Coronavirus pandemic - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

EU to Reimpose Entry Ban on Travellers From US & 5 Other Third Countries on Monday, Sources Say

Schengenvisainfo News — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 10:46:34 +0000

Two officials within the European Union institutions have confirmed for Reuters that the EU Council will on Monday announce its decision to remove from the list of epidemiologically safe third countries a total of six countries, including the United States.

The removal from the list means that the Member States are advised to reimpose the entry ban on travellers from these countries so that the same are no longer eligible to enter restriction-free for non-essential purposes like tourism and business.

According to Reuters, the decision on reimposing the entry ban on US travellers has been taken on Friday, August 27, but it will be officially announced only on Monday, August 30. The complete list of the countries affected goes as follows:

Israel
Kosovo
Lebanon
Montenegro
North Macedonia
United States

All six have recently reported an increasing number of Coronavirus cases detected within their territory.

In the US, which is home to 328.2 million residents, a total of 38,158,495 cases have been detected since the beginning of the pandemic, 169,512 of which within the last 24 hours, data by the World Health Organization reveals.

Whereas Israel, which has so far vaccinated about 80 per cent of its 9.053 million population, has recorded 8,078 cases within the last 24 hours, bringing the number of infected persons since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,031,810.

Due to the increase in the number of cases, SchengenVisaInfo.com had reported for days now that the entry ban on Americans travelling to the EU for non-essential purposes would be brought back.

The EU’s list of epidemiologically safe third-countries is a list of non-EU/EEA countries that are considered safe amid the Coronavirus pandemic due to the low rates of infections, and the Member States are advised to reopen the borders for non-essential travellers from these areas.

The list is reviewed every fortnight, and the Member States are not legally bound in applying it. The residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican, on the other hand, are considered EU residents for the purpose of this recommendation.

The first list was published on June 30, 2020, while the last time it was reviewed was on July 15, 2021, when Ukraine was added to it.

Currently, it consists of the following 23 countries: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan

Bosnia and Hercegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, New Zealand, Qatar, Moldova, North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Ukraine, United States of America, as well as China, which is still subject to confirmation of reciprocity.

Source: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-to-reimpose-entry-ban-on-travellers-from-us-5-other-third-countries-on-monday-sources-say/

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Grocers Grapple with Ongoing Shortages

Pan Demetrakakes, Senior Editor - Food Processing — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 09:52:02 +0000

Food retailers throughout America, especially small or regional ones, are having problems getting food supplies that match anything they dealt with in the early stages of the pandemic.

Shortages of labor, packaging materials and raw ingredients are making food & beverage processors ship as little as 40% of what their trade customers order, grocery executives told the Wall Street Journal. Processors are struggling to meet unexpectedly high demand: monthly grocery sales are up 3% from a year ago, when the pandemic was still in full swing, and up 14% from two years ago, before the pandemic, according to IRI research quoted in the Journal.

The CEO of Rouses Markets, a chain of about 60 stores based in Louisiana, said he has had so many problems getting Lunchables meal kits from Kraft Heinz that the store has taken to assembling its own. Kraft Heinz told the Journal that demand for Lunchables is the most intense in five years.

Walmart has reinstated penalty fees for incomplete shipments after suspending them last spring, but that hasn’t helped. However, the bigger retailers in general are faring better, as processors favor them during shortages.

Source: https://www.foodprocessing.com/industrynews/2021/grocers-grapple-with-ongoing-shortages/

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Covid in Scotland: Hospitals under more pressure than ever, say medics

Lisa Summers — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 14:55:18 +0000

Scotland’s hospitals are under more pressure than ever, doctors have told BBC Scotland.

While the number of COVID patients has fallen, the NHS is trying to catch up with surgeries and treatments put on hold during the first wave of the pandemic.

But more people are also being admitted with other complex, more advanced disease, having put off seeking treatment.

It’s leading to long waits in emergency departments and piling pressure on capacity in other parts of the hospital.

As the Scottish government prepares to publish a COVID recovery plan for the NHS, medics at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital spoke to BBC Scotland’s health correspondent Lisa Summers.

Dr Alan Whitelaw says the hospital is a “very difficult place to work just now”.

It’s 10am on Tuesday at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. The emergency department is full. Five seriously ill patients are in resus, all 16 assessment cubicles are occupied. Some have been waiting more than 12 hours for a bed to become available elsewhere in the hospital.

Dr Alan Whitelaw, a consultant in emergency medicine who heads up the department, says: “The demand is something I have never seen before, it is busier than the Queen Elizabeth has ever been in its six years of existence.”

It is a similar picture in other emergency departments. Data published this week by Public Health Scotland shows nationally just 78.7% of patients were admitted, treated or discharged within four hours, and 182 people spent more than 12 hours in an A&E.

Dr Whitelaw says the pressures in the emergency department are a reflection of how stretched the NHS is, with very few beds available in other parts of the hospital.

“Lying on a trolley for a number of hours anywhere is unpleasant, it also turns the tension up, everyone is waiting and everyone is not as satisfied as they otherwise would be,” he says.

“It’s a very difficult place to come and work just now. It’s very tiring, very draining, stressful and you can see that on the staff on a day-by-day basis.”

