851 new cases of coronavirus reported in Arkansas with school starting in less than a week KATV
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851 new cases of coronavirus reported in Arkansas with school starting in less than a week - KATV
SEOUL, South Korea North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, says the nation is facing two crises at the same time fighting the spread of the coronavirus and coping with extensive flood damage. But Mr. Kim has ordered his country not to accept any international aid for fear that outside help might bring in Covid-19, the state news media reported on Friday.
Mr. Kim, who spoke during a meeting of the ruling Workers Party Politburo on Thursday, said that he sympathized with the great pain of families who had lost their homes to the floods and were living in temporary shelters.
But he said the situation, in which the spread of the worldwide malignant virus has become worse, requires us not to allow any outside aid for the flood damage but shut the border tighter and carry out strict anti-epidemic work, according to the Norths official Korean Central News Agency.
The double-whammy calamities of the pandemic and floods have exacerbated Mr. Kims economic troubles. The Norths economy, already hamstrung by the sanctions imposed by the United Nations for its nuclear weapons development, has gone into a tailspin this year as fear of coronavirus infections cut deeply into its exports and imports with China, the countrys primary trading partner.
An unusually long monsoon season, as well as torrential rains this month, has set off floods and landslides in both North and South Korea. But the North said the natural disaster had damaged 96,300 acres of farmland and 16,680 homes, as well as roads, embankments and rail lines. Most of the damage was reported in southern and western provinces, a breadbasket for North Korea, which has suffered chronic food shortages even during normal years.
North Korea has also taken drastic actions against the coronavirus, sealing its borders in late January and quarantining all diplomats in Pyongyang for a month. It locked down the border city of Kaesong last month, suspecting a defector who crossed back over the border from South Korea of bringing the virus with him.
North Koreas swift actions were driven by fears that a Covid-19 outbreak could seriously test its woefully underequipped public health system and its economy, already struggling under international sanctions, analysts said.
On Friday, however, North Korea lifted the lockdown, based on the scientific verification and guarantee by a professional anti-epidemic organization.
The North Korean state news media has long insisted that there are no coronavirus cases in the country, although outside experts question the claim. The North did not reveal whether the defector who crossed back from South Korea had tested positive for the virus, and officials in the South have said there is no proof that he had it.
The global pandemic and creeping flood damage come as Mr. Kim has failed to get United Nations sanctions lifted through his stalled diplomatic relations with President Trump.
By precluding outside aid, Mr. Kim appeared to have denied Seoul and Washington a chance to thaw relations with the North through humanitarian shipments.
North Koreas rejection of flood relief is ostensibly to prevent transmission of Covid-19 into the country, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. But humanitarian assistance is heavily politicized by the Kim regime, as it does not want to show weakness to the domestic population or international rivals.
North Korea shut down business with neighboring China, which accounts for nine-tenths of its external trade, and clamped down on smugglers who keep its thriving unofficial markets functioning. The countrys exports to China, hit hard by the border shutdown, plummeted to $27 million in the first half of this year, a 75 percent drop from a year ago, according to the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. Imports from China dropped 67 percent, to $380 million.
Updated August 12, 2020
About 60 percent of North Koreas population face food insecurity this year, according to the United States Department of Agricultures Economic Research Service.
The floods and coronavirus fears have also complicated Mr. Kims plan to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ruling Workers Party on Oct. 10 with pomp and spectacle.
We cannot make the flood-affected people celebrate the 75th anniversary of the party homeless, Mr. Kim said during the Politburo meeting, urging his government to bring the lives of the people back to normal as soon as possible.
The Norths leader has been visiting the flood-affected areas in recent weeks, sometimes photographed driving his own car, and has ordered the release of reserve grains for the hard-hit towns, in an apparent effort to demonstrate what the state news media has called his people-loving leadership.
During the Politburo meeting, Mr. Kim replaced Premier Kim Jae-ryong, who was in charge of the cabinet and the economy, with Kim Tok-hun, a senior official in the Workers Party. The departing premier was given a senior post within the party.
Mr. Kim also elevated Ri Pyong-chol, an official in charge of North Koreas missile and nuclear weapons development, to the top leadership committee of the Politburo, along with the new premier.
