening as COVID-19 cases surge
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Tuesday that his state is “not going back” on reopening as thousands of new COVID-19 cases continue to be reported every day. DeSantis told reporters th…
thehill.com
DeSantis says Florida 'not going back' on reopening as COVID-19 cases surge
By Justine Coleman
06/30/20 07:00 PM EDT
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Tuesday that his state is “not going back” on reopening as thousands of new COVID-19 cases continue to be reported every day.
DeSantis told reporters that the state will not follow Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) move to pause reopening, according to Axios.
“We're not going back, closing things,” he said. “I don't think that that's really what's driving it. People going to a business is not what's driving it. I think when you see the younger folks — I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that's natural.”
When reporters asked if DeSantis would encourage people to stay home, he said social distancing was being recommended throughout the reopening process and that keeping the elderly and vulnerable safe was Florida’s priority.
"We're open. We know who we need to protect. Most of the folks in those younger demographics, although we want them to be mindful of what's going on, are just simply much much less at risk than the folks who are in those older age groups," he said.
Florida has recorded more than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases per day since last Wednesday. On Saturday, the state documented its highest single-day increase with 9,585 new cases, according to The New York Times’s data.
The state’s health department has counted 152,434 cases and 3,505 deaths in total.
Currently, more than 50 percent of the new infections in the U.S. are in states such as Florida, Texas, California and Arizona with hot spots, according to Axios.
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified in front of a Senate committee Tuesday that states that are “skipping over” the thresholds in the federal reopening guidelines, which he said is leading to the increases in cases.
Florida’s current phase of reopening does not limit how many people can be present in stores and gyms. The state last week ordered bars to stop serving alcohol on-site due to rising coronavirus numbers, though restaurants can continue to serve drinks to seated patrons.
The governor of Texas reimposed the closure of bars and limited restaurants to 50 percent capacity on Friday after the state experienced a jump in cases.
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Covid-19 Surge Begins Reaching Older, More Vulnerable Floridians
Florida is reporting an unprecedented number of Covid-19 cases, but Governor Ron DeSantis has pointed to the relatively low median age of the sick -- 36 -- to suggest that the outbreak isn’t having serious clinical consequences.
www.bloomberg.com
Covid-19 Surge Begins Reaching Older, More Vulnerable Floridians
By Jonathan Levin
June 29, 2020, 10:11 AM EDT
Florida is reporting an unprecedented number of Covid-19 cases, but Governor Ron DeSantis has pointed to the relatively low median age of the sick -- 36 -- to suggest that the outbreak isn’t having serious clinical consequences.
But now, record numbers of Floridians 75 and older are testing positive for Covid-19, according the latest report from Sunday, which reflects data through Saturday.
Older Floridians largely avoided the state-wide uptick in cases earlier in the month. However, that has been changing in the past week.
Florida hasn’t seen a departure from its relatively low rate of Covid-19 deaths, but it can take weeks from onset of symptoms to death, and the surge in infections is recent.
The new positivity rate -- which measures the proportion of people testing positive for the first time compared to the day’s overall testing -- started climbing significantly about two weeks ago.
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The tweet in question was quoting the article I just posted above this one from Bloomberg.
www.foxnews.com
(fair use applies)
NY Times columnist Paul Krugman slammed for saying coronavirus is 'coming for white supremacists driving golf carts'
Critics piled on the economist for the 'sociopathic' tweet
By Joseph A. Wulfsohn
Published 3 hours ago
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman was slammed on social media over a tweet mocking Florida senior citizens who are vulnerable to the coronavirus.
Several states are seeing a spike in coronavirus cases, including Florida. A report from Bloomberg News noted that a "record number" of Floridians ages 75 and older are testing positive for the virus at a more rapid rate than in past weeks.
The economist, however, appeared gleeful by the life-threatening news.
"Reality is coming for white supremacists driving golf carts," the 67-year-old columnist tweeted while sharing the article.
The jab against Florida's seniors may have been referring to the controversial video President Trump shared on Twitter on Sunday showing one of his supporters in a parade of golf carts shouting "White power" in response to anti-Trump protesters during a recent clash in The Villages. Trump took down the tweet after swift condemnation with the White House stating that the president didn't hear the remark.
Krugman's tweet sparked fierce criticism.
"What a shameful thing to say," Washington Examiner contributor Brad Polumbo reacted.
"How long until there's an actual terrorist attack based off of all this unhinged/dehumanizing rhetoric that has flooded media?" writer Zaid Jilani asked.
"What a sick remark. Once upon a time, I was a fan of yours. Or is this a parody account?" economist Geert Noels wrote.
Several others, including The Intercept editor Glenn Greenwald, called Krugman "sociopathic" for writing such a tweet.
~~~~~
Screengrab of tweet:
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NY Times columnist Paul Krugman slammed for saying coronavirus is 'coming for white supremacists driving golf carts'
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman was slammed on social media over a tweet mocking senior citizens in Florida that are vulnerable to the coronavirus.
www.foxnews.com
NY Times columnist Paul Krugman slammed for saying coronavirus is 'coming for white supremacists driving golf carts'
Critics piled on the economist for the 'sociopathic' tweet
By Joseph A. Wulfsohn
Published 3 hours ago
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman was slammed on social media over a tweet mocking Florida senior citizens who are vulnerable to the coronavirus.
Several states are seeing a spike in coronavirus cases, including Florida. A report from Bloomberg News noted that a "record number" of Floridians ages 75 and older are testing positive for the virus at a more rapid rate than in past weeks.
The economist, however, appeared gleeful by the life-threatening news.
"Reality is coming for white supremacists driving golf carts," the 67-year-old columnist tweeted while sharing the article.
The jab against Florida's seniors may have been referring to the controversial video President Trump shared on Twitter on Sunday showing one of his supporters in a parade of golf carts shouting "White power" in response to anti-Trump protesters during a recent clash in The Villages. Trump took down the tweet after swift condemnation with the White House stating that the president didn't hear the remark.
Krugman's tweet sparked fierce criticism.
"What a shameful thing to say," Washington Examiner contributor Brad Polumbo reacted.
"How long until there's an actual terrorist attack based off of all this unhinged/dehumanizing rhetoric that has flooded media?" writer Zaid Jilani asked.
"What a sick remark. Once upon a time, I was a fan of yours. Or is this a parody account?" economist Geert Noels wrote.
Several others, including The Intercept editor Glenn Greenwald, called Krugman "sociopathic" for writing such a tweet.
~~~~~
Screengrab of tweet:
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California and Florida are charting different coronavirus paths as cases spike
Officials in California and Florida — two states where coronavirus cases are jumping — are taking different approaches toward reopening amid spikes in infections. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the reporters that there’s no going back to stricter measures, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom...
www.winknews.com
California and Florida are charting different coronavirus paths as cases spike
Steve Almasy, Jason Hanna and Christina Maxouris / CNN
Published: June 30, 2020 7:34 PM EDT
Officials in California and Florida — two states where coronavirus cases are jumping — are taking different approaches toward reopening amid spikes in infections.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the reporters that there’s no going back to stricter measures, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom hinted that on Wednesday he’ll tighten restrictions, especially at beaches, this Independence Day weekend.
At least 17 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans in response to a surge in new infections.
California has had more than 222,000 coronavirus cases — about half of which are in Los Angeles County — and on Tuesday announced 6,367 cases, the second-highest total for the state since the pandemic began.
As the holiday weekend looms, Newsom warned that family gatherings are the greatest concern.
Family gatherings where households mix with extended family, tend to be a place where people let their guard down, the governor said.
“It’s not just bars, not just out in the streets with people protesting, and the like,” Newsom said.
The governor of the Golden State, who ordered bars in seven counties to close over the weekend, said he will announce more restrictions on Wednesday.
Newsom has repeatedly promised that reopening the state comes with the ability to “toggle back” if necessary.
Responding to a reporter’s question about the beaches being closed in Los Angeles County for the Independence Day weekend, the governor hinted that state beaches could be part of his announcement.
In Florida, DeSantis assured reporters that his state can deal with the uptick in cases and it’s not necessary to shut down shops and restaurants.
“We’re not going back, closing things,” he said. “I mean, people going to business is not what’s driving it. I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is just more social interactions and so that’s natural.”
DeSantis’ message to Floridians, particularly the younger ones: Protect the vulnerable.
“You have a responsibility not to come into close contact with folks who could be more vulnerable,” he said.
