Tag: COVID-19

‘There’s no pandemic!’ Tennessee pastor explodes at CNN reporter asking if he’ll take COVID vaccine

AlterNet logo

In conversation with CNN’s Ellie Reed broadcast on Thursday, Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee exploded when asked his position on the COVID-19 vaccine, denying that there even was a pandemic at all.

“Faith over fear. I ain’t worried about some fake pandemic,” said Locke, a pro-Trump preacher who has previously drawn controversy for claiming that history classes in public schools are part of an “Islamic invasion.” “I’m not saying the sickness isn’t real. I’m saying the pandemic is not.”

“I don’t understand what you mean when you say the pandemic is not real,” said Reed. “What do you think a pandemic is?” Continue reading.

CDC director allegedly ordered deletion of email showing effort to interfere with coronavirus guidance, lawmaker says

Washington Post logo

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allegedly ordered the destruction of an email written by a top Trump administration health official who was seeking changes in a scientific report on the coronavirus’s risk to children, the head of a congressional oversight subcommittee charged Thursday.

In a letter to CDC Director Robert R. Redfield and his superior, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) expressed “serious concern about what may be deliberate efforts by the Trump Administration to conceal and destroy evidence that senior political appointees interfered with career officials’ response to the coronavirus crisis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The report was not altered or withdrawn. But Clyburn, chairman of the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis, cited an interview three days ago with the editor of the CDC’s most authoritative publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, known as MMWR. Charlotte Kent, editor in chief of that report, told investigators that while on vacation in August, she received instructions to delete the email written by Paul Alexander, a senior adviser to Azar. Continue reading.

Stealing to survive: More Americans are shoplifting food as aid runs out during the pandemic

Washington Post logo

Retailers, police departments and loss prevention researchers are reporting an uptick in theft of necessities like food and hygiene products

Early in the pandemic, Joo Park noticed a worrisome shift at the market he manages near downtown Washington: At least once a day, he’d spot someone slipping a package of meat, a bag of rice or other food into a shirt or under a jacket. Diapers, shampoo and laundry detergent began disappearing in bigger numbers, too.

Since then, he said, thefts have more than doubled at Capitol Supermarket — even though he now stations more employees at the entrance, asks shoppers to leave backpacks up front and displays high-theft items like hand sanitizer and baking yeast in more conspicuous areas. Park doesn’t usually call the police, choosing instead to bar offenders from coming back.

“It’s become much harder during the pandemic,” he said. “People will say, ‘I was just hungry.’ And then what do you do?” Continue reading.

Here’s Why Vaccinated People Still Need to Wear a Mask

New York Times logo

The new vaccines will probably prevent you from getting sick with Covid. No one knows yet whether they will keep you from spreading the virus to others — but that information is coming.

The new Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna seem to be remarkably good at preventing serious illness. But it’s unclear how well they will curb the spread of the coronavirus.

That’s because the Pfizer and Moderna trials tracked only how many vaccinated people became sick with Covid-19. That leaves open the possibility that some vaccinated people get infected without developing symptoms, and could then silently transmit the virus — especially if they come in close contact with others or stop wearing masks.

If vaccinated people are silent spreaders of the virus, they may keep it circulating in their communities, putting unvaccinated people at risk. Continue reading.

Giuliani says he didn’t know most Americans can’t access his VIP coronavirus treatment regimen

Even after being hospitalized for coronavirus, Giuliani was clueless about the virus and its treatment

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney and former New York City mayor, insisted that he has not changed his views about the dangerousness of COVID-19 despite his recent diagnosis — and even after he was informed that he had access to rare, expensive medications that most Americans with COVID-19 do not.

Speaking in an interview with New York’s TalkRadio 77 WABC on Tuesday, Giuliani said that he has “exactly the same view” that the coronavirus pandemic is being exaggerated and that people don’t need to wear masks, even as he spoke from a phone in a Washington DC hospital room because he had been infected. Giuliani added that “I’ve also been through cancer, a couple of other things — very serious, very serious, emergency knee operation. Things happen in life, and you have to go with them. You can’t overreact to them. Otherwise, you let the fear of illness drive your entire life.”

Giuliani’s comments echoed Trump’s own response to being diagnosed with COVID-19 back in October, when the president tweeted, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.” Like Trump, Giuliani has recently criss-crossed America, often while shirking public health guidelines, in an attempt to overturn Biden’s unambiguous victory in the 2020 presidential election. Continue reading.

How Biden aims to Covid-proof his administration

Avoiding superspreader events, requiring masks and encouraging remote work are all part of the transition’s effort to keep its staff safe.

Small and infrequent public events. Repeated testing of staff, reporters and the president-elect. Aides debating policies and Cabinet picks without ever meeting face-to-face. Preparations for a pared-down, mostly virtual inauguration.

Joe Biden’s team has meticulously carried the virus safety practices of his campaign over to the transition. And his staff plans to take that approach to the White House on move-in day — intent on setting a good example for the country and avoiding the dangerous and embarrassing outbreaks of Covid-19 that have infected dozens in President Donald Trump’s inner circle, most recently sickening his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

“It’s a dynamic situation with the pandemic, but I think you’ll see the exact same adherence to and commitment to the science of keeping the team safe that you saw during the campaign and transition, you’ll see that as we enter the physical space,” said Yohannes Abraham, the executive director of the transition. Continue reading.

‘God be with us’

Washington Post logo

Covid-19 becomes personal in a South Dakota town as neighbors die and the town debates a mask mandate

MITCHELL, S.D. — A cold wind whipped through the prairie as they laid Buck Timmins to rest.

Timmins, a longtime coach and referee, was not the first person in Mitchell, S.D., pop. 15,600, to die of the coronavirus. He was not even the first that week.

As the funeral director tucked blankets over the knees of Timmins’s wife, Nanci, Pastor Rhonda Wellsandt-Zell told the small group of masked mourners that just as there had been seasons in the coach’s life — basketball season, football season, volleyball season — Mitchell was now enduring a phase of its own. Continue reading.

‘Vibrational frequencies’: Trump supporters explain why they don’t wear masks — and it’s a real doozy

AlterNet logo

In a video posted to their Twitter account this Tuesday, comedy duo The Good Liars interviewed a pair of Trump supporters, asking the women why they don’t wear masks in the midst of a surging global pandemic.

“We don’t have the vibrational frequency to host the virus,” one of the women said. “So, if you don’t have that vibrational frequency right here, you’re not gonna get it.”

According to the other woman, she doesn’t “put life into COVID,” so she’s immune from the virus. “I never wear a mask,” she said. “Ever.” Continue reading and view the video here.

Gov. Walz and Lt. Flanagan Update: December 11, 2020

Minnesota is Ready for COVID-19 Vaccine

On Tuesday, Governor Walz announced that Minnesota is ready to receive and distribute a vaccine effectively, safely, and equitably at the moment it is made available to states.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Walz has been committed to transparency and accountability, bringing Minnesotans along with him every step of the way as we learn how best to weather this storm. And the vaccine distribution plan distribution plan is no different.

“There are a number of factors outside of our state government control when it comes to getting the vaccine to Minnesotans, including the federal government’s national guidelines on distribution and the supply of the vaccine,” said Governor Walz. “But in Minnesota, we are ready for the vaccine at the moment it becomes available. Our infrastructure is set and our plans are ready to execute. Until then, we need to stay patient, remain hopeful, and keep up the fight.”

Continue reading “Gov. Walz and Lt. Flanagan Update: December 11, 2020”