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North Korea, Fighting Coronavirus and Floods, Rejects Outside Aid - The New York Times
Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the countys top law enforcement official and a prominent national voice on crime and public safety, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Gualtieri, 58, is experiencing mild symptoms of COVID-19, including losing his sense of smell and taste, the Pinellas County Sheriffs Office announced Saturday. He had no fever or breathing issues.
Doing fine. Thanks, he texted a Tampa Bay Times reporter when asked about his condition Saturday. He did not respond to a phone call or text questions about how he might have contracted the virus.
He will stay at home for 10 days, working remotely, the agency said. The sheriff oversees an office of more than 2,800 employees.
No other Sheriffs Office staffers need to quarantine, according to an agency spokeswoman, and no additional measures are necessary based on the Sheriffs activities in the applicable period leading up to his positive test.
Gualtieri was in touch with contact tracers at the Florida Department of Health, the spokeswoman said. She said sheriffs personnel have practiced appropriate social distancing in all meetings, and people are either more than six feet apart and/or wearing masks or the meetings are accomplished electronically.
His official calendar showed the sheriff had meetings scheduled every day of the week before his positive test, but it was unclear which were held in person.
On Aug. 8, six days before his positive result, the sheriff spoke at a news conference after a St. Petersburg police officer fatally shot a man accused of attacking her.
The Sheriffs Office said Gualtieri tested positive on Friday. The spokeswoman did not respond to a question about whether Friday was when the test was taken or when the results became available.
In June, an outbreak at the Pinellas County Jail led to 18 cases among staff and inmates in 24 hours.
Gaultieri called the outbreak a big problem at the time and said the agency would have to make significant changes. The agency scaled back misdemeanor arrests and directed staff at the jail to wear cloth or surgical masks at all times.
The office says it suggests deputies follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which encourage wearing masks in all public settings. Staff are also required to follow any local mask ordinances.
There is growing evidence that the virus can linger in the air inside buildings and spread beyond six feet.
After a statewide Florida Sheriffs Association conference in July, five attendees tested positive for the virus, even though the association said guests exceeded necessary precautions. Gualtieri was not one of them, although he attended.
Gualtieri is married to Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Lauralee Westine, who is assigned to family court in Pasco County. The two have a high school-aged daughter and live in a house in East Lake.
The man, named Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriffs Association in 2019, has emerged as a prominent and influential figure in American law enforcement. He was serving as chief deputy and general counsel when then-Gov. Rick Scott appointed him to lead the Pinellas County Sheriffs Office in 2011. The Republican won elections in 2012 and 2016 and is running for re-election this year.
Gualtieri made national headlines in 2018 when he said Floridas stand your ground law precluded him from arresting a white man who shot and killed Markeis McGlockton, a young black father, during an argument over a Clearwater handicap parking space. Prosecutors took the case to trial, and the shooter was convicted and sentenced to prison.
The sheriff has also influenced state and national policy. He has called for local law enforcement to work more closely with immigration officials when they detain undocumented people, and he helped craft Floridas ban on sanctuary cities.
Gualtieri also pushed to allow school employees to carry guns as the chair of a school safety commission formed after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
In June, he was on hand at the White House as President Donald Trump signed an executive order to track use-of-force complaints against law enforcement officers, less than a month after George Floyd was killed by an officer in Minneapolis.
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LANSING, MI Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order Saturday to establish new coronavirus safety and testing protocols inside Michigan correctional facilities through the end of September.
The order mandates that incarcerated people be tested for COVID-19 upon entry to, transfer, and release from prisons, jails, and juvenile detention facilities, and resumes the suspension of transferring people from jails to prisons unless certain risk-reduction and testing protocols are established inside the jail.
Those protocols include screening all people entering or leaving a facility, testing inmates presenting symptoms of COVID-19, providing employees with personal protective equipment (PPE), and requiring masks and social distancing for inmates and staff.
Staff is not required to be testing on their way in or out of work, but their temperatures are taken, and recent travel information is recorded.
In light of the ongoing threat of COVID-19 to jail and prison populations, and the increased availability of testing in our state, it is now reasonable and necessary to require entry, transfer, and release testing of inmates in Michigan prisons, and to allow transfers only from jails that implement comparable testing protocols, the revised Executive Order 2020-170 reads.
The order will be in effect until Sept. 30.