The last 18 months have been the most difficult in the 20 year career of Helen Dorrance.

Other parts of the hospital are equally busy. Staff are still treating COVID patients but in far fewer numbers. Instead, they are seeing many more patients who have more complex and advanced disease.

Helen Dorrance, a senior surgeon who specializes in cancer, has more than 20 years’ experience but says the last 18 months have been the most difficult of her career.

“The waiting times for clinics and for investigations like colonoscopy and endoscopy and for day surgery in particular are huge at the moment, so I have no idea when we are going to be out of this other than it is not going to be any time quickly,” she says.

It is very hard knowing that delays in starting treatment have led to worse outcomes for some patients, she adds.

“It makes you very sad for the individual, sometimes angry. It’s very difficult knowing that had an individual come six months earlier then the discussions might have been different, the outcome for them and for their families might have been completely different.”

Senior charge nurse Lauren Johnson gets emotional talking about the toll COVID took on her patients

At the start of the pandemic, it was care-of-the-elderly wards which were the first to be turned into COVID wards.

Senior charge nurse Lauren Johnson says staff had to adapt quickly to wearing PPE and communicating with sometimes confused or hard-of-hearing patients who were scared and couldn’t see their families.

“It’s a blur, it really is,” she says. “The five months I worked on the COVID hub was so difficult, I didn’t see my family.

“I get emotional just talking about it, just seeing our wee frail patients not getting the chance for their families to say goodbye sometimes, and we were the ones saying goodbye to them, it was really, really difficult.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my life.”

There are 244 care-of-the-elderly beds at the Queen Elizabeth, most of them are back to treating non-COVID patients, but all of them are occupied.

Dr Lara Mitchell says they are seeing more people presenting late with illness.

Clinical lead and consultant in medicine for the elderly, Dr Lara Mitchell, says the patients who come to them are also sicker.

“We are still full, we are still busy,” she says. “The pandemic has been hard for all of us but it has been particularly bad for the older adult.

“They’ve not been connected with as many of their family and friends, they’ve not had ways to meet, so patients are not as strong as they used to be.

“All of that impacts on their general health when they have other medical issues going on, and I think that is what we are seeing, a lot of deconditioning as well as late presentation of illness because people have held on at home.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said they recognized the additional pressure NHS staff were facing, and were in daily contact with boards facing the greatest challenges.

“We are delivering record funding of more than £16bn in 2021-22 to support NHS Scotland and its heroic staff through the most challenging period in history – and after careful and extensive consultation we are currently finalizing our NHS recovery plan which will set out plans to increase inpatient, day-case and outpatient activity,” they added.

Getting the health service back on track is going to be a huge challenge. Spending on healthcare already amounts to about half of the entire Scottish budget, and there have been long-standing difficulties recruiting staff.

Four ambulances parked outside the emergency department have patients onboard

Outside the emergency department, four ambulances are parked up. They are waiting with patients onboard until there is room in the department. It means four less ambulances on the road.

Social distancing rules limit numbers in the waiting room and a queue has formed outside. A nurse is patiently explaining the pressures today and helping patients work out if they would get better treatment elsewhere.

Dr Whitelaw says: “If you’ve got what you perceive to be a life-threatening condition you should absolutely come to the emergency department, whether that is by 999 ambulance or getting here yourself.

“I think if you’ve not got what you think is a life-threatening condition you should access NHS 24 on 111 rather than just coming to an emergency department, because demand currently exceeds supply and we are full today.”

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-58179736

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Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 5 March 2021

Mark Armstrong — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 23:51:12 +0000

Greetings from Tyler,

Everybody’s supposed to feel a lot better, now that thousands of unaccompanied minors are flooding across the border. Apparently they’re given money (Bill O’Reilly said eleven hundred dollars) and allowed to travel wherever they see fit in the United States to await a hearing they’ll not attend. Extended family is waiting somewhere south of the border, expecting that they’ll be able to join the minor as soon as someone in the new administration calls for reuniting families.

At this point you couldn’t be blamed for refusing to be subjected to this weekly update. Some of us are trying to insulate our minds from the tidal wave of news that makes no sense. It turns out that President Trump’s speech has been banished from popular platforms (while still available if you know where to look). He committed the act that infuriates news anchors, and frankly is not allowed to be uttered aloud or in print. Any suggestion that the last presidential election was in some way not to be trusted is “dangerous misinformation.” To see their reaction, you’d think somebody had yelled “fire” in a crowded theater. Not that any theaters are crowded anymore.

It seemed great news that Governor Abbott of Texas is calling off the great COVID scare, as soon as next Wednesday arrives. Until then, you’ll do as you’ve been told. Maybe you’ll still run into mask police at the front door of some businesses who’ve decided to keep the charade alive. But then, they must not be in business to succeed. Why would any business run off customers on purpose? It must take a commitment that has nothing to do with “business.”

But Dr. Fauci and certain other public voices are alarmed! You can’t get back to normal, yet! It won’t be long ’till the news is reporting record outbreaks again. It wasn’t true before, and it won’t be true if they try it again. But Fauci becomes irrelevant the minute the panic subsides, and we can’t let that happen! Can we?

