"Judge rules that Oregon virus restrictions are invalid" by Gillian Flaccus and Andrew Selsky Associated Press, May 18, 2020
SALEM, Ore.— A judge in rural Oregon on Monday tossed out statewide coronavirus restrictions imposed by Democratic Governor Kate Brown, saying she didn’t seek the Legislature’s approval to extend the stay-at-home orders beyond a 28-day limit.
Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff issued his opinion in response to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by 10 churches around Oregon that argued the state’s social-distancing directives were unconstitutional.
That is where sanctuary and salvation await.
Brown said she would immediately seek an emergency review by the Oregon Supreme Court. Her attorneys asked the judge to stay his ruling until the high court could review the case, but he declined.
In a statement, Brown said: “The science behind these executive orders hasn’t changed one bit. Ongoing physical distancing, staying home as much as possible, and wearing face coverings will save lives across Oregon.’’
Damn Democratic fa$ci$ts!
In a seven-page opinion, Shirtcliff wrote that the damage to Oregonians and their livelihood was greater than the dangers presented by the coronavirus. He also noted that other businesses deemed essential, such as grocery stores, had been allowed to remain open even with large numbers of people present and have relied on masks, social distancing, and other measures to protect the public.
“The governor’s orders are not required for public safety when plaintiffs can continue to utilize social distancing and safety protocols at larger gatherings involving spiritual worship,” he wrote.
Similar actions have occurred in other states.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Governor Tony Evers’s coronavirus stay-at-home order last Wednesday, ruling that his administration overstepped its authority when it extended it for another month without consulting legislators, and a federal judge in North Carolina on Saturday sided with conservative Christian leaders and blocked the enforcement of restrictions that Governor Roy Cooper ordered affecting indoor religious services during the coronavirus pandemic.
They celebrated in Wisconsin, and there may be hope of defeating the $atanic forces after all -- lawfully and peacefully.
The order from Judge James C. Dever III came days after two Baptist churches, a minister and a Christian revival group filed a federal lawsuit seeking to immediately block enforcement of rules covering religious services within the Democratic governor’s executive orders.
Mine is a RINO.
In Louisiana, a federal judge on Friday refused a minister’s request to temporarily halt Governor John Bel Edwards’s stay-at-home order, which expired that same day.
Yeah, there will still be setbacks, but keep moving forward.
In Oregon, Brown declared a statewide state of emergency because of the virus on March 8 and has issued multiple executive orders since then, including the closure of all schools, nonessential businesses and a ban on dine-in service at restaurants and bars. All but a handful of Oregon counties, however, got the state’s approval to begin loosening those restrictions last Friday.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum urged residents to abide by the stay-at-home orders while the ruling is appealed. “We will argue that the judge erred in his construction of the relevant statutes and that he abused his discretion in issuing the preliminary injunction,” she said in a statement. “We will also be asking for an immediate stay of his order.”
He most certainly DID NOT!
He upheld the Constitution, rule of law, and defended freedom!
Attorney Ray Hacke, who represented the plaintiffs in the case, said the ruling was a vindication not just for freedom of religion, but for all freedoms of people in the state.
“Praise God. I’m excited, and I’m glad that the judge saw that there are limitations on the governor’s power, even in the midst of emergencies,” he said. “If people want to get their haircut, they can. They can leave their home for any reason whether it’s deemed essential in the eye of the state or not.”
Shirtcliff, the judge, was the district attorney of Baker County from 2001 until Brown appointed him to be a judge last September.
That's the thing; a judgeship allows one a great measure of independence and freedom. No one to kowtow to anymore.
