Tag: COVID-19

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Radio City Christmas Spectacular Cancelled For 1st Time Ever

Some of the world-famous Rockettes onstage at Radio City Music Hall (via Instagram)
For the first time since its debut in 1933, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the world-famous Radio City Rockettes, is being canceled. From the New York Post:

MSG Entertainment, which owns the glamorous Radio City Music Hall where the Rockettes perform, made the decision to close the curtain on the popular show amid ongoing uncertainty tied to the coronavirus pandemic.

This year’s performance, known for iconic dance numbers like “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and the “12 Days of Christmas,” had been slated to run from Nov. 6 to Jan. 3.

The events company, which also owns Madison Square Garden, also announced plans to lay off 350 people — about one-third of its corporate workforce — as the pandemic continues to squeeze venues that rely on live performances.

Its sister company, MSG Sports, which owns the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, is cutting 50 jobs, or about 15 percent of its corporate staff.

Running for two months plus rehearsals, I can remember as a dancer in NYC the Christmas Spectacular was a job a LOT of theater artists folks prized each year. Paid well and you got to be home in NYC for the holidays. If you’ve never seen it, you should there’s a reason why it’s run for all these decades. Festive, fun and very family-friendly.

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Interview: Trump On COVID-19 Deaths ‘It Is What It Is’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump speaking to Axios (screen capture)
Other than Fox News’ Chris Wallace, I think this is the first extended example of a journalist going back and forth with Donald Trump on actual COVID-19 facts and data. Axios’ Jonathan Swan got a 38 minute sit down with Trump. In this clip, Trump argues about his ‘great success’ in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, it seems is comfortable with the ratio of death to diagnosed cases, while Swan is talking about the proportion of deaths to population in countries. Swan: “Oh, you’re doing death as a proportion of cases. I’m talking about death as a proportion of population. That’s where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc.” Trump: “You can’t do that.” Swan: “Why can’t I do that?” As Swan points out, for example, South Korea has a population of 51 million but has experienced only 300 deaths from COVID-19 which factors out to 0.0005 percentage of the population has died from the virus. The U.S. has a population of 328,000,000+ but has suffered over 155,000+ deaths from coronavirus which means our percentage of the population that has died is much higher at .047. You’ll note in the clip, Trump hands Swan a graph with only four countries listed showing the U.S. being ‘the best.’ Talk about pick and choose. In the second clip below, as Trump argues the virus is ‘under control,’ Swan points out 1,000 Americans are dying on average each day. “It is what it is,” says Trump. Trump also admits he didn’t attend the funeral of civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) because “he didn’t come to my inauguration.” However, Trump does wish accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell “well.” Full interview at the end of this post.

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Gays Are Hooking Up 84% Less Due To COVID-19

Congress is considering legislation that would require internet platforms to allow an algorithm-free version of the platform.

Who’s been on Grindr lately? (stock image via Depositphotos)
A new study of gay and bisexual Australian men found the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic reduction in casual sexual behavior. How dramatic? Researchers at the Kirby Institute surveyed 940 gay and bi men about casual sex practices and found the number of sexual contacts dropped 84 percent in the month of April. Other than monogamous relationships, all types of sexual intimacy saw a steep decline in the number of hookups. Additionally, 95 percent acknowledged they understood the risk of hooking up and/or having group sex represented an increased risk of contracting the coronavirus. Dr. Mohamed A. Hammoud, the lead author of the study, told QNews decades of coping with the HIV epidemic has taught gay and bisexual men how to be adaptive in the face of health threats. “Our community has a long history of creating innovative strategies to reduce risk,” explained Hammoud. “[We’re] seeing this continue with this new health challenge.” Hammoud added, “The results from our study show that an overwhelming majority of gay and bisexual men have adapted their behavior and are adhering to physical distancing guidelines.” There is an upside to the drop in hooking up. The decline in casual sex will likely result in “a reduction in new HIV and STI diagnoses in the short term,” according to Associate Professor Garrett Prestage, one of the co-authors of the study. “Trends in these diagnoses are likely to fluctuate significantly in response to changes in physical distancing restrictions,” said Prestage. The new study was published in the medical journal JAIDS on Friday. (Source: QNews)

