jimnyc
12-12-2020, 07:36 PM
Things all around bad.
And as if it weren't bad enough that the number of deaths is at record levels, but I think mandates and fines and closures and abuse in addition is also at record levels.
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COVID kills 3,309 people in the US on the most lethal day of the pandemic so far while a record 232k new cases are recorded - as FDA chief tells public that doctors ARE prepared for allergic reactions to vaccine after UK patients were affected
US death toll from COVID-19 approaching 300,000 as Johns Hopkins researchers say 3,309 died on Friday
As of Saturday morning, there have been 15,851,735 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 295,539 deaths
New figures come as US regulators gave the final go-ahead on Friday to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine
Researchers in Washington State released projections showing that 502,000 Americans will die by April 1
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation says peak daily deaths have not yet been reached and will come in mid-January
The IHME models predicts that 48 states are expected to have high or extreme stress on ICUs at some point in the next four months as hospitalizations continue to grow
The United States recorded more than 3,300 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday - the largest single-day toll since the start of the pandemic - as it authorized the use of Pfizer’s vaccine, with the first inoculations expected within days, marking a turning point in a country where the pandemic has killed more than 295,000 people.
The Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for the vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech, which was shown to be 95 per cent effective in preventing the disease in a late-stage trial. It said the vaccine can be given to people aged 16 and older.
Healthcare workers and elderly people in long-term care facilities are expected to be the main recipients of a first round of 2.9 million doses this month.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn held a virtual press conference on Saturday morning in which he reassured the American public that the vaccine was safe and that doctors are prepared to deal with possible allergic reactions, of the kind that were witnessed in a few cases in the United Kingdom.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, 3,309 Americans died from coronavirus on Friday.
The US also reported 231,775 new cases as the pandemic shows no signs of ebbing - despite the FDA's approval of a new vaccine.
As of early Saturday morning, there have been 15,851,735 confirmed cases of COVID-19. So far, 295,539 Americans have died.
Rest - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9046191/COVIDs-deadliest-day-3-300-people-die-coronavirus-day-FDA-finally-approves-Pfizer-vaccine.html
The death spiral of public life
By removing Americans from public life, the pandemic is threatening long-term damage to the essential services we all share — like schools and transit — while worsening inequality.
Why it matters: Technology has helped keep many — though far from all of us — working, fed and even entertained at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the forced retreat from public life will have toxic ramifications unless the places and services we all share can be saved.
The big picture: As deadly as COVID-19 has been for those who have caught it, the pandemic could prove even more devastating for the institutions and services that make up the civic sphere.
Public schools across the country have seen a drastic drop in enrollment, in part because parents frustrated by COVID-closed classrooms and poor remote learning have turned to private schools, which have remained open at higher rates than their public counterparts. Some families are even homeschooling.
Combined with students moving to private schools, that could lead to budget cuts for public schools that get funding on a per-student basis.
Public transit systems have been crippled by COVID-19, as ridership plummets because of fear of infection and a shift to remote work. The drop in demand comes as funding for public transportation is threatened by plunging state and local government revenue.
And the office — that private space in public where many of us used to gather on a daily basis — is mortally threatened. Nearly 14% of office space in Midtown Manhattan is vacant, the highest rate since the depths of the 2009 recession.
A recent McKinsey report found three to four times more people could end up working remotely than before the pandemic, which "would have a profound impact on urban economies, transportation, and consumer spending."
The hospitality industry faces an existential crisis, with nearly 1 in 6 restaurants closing permanently or long-term as of September.
Be smart: It might be easy to assume we'll reenter public life when the pandemic finally ends. But habits once broken aren't easily restored, especially as the knock-on effects of COVID-19 erode the value of public services.
Both public schools and transit face what some experts have called a "death spiral." As frustrated parents and scared passengers withdraw from the public system, they take tax dollars and fares with them, which means schools and transit services worsen.
That, in turn, "will cause some of our customers to say, 'you know what, it's not worth it,'" as Pat Foye, the head of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority told Bloomberg TV last month.
Those changes will widen what was already a yawning gap of inequality in the U.S., as only those who can't afford private solutions are left to make do with public remnants.