COVID succeeded in getting Donald Trump to leave the White House, but don’t think they’re about to give up on something that’s been so successful. For decades they’ve been screaming their heads off about what an “existential crisis” we face with global warming, and how we’ve all got to forget other concerns and focus exclusively on our “carbon footprint.” It never caught on, even with every news outlet and corporation preaching the gospel ’till they were blue in the face. But COVID-19? Nothing has ever caught on with the public like this has, so they’re just not going to let it go, even though the primary goal has already been accomplished. Expect another barrage of health scares designed to make you wear a mask at your own funeral. Can’t be too safe, you know.

There is a hint of good news though. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel will make sure Iran doesn’t get a nuclear bomb or pose any threat to the world at large, whether the American government revives the “Deal” or not. Chances are the nations that signed on to the Abraham Peace accords are not going to choose war over peaceful trade, despite the best efforts to return to traditional disputes. We are well aware of the scenario laid out in Bible prophecy, and we’re not there yet. If the sovereignty of the United States is relinquished to world bodies controlled from Europe, that may change. Right now the world watches in amazement as the United States spirals toward self-destruction because former, and shadow President Obama says it’s the right thing to do.

Mark

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

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Scientists Demand New COVID-19 Probe After WHO Investigation Compromised By Chinese Communist Party.

Natalie Winters — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 17:18:39 +0000

An international group of scientists called for a new investigation into the origins of COVID-19 over fears the current probe is compromised by the Chinese Communist Party.

“We wish to raise public awareness of the fact that half of the joint team convened under that process is made of Chinese citizens whose scientific independence may be limited, that international members of the joint team had to rely on information the Chinese authorities chose to share with them, and that any joint team report must be approved by both the Chinese and international members of the joint team,” the open letter published in The Wall Street Journal reads.

The letter also follows National Pulse reporting exposing American and French World Health Organization (WHO) having potential conflicts of interest with the Chinese government.

“We have therefore reached the conclusion that the joint team did not have the mandate, the independence, or the necessary accesses to carry out a full and unrestricted investigation into all the relevant SARS-CoV-2 origin hypotheses — whether natural spillover or laboratory/research-related incident,” the letter adds.

OPEN LETTER

Call for a Full and UnrestrictedInternational Forensic Investigation into the origins of COVID-19
March 4, 2021

1. Introduction

Finding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is critically important to both better addressing the current pandemic and reducing the risks of future ones. Unfortunately, well over a year after the initial outbreak, the origins of the pandemic remain unknown.

As scientists, social scientists, and science communicators who have been independently and collectively looking into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe it essential that all hypotheses about the origins of the pandemic are thoroughly examined and full access to all necessary resources be provided without regard to political or other sensitivities.

Based on our analysis, and as confirmed by the global study convened by the World HealthOrganization (WHO) and Chinese authorities, there is as yet no evidence demonstrating a fully natural origin of this virus. The zoonosis hypothesis, largely based on patterns of previous zoonosis events, is only one of a number of possible SARS-CoV-2 origins, alongside there search-related accident hypothesis.

Although the “collaborative” process of discovery mandated by the World Health Assembly in May 2020 was meant to enable a full examination of the origins of the pandemic, we believe that structural limitations built into this endeavor make it all but impossible for the WHO-convened mission to realize this aspiration.

In particular, we wish to raise public awareness of the fact that half of the joint team convened under that process is made of Chinese citizens whose scientific independence may be limited, that international members of the joint team had to rely on information the Chinese authorities chose to share with them, and that any joint team report must be approved by both the Chinese and international members of the joint team.

We have therefore reached the conclusion that the joint team did not have the mandate, the independence, or the necessary accesses to carry out a full and unrestricted investigation into all the relevant SARS-CoV-2 origin hypotheses – whether natural spillover or laboratory/research-related incident.

We are also concerned that the joint team’s work has been inaccurately reported by the media as an independent investigation whose conclusions reflect those of the WHO. The February 9, 2021 Wuhan joint press conference was a good example of this misunderstanding. Although the findings were those of the joint team, they were widely reported as representing the WHO itself.

As strong supporters of the WHO and its mission, we believe it must be made clear that any findings of the joint committee, while potentially useful to a limited extent, represent neither the official position of the WHO nor the result of an unrestricted, independent investigation. For this reason, we believe it is essential that the contours of a full and unrestricted investigation be outlined to set a standard against which current and future efforts can be evaluated.

2. Limitations of the WHO-convened global study

The following core problems undermine the existing WHO-convened joint study:

• The Terms of Reference, which govern the exact objectives, duties, and responsibilities of the joint-investigation, were negotiated without sufficient transparency (July 2020), and then made public after the considerable delay (November 2020).

• These Terms of Reference were significantly limited, for instance by stipulating that most of the fieldwork had to be conducted by the Chinese side with the results simply communicated to the international members of the joint team for review and discussion, in a format chosen by the Chinese side.

• The intermediate and final reports of the joint study rely on a consensus among the 17Chinese members and 17 international members of the joint team. It is likely, therefore, that reports resulting from this process will ultimately represent a necessary compromise based partly on political and other limitations.

