COVID UPDATES. TIME TO DECIDE ABOUT SPREADING COVID

[Levi517]

Great update barq- and great advice about masks. The UK variant is in 30 US states and may be the predominant strain by March. In Canada too and the SA variant is also starting to pop up. What’s worrisome is that it’s often been diagnosed in people who haven’t travelled or been in contact with someone who has. So it’s out there in the community too.

[Charon]

hxxps://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/wuhan-china-health-care-worker-early-covid-19-government-response/

[Charon]

COVID-19: NY Supreme Court Rules Against Cuomo, DOH On Nursing Home Data
Zak Failla
02/03/2021 5:20 p.m.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Gov. Andrew Cuomo Photo Credit: Flickr/NY Governor's Office
MORE ARTICLES NEWS
COVID-19: Infection Rate Dips Below 6 Percent On Long Island;...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues facing pressure for his administration’s handling of the state’s nursing home during the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that Cuomo has five business days to respond to a FOIL request to release data on COVID-19 in nursing homes after a lawsuit was filed by Sen. Jim Tedisco and the Empire Center for Public Policy.

Original story - COVID-19: NY AG Report Says Nursing Home Deaths May Have Been Undercounted By 50 Percent
The lawsuit sought the release of Health Emergency Response Data System data that is regularly submitted to the Department of Health by nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout the state.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a report from the New York Attorney General’s Office that found the state may have undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50 percent.



Earlier story - COVID-19: NY Health Director Denies Undercount On Nursing Home Deaths After Scathing AG Report
“Clearly the best disinfectant is sunlight. Governor Cuomo’s coronavirus cover-up is crumbling down,” Tedesco said in a statement following the Supreme Court ruling. “Last week, the Attorney General issued a scathing report that begun to lift the Cuomo Administration’s veil of secrecy that was hiding the real number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19.”

The ruling was made by acting Albany Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O’Connor, who was critical of the Department of Health for stalling on reporting nursing home data for several months.

“DOH does not, in the Court’s opinion, offer an adequate explanation as to why it has not responded to that request within its estimated time period or to date,” O’Connor wrote. “Its continued failure to provide petitioner a response, given the straightforward nature of the request goes against FOIL’s broad standard of open and transparent government and is a violation of that statute.”

Related story - COVID-19: Cuomo Blames 'Incompetent Federal Government' After AG Report On Nursing Home Deaths
As part of the lawsuit, the state will also have to pay for the Empire Center’s legal fees and court costs to be reimbursed by the Department of Health.

Before Attorney Letitia James’ report was released, the state was claiming that less than 8,750 COVID-19 deaths were reported in nursing homes, which was subsequently updated by the Department of Health to more than 12,000.

“t’s obvious that the governor’s six-month cover-up and refusal to give us these numbers show he felt they mattered so he could hide any blame,” Tedesco added. “History has shown that the cover-up is often worse than what’s being covered-up. Sadly, a lack of transparency has been a hallmark of this administration.

“I want to thank Justice O’Connor for her ruling that demonstrates that this nursing home data is public information and the people have a right to know what their government is doing.”

Related story - COVID-19: DOJ Will Decide Whether To Probe Cuomo's Nursing Home Response, White House Says
In response to the ruling, officials with the Department of Health said that they were already working to respond to the data request and will be updating their website with all publicly available information, though it was unclear when that would happen.


A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that “with the preliminary audit complete, we were already in the process of responding to their FOIL request, and updating DOH’s website with publicly available information.”

oh, King Cuomo, the heat is on. I bet NYers will purchase your braggatory book: How i crushed covid or such, again, to put in coffins outside the nursing homes again, Sir.

And it could not happen to a sleazier man. And your brother Fredo is shameless. He was never in his basement with covid. He attacked a man in Long Island instead. And you rented a hotel the first year so you could have Mothers Day with your Mother Mathilde. And lied about it. You rarely wear a mask in public. And you treated the Pres of the United States as though you were Mafia. Telling him he needed an army to walk down NY again.

Sorry Sir but it tis how the NYers feel about you. Especially those on the covid forums. The first group of people I prayed for back in March. All from Nursing Homes. And you moved them from hospital to another state to avoid their deaths registering in NY. Pity. You have shown yourself to be an angry bully. But they caught the virus and/or died in your nursing homes.

No awards for you in the history books if we don't do cancel culture on the nursing homes u rat bastard.

hxxps://dailyvoice.com/new-york/nassau/news/covid-19-ny-supreme-court-rules-against-cuomo-doh-on-nursing-home-data/802709/

[Charon]

With the Super Bowl set to be played this weekend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is encouraging New Yorkers to celebrate the big game, but to do so safely at home while the state contends with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite pleas from restaurant and bar owners to lift the state’s 10 p.m. curfew, Cuomo announced on Friday, Feb. 5 that there would be no exception for the big game on Sunday, Feb. 7.