"The secession of upper-middle-class families from public school to private school is very bad for the country and for educational equity," Richard Kahlenberg, director of K-12 equity at The Century Foundation, told TIME.
Between the lines: Both push and pull factors are at work in the dissolution of public life.
As technology has improved, so have the benefits of staying at home, where you can increasingly watch what you want, eat what you want, and — if you're fortunate — work how you want, all on your own schedule.
In the years to come, TVs and game systems — like the next-generation platforms that sold out in seconds this fall — will only improve.
What this means is that public life and services — which require us to do the messy work of compromising with our fellow citizens — will be competing against an on-demand private life that will only get better in the years ahead.
What to watch: Whether Congress approves billions of dollars in much-needed money to rescue public transit and schools as part of a new round of COVID-19 stimulus funding.
The bottom line: It matters hugely whether our future involves returning to the office and public life or watching streaming reruns of "The Office" from our couches while ordering from DoorDash.
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-death-spiral-schools-transit-restaurants-ac9b310b-aca1-477c-97b2-2a5193584873.html
States will start getting COVID-19 vaccine Monday, US says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and FedEx begin delivering Pfizer’s vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the states, said Army Gen. Gustave Perna of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program. An additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday.
Initially, about 3 million doses were expected to be shipped nationwide. It was unclear exactly who would receive the first shots, though health care workers and nursing home residents were the priority. Perna said health authorities would decide.
Rest - https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-0437add2a9245e1f9c57e04e085c6cbc
Wow, seems like a bit of overkill and abuse here. If they refuse to give in, then shut his power and other utilities. But over $1 million in fines is huge.
NJ gym now facing over $1.2M in fines for defying Gov. Murphy's coronavirus lockdown orders
Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's COVID-19 restrictions have now resulted in more than $1.2 million in fines to a gym for defying the lockdowns in recent months.
“Governor Murphy has thrown everything he possibly could to shut us down. He has arrested my partner and I, given us over 60 citations, some of them criminal. He fines us $15,497.76 per day for every day we’re in operation. Our fines are totaling over $1.2 million, but every single day, Frank and I open our gym,” Atilis Gym co-owner Ian Smith told “America’s Newsroom” Thursday.
The Atilis Gym owners have had a drawn-out, ongoing public battle with their local government in Bellmawr, N.J., over coronavirus restrictions. Gov. Murphy has said the reason for limiting gyms is to stop the spread of the virus, but Smith argues there’s no scientific data to back up this claim.
Rest - https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-jersey-gym-owner-murphy-coronavirus-fines-million
California’s health order falling on many deaf ears
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. (AP) — In the Southern California oceanside city of Manhattan Beach, one arm of government is urging residents to stay home except for essential needs while another is encouraging them to get out and shop and even providing places where they can sit down to relax, eat takeout and watch the sun set over the Pacific.
It’s one example of confusing messages from governments as most of California is under a broad shutdown order that includes an overnight curfew to try to stem record-breaking coronavirus cases that threaten to overwhelm the hospital system.
While state and county health officials are pleading with residents to stay home and only mingle with those in their household, the order allows all retailers to remain open with 20% capacity and encourages people to get outside to exercise.
Manhattan Beach Mayor Suzanne Hadley said her community saw an opportunity to aid local businesses while meeting the stipulations of the order. The solution: repurposing city-owned patio areas set up to allow restaurants to serve diners outdoors — which no longer is allowed — into “public seating areas” where downtown shoppers can relax.
“Shopping for a Christmas gift, buying a to-go meal, watching a sunset are allowed, and even the outdoor activities are encouraged by the state,” she said.
Manhattan Beach in is Los Angeles County, the state’s largest with 10 million residents and disproportionately large numbers of California’s coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
On Thursday, when the state set a one-day record of 220 deaths, county Health Director Barbara Ferrer said if people don’t follow orders to stay home except for essential needs and not mingle with people outside their households, “we are running a risk that could have catastrophic consequences, with hospitals becoming overwhelmed and severely ill patients not able to get the care they need.”