CDC director pleads with younger Americans to wear masks
A top US health official at a US Senate committee hearing made another plea for Americans — especially younger ones — to wear masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus as case numbers surge across much of the country.
It is “critical” that Americans “take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of Covid-19 and embrace the universal use of face coverings,” Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday.
“Specifically, I’m addressing the younger members of our society, the millennials and the Generation Zs — I ask those that are listening to spread the word,” he said.
The CDC urges everyone to wear a cloth face cover in public, primarily in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, also has said there’s growing evidence masks could help prevent the wearer from becoming infected, too.
The US has reported more than 2.6 million cases of the virus and at least 126,512 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. State and local leaders have said case rates have been rising in much of the country, driven in part by gatherings, both in homes and in places like bars — which some experts have called the perfect breeding ground for the virus.
Fifteen states reported recording their highest seven-day averages of cases on Monday, according to JHU data. Of them, 10 have no statewide mask requirements — Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
“Masks are extremely important,” the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Tuesday at the same Senate committee hearing. “It’s people protecting each other. Anything that furthers the use of masks, whether it’s giving out free masks or any other mechanism, I am thoroughly in favor of.”
Among the states pausing or rolling back their reopening plans is Texas, where bars have been ordered shut.
Arizona shut down its bars, gyms, and other businesses for a month. Beaches in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach were also ordered closed for the upcoming holiday weekend.
The nation’s rising case count has had ripple effects internationally. The European Union, which had shut its external borders because of coronavirus, agreed Tuesday to a list of 14 nations from which it will now accept travelers. The United States isn’t on it, because its current Covid-19 infection rate is too high, the EU said.
States require quarantines of more visitors
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are now asking people traveling from eight more states to self-quarantine upon arrival — bringing their list to 16 — because of coronavirus concerns.
The tri-state travel advisory, first issued last week, applies to anyone coming from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average, the three Northeastern states have said.
The latest advisory, updated Tuesday, adds California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee to that list.
That’s in addition to the list’s incumbents: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Texas.
The list requires people arriving from those states to quarantine for 14 days.
In New York, violators could be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine, with fines of $2,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and $10,000 if harm is caused, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
New Jersey’s governor said the state’s health commissioner could choose to pursue unspecified punishments; Connecticut’s governor has described his state’s advisory as voluntary but considered it “urgent guidance.”
Massachusetts announced Tuesday it is doing something similar. All arriving travelers, including returning residents, must self-quarantine for 14 days — unless they’re coming from seven Northeastern states, Gov. Charlie Baker said.
Those exempted states are Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, Baker said. Essential workers also are exempt, he said.
Only 2 states’ cases trending significantly downward
The rethinking of how to safely reopen the US comes as 36 states have shown an upward trend in average new daily cases — an increase of at least 10% — over the last seven days, as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
These states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Two states saw average daily cases decline more than 10% over those seven days: New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Swine flu with ‘pandemic potential’ is not an immediate threat, experts say
Chinese researchers have announced a recently discovered type of swine flu, but scientists around the world say that the virus does not appear to currently pose an immediate global health threat.
The G4 virus, which is genetically descended from the H1N1 swine flu that caused the 2009 pandemic, was described in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.
G4 already appears to have infected humans in China. In Hebei and Shandong provinces, both places with high pig numbers, more than 10% of swine workers on pig farms and 4.4% of the general population tested positive in a survey from 2016 to 2018.
Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University’s public health school who was not involved in the study, warned the public not to “freak out.”
“Our understanding of what is a potential pandemic influenza strain is limited,” Rasmussen posted on Twitter on Monday.
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Colorado governor closes bars amid rise in virus cases
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced Tuesday that bars across the state will close as Colorado experiences a rise in COVID-19 cases. The governor said at a press conference that he was amen…
thehill.com
Colorado governor closes bars amid rise in virus cases
By Justine Coleman
06/30/20 10:44 PM EDT
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced Tuesday that bars across the state will close as Colorado experiences a rise in COVID-19 cases.
The governor said at a press conference that he was amending his previous executive order to give bars 48 hours to close their doors to in-person service as the state deals with a rise of cases among the younger population.
Restaurants are permitted to continue hosting in-person diners as long as six-feet social distancing is kept between parties. The state also said bars can sell alcoholic beverages to-go for takeout or delivery if they are sold along with food, according to a release from the governor’s office.
“Whether you personally go to bars or not, just understand that they are important for many people in our state… but there is not a way that we have found for them to be a reasonably safe part of people’s lives during the month of July in our state,” Polis said.
Polis allowed bars to reopen at 25 percent capacity or up to 50 people starting two weeks ago.
But within two weeks, cases have increased, according to The Denver Post. Colorado has recorded a total of 32,715 positive COVID-19 cases, leading to 5,489 hospitalizations and 1,520 deaths, according to state data.
Colorado’s action follows Texas’s decision to shut down bars and limit restaurant capacity to 50 percent in response to a surge in new cases in the state. Florida also ordered bars to stop serving alcohol on site as the state struggles to combat the pandemic.
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(fair use applies)
Dozens of soldiers in Fort Bragg survival class test positive for coronavirus, Army says
By Mitchell Willetts
June 30, 2020 09:11 PM
Almost every member of a survival training class at Fort Bragg is in quarantine following the discovery of a large coronavirus outbreak, U.S. Army officials announced Tuesday.
Out of 110 soldiers taking part in the 19-day survival, evasion, resistance and escape training at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, 82 students and eight instructors have tested positive for coronavirus, Task and Purpose reported.
SERE training is designed to teach soldiers how to evade capture, and to resist interrogation if they are, according to the outlet. Students were in the final stretch of the intensive training when soldiers began feeling sick.
“They had about six hours left to go, and so we pulled them out because the guys reported feeling sick,” Janice Burton, a spokeswoman for the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, told Task and Purpose. “So they missed six hours but they finished the course.”
Everyone has been tested, Burton told the Army Times. Most of the 90 who were infected aren’t showing any symptoms, and none have required hospitalization, she said.
There are around 2,400 students at Fort Bragg’s SWCS at any time, according to the outlet, and they are regularly screened throughout the program.
“The health and wellness of our students and staff is our top priority,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, SWCS commanding general, said in a statement. “We will do everything we can to protect our students and their families.”
The outbreak occurred despite strict Army guidelines put in place to prevent the spread, officials said, adding that out of 2,400 students, 90 is a small portion, according to Military.com
Students are isolated for 14 days prior to the start of any SWCS training courses, Burton told the outlet.
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Dozens of soldiers in Fort Bragg survival class test positive for coronavirus, Army says
By Mitchell Willetts
June 30, 2020 09:11 PM
Almost every member of a survival training class at Fort Bragg is in quarantine following the discovery of a large coronavirus outbreak, U.S. Army officials announced Tuesday.
Out of 110 soldiers taking part in the 19-day survival, evasion, resistance and escape training at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, 82 students and eight instructors have tested positive for coronavirus, Task and Purpose reported.
SERE training is designed to teach soldiers how to evade capture, and to resist interrogation if they are, according to the outlet. Students were in the final stretch of the intensive training when soldiers began feeling sick.
“They had about six hours left to go, and so we pulled them out because the guys reported feeling sick,” Janice Burton, a spokeswoman for the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, told Task and Purpose. “So they missed six hours but they finished the course.”
Everyone has been tested, Burton told the Army Times. Most of the 90 who were infected aren’t showing any symptoms, and none have required hospitalization, she said.
There are around 2,400 students at Fort Bragg’s SWCS at any time, according to the outlet, and they are regularly screened throughout the program.
“The health and wellness of our students and staff is our top priority,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, SWCS commanding general, said in a statement. “We will do everything we can to protect our students and their families.”
The outbreak occurred despite strict Army guidelines put in place to prevent the spread, officials said, adding that out of 2,400 students, 90 is a small portion, according to Military.com
Students are isolated for 14 days prior to the start of any SWCS training courses, Burton told the outlet.
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CBS Texas - Breaking Local News, First Alert Weather & I-Team Investigations
Latest breaking news from CBS11 KTVT-TV | KTXA-TV.
dfw.cbslocal.com
Retailers Caught In Middle As Some Customers Throw Tantrums Over Masks Mandate During Pandemic
By Robbie Owens
June 29, 2020 at 7:49 pm
Fuming mad over masks.
Some retail experts say the increasingly hostile pushback from some customers who rebuff the face covering requirements are putting business owners in a no-win position.