The announcement comes as the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), which oversees the states prison system, has 435 active COVID-19 cases, its largest spike since the spring.
Most of those cases are in the Muskegon Correctional Facility, where an outbreak began three weeks ago.
RELATED: Coronavirus surges again in Michigan prisons, with biggest outbreak since spring
Whitmers first executive order regarding MDOC facilities took place in March, as the virus began its spread inside the state of Michigan
The order temporarily suspended the transfer of people from jails to prisons. Those transfers briefly resumed, and are now suspended again. For jails that have resumed tranfers, this latest order goes into effect on Sept. 8.
RELATED: Gov. Whitmer takes action to protect jails, detention centers from coronavirus
Beginning next Monday, a lockup facility may request an inspection to determine if they meet the safety and testing protocols necessary to transfer prisoners in.
The risk reduction protocols include screening all people coming in and out of a given facility by taking their temperature and recording travel information; providing staff with PPE; increasing circulation by opening windows and using fans; providing personal hygiene products, including soap and water, to inmates; regularly cleaning and sanitizing the facility.
Prisons are required to coordinate with local public health departments, notifying them of suspected or confirmed cases.
Visits to jails and prisons are suspended, except for attorney visits, and any inmate presenting COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, sore throat, uncontrolled cough, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, severe headache, and loss of taste or smell must be isolated and tested.
Jails will also be expected to maintain documentation of an inmates testing history.
Inmates will be subject to wide testing requirements upon intake, within 72 hours before any transfer, and within 72 hours before release.
In the event of a widespread outbreak, testing will be required on an ongoing basis, coupled with contact tracing, in coordination with the local public health department, the order reads. Prisoners who have tested positive should not be transferred unless 10 days have passed since symptom onset, 24 hours have passed since a fever resolved, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and other symptoms have improved.
The order also strongly encourage(s) the early release of certain members of the jail population, including older people, people with chronic medical conditions, pregnant people, people approaching their release date. People whose offenses were traffic violations or failure to appear or failure to pay are also considered eligible for early release under these circumstances.
RELATED: Protesters urge Whitmer to release Michigan inmates facing risk of coronavirus in state prisons
People who violate their parole will not be brought to jail unless that facility has been deemed in compliance with the protocols.
Incarcerated people are considered especially at risk for contracting COVID-19, because of the tight quarters in many jails and prisons and the shared nature of life within their walls. Early in the pandemic, protesters called upon Whitmer to release low-risk prisoners in acknowledgement of this risk.
To date, 4,351 incarcerated people and 435 MDOC employees have tested positive for COVID-19. Those figures include the deaths of 68 prisoners and three corrections workers, according to the MDOC.
COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS
In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.
Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.
Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here.
Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
For more data on COVID-19 in Michigan, visit https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/data/.
Read more on MLive:
Muskegon inmate with coronavirus receives meeting with parole board after AG support
Sick with COVID-19, inmate cant get out of prison even with AG, prosecutor backing him
As coronavirus cases climb in Muskegon prison, families express fear and confusion
Coronavirus surges again in Michigan prisons, with biggest outbreak since spring
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Amid spike in prison coronavirus cases, Gov. Whitmer orders testing and safety protocols - MLive.com
Going to stay with family means exposing more than one household. Can testing in advance keep everyone safe? Noel Hendrickson/Getty Images hide caption
Going to stay with family means exposing more than one household. Can testing in advance keep everyone safe?
Let's face it, if you've been staying home a lot, you're probably pretty tired of looking at the same faces. Love them as we do, it feels like well past time to start seeing other people, to visit or host relatives and dear friends. So how can you do this without unknowingly spreading the virus or getting exposed?
Recently my husband and I debated this when our son, who lives in another state, said he'd like to come home for a visit. He lives with roommates in a city with a high rate of infection, and he works in a restaurant. We thought of having him get a diagnostic test to find out if he is infected. That way, if he got back a negative test, our problems would be solved, right?
Well, when I called up a few infectious disease specialists to ask if this all made sense, I discovered that using a diagnostic test for the coronavirus this way can be problematic. Here's what I learned.
First, which test are we talking about?