• The selection process of international experts on the team did not adequately screen for conflicts of interest.

• The skills represented in the team are purely focused on public health and zoonosis at the detriment of forensic skills suitable for investigating a laboratory or research-related accident.

• The team did not have the mandate or access to granular lab records, data, and personnel to an extent that would allow them to confidently evaluate the various hypotheses.

• The team operated in the context of abroad Chinese State Council gag order which prevented any spontaneous sharing of any information about the pandemic, and which coordinated the careful release of any such information with the Chinese government. That gag order was put in place a week after the departure of the Feb 2020 WHO joint mission from China.

• The international members of the joint team, by their own admission, have often relied on verbal assurances given to them by their Chinese counterparts rather than independent investigation, particularly regarding the possibility of a lab or research-related accident.

• At least one international team member had expressed a strong conviction towards the pure zoonosis hypothesis before joining the investigation – when hardly any data about the SARS-CoV-2 virus were available – and was dismissive of the lab-related origins. These public statements cast serious doubts as to his scientific objectivity.

3. What a full investigation should look like

Because the joint team investigation falls short of the mark, we believe it essential for the international community to outline how a full and unrestricted investigation could be organized. Such an investigation would need to:

• Be carried out by a truly independent team with no unresolved conflicts of interest and no full or partial control by any specific agenda or country.

• Be multidisciplinary by including epidemiologists, virologists, wildlife experts, public health specialists, forensic investigators, biosafety and biosecurity experts, etc.

• Include several individuals with Chinese-language skills and with an understanding of Chinese culture, who can help to interpret behaviors during the original events and also help decode the dynamic during the investigation itself.

• Start its study by considering all possible scenarios for each pathway. These should include:

o A pure zoonosis event with/without an intermediate host;

o Infection at a sampling site of a lab employee or of some accompanying non-lab personnel;

o Infection during transport of collected animals and/or samples;

o Lab Acquired Infection (LAI) in one of the laboratories in Wuhan;

o Lab-escape without LAI, for instance via waste handling or animals that escaped or were disposed of inappropriately.

• Follow a common forensic investigation approach, based on:

o Traditional rigorous on-the-ground investigation;

o Desk-based analyst work to make sense of the elements collected;

o Open-source intelligence to help gather additional information;

o A review of previous zoonosis events and lab-related accidents, from which technical and institutional insights may be gained.

• Have full or significant access to all sites, records, samples, and personnel of interest, including:

o Key Wuhan markets;

o All laboratories and institutions, Chinese or international, known to have worked on coronaviruses or shared facilities or equipment with groups that worked on coronaviruses;

o Hospital records from fall 2019 of early or suspect patients, including interviews with patients or contacts;

o Important pathogen sampling sites, such as the Mojiang mine;

o Current and past personnel, such as employees of the labs in 2019 and people present on specific sampling sites.

• Have full access to all relevant records of the labs and institutions involved in coronavirus research, including:

o Environmental reports;

o Inspection reports;

o Maintenance logs;

o Lab experiment logs;

o Raw sequence reads;

o Records of shipments of samples;

o Specimen destruction records;

o Personnel logs;

o Incident reports;

o Animal breeding records;

o Sampling trip records, including the 2013 Mojiang sampling trip;

o Key databases of pathogens, samples, and isolates, including those taken offline.

• Have full access to granular data, preferably directly from the source and in its raw form, not summarized data. This data can be anonymized if necessary; there should be no legal reason to limit access.

• Have full access to market samples, environmental samples, hospital samples, and any potential samples such as wastewaters and blood banks with full permission to perform independent sequencing or other testing.

• Have full access to the Chinese CDC case records and related primary hospital and/or clinic records.

• Have full access to other Chinese case databases describing pneumonia cases.

• Be able to conduct confidential interviews, including of early cases and their relatives and past and present personnel associated with the sites or institutions of interest such as markets, hospitals, sampling sites, and laboratories.

• Deploy a secure reporting channel for people to confidentially contribute information, wherever they are based, without fear of punishment or retribution.

4. Conclusion and Next Steps

We recognize that as an international agency that must rely on the collaboration of its member states, the World Health Organization is limited in what it can achieve in this type of investigation. It is not our intention to undermine the WHO, which is working under challenging circumstances at a time of tremendous global need.

Although the joint team investigation was a significant opportunity for the international community to gain some limited and highly curated information, it has unfortunately proven opaque and restrictive, greatly compromising the scientific validity of the investigation. With more than two million deaths, more than a hundred million infected by COVID-19 worldwide,
and a massive global disruption impacting some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, we
cannot afford an investigation into the origins of the pandemic that is anything less than absolutely thorough and credible. If we fail to fully and courageously examine the origins of this pandemic, we risk being unprepared for a potentially worse pandemic in the future.

Because we believe the joint team process and efforts to date do not constitute a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation, we call on the international community to put in place a structure and process that does.

Signatories:
• Colin D Butler, Honorary Professor, National Centre for Epidemiology and population health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (ORCID 0000-0002-2942-5294)

• Bruno Canard, DR CNRS, molecular virologist, Aix Marseille University, France, (ORCID
0000-0003-4924-1991)

• Henri Cap, PhD, zoologist, Museum of Natural History, Toulouse, France

• Y. A. Chan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, USA(ORCID 0000-0002-0731-637X).

