All posts by nedhamson

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

Amid coronavirus uptick, San Francisco pauses further reopenings – Los Angeles Times

Continuing to take a conservative and cautious approach to the coronavirus pandemic, San Francisco city officials on Friday announced they will temporarily halt further reopenings because of an uptick in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.

At a virtual news conference, officials said the daily number of new infections has grown during the last two weeks from 3.14 per 100,000 to 4.17. Hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 grew from 21 to 37.

“We are proceeding with caution,” Mayor London Breed said. “Some of the decisions we made will still move forward, but others will need to take a pause until we see an improvement in the numbers.”

San Francisco’s go-slow approach to reopening has made the city the first major urban center in California to enter the state’s yellow tier, signaling the risk of infection is minimal. Even so, the city has chosen to follow its own metrics rather than reopen sectors that the state otherwise permits.

Source: Amid coronavirus uptick, San Francisco pauses further reopenings – Los Angeles Times

High-risk COVID contact puts health workers, patients, families at risk | CIDRAP

Two new studies highlight the COVID-19 infection risks facing healthcare workers (HCWs) and their patients and families, the first study showing that more than 5,300 Minnesota HCWs had had high-risk contact with an infected person without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) by July, and the other finding that while overall risks to HCWs are low, those who provide patient care are much more susceptible. Of high-exposure-risk HCWs in the first study, 7% tested positive, but HCWs exposed to infected household or social contacts had a 13% positivity rate. Family, friends pose highest risk of infection The first study, published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, found that, by Jul 11, 5,374 Minnesota HCWs had had high-risk prolonged close contact with a person infected with COVID-19 while not wearing appropriate PPE, and one third of those exposures occurred outside of patient care settings.

Source: High-risk COVID contact puts health workers, patients, families at risk | CIDRAP

Millions Still Haven’t Gotten Stimulus Checks, Including Many Who Need Them Most — ProPublica

It’s been 217 days since Congress instructed the IRS to send $1,200 stimulus checks to every citizen below a certain income threshold. And yet, it’s likely as many as 12 million people — including those who most need a financial boost — never got the cash.

The reasons include confusion about how the complex program works, IRS missteps, technical snafus and Treasury Department policy decisions that cut out large groups of people altogether. Those who fell through the cracks have until Nov. 21 to claim the money or risk losing out on any second round of stimulus payments, which Congress has been negotiating for months.

Source: Millions Still Haven’t Gotten Stimulus Checks, Including Many Who Need Them Most — ProPublica

The Myth of the Cuban American Monolith – WhoWhatWhy

Sofia_Hidalgo Sofia Hidalgo was driving down Miami’s famed Cuban hotspot, the vibrant Calle Ocho, when pro-Trump motorists blocked her car. “I was shaking in my car just thinking that they could so easily hurt me,” the 18-year-old said.  Hidalgo, a first-time Cuban American voter, was participating in a pro-Biden car caravan across Miami, with thousands of other Biden supporters. Cubanos Con Biden (Cubans with Biden), a grassroots organization based in Miami and committed to creating a strong presence of Cuban American Democrats, was one of the organizers of the event which was called the “Blue Tsunami.”  A “Trump Victory” caravan with the same end destination, its cars decked out in countless MAGA flags, began to push its way into the Biden line of cars. For Hidalgo, it was the beginning of a frightening experience. What began to play out on Calle Ocho just over a week ago gives an indication of the schisms in Florida’s Cuban American community, long thought to be predictably Republican. But that is not true now, and the conflicts within that community played out dramatically as the two caravans intersected.

Source: The Myth of the Cuban American Monolith – WhoWhatWhy

Why Kamala Harris Is Visiting a Part of Texas Candidates Often Ignore – Mother Jones

Kamala Harris, is, holding three events in a state that’s already surpassed its 2016 turnout. Polls show a tight race in Texas, where Democrats lost a handful of statewide races by low single digits two years ago, and where the party has increasingly consolidated support in major cities and suburban counties. Each of Harris’ stops tells a story. She’ll be in Houston (where the Democratic county government is keeping the polls open for 36 hours straight); Fort Worth (in Tarrant County, which is close to a statewide bellwether); and McAllen—in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. Source: Why Kamala Harris Is Visiting a Part of Texas Candidates Often Ignore – Mother Jones