Items
Subject is exactly
Government Federal
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2022-06-17
The FDA authorizes COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers
This is a news story from NPR by The Associated Press. The United States has authorized the use of vaccines for infants and preschoolers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is debating how the vaccines are to be administered. The article says that studies support giving these age groups the vaccines, as they are said to be effective and have minor side-effects. -
2022-02
Wear a Mask: Fa'aaoga Puni Fofoga
With the rise of covid cases in American Samoa at the beginning of this year in February, the Department of American Samoa Health Department partnered up with the American Samoa government to make sure that the people of American Samoa are well aware of what to do to combat COVID. It is one of the many flyers and ads released by the ASDOH for the public of American Samoa. They are released in both the English and Samoan languages. This flyer is for people to wear a mask and in the Samoan language, fa'aaoga puni fofoga. -
2022-06-10
Tokyo reports 1,600 new cases of coronavirus on Friday
This is an article from NHK World-Japan. There have been more COVID-19 cases reported in Tokyo, Japan. However, the article reports that the cases have been in decline despite these new 1,600 cases. The Japan Times website, they have a timeline that discusses the same 1,600 new cases, but also shows an Outbreak map of Japan's current cases, deaths, testing, and other things. This is a reminder that Japan is still struggling with the virus, but there is some hope with the cases decreasing weekly. -
2022-06-10
Pride is back — and more expensive than ever
This is a news story from The Washington Post by JD Shadel. Due to the last two years of Pride Month remaining virtual due to COVID, some changes have been made along with it. Included in the changes since COVID are leadership ones in Philadelphia and London after allegations of their Pride leadership having racism and transphobia. The rising inflation has made it so summer travel is more expensive than before. Things like hotels, plane rides, and other modes of transportation cost more than they did before COVID. One change that has been brought about because of COVID is the rise of virtual events. Groups like NYC Pride, Capital Pride and Pride Amsterdam will have online streaming available. The NYC Pride March and the LA Pride March will be available on Hulu. Another debate that has changed since COVID are questions about "pinkwashing" in which a company will recognize Pride for profit, while not donating to any LGBTQ organizations. Some of the corporations in the past that have used Pride merchandise to sell things during Pride month while contributing to anti-LGBTQ organizations have been heavily criticized recently. Overall, COVID has contributed to changes in how Pride is celebrated. -
2022-06-09
Biden administration lays out its plan for Covid-19 vaccinations for children under 5
This is a news story from CNN by Donald Judd and Betsy Klein. The Biden administration has announced a vaccine rollout for children five and under. The vaccinations are to start as early as the week of June 20. -
2022-05-30
New guidelines for face masks in Japan
Japan, as of May 30th, 2022, is relaxing the face mask guidelines. For the most part, masks do not need to be worn outdoors except when the elderly are in close quarters to other people. Indoors, masks are still required indoors except in the case of when someone is in little to no conversation, which the article shows in a chart. The chart's example states walking around museums and libraries where there is little to no conversation. One of the reasons for why Japan is relaxing face masks is because summer is approaching and the temperature will rise. There are fears about face masks causing heatstroke. In Japan, temperatures can range from 70-90 degrees F, but the summers are hot and humid too. So, it makes sense to relax the restrictions, especially in the outdoors. -
2022-05-22
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 141
Republican blowout at midterms? not so fast -
2022-05-28
Shanghai edges towards COVID reopening as Beijing plans to ease curbs
This is a news story from Reuters. After intense lockdowns, Shanghai is looking to reopen again. Shanghai officials urged continued vigilance, even though the vast majority of its 25 million residents live in areas that are in the lowest-risk "prevention" category. "Wear masks in public, no gathering and keep social distance," Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, told a daily news conference. Similar measures are being taken in Beijing, where things are reopening there too, but with restriction. Starting on Sunday, shopping malls, libraries, museums, theatres and gyms will be allowed to reopen, with limits on numbers of people, in the eight of Beijing's 16 districts that have seen no community cases for seven consecutive days. -
2022-05-26
From COVID-19 to shootings: Is mass death now tolerated in America?