“It’s very important for the health and safety of both the employees and the customers,” says Gary Huddleston, Grocery Industry Consultant and spokesperson for the Texas Retailers Association.
And yet, Huddleston admits that employers are not pushing workers to confront those customers who refuse.
“When there’s that confrontation at the front door, it doesn’t turn out very well.”
Over the weekend, one of the latest meltdowns over masks unfolded at a Dallas Fiesta grocery store and it was caught on camera.
A witness tells CBS 11 that the customer had worn a mask into the store; but, then later removed it as she waited in the checkout line.
The woman refused to replace the face covering when a manager approached her and then unleashed a profanity laced tirade, all while flinging her groceries from the cart all over the floor.
“Everything that I’ve heard from the smart people: wear a mask, social distance, and stay out of closed space,” says Tracy Harker while running errands in Dallas in his mask.
He says he doesn’t understand the pushback to taking small measures to protect others. “I’m concerned. I’m old enough that I don’t want to fight it.”
And yet the fight over face coverings isn’t confined to North Texas.
In California, a chain of taco stands decided to close temporarily, citing exhaustion over constant conflicts with guests refusing to wear masks.
The company telling customers in a social media post, “staff have been harassed, called names, and had objects and liquids thrown at them…” Then adding in bold type, “A mask isn’t symbolic of anything other than our desire to keep our staff healthy.”
Cedar Hill Police earlier this month released surveillance video of an as yet unidentified customer who shoved a female employee to the floor after being asked to wear a mask.
If caught, the man is facing an assault charge.
“In the retail business we want to treat customers extremely well and that’s another reason that it’s very difficult for our employees,” says Huddleston.?
Some who see no problem with the face coverings believe mixed messaging on the virus threat is to blame.
“When everything reopened, I think everyone was like ‘well, coronavirus doesn’t exist anymore’ because everything’s opening,” adds Larissa Spies, “when in fact, that’s not the case. People just need to be smarter about what they’re doing.”
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Federal government runs out of free face masks; TSA also 'susceptible' to shortages
An initiative to provide Americans with free face coverings has run out of supplies, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Federal government runs out of free face masks; TSA also faces shortage
Alexander Nazaryan
June 30, 2020
WASHINGTON — An initiative to provide Americans with free face coverings has run out of supplies, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The shortfall comes as the nation struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 130,000 people in the United States.
In recent days, political leaders from both parties have urged Americans to wear protective coverings, which can drastically reduce the rate of viral transmission, perhaps by as much as 85 percent, according to one study.
Such masks can be fashioned from cloth, and many news outlets have published instructions on how to make face coverings at home. Commercially available masks, which some people may prefer, can be expensive, with athletic, reusable neck gaiters retailing for close to $20. Fashion-conscious consumers could purchase a $60 mask from a French designer. But scarcity made even ordinary, single-use surgical masks a prohibitive expense for some, especially in a marketplace rife with profiteers.
Project: America Strong was initiated by the federal government to distribute “reusable cotton face coverings to critical infrastructure sectors, companies, healthcare facilities, and faith-based and community organizations across the country to help slow the spread of COVID-19,” according to the project’s website.
The project appears to have run out of face masks in recent days. “The demand for the face coverings has exceeded supply. As a result, we are no longer accepting new requests. We are currently assessing requests on hand and prioritizing delivery to support populations most susceptible to the disease,” the website now says.
The deficit was worrying enough that it was noted by the Department of Homeland Security in an internal document, dated June 28, circulated among federal agencies on the coronavirus response and reviewed by Yahoo News.
The document reveals that the Transportation Security Administration, whose agents oversee security checkpoints at the nation’s airports, also faces a potential shortfall in face coverings. “TSA remains susceptible to shortages in critical PPE items caused by strain and unreliability of the supply chain, particularly for surgical masks,” reads one item from the document. “PPE” refers to personal protective equipment, a category that customarily includes face coverings, gloves and hand sanitizer.
HHS confirmed to Yahoo news that is was not taking any new requests for masks. “The face coverings were part of a multi-prong approach to re-open American economic activity while continuing to limit the spread of COVID-19,” a spokesperson wrote. “HHS distributed more than 346.4 million coverings under Project: America Strong to state, tribal, territorial, local, and federal agencies, as well as the transportation sector, long-term care facilities, dialysis centers and other critical infrastructure sectors, as well as faith-based and volunteer organizations.”
In a statement, a TSA spokesperson wrote: “TSA has an adequate supply of PPE.”
The Trump administration has touted its mastery of coronavirus-related supply chain issues. Those issues belong in the portfolio of Jared Kushner, the president’s influential son-in-law. The son of a New Jersey real estate developer, Kushner lacks expertise in supply chain logistics.
Working with John Polowczyk, a high-ranking official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Kushner implemented Project Air Bridge, which was intended to expedite the shipment of face masks and other equipment from overseas.
Earlier this month, three leading Senate Democrats — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Chuck Schumer of New York — charged that Project Air Bridge “has been marked by delays, incompetence, confusion, and secrecy.”
It is not clear that the shortfall in face masks experienced by HHS or TSA is related to the alleged deficiencies in Project Air Bridge.
Face masks continue to be critical to the nation’s ability to stem the coronavirus pandemic, which it has so far failed to do. During a congressional hearing on the coronavirus on Tuesday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders asked several of the nation’s top medical officials if they would support “the increased production of high-quality masks” that would be provided “free of charge to every household in America.”
Adm. Brett Giroir, a high-ranking official at HHS, said he agreed with the proposal. “That is very important,” he said, “because we need to support mask wearing.”
He said an office of HHS working on emergency preparedness had “contracted for hundreds of million cloth face coverings that could be distributed around the country.”
When those masks will arrive, he did not say.
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Puerto Rico to demand COVID-19 test results from passengers
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Tuesday announced strict new rules for all passengers flying into Puerto Rico in a bid to curb coronavirus cases as officials blame recent outbreaks on those who flew to the U.S. territory and were infected.
apnews.com
Puerto Rico to demand COVID-19 test results from passengers
By DÁNICA COTO
yesterday
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Tuesday announced strict new rules for all passengers flying into Puerto Rico in a bid to curb coronavirus cases as officials blame recent outbreaks on those who flew to the U.S. territory and were infected.
Starting July 15, all passengers have to wear a mask and must take a molecular test 72 hours prior to their arrival and submit the results to officials at the airport. Those who refuse to do so, or tested positive, or do not have the test results available, will be forced into a two-week quarantine. During that time, they have to undergo a molecular test and share the results if they want to be released from quarantine, said Puerto Rico Health Secretary Lorenzo González.
“If you don’t want to be tested, stay home. Don’t come here and complicate our situation,” he said.
Most molecular tests involve a nose or throat swab and are used to diagnose an active infection. Puerto Rico’s government will not accept any other test, including antibody ones that require a finger stick or blood drawn.
The island of 3.2 million people is emerging from a lockdown that began in mid-March. The government has reported at least 153 deaths, along with more than 1,690 confirmed cases and more than 5,770 probable ones.
González acknowledged that the government will not track every single violator ordered into quarantine. Instead, the monitoring via a system known as “Sara Alert” will be random and target those who do not respond to tracking efforts, including phone calls and personal visits. Passengers who do not respond to text messages requesting health updates will be fined.
Gov. Wanda Vázquez said her administration will recruit 350 people to help with tracking and monitoring efforts.
“We cannot let our guard down, especially with people who live elsewhere and are infected,” she said.
The new rules come amid an alarming resurgence of cases in the U.S. mainland, with states like Texas, Florida and California backtracking on reopenings. Meanwhile, worldwide, officials report 500,000 confirmed deaths and 10 million confirmed cases.
Several weeks ago, Vázquez asked the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ban commercial flights from cities in the U.S. mainland that are considered coronavirus hotspots. The FAA did not respond to that request.
Puerto Rico expects to receive up to 9,000 passengers a day in upcoming months, compared with the roughly 4,500 daily current arrivals, said Carla Campos, executive director of Puerto Rico’s Tourism Company.
Vázquez’s administration will require that all passengers fill a form prior to arriving in Puerto Rico with required information including where the test was taken. Vázquez also stressed that everyone has to wear a mask if they’re outside or going into a business.