Currently the most commonly available test that can detect an active infection is the molecular or PCR test, typically collected via a swab in the nose or the back of the throat. These tests look for the virus's genetic material and are highly sensitive. Another kind of diagnostic test is an antigen test that can detect the coronavirus's proteins these are less sensitive, says Daniel Green, a pathologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and can be less accurate. And finally there are tests that show if your body has developed antibodies because it fought an infection from the coronavirus. Those tell you about an infection you had in the past, not what you have right now.
If I get a negative result on a PCR diagnostic test, can I be certain I won't infect someone I want to spend time with?
Like everything with this pandemic, the answer is complicated. The infectious disease experts I spoke to told me there are two reasons why testing might not be very helpful. The first has to do with the length of time it takes to get your test results back these days up to a week or more in some places for PCR tests. By the time you get your results back, you could have unknowingly been exposed to the virus, making the original test irrelevant.
The next big reason has to do with accuracy. While the PCR test is highly accurate in a laboratory setting, out in the real world it can produce some false positives and a lot of false negatives. In fact studies show a negative diagnostic test result can be wrong between 5% and 40% of the time, depending on the circumstances.
Some of this variation has to do with how well the sample was collected whether an adequate amount of mucous made it onto the swab, for example. But it also has to do with timing. You see, the diagnostic test tells you whether or not you have the virus on the day you took it. It reflects a single "pinpoint in time," says Dr. Henry Anyimadu, an infectious disease specialist with Hartford HealthCare Medical Group at the Hospital of Central Connecticut.
"Suppose that I was exposed on the 1st of August and I didn't know it," says infectious disease specialist Dr. Aileen Marty of Florida International University. "And I took the test on the 2nd of August. My test result will probably be negative." That's because the virus typically has at least a four- to five-day incubation period, so in the first few days after exposure, there may not yet be "enough virus in the upper respiratory system to be detectable," Marty says.
Wait, up to 40% false negative sounds like a lot is there anything I can do to ensure my results are more reliable?
Yes, there are some things you can do. But first remember this, for many of us that false negative rate could be much lower than 40%, says Green, who was a coauthor on one of the studies about test reliability. He points out that many of the people in his study were sampled too early, before the diagnostic test could detect the presence of the virus. So if you want to make sure your test is as reliable as possible, wait several days from the last point you think you could have been exposed before getting the test and while you wait, self-quarantine to avoid further exposures.
Marty agrees, saying, before you take the test, "be in a bubble for at least four or five days." Don't go to bars and restaurants and scale back grocery story visits or have food delivered. Bottom line, limit your exposure as much as possible leading up to test day. And then, Marty adds, "Stay in the bubble until you get your results back." That's because if you aren't careful, you could be exposed to the virus while waiting for results, and if you do have the virus even if you don't have symptoms you could spread it to others.
So if negative results are iffy, is it ever worth getting a diagnostic test?
Yes. There are definitely times when one should get a test, Anyimadu says. "If you're worried you have COVID-19 based on symptoms, you should get a test." Or, if you think you might have been exposed for instance, if your roommate, housemate or someone close to you is infected get a test.
And you should consider a test if you've traveled to an area with a high rate of coronavirus infection, Anyimadu says. To find out if your county or one you've spent time in recently has a high rate of infection, check this county-level map. If the county has more than 10 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, that's considered high risk.
If I test positive, but I don't have any symptoms, what should I do?
If you get a positive test result, our experts say, this is not the time to expand your bubble! Even If you don't have any symptoms, you are possibly contagious, and you could still develop symptoms. Marty says you should isolate yourself for 14 days, learn the symptoms of COVID-19 and monitor yourself. If you do get sick and your symptoms are getting worse, call your health care provider. And don't forget all those folks who live with you. They too need to be tested whether they have symptoms or not, Marty says, and should self-quarantine.
Marty also suggests people "connect with their department of health to assist with contact tracing," and help health workers reach out to anyone else who might have been exposed to you.
If you develop any symptoms, keep track of when they kick in so that you will know when you're no longer contagious. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you should isolate yourself for at least 10 days after your first symptom appears. At that point, as long as you haven't had a fever for at least 24 hours and you're feeling better, you should be able to mix with others.
If I can't rely on negative test results, what do I do instead to visit someone safely or merge social bubbles?
The safest and simplest thing to do if you want complete peace of mind is to quarantine yourself for 14 days before the visit this is especially important if you're hoping to visit someone who is older or has an underlying condition.