This is a news story from The Associated Press. Just recently, there have been over one million COVID deaths recorded in the United States. The author of this piece asks if Americans have just begun to tolerate mass death. Racial and social inequalities are also cited, where the author claims that those of certain backgrounds are more likely to die sooner or more violently. The COVID deaths are then related to the recent shooting deaths, such as in Buffalo and in Texas. While the gun violence deaths are lower than the COVID deaths, the author uses this to show that little is being done for either to help lessen the amount of deaths. I don't agree with the author completely on this due to dying from COVID being very different from dying from a mass shooter. With COVID, people could pass it along unknowingly and get someone infected, as it is an asymptomatic spread. With a mass shooter, it is much less predictable and far more sudden. From what I have seen on my social media, I did not see anyone I follow really mark the 1,000,000 COVID death milestone, but many have expressed outrage over both the Buffalo and Texas shootings. I don't think the question should be whether Americans accept mass death or not, but of methods of prevention. Obviously, gun ownership won't solve all problems. The police that had guns were waiting outside the school as the shooter was slaughtering kids and adults. Though, one man with a gun, a border patrol agent, is who finally shot the mass shooter and killed him. This is more of a question of character, as well as how competent police forces are in these scenarios. I do not think the author made a fair comparison because protecting yourself from COVID to prevent death would be an entirely different process than protecting yourself from a mass shooter. While the goal of preserving life is the same, the methods differ. Outrage isn't an issue because I have seen people upset over death from COVID and mass shootings. The main problem I see is that people have trouble coming together on a solution. -
2022-05-25
My Hands Are Raw and I Can't Think
Listening to Marketplace on the radio each morning as I arrived at work in mid-January of 2020, I never suspected that what was forcing cancelations of Lunar New Year celebrations in China would leave me with raw hands and ringing ears. At that time, I was working at the Census Bureau for the lead person responsible for on-the-ground execution of the 2020 census in Idaho. The work involved data analysis and strategic planning, as we created and staffed a field operation to complement the Census Bureau’s attempt to transition from the traditional door-to-door canvassing to online self-reporting. In the early days of the pandemic, we tried to maintain business as usual as we, and most of the country, watched cases rise. When things got bad enough, a mandate from Washington shut down our office for nearly six weeks. When our team was called back, we entered a totally new world. The Census Bureau leadership had mandated a hyper safe work environment and work rules. The office furniture was completely rearranged to create social distance. A six-foot perimeter around every desk was marked on the floor to ensure work interactions took place at a distance. Similarly, walking paths were marked on the floor and one-way traffic was encouraged. Everyone was issued a box of masks and hand sanitizers and soap dispensers were everywhere. The visual was pretty laughable but it is my hands and ears that carry the strongest memories of attempting to work in this environment. Trying to comply with the guidelines meant more hand washing and sanitizing than one would likely see around an operating room. The government, while trying to be a really good parent, however, had failed to supply hand lotion. Shame on me! I didn’t bring my own and raw, chapped hands became my red badge of courage, and compliance. Additionally, I will never forget the volume in that concrete block room. A room full of people on the phone can be noisy; but social distanced work conversations meant masked people shouting to co-workers as they stood six feet from their desk. It was the definition of cacophony. The work I was doing required a lot of attention to detail and I remember it being so loud at times I could not think clearly. There were time I would go outside to listen to quiet of the traffic on the busy street in front of the office. -
2022-03-09
The Pfizer Documents
This is a video regarding the safety of the Covid-19 Phizer vaccine reports that were recently released as of the making of both the video and this submission. It details the adverse events, the safe deliveries of the vaccine amongst an assortment of disorders, and the unhappiness of both the video creator and the viewers in the comments at the lack of transparency regarding the information surrounding the vaccine. -
2022-05-12
Covid-19 narrows long-standing Latino mortality advantage, study finds
This is a news story from NBC News by Nicole Acevedo. Latinos have been shown to have lower mortality rates compared to non-Hispanic whites, where they live an average of three extra years. This changed with the virus. In a study published by the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, COVID-19 has been shown to kill Latinos 65 or older at 2.1 times the rate of whites in 2020. This number decreased slightly in 2021, which was at 1.6 times the rate of whites. So far this year, it has been at 1.2 times the rate of death. In total, COVID has killed 124,000 Latinos since the start of the pandemic in the United States, which accounts for 17% of deaths. The reason the Latino death rate is high is debated, but some say it is because Latinos in the United States are less likely to have access to quality healthcare or have jobs that would expose them to the virus more often. -
2022-05-03
Haley Thomas Oral History, 2022/05/03
In this interview, Haley Thomas discusses the difficulties she faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they affected her. -
2021-12
The “Vaccine Passport” Agenda