On Friday, dozens of restauranteurs filed a lawsuit against the state over the curfew, arguing that it would discourage New Yorkers from heading to local bars or restaurants for the Super Bowl because they would have to leave around halftime.



However, Cuomo drew a line in the sand and said he is not considering lifting the curfew as the state begins recovering from the post-holiday COVID-19 surge.

“The curfew is complicated,” Cuomo said. “In this state, we don’t have different licenses for restaurants and bars. Many states' bars are separate from rest, in retrospect, I can see why.

“We have one license and it doesn’t distinguish between bars and restaurants,” he continued. “If we could distinguish between the two, then we could have separate times for restaurants and bars.

Cuomo added that “we cannot (distinguish between the two), so the curfew is because when people tend to stay later and they’re just drinking, there are more gatherings, you can’t drink and wear a mask.


“That’s the point of the curfew and no we're not thinking of changing the curfew for Super Bowl Sunday.”

[Charon]

hxxps://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/20/talking-can-spread-covid-as-much-as-coughing-says-research
Vaccines not available. They are gone in hours in Westchester area.

Talking is a big spreader as evidenced in article above.

Big talk round here is that Cuomo could be subject to impeachment or obstruction of justice as his main helper melissa de rosa gave up the truth that NYS altered the covid death count. 40% more people died in NY, particularly the elders in nursing homes. Cuomo forced the people in nursing homes after being tested positive for covid. No separate facilities were available.

Oh I hope he does not come after me. I would just post that Yes, Governor, everyone is buying your book, How i crushed covid in NY (paraphrased) and I would post they are stacking them in nursing homes in open coffins all over NY Westchester and area.

We all knew how many we lost round here. Way more than the eight thousand they claimed. De Rosa cla imed that the NYS health group run by cuomo, saw other states being investigated for failure to track and post all covid deaths. Hmm. About time. But they got scared. They froze. And then doctored the truth. So she said. Oh King Cuomo will make her rue the day she posted to dems: i am sorry. We did this cuz we were afraid "they" would come after us.

The dems were laughing and passing notes during Trump Attorney speaking. I really never watched politics until the covid forum made me go to facebook.

I surely hope they at least revoke an emmy award to KIng Cuomo for killing our elders. In NY. The private covid forum I was asked to do, we all were posting cuz families knew that Cuomo had done this. He was horrific to our sitting Pres of the US. I did not raise myself to be that way. I hated that Cuomo took all the masks that people sent in for NYers and he put them up on the wall. With little pin pricks in them now. He built a silly putty, really, "mountain" of how he crushed covid. HE SHOULD HAVE SHOWN THE DOCTORED BOOKS CUZ THAT IS HOW HE CRUSHED COVID, HA!! IN NY. emmy award. give me a break.

The wind chill makes it 3 degrees in Westchester.

[Hotrod77]

Oh the things they think they get away with, god sees it all and will remind them one day of how they should of treated people better, not a fair world for sure it's crazy when you actually start following politics, I'm the same way I never really get involved in it, it's hard to watch sometimes

[Charon]

hxxps://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-deaths-in-us-top-500000/?fbclid=IwAR0McmxwL5OxXlrfmVLiMSnxcfThnhb_mDsqa-XZMMitB1yRx_xj8P8wFLo



U.S. tops 500,000 COVID-19 deaths:

More than half a million people in the United States have now died from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University — a devastating milestone one year into the pandemic, which has upended so many aspects of life across the country and around the world. The milestone comes as vaccination efforts roll out nationwide but new variants continue to emerge, creating uncertainty about the future.


It has been 13 months since the U.S. confirmed its first case of the virus, but the death toll has only intensified in recent months. More than 138,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. just since January 1.

At 5 p.m., the flag at the White House was lowered to half staff and the bells at the National Cathedral began to toll. President Biden plans to deliver remarks at 6 p.m. ET to commemorate the lives lost, and then Mr. Biden, Vice President Harris and their spouses will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony.


"500,000 lives lost to COVID-19. It's an unfathomable number, but each one represents a family that will never again be whole. To those who have lost loved ones: I know no words can numb the pain, but I hope you find some solace in knowing the nation grieves with you," Mr. Biden tweeted.

US-HEALTH-VIRUS-POLITICS
The American flag was lowered to half staff over the White House on February 22, 2021 to commemorate the 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, reflected on the toll in an interview Monday on "CBS This Morning." "Back in the late winter and early spring of 2020 when we gave the modeling number of 240,000, people thought that we were being hyperbolic about that and somewhat alarmist, and clearly that was not the case," he said. "This is a horrible landmark that we've now reached."

As the toll continues to rise, the vaccination process has been criticized for being sluggish and disorganized. Roughly six million vaccine doses were delayed because of last week's disastrous winter storm. The delays impacted every state, and thousands of vaccine appointments had to be canceled.