Puerto Rico’s main international airport will continue to be the only one accepting all commercial flights, with no date yet on when other airports, including a smaller international one in the island’s northwest region, will reopen. Currently, passengers can voluntarily undergo a test at the Luis Muñoz Marín airport. More than 280,000 people have been tested, with more than 660 positive results, said Gen. José Burgos, commissioner of the island’s Emergency Management Bureau.
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CBS Texas - Breaking Local News, First Alert Weather & I-Team Investigations
Latest breaking news from CBS11 KTVT-TV | KTXA-TV.
dfw.cbslocal.com
More Than Half Of Dallas County’s New Coronavirus Cases In Last Month Are Younger People
By Jack Fink
June 30, 2020 at 6:09 pm
Dallas County continues to see a spike of Covid-19 cases and related deaths.
The county reported a single-day record 601 new positive tests Tuesday, bringing the total to 21,338.
There were 20 additional deaths, also a record, now totaling 373.
Of those 20 cases, two were men in their 30s.
The county says one of the men had been critically ill in a local hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
The county says the other man was found dead in his home who didn’t have underlying high risk health conditions.
Experts say younger people with Type-2 diabetes and obesity are vulnerable to Covid-19.
On Tuesday, the Director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services, Dr. Philip Huang called it a wake-up call.
“This is still extremely serious,” he said.
Dallas County and the other large counties in Texas are seeing more younger people diagnosed with the virus.
Since June 1, Dallas County reports 52 percent of all new coronavirus cases have been people between the ages of 18 to 40.
Between March 10 and June 26, the county says 21 percent of people being treated in a hospital for the virus have been in that same age group.
During that same time period, six percent of the deaths in the county, have been between 17 and 40 years of age.
Dr. Huang said Tuesday younger people let their guard down when going to bars and house parties. “We’ve seen these clusters associated with birthday parties, family gatherings, these sorts of things.”
The spike in cases in June is very different from what Texas saw in April and May.
Governor Greg Abbott said Sunday the test positivity rate jumped from just over four percent last month to more than 13 percent now.
He said, “We need to understand that Covid-19 has taken a very swift and very dangerous turn in Texas.”
But the Governor said despite the increase in cases and hospitalizations, the state still had the second lowest death rate of the top 27 most affected states in the country.”
Twenty-seven old Issac Newton of Richardson said he knows people his age can get the virus. “I am taking precautions.”
He said he’s not going to any large parties. “I’m not doing none of that. I’m going to stick to two or three people that I know and I’m around all the time and I’m going to leave it at that.”
On Sunday, during a visit to Dallas with Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Coordinator said while Dallas County is experiencing a rapid increase in cases, the rate isn’t as high as Harris, (Houston) Travis, (Austin) and Bexar (San Antonio) counties. “Dallas is more steady in its rate of increase. But I think in talking to your medical group here and to all the Texans, what we are seeing here is an increased rate of hospitalizations of 20 to 40 year olds.”
Because younger people often show no symptoms and don’t realize they have the virus, she urged them to help protect older relatives and friends. “I know it’s difficult in the 20s and 30s, but really, just to ask every one of them to wear a mask, every single one of them, wear a mask.”
Vice President Pence said Sunday that young people who are concerned about the virus should get tested regardless of whether they have symptoms.
He pledged to Governor Abbott the federal government would continue to fund five community test sites across Texas, including two in Dallas, “Every bit as long as Texas wants us to.”
Now that the state has shut down bars and reduced restaurant in-dining occupancy to 50%, more people may have gatherings in their backyard over the July 4th holiday weekend.
Dr. Huang said, “We recommend no more than ten people in an indoor setting, but still with that universal cloth facial covering, usage and keeping the six foot physical distancing.”
He said virtual gatherings are safer.
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South Carolina reports two children with coronavirus-related health condition
State health officials are urging residents to be vigilant in practicing social distancing and wearing masks to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 amid public health experts’ concerns over the recent rise in COVID-19 data trends in South Carolina.
www.wbtv.com
1,700+ new coronavirus cases in S.C., single-day record more than doubles in two weeks
By WBTV Web Staff |Updated June 30 at 10:56 PM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTV) - The single-day record for coronavirus cases has more than doubled in South Carolina over the past two weeks, as the state reported more than 1,700 new cases.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 1,741 new coronavirus cases Tuesday. DHEC also announced 17 new deaths.
It’s the tenth time in the past 12 days at least 1,000 new positive cases have been confirmed.
Tuesday’s record single-day increase of 1,741 cases shatters the record of 1,599 reported Saturday. On June 14, the record-breaking high for single-day cases was 799.
South Carolina now has 36,297 cases, 735 confirmed deaths and 1,021 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 or under investigation for the disease.
South Carolina is getting national attention as one of the worst states in the country for coronavirus cases. Over the past several weeks, the state has been breaking records for single-day increases in positive COVID-19 cases.
New York, one of the original epicenters of the virus in the country, is asking South Carolina residents to quarantine for two weeks when they come. Dr. Linda Bell says that goes for Connecticut and New Jersey as well.
South Carolina is a risk for spreading the virus to places that have it better under control. Health leaders say a mask requirement statewide would be helpful, and local places requiring masks helps too but not as fast.
The North Myrtle Beach City Council has passed an ordinance calling for the use of face masks in public places, taking effect at 12 p.m. on Thursday, July 2.
According to information from the city, anyone entering businesses like grocery stores, pharmacies, hair and/or nail salons, barbershops and tattoo parlors must wear a face covering while inside. A person who fails to comply shall be guilty of a civil infraction, punishable by a fine of not more than $25.00.
Additionally, all restaurants, retail businesses and all government offices in the city must require their employees to wear a face covering at all times while having face-to-face interaction with the public. A violation is punishable by a fine of not more than $100. Each day of a continuing violation will be considered a separate offense.
South Carolina health officials have set a new goal of testing about 165,000 residents for coranavirus each month, which is up about 55,000 from its May goal. Health officials said the goal increased to 140,000 for June, and it will be 165,000 tests conducted per month for the rest of the year.
“The increases that we’re seeing serve as a warning that young adults and youth are not immune to COVID-19,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC physician consultant. “They also tell us that younger South Carolinians are not taking social distancing seriously.”
Since April 4, data from the agency shows that there had been a 413.9% increase in newly reported COVID-19 cases among the 21-30 age group, and a 966.1% increase in newly reported COVID-19 cases among the 11-20 age group.
This data follows national trends that indicate a growing number of young adults and youth being confirmed to have COVID-19.
“While it is true that most youth and younger adults with COVID-19 only experience a mild illness, that is not true for all,” Traxler said. “In addition, it’s important to remember that even with mild or no symptoms you can spread the disease to those around you – your friends, teammates, and family. We’re calling on our younger generation of South Carolinians to be leaders in their communities by taking actions to stop the spread of COVID-19. Lead by example and use your voice to let others know that social distancing and wearing a mask in public helps save lives.”
“Every one of us has a role to play in stopping COVID-19,” Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said. “This virus does not spread on its own. It’s spread around our state by infected people who carry it wherever they go – their work, the supermarket, the post office, a friend’s house. By not following public health precautions, many are putting all at risk.”
Bell urges people in South Carolina to wear face coverings when out in public. She also said that the number of new cases shows that the virus is still very much active in the state.
“We understand that what we’re continuing to ask of everyone is not easy and that many are tired of hearing the same warnings and of taking the same daily precautions, but this virus does not take a day off,” Bell said. “Every day that we don’t all do our part, we are extending the duration of illnesses, missed work, hospitalizations and deaths in our state.
“There is no vaccine for COVID-19. There are only individual behaviors and actions we must all maintain that help stop its spread.” [...]
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Louisiana coronavirus cases rise by more than 1,000
Louisiana coronavirus cases rose by more than 1,000 today as the stubborn summer surge continued to gain...
www.weeklycitizen.com
Louisiana coronavirus cases rise by more than 1,000
By Staff Reports
Posted at 1:08 PM
Louisiana coronavirus cases rose by more than 1,000 today as the stubborn summer surge continued to gain momentum.
The Louisiana Department of Health also reported another rise in hospitalizations and ventilator use.
Twenty-two more deaths were reported bringing the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 3,113.
Louisiana reported 1,014 new cases Tuesday, bringing the total to 58,095.
Hospitalizations rose by 44, the biggest spike in weeks, to 781. The number of patients on ventilators rose by four to 83.
The summer surge caused Gov. John Bel Edwards to keep Louisiana in Phase 2 of reopening rather than move to Phase 3, which Edwards had hoped to do last week.