This is information on vaccine passports by Swiss Policy Research. The overall message is that there is a correlation between totalitarianism and panic over the virus. This panic, in turn, has translated into governments around the world bringing up the possibility of vaccine passports. The vaccine passports may be used for more than vaccines, as they would be a way for the government to identify movement of individuals easier. The groups uses a number of ways to sway the audience, using information on what different organizations have funded, in addition to bringing up what other governments have said about the vaccine passports. Vaccine passports, according to this publication, really got traction from the digital identity lobby group ID2020 in February 2021, which has funding from both the Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. The research foundation cites pushback against the vaccine passports too. Places like Ontario, Canada have had to take away the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, as they would potentially lose many workers in the process. In Spain, they have been called "ineffective and unconstitutional." The publication ends by calling the pandemic a "plandemic," saying that it was likely lab-created for the purpose of controlling the populations more. I think given the information available, this is persuasive. There are links to where the claims come from, such as what Bill Gates says himself, as well as information on the Good Health Pass, which is a collaboration between many different organizations and their implementation of vaccine passports. In my own opinion, I find vaccine passports unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy. A vaccine passport makes it so you are forced to disclose personal health information to strangers in order to do things like grocery shopping, which I consider to be a potential HIPAA violation. It is also breech of the Fourth Amendment in the Constitution. If people feel inclined to get vaccinated, they should, but forcing people to do so through vaccine passports creates more overall distrust in the government. I have known people that would have otherwise have gotten the vaccine if it wasn't so forced. Even though vaccine passports were never mandated where I live, there have been people that have lost their livelihoods over not wanting to get vaccinated. I myself was very hesitant to get the vaccine for a while due to the way the government was handling it. Trying to implement vaccine passports and mandates has made it so society becomes more segregated, where unvaccinated would be forced to shop at different places, work at different places, and many other things. I am glad that the overall effort to actually do this has failed, but that is only because of many groups of people throughout the United States exercising their rights. I am pro-choice too, and I extend that reasoning to vaccine passports. People need bodily autonomy and vaccine mandates remove some of that. -
2022-05-04
Experiencing the Pandemic as a Student in Sri Lanka
It provides the pandemic perspective of a student from Colombo, Sri Lanka. -
2022-05-06
'Zero-COVID' lockdowns cancel AP exams for students in China
This is a news story from ABC News by Carolyn Thompson. Due to China's COVID policy, the Advanced Placement (AP) tests have been canceled due to restrictions. Students are unable to visit for in-person tests that are used for AP tests. The College Board offered an online version of these tests, but that was only intended to be temporary. Some tests are being offered digitally, such as the ACT. The SAT remains impacted due to restrictions. Parents have accused The College Board of being indifferent to affected students that need these tests. -
2022-05-05
Vaccine skeptics and anti-maskers who invoked 'my body, my choice' in the pandemic are now lining up to support the end of Roe v. Wade
This is a news story from Business Insider by Mia Jankowicz. This is about the argument of bodily autonomy as it applies to abortion and COVID. People have argued that vaccine passports and masks are infringements of civil liberties. The author writes that this is a mirror of what pro-choice advocates say. Some have argued that the anti-vaccine and anti-mask views being conflated with bodily autonomy arguments do not make sense, as being unvaccinated poses a greater risk to others, whereas lack of abortion access could put the mother's life in danger. -
2022-04-28
Covid
It may be neccessary to inform the reader that the following reflection was writing in the spring of 2022, at the end of the ‘pandemic’. The pandemic had began initially with my graduating from high school in the spring of 2020. Disappointed at not having prom or a real graduation ceremony, I prepared for college and ended up taking a gap year. The lockdown and safety measures enforced by the government and institutions around the country jointly impelled me to take a gap year. It was during this time that I began reflecting on life without social interaction, entertainment and structure. Perhaps the most apparent realization was coming to terms with the abnormalities wrought by the pandemic such as the lockdown and vaccine rollout/enforcement. The lockdown in particular, was quite pernicious. It prevented myself from going about daily errands and activities. Spiritually, I found comfort in reading scripture to cope with the deficit of worldly pleasure in my life. This was ultimately a good thing because it brought me closer to God. However, I was distanced socially from my peers and friends darkened my view of life and increased my pessimistic outlook. Man is religious because man was created by God. A lot of people dont find God and thus the suicide rate spiked durning the lockdown, damning many souls to eternal hellfire. -
2022-04-29
Pelosi endorses strategy to combine Ukraine, COVID aid
