Florida doctors urge unvaccinated to get shots: ‘It’s the worst it’s ever been right now’ | TheHill

A group of Florida doctors on Monday gathered outside a medical office to urge unvaccinated individuals to get the coronavirus vaccine as the delta variant has led to a statewide surge in COVID-19 cases. Most of the more than 70 physicians at the gathering work for the Jupiter Medical Center and the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, The Palm Beach Post reported. “It’s the worst it’s ever been right now,” neurologist Robin Kass told the Post at the gathering. “And I just think that nobody realizes that.” The doctors appealed to the community they serve, asking the residents to believe the doctors who have taken care of them for years. “If you identify with one of these doctors up here, we’ve cared for your family and you’ve listened to us then, the time really is now [to get vaccinated],”  the organizer of the event, neurologist Jennifer Buczyner, said.

Source: Florida doctors urge unvaccinated to get shots: ‘It’s the worst it’s ever been right now’ | TheHill

Nurses at Kamloops, B.C. hospital walking off job due to exhaustion | Globalnews.ca

Two-thirds of the emergency nurses at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops have walked off the job recently, claiming they were exhausted and understaffed. The BC Nurses’ Union (BCNU) says a large majority of them are choosing to reduce work hours or leave the profession altogether. “They are breaking down,” said Scott Duvall, regional council member for the Thompson North Okanagan region at BCNU.

“My fear is the same as their fear, the fear that something bad is going to happen … on their watch.” Duvall adds that the quality of healthcare being offered to patients is dwindling because nurses are being spread thin. In the intensive care unit, Duvall says nurses are being assigned way more patients than they should be.

Source: Nurses at Kamloops, B.C. hospital walking off job due to exhaustion | Globalnews.ca

Japan gov’t to buy seafood if Fukushima water release hits sales (Me: A Pacific Ocean Mega-Disaster in the Making?)

The Japanese government said on Aug. 24 it will buy marine products as an emergency step to support fishermen if the planned discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea causes damage to their sales.

Source: Japan gov’t to buy seafood if Fukushima water release hits sales

APO Group – Africa Newsroom / Press release | Poverty, conflict and displacement leave children at risk from renewed Bubonic plague outbreaks in Ituri region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

UNICEF is increasingly concerned about the impact on children of a resurgence of Bubonic plague in the eastern province of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

New research, supported by UNICEF, in three health zones of Ituri shows that children are especially at risk of contracting plague, which in recent months has been making a comeback for the first time in more than a decade.

Figures released for the three health zones of Biringi, Rethy, and Aru – where UNICEF focused its research – show that there were 490 plague cases between 2020 and 2021, with 20 fatalities. The figures show that over the same period there were 578 cases and 44 plague-related deaths throughout the entire Ituri province.

Ituri is one of only a handful of places in the world – including Madagascar and Peru – where plague cases continue to be reported. The latest outbreak differs from previous ones because both bubonic and the highly infectious pneumonic form of plague – transmitted from person to person through the air – have been reported in areas previously free of the disease near the border with South Sudan and Uganda to the east of the province. Frequent population displacement and insecurity in the region creates a considerable risk of cross-border transmission.

Source: APO Group – Africa Newsroom / Press release | Poverty, conflict and displacement leave children at risk from renewed Bubonic plague outbreaks in Ituri region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Australia’s air quality culture criticised as experts point to ventilation as key in COVID-19 fight – ABC News (Me: Indoor air worldwide needs to be redone to stop Covid and make work and living safe)

An expert in air quality is warning Australia’s reticence to improve ventilation and acknowledge airborne spread of COVID-19 is leading to lockdowns that could have been avoided.

Source: Australia’s air quality culture criticised as experts point to ventilation as key in COVID-19 fight – ABC News

Hawaii governor begs tourists to stay away as Covid surges: ‘Not a good time’ | Hawaii | The Guardian

Hawaii’s governor has pleaded with tourists not to travel to the islands as the state struggles to control Covid-19 amid the growing spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

It’s “a risky time to be traveling right now,” David Ige warned on Monday, asking visitors and residents to reduce travel to essential business. “I encourage everyone to restrict and curtail travel to Hawaii. It’s not a good time to travel to the islands,” he said.