Instead, the governor signed a new order to extend Phase 2 by as many 28 days.
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Coronavirus in Arkansas: 520 new cases, Washington County leads state with 152
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) – Governor Asa Hutchinson announced 520 new cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas at his daily press conference on Tuesday, including 152 in Washington County – the most of an…
www.nwahomepage.com
Coronavirus in Arkansas: 520 new cases, Washington County leads state with 152
Posted: Jun 30, 2020 / 02:14 PM CDT / Updated: Jun 30, 2020 / 03:54 PM CDT
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) – Governor Asa Hutchinson announced 520 new cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas at his daily press conference on Tuesday, including 152 in Washington County – the most of any in the state.
Pulaski County follows with 118 new cases, while reported cases in Benton County dropped to 33 on Tuesday.
There are now 5,976 cases of coronavirus considered active by the Arkansas Department of Health, including:
- 5308 in the general community
- 548 in correctional facililties
- 120 in nursing homes
Hospitalizations in the state dropped by ten to 290 on Tuesday, Governor Hutchinson announced, but the number of patients on ventilators rose by four to 67.
Hutchinson announced five additional deaths in Arkansas due to the virus, raising the state’s death toll to 270.
Governor Hutchinson did not provide any additional guidance on masks on Tuesday but shared an upcoming Fourth of July advertisement encouraging their usage.
“Why does Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt have their mask on? And the answer is because they could not socially distance,” Hutchinson said.
The number of reported recoveries in the state rose to 14,531 (+465) on Tuesday, according to Dr. Nate Smith, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health.
Smith said the state performed 4048 tests over the last 24 hours.
A second CDC team is in Arkansas working to help the state with response to the virus.
The team will focus on the transmission of the virus in nursing homes.
A team arrived in Northwest Arkansas earlier this month to help with containment efforts.
For more information on the state’s response to the novel coronavirus, visit COVID-19 Arkansas Department of Health.
You can watch the full press conference for Tuesday, June 30 below:
38min 31sec
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Florida doctors aren't asking coronavirus patients if they took part in protests, health official says
A senior health official with the Orange County, Florida Department of Health says that asking about activity during the recent George Floyd protests that swept the nation, has not been a part of the coronavirus contract tracing questions in Florida.
www.foxnews.com
Florida doctors aren't asking coronavirus patients if they took part in protests, health official says
Health official in Florida says its 'not a coincidence' that coronavirus rates have spiked following recent protests
By Caitlin McFall | Fox News
Published 3 hours ago
A senior health official with the Orange County, Florida Department of Health says that asking about activism during the recent George Floyd protests, has not been a part of the coronavirus contract tracing questions in the Sunshine State.
“The information that we collect is voluntarily offered to us,” Dr. Raul Pino told a local news outlet when explaining how contract tracing works. “We don’t ask specifically to individuals ‘Have you been at the protest?' because there’s so many elements of freedom and rights for those individuals to be at those protests.”
Orange County, Fla., has had more than10,000 coronavirus cases, with nearly 283 new cases reported Tuesday, according to the state's Department of Health.
This is just a fraction of the nearly 150,000 cases reported in the state, which has seen recent spikes in infection rates.
The profusion of new cases resulted in Florida’s alcohol regulatory agency banning all alcohol consumption in bars last week, as the daily increase reached over 9,500 new cases Friday.
“Effective immediately, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is suspending on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars statewide,” the agency said in a tweet.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that infection rates in young age demographics have spiked, adding that the median age is no longer hovering around 65. Instead, it has dropped to 33.
“The community transmission is being driven by the 18-35-year-old group,” DeSantis said in a press conference Friday.
Lawmakers and health officials have suggested it has to do with younger demographics heading to bars and not practicing social distancing. However, Orange County health official Pino said he doesn’t “think that’s a coincidence” that the numbers have increased roughly two weeks after the protests started.
He also noted that this could still be a result of states initiating reopening measures around Memorial Day, the same day that George Floyd was killed while in police custody.
Large scale protests happened in Minneapolis, Atlanta, New York and Washington D.C., but recent spikes of coronavirus have not yet occurred in these cities.
States currently struggling with recent surges of COVID-19 rates are Texas, Florida, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who serves as the lead medical specialist on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, addressed younger demographics last week, encouraging them to take the virus seriously.
"It's a paradigm shift because we're dealing with young people, people who are going to be asymptomatic, and people who are getting infected in a community setting, not an outbreak setting where you know who to identify, isolate and contact trace," Fauci said.
Vice President Mike Pence also addressed the younger age groups seeing spikes in infection rates.
“If there’s one message that comes through today I hope it is saying to younger Americans in these states, and in these counties in particular, that they are a big part of the numbers that we are seeing in new cases,” Pence said during a press conference last Friday
Pence was asked if he believed there was any correlation between the states that opened early and where the spikes in the virus were occurring.
“I think there will be a temptation for people to look at these Sunbelt states that have been reopening and putting people back to work and suggest that the reopening has to do with what we’re seeing in the last week or so,” Pence said.
Florida’s Department of Health could not be immediately reached to clarify what questions they ask during contract tracing to compare rates with social gatherings versus people who attended the recent demonstrations.
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Bihar: Groom dead, 95 guests test Covid-19 positive | Patna News - Times of India
In perhaps the first case of mass spreading of Covid-19 virus in Bihar, 95 people who attended a wedding at a Paliganj village in rural Patna have tes
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Bihar: Groom dead, 95 guests test Covid-19 positive
Sheezan Nezami | TNN | Updated: Jun 30, 2020, 13:10 IST
PATNA: In perhaps the first case of mass spreading of Covid-19 virus in Bihar, 95 people who attended a wedding at a Paliganj village in rural Patna have tested positive for the virus.
The 30-year-old groom, a software engineer who had Covid-19-like symptoms, died two days after the wedding on June 17, but his body was cremated leaving no scope for the authorities to trace if the death was caused by the virus.
Confirming the incident, Patna DM Kumar Ravi said he had got an anonymous call informing about the groom's death after the wedding.
"Someone called me and told me about this incident. Groom had returned from Gurugram and even though he was symptomatic, the family went ahead with the wedding. When his condition deteriorated, his family rushed to AIIMS-Patna but he died on the way," he said.
The DM further said that the family carried out the funeral without informing the administration.
Techie groom taken to a quack, but not quarantined: Locals
“After getting the call from a local more than a week back, we collected the sample of the groom’s relatives and his neighbours and 15 people then tested positive. We then started tracing all the contacts who had attended the wedding and 80 people tested positive on Monday,” he added.
The wedding was held at Naubatpur on June 15 and the accompanying rituals during which the infection is said to have spread was performed at Deehpali village in Paliganj block.
The techie groom, who worked in Gurugram in Haryana, had returned to his village in a rented car on May 12. Both the bride and groom’s father are teachers and the bride is a civil engineer. According to a source, the bride has tested negative for coronavirus.
The wedding rituals began on June 8 starting with Tilak. The next day, his health took a bad turn and he started getting loose motions, which has now been recognised by WHO as one of the Covid-19 symptoms.
However, locals said instead of taking him to a doctor, the groom was taken to some quack and was not quarantined. “Even a day before his baraat (wedding procession), he collapsed and was shivering,” said a local resident who did not want to be named.
On June 15, the wedding procession went to Aadampur Piplawan in Naubatpur and returned on June 16. “He died on the day of his reception on June 17. The families of bride as well as groom were educated, yet they ignored the boy’s heath as well as other norms while conducting marriage rituals,” said another villager wishing anonymity.
Paliganj BDO Chiranjeevi Pandey said apart from Deehpali, they have sealed Purani Bazar, Mithakuan, Baba Boring Road and Bibipur from where people had gone and attended the wedding. “We collected 300 samples, including those of vegetable sellers and all those involved in any kind of trade in the vicinity. Of them, 80 tested positive today. Now we are preparing the list of contacts of these 80 people,” said Chiranjeevi.
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After 53 years of marriage, a Texas couple died from Covid-19 while holding hands | CNN
Betty and Curtis Tarpley were together for most of their lives -- they went to the same high school in Illinois, met and fell in love in California as adults, got married, and raised two kids.
www.cnn.com
After 53 years of marriage, a Texas couple died from Covid-19 while holding hands
By David Williams and Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
Updated 9:25 PM ET, Tue June 30, 2020
Betty and Curtis Tarpley were together for most of their lives -- they went to the same high school in Illinois, met and fell in love in California as adults, got married, and raised two kids.
