Tag Archives: WorldNews

Coronavirus tracker: California reported 44,253 new cases, 456 new deaths

California reported 44,253 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of people who have been infected to 2,494,255, according to California public heath websites.

There were also 456 new deaths reported in California, bringing the total number of people who have died in the state to 27,466.

An additional 456 patients were admitted into California hospitals, making for 22,820 hospitalizations statewide.

RELATED: What public health leaders mean by ‘0% ICU beds available

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, The Associated Press, reporting counties and news sources

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Pandemic-Era Heroes: San Gabriel Valley’s Henry Miao donated thousands of masks to frontline workers

Pandemic-Era Heroes

  • Name: Henry Miao
  • Hometown: Walnut
  • Role: Owner of Henrial
  • Quote: “His distribution truly helped,” West Covina Mayor Letty Lopez-Viado said of Miao. “People couldn’t get one single mask. It bought time for others to make more masks. We were able to distribute to the community. Our city got masks when other cities didn’t have any.”

Latest installment in a series of stories about people who have made a big difference in the community during a time framed by the coronavirus pandemic


Henry Miao, who owns a clothing company called Henrial, donated 10,000 masks that were distributed to Emanate Health’s Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina in March.

A month later, he donated another 5,000 masks to the city of West Covina that were distributed to frontline healthcare workers in the community. Miao hasn’t stopped donating masks and essential equipment for those working on the front lines during the pandemic. His donations have gone to school districts, small businesses, nursing homes, workers at City Hall and people throughout the community.

Miao estimates that his company has donated more than a half million masks to West Covina and neighboring cities.

“His distribution truly helped,” West Covina Mayor Letty Lopez-Viado said. “People couldn’t get one single mask. It bought time for others to make more masks. We were able to distribute to the community. Our city got masks when other cities didn’t have any.”

He was recognized by the West Covina City Council in December for his efforts. Until the pandemic is over, Miao said he will continue to provide what he can to keep his community safe.

“When the coronavirus started, the people were very, very scared,” Miao said. “Now they seem more relaxed. They don’t know what happened. When I started the donations, no one can buy anything here from anywhere.”

Supplies were scarce at the beginning of the pandemic. Masks in particular were hard to find in March and April. Miao said he contacted then-Mayor Tony Wu and asked him if he needed masks. Wu accepted the offer, gratefully and happily.

Wu said Miao not only filled a need for masks and personal protective equipment, he provided child-sized masks for the community.

“I was amazed. Children sized masks are very difficult to get,” Wu said. “Adult size is easier. Children size, you need a special make. He provided 10,000, so we provided all this to the school districts. He’s a nice guy, very nice.”

Those donations turned into mask sales for his company. He estimates his company, which is based in Walnut, has sold between 60 million and 70 million masks during the pandemic.

Lopez-Viado said in times of need, for example, during a pandemic, people show their true colors. Instead of hoarding supplies or making it more difficult for people to have access to safety equipment, Miao made it easy.

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“He was very generous and to start the mask donation movement, I think that was the best thing,” Lopez-Viado said. “Any time there is a need and somebody is able to provide for that need that becomes the most important thing.”

Miao, 47, was born in China and moved to California eight years ago. For a time he worked in Europe and spent eight years, from 1989 to 1997, in Poland. He speaks five languages — English, Chinese, Polish, Russian and German — and has worked in the clothing business for nearly 30 years.

Lopez-Viado said because of Miao and his company, West Covina avoided a mask shortage when other cities across the country were struggling to provide members of their communities with basic equipment.

“For him to start the mask donation movement, that was the biggest thing because others followed,” Lopez-Viado said. “We didn’t have to have a shortage in our city.”

Texas gives Medicaid recipients using Planned Parenthood until Feb. 3 to find new health care provider

do anything to demean women and their health services Texas!
The exterior of Planned Parenthood's Downtown Austin Health Center on Jan. 14, 2020. The location was being renovated at time of capture.

The exterior of Planned Parenthood’s Downtown Austin Health Center on Jan. 14, 2020. The location was being renovated at time of capture.

Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

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Thousands of low-income Medicaid recipients who rely on Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services like cancer screenings and birth control will have until Feb. 3 to find new health care providers, according to a letter sent from the state’s Health and Human Services Commission to the women’s health provider Monday.

The extension comes after the conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in November sided with Texas officials who have long tried to block Planned Parenthood from participating in Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled. To qualify, a single woman in Texas with two children must make less than $230 a month.

After the court’s ruling, Planned Parenthood asked state officials to delay booting the string of women’s health providers for at least six months to give the organization time to find medical coverage for its more than 8,000 Medicaid patients, many of whom are women of color. Texas has a shortage of Medicaid providers in part because of the low reimbursement rates, the organization said.

“The people who rely on Medicaid are the most vulnerable Texans and likely experiencing some of the worst economic effects of the pandemic,” Jeffrey Hons, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood South Texas, said at the time. “Forcing people — many of whom are struggling to make ends meet and care for their families in a global pandemic — to scramble for basic health care is terrible policy, certainly uncharitable, indeed un-American.”

The health commission denied Planned Parenthood’s request to stay in the Medicaid program, citing the court’s decision. Instead, it granted a “30-day grace period … to ensure that current Medicaid clients receiving services at your clinics can be transitioned to new providers.” The organization cannot accept new Medicaid patients, the letter said.

The court case stemmed from a debunked video released in 2015 that suggested abortion providers at Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue for profit. Investigations of the video, made by anti-abortion advocates, were unable to verify its claims, but its release sparked outrage from the state’s Republican leadership, including Gov. Greg Abbott. Planned Parenthood has donated fetal tissue for research, which is legal.

In November, after the 5th Circuit’s ruling, Attorney General Ken Paxton said the actions in the video amounted to “morally bankrupt and unlawful conduct” and that Planned Parenthood was not a “‘qualified’ provider.”

A lower court had blocked the state from removing Planned Parenthood from Medicaid in 2017.

Disclosure: Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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11 Senate Republicans say they will object to Electoral College results Wednesday

Sedition is a crime against our democratic republic! -These fools are all just posing for campaign $s and for 2024 wannabe candidacies

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Eleven Senate Republicans on Saturday announced that they will object to the Electoral College results Wednesday, when Congress convenes in a joint session to formally count the vote.

Fleeing lockdown, Americans are flock to Mexico City – where the coronavirus is surging

“Me first” and lack of self-discipline will kill Americans and Mexicans alike – shocking failure and lack of community ethics.

Hospitals are at capacity and coronavirus cases are surging, but many foreigners, especially Americans, are heading to the Mexican capital — some intending to stay awhile.