Covid-19 cases in Hawaii have risen 36% in the last two weeks while hospitalizations are up 78%, according to New York Times data.

In addition to urging tourists to stay away, the governor said restaurant capacity had been restricted and there was limited access to rental cars. But Ige stopped short of banning non-residents from the islands, arguing the situation was different now than last year, when strict travel rules that required quarantining essentially shut down Hawaii’s tourism industry.

“Last year in March, when I first asked for visitors to postpone travel to the islands, we saw a 60% reduction in the traffic to Hawaii,” Ige said. “And then, certainly, ordering the mandatory quarantine of all incoming visitors reduced travel to the islands by 99.5%, essentially 100% of travelers.”

Tourists have returned to the islands as vaccines are widely available and with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) saying fully vaccinated people can travel domestically.

The governor also urged people to get vaccinated. In Hawaii, 62% of residents are fully vaccinated, according to state data.

Source: Hawaii governor begs tourists to stay away as Covid surges: ‘Not a good time’ | Hawaii | The Guardian

T-Mobile’s hack keeps getting worse | Light Reading

T-Mobile on Friday released more details about a hack into its systems, noting that more customers were affected than it previously disclosed. Further, the company said hackers obtained some customers’ IMEI and IMSI phone data alongside other personal information, potentially paving the way for deeper security breaches. The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI is aware of the situation and that the FCC has opened an investigation into the matter. News of the hack broke early this week, and T-Mobile has been issuing updates of its investigation into the issue since then. The company’s latest update indicates hackers obtained more data on its customers than T-Mobile initially disclosed. “We have now also determined that phone numbers, as well as IMEI and IMSI information, the typical identifier numbers associated with a mobile phone, were also compromised. Additionally, we have since identified another 5.3 million current postpaid customer accounts that had one or more associated customer names, addresses, date of births, phone numbers, IMEIs and IMSIs illegally accessed,” the company said in a statement.

Source: T-Mobile’s hack keeps getting worse | Light Reading

Fannie Mae Opens the Door for Renters to Become Homeowners – theMReport.com

Beginning September 18, 2021, Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter (DU) will enable single-family lenders–with permission from mortgage applicants–to automatically identify recurring rent payments in the applicant’s bank statement data to deliver a more inclusive credit assessment. For qualified renters who may have limited credit history, but a strong rent payment history, Fannie Mae’s DU enhancement creates new opportunities for homeownership, while promoting safe and sound lending.

“For many households, rent is the single largest monthly expense. There is absolutely no reason timely payment of monthly housing expenses shouldn’t be included in underwriting calculations,” said Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Sandra L. Thompson. “With this update, Fannie Mae is taking another step toward understanding how rental payments can more broadly be included in a credit assessment, providing an additional opportunity for renters to achieve the dream of sustainable homeownership.”

Source: Fannie Mae Opens the Door for Renters to Become Homeowners – theMReport.com

NYC’s School Vaccine Mandate Brings Relief For Parents And Legal Threats – Gothamist

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that all education department employees — including teachers, administrators, cafeteria workers and custodians — must show proof that they have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines by September 27th, two weeks after classes resume. The mandate will apply to 148,000 education department workers. The announcement coincided with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granting full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The new mandate goes further than the policy the mayor announced earlier this summer for all city workers, including teachers, that requires vaccination or weekly testing. It applies to the city’s traditional public schools and includes any charter schools that are co-located with them. The mandate does not apply to pre-k teachers at community-based organizations outside the city’s school buildings, bus drivers or private schools. The latter can set their own rules and are governed by the state.

Source: NYC’s School Vaccine Mandate Brings Relief For Parents And Legal Threats – Gothamist