All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Appalachian covid deniers anger nurses in Virginia – The Washington Post

Conspiracy theories about the pandemic and lies recited on social media — or at White House news conferences — had penetrated deep into their community. When refrigerated trailers were brought in to relieve local hospitals’ overflowing morgues, people said they were stage props. Agitated and unmasked relatives stood outside the ICU insisting that their intubated relatives only had the flu. Many believed the doctors and nurses hailed elsewhere for their sacrifices were conspiring to make money by falsifying covid-19 diagnoses.

Boucher and her colleagues were pained by those attacks — and infuriated by them. Unlike their exhaustion, that anger rarely showed on their faces, but it was often there: as they scrolled Facebook to see local ministers saying God was greater than any virus, or stood in line with unmasked grocery shoppers who joked loudly about the covid hoax.

On that December morning when she became the first person to receive the coronavirus vaccine in the 21 counties served by her hospital’s parent company, Ballad Health, Boucher breathed deeply as she described what she and her co-workers were up against. They were fighting not just for their patients’ lives, she said, but “against misinformation and reckless practices that have led to this virus getting so out of control.”

“I will never stop trying to convince everyone about the reality of covid-19,” she said.

As she rolled up her sleeve for her first injection of the newly approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Boucher didn’t know if the rift in her community could be healed. But she hoped her example would at least inspire others to get inoculated…

Jamie Swift, a registered nurse who oversees infection prevention for Johnston and Ballad’s other hospitals, recalled her realization that “people would trust Facebook more than they would trust us” — and her horror at the consequences as the winter surge began.

“You work all day, and you see people who are struggling to breathe, and you see the horrible side of what covid can do. And then you go home and you see restaurants that are packed and grocery stores where person after person is going in without a mask,” said Swift, who in December was briefly hospitalized herself with the coronavirus. “There have been times when I broke down and cried. It was just devastating, because you leave the hospital and you come out into a community that doesn’t believe that it’s real and in what it can do.”

Source: Appalachian covid deniers anger nurses in Virginia – The Washington Post

Catalonia cracks down on nightlife again as COVID cases rocket | Euronews

Following in the footsteps of other parts of Spain, Catalonia has reimposed restrictions on nightlife due to a huge surge in coronavirus cases in the region.

The authorities decided on Tuesday to close nightclubs and other nighttime entertainment venues from this weekend, just weeks after opening them up again.

That is due to an “exponential” increase in COVID-19 cases, mainly among young people, who as of yet have not been prioritised for vaccinations.

Faced with soaring numbers of new infections, some Spanish regions has already reinstated curbs on nightlife.

Fearing that the surging contagion could strain health care services as stressed employees try to go on summer holidays, health officials in several parts of the country are also rushing to get COVID-19 vaccine shots to people under 30.

Source: Catalonia cracks down on nightlife again as COVID cases rocket | Euronews

Priti Patel set to propose new Ascension Island reception centre for UK asylum seekers | Euronews (Me: UK Tory Concentration camp?)

UK Ministers are expected to reveal proposals of a new law that could start to pave the way for the creation of offshore centres for asylum seekers on the British overseas territory of Ascension Island.

Right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Ascension is nearly 7,000 kilometres away from the British Isles. The British Home Secretary Priti Patel has said there would be criminal charges for migrants “knowingly” arriving in the UK without permission. (Me: “Criminal” to try to escape terror, torture, political suppression?)

Source: Priti Patel set to propose new Ascension Island reception centre for UK asylum seekers | Euronews

125 COVID-19 cases linked to Texas church summer camp | TheHill

More than 125 people who attended a summer camp run by a church in Texas have tested positive for COVID-19, according to its pastor.

Bruce Wesley, the lead pastor of Clear Creek Community Church, said the outbreak stemmed from a camp for students from sixth through 12th grade, which more than 400 people attended in June, CNN reports.

“Unfortunately, upon return from camp, 125+ campers and adults reported to us that they tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, hundreds more were exposed to COVID-19 at camp,” Wesley reportedly said in a letter to the church community.

ADVERTISEMENT

“And hundreds of others were likely exposed when infected people returned home from camp,” he added.

Wesley also stated that services at all five of Clear Creek Community Church’s campuses south of Houston have been canceled.

