Sunday’s total of new cases was 4,606, compared to Saturday’s 3,445. Deaths declined to 15 from Saturday’s 26, but coronaviruses cases in hospitals rose from 1,601 on Saturday to 1,682 on Sunday.
Daily Archives: December 20, 2020
Hospitals Are Still Facing Shortages of Masks and Other Protective Gear – The New York Times (how could this be tolerated?)
Health care workers are urging the incoming Biden administration to use the Defense Production Act to increase domestic manufacturing of personal protective equipment.
New Book—”Caribbean Migrations: The Legacies of Colonialism”
Caribbean Migrations: The Legacies of Colonialism (Bucknell University Press, 2020) by Anke Birkenmaier is a now available. Leah Rosenberg (University of Florida) writes,“Profoundly interdisciplinary and nearly Pan-Caribbean in scope,Caribbean Migrationstransforms our understanding of how migration has shaped the Caribbean and how Caribbean migration has shaped the United States. The analysis of Caribbean people on the move, asserting political power across digital platforms and through art, explodes the long-held notion that Caribbean migration is the story of flight from poverty to a better life in the United States and breaks down the boundary between Caribbean and American Studies.”
Descriptions: With mass migration changing the configuration of societies worldwide, we can look to the Caribbean to reflect on the long-standing, entangled relations between countries and areas as uneven in size and influence as the United States, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. More so than other world regions…
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American Samoa starts Covid-19 vaccinations | RNZ News
COVID-19 surge meant cancer patient died without critical care – Los Angeles Times
Now, the long-feared cratering of Southern California’s healthcare system due to the coronavirus is here — and it’s killing people like Kim, says Billy. He bears no ill will toward the Hi-Desert staff, whom he described “to a person [as] sympathetic, compassionate and very kind to us. … They did all they could.”
Instead, Billy lays Kim’s ordeal squarely on “maskholes.”
“We’re never going to know if she could’ve been saved,” said the 68-year-old, his blue eyes weary yet steely. “There was a surge because people didn’t wear masks. Those who don’t wear it can deny it all they want, but that’s the way it is.
“So, yeah, I’m angry,” he concluded. “Not just for my wife. For all of us.”
Source: COVID-19 surge meant cancer patient died without critical care – Los Angeles Times
Countries across Europe halt flights from Britain over concerns about coronavirus mutation – The Washington Post
Avian Flu Diary: ECDC Threat Assessment Brief On UK SARS-CoV-2 Variant
Two dead, entire villages destroyed after ‘ferocious’ Cyclone Yasa smashes Fiji
18:05, Dec 18 2020 .-. Nicole said this latest natural disaster shows the “harsh consequences” of climate inaction. “It’s past time for world leaders to step up their commitments in this climate emergency.”
At least two people have been killed and entire villages reportedly destroyed after Tropical Cyclone Yasa smashed through Fiji overnight.
One man is reported to have died when he was crushed under a wall of his house. Fijian Broadcasting Corporation reported the 46-year-old farmer, his wife and two sons were sheltering in their house near Labasa – the largest town on the island of Vanua Levu – when the building collapsed.
The man’s eldest son was also trapped under the wall and was injured.
Vasiti Soko, the director of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), confirmed the fatalities were in the Western and Northern Divisions, The Fiji Times reported.
READ MORE:
* Cyclone Yasa: Fiji’s Vanua Levu…
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As CA COVID-19 rates surge, Sacramento doctor speaks out | The Sacramento Bee
Dear Sacramento: Please, stay home for the holidays. I am making this plea because I’ve seen what can happen if you don’t. I’m a Sacramento Emergency Medicine doctor who volunteered in New York City after COVID-19 devastated that city. Now I’m watching the cases in Sacramento double every two weeks as our healthcare infrastructure nears a breaking point. I’m asking you to stay home because I don’t want to see any more preventable death. I care about you and your loved ones, and I know healthcare providers like myself need your help. Thanksgiving gatherings and quarantine fatigue have poured gasoline on the flames of the pandemic. Sacramento County recorded 280 cases of COVID-19 on Nov. 7 and 1,183 cases on Dec. 7. Nearly all of the hospitals in the Sacramento area are near or at capacity and have enacted surge plans that include opening up new Intensive Care Units, pulling staff from non-emergent services to COVID-19 units and canceling surgeries.
Source: As CA COVID-19 rates surge, Sacramento doctor speaks out | The Sacramento Bee
COVID-19 cluster identified at Hendersonville church | Henderson County North Carolina
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (December 17, 2020) – The Henderson County Department of Public Health has identified a COVID-19 cluster associated with a holiday celebration event at First Baptist Church, Hendersonville over the Dec. 5 weekend.
To date, the Health Department has identified 75 individuals who have tested positive as a result of the event. The Health Department is working to identify any additional close contacts of these individuals. The CDC defines close contact as being within approximately six feet of an infected person with COVID-19 for a cumulative 15 minutes.
Source: COVID-19 cluster identified at Hendersonville church | Henderson County North Carolina
Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News 
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