Rest - https://apnews.com/article/business-california-coronavirus-pandemic-dccc64aadf2419d40ed1115aca8ca25a
And as if it weren't bad enough that the number of deaths is at record levels, but I think mandates and fines and closures and abuse in addition is also at record levels.
---
COVID kills 3,309 people in the US on the most lethal day of the pandemic so far while a record 232k new cases are recorded - as FDA chief tells public that doctors ARE prepared for allergic reactions to vaccine after UK patients were affected
US death toll from COVID-19 approaching 300,000 as Johns Hopkins researchers say 3,309 died on Friday
As of Saturday morning, there have been 15,851,735 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 295,539 deaths
New figures come as US regulators gave the final go-ahead on Friday to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine
Researchers in Washington State released projections showing that 502,000 Americans will die by April 1
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation says peak daily deaths have not yet been reached and will come in mid-January
The IHME models predicts that 48 states are expected to have high or extreme stress on ICUs at some point in the next four months as hospitalizations continue to grow
The United States recorded more than 3,300 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday - the largest single-day toll since the start of the pandemic - as it authorized the use of Pfizer’s vaccine, with the first inoculations expected within days, marking a turning point in a country where the pandemic has killed more than 295,000 people.
The Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for the vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech, which was shown to be 95 per cent effective in preventing the disease in a late-stage trial. It said the vaccine can be given to people aged 16 and older.
Healthcare workers and elderly people in long-term care facilities are expected to be the main recipients of a first round of 2.9 million doses this month.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn held a virtual press conference on Saturday morning in which he reassured the American public that the vaccine was safe and that doctors are prepared to deal with possible allergic reactions, of the kind that were witnessed in a few cases in the United Kingdom.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, 3,309 Americans died from coronavirus on Friday.
The US also reported 231,775 new cases as the pandemic shows no signs of ebbing - despite the FDA's approval of a new vaccine.
As of early Saturday morning, there have been 15,851,735 confirmed cases of COVID-19. So far, 295,539 Americans have died.
Rest - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9046191/COVIDs-deadliest-day-3-300-people-die-coronavirus-day-FDA-finally-approves-Pfizer-vaccine.html
The death spiral of public life
By removing Americans from public life, the pandemic is threatening long-term damage to the essential services we all share — like schools and transit — while worsening inequality.
Why it matters: Technology has helped keep many — though far from all of us — working, fed and even entertained at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the forced retreat from public life will have toxic ramifications unless the places and services we all share can be saved.
The big picture: As deadly as COVID-19 has been for those who have caught it, the pandemic could prove even more devastating for the institutions and services that make up the civic sphere.
Public schools across the country have seen a drastic drop in enrollment, in part because parents frustrated by COVID-closed classrooms and poor remote learning have turned to private schools, which have remained open at higher rates than their public counterparts. Some families are even homeschooling.
Combined with students moving to private schools, that could lead to budget cuts for public schools that get funding on a per-student basis.
Public transit systems have been crippled by COVID-19, as ridership plummets because of fear of infection and a shift to remote work. The drop in demand comes as funding for public transportation is threatened by plunging state and local government revenue.
And the office — that private space in public where many of us used to gather on a daily basis — is mortally threatened. Nearly 14% of office space in Midtown Manhattan is vacant, the highest rate since the depths of the 2009 recession.
A recent McKinsey report found three to four times more people could end up working remotely than before the pandemic, which "would have a profound impact on urban economies, transportation, and consumer spending."
The hospitality industry faces an existential crisis, with nearly 1 in 6 restaurants closing permanently or long-term as of September.
Be smart: It might be easy to assume we'll reenter public life when the pandemic finally ends. But habits once broken aren't easily restored, especially as the knock-on effects of COVID-19 erode the value of public services.
Both public schools and transit face what some experts have called a "death spiral." As frustrated parents and scared passengers withdraw from the public system, they take tax dollars and fares with them, which means schools and transit services worsen.
That, in turn, "will cause some of our customers to say, 'you know what, it's not worth it,'" as Pat Foye, the head of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority told Bloomberg TV last month.
Those changes will widen what was already a yawning gap of inequality in the U.S., as only those who can't afford private solutions are left to make do with public remnants.