“From the beginning of the pandemic, we have sought to love our neighbors by practicing strict safety protocols. We are surprised and saddened by this turn of events. Our hearts break for those infected with the virus,” Wesley said.

CNN reports that the Galveston County Health District was notified of the first COVID-19 case on June 27. The camp itself was held outside of the county.

Source: 125 COVID-19 cases linked to Texas church summer camp | TheHill

Britain’s daily coronavirus cases could reach 100,000 this summer, health secretary says – The Washington Post (Me: UK political leaders seem senselessly bound to risk health of British people again and again and again.)

Britain’s daily coronavirus cases could reach 100,000 this summer as the government moves to end nearly all covid-related restrictions later this month, the country’s health secretary said Tuesday.

Sajid Javid told BBC Radio that coronavirus case numbers, currently hovering around 25,000 each day, were expected to double ahead of the July 19 deadline to lift restrictions, as the more transmissible delta variant drives a new surge in infections.

“As we ease and go into the summer, we expect them to rise significantly, and they could go as high as 100,000 case numbers,” Javid said. Even at its worst peak in January, Britain’s daily cases never surpassed 60,000 a day. 

Source: Britain’s daily coronavirus cases could reach 100,000 this summer, health secretary says – The Washington Post

Finland’s Arctic Lapland area swelters in record heatwave – The Washington Post

Finland’s northernmost Arctic Lapland region has recorded its hottest temperature for more than a century at 33.6 degrees Celsius (92.5 Fahrenheit), during a heatwave that’s been afflicting the entire Nordic country for weeks.

The temperature was measured Monday at Finland’s northernmost Utsjoki-Kevo weather station near the border with Norway by the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

The institute said there was only one higher historical measurement reported in Lapland — 34.7 C in the Inari Thule area, in July 1914.

Source: Finland’s Arctic Lapland area swelters in record heatwave – The Washington Post

Canada names 1st Indigenous governor general – The Washington Post

Mary Simon speaks during an announcement at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Simon, an Inuk leader and former Canadian diplomat, has been named as Canada’s next governor general — the first Indigenous person to serve in the role.  (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Mary Simon speaks during an announcement at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Simon, an Inuk leader and former Canadian diplomat, has been named as Canada’s next governor general — the first Indigenous person to serve in the role. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP) Source: Canada names 1st Indigenous governor general – The Washington Post

Myanmar’s Orwellian New Order

The mindset of the Tatmadaw leadership is also the main reason why “dialogue” or “engagement” with them is bound to fail. The generals are, plainly speaking, delusional and live in their own Orwellian fantasy world, devoid of any understanding of what the people think and want. And, to use another quote from 1984: “We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.” The Myanmar military seized power in 1962 and has since then remained in charge under different guises, as a junta or behind a political façade. And not even the 2016-21 NLD government was able to change the country’s fundamental power structure, with the military always at its apex. Unless the Tatmadaw cracks, and some in high positions are willing to face up to reality, there is little chance of Myanmar becoming truly democratic. The alternative is another few decades of military-dominated rule, with all the repression and misery that entails. Source: Myanmar’s Orwellian New Order

Japan grants visas to 300 Myanmar nationals amid political unrest

Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tuesday Japan has granted an extension of visas for about 300 Myanmar nationals in Japan as an emergency measure amid political unrest following a military coup.

They include Pyae Lyan Aung, a goalkeeper in the Myanmar national soccer team who refused to return home with his teammates last month.

Source: Japan grants visas to 300 Myanmar nationals amid political unrest

Japan eyes 5,000-spectator cap for Tokyo Olympics

Japan plans to lower the spectator cap at the Tokyo Olympics to 5,000 per venue and may hold a fresh lottery for ticket holders if the ongoing COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency in the capital is extended due to a recent rebound in infections, officials familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Organizers are also expected to stage all sessions after 9 p.m. without general spectators, including the opening and closing ceremonies at the National Stadium, according to the officials.

Amid emerging signs of a new wave of infections in Tokyo, driven by highly contagious variants of the coronavirus, the Japanese government and other organizers have found it more difficult to stage the Olympics under the current spectator policy, which allows venues to be filled to 50 percent of capacity with a maximum of 10,000 people.

Source: Japan eyes 5,000-spectator cap for Tokyo Olympics