On June 18, after 53 years as a married couple, the two died from coronavirus within an hour of each other in a Texas hospital, spending their last moments together holding hands, their son told CNN.
Tim Tarpley said his mom, who was 80, had been sick for a few days when he took her to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth and found out she had Covid-19.
She was admitted on June 9 and his 79-year-old dad was admitted on the 11th.
Preparing to say goodbye
Tarpley, 52, said his dad was in the ICU and seemed to be doing well. Nurses had even been able to wheel Curtis to Betty's unit, so they could spend some time together.
Betty's condition declined, and Tarpley said she called him and his sister, Tricia, and told them she "was ready to go."
It took him time to make peace with her decision.
"I just screamed 'No!' I was like, 'I've got too much, too many other things to do in this life that I want to show you, and I'm not ready,'" he said.
Hospital staff let Tarpley and his sister visit their mom twice, he said.
On the first visit she was heavily medicated and didn't really know they were there.
She was alert and cracking jokes when they came back the next day, but Tarpley said it was clear that she was uncomfortable and doctors said she didn't have much time.
Tarpley said he called his dad to update him on his mom's condition and told him how much he loved him.
Shortly after receiving the update from his kids, Curtis' oxygen levels plummeted.
"I really feel like he like he was fighting because he was supposed to and once he knew she wasn't gonna make it, then he was okay with, you know, taking it to the house," Tarpley said. "I think he fought because he thought the team needed him, but he was also tired and he was in pain."
It happened so quickly that Tarpley and his sister weren't able to see their dad again.
'The right thing to do was to get them together'
Tarpley said that a nurse he'd never even spoken to arranged for his mom and dad to be together. They had both decided to go on comfort care, which involved giving them heavy doses of medication to ease their pain.
"It felt like the right thing to do was to get them together," said Blake Throne, one of the ICU nurses caring for Curtis. "I started inquiring about if it was even possible and then I started shaking the tree to try to get it done."
Throne said it took a team effort, but they were able to move Betty to the ICU, so she and her husband could be side-by-side.
When another nurse told Curtis that Betty was there, he tried to look over at her. But Throne said he was very weak.
"His eyes opened and his eyebrows went up," Throne said. "He knew what we said. He knew that she was there."
Throne said he then put Betty's hand on Curtis' arm.
Communicating without words
"I honestly think they were so incapacitated that all they could do was talk with their souls or something, a special unspoken language," Tarpley said. "They obviously knew each other well enough that they could communicate without words."
Betty died after about 20 minutes and Curtis died about 45 minutes later, Throne said.
Tarpley said the was grateful for the hospital staff's empathy and kindness.
"That's what makes them the best," he said.
Tarpley said he doesn't know how his parents got Covid-19, but he said he had to quarantine because he caught it from them. He said his mom and dad had mostly been in isolation since March, but he visited them every couple of days to check in.
That time together made their relationship even stronger, which Tarpley said gave him "another level of peace."
He said the family and friends hope to be able to have a celebration of Betty and Curtis' life next year.
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Melodi
Disaster Cat
Uh no, I don't actually think this is a dig at Trump; if it is a "dig" at anything it is at the growing infection rates in parts of the US, and the EU sees no practical way to do it State by US State.Personally I think they're using COVID as an excuse to take a dig at Trump. ymmv.
(fair use applies)Europe REFUSES to open borders to Americans because US is not 'safe'
The European Union announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks.
European Union REFUSES to open its borders to American travelers because soaring coronavirus means U.S. is not 'safe'
By Frances Mulraney and Associated Press
Published: 03:36 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 20:47 EDT, 30 June 2020
- The European Union will continue to deny entry to U.S. travelers for at least another two weeks
- 14 'safe' countries whose citizens can enter the EU were announced Tuesday
- The U.S. is not on the list because of soaring levels of coronavirus
- New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week
- Cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks
- It means no American tourists can travel to popular summer destinations like Paris, the south of France, Italy or Spain
- People from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan are among those able to now travel to the European Union
Americans travelers will be refused entry into the European Union for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S.
The EU announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, excluding U.S. travelers further because of the recent worrying spike in cases.
Travelers from other big countries such as Russia, Brazil and India will also miss out.
Citizens of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay will now be allowed into the EU's 27 member states.
They can also enter the four other nations in Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone.
The EU said China is 'subject to confirmation of reciprocity', meaning it must lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before it will allow Chinese citizens back in.
Countries considered for the safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travelers.
As Europe's economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries.
More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic.
Still, many people both inside and outside Europe remain wary of travel in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings.
There are concerns in particular about U.S. travelers, where spikes in cases are causing the rollback and slowdown of state reopenings.
New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms.
COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises occurring in the West and South of the country.
Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April.
Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March.
Part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame but health experts say lack of social distancing since stay-at-home orders were lifted in most states from Memorial Day is also a factor.
In contrast, aside from a notable recent outbreak tied to a slaughterhouse in western Germany, the virus' spread has generally stabilized across much of continental Europe.
Countries now being allowed to enter the EU have seen a drastic decline in coronavirus cases and have managed to combat the spread within their own borders.
On June 8, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the coronavirus outbreak in the country had been crushed.
She has since come under fire after travelers to the country weren't placed in proper quarantine or tested, leading to further infections, but there are still only 20 active cases in the entire country.
This compares to more than 1.7million active cases in the U.S.
Canadian travelers will also now be allowed entry to the EU.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that Canada is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but voiced concern over cases in the neighboring U.S.
Canadian medical officials released their latest forecasts on Monday, showing the number of overall deaths could be between 8,545 and 8,865 by July 12.
The current Canadian death toll is 8,522 compared to more than 125,000 in the U.S.
In Japan, the second country in the world to report coronavirus cases after China, deaths have been kept low compared to the U.S. with many of the population wearing masks.
It has just over 18,600 coronavirus cases whereas the U.S. is nearing 2.6million. Japan's population is about a third of the U.S. population.
Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high too, meaning their citizens are also unlikely to be allowed into the EU any time soon.
Spared disaster in the outbreak's early days, they are all now at the mercy of the fast-spreading virus and have seen cases spiral out of control in recent weeks.
In Brazil and India cases have tripled in a month.
Brazil, a South American country home to 210million people, is now experiencing arguably the worst outbreak in the world after the total number of people to have had Covid-19 rocketed from 411,821 on May 28 to more than 1.31million on Sunday.
It has the second highest number of cases in the world with more than 1.3million.
Brazil also has the second highest number of deaths with a death toll of more than 59,300.
In India, cases soared from 158,333 a month ago to 528,859 today, according to the Our World in Data project.
Meanwhile, more than 60 per cent of daily new cases came from countries in the Americas on Sunday, according to data published by the WHO.
More than a third of 190,000 new infections on Sunday occurred in Brazil and a fifth of them were in the US.
Tens of thousands of travelers had a frantic, chaotic scramble in March to get home as the pandemic swept across the world and borders slammed shut.
EU envoys to Brussels have launched a written procedure which would see the list endorsed Tuesday as long as no objections are raised by member countries.
The list is expected to contain up to 15 countries that have virus infection rates comparable to those in the EU.
The countries would also have to lift any bans they might have on European travelers.
The list of permitted nations is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added or even dropping off depending on if they are keeping the disease under control.
It must be passed by a 'qualified majority' of EU countries, meaning 15 EU countries representing 65 percent of the population.
Four EU diplomats said they expected it to secure the required backing.
The list will act as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they will almost certainly not allow access to travelers from other countries, but could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations.
In March, President Donald Trump suspended all people from Europe´s ID check-free travel zone from entering the U.S., making it unlikely now that U.S. citizens would qualify to enter the EU.
The EU imposed restrictions on non-essential travel to its 27 nations, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are part of the Schengen open-borders area, in March to halt the spread of the virus.
Non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban.
The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors.
Greece is mandating COVID-19 tests for arrivals from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation until results are known.
The Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden.
The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January.
Britain now requires all incoming travelers - bar a few exceptions like truck drivers - to go into a self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks.
The requirement also applies to U.K. citizens.
~~~~~~~~~~
WHERE EU SAYS IS SAFE.. AND IS UNSAFE
On the safe list:
Algeria
Australia
Canada
Georgia
Japan
Montenegro
Morocco
New Zealand
Rwanda
Serbia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
Uruguay
On the unsafe list:
United States
Russia
Brazil
India
.