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NYC Party Boat Shut Down For Violating COVID-19 Safety Practices

The Liberty Belle (image via NY Sheriff’s Office)
Lord, these people just want the pandemic to last forever I guess. From the New York Times:

The Liberty Belle, a riverboat with four bars, three outdoor decks and space for 600 guests, has been touted by its operators as a “favorite venue” of New Yorkers who hold parties, fund-raisers and other trendy events on the water.

But now it has become yet another symbol of reckless socializing during the pandemic: The boat was used on Saturday to host a party with more than 170 guests, violating state and local social-distancing rules, according to the New York Sheriff’s Office.

It was unclear what kind of party was held on the Liberty Belle and how much organizers might have charged for admission. The authorities received a complaint about a party boat departing Pier 36 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side around 8:30 p.m., and deputies intercepted and boarded the boat when it returned around 11:30 p.m.

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COVID-19 Outbreak On One Of First Cruises To Resume

(image via The Points Guy)
One of the first cruises to set sail since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought to a halt after 36 crew members test positive for the virus. From The Points Guy:

Norwegian expedition cruise company Hurtigruten late Friday said four sick crew members from the 535-passenger Roald Amundsen were admitted to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø, Norway, earlier in the day after the vessel docked in the city. All four had tested positive for COVID-19.

On Saturday, the line said another 32 crew members had tested positive for the illness. All four of the hospitalized crew members had been sick for several days while onboard the vessel, and all four had been placed in isolation. But the line said their symptoms weren’t consistent with COVID-19. They only tested positive for the illness after the ship docked in Tromsø early Friday.

The entire ship has now been placed in isolation, and the 154 remaining crew members on board have all been tested for COVID-19. Hurtigruten on Saturday said 122 of the crew members had tested negative for the illness.

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Gun Nut Shoots At Employee When Asked To Wear Mask, Apprehended In Police Shootout

Adam Zaborowski (via screen capture)
On Friday, an unhinged gun nut pulled out a gun and fired at a cigar store employee in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The man was apparently enraged at being asked to wear a face mask in the store due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The state currently requires face masks while in public. The man – Adam Zaborowski, 35, of Slatington, Pennsylvania – was apprehended on Sunday and has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and reckless endangerment. From Philadelphia’s ABC News affiliate:

According to authorities, around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, an officer from the Slatington Borough Police Department and troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police Bethlehem barracks attempted to make a traffic stop at the intersection of East Washington and 2nd Streets in Slatington.

State police said the driver of the vehicle, identified as Zaborowski, exited his vehicle and began shooting at police, striking a Slatington Borough patrol vehicle.

Both the Slatington Borough officer and the state troopers returned fire and struck Zaborowski, police said. They then administered first aid to Zaborowski.

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Report: Kushner Spiked National Testing Because Blue States Hit Hardest, Dem Govs Could Be Blamed

L-R Jared Kushner, Donald Trump (image via public domain/White House)
Vanity Fair has obtained a copy of a detailed plan spearheaded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, that would have provided for a national testing approach for the COVID-19 pandemic. While the goal of the team putting the plan together was “apolitical,” the approach never saw the light of day because, according to Vanity Fair, the virus had mainly affected blue states. With that in mind, the decision was made to let states handle the health threat because “they could blame those governors” as a political strategy if things went awry. From Vanity Fair:

Countries that have successfully contained their outbreaks have empowered scientists to lead the response. But when Jared Kushner set out in March to solve the diagnostic-testing crisis, his efforts began not with public health experts but with bankers and billionaires. They saw themselves as the “A-team of people who get shit done,” as one participant proclaimed in a March Politico article.