• Jean-Michel Claverie, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, virologist, Aix-MarseilleUniversity, France, ( ORCID 0000-0003-1424-0315)

• Fabien Colombo, PhD Candidate, Communication and sociology of science, MICA,Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France.

• Virginie Courtier, Evolutionary geneticist, Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, France (ORCID 0000-0002-9297-9230).

• Francisco A. de Ribera, Industrial Engineer, MBA, MSc(Res), Data scientist, Madrid, Spain (ORCID 0000-0003-4419-636X)

• Etienne Decroly, DR CNRS, molecular virologist, Aix Marseille University, France,(ORCID 0000-0002-6046-024X)

• Rodolphe de Maistre, MSc engineering, MBA, ex auditor IHEDN, France (ORCID 0000-0002-3433-2420)

• Gilles Demaneuf, Engineering (ECP), Data Scientist at BNZ, Auckland, NZ, (ORCID:0000-0001-7277-9533) (Co-Organizer)

• Richard H. Ebright, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, USA

• André Goffinet, MD, PhD, Emeritus Professor, University of Louvain Med Sch, Belgium

• François Graner, biophysicist, Research Director, CNRS and Université de Paris,France, (ORCID 0000-0002-4766-3579)

• José Halloy, Professor of Physics, Biophysics and Sustainability, Université de Paris, France, (ORCID0000-0003-1555-2484)

• Milton Leitenberg, Senior Research Associate, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland, USA

• Filippa Lentzos, Senior Lecturer in Science & International Security, King’s College London, United Kingdom (ORCID 0000-0001-6427-4025)

• Rosemary McFarlane, PhD BVSc, Assistant Professor of Public Health, University of Canberra, Australia (ORCID 0000-0001-8859-3776)

• Jamie Metzl, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council, USA (Co-Organizer)

• Morell, Biologist, DR CNRS and Museum of Natural History, Toulouse, France

• Nikolai Petrovsky, Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Australia

• Steven Quay, MD, PhD, Formerly Asst. Professor, Department of Pathology, StanfordUniversity School of Medicine, USA (ORCID 0000-0002-0363-7651)

• Monali C. Rahalkar, Scientist ‘D’, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India

• Rossana Segreto, PhD, Department of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Austria(ORCID 0000-0002-2566-7042)

• Günter Theißen, Dr. rer. nat., Professor of Genetics, Matthias Schleiden Institute,Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany, (ORCID 0000-0003-4854-8692)

• Jacques van Helden, Professor of bioinformatics, Aix-Marseille University, France,(ORCID 0000-0002-8799-8584)

Source: https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/scientists-demand-new-covid-probe/

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Ron Johnson forces reading of 628-page Senate coronavirus relief bill on floor

Jordain Carney — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 16:36:50 +0000

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is forcing Senate floor staff to read the entire Democratic coronavirus relief bill, a maneuver that could take up to 10 hours and will delay a final vote on the legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) formally offered the 628-page Senate bill on Thursday after an initial vote to take up House-passed legislation, which is being used as a vehicle for the chamber’s debate.

Typically, the Senate waives the full reading of bills or amendments. But Johnson had vowed to force Senate floor staff to read the bill, arguing it would give senators time to craft amendments and for Americans to learn the details of the legislation.

“By the way, I feel bad for the clerks. … So, so often we rush these massive bills that are hundreds, if not thousands, of pages long. You don’t have time. Nobody has time to read them,” Johnson said on Thursday.

Senators estimate it will take anywhere between five and 10 hours for the Senate floor staff to read through the legislation. Johnson was sitting on the floor as the Senate staff started their reading on Thursday afternoon and a GOP senator will need to remain on the floor throughout the reading.

After Johnson objected, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chairman of the Budget Committee, was overheard joking “I want to stay to hear the reading. I may have missed something.”

Sanders, who subsequently left the chamber, added, “Good thing we have time during a national emergency to do this.”

Democrats are vowing that they will pass the coronavirus bill this week, which still needs to bounce back to the House for a second vote. Even after the Senate staff wraps up reading the bill, the chamber has to go through up to an additional 20 hours of debate and a freewheeling vote-a-rama before senators can take a final vote.

Schumer trolled Johnson’s efforts on the floor on Thursday.

“A few of my Republican colleagues are going to some pretty ridiculous lengths to showcase their opposition,” Schumer said.

“Still, we are delighted that the Senator from Wisconsin wants to give the American people another opportunity to hear what’s in the American Rescue Plan. We Democrats want America to hear what’s in the plan. And if the senator from Wisconsin wants to read it, let everybody listen because it has overwhelming support,” he added.

Note: Read the entire 628-page bill at the source

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/541695-ron-johnson-forces-reading-of-senate-coronavirus-bill-on-floor

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Germany Changes Corona Rules, Announces Several ‘Reopening Steps’

Imanuel Marcus — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 10:10:35 +0000

Angela Merkel and her colleagues from the capitals in Germany’s sixteen federal states adopted a new strategy in regard to the Corona rules. A complicated list of ‘reopening steps’ was introduced.

