Tag: coronavirus

Biden in TV speech tells Americans, only we together can defeat the virus

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President Biden’s task Thursday night was daunting as he marked the first anniversary of the week when the coronavirus forced America to shut down. He needed to acknowledge the loss of more than 529,000 lives to the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying economic suffering, while offering a sense of optimism that the future can and will be brighter.

The first 50 days of Biden’s presidency have offered examples of his leadership style — and how it differs so dramatically from that of former president Donald Trump. Thursday’s speech from the White House provided another revealing glimpse. Instead of a president saying, “I alone can fix it,” Biden said he can only succeed with the help of others.

Leaning against the lectern and looking directly into the camera, he said, “I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people. I need you. I need every American to do their part.” That contrast in leadership styles underscored what the transition from the 45th president to the 46th has meant. Continue reading.

The $1,400 stimulus payments are already posting to some bank accounts, but others could face delays

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Some taxpayers reported a pending-payment notice in their bank accounts on Friday, saying the funds would be available on March 17. Look for ‘IRS TREAS 310 – TAXEIP3.’

Now that President Biden has signed the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill into law, millions of desperate Americans are wondering the same thing: When will I get my money?

Some people got their answer Friday. Just one day after Biden signed the legislation into law, a reader in Alexandria, Va., found a pending post in his bank account labeled “IRS TREAS 310 – TAXEIP3” for $6,892.90 for his family of five.

The IRS refers to the stimulus money as an economic impact payment, or EIP. Continue reading.

Fox & Friends whines about Biden ‘kicking’ Trump over COVID: ‘We don’t need to go over the 500,000 dead’

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“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade on Friday bitterly complained that President Joe Biden didn’t give enough credit to former President Donald Trump for his response to the novel coronavirus.

While reviewing Biden’s address to the nation, Kilmeade said that the president should have credited Trump for the Operation Warp Speed program aimed at speeding up vaccine development.

Kilmeade also seemed upset that Biden mentioned the horrific toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the United States, as so far the disease has killed more than 525,000 Americans. Continue reading.

First sign of South African variant in Minnesota adds to COVID-19 concerns

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Mayo study offers new evidence that vaccine prevents asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, and resulting viral spread. 

Gov. Tim Walz on Friday will announce looser restrictions on group events in Minnesota, despite a sports-related COVID-19 outbreak in Carver County and the state’s first known infection involving a variant found in South Africa.

The governor on Thursday called the switch “probably our biggest turn” in response to improving statewide pandemic indicators, and he hinted that it could permit everything from high school proms to live Minnesota Twins baseball.

“Unless we see the variants come roaring back and something goes terribly wrong, I think those things will happen,” Walz said after a speech at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School to advocate for a summer learning funding plan. Continue reading.

Biden Tells Nation There Is Hope After a Devastating Year

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In his first prime-time address from the White House, the president said that he would order states to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1 and that a return to normalcy was possible by July 4.

WASHINGTON — Seeking to comfort Americans bound together by a year of suffering but also by “hope and the possibilities,” President Biden made a case to the nation Thursday night that it could soon put the worst of the pandemic behind it and promised that all adults would be eligible for the vaccine by May 1.

During a 24-minute speech from the East Room, Mr. Biden laced his somber script with references to Hemingway and personal ruminations on loss as he reflected on a “collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life, and the loss of living, for all of us.”

Speaking on the anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic and the moment at which the virus began tightening its grip, the president offered a turning point of sorts after one of the darkest years in recent history, one that would lead to more than half a million deaths in the country, the loss of millions of jobs and disruptions to nearly every aspect of society and politics. Continue reading.

Stimulus checks could hit some bank accounts as soon as this weekend, White House says

A year into the pandemic, more than 18 million people are still receiving some form of unemployment benefit.

The next batch of stimulus checks will be deposited into some bank accounts this weekend, the White House said Thursday.

“People can expect to start seeing direct deposits hit their bank accounts as early as this weekend,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a news briefing after President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law on Thursday afternoon.

Psaki said that the checks are “the first wave” and they will continue to flow over “the next several weeks.” Continue reading.

Gov. Walz lays out major rollback of Minnesota’s COVID-19 restrictions

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Limits eased on concerts, restaurants, gatherings. 

Large events from high school proms to live Minnesota Twins games can resume this spring under a rollback of COVID-19 restrictions announced Friday by Gov. Tim Walz.

While public mask-wearing and social distancing requirements will remain, Minnesota will allow in-person work again, lift capacity limits for worship services and permit up to 10,000 fans at the Twins home opener April 8.

“We’re winning, and this thing’s coming to an end,” said Walz, who encouraged people to plan for summer weddings and the May 15 walleye opener. “Let’s just buckle down. We’re going to know in the next three or four weeks if we’ve truly got this thing on the ropes and it’s done and then we finish it.” Continue reading.

Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan Update: March 12, 2021

As Cases Fall and Vaccination Ramps up, Governor Walz Adjusts COVID-19 Mitigation Measures

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As Minnesota continues to make progress vaccinating Minnesotans and slowing the spread of COVID-19, Governor Walz today announced that on March 15 Minnesotans can begin safely gathering with more friends and loved ones, supporting Minnesota’s small businesses, and visiting large venues.

Continue reading “Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan Update: March 12, 2021”

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine reduces transmission after one dose – UK study

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LONDON – A single dose of Pfizer and BioNtech’s COVID-19 vaccine cuts the number of asymptomatic infections and could significantly reduce the risk of transmission of the virus, results of a UK study found on Friday.

Researchers analysed results from thousands of COVID-19 tests carried out each week as part of hospital screenings of healthcare staff in Cambridge, eastern England.

“Our findings show a dramatic reduction in the rate of positive screening tests among asymptomatic healthcare workers after a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,” said Nick Jones, an infectious diseases specialist at Cambridge University Hospital, who co-led the study. Continue reading.

Housing panel OKs plan to extend eviction ban beyond emergency pandemic order

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Minnesota landlords, generally prohibited from evicting tenants under Gov. Tim Walz’s COVID-19 peacetime emergency orders, could be required to wait 60 days before starting most eviction proceedings in the 12 months after the orders expire.

HF12, sponsored by Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul), would only allow immediate evictions during the 12-month period in the most serious circumstances, such as if a tenant unlawfully destroys property, not for rent nonpayment.

Mortgage lenders would also be required to wait 60 days before filing foreclosures. Continue reading.