But short of that, experts say testing can play a role in your decision-making as long as you "don't treat a negative test as a get-out-of-jail free card," Green says.
Think of it as one more piece of imperfect information that you can add together with the most important factor, your own behavior. Have you been able to isolate as much as possible before the potential visit with a friend? If you have gone out, did you carefully socially distance and wear a mask? Have you been avoiding bars and restaurants and indoor gatherings?
If the answer to these questions is yes, and if you are certain you haven't been around someone with a possible or confirmed case of COVID-19, then a negative test could be helpful. "If you aren't sick or don't have any particular reason to believe you're infectious," says epidemiologist Justin Lessler from Johns Hopkins University, "then getting that negative test should increase your confidence."
And remember, before you head off on your trip or join friends for an indoor gathering, ask the people you're visiting about their own behaviors and whether or not they've also gotten a test. Remember, you can spread the virus, but you can receive it as well.
"There's no way to bring your risk down to zero," Anyimadu says. But the recommended measures of mask-wearing, social distancing and thorough hand washing are still the most important defense against the virus. And that is true whether you've had a negative test, a positive test or not even gotten a test at all.
Rob Stein and Carmel Wroth contributed to this report.
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Should You Get Tested For Coronavirus Before You Travel To Visit Family? : Shots - Health News - NPR
Amid a flurry of concern over reports that frozen chicken wings imported to China from Brazil had tested positive for the coronavirus, experts said on Thursday that the likelihood of catching the virus from food especially frozen, packaged food is exceedingly low.
This means somebody probably handled those chicken wings who might have had the virus, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University. But it doesnt mean, Oh my god, nobody buy any chicken wings because theyre contaminated.
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that there is no evidence to suggest that handling food or consuming food is associated with Covid-19. The main route the virus is known to take from person to person is through spray from sneezing, coughing, speaking or even breathing.
I make no connection between this and any fear that this is the cause of any long-distance transmission events, said C. Brandon Ogbunu, a disease ecologist at Yale University. When the virus crosses international boundaries, its almost certainly chauffeured by people, rather than the commercial products they ship.
The chicken wings were screened on Wednesday in Shenzhens Longgang district, where officials have been testing imports for the presence of coronavirus genetic material, or RNA. Several samples taken from the outer packaging of frozen seafood, some of which had been shipped in from Ecuador, recently tested positive for virus RNA in Chinas Anhui, Shaanxi and Shandong provinces as well.
Laboratory procedures that search for RNA also form the basis of most of the coronavirus tests performed in people. But RNA is only a proxy for the presence of the virus, which can leave behind bits of its genetic material even after it has been destroyed, Dr. Ogbunu said. This is just detecting the signature that the virus has been there at some point, he said.
To prove that a dangerous, viable virus persists on food or packaging, researchers would need to isolate the microbe and show in a lab that it can still replicate. These experiments are logistically challenging and require specially trained personnel, and arent a part of the typical testing pipeline.
After samples taken from the surface of the meat came up positive, officials performed similar tests on several people whom they suspected had come into contact with the product. They also tested a slew of other packaged goods. All samples analyzed so far have been negative for coronavirus RNA, according to a statement released by the Shenzhen Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters Office.
But the same statement cautioned consumers about imported frozen products, and early reports of the news sparked alarm on social media. In New Zealand, where a new outbreak has set off another lockdown, officials are tentatively exploring the possibility that the virus might have reentered the country via frozen products imported from abroad.
Both Dr. Ogbunu and Dr. Rasmussen said that an extraordinarily unusual series of events would need to occur for the virus to be transmitted via a frozen meat product. Depending on where the virus originated, it would need to endure a potentially cross-continental journey in a frozen state likely melting and refreezing at least once along the way then find its way onto someones bare hands, en route to the nose or mouth.
Even more unlikely is the scenario that a virus could linger on food after being heated, survive being swallowed into the ultra-acidic human digestive tract, then set up shop in the airway.
The risks of that happening are incredibly small, Dr. Rasmussen said.
Some viruses might be able to weather such an onerous pilgrimage. But the coronavirus probably isnt one of them because its a so-called enveloped virus, shrouded in a fragile outer shell thats vulnerable to all sorts of environmental disturbances, including extreme changes in temperature.
