All posts by nedhamson

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

Coronavirus digest: London to close primary schools

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The mayor said that the government had “finally seen sense,” but there are concerns about the new virus variant and potential burnout for hospital workers. Stay with DW for the latest.

Austin can prohibit late on-site dining over holiday weekend, judge rules | The Texas Tribune

(What are these so-called elected leaders thinking? Putting people’s health and lives at risk rather than work to help restaurants survive without killing patrons?)

Gov. Greg Abbott directed restaurants to ignore local curfews — specifically in Travis County — that were implemented to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus on New Year’s Eve.

“To Texas restaurants. A formal statement. ‘The Governor’s statewide executive order allows food establishments to be open for in-person dining on New Years Eve as authorized by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. They should remain open. Happy New Year!’ Cheers!” Abbott wrote on Twitter at 7:39 p.m., within three hours before the Austin-area curfew was to go into effect.

“I’m not a lawyer, but… This appears to me to be a response to @KenPaxtonTX’s latest court defeat and it appears our Governor, who is a former AG and Supreme Court Justice, is telling the public to defy the ruling of a Texas District Judge. *Please* tell me I’m wrong,” wrote Democratic state Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie on Twitter.

Source: Austin can prohibit late on-site dining over holiday weekend, judge rules | The Texas Tribune

COVID-19: Army Corps of Engineers sent to help L.A. hospitals – Los Angeles Times (no quick fix, sadly)

Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. County health services director, said that the buildings’ old pipes couldn’t maintain sufficient pressure and, at times, started to freeze. In a scramble, Ghaly said, some hospitals were forced to move patients to lower floors, because it’s easier to deliver oxygen there without needing pressure to push it up to higher floors.

Another oxygen-related problem — the chronic shortage of portable tanks — has also hampered hospitals abilities in recent days, county officials said. To discharge recovering patients as quickly as possible and free up space for other, sicker patients, hospitals often send patients home with oxygen tanks.

The team of design and construction experts from the Corps will evaluate six hospitals — Adventist Health White Memorial in Boyle Heights, Beverly Community Hospital in Montebello, Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina, Lakewood Regional Medical Center, Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City and PIH Health Hospital in Downey — and then oversee upgrades where they’re deemed necessary. Source: COVID-19: Army Corps of Engineers sent to help L.A. hospitals – Los Angeles Times

Oncologist erases medical debt for nearly 200 of his patients | TheHill

An Arkansas oncologist decided to give nearly 200 patients a Christmas gift that he hoped would make their lives “a little bit easier”: erasing their more than half a million dollars in medical debt.  Dr. Omar Atiq, who founded the Arkansas Cancer Clinic in 1991, sent out a notice to his patients just days before Dec. 25 saying that “the clinic has decided to forego all balances owed to the clinic by its patients,” according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.  The outlet reported that Atiq had closed the clinic in late February after nearly 30 years of providing cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Source: Oncologist erases medical debt for nearly 200 of his patients | TheHill

Pakistan coronavirus: Trials of Chinese vaccines underway despite public suspicions – The Washington Post (vaccine diplomacy)

Today, pockets of resistance to the polio vaccine persist, and Pakistan remains one of only two countries, alongside Afghanistan, where polio has not yet been eradicated.

And yet thousands of Pakistanis, from college students to retirees, have volunteered to be test subjects in coronavirus vaccine trials at five urban hospitals. Since September, about 13,000 of 18,000 volunteers have participated in trials for a Chinese vaccine called CanSino. No serious side effects have been reported, and health officials hope to finish the trials and start distributing vaccines by March.

Source: Pakistan coronavirus: Trials of Chinese vaccines underway despite public suspicions – The Washington Post

Pakistan coronavirus: Trials of Chinese vaccines underway despite public suspicions – The Washington Post

Today, pockets of resistance to the polio vaccine persist, and Pakistan remains one of only two countries, alongside Afghanistan, where polio has not yet been eradicated.

And yet thousands of Pakistanis, from college students to retirees, have volunteered to be test subjects in coronavirus vaccine trials at five urban hospitals. Since September, about 13,000 of 18,000 volunteers have participated in trials for a Chinese vaccine called CanSino. No serious side effects have been reported, and health officials hope to finish the trials and start distributing vaccines by March.

Source: Pakistan coronavirus: Trials of Chinese vaccines underway despite public suspicions – The Washington Post

1st Day of January – Fatcowco – 1983 – the TCP/IP internet begins

1983 – TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol id introduced, effectively creating the Internet

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries.

On 1st of January,  1383 the ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet.

Source: 1st Day of January – Fatcowco