--more--"
Looks like other governors have gotten the message:
"California Governor Gavin Newsom relaxed county reopening criteria on Monday, a move he said will allow most of the state’s 58 counties to begin allowing dining in restaurants and other services. “Bottom line is: People can go at their own pace, and we are empowering our local health directors and county officials that understand their local communities and conditions,” Newsom said. The new criteria he outlined applies to counties that want to reopen faster than the state. While retail may open for curbside pickup statewide, restrictions on dining in at restaurants and other services are still in place statewide. Counties can move faster if they win state approval. Twenty-four counties in mostly rural Northern California already won approval under old guidance. The new criteria eliminates rules that a county have zero deaths and no more than one case per 10,000 residents over a two-week period. Instead, counties must have no more than 25 cases per 100,000 residents or no higher than an 8 percent positive rate among people testing for the coronavirus. They also must have no higher than a 5 percent increase in hospitalizations over a 7-day period or fewer than 20 hospitalizations total over 14 days. Newsom also said counties will soon be able to allow shopping in stores and hair salons to reopen. He also suggested professional sports could begin in June without spectators. He said the reopening of churches could begin within weeks."
The fans will be virtual as the ballplayers are on fire, and churches should be opened post-haste!
"Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a dramatic relaxation Monday of health standards to reopen the state, a move that could allow nearly every county to proceed more quickly, and he offered the possibility of pro sports returning — without fans — by early June. The announcement marked a significant departure from strict criteria Newsom laid out just over a week ago that would have prevented most large counties from reopening and came as residents have become increasingly restless to return to normal and some business owners have defied rules to stay closed....."
Who would have thought that California would be the seat of the rebellion?
Florida, maybe:
"The Florida Keys will reopen to tourists on June 1, more than two months after the island chain closed to visitors to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. Checkpoints that barred visitors from coming into the Florida Keys will be removed next month and hotels and other lodging establishments, including campgrounds and vacation rentals, will also be allowed to reopen at 50% occupancy, Monroe County Emergency Management said in a statement on Sunday. These businesses must implement sanitation stations and follow the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s cleaning guidelines for COVID-19, the statement said. Airport screenings and bus restrictions will also be lifted in June....."
Texas, yeah:
Dallas mayor says more people are getting sick because of the state's reopening
Mayor Eric Johnson speaks during a news conference at City Hall to discuss the coronavirus crisis in Dallas, on Wednesday, April 22 (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
Do jou see what I see?
"The mayor of Dallas cited policy changes that eased restrictions on businesses in early May as a likely reason the state saw a jump in coronavirus cases — just as Governor Greg Abbott was to announce further reopening measures. Over the weekend, the state reported 1,801 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the highest single-day total since the outbreak began. Mayor Eric Johnson of Dallas on Sunday said the rise in cases is “more than likely” related to the reopening of businesses such as movie theaters and restaurants, which are operating at reduced capacity to enable physical distancing. “These things sort of lag,” Johnson said during an appearance on CNN. “The decision is made, and then you don’t see the results in the cases until a couple of weeks later.” Johnson acknowledged that the eased restrictions are one of several factors for the rise in new cases. The Texas Department of State Health Services on Sunday said in a statement that 734 of the 1,801 new cases were reported in two counties that had been targeted for testing because of an outbreak at meatpacking plants in the area. Abbott has justified reopening some firms on May 1 by citing the state’s relatively low death toll of 1,336 fatalities. At the same time, Thursday to Saturday marked the deadliest three-day span for the state, with a combined 147 deaths."
What timing by the mayor of Dallas (the city that is infamous for killing a president)!
Time to get a workout:
"A gym in New Jersey reopened for business early Monday, defying a state order that shut down nonessential businesses to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. People began gathering outside the Atilis Gym in Bellmawr several hours before it reopened at 8 a.m. The owners have said the decision to resume operations at the members-only facility was not about financial gain, but rather a question of constitutional rights. “We truly believe that if we don’t do this, in the end, we will have zero rights and no say in what happens,” co-owner Frank Trumbetti said in a video posted on the gym’s Facebook page. Trumbetti has said he recently lost a loved one to the coronavirus. Dozens of people came out to show their support for the gym, with many holding signs critical of Democratic Governor Phil Murphy and others waving American flags. Only some were wearing face coverings and most people were tightly clustered together on the sidewalk and in the parking area in front of the gym. Around 10:30 a.m., police approached the business and spoke with the gym owners. The officers informed the pair and the crowd that they were formally in violation of the shutdown order, adding that police were present “only for everybody’s safety.” The officers then wished everyone well and told them “have a nice day” before walking away from the gym as the crowd erupted in cheers."