Berlin, March 4th, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — Exactly 400 days after the first Coronavirus infection was reported in Germany, the country got a new reopening strategy, in spite of the new Corona mutations and the third wave they may have triggered.

Intense Discussions

The Chancellor and the First Ministers had intense discussions, according to participants, about the Incidence Numbers, the vaccination campaign, and other issues. Parts of the content of a draft resolution that had been sent back and forth between Berlin and the states were changed during the deliberations. These are the changes the Corona conference adopted. They kick in on March 8th:

The contact restrictions will be eased. People from up to two households may gather in groups of up to five. Children up to 14 years of age do not have to be counted. In regions with Incidence Numbers lower than 35, the number of people who may gather can be doubled to 10.
Book shops, flower shops, and gardening centers will be allowed to reopen if they have convincing hygiene concepts. The number of customers who enter concurrently needs to be limited, depending on the space a business has. The same applies to driving and flying schools. Instructors and students need to be tested before they enter the vehicles or aircraft, on the same day. Service companies are allowed to open as well.

Additional reopening steps were announced:

Federal states may reopen all retail businesses once their Incidence Number drops below 50. In that case, museums, galleries, and zoos may open as well. In this situation, people may engage in “contact-free” sports activities in groups of up to 10 persons. A “limited reopening” may be allowed with Incidence Numbers below 100. In this case, the states may open retail businesses, but customers may only enter them with appointments. At this moment, all federal states but Thuringia are below 100, but in only two of them, namely Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein, the Incidence is below 50.
The next “reopening step” may apply once the Incidence Number in a federal state has been below 50 for 14 consecutive days. In this case, restaurants may open their outdoor tables, and cinemas, theaters, concert halls, and operas can reopen as well. With Incidence Numbers below 100, restaurants may welcome customers with appointments who register and enter their contact data into lists. This applies two weeks after the previous “reopening step” was taken if the Incidence remains stable.
In yet another step, states may allow outdoor events with up to 50 participants and indoor sports activities of any kind. This applies when the Incidence has been below 50 for 14 consecutive days.

The following applies as well:

At workplaces, contacts still need to be reduced. Companies need to let their employees work from home if they can. This rule was prolonged until April 30th.
General practitioners are supposed to be allowed to vaccinate patients in late March or early April. The doctors may decide which patients should have priority.
Quick Corona tests will be available to everyone soon. The government will pay for one test per person and week.
An “emergency brake” is part of the rules. If and when the Incidence Number exceeds 100 again, today’s rules are supposed to kick in again.

The lockdown Germany has been in for months remains in place until March 28th, 2021.

All relevant Corona numbers for Germany, and daily Corona updates, can be found in our Corona chronology.

Old Strategy Dumped

The government is asking everyone to refrain from taking trips, domestic or international ones unless they are absolutely necessary. Travelers who return to Germany need to go into 10-day quarantines. After five days, they can get out of their quarantine with a negative Corona test. But the latter does not apply to persons who have been to “virus variant areas” such as Great Britain. They have to stay in quarantine for 14 days and will not get a ‘get out of quarantine for free’ card, so to speak.

With their complicated reopening plan, the federal government and federal states dumped their old strategy. So far, Incidence Numbers below 35, or at least below 50, had been the level at which businesses were supposed to be permitted to open. Now, certain reopening steps may be taken at levels between 50 and 100. Here, the will of less careful First Ministers seems to have prevailed.

Free Corona Tests

After nine hours of Corona discussions, Chancellor Merkel stated, the easing of restrictions was supposed to be “secured” by the use of quick Corona tests. All citizens would have the opportunity to get tested for free, once a week. Test centers would be set up. She said self-tests could be used at schools and kindergartens. The Chancellor also announced more reopening steps would be discussed on March 22nd, at the next Corona conference.

Mrs. Merkel, who intends to end her political career in September, said Germany was about to enter a new phase in the Corona pandemic. The latter should not be entered with carelessness, but with justified hope. According to the Chancellor, the country made a lot of headway. She also said the coming spring would be different from the last one.

Some federal states intend to put in place their own rules.

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Imanuel Marcus

Imanuel Marcus is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Berlin Spectator. Originally from Hamburg, he used to be a war reporter in Bosnia and Croatia, and a U.S. correspondent for German and Swiss radio stations in Washington D.C.. He also lived in Mexico and Bulgaria. Contact: imanuelmarcus (at) gmail.com

Source: https://berlinspectator.com/2021/03/04/germany-changes-corona-rules-announces-several-reopening-steps-1/

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The post Germany Changes Corona Rules, Announces Several ‘Reopening Steps’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

EU leaders’ vaccine sniping backfires

Steerpike - The Spectator — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 11:34:14 +0000

The eyes of the world have been on Britain’s vaccination programme in recent months, as the UK government embarked on a dramatic push to get our population inoculated by prioritizing first doses. During this time, the naysayers have been plentiful – with some UK commentators and plenty of politicians abroad keen to cast doubt over the strategy.

What everyone agreed was that time would tell. But now it appears we have promising results, with a new pre-print of a study published by Public Health England today. The study shows that just one dose of both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines has significantly reduced Covid-19 infections among those aged 70 and over. And, the study suggests that one dose of either vaccine is more than 80 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations among the over-80s, three to four weeks after the shot.