This is a news story from The Hill by Mike Lillis. This is about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi combining COVID aid with Ukraine aid into one package. This strategy is intended to help Congress pass the spending needed for Ukraine for the war. Currently, the CDC has said that overall need for aid has diminished as cases keep going down, with more guidelines being removed. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the prospect that combining the two bills could delay them both is “a real consideration” that will likely influence the ultimate strategy. -
2020-04-26
A World Apart
Nearly a decade ago, I immigrated to South Africa. At the time of the start of the pandemic, my partner and I had been struggling with our visa papers and it had been 7 years of fighting with Home Affairs. March 2020 saw the closure of Home Affairs, a national state of emergency with nearly a year of stay-at-home orders from the government, curfew, and limited access to the public sphere, and for the first time, a reprieve from the nightmares of the immigration process. Just like that, in a single memo to the public, Home Affairs resolved all of its bureaucracy, in favour of public safety, and my partner and I were able to stay in the same place together for over 18 months. The longest we'd been able to stay together since immigrating. In a situation that saw so much upheaval, pain, uncertainty, and widespread panic, I found precious moments of peace and safety. I felt lucky and guilty all at once. Living in a rural forest community in the mountains, with my nearest neighbour over a mile away, stay-at-home orders had little impact on my daily life and I was able to relish time at home with the people who mean the most to me. All the while, stories of social and political dissent and unrest played a continual reminder that not all was right with the world, that my experience was unique and world's apart from the collective pandemic experience. I was made painfully aware that this global phenomenon, one that connected people so thoroughly and completely, was a deeply and fundamentally separate experience for myself. I have a privileged, unique, and unusual story of joy and peace experiencing the pandemic. As an American in another country, I was able to see first hand what a nation with limited resources could do when it decided to put public health and safety above all else. The pandemic provided me with my very first experience of feeling wholly communally supported, safe, and protected. This is a story I want to share because so many people were deeply traumatised by their government's response to covid and the subsequent fallout of the lack of support, and for them to know that it was no failing on their part for feeling like they were put through a meat grinder. Every single person on this planet deserved to experience the ease and simple joy that I was granted, and in a world with such immense wealth, there is honestly no excuse for why my experience was so unique. -
2022-04-28
Xi Jinping Is Betting It All on Zero Covid
This is a news story from The Wall Street Journal by Eyck Freymann. This article is about President Xi Jinping's zero COVID goal. The author argues that this is a risky move for President Xi, as enforcing a zero COVID policy could have many economic ramifications. As of Monday, 45 cities with 373 million people, representing 40% of China’s gross domestic product, were under partial or full lockdown, according to Nomura estimates. More cities and counties are under “static management,” a euphemism for quasi-lockdown. President Xi's COVID policy gets compared to Chairman Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, where it can start with a noble intention, but turn deadly for the population. Just like Mao faced great food shortages after the Great Leap Forward, locking down centers that produce a lot of the country's GDP is a risk too. -
2022-04-27
Poverty and the Pandemic
My story touches on the importance of who holds the power over your life. Ultimately it is written to give an account to future generations so we never go back there again. -
2022-04-27
Life of COVID in Japan
When COVID first started and until now I have been living in Japan. When it first started to break out things immediately began to lock down and the restrictions of what can and can’t be done began to pop off instantly. Japan is a lot stricter that what at least Arizona has been. I haven’t been to other states so I am unable to express what it is like. Now Japan ever since COVID began locked down their borders and leaving the country or traveling from where I live in Okinawa which is a small island, was extremely difficult. I work in the military and the fight against COVID was to make everyone get vaccinated and if not you were to be separated. Many people began to argue that their religion did not allow it but pretty much 99% of the claims for religion was denied. So once everyone either got the vaccination or was separated things began to get a little bit better. Restaurant began to open up but it would continue to fluctuate between if only outdoor seating was allowed or indoor and outdoor. Travel between prefectures of Japan started to open but only if vaccinated. Although COVID tests were mandatory for travel to happen. Although the US didn’t have their borders locked down, we were still unable to travel to US to see family no matter the reason except a funeral because we had to get back into Japan afterwards. By the time Japan finally opened their borders I finally was able to go home to spend time with family and be around for the holidays for first time in over two years. I think because of this, many people in the military don’t want to stay in no more because the ability to do many things aren’t able to be done. The military has to work with the country of Japan to make sure all is well between each other so the government’s power and military’s power restricted everyone from being able to do the many fun things Japan has to offer. Although, now in 2022, things are beginning to open up and things are going back to more normal barring another variant forces Japan to go into a state of emergency. -
2022-04-21
Does Free Speech Protect COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation?