Viruses are often frozen in laboratories that maintain stocks of pathogens for experiments. But virologists must monitor that process carefully to avoid destroying the vulnerable bugs.
Updated August 12, 2020
The act of freezing and unfreezing is a kind of violent thermodynamic process, Dr. Ogbunu said. A virus, for all its toughness and robustness, is a very delicate instrument of infection.
The C.D.C. has noted that it is possible that the coronavirus can spread through contaminated surfaces, including food or food packaging. But thats not known to be among the main ways the virus gets around.
If you dont want get infected, avoiding direct contact with other people is probably a better use of your time, Dr. Ogbunu said.
Yes, we should continue to wash our hands and be mindful of surfaces where a lot of individuals are, he said. But its close proximity to others that can really facilitate transmission.
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You Probably Wont Catch the Coronavirus From Frozen Food - The New York Times
(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)
Good evening. Heres the latest.
1. The coronavirus summer surge hit its deadliest day so far this month.
Officials across the U.S. reported at least 1,470 virus deaths on Wednesday, the highest single-day total yet in August, according to a Times database. For more than two weeks, the country has averaged more than 1,000 deaths a day. Medics in Houston responded to a nursing home on Wednesday, above.
But even that stark statistic doesnt tell the whole story. A Times analysis found that at least 200,000 more people have died than usual since March. This is about 60,000 higher than the number of deaths that have been directly attributed to the coronavirus. And by any account, the US. has suffered far more deaths than any other country.
2. New weekly jobless claims fell below one million for the first time since March.
The Labor Department reported that 963,000 people last week filed first-time claims for benefits under regular state unemployment programs. But layoffs remain exceptionally high by historical standards, and the pace of rehiring has slowed.
The economic pain is particularly severe for families with children. Researchers at the Federal Reserve found that household heads lost jobs in 12.9 percent of families with children since the pandemic took hold, compared with 9.2 percent in households without children. In single-parent households, the share jumped to 23.2 percent.
3. Israel will suspend plans to annex disputed West Bank territory as part of a deal to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates.
In a surprise statement issued by the White House, President Trump said he brokered a deal for Israel and the U.A.E. to sign a string of bilateral agreements on investment, tourism, security and other areas while moving to allow direct flights between their countries and set up reciprocal embassies.
That would make the U.A.E. the third Arab country to establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel, after Jordan and Egypt. Above, Tel Aviv city hall lit up in the colors of the U.A.E. flag.
For its key players, the deal came at an opportune moment: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to remind Israelis why they elected him; Mr. Trump needed a diplomatic win; and the U.A.E., under fire for alleged human rights abuses in Yemen and Libya, needed to improve its image in Washington and beyond.
4. President Trump explicitly linked his objections to more funding for the U.S. Postal Service to his aversion to mail-in voting.
In an interview on the Fox Business Network, Mr. Trump cited proposals by House Democrats to allocate $25 billion to the service and another $3 billion specifically to help it handle mail-in voting. Funding for the Postal Service has been a key sticking point in negotiations for a new coronavirus relief deal.
If we dont make a deal, that means they dont get the money, he said. That means they cant have universal mail-in voting, they just cant have it.
Separately, the Supreme Court effectively upheld a Rhode Island judges order that makes it easier for voters in the state to vote by mail during the pandemic.
5. The Justice Department accused Yale University of discriminating against Asian-American and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions process.
The finding came after a two-year investigation, the departments civil rights division said. It ordered Yale to suspend the use of race or national origin in its admissions process for one year after which it must seek clearance to use it. A federal appeals court is preparing to hear a challenge against the use of race in admissions at Harvard College.
We also took a look at the push for remote learning this fall. Rising infection rates were clearly the major driver. But President Trumps demands that schools reopen helped harden opposition to in-person instruction and gave powerful teachers unions fodder to demand stronger safety measures or resist physically reopening.
6. After celebrating 100 days without community spread, residents of New Zealands largest city are back under lockdown.
Four new cases reported in Auckland on Wednesday grew to 17 by Thursday. Epidemiologists are racing to determine the source possibly via a cargo ship or quarantine facilities for returning travelers and the country is rolling out a huge testing, contact tracing and quarantine blitz to quash Covid-19 for the second time.
And in China, two people tested positive for a second time after recovering earlier this year. The two cases have revived concerns about second-time infections that have baffled experts.