This is, of course, very welcome news for the many vulnerable people who have already received their first shot in Britain. But it may leave some leading EU figures with red faces this afternoon. Ever since Britain approved the Oxford vaccine and began its one-dose strategy, flying ahead of other EU countries, there have been howls of anguish from EU leaders who have sought to undermine Britain’s programme and cast doubt on the efficacy of the Oxford shot.

With the news that both the Pfizer and Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine appear to be effective after one dose, Mr. S thought it worthwhile to revisit some of those comments now…

Emmanuel Macron

At the end of January, French President Emmanuel Macron made some remarkable statements about the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Speaking to reporters, Macron even suggested that the shot was ‘quasi-ineffective’ on the elderly:

“‘The real problem on AstraZeneca is that it doesn’t work the way we were expecting it to. We’re waiting for the EMA [European Medicines Agency] results, but today everything points to thinking it is quasi-ineffective on people older than 65, some say those 60 years or older.’

French ministers are said to believe Macron could have a second career as an epidemiologist. Mr. S would recommend that he doesn’t give up the day job…

Clement Beaune

Macron was not the only critic in the French government. At the beginning of February, the French Europe minister, Clement Beaune, suggested that Britain was taking ‘a lot of risks’ by having a 12-week gap between difference doses. The minister then suggested that French citizens would not stand for this kind of gamble, even if the method had been approved by scientists.

Ursula von der Leyen

The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, was not much more helpful. Despite essentially going to war with AstraZeneca to gain more of its vaccine doses, von der Leyen suggested at the beginning of February that Britain had compromised on ‘safety and efficacy’ by approving the vaccine so early. The fact that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) reached exactly the same conclusions as Britain’s healthcare regulator appeared to have passed the bureaucrat by entirely…

Handelsblatt

You could say that the true sniping against the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was kicked off by the German financial newspaper, Handelsblatt, who claimed in a story in January that the shot was only 8 percent effective on the over-65s. The story did not appear to have aged well.

The Robert Koch Institute

Handelsblatt’s somewhat dubious reporting appeared to influence German scientists as well. In January, the European Medicines Agency approved the Oxford vaccine for use on all ages. The German government’s vaccine committee, however, pointedly refused to allow the vaccine to be given to the over-65s, citing insufficient data.

In the end, almost half of the EU’s members have restricted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine and doses are being wasted across the continent as Europeans refuse to receive the Oxford jab. Now that we have data showing the efficacy of the shot, including on the elderly, that decision seems certain to have been proven unwise.

Source: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/eu-leaders-vaccine-sniping-backfires

[Disclaimer]

The post EU leaders’ vaccine sniping backfires first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Argentinians protest over COVID-19 vaccine scandal

France24 — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 11:49:07 +0000

Thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Argentina on Saturday to protest the “VIP vaccinations” scandal that forced the health minister to resign.

Gines Gonzalez Garcia quit a week ago at the president’s request after it emerged that his friends had been able to skip the line for coronavirus inoculation.

Protesters carrying signs reading “Give me my vaccine” and “Stop wasting our money” gathered outside the government headquarters in Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.

“They started by vaccinating friends of the government. It is not appropriate. They are stealing someone else’s life,” protester Irene Marcet told AFP.

Since Argentina began vaccinating its people, only healthcare workers had received the jab until Wednesday, when over-70s in Buenos Aires province were also invited to be immunized.

On Monday, the government released a list of 70 people who received the vaccine outside of the official campaign, which included the 38-year-old economy minister and former president Eduardo Duhalde, his wife, and their children.

On the railings in front of the Casa Rosada, the seat of the government and the president’s office, protesters hung mock black body bags with the names of pro-government leaders vaccinated.

President Alberto Fernandez condemned their actions.

“The way to demonstrate in a democracy cannot be to display mortuary bags with names of political leaders in front of the Casa Rosada,” he tweeted.

“This regrettable action only shows how many opponents see the Republic. Let us not be silent before such an act of barbarism.”

The demonstrations took place without incident apart from some friction between protesters and union activists in front of the president’s official residence.

Protesters also rallied in other cities including Cordoba, Rosario, and Mar del Plata.

With a population of 44 million, Argentina has registered more than two million infections and about 52,000 deaths from coronavirus.

One million people have already been inoculated, according to the government.

Argentina has received 1.22 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, around 580,000 doses from Covishield, from India’s Serum Institute, and 904,000 shots from China’s Sinopharm.

(AFP)

Source: https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20210228-ousands-of-argentinians-take-to-streets-to-protest-vip-vaccinations-scandal

[Disclaimer]

The post Argentinians protest over COVID-19 vaccine scandal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Covid vaccine passports are being considered. And health experts and rights groups are deeply concerned

Sam Meredith — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 11:08:22 +0000

KEY POINTS

The U.S., U.K. and European Union are among those considering whether to introduce a digital passport that will allow citizens to show they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
It is thought some form of certificate system could help stimulate an economic recovery as countries prepare to relax public health measures over the coming weeks.
Physicians and rights groups, however, are deeply concerned.