Coronavirus Crisis
FDA: Pulse oximeters may be inaccurate on people of color*******
U.S. tops half a million COVID-19 deaths
Watch Live: Biden marks 500,000 U.S. lives lost
What to do if you didn't get a stimulus check
But even so, the number of people fully vaccinated against the virus is growing, and the vaccines are proving highly effective at saving lives. As of Sunday, more than 19 million people had been fully vaccinated in the U.S., according to the CDC, and more than 44 million others had received their first dose. A third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson will be considered by the FDA for emergency use authorization on February 26.

The U.S. has maintained a significant lead in the number of reported cases of the virus worldwide. Five states — California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois — have more reported cases combined than Brazil, the country with the third-highest number of cases.

India, which also been dealing with months of ongoing protests over new agricultural laws, has the second-highest number of cases in the world, with just under 11 million cases — less than half the number of the U.S. China, the country first hit by the pandemic, has less than 101,000 reported cases.

The U.S. has also reported more COVID deaths than any other nation. More people have died from the virus in the past 13 months than from several of the other leading causes that would normally pose the greatest threat to people in the country in non-pandemic circumstances. Compared to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 deaths outnumber the 2019 deaths from the flu, pneumonia, suicide, diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease combined.


During the first six months of the pandemic, average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped by a year.

The economic impact has also been devastating for millions of families. Many businesses have shuttered, millions of people have been laid off or furloughed, and students and teachers have had to contend with the challenges of online learning.

[Charon]

I am warning you all as the vaccine may or may not be effective against new variants emerging.

If u get the vaccines, we are to still wear masks and socially distance. Check with your health care provider and then look it up.

So, all in all, the subject of covid in this forum is rather important. The information gleaned in doing a covid forum has saved members of my family from taking untoward risks.

OH, one is 1/3 less likely to contract covid if one wears glasses. If you don't wear a shield over your two masks, then wear the cheap glasses for one dollar. At drug stores. Cuz covid is transferred through the eyes as well as the nose and mouth.

Stay safe. It could be gone from US by summer as we allegedly are maybe building some herd immunity. And so many are trying to get the vaccines. Which is good.

End of update. It will be on your local news when Pres Biden held a tribute to the half million US lives lost.

[ColdNorth]

Yes thank you Charon for including this info.  Everyone needs reminders because, I agree , I think it has almost become normalized.  In my area you can go to stores, bars, etc. and it may say on the door to wear masks but some do and many don't anymore.

[Charon]

My Cuomo ‘Crush’ Turned Out to Be Stockholm Syndrome
MY WORST TAKE

OPINION
Carlow Allegri/Reuters
Hindsight is 20/20, but let’s remember how scary and opaque the world was a year ago and what a relief it was to have someone who wasn’t Trump projecting competence.

Molly Jong-Fast
Editor-At-Large
Updated Mar. 03, 2021 9:53AM ET / Published Mar. 03, 2021 5:01AM ET
I’ve been wrong before. In my 42 years I’ve had the privilege of being wrong many times and since I’ve been sober since I was 19, I can’t now blame booze. Besides being wrong many times, I’ve also crushed it with some scorchingly bad hot takes, like my piece for the Beast about how Biden should drop out a few days before he won South Carolina. Spoiler alert: He’s president now so I didn’t exactly nail that one. But “Why We Are Crushing on Andrew Cuomo Right Now,” which I wrote for Vogue, may have been my worst take.

A caveat: I did not write the headline. I do not have the power to approve or write my headlines. But since three much younger women, two of them former staffers, accused New York’s governor of harassment over the last week that headline is what people online have used to dunk on me. As Aristotle said, “Live by the tweet, die by the tweet—or figure out how to auto-delete your tweets.”

And headline aside, the piece was extremely bad and not at all good. In my defense, I did note his partnership with the very sketchy IDC, “a group of supposed Democrats who helped the Republicans control the New York State Senate for many years.” I called him joyless, but I also noted “what a difference a pandemic makes” as I praised my “competent governor/imaginary boyfriend.”

NY’s 1st Dad Dished on Daughters While Creeping On Staffers
‘HE WAS TESTING ME’
Danielle Tcholakian

hxxps://www.thedailybeast.com/my-cuomo-crush-turned-out-to-be-stockholm-syndrome

JUST SAYIN: My generation learned about Stockholm syndrome when Patty Randolph Herst was abducted. No time to look up spelling of her name. But me sister and i thought: Oh Trash. But me father taught us about stockholm syndrome wherein one becomes close to, and feels at one with, their captors. it is a survival mode.

As I, too, Loved Governor Cuomo's Daily speeches for a wee bit, this is just hysterical to me that dim witted celebs whom wanted to date the loser, realized the Governor was our Captor in NY. Not our protector.