7. The Trump administration formalized the lifting of Obama-era controls on methane, just as new research shows that far more of the potent greenhouse gas is seeping into the atmosphere than previously known.
The reversal effectively frees oil and gas companies from the need to detect and repair methane leaks. The Environmental Protection Agency justified the move by citing agency data showing that leaks from domestic oil and gas wells have remained steady over the past decade. Above, a well pad near Mead, Colo.
However, numerous recent studies show the opposite: that methane emissions from drilling sites in the U.S. are far more extensive than the E.P.A.s official numbers.
8. How do you make a blockbuster hit in a pandemic? For starters: Rent an entire hotel for the cast and crew, and procure 18,000 Covid-19 tests and 150 hand sanitizer stations.
Jurassic World: Dominion, now filming in England, is one of the first major studio films to restart production since the coronavirus led to a global shutdown in March. The set requires constant testing, and has a Green Zone that is limited to the director, the cast and essential crew.
Its a chance for the movie industry to see if it can move past the financial woes caused by the pandemic including closed movie theaters and audiences increasingly comfortable watching movies from the couch and keep everyone safe.
9. Animal tears are starting to get more attention.
By studying the numerous ways animals keep their eyes wet and healthy, scientists hope to help address human vision problems. Dr. Arianne Pontes Ori and her colleagues reported this week that tears can be great equalizers: Vertebrates across the animal kingdom seem to swaddle their eyes with fluid in much the same way.
Their work requires collecting animal tears, like the barn owl above. Not to worry the entire process comes down to whats best for the patients. Whatever tears theyre willing to offer, Dr. Ori said, we respect that, even if it is only a tiny amount.
10. And finally, Special Agent Mulder to the rescue.
Rudy Garcia-Tolsons attempt to make a fifth Paralympic swim team after three years of retirement was missing a crucial element a pool where he could train. With all of the public pools near his home in Southern California closed, swimming in the ocean was hardly the best way to prepare to face elite competition.
Then David Duchovny, best known for his role on TVs The X-Files, offered up his pool in Malibu. The actor, a fellow swimmer and triathlete, had read an article in The Times about Garcia-Tolsons struggle.
The first few days I was in awe that I was in Malibu, at an outdoor private pool, Garcia-Tolson said. After I got over that I was able to get into my zone.
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Coronavirus, Israel, Animal Tears: Your Thursday Evening Briefing - The New York Times
A Georgia school district that does not require masks has closed a high school and now has over 1,100 students and staff in quarantine due to the coronavirus.
The Cherokee County School District, based in Canton about 40 miles north of Atlanta, made the announcement Tuesday, just eight days after its schools reopened.
"This decision was not made lightly," Superintendent Brian Hightower said in a statement about the temporary halt to in-person instruction at Etowah High School. He said the high school had 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 15 tests pending as of Tuesday morning.
"As a result of the confirmed cases, 294 students and staff are under quarantine and, should the pending tests prove positive, that total would increase dramatically," the superintendent said.
In total, the district has 59 confirmed cases of the virus, Hightower said.
It also has 1,156 students and 37 staff in quarantine, according to a district list.
Hightower warned that because the coronavirus cases are predominantly at the district's high schools more of those schools could be closed.
Riley Ball, a student at Creekview High School, said one-way hallways have been implemented but classrooms don't allow for much social distancing.
"With how the classrooms are set up, kids are in very close range to each other no matter what," he told MSNBC. "But outside of that, when students do have control of who they're around and who they're near, there's still quite a few people that will get into groups and go to places whether they're wearing a mask or not."
The high school junior said he thinks masks should be required.
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"I feel like if it was required, there would be a lot more students that would be wearing masks," he said. "There are a fair number of students that do wear masks, but there's still a large amount of people that don't."
Creekview has more than 100 students under quarantine, according to the district's list. Ball said a student in his class tested positive for the virus, but he was told he didn't need to quarantine because he wasn't in direct contact with the student.
He said it still makes him uneasy. "I feel like it would be a lot safer and a lot better if instead ... it was being treated like the whole classroom was at risk instead of just the people directly near that person."
The Cherokee County district which has an enrollment of 42,000, of whom over 30,000 are receiving in-person instruction recommends but does not require students to wear masks.
