Category: Health

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Chris Christie On Cavalier Coronavirus Attitude: “I Was Wrong”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who participated in Donald Trump’s preparation before the first presidential debate (after which it was discovered Trump was coronavirus+), shares with USA Today the remorse he feels for not wearing a face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic after he was diagnosed with the virus and had to be hospitalized for a week. From USA Today:

Former Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday he was “wrong” not to wear a mask in the days before testing positive for COVID-19, but that he felt at that time that he was in a “safe zone” because of frequent testing.

Having spent a week being treated for the disease caused by the coronavirus – in an intensive care unit – Christie said he had a chance for greater reflection about his actions and the virus.

“It is something to take very seriously. The ramifications are wildly random and potentially deadly,” Christie said in a statement, first reported by the New York Times. “No one should be happy to get the virus and no one should be cavalier about being infected or infecting others.” 

“I was wrong,” Christie said.

Christie shares that he was given access to “extraordinary treatments,” including the anti-viral Remdesivir and a cocktail by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. He concluded those factors, which are not available to you nor I, “contributed to my good health today.”

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Poll: Majority Of Americans Don’t Trust Trump’s Promises Of ‘Safe’ Vaccine By Spring

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows the majority of Americans have little to no confidence in Donald Trump vouching for the safety or effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine he claims could be available to everyone by Spring 2021. From ABC News:

Fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) Americans have a great deal of confidence in Trump to confirm vaccine effectiveness with another 18% reporting only a “good amount” of confidence in the poll conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos’ Knowledge Panel.

In contrast, 69% don’t have confidence in the president vouching for a vaccine, including 16% saying “not so much” and 53% saying “none at all.”

On Wednesday, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told the Senate Appropriations Committee that he did not foresee a coronavirus inoculation becoming “generally available” to Americans for another year. Later that day, Trump described Redfield as “confused” and said he thought Redfield made “a mistake.”

The survey also asked respondents which of the presidential candidates they believe is “more honest and trustworthy.” Biden scored much higher than Trump garnering 58 percent support on the question while Trump lagged 19 points behind the Democrat at 39 percent.

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Pastor Being Treated In ICU After Holding Maskless Church Services

Pastor Paul Van Noy holds open church services during COVID-19 pandemic

Pastor Paul Van Noy holds open church services during COVID-19 pandemic
Pastor Paul Van Noy (screen capture via YouTube)
A pastor in A Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is being treated for COVID-19 at the Kootenai Health intensive care unit after who opening his church in May for in-person services that encouraged unmasked congregants to gather. Who’d have ever guessed something could go wrong? From the Spokesman-Review:

Paul Van Noy, the senior pastor at Candlelight Christian Fellowship, has spent the past two weeks in the ICU while his wife, Brenda Van Noy, recovered from her own bout with COVID-19 at home. Five other church staff have been infected, said Eric Reade, body ministry coordinator the church.

The church closed its doors for two weeks and underwent deep cleaning before reopening for in-person services Sunday, Reade said.

“We didn’t want, obviously, to be spreading the virus,” he said.

Church staffers don’t know how Van Noy contracted the virus, Reade said.

Van Noy, who apparently has a history of sharing his political views from the pulpit, has publicly shared his doubts regarding the efficacy of wearing face coverings to help protect against the virus.

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Trump: COVID-19 Restrictions Don’t Apply To Me

Donald Trump smirks during a press event

Donald Trump smirks during a press event
Donald Trump (photo: public domain/Flickr)
Donald Trump told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an interview Sunday that he doesn’t believe Nevada’s COVID-19 restrictions regarding large gatherings of over 50 people apply to him giving himself permission to hold his indoor rally in Henderson attended by a few thousand followers.

The president blamed the Democratic governor for forcing his campaign to abandon plans to hold an outdoor rally Sunday at Cirrus Aviation near McCarran International Airport and a Saturday rally in Reno, which was moved to an outdoor venue in Minden.

After failing to arrange alternative venues in the Las Vegas area, the campaign decided to hold the rally indoors at the Xtreme Manufacturing facility, owned by his friend Don Ahern, Trump said. “They canceled six different sites because the governor wouldn’t let it happen, all external sites,” the president said.

Henderson officials issued written and verbal warnings of compliance to the event organizers. Kathleen Richards, a spokeswoman for the city of Henderson, said in a statement “gatherings of more than 50 people in a private or public setting is prohibited.”

“If the governor’s directives are not followed,” she said, “the city may assess a fine of up to $500 per violation as well as suspend or revoke the business license.”

Sisolak was not targeting Trump in any way. Currently, no one is supposed to hold large gatherings of more than 50 people in Nevada. That’s the rule for everyone.

Sisolak clapped back in a lengthy thread on Twitter writing, “Tonight, President Donald Trump is taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada.”

“The president appears to have forgotten that this country is still in the middle of a global pandemic,” added Sisolak.

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Trump Mocks Biden, Reporters For Wearing Face Masks

Donald Trump wearing a face mask

Donald Trump wearing a face mask
Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse)
“I’ve never seen a man that liked a mask more.” Watch Donald Trump recently mocked Joe Biden and reporters for wearing face masks in public, even though the CDC’s current COVID-19 public health guidelines say wearing masks can save lives. Watch below from NowThis News.

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CDC Tells States To Prepare For Possible Vaccine Before Election Day?

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have informed public health officials in all 50 states that two different vaccines for the coronavirus could be available as early as late October or early November before the completion of clinical trials. From the New York Times:

The new C.D.C. guidance is the latest sign of an accelerating race for a vaccine to ease a pandemic that has killed more than 184,000 Americans. The documents were sent out on the same day that President Trump told the nation in his speech to the Republican National Convention that a vaccine might arrive before the end of the year.

Over the past week, both Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, and Dr. Stephen Hahn, who heads the Food and Drug Administration, have said in interviews with news organizations that a vaccine may be available for certain groups before clinical trials have been completed if the data is overwhelmingly positive.

Public health experts agree that agencies at all levels of government should urgently prepare for what will eventually be a vast, complex effort to vaccinate hundreds of millions of Americans.

But the possibility of a rollout in late October or early November has heightened concerns that the Trump administration is seeking to rush the distribution of a vaccine — or simply to hype that one is possible — before Election Day on Nov. 3.

It normally takes years to develop a new vaccine. Anyone else a bit squeamish about receiving a shot of something that hasn’t been fully vetted? President Ford rushed a vaccine to the public in 1976 for the swine flu. It didn’t go well. Four-hundred fifty people who received the vaccine developed the paralyzing syndrome Guillain-Barré and of those, more than 30 died.

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Trump Ignored Warnings Of Rising Infections While Urging States To Reopen

Donald Trump
Yahoo News reports Donald Trump ignored warnings from the White House coronavirus task force about rising infection rates for months.

Even as President Trump spurred states to lift lockdown measures and resume normal economic activity in the early summer, reports from his own White House coronavirus task force were presenting regular evidence that infections were rising in many parts of the country.

Critics have maintained that by not acting on evidence that the virus was not in remission, Trump and his advisers only prolonged the nation’s battle with the pandemic, which has killed more than 180,000 Americans to date.

The task force reports are customarily not made public, but eight of them from June and July had been requested late last month by the coronavirus subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee.

The subcommittee is headed by Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a leading House Democrat who is also a close ally of Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president. Biden has made the absence of a national plan to deal with the coronavirus a centerpiece of his campaign.

“Rather than being straight with the American people and creating a national plan to fix the problem,” Clyburn said in a statement on Monday morning, “the President and his enablers kept these alarming reports private while publicly downplaying the threat to millions of Americans.”

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COVID-19 Vaccine Showing Promising Results In Elderly Patients In Small Trial

CNBC reports a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Moderna is showing strong results with senior patients in testing. The company tested its vaccine on 10 adults between the ages of 56 and 70 and 10 elderly adults aged 71 and older, Moderna said. Each participant received two 100 microgram doses of the vaccine 28 days apart. The volunteers produced neutralizing antibodies, which researchers believe are necessary to build immunity to the virus, and T-cells, Moderna said in its results, which have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Additionally, the antibodies that were produced were higher than those seen in people who have recovered from Covid-19.

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CDC Updates Guidance On Retesting & Immunity

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have updated guidance regarding those who have recovered from COVID-19 saying they do not need to be re-tested for the virus for three months after their infection barring they’re asymptomatic. From KTNV:

The refreshed guidance suggests that the CDC expects those with previous coronavirus infections are unable to spread the virus for three months.

“People who have tested positive for COVID-19 do not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to 3 months as long as they do not develop symptoms again,” the guidance says. “People who develop symptoms again within 3 months of their first bout of COVID-19 may need to be tested again if there is no other cause identified for their symptoms.”

In a statement to CNN, the CDC clarified that does not automatically mean someone is immune for three months.

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Campaign Ad: Biden Calls For More Decisive Action Against COVID-19

In a new campaign ad, former Vice President Joe Biden calls out Donald Trump’s failure to lead in the COVID-19 pandemic and says he would ask governors across the nation to support mandates to wear face masks. “We’re seeing it again: the virus spreading out of control,” begins the narration of the 30-second spot. “The president once again failing to act.” The ad announces that Biden is prepared to “take action now,” which would include “expanding testing, calling for mask mandates nationwide, starting immediately, and producing more protective gear here at home.” “Fighting this virus and rebuilding our economy will take a president who’s ready to lead.” Y’all – just wear the damn mask. It costs you nothing.