This is a story from Standford Medicine's Scope Blog by Sharon Beckstrand. This is an opinion piece on free speech and misinformation as it relates to COVID-19. Beckstrand goes over some of the reasoning some might resist getting vaccinated, such as political beliefs. Some of these beliefs can come from well-intentioned individuals thinking they are spreading good information, or from intentionally misleading sources. Both of these examples are classified under misinformation. The author of this asks: how can the spread of misinformation be stopped without quashing free speech? To get an idea on how the United States approaches this with the First Amendment is though Supreme Court cases. The Supreme Court has upheld that false statements are still protected under free speech. A 2012 case of United States vs. Alvarez struck down a law that made it a criminal offense to lie about receiving military medals, as a false statement is still protected under the First Amendment. Other types of speech are not protected, such as: lying in court, making false statements to the government, impersonating a government official, and defaming someone. Beckstrand lays out some of the dangers that can come from the government trying to police false claims. One thing she asks people to consider is that a scientific statement claimed as false today could be considered verifiable at a different time, especially if it is something that has not been studied yet. Additionally, many do not trust the government to not abuse power when deciding what is misinformation. The article ends by saying that if something becomes politicized, they are more likely to view messages from groups they don't identify with as suspicious, regardless of how much evidence there is to back it up. At the end, Beckstrand closes with saying that if we cannot make sound decisions on how we interact with information, we can't make sound decisions about health. -
2020-07-20
A monument to the suffering
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2022-04-20
"Trust the Science" is Anti-Science
This is an Instagram post by city_slicker_bnswagon. This person is questioning the way we think of the science surrounding COVID. This person thinks that the virus is more political than it is about health. -
2022-04-20
'More fearful than I was': At-risk immunocompromised Americans decry lifting of travel mask mandate
This is a news story from USA Today by Ella Lee. This is about pushback against the lifting of the mask mandate, as it has made immunocompromised people afraid. "Being immunocompromised, it's already a huge risk getting on a plane with everybody masked," said Derek Schmitz, 17, of Oxford, Alabama, who takes immune-suppressing arthritis medication and has to fly for work as a disability advocate. "Now, knowing that I most likely will be one of the only people on a plane with a mask is petrifying." After the lift of the mandate for planes and other public transportation was voided, ride share companies like Uber and Lyft have followed suit in removing their own mandates. "I was angry and felt hopeless," said Erin Masengale, 33, who has multiple autoimmune diseases treated by immunosuppressants. "I just want people to realize that when they cheer for the ending of protections, they’re cheering for the ending of access to everything for people like me." Under the strict definition of immunocompromised, only about 3% of Americans fit that definition. Though, the author mentions that disabled and chronically ill people, a much larger population, also face risk with the lifted mandates. The question I have for people that read this is: is it worth it to keep the mandate even though it caters to a relatively small population? Would it be wiser for people already with these ailments to mask on their own instead of mandating it for everyone else, especially if overall cases and hospitalizations are lower? These are the questions I have after reading this article. I am not against people masking when they see fit, but it is clear that these mandates have worn many people out. -
2022-04-19
GB Oral History, 2022/04/19
The interviewee discusses vaccine hesitancy and life during the pandemic without having received the vaccine. -
2020-06
Fort Sill - Trainee