What is going on out there, and IF LOCAL and STATE POLICE begin to cross the line, it's over for the politicians and their puppet masters. Good luck enforcing anything.
I just want to state, for the record, that I am in general supportive of local police. It's a tough job and they do the best they can. The problems being the further away and more centralized the agency. The state cops (forget the overtime looting scandal for a moment) are dicks compared the the locals, and the federalis are total a$$holes.
Time to come home:
"Baker’s reopening plan attempts to balance safety, economy; Salons, barber shops, life science facilities, and car washes are among the businesses that can reopen as soon as next week" by Matt Stout and Tim Logan Globe Staff, May 18, 2020
Governor Charlie Baker detailed on Monday his road map for reopening Massachusetts, a balancing act that attempts to revive the battered economy, and restart daily life, without triggering another wave of the deadly pandemic still infecting hundreds of residents each day.
The plan’s success, Baker said at a State House news conference, will likely rest on countless everyday decisions by people across Massachusetts, as businesses begin to shudder back to life and residents decide whether they’re ready to inch back to old routines.
The highly anticipated four-phase process starts with factories and construction sites rumbling back to life this week. It ends — at some unknown point in the future — with something resembling normal life.
Not good enough!
As for Bo$ton, Mayor Walsh says, ‘reopening does not mean back to normal’ -- although some things in his city haven't changed at all.
The “new normal": Wide-scale resumption of life largely as it was before, enabled by the development of vaccines or treatments.
Oh, their message hasn't changed so prepare the lawsuits.
Each phase will last at least three weeks. Progression from one phase to the next will be governed by data on new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and other health metrics, Baker said. If conditions get worse instead of better, he warned, it’s quite possible shutdowns could come back, but two-plus months into the crisis, and after nearly 5,900 deaths and more than 1.1 million jobs lost across the state, the Republican governor acknowledged, it’s time to start moving forward carefully.
That will be his legacy.
He made it clear that one thing remained certain: Even as daily life returns, it will continue to look and feel quite different.
Then why are you guys throwing around the world normal so goddamn often?
“We’re playing this game — and it’s a real one — with the virus and the economy at the same time,” Baker said in his widely broadcast news conference, “and it’s really important for people to step up and recognize and understand that this game’s not over.”
That is the turn-in paragraph, and wow!
He must be feeling the strain of everyday pre$$ conferences and the knowledge of what he has done, for his Freudian slips indicate exercise and drill.
That doesn't mean people haven't died or are not sick; however, it does call into question the very existence of COVID-19 given the wide disparities in what was modeled and what statistically happened (and I don't mean the daily death toll simulations cited by government and pre$$).
Indeed, many of the broad social restrictions put in place to blunt the spread of coronavirus will stay in place, in some cases indefinitely. The Baker administration is still urging seniors and people with underlying medical conditions to mostly stay home. Gatherings of more than 10 people remain prohibited, for at least the next several weeks. Masks in public, even outdoors, are still the rule if people can’t create 6 feet of distance from others. “People need to continue to use their heads on this stuff,” the governor said. “We are still in the middle of this virus. It has not gone away.”
I don't think it ever existed at this point, and RULES are NOT LAWS, so f**k off!!
That means the FINES have NO LEGAL BASIS so CHALLENGE ALL FINES and hope you get a good judge!
The four-phase plan is gradual.
The initial phase — dubbed “Start” — began Monday with construction sites, houses of worship, and manufacturing joining essential businesses such as grocery stores on the list of places that can open, while health care providers could restart “high priority” preventative and pediatric care. Beaches would reopen, on Memorial Day no less, but with a raft of restrictions, including 12 feet of distancing between groups on the sand, and no organized games. Sunbathing, yes. Beach volleyball, no.
Bring your net anyway.
Should all go well, after three weeks or more, the state would move on to phase two, which state officials, creating a new virus-age argot, have labeled “Cautious.” That period would allow inside dining at restaurants, hotels, and routine health care like dental cleanings to begin again. This phase could reopen pools and playgrounds, too, perhaps in time for some of summer, and ramped-up service on the MBTA, including a full schedule on the Blue Line and restored bus routes.
