Tag: Pandemic

October 14, 2020 Off

Which states had the best pandemic response?

For this story, reporters interviewed a wide range of health researchers, public officials and academic experts to ask them which states were standouts in their management of the pandemic. What we heard repeatedly were lessons culled from a handful of states that others could follow.

We’ve distilled their insights into three categories that represent the greatest challenges states are facing: fighting the virus, managing the economic fallout and reopening schools.

FIGHTING THE VIRUS

Leading the way in the rural Northeast

Few states have a record as unblemished as Vermont.

The odds could have been stacked against the state. The virus arrived in Vermont during the first wave sweeping the country. It shares borders with some of the hardest-hit states and has the third-oldest population in the country.

But Vermont swiftly flattened its initial wave and has since gone weeks at a time

By [email protected]_84

October 14, 2020 Off

Utah officials announce new pandemic strategy, mask mandates

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah is implementing a new strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic as the number of confirmed cases and hospitalizations continued to surge, state officials announced Tuesday.

The state will move away from its color-coded health system and instead place counties under restrictions based on their COVID-19 transmission rates, said Gov. Gary Herbert. Each county will be listed as high, moderate or low level transmission areas.

Six counties — Salt Lake, Utah, Cache, Garfield, Juab and Wasatch — have been designated as high transmission areas. Masks will be required in all indoor settings in these counties, and social gatherings must be limited to 10 people or fewer, said Rich Saunders, acting director of the Utah Department of Health.

In moderate transmission areas, gatherings will be limited to 25 or fewer unless masks are worn, said Saunders. Gatherings will be limited to 50 or fewer in low

By [email protected]_84

October 13, 2020 Off

Hamilton ‘s Mandy Gonzalez on Battling Breast Cancer During a Pandemic

Ted Ely

When Mandy Gonzalez, who stars as Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton on Broadway, went public with her breast cancer diagnosis in January, she was already prepared for a challenging year – one that included fighting the disease while still performing the demanding role in the show.

Two months later, COVID-19 complicated things even further: Broadway shut down, she was now managing remote schooling for her 8-year-old daughter, and her cancer treament in New York City became inaccessible due to the pandemic raging through New York’s hospitals. At the hospital in New Jersey, she had to attend chemotherapy alone due to visitor restrictions. But she powered through those “end of the world” days, and in July, she rang the bell that indicated that she was cancer-free.

By October (which is Breast Cancer Awareness month), Gonzalez, now a Breast Cancer Research Foundation ambassador, was able to look back on that difficult

By [email protected]_84

October 13, 2020 Off

Using the Pandemic as an Opportunity to Lose Weight and Get in Shape

It also helped that she was no longer able to go out for meals and had to cook at home, where she prepared healthy meals for herself, like chicken, fish and salads. Rather than vodka on the rocks, her previous cocktail of choice, she diluted her vodka with mineral water and a splash of cranberry juice. “Quarantine gave me time to be creative with the meals I was eating,” she said.

Another reason many people gained weight is that they stopped planning their meals in advance. Without planning ahead, they would just grab whatever was available.

“Before shelter in place they would prep their meals and sort of had a plan,” said Dr. Rami Bailony, the co-founder and chief executive of Enara Health, a digital membership weight loss clinic. “Once Covid hit they thought they could cook something up that was healthy. But once you’re thinking about eating in the

By [email protected]_84

October 13, 2020 Off

Biden’s son-in-law advises campaign on pandemic while investing in Covid-19 startups

“StartUp Health is putting the full support of its platform and network behind building a post-Covid world that uses technology and entrepreneurial ingenuity to improve health outcomes,” the firm said at the time.

Krein simultaneously advising the campaign and venturing into Covid investing could pose conflict-of-interest concerns for a Biden administration, or simply create the awkward appearance of Krein profiting off his father-in-law’s policies. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the federal government has directed tens of billions of dollars in coronavirus medical spending in areas like testing and vaccine research to private firms. It is poised to spend billions more next year and possibly beyond.