While the pandemic had made digital communications and networking boom. Anything in the real world came to a screeching halt. I went into Fort Sill, Lawton Oklahoma for Advanced Individual Training (AIT) while had just begun to really put its foot into the door on US soil. Entering the facility we were immediately put in makeshift facilities specifically designed for incoming soldiers, they looked like 2-story mobile homes and each building contained roughly 60-80 troops per floor (can't remember exactly how many fit. but we were packed in there like sardines). We were originally told we would be in the facilities for 2 weeks before we would be allowed onto the rest of the base to begin training. 2 weeks, turned to 4, and that turned into 6 weeks. We weren't allowed to go outside other than to get an MRE and then go right back into our bays. We became so restless we would disassemble bunks and make makeshift pull-up bars, running up and down the hall in order to run miles. Eventually, we were released and allowed to continue training. Once we had actually begun AIT. We were immediately told that they were "overbooked" the facilities were forced to hold more soldiers than it was designed for due to outgoing flights being halted until an entire flight could be filled with military personal all going to the same location. Masks mandation was very hit or miss. Some days we would go by without them at all, others, we would be told to wear them the moment we got up, even wearing them during physical training, and while on the firing range shooting artillery. -
2022-04-18
Striking Down Mask Mandates
This is a Twitter update by artisfire1. This is about a judge striking down mandates on planes. Tony, otherwise known as atrisfire1, blames it on the selfishness of the right wing in the United States. The comic underneath that is posted helps demonstrate this person's feeling on the matter. The "I'm with them" sign held by an anthropomorphic coronavirus, is there with the anti-mandate crowd, making it apparent that the author of this tweet sees the anti-mandate crowd as the ones who spread the virus the most. -
2022-03-31
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 139
Putin's invasion of Ukraine analogous to "The Walrus and the Carpenter" -
2020-07-09
The true virus
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2020-06-30
The 19th Hole
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2022-04-07
Corrupt Vaccines
This is an Instagram post by dswlaura1. This post shows a TikTok video, with hashtags as a description. The tags refer to things like the Ottawa Freedom Convoy, which has been a massive ongoing protest against vaccine mandates in Canada. Other tags include references to "The Great Reset", which is a conspiracy theory that the pandemic was created in order to make people more subservient to elites in power, while losing both their money and freedoms in the process. "Agenda 2030" is another conspiracy theory where it was established that 2030 will be the official "end" to the virus, along with other things. -
2022-04-07
Vaccine drive for children in Peru
This is a video posted on Instagram by the Ministry of Health in Peru promoting the vaccination of children in Peru. On Sunday there will be an event at a public park where children can come and get the vaccine. -
2022-04-07
Brainwashing
This is an Instagram post by we_stand_together_uk. The post shows a comic of a man and his brain full of different narratives, with the man looking fearful. Quite a few of the narratives depicted are COVID related, such as: "masks work", "trust the science", and "get boosted now." The poster themselves in the tags says #saynotothevaccine and #wewillnotcomply, making me believe that they think that everyone that has taken the vaccine has been brainwashed in some way to accept it, when they believe it is dangerous. -
2020-01
Plague ? Diary
This is day by day account of the early stages of the pandemic. -
2022-03-30
Trudeau warns of 'difficult time,' food shortages due to Covid-19
This is a news story from the Business Standard. This is about the after effects of COVID on the Canadian population. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warns that it will be a difficult time with food shortages due to COVID. Some of the blame for the food shortages is also placed on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Similar tactics of blaming President Vladimir Putin for the rising prices of goods has also been used by President Joe Biden. The global disruption of supply chains results in higher prices of necessities. Earlier in March, the Canadian government announced that the economy fell short of its anticipated growth for that month. In February, inflation in Canada rose by 5.7%, the highest increase since August 1991. -
2022-04-03
COVID: China struggles to contain large outbreak
