All posts by nedhamson

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

How Facebook Handles Climate Disinformation – The New York Times

That’s because, under the company’s guidelines, climate content can be classified as opinion and therefore exempted from fact-checking procedures. The policy means that peer-reviewed science can be lumped into the same category as industry statements and even blatant disinformation. In September, for example, the CO2 Coalition, a nonprofit group that says increased carbon emissions are good for the planet, successfully overturned a fact-check when Facebook quietly labeled its post as “opinion.”

Top HHS official says closing indoor bars and wearing masks will ‘shut down’ coronavirus outbreaks

“But the bottom line is, we know what to do to stop the current outbreak,” he added. “Now we have very, very good models that in the hot areas, these red zones that have high cases, that have high percentages increasing, it’s very, very important to really close indoor bars.”

He said that between 50% and 70% of new cases are traced to a single bar in some areas and “secondary spread from that.” He added that the same concerns apply to indoor restaurants, as well, and they should be operating at 25% capacity.

“Being indoors, in close quarters, over long periods of time, is just a recipe for spread,” he said, adding that outdoor seating for restaurants and bars is “probably really safe.”

In the “hot zones,” almost 90% of people should be wearing masks “when they’re interacting with other people” to bring the spread under control, he said.

 

Source: Top HHS official says closing indoor bars and wearing masks will ‘shut down’ coronavirus outbreaks

Coronavirus latest: EU revises safe travel list, removes Serbia and Montenegro | News | DW | 16.07.2020

The two Balkan countries have not been included on the EU’s revised travel list due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, Russian hackers have been accused of targeting vaccine research. Follow DW for the latest.

Source: Coronavirus latest: EU revises safe travel list, removes Serbia and Montenegro | News | DW | 16.07.2020

Washington State Beat Back Covid-19. Now It’s Rising Again. – The New York Times

“It’s really important for people to understand that their individual behaviors, everyone’s individual behaviors, collectively have a big impact on transmission,” said Dr. Kathy Lofy, Washington’s health officer. “We can increase testing, we can do case and contact investigations, we can do outbreak response, but those activities only get us so far.”

Cuomo Announces New Three Strike Rule For NYC Bars & Restaurants Violating Pandemic Guidelines – Gothamist

“The state has looked at over 5,000 establishments in downstate New York and found many cases of failure to comply. It’s wrong, it’s dangerous, it’s selfish and it’s also illegal.”

Source: Cuomo Announces New Three Strike Rule For NYC Bars & Restaurants Violating Pandemic Guidelines – Gothamist

Coronavirus data disappeared after Trump administration shifted control from CDC

The CDC’s web page for data on available hospital and ICU beds has been replaced with a note that reads: “Data displayed on this page was submitted directly to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and does not include data submitted to other entities contracted by or within the federal government.”

“We don’t have this critical indicator anymore,” Panchadsaram said. “The intent of just switching the data streams towards HHS, that’s fine. But you got to keep the data that you’re sharing publicly still available and up to date.”

 

Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, which runs one of the most popular third-party coronavirus data dashboards, said the policy change won’t impact the Hopkins site because they’ve managed to source their data directly from states. She added, however, that the policy change raises questions about the transparency of the data and the role of the CDC in the ongoing U.S. response.

Source: Coronavirus data disappeared after Trump administration shifted control from CDC

Trump defies Supreme Court by denying new DACA applications – Los Angeles Times

President Trump is venturing onto increasingly shaky legal ground as officials reject new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, sidestepping a Supreme Court ruling reinstating DACA, legal experts and lawmakers say.

The court ruled last month that the Trump administration hadn’t followed federal procedural law or justified terminating DACA in 2017, calling the rescission “arbitrary and capricious.”

 

Source: Trump defies Supreme Court by denying new DACA applications – Los Angeles Times