If it makes you feel any better, Ireland is in the EU and we are not considered fully "safe" yet either and we've got very few active cases in the Republic (but we share a land border with the UK that is also not considered fully safe and just had to put an entire city back on lock-down).
Ireland is considered "safer" than the US and some EU countries will allow visits, but despite massive lobbying by the tourist industry, Ireland is keeping their 14-day quarantine for ANYONE entering the Republic for at least another week or two (seeing how things are going elsewhere, especially in the UK).
This isn't a joke, and while everything is political on some level, the disease itself doesn't care.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
The next major industry to be forced into a second lockdown (and probably bankruptcy or a tax-payer bailout) in 3, 2, 1...(fair use applies)Airlines defend moves to full-capacity flights
The airline industry defended American Airlines on Tuesday for its new policy to fill planes to capacity following criticism from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director…
Airlines defend moves to full-capacity flights
By Alex Gangitano
06/30/20 12:36 PM EDT
The airline industry defended American Airlines on Tuesday for its new policy to fill planes to capacity following criticism from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield over concerns about spreading the coronavirus.
Redfield said there was “substantial disappointment with American Airlines” about the move in a Senate hearing on Tuesday following a question from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the policy.
Airlines for America (A4A), which represents and advocates for major U.S. airlines, defended the decision to fill planes on the basis that maintaining social distancing isn’t possible on planes anyway. American Airlines is a member of A4A.
“You can’t social distance on an airplane. We believe there are safety measures in place on a multilevel basis that makes flying safe, in fact safer than many other activities,” A4A CEO Nicholas E. Calio told reporters on a press call following Redfield’s statement.
Calio noted that you can’t socially distance on an airplane like you can at a grocery store.
“We don’t fly people if we feel it is not safe to fly them,” Calio said. “We are taking extraordinary measures, working with public health officials and others to keep our passengers healthy.”
He also noted American Airlines’ policy tells passengers if their flight is full and allows them to rebook.
The company announced on Friday it will book flights to capacity, effective July 1, following a similar United Airlines policy.
"We are unwavering in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our customers and team members," an American Airlines spokesperson told The Hill in a statement on Tuesday. "We have multiple layers of protection in place for those who fly with us, including required face coverings, enhanced cleaning procedures, and a pre-flight COVID-19 symptom checklist — and we’re providing additional flexibility for customers to change their travel plans, as well. We know our customers are placing their trust in us to make every aspect of their journey safe, and we are committed to doing just that."
American Airlines had previously blocked off 50 percent of the main cabin middle seats and has been notifying customers if their flight is crowded when they check in. Other airlines have been blocking all middle seats, including Delta, JetBlue and Southwest.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske said on the press call that the agency has implemented social distancing during check points in airports and opened more security lanes to maintain it.
Pekoske also defended the federal government’s decision not to take passengers’ temperatures at check points, which A4A has requested, and not to require masks in airports, which the Airports Council International-North America has requested.
“Temperature checks are not a guarantee that passengers that don’t have an elevated temperature don’t have COVID-19,” Pekoske said.
He added that no decision has been made on whether the government will conduct temperature checks, echoing previous statements from the agency.
Major U.S. airlines announced earlier this month that masks are required on flights, and customers who refuse to wear the protective gear could be placed on a do not fly list. Masks are required inside 20 of the 30 large hub airports in the U.S., according to the American Association of Airport Executives.
TSA has relied on airports to make those policies.
“We encourage passengers to follow the CDC guidance, which recommends masks in public spaces,” Pekoske said.
.
All it will take is ONE Super-Spreader and a few dozen to a hundred cases on one plane and perhaps a few hundred more at the airports on either side of that person's journey (and it won't be their fault either).
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Agree to disagree. If 0bama was president, the EU would not shut out Americans, they would let them come in KNOWING they could be infectious because they (and all the politicians who are dealing with this virus, on both sides of the aisle) care more about politics than lives. The EU globalists hate Trump and they are piling on to make him look weak. imho, ymmv.
And of course the disease isn't political and doesn't care about politics; honey badger marches on and does it thing no matter what the politicians are doing about it and what power grabs are being made. I wouldn't be posting all these articles every night if I didn't think the virus was very real and very deadly. And not only is it not going away, I don't think we've even come close to seeing how bad this can (is going to) get.
HD
Melodi
Disaster Cat
I only had time to skim this; but any nation, state, county or city that tells their health department and doctors NOT to even ASK if their infected patients have gone to protests or other math gathering is not only being negligent, it is downright STUPID from a medical point of view.(fair use applies)Florida doctors aren't asking coronavirus patients if they took part in protests, health official says
A senior health official with the Orange County, Florida Department of Health says that asking about activity during the recent George Floyd protests that swept the nation, has not been a part of the coronavirus contract tracing questions in Florida.
Florida doctors aren't asking coronavirus patients if they took part in protests, health official says
Health official in Florida says its 'not a coincidence' that coronavirus rates have spiked following recent protests
By Caitlin McFall | Fox News
Published 3 hours ago
A senior health official with the Orange County, Florida Department of Health says that asking about activism during the recent George Floyd protests, has not been a part of the coronavirus contract tracing questions in the Sunshine State.
“The information that we collect is voluntarily offered to us,” Dr. Raul Pino told a local news outlet when explaining how contract tracing works. “We don’t ask specifically to individuals ‘Have you been at the protest?' because there’s so many elements of freedom and rights for those individuals to be at those protests.”
Orange County, Fla., has had more than10,000 coronavirus cases, with nearly 283 new cases reported Tuesday, according to the state's Department of Health.
This is just a fraction of the nearly 150,000 cases reported in the state, which has seen recent spikes in infection rates.
The profusion of new cases resulted in Florida’s alcohol regulatory agency banning all alcohol consumption in bars last week, as the daily increase reached over 9,500 new cases Friday.
“Effective immediately, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is suspending on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars statewide,” the agency said in a tweet.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that infection rates in young age demographics have spiked, adding that the median age is no longer hovering around 65. Instead, it has dropped to 33.
“The community transmission is being driven by the 18-35-year-old group,” DeSantis said in a press conference Friday.
Lawmakers and health officials have suggested it has to do with younger demographics heading to bars and not practicing social distancing. However, Orange County health official Pino said he doesn’t “think that’s a coincidence” that the numbers have increased roughly two weeks after the protests started.
He also noted that this could still be a result of states initiating reopening measures around Memorial Day, the same day that George Floyd was killed while in police custody.
Large scale protests happened in Minneapolis, Atlanta, New York and Washington D.C., but recent spikes of coronavirus have not yet occurred in these cities.
States currently struggling with recent surges of COVID-19 rates are Texas, Florida, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who serves as the lead medical specialist on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, addressed younger demographics last week, encouraging them to take the virus seriously.
"It's a paradigm shift because we're dealing with young people, people who are going to be asymptomatic, and people who are getting infected in a community setting, not an outbreak setting where you know who to identify, isolate and contact trace," Fauci said.
Vice President Mike Pence also addressed the younger age groups seeing spikes in infection rates.
“If there’s one message that comes through today I hope it is saying to younger Americans in these states, and in these counties in particular, that they are a big part of the numbers that we are seeing in new cases,” Pence said during a press conference last Friday
Pence was asked if he believed there was any correlation between the states that opened early and where the spikes in the virus were occurring.
“I think there will be a temptation for people to look at these Sunbelt states that have been reopening and putting people back to work and suggest that the reopening has to do with what we’re seeing in the last week or so,” Pence said.
Florida’s Department of Health could not be immediately reached to clarify what questions they ask during contract tracing to compare rates with social gatherings versus people who attended the recent demonstrations.
.
I don't even have to ask Nightwolf to know what he would say, because we've already discussed this one.
You can not do "contract tracing" unless patients are able to explain (to the best of their ability) where, when, and who they have been in contact with - otherwise it is a waste of time and money.
Especially when you consider that most US local health departments are terribly underfunded shadows of what they once were, having originally been set up in the days of epidemics like Polio and then became a favorite of every "budget-cutting budget" in most places ever since.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Living here and watching, hearing all the local news - yeah a lot of people (probably all the larger governments at this point) dislike Trump, I am not arguing that.
I will stand by the fact that even under their beloved Obama, RIGHT NOW, THIS WEEK; the US would still be under the "unsafe" travel ban.
Why because of their infection rates as being reported by the US and US states themselves.