This is a news story by DW News. It is a story about how the outbreak of COVID has not been very well controlled in China, with China reporting 13,146 new cases, the most since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Despite these numbers, the Chinese government has claimed that there have been no new deaths despite the high number of infections. Shanghai is the worst affected region in China, in which as city of 25 million has been under lockdown. Vice President Sun Chunlan, who is on the Communist Party's Politburo claims that swift actions taken will help stop the spread of the virus. In Beijing, there have been lockdowns, mass testing, and travel restrictions placed on the populace. Residents of Shanghai are worried about the lockdowns exceeding four days, as it will limit their ability to obtain fresh food. Parents also fear being separated from their children for too long under strict quarantine. The article mentions Xi being in tough spot with this too, as these lockdowns will have an ill effect on an already fragile economic situation. -
2022-01-27
Populist nations fared much worse during Covid outbreak, new research says
This is a news story from CNBC, written by Chloe Taylor. This is a story about a study that came out about how well populist nations fared under COVID-19 compared to other nations around the world. More than 40 countries were included in this study, with the US, UK, and India being considered populist nations at the time that this was conducted. In 2020, the study claims that excess deaths were more than twice as high for populist ran governments. For comparison, the countries that were not considered populist in this study include Canada, Sweden, and Japan. For every 100 COVID related deaths, non-populist countries had an additional 8 deaths. In populist led countries, it was an additional 18 deaths for every 100 deaths. The study attributes this to higher citizen mobility that was allowed in populist nations, leading to more spread of the virus. It also claims that populist governments downplayed the severity of the virus itself, giving people the impression that things were safer than they actually were. -
2022-01-19
Man Calls Out PM Orbán after Mother Dies from Coronavirus
This is a news story from Hungary Today by Júlia Tar. A man's mother and sister from Nagykanizsa both died from the Coronavirus. Later, this man calls out Prime Minister Viktor Orbán because he believes PM Orbán did not properly protect his family. His mother was vaccinated with Sinopharm, a Chinese vaccine. The PM himself received Sinopharm as his first two doses, with Moderna as his third dose. The man describes feeling hurt seeing his mother die in the hospital after she contracted the Coronavirus. -
2022-04-03
Man in Germany gets 90 COVID-19 shots to sell forged passes
This is a story by The Hill about a German man from Magdeburg getting the COVID vaccines a copious amount of times in order to make forged vaccine cards. The man in question is 60 years old and was caught in Eilenburg in Saxony. The article states that we do not know what effects will happen after getting the vaccine 90 times. The German government has been trying to crack down on forgeries of vaccine cards. This probably speaks of a bigger nationwide issue, where people will want forgeries if forced to get the vaccines that they see as against their will. With that, brings people like this man who will get the vaccine many times in order to make money off of selling forged vaccine cards. -
2020-12-10
Analysis of Racial Disparity in COVID by CDC
CDC page outlining racial disparity in the transmission and treatment of COVID-19. There are explanations given for the discrepancies pertaining to economic disparity as well. This illustrates the knowledge of the discrepancies in the transmission of COVID-19 across different racial backgrounds and social classes and possible solutions. -
2022-03-23
South Korea's total COVID-19 cases top 10 million as crematoria, funeral homes overwhelmed
This is a story by Channel News Asia about the ongoing issues with funeral homes in South Korea. This article says that in Seoul, 28 crematoria are operating at 114.2% capacity, while other crematoria around the country are operating at 83%. For the past two week, the number of critically ill patients has been hovering above 1,000; but it could get to 2,000 by early April. To combat this, the federal government has approved the use of Merck & Co's COVID-19 treatment pill. The pill is branded as Lageviro and is the second antiviral to be authorized in South Korea after Pfizer's Paxlovid. This pill, however, is only approved for adults 18 and above. The government is hoping that actions such as these will help limit the crowdedness in funeral homes and hospitals. -
2021-04-08
Did COVID doubters' perspective get lumped in with deniers?
