Tag: pandemic

A top MAGA gathering finds life complicated after Trump

CPAC was at the top of its powers last year. Then Covid-19 hit, Trump lost, and the postelection chaos ensued. Now, the confab has some challenges ahead. 

One of the premier MAGA gatherings in the nation is struggling to recreate the magic this year. 

For decades, the Conservative Political Action Conference has been a staple of Republican politics. In recent years, the conservative confab has been the go-to stop for rising GOP stars, grassroots organizers and luminaries in the Trump movement.

But President Donald Trump’s election loss has created hurdles around programming and guest booking. Stringent coronavirus guidelines in Maryland have pushed the conference outside of the Washington area for the first time in nearly 50 years. Previous sponsors aren’t yet committed or have decided to forgo sponsorship entirely because of changes to the event’s format or disappointment in the return on their investment last year. And the president that attendees adored so much may not show up to the event at all. Continue reading.

State lawmakers, meatpacking workers announce new legislation to improve safety on the job

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Minnesota lawmakers and meatpacking workers from Worthington, St. Cloud, and Austin announced new legislation today to improve safety on the job for the men and women employed by meat packing and food processing plants. The proposal would provide paid leave to all meat and poultry processing workers to recuperate from an illness, injury or to care for an ill family member. The “Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act” is authored by Rep. Dan Wolgamott of St. Cloud.

“When COVID-19 first hit Central Minnesota in the spring of 2020, I heard heartbreaking and horrifying stories from my constituents about the unhealthy working conditions at meat processing plants that were jeopardizing the health and financial well being of their families,” said Rep. Wolgamott. “That’s why I’m introducing the Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act, which provides comprehensive workplace health and safety protections, and ensures workers have access to the benefits and training needed to work safely during this pandemic and beyond.”

In 2007, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights which requires employers to provide meatpacking workers with information about their rights as workers and adequate safety equipment. The Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights was a positive measure, however, it has not proven adequate to protect the safety and rights of meatpacking workers, before or during the time of COVID-19.

Continue reading “State lawmakers, meatpacking workers announce new legislation to improve safety on the job”

Rep. Schultz announces MinnesotaCare Public Option to help Minnesotans struggling with high health care costs

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, Rep. Jen Schultz (DFL – Duluth) was joined by small business owners, faith leaders, and health care experts as she outlined new legislation to help ensure all Minnesotans can access affordable, quality health care. The MinnesotaCare Public Option would allow Minnesotans to enroll in the program to take advantage of lower out-of-pocket costs and access to a strong network of providers.

“Minnesota families, local communities, and our state’s economy are all stronger when everyone has the health care they need. The MinnesotaCare Public Option builds upon a proven program that has served our state well for nearly three decades to expand coverage to more Minnesotans and help tackle high health care costs,” Rep. Schultz said. “COVID-19 also continues to impact the health of Minnesotans, and many of them worry about themselves or a family member getting the virus. The MinnesotaCare Public Option is a solution for this pivotal moment to ensure everyone can count on the care they need, no exceptions.”

A bipartisan initiative created in 1992, MinnesotaCare provides health care for low-income Minnesotans. Rep. Schultz’s legislation would allow Minnesotans beyond the current income guidelines to enroll in the program, paying premiums on a sliding, income-based scale.

The MinnesotaCare Public Option also expands eligibility by eliminating the so-called “family glitch” and allowing undocumented immigrants the option to enroll in MinnesotaCare. Finally, the legislation allows small employers to offer MinnesotaCare coverage to their employees and contribute toward the full cost of their premiums. Currently, many small businesses would like to offer coverage to their workers, but they often find coverage under the small group market unaffordable.

Altarum Healthcare Value Hub also announced results of a new survey showing many Minnesotans are struggling with high health care costs. As COVID-19 adds new fears for Minnesotans already experiencing health care difficulties, support for new solutions – including expanded affordable health insurance options – has increased across party lines.

The MinnesotaCare Public Option legislation received its first committee hearing Tuesday in the House Health Finance & Policy Committee.

New coronavirus variants accelerate race to make sure vaccines keep up

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NOTE: This article is provided free to read by The Washington Post.

Moderna has begun developing a new vaccine against the South African variant as a precaution

The scientific and pharmaceutical race to keep coronavirus vaccines ahead of new virus variants escalated Monday, even as a highly transmissible variantfirst detected in people who had recently traveled to Brazil was discovered in Minnesota.

Moderna, the maker of one of the two authorized coronavirus vaccines in the United States, announced it would develop and test a new vaccine tailored to block a similar mutation-riddled virus variant in case an updated shot becomes necessary.