I wouldn't expect normal MBTA service for weeks -- which would mean, of course, smooth running trains with no breakdowns that arrive on time!
Of course, they have been running empty cars for weeks (how does that help the environment or dave money?), and the shutdown will now derail the revenue needed for improvements after decades of neglect, mismanagement, and bloated patronage and corruption?
As for the teeth cleaning, if you don't have insurance you are $crewed.
Phase three — “Vigilant” — would eventually follow, with nearly full resumption of MBTA service, gyms, and bars and places such as museums and casinos allowed to reopen. Phase four — “the new normal” — would loosen any remaining restrictions, paving the way for nightclubs and other large venues.
Not "normal life."
Public health officials said the new restrictions are broadly sensible, but they warned that flare-ups of the coronavirus are likely as mingling resumes. The state is still averaging more than 1,000 newly reported infections a day, with some of the highest rates of infection and deaths per capita in the country.
Then Baker's shutdown FAILED!
You can't argue the numbers, and you can't prove it would have been worse!
“We’re going in the right direction but we still have a lot of cases per day," said Erin Bromage, a professor of immunology at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. "It would be wise to get it lower before we start the interactions back up again,” but some business leaders say the broad shutdown just isn’t sustainable and is devastating Massachusetts’ once-robust economy. Since mid-March, countless small businesses have closed as their revenue has vanished, and other nearby states, while suffering far fewer cases and deaths than Massachusetts, have moved faster to reopen.
How dare they defy a $cienti$t.
“It just seems like there’s a lot of bureaucrats making decisions that are under no economic stress themselves,” said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. They “can’t relate to these small businesses and what they’re going through.”
His association will be less soon:
One-third of US small businesses have ceased operations, survey finds
As planned, per the Soviet Union 100 years ago. Destroy small business and the middle class.
Small-business owners were mixed on the plan, with some hoping for a quicker return to business than Baker outlined, while others counseled reopening once and doing it right. Indeed, a big unknown amid all this discussion of reopening the economy: How consumers and workers themselves will behave.
The ones that still have money and are going to want to spend it?
Other states that have eased restrictions have seen consumers slowly trickle back to restaurants and shopping malls, and a Suffolk University/Boston Globe/WGBH News poll of Massachusetts residents released earlier this month found that only 42 percent would feel comfortable eating in a restaurant once they reopen, while only 18 percent said they’d feel comfortable riding mass transit.
Trash can is over there.
Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito said she hoped that new safety protocols, including checklists and posters that businesses must sign and post certifying they’ve completed a COVID-19 control plan, would help give both consumers and workers confidence to venture out again. Enforcement of those protocols would be left up to local health officials, with fines, she said, only issued after repeated violations. “We don’t want to have to fine,” she said at the State House news conference.
They have no authority by law to fine!
Meanwhile, companies that are getting back to work are doing so with a host of new safety protocols. Still, there are areas where the planning remains unclear: Such as child care. Then there are schools.
Related: Here’s what the Mass. reopening plan says about colleges, K-12 schools, and day care by Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Staff
The kids are in limbo until then.
Also see: What will Schools be like after Covid-19?
You will be better off cutting class for the rest of your life, kiddo.
People are encouraged to go outside, but pick-up soccer or basketball games, organized games, or tournaments are still prohibited under outdoor activity guidelines. Dog walkers are also being told to keep pups who are not part of the same household at least 6 feet apart and they should avoid sharing toys or treats, and churches, temples, mosques, and other places of worship are limited to 40 percent of building capacity, including congregants and staff. Families should sit 6 feet apart from others, and religious leaders are encouraged to consider distributing “prepackaged communion or sacraments" and holding outdoor services.
The religious leaders are patiently awaiting the go-ahead to reopen, but many say they will tread carefully in the weeks ahead.
I suspect they are all being bought off, for were they true men (and women) of God they would be demanding their God-given right and not on bended knee begging the Satanic forces in charge.