That said, I am not saying that some EU leaders don't get a certain amount of joyful smugness about this one, in the same way, some of them are enjoying being able to "punish" the UK because they are no longer covered by the common travel area and Sweden because well - "Sweden did not follow our mandates!" (think German accent here)...
But also, sadly, Sweden does still have a higher infection rate; only time will tell if in the LONG TERM, they made the right decision.
At least they have a smaller population, a well funded public health system and a good deal of support for people who become disabled or have underlying medical conditions, so if they wanted to be the experimental control group (which they are) they are well placed for it.
To me, since no one really knew the BEST way forward, that is kind of heroic of them as long as the majority of their citizens are OK with it, so far what I hear directly from people in Sweden is that reactions are mixed and often depend on the age of the person being asked (or the ages in their extended families) aka if your old you don't like it and if you are younger and healthy you do like it.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
And individual EU Nations can still make their own decisions up to a point, under EU law ANY nation in the EU can shut down their borders on a temporary basis during a crises (happens a lot after terrorism strikes and the like) - also while the UK and Ireland were not technically part of the common travel area, before the UK voted for BREXIT they were part of THE travel/work/business area meaning with an EU passport you can work and live anywhere in the EU and normally travel with no restrictions - at the moment there are plenty of restrictions though that is changing.
From the BBC Twitter:
BBC News (UK)
@BBCNews
·
12m
There are no restrictions on European travellers except those from Sweden and the UK, who cannot fly to Greece until 15 July https://bbc.in/2Zuw6ZH
Quote Tweet
BBC News (World)
@BBCWorld
· 13m
Greece reopens its borders to some foreign travellers, as European nations further ease their lockdowns Greece restarts tourist flights as Europe reopens
From the BBC Twitter:
BBC News (UK)
@BBCNews
·
12m
There are no restrictions on European travellers except those from Sweden and the UK, who cannot fly to Greece until 15 July https://bbc.in/2Zuw6ZH
Quote Tweet
BBC News (World)
@BBCWorld
· 13m
Greece reopens its borders to some foreign travellers, as European nations further ease their lockdowns Greece restarts tourist flights as Europe reopens
IF THE BUSINESS OF WORLD WIDE DEATH WERE TRADED ON A STOCK EXCHANGE
COVID-19 WOULD HAVE VERY SHORT RUN
THEY SAY COVID-19 HAS HIT 500,000 DEATHS
COVID-19………….IS NOT EVEN IN THE TOP 10
THE TOP 10 THAT MOST PEOPLE IGNORE
(refuse to take notice of or acknowledge; disregard intentionally.)
MOST OF THE TIME
Of the 56,900,0000 deaths worldwide in 2016,
more than half (54%) were due to the top 10 causes.
Ischaemic heart disease and stroke are the world’s biggest killers, accounting for a combined 15,200,000 deaths in 2016. These diseases have remained the leading causes of death globally in the last 15 years.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claimed 3,000,000 lives in 2016, while
lung cancer (along with trachea and bronchus cancers) caused 1,700,000 deaths.
Diabetes killed 1,600,000 people in 2016, up from less than 1,000,000 in 2000.
Deaths due to dementias more than doubled between 2000 and 2016, to over 2,000,000, making it the 5th leading cause of global deaths in 2016 compared to 14th in 2000.
Lower respiratory infections remained the most deadly communicable disease,causing 3,000,000 deaths worldwide in 2016.
The death rate from diarrhoeal diseases decreased by almost 1,000,000 between 2000 and 2016, but still caused 1,400,000 deaths in 2016.
Similarly, the number of tuberculosis deaths decreased during the same period, but is still among the top 10 causes with a death toll of 1,300,000.
HIV/AIDS is no longer among the world’s top 10 causes of death, having killed 1,000,000 people in 2016 compared with 1,500,000 in 2000.
Road injuries killed 1,400,000 people in 2016, about three-quarters (74%) of whom were men and boys.
WAR,………….we do not even talk about WAR
COVID-19
IF WE CAN SELL IT
WE CAN GET RICH
IF THEY CAN SELL IT
THEY. WILL. GET. RICH.
IF WE CAN IGNORE THE TOP 10
WE CAN CERTAINLY IGNORE COVID-19
AND GO BACK TO WORK
Improvise, Adapt and Overcome
Improvise, Adapt and Overcome: Life Lessons We Can Learn ...
COVID-19 WOULD HAVE VERY SHORT RUN
THEY SAY COVID-19 HAS HIT 500,000 DEATHS
COVID-19………….IS NOT EVEN IN THE TOP 10
THE TOP 10 THAT MOST PEOPLE IGNORE
(refuse to take notice of or acknowledge; disregard intentionally.)
MOST OF THE TIME
Of the 56,900,0000 deaths worldwide in 2016,
more than half (54%) were due to the top 10 causes.
Ischaemic heart disease and stroke are the world’s biggest killers, accounting for a combined 15,200,000 deaths in 2016. These diseases have remained the leading causes of death globally in the last 15 years.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claimed 3,000,000 lives in 2016, while
lung cancer (along with trachea and bronchus cancers) caused 1,700,000 deaths.
Diabetes killed 1,600,000 people in 2016, up from less than 1,000,000 in 2000.
Deaths due to dementias more than doubled between 2000 and 2016, to over 2,000,000, making it the 5th leading cause of global deaths in 2016 compared to 14th in 2000.
Lower respiratory infections remained the most deadly communicable disease,causing 3,000,000 deaths worldwide in 2016.
The death rate from diarrhoeal diseases decreased by almost 1,000,000 between 2000 and 2016, but still caused 1,400,000 deaths in 2016.
Similarly, the number of tuberculosis deaths decreased during the same period, but is still among the top 10 causes with a death toll of 1,300,000.
HIV/AIDS is no longer among the world’s top 10 causes of death, having killed 1,000,000 people in 2016 compared with 1,500,000 in 2000.
Road injuries killed 1,400,000 people in 2016, about three-quarters (74%) of whom were men and boys.
WAR,………….we do not even talk about WAR
COVID-19
IF WE CAN SELL IT
WE CAN GET RICH
IF THEY CAN SELL IT
THEY. WILL. GET. RICH.
IF WE CAN IGNORE THE TOP 10
WE CAN CERTAINLY IGNORE COVID-19
AND GO BACK TO WORK
Improvise, Adapt and Overcome
Improvise, Adapt and Overcome: Life Lessons We Can Learn ...
Last edited:
marsh
On TB every waking moment
17:57 min
106 - COVID-19 in Louisiana: Early Challenge, New Threat
•Jul 1, 2020
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Louisiana was hit early and hard by COVID-19 but, over the past three months, the statewide response has strengthened. Now, Louisiana health officials are using the lessons they learned from the outbreak’s early days to ensure that they are prepared to weather the surge in cases throughout the American South. Dr. Alexander Billioux, assistant secretary of health for the Louisiana Department of Health’s Office of Public Health, joins Dr. Josh Sharfstein to discuss the strategies that have worked, the underlying realities the pandemic has exposed, and the vast amount of work that’s still left to be done.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
59:10 min
War Room Pandemic Ep 259 - Fight for What's Right (w/ Jack Posobiec)
•Streamed live 6 hours ago
Bannon WarRoom - Citizens of the American Republic
Raheem Kassam, and Greg Manz are joined by Steve Bannon and Jack Posobiec to discuss the latest on the coronavirus pandemic as protests erupt at the Chinese embassy and today marks the first day that USMCA takes effect. Jack Maxey calls in with live reports from the protest.
____________________________
1:01:29 min
War Room Pandemic Ep 260 - Citizens Action (w/ Jack Posobiec and Gavin Wax)
•Streamed live 5 hours ago
Raheem Kassam and Greg Manz are joined by Jack Posobiec to discuss the latest on the coronavirus pandemic as protests for many causes erupt around the nation. Calling in is Jack Maxey with reports from the protest at the Chinese Embassy. Also calling in is Gavin Wax to discuss his club's protest to Defend the Teddy Roosevelt statue in NYC.
__________
17:57 min
Whistleblower Protest Against CCP - CCP Lied! Americans Died! [Washington, D.C.]
•Streamed live 69 minutes ago
Bannon WarRoom - Citizens of the American Republic
Last edited:
marsh
On TB every waking moment
41:24 min
Dr Pravin Nair, Consultant Microbiologist
•Jul 1, 2020
Dr. John Campbell
Thank you Dr. Nair for taking the time to talk to us about these life important topics