The effort is a precautionary step. Evidence released Monday suggested that the Moderna vaccine will still work against two variants of concern that emerged in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The plan highlights that the scientists who responded with unprecedented speed and success to develop coronavirus vaccines are already moving to address new challenges. It also amplifies the urgency of getting as many people immunized with current vaccines as quickly as possible.

Birx says someone was giving Trump ‘parallel data’ about Covid pandemic

Dr. Deborah Birx, the Trump White House coronavirus response coordinator, said in a CBS interview released on Sunday that Former President Donald Trump had been reviewing “parallel” data sets on the coronavirus pandemic from someone inside the administration.

“I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made,” Birx told Margaret Brennan on CBS News’ “Face The Nation.” “Someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president.”

Birx, who announced her retirement as President Joe Biden took office last week, said she doesn’t know the identity of the person who gave the president different information. She added that there were Covid-19 deniers within the Trump administration. Continue reading.

Numerous Capitol Police officers who responded to riot test positive for coronavirus

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Since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, 38 U.S. Capitol Police employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the head of the officers’ union said Saturday. Cases are also climbing among members of the D.C. National Guard stationed around the Capitol.

Meantime, the Justice Department said five more people have been arrested in the Capitol riot, including a county jail guard from New Jersey who took an “emergency holiday” from work to travel to Washington and a Federal Aviation Administration employee from California who is a QAnon follower, court records stated.

In another development, two police officers from rural Virginia who had admitted their participation in the Capitol siege were suspended without pay by their department after a search warrant affidavit disclosed that one told a friend on Jan. 10: “I’m going to war . . . DC on the 20th for sure.” Continue reading.

Meet the man tasked with fixing America’s bungled COVID vaccine rollout

President Joe Biden has appointed former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner David Kessler to take on one of the least enviable yet most important roles of his upcoming administration: overseeing the rollout of COVID vaccines.

Kessler is a longtime FDA vet, physician, and lawyer who oversaw the critical agency from 1990 to 1997. But he has his work cut out for him as the push for widespread COVID vaccination brushes up against logistical uncertainty and an unruly rollout that has already frustrated multiple state leaders and public health officials.

Why Kessler for this highly specialized role, technically dubbed the chief science officer for COVID response? A breadth of experience across the medical industry and regulatory agencies. As a former FDA commissioner and medical school dean, Kessler understands the intricacies of how health systems work with the federal government and has a finger on the pulse of public health messaging. Continue reading.

FEMA would operate up to 100 federally run mass vaccination sites under Biden plan

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NOTE: This article provided for all to read by The Washington Post.

A draft document envisions different models for sites, with the largest capable of handling 6,000 doses a day

Up to 100 sites run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency could begin offering coronavirus vaccine within the next month, part of a strategy that would dramatically expand the federal government’s role in the effort to corral the pandemic.

The plan, which was announced by President Biden on his first day in office, is already taking shape in the form of a draft “Concept of Operations,” which was obtained by The Washington Post. The document envisions FEMA, which previously had more of a piecemeal role in pandemic response, fully unleashed.

Its mission will be to “provide federal support to existing or new community vaccination centers and mobile clinics across the country.” Continue reading.

Republicans shift to limit, not undo, Minnesota governor’s emergency powers

They want to limit, not undo, Walz’s authority.

After spending most of last year trying to undo Gov. Tim Walz’s emergency powers, Republicans in control of the Minnesota Senate are trying a new strategy.

They’ve introduced more than half a dozen proposals this session that would not end the peacetime state of emergency outright but would dramatically change how long the governor could wield executive power without legislative approval and limit his ability to shutter schools and businesses in response to the corona­virus pandemic.

“It’s one of our strongest messages that we’ll push this year,” said Sen. Andrew Mathews, R-Princeton, whose measure would allow businesses to fully reopen if they have a COVID-19 safety plan in place. Continue reading.

Walz: Minnesota progressing toward 3 million vaccinated target

Walz visits care center, acknowledges vaccine rollout was sluggish. 

Gov. Tim Walz said the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine has been frustrating at times, but that Minnesota has made progress in immunizing the most vulnerable of the 3 million or so people in the state who need to receive shots.

The governor on Friday visited a New Hope nursing home — where in-person indoor visits are allowed again and workers and residents have received shots — to demonstrate that Minnesota is on a return to normalcy. The state on Friday reported that all nursing home residents in Minnesota have been offered vaccinations and 80% received at least first doses.

“This is a true vision of what the end of the tunnel looks like,” said Walz, standing in a lobby to the Good Samaritan Society-Ambassador facility that would have been off limits a few days ago. Continue reading.