The guidelines quickly invited scrutiny that buffeted Baker from all sides. As scientists warned it appeared too early to begin easing restrictions, some business and conservative groups criticized the plan for moving too slowly in loosening restrictions.
They should be throwing things wide open and let us get back to a REAL NORMAL!
At the same time, several Democratic state lawmakers openly worried the plan didn’t provide enough protection for workers who could bear much of the brunt of reporting violations.
“This foolish plan clearly shows the real priority of the board — [money] and not the health of employees,” state Representative Tami Gouveia charged on Twitter.
As Baker left the podium from his news conference Monday, he also was asked a perhaps impossible question to answer: Could all these guidelines, recommendations, and plans ultimately end up in court?
Baker lifted his hands over his shoulders. “We’ll see.”
You can BET ON IT, governor!
--more--"
The alarm bells are already sounding from certain quarters.
"Experts predict long, slow climb toward economic recovery" by Larry Edelman and Shirley Leung Globe Staff and Globe Columnist, May 18, 2020
Let’s add patience to the list of requirements Governor Charlie Baker laid out Monday for restarting the state’s economy.
The reopening plan Baker announced Monday is a cautious attempt to protect public safety while gradually lifting restrictions on the 60 percent of the state’s economy that has been shut down since March 23. It will be well into summer, at the earliest, before most consumer-facing businesses are allowed to resume operations, and it will be a long, slow climb from there as consumers get comfortable with shopping in stores again, eating at restaurants, and going back to the gym.
What if we are never comfortable doing that ever again?
“We are going to see a lot of people unable to go back to work soon,” said Tom Kochan, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “Hospitality, retail, travel, restaurants — they are going to continue to be hit very hard by this.”
What is it with MIT and the Bo$ton Globe?
For that reason, Kochan said, the federal government should provide additional aid, such as extended unemployment benefits and more economic stimulus.
How much more money can they print without it becoming totally worthless?
Massachusetts ranks among the states hardest hit by COVID-19, and it is one of the last to reopen its economy. Nearly 1.1 million people in the Commonwealth have applied for unemployment pay in the past eight weeks. That’s nearly 29 percent of the pre-pandemic labor force.
So it's a nearly 30% unemployment rate?
Nationally, the jobless rate is approaching 20 percent, the highest since the Great Depression, and the economy will shrink by 6 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The US economy, as measured by gross domestic product, fell 4.3 percent during the Great Recession of 2007-2009, while unemployment peaked at 10 percent, according to the Federal Reserve. It took more than four years for the job market to fully recover.
“We’re going to be digging out of a very deep hole," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. "It’s going to be a long time until we’re fully out.”
Still, Zandi and other economists expect workers to begin returning to their jobs in significant numbers as the state moves through the four phases of Baker’s reopening regimen.
It's “going to be a slow burn.”
Health care and human services providers, which have also laid off about 100,000 employees, can begin high-priority preventative care, pediatric care, and treatment for high-risk patients and conditions now, but will have to wait for phase two — which will start no earlier than June 8 — to resume less-urgent preventative care and day programs.
I would rather drop dead of a stroke, heart attack, or cancer than go visit one of their $ick criminal enterprises that collaborated with this dastardly plan and medical neglect -- thus VIOLATING their OATH! They should be JAILED for IT!
Btw, what is with all the lay-offs during the alleged surge in patients that never materialized?
Table for one?
The reeling food and lodging sector will be allowed to operate on a limited basis during phase two of the restart plan, and retailers may be able to open their doors. These sectors will be able to expand operations in phase three, when bars, casinos, gyms, and museums will also be permitted to reopen.
A masked server delivered lunch to a table at the Nuevo Vallarta Mexican Restaurant in Manchester, N.H., Monday. The restaurant, which closed their inside dining area in March due to business restrictions created by the COVID-19 virus outbreak, reopened Monday as New Hampshire restaurants were allowed to serve their customers with outdoor table service (Charles Krupa/Associated Press).
They were dying to reopen in New Hampshire, and there are test tubes inside the restaurant.
There is no timetable for nightclubs, sports arenas, and other large venues to restart.
I don't expect $ports to ever return.
The exact timing of the later phases isn’t known, and they could