I believe we all know someone during the worst days of the pandemic who doubted that it was as serious as it really was. Perhaps they willingly discussed their perspective, reluctantly talked about it if pressed, or just did not even want to talk about it. I am not talking about the people seen in the attached article that were out protesting masks or vaccines, pushing conspiracy theories on 5G and Bill Gates' love of vaccines. I am thinking of the people we work with, are friends with, or very likely are in our families that just really just wanted life back to normal and did not think the global reaction was justified. A casual search of the internet for the perspectives of COVID doubters, or those who thought that the reaction to the pandemic was over-the-top, immediately sends you to articles and stories about the horrors and idiocy of the COVID deniers who pushed crazy theories about world dominance. Wouldn't it be nice to understand how the middle ground of the pandemic felt, lived, and reacted to the reality of the pandemic, if at all? We owe it to future generations to not only highlight the worst in the deniers, as seen in the attached article, but to also illustrate the everyday people who just were not sure who to believe, fake news or science. One thing is for sure, it is not fair to lump everyone in the middle into the far right. I would like to hear the stories of people who doubtfully lived in the pandemic, their trials, frustrations, and tribulations and if they had any change of heart or ideals. Their perspective will give a further understanding of the sociological impact of the pandemic. -
2022-04-03
The can-do vaccine spirit must be applied to refugees
This is a news story written by The Sunday Times (cannot find author). The Sunday Times is a British paper and this is detailing the contrast between the generosity of the British citizens towards Ukrainian refugees, but the lack of care from the British federal government. It says that over 200,000 people and organizations have registered to sponsor refugees in the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The overall story is not about the vaccines themselves, but the author is wishing for the can-do attitude of distributing vaccines in the UK to be applied to the refugees. Of the visas applied by refugees, for families, 32,300 applied for a scholarship, but only 4,700 were issued. I think that during the pandemic, the author that wrote this got more used to the government being lenient in helping, but now when faced with a refugee crisis, lacks that same helpful spirit. -
2022-03-26
Russia spread anti-vax lies in Ukraine. Will it cause a COVID crisis for Europe?
This is a news story from the Los Angeles Times by Melissa Healy and Emily Baumgaertner. The authors claim that even prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Russia has been working to undermine the confidence of Western vaccines. It says that these messages were encouraged by President Vladimir Putin and shown on Russian TV and social media. In Ukraine, only 35% of residents are fully vaccinated, some of the lowest in all of Europe. This makes the refugee crisis in Ukraine more dire, as people needing to leave will risk spreading COVID more places. The authors assert that with the low vaccination rates of Ukrainian refugees that it will cause another surge in COVID cases throughout Europe. The CDC has advised countries accepting refugees to offer them the vaccine upon entry. This article details that this is not the only vaccine that Ukrainians have not accepted as much compared to the rest of Europe. In 2021, only 53% of Ukrainian babies were vaccinated against polio. That number has now risen to 76% of infants being immunized against polio. Though, the likelihood of these diseases spreading as far as COVID are fairly low. The vaccine hesitancy, the authors say, is rooted in deep distrust of the government. In December 2020, only 14% of Ukrainians reported having trust in their government in a poll. -
2022-03-30
President Biden Pressures Congress for Emergency COVID funds
This is a news story written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Emily Cochrane and Noah Weiland for the New York Times. The article writes of how President Biden believes this is not a partisan issue, but a matter of health. President Biden is said to have received his second COVID booster prior to making this announcement. Another aspect this story brings up is how BA. 2, a new COVID variant, has made itself known, raising concerns for once it gets to the United States. President Biden has made it known that as these new variants pop up, we will be in our "Next Normal", where masks and other such requirements will be used when needed. In other words, there is no real "end" to the pandemic. -
2021-07-05
Lockdowns Were a Gift to Big Business Designed to Kill Small Biz
This is an opinion piece by Carol Roth for the New York Post. This news story is about ways in which the lockdowns in 2020/2021 hurt small businesses, but helped big businesses. Roth claims that during the pandemic, small businesses are hitting half or less than half of their pre-lockdown revenue. Some businesses, Roth claims, possibly won’t recover at all. This article says that in 2020, the Hamilton Project accounted for 400,000 closures. I find this article to be important, as I think the business side of the pandemic needs to be told more, as these effects on small businesses impact the local and state economies, in addition to what jobs are available for people looking to go back to work after lockdowns end. -
2022-03-30
3rd dose is mandatory in Peru
This Instagram post from the ministry of Peru lets people know that they need to head to a vaccination center to receive their 3rd dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. A commenter asked what happens after April 1st? And someone responds that after April 1st it is obligatory for adults over 18 years old to have 3 COVID shots.