Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Sacramento City Unified School District reimposes mask mandate as COVID cases rise | The Voice of LaSalle County since 1952!

The Sacramento City Unified School District reinstated its mask mandate Monday just two months after making face coverings optional.

School officials said the decision came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated the county as having high levels of COVID-19 in the community.

When counties enter this category, the federal health agency recommends masking in indoor, public spaces and on public transportation.

“We are following the science. We’re following the data,” SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar told local affiliate ABC 10. “This is a public health issue. We are part of a community.”

According to the CDC, the county is currently recording 283.49 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people every week.

Data from the district shows the case rate is currently more than seven times higher than when the mask mandate was lifted.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News that cases in Northern California are rising for several reasons, the main being the spread of new omicron subvariants.

“The new generations of subvariants are looking so different from the original variants from Wuhan that the antibodies don’t recognize them as easily,” he said.

He described immunity from vaccination against the new subvariants as two levels of defense.

“I think of the antibodies as guards at the front gate that are a little bit sleepy that let the virus in,” Chin-Hong said. “But you have B-cells and T-cells so, once the virus is in, they’re like the guard dog that attacks. So, you get infected, but you won’t go to the hospital.”

Source: Sacramento City Unified School District reimposes mask mandate as COVID cases rise | The Voice of LaSalle County since 1952!

COVID-19 cases are still rising in many states. What experts say makes this summer different

The rise in reported cases seen in the Northeast in recent weeks appears to have peaked but upward trends continue in at least 21 states, according to a U.S. TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Health experts say cases are likely higher due to underreported home tests.

Although cases are rising, health experts say hospitalizations are remaining in check. The U.S. is reporting about 350 deaths per day* based on a 7-day average, which is more than a hundred deaths less than this time last summer, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

“We’re only about 10 to 15 cases higher than what we were a year ago as far as hospitalizations and there are fewer patients requiring ICU care, which is encouraging,” said Dr. Adia Ross, chief medical officer of Durham Regional Hospital. “Even though cases are up, the hospitalizations are not as high as they have been.”

(Me: 350 per day deaths means 123,200 deaths due to Covid this year, so if you think Covid is over:

  • you are not paying attention
  • you do not care if you or someone you love dies or contracts long Covid.
  • you have decided to self-delude yourself that you are safe and don’t need to worry.)

 

Source: COVID-19 cases are still rising in many states. What experts say makes this summer different

UK records 77 more cases of monkeypox, taking total to 302 | Monkeypox | The Guardian

The current outbreak of monkeypox in the UK has topped 300 cases, official figures reveal, as contacts who have a rash with blisters are asked to contact a sexual health clinic.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), 77 more cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the UK, 73 of which are in England and two each in Scotland and Wales. The figures bring the total identified in the UK, as of 5 June, to 302, with 287 in England, 10 in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland and three in Wales.

 

Source: UK records 77 more cases of monkeypox, taking total to 302 | Monkeypox | The Guardian

Only One Earth: World Environment Day 2022 is full of mixed emotions

Petchary's Blog

I confess, I have been preoccupied by family matters and rather low key. This World Environment Day I found it hard to focus; the issues are crowding in. In particular, climate change weighs heavily. I looked up the hashtag on Twitter, finding more and more semi-hopeful messages, “we’re doing something” videos, and “let’s do something!” urgings. I feel a headache coming on.

Our Environment Minister Matthew Samuda (right) has just got back from the Stockholm Plus Fifty conference, where he met up with colleagues such as his counterpart in the Bahamas, Minister Vaughn Miller. So perhaps I can forgive him for not tweeting a Happy World Environment Day message this morning! Perhaps! (Twitter)

Our Minister with responsibility for the environment, Senator Matthew Samuda, attended theStockholm Plus 50 conference – plenty of speeches, hand-shaking, and photo ops, no doubt – and probably a few more promises, too. Two of the

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Minbari Mondays, and Two Lessons “Shadow Dancing” (B5:s3e21) Teaches on Living — Inspiring Critical Thinking and Community via Books, Lessons, and Story

This week’s lessons:           1.   Those who care will stick with you, even when it it difficult.           2.   Choosing to stay alive, even when all hope seems lost, really can make a difference.        This is one of Garibaldi’s shining epiphanies: Sometimes people walk away because they want to be alone, […]

Minbari Mondays, and Two Lessons “Shadow Dancing” (B5:s3e21) Teaches on Living — Inspiring Critical Thinking and Community via Books, Lessons, and Story

“We have a duty to give shelter to Turkish democrats fleeing Erdoğan” – interviewed by Bünyamin Tekin for TURKISH MINUTE

“Democrats have a duty, whenever there is a dictatorial turn in any neighbouring country, to give shelter and asylum to fellow democrats escaping the…

“We have a duty to give shelter to Turkish democrats fleeing Erdoğan” – interviewed by Bünyamin Tekin for TURKISH MINUTE