The potential conflicts are not limited to the coronavirus for Krein, 53, a Philadelphia-based head-and-neck surgeon who got into venture investing not long after he began dating Biden’s daughter, Ashley, in 2010.

Since StartUp Health’s 2011 launch, when Krein came on as its

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

Naples thrift and consignment shops rally against pandemic setbacks

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In February, Jennifer Bouchard was considering a second location for her men and children’s consignment shop, Happily Ever After Consignment Boutique.

“I had a great response immediately,” she said of the store she had opened in October. “February was like, on and popping. It was crazy.”

Opening her own store was her dream. She worked for a spell at Twice as Nice, learning the intricacies of the business before she opened her own store.

Clothes and shoes sit on display at Happily Ever After Consignment Boutique in Naples on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. (Photo: Alex Driehaus/Naples Daily News/USA TODAY – FLORIDA NETWORK)

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it work,” she said in a 2019 interview with the Daily News.

But then the pandemic hit. By the second week of March, Bouchard’s store was a “ghost town,” she

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

Lenox Hill Hospital Expansion Battle Resumes After Pandemic Pause

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The battle over an ambitious expansion plan by Lenox Hill Hospital is showing signs of coming back to life after going dormant for several months while the hospital responded to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a community meeting last month, Lenox Hill officials revealed changes to the multibillion dollar expansion project, which notably scrapped a controversial, 490-foot-tall residential tower on Park Avenue that would have helped fund the expansion.

The hospital will present a revised plan Tuesday, during a meeting convened by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer between local leaders and hospital representatives.

Starting last year, neighbors rose up in fierce opposition to the project by owner Northwell Health, which was also slated to include a 516-foot hospital tower on Lexington Avenue.

Community Board 8 voted overwhelmingly last October to oppose the plan, and a preservation-oriented group called Committee to Protect Our Lenox Hill Neighborhood sprung

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

Riskiest behaviors to avoid during coronavirus pandemic, according to an expert

Despite the fact that some may be experiencing so-called “caution fatigue,” the coronavirus pandemic is still raging, with certain areas across the country — namely the Midwest — seeing a surge in cases and hospitalizations.

And with autumn officially here, bringing with it flu season, experts are urging the public to remain diligent in taking precautions to protect against both the seasonal illness and the novel virus.

“Wearing a mask the wrong way. I’ve seen so many people not cover their nose, or letting it slide up their chin. I’m glad you are wearing a mask but when you wear it wrong, the effectiveness drops dramatically,” Dr. John Whyte said. (iStock)

“I know everyone is tired of COVID but now is not the time to give up or go easy on the safeguards,” Dr. John Whyte, the chief medical officer of the health care website WebMD, told Fox News.

Read

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October 12, 2020 Off

EU nations set to adopt common travel rules amid pandemic

European Union countries are set to adopt a common traffic light system to coordinate traveling across the 27-nation bloc

October 12, 2020, 1:08 PM

3 min read

BRUSSELS — European Union countries are getting ready to adopt a common traffic light system to coordinate traveling across the 27-nation bloc, but a return to a full freedom of movement in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic remains far from reach.

In addition to causing the deaths of at least 151,000 EU citizens and plunging the EU’s economy into recession, the coronavirus has also landed a blow to a cherished cornerstone of EU citizenship, the free movement of people.

When the virus struck in March, several EU countries decided to close their borders to non-citizens without talking to their neighbors, creating huge traffic jams and slowing down

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

Coronavirus pandemic to cost Americans $16 trillion, study finds

The coronavirus pandemic will end up costing Americans $16 trillion, far more than anyone predicted when the virus first emerged in the U.S. back in March, according to a new study released on Monday.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was co-authored by former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Harvard University economist David Cutler. Summers was also a top economic adviser to Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and is a former president of Harvard.

Their estimated cost includes a theoretical estimate for the value of a human life, and is spread out over the next decade. It also relies on an estimate that the eventual U.S. death toll from the pandemic will more than triple by the end of next year.

But $16 trillion is still an eye-popping number, and underscores the long-term impacts of the novel coronavirus and the U.S.’s inconsistent attempts to