But the superintendent said in his statement that wearing masks may help prevent the closure of more schools.
"As your Superintendent, I wear a mask whenever I cannot social distance," Hightower said. "We know all parents do not believe the scientific research that indicates masks are beneficial, but I believe it and see masks as an important measure to help us keep schools open."
When we announced plans to reopen schools with options of in-person learning and Digital Learning at home, we made clear the challenges that came along with this choice for our families, he said.
Prior to the reopening of schools on Aug. 3, some teachers and parents protested the district's plan.
In July, dozens of demonstrators, including teachers, protested outside a school board meeting, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.
And some teachers resigned before the school year started due to safety concerns, according to the Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News.
One of them was teacher Allison Webb, who worked at Sequoyah High School.
Out of 2,000 students in this school, 1,500 will be returning in person without a mandatory mask requirement, Webb told the news outlet in late July, saying this frightened her.
Another teacher said she was also concerned about the lack of a mask mandate, but planned to return to the classroom.
My personal fear is that Im going to die before my career is over, that this tiny virus is whats going to take me out, and not old age or some horrific accident," science teacher Olivia Vacid told the Tribune & Ledger News. "I dont understand the countys refusal to mandate masking for students."
Parent Amanda Seghetti, whose child attends Woodstock Middle School, told MSNBC that she decided to keep her child home for online classes.
"I just felt like, without there being more social distancing measures and the requirement of masks for all students, that it just wasn't the best idea for him to go in person," she said.
Seghetti said her son will continue online classes for the remainder of the semester and will reevaluate in January.
"I want him to go back," she said. But she added, "I want the numbers to go down. I want to see that with sending students to school, we aren't having these huge outbreaks. And I'm not seeing that right now."
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Coronavirus prompts closing of Georgia high school in district with over 1K in quarantine - NBC News
Another 21 coronavirus cases have been reported in Maine, health officials said Thursday.
Thursdays report brings the total coronavirus cases in Maine to 4,089. Of those, 3,679 have been confirmed positive, while 410 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency revised Wednesdays cumulative total to 4,068, down from 4,070, meaning there was an increase of 19 over the previous days report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the states cumulative total.
No new deaths were reported Thursday, leaving the statewide death toll at 126. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.
So far, 395 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 11 people are currently hospitalized, with five in critical care and three on ventilators.
Meanwhile, 13 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 3,592. That means there are 371 active and probable cases in the state, which is up/down from 365 on Wednesday.
Heres the latest on the coronavirus and its impact on Maine.
Maines public universities are canceling fall and spring breaks this academic year and restricting out-of-state travel for students as part of an effort to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading on campus. Theyll also reduce fall room and board costs for students living in university residence halls. Eesha Pendharkar, BDN
Maine continued to see new jobless claims slide last week, but they still remain higher than those seen before the coronavirus pandemic. Christopher Burns, BDN
While Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick share many attributes including more than 200 miles of border the coronavirus has followed sharply different courses in the two places. Charles Eichacker, BDN
Two students at Foxcroft Academy have tested positive for the coronavirus, and they had participated in the Dover-Foxcroft schools preseason athletic workouts before the school called them off Tuesday, according to the academys head of school. Eesha Pendharkar, BDN
It has been a different type of summer for the University of Maines fall sports coaches, who have had their seasons pushed back until spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have had to recruit from home because the NCAA banned in-person recruiting on March 13. Larry Mahoney, BDN
On March 10, when Maine resident and motel owner Linda York Cook traveled to Japan to attend her sons wedding, she thought she would be back home by mid-April. But that was before the global COVID-19 pandemic brought international air and marine traffic to a near standstill, leaving many travelers stranded while trying to find alternate ways to get home. Now, more than five months later and after multiple flight cancellations, medical complications from her diabetes, and countless conversations about logistics with her husband, who in her absence has been managing their Guilford motel by himself Cook may finally be coming home. Bill Trotter, BDN
As of Thursday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 5,240,650 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 166,956 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
Excerpt from:
August 13 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine - Bangor Daily News
Some religious gatherings worldwide have turned into coronavirus-spreading events. India is allegedly prosecuting members of an Islamic group, including some Americans, for spreading the virus.
Apoorva Mittal reported this story as a justice reporting fellow at the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.
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