"The secession of upper-middle-class families from public school to private school is very bad for the country and for educational equity," Richard Kahlenberg, director of K-12 equity at The Century Foundation, told TIME.
Between the lines: Both push and pull factors are at work in the dissolution of public life.
As technology has improved, so have the benefits of staying at home, where you can increasingly watch what you want, eat what you want, and — if you're fortunate — work how you want, all on your own schedule.
In the years to come, TVs and game systems — like the next-generation platforms that sold out in seconds this fall — will only improve.
What this means is that public life and services — which require us to do the messy work of compromising with our fellow citizens — will be competing against an on-demand private life that will only get better in the years ahead.
What to watch: Whether Congress approves billions of dollars in much-needed money to rescue public transit and schools as part of a new round of COVID-19 stimulus funding.
The bottom line: It matters hugely whether our future involves returning to the office and public life or watching streaming reruns of "The Office" from our couches while ordering from DoorDash.
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-death-spiral-schools-transit-restaurants-ac9b310b-aca1-477c-97b2-2a5193584873.html
States will start getting COVID-19 vaccine Monday, US says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and FedEx begin delivering Pfizer’s vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the states, said Army Gen. Gustave Perna of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program. An additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday.
Initially, about 3 million doses were expected to be shipped nationwide. It was unclear exactly who would receive the first shots, though health care workers and nursing home residents were the priority. Perna said health authorities would decide.
Rest - https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-0437add2a9245e1f9c57e04e085c6cbc
Wow, seems like a bit of overkill and abuse here. If they refuse to give in, then shut his power and other utilities. But over $1 million in fines is huge.
NJ gym now facing over $1.2M in fines for defying Gov. Murphy's coronavirus lockdown orders
Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's COVID-19 restrictions have now resulted in more than $1.2 million in fines to a gym for defying the lockdowns in recent months.
“Governor Murphy has thrown everything he possibly could to shut us down. He has arrested my partner and I, given us over 60 citations, some of them criminal. He fines us $15,497.76 per day for every day we’re in operation. Our fines are totaling over $1.2 million, but every single day, Frank and I open our gym,” Atilis Gym co-owner Ian Smith told “America’s Newsroom” Thursday.
The Atilis Gym owners have had a drawn-out, ongoing public battle with their local government in Bellmawr, N.J., over coronavirus restrictions. Gov. Murphy has said the reason for limiting gyms is to stop the spread of the virus, but Smith argues there’s no scientific data to back up this claim.
Rest - https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-jersey-gym-owner-murphy-coronavirus-fines-million
California’s health order falling on many deaf ears
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. (AP) — In the Southern California oceanside city of Manhattan Beach, one arm of government is urging residents to stay home except for essential needs while another is encouraging them to get out and shop and even providing places where they can sit down to relax, eat takeout and watch the sun set over the Pacific.
It’s one example of confusing messages from governments as most of California is under a broad shutdown order that includes an overnight curfew to try to stem record-breaking coronavirus cases that threaten to overwhelm the hospital system.
While state and county health officials are pleading with residents to stay home and only mingle with those in their household, the order allows all retailers to remain open with 20% capacity and encourages people to get outside to exercise.
Manhattan Beach Mayor Suzanne Hadley said her community saw an opportunity to aid local businesses while meeting the stipulations of the order. The solution: repurposing city-owned patio areas set up to allow restaurants to serve diners outdoors — which no longer is allowed — into “public seating areas” where downtown shoppers can relax.
“Shopping for a Christmas gift, buying a to-go meal, watching a sunset are allowed, and even the outdoor activities are encouraged by the state,” she said.
Manhattan Beach in is Los Angeles County, the state’s largest with 10 million residents and disproportionately large numbers of California’s coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
On Thursday, when the state set a one-day record of 220 deaths, county Health Director Barbara Ferrer said if people don’t follow orders to stay home except for essential needs and not mingle with people outside their households, “we are running a risk that could have catastrophic consequences, with hospitals becoming overwhelmed and severely ill patients not able to get the care they need.”
Rest - https://apnews.com/article/business-california-coronavirus-pandemic-dccc64aadf2419d40ed1115aca8ca25a