A passenger using a face mask shows her passport and boarding pass to an employee in a security checkpoint at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota on September 1, 2020. DANIEL MUNOZ | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON — Public health officials and civil liberty organizations are urging policymakers to resist calls for coronavirus vaccine passports, at a time when many countries are in the process of reviewing whether to introduce digital passes.

The U.S., U.K. and European Union are among those considering whether to introduce a digital passport that will allow citizens to show they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

The certificate system could be used for traveling abroad, as well as to grant access to venues such as restaurants and bars.

It is thought a digital passport could help stimulate an economic recovery as countries prepare to relax public health measures over the coming weeks. The ailing airline industry, hit particularly hard by the spread of the virus last year, is among those calling for governments to usher in legislation that supports Covid vaccine passports.

Physicians and rights groups, however, are deeply concerned.

Dr. Deepti Gurdasani, clinical epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London, told CNBC via telephone that vaccine passports could inadvertently be used to provide “false assurances” to holidaymakers.

“I can see that they might be useful in the longer term, but I have several concerns about them being considered at this point in time when I think the scientific evidence doesn’t support them. And there are lots of ethical concerns about them that I think are legitimate,” Gurdasani said on Thursday.

Among those scientific concerns, Gurdasani said it is clear the protection coronavirus vaccines offer is “very far” from complete and “we know very little about the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing infection or even asymptomatic disease against several variants circulating in different countries.”

In addition, most countries do not have sufficient access to vaccines in order to immunize their populations, and Gurdasani warned a certificate system akin to vaccine passports would discriminate against those populations “even further.”

Vacation Plans

President Joe Biden, on his first full day in office last month, outlined a 200-page national coronavirus pandemic strategy. The plan included a directive for multiple government agencies to “assess the feasibility” of linking Covid shots to international vaccination certificates and producing digital versions of them.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also ordered a review of vaccine passports, while the European Council is due to meet on Thursday to discuss the next steps of the EU’s vaccine rollout and movement across the 27-nation bloc.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets Year 11 students during a visit to the Accrington Academy on February 25, 2021 in Lancaster, England. (Photo by Anthony Devlin – WPA Pool/Getty Images) – Anthony Devlin | WPA Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The International Air Travel Association, which represents some 290 airlines from around the world, has seen an increasing number of airlines sign up for its so-called IATA Travel Pass. The initiative is designed to help passengers manage their travel plans and provide airlines and governments with proof that they have been vaccinated or tested for Covid-19.

In a letter seen by EURACTIV, the IATA reportedly called on EU leaders meeting on Thursday to approve vaccine passports and come to an agreement “on the crucial role of secure digital solutions, such as the IATA Travel Pass.” IATA was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Thursday.

The World Health Organization is not currently keen on vaccine passports. In a statement published on Jan. 28, WHO officials said governments should “not introduce requirements of proof of vaccination or immunity for international travel as a condition of entry” at present.

The United Nations health agency added: “There are still critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission and limited availability of vaccines.”

‘What happens to everyone else?’

A report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit last month projected that the bulk of the adult population of advanced economies would be vaccinated by the middle of next year. In contrast, this timeline extends to early 2023 for many middle-income countries and even as far out as 2024 for some low-income countries.

It underscores the stark divide between high-income and low-income countries when it comes to vaccine access.

“These so-called passports claim they would ensure those who can prove they have coronavirus immunity can start to return to normal life. Which raises the question — what happens to everyone else?” Liberty, the U.K.’s largest civil liberties organization, said in a press release earlier this month.

Airport workers unload a shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from the Covax global Covid-19 vaccination programme, at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, on February 24, 2021. NIPAH DENNIS | AFP | Getty Images

“Countless suggestions for immunity passports have circulated. Some suggest their use would be limited to international travel — others are less specific. Meanwhile, a variety of technologies have been floated, from QR codes to apps or even physical cards,” the statement continued.

“One thing every suggestion has missed is that it’s impossible to have immunity passports which do not result in human rights abuses.”

Big Brother Watch, a U.K.-based rights and democracy group, has also warned against the use of vaccine passports, citing implications on privacy and free movement, among other issues.

What happens next?

In a report published on Feb. 14 by the Science in Emergencies Tasking: Covid-19 (SET-C) group at the Royal Society, the U.K.’s national academy of sciences, university professors outlined 12 issues that would need to be satisfied in order to deliver a vaccine passport.

These included: accommodating for the differences between vaccines in their effectiveness and changes in efficacy against emerging Covid variants, be internationally standardized, be secure for personal data, meet legal standards, and meet ethical standards.

“Understanding what a vaccine passport could be used for is a fundamental question — is it literally a passport to allow international travel or could it be used domestically to allow holders greater freedoms?” Professor Melinda Mills, director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford, said in the report.

“We need a broader discussion about multiple aspects of a vaccine passport, from the science of immunity through to data privacy, technical challenges, and the ethics and legality of how it might be used,” Mills said.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/25/covid-vaccine-passports-health-experts-are-deeply-concerned.html

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The post Covid vaccine passports are being considered. And health experts and rights groups are deeply concerned first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.