[snip]

The effort of the White House team was “apolitical,” said the participant, and undertaken “with the nation’s best interests in mind.”

But the effort ran headlong into shifting sentiment at the White House. Trusting his vaunted political instincts, President Trump had been downplaying concerns about the virus and spreading misinformation about it—efforts that were soon amplified by Republican elected officials and right-wing media figures.

Worried about the stock market and his reelection prospects, Trump also feared that more testing would only lead to higher case counts and more bad publicity. Meanwhile, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, was reportedly sharing models with senior staff that optimistically—and erroneously, it would turn out—predicted the virus would soon fade away.

[snip]

Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner’s team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. “The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert.

Vanity Fair also reports Kushner’s team allegedly purchased 3.5 million Covid-19 tests from an Abu Dhabi–based artificial intelligence company without using normal procurement procedures. Despite the $52 million price tag, the tests were never utilized after being found “contaminated and unusable.”

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Herman Cain, Former Presidential Hopeful, Dies Of COVID-19

Herman Cain (image via Facebook)
Herman Cain,  former CEO of the Nebraska-based Godfather’s Pizza and former 2012 Republican presidential hopeful, has died from complications from COVID-19. He was 74.

From NBC News:

Last month, Cain had tested positive for COVID-19, just a little over a week after he had attended a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20.

While there’s no way to pinpoint exactly where he contracted the virus, Cain posted a photo of himself with others at the event, which showed him without a mask on.

More than 150,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19.

An unabashed social conservative, he opposed same-sex marriage and abortion rights. Cain had recently joined conservative news outlet Newsmax TV and was set to launch a weekly show before he died in an Atlanta-area hospital where he had been critically ill for several weeks.

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Madonna Posts COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory, Gets Deleted

Madonna (image via Instagram)
Madonna raised eyebrows on Tuesday night when she posted a video of coronavirus conspiracy theory proponent, Dr. Stella Immanuel, who claims hydroxychloroquine can ‘cure’ COVID-19. “The truth will set us all Free! But some people don’t want to hear the truth,” Madge captioned the Instagram post. “Especially the people in power who stand to make money from this long drawn out search for a vaccine Which has been proven and available for months. They would rather let fear control them and let the rich get richer and the poor and sick get sicker.” Madonna closed the post writing, “This woman is my hero … Thank you Stella Immanuel.” Instagram blurred the video and labeled it “False Information.” The social media platform provided viewers with a link to a page debunking the claims and clarifying that there is currently no coronavirus vaccine. Instagram then deleted the post hours later. Raki Wane, a spokesperson for the social media platform, said in a statement the post was removed “for making false claims about cures and prevention methods for Covid-19.” The video shows Dr. Immanuel, a primary care physician in Houston, Texas, appearing on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday with a group called America’s Frontline Doctors. In addition to claiming hydroxychloroquine is a COVID-19 ‘cure,’ Immanuel announced face masks aren’t necessary to stop the spread of the disease. More about Immanuel from The Daily Beast:

Immanuel, a pediatrician and a religious minister, has a history of making bizarre claims about medical topics and other issues. She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches. 

She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious.

The doctor is also hideously homophobic having posted numerous times on her Facebook page demonizing LGBTQ people writing, “practicing and celebrating [homosexuality] will take you to hell.” Immanuel thanked The Daily Beast in a tweet for properly summarizing her views:

Madonna has revealed some interesting thoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In one post on Instagram, she’s shared that she ‘took a test’ and ‘found out she has the anti-bodies.’ “So tomorrow, I’m just going to go for a long drive in a car,” says Madonna. “And I’m gonna roll down the window, and I’m gonna breathe in, I’m gonna breathe in the COVID-19 air.” In another post, later deleted, she shared a video showing her in a bathtub filled with rose petals. In the clip, she said, “That’s the thing about Covid-19: It doesn’t care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell. It’s the great equalizer, and what’s terrible about it is what’s great about it. What’s terrible about it is it’s made us all equal in many ways.” In any case, Twitter wasn’t having Madonna’s trip down in the underbrush of insanity:

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Trump Supporter Denied COVID-19 Threat Until Tragedy Struck

Dallas conservative Tony Green (image via GoFundMe)
Openly gay Dallas conservative Tony Green thought the COVID-19 pandemic was a ‘scamdemic’ until reality clapped back as he and his entire family fell ill from the coronavirus. In an essay for the Dallas Voice, Green admits he voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and traveled “deep into the conspiracy theory trap” of the coronavirus health threat. That was until 14 members of his family tested positive for the virus. One family member died and another is currently on life support. Green says from the beginning of the COVID-19 health treat, he was totally down for “all the defiant behavior” of Trump’s more radical followers: “I was a hard-ass that stood up for my God-given rights.’” From the beginning, he bought into the pandemic being a ‘hoax,’ writing, “I believed the mainstream media and the Democrats were using it to create panic, crash the economy and destroy Trump’s chances at re-election.” And so, the 43-year-old Republican and his partner hosted a family party on Saturday, June 13. No one wore face masks The next morning, he woke up sick. By Monday, June 15, his partner also grew ill as well as his parents. His in-laws, who had attended the party, traveled to be present at the birth of their first grandchild. The couple took Green’s father-in-law’s mother and one of his partner’s sisters along. The father-in-law and the sister became sick that night. Two days, later, his father-in-law’s mother developed symptoms as well as the new daddy and mommy. Everyone tested positive for the coronavirus except the newborn. On June 24, ten days after the house party, Green and his father-in-law had to be hospitalized. As the virus attacked Green’s nervous system, hospital staff had to save him from a near-stroke.

“Imagine the sound and vibration of an old-fashioned electric heater going through your whole body. Imagine gasping for air with every step you take. Imagine rubbing Icy Hot all over your head to soothe a painful headache. Imagine your eyes in a bowl of water while you’re still seeing through them. Imagine collapsing and waking up in the ER only to find out COVID-19 attacked your central nervous system, and the doctor had just saved you from a stroke.”

His father-in-law’s mother was admitted to the hospital the next day, and less than a week later, she died from COVID-19. No family members were with her as she passed away even though her son lay in the hospital room next to hers. On the day of her funeral, July 14, five more family members tested positive for the coronavirus. That evening, his father-in-law was put on a ventilator. Today, Green is brutally candid about the anguish he bears. “You cannot imagine the guilt I feel, knowing that I hosted the gathering that led to so much suffering,” writes Green. “You cannot imagine my guilt at having been a denier, carelessly shuffling through this pandemic, making fun of those wearing masks and social distancing. You cannot imagine my guilt at knowing that my actions convinced both our families it was safe when it wasn’t.” “The coronavirus is very real and extremely contagious,” he says to pandemic deniers. “Before you even know you have it, you’ve passed it along to your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors.” “Trust me,” he adds. “You do not want this virus. And you do not want your loved ones suffering and dying from this because you are taking a ‘political stand’ or protecting the economy over their lives.” Green closes by admitting “I am calling myself out first,” and warns “If we continue being more worried about the disruption to our lives than we are about stopping this virus, not one American will be spared. Not one.” On Monday, Green told NBC News many friends of his remain unconvinced the virus is truly deadly. “I don’t think they’re going to change their opinions unless it bites them in the butt like it did me,” he said.

He says he came forward with his story to help people be more vigilant about wearing masks as the CDC reports increasing evidence that face coverings help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.

On July 2, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, reversed course issuing an executive order mandating face masks in public in any county with 20 or more cases of the coronavirus.

“Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said in a statement announcing his executive order.

At this writing, John Hopkins University – which is tracking the pandemic – reports 149,961 deaths have occurred in the U.S. from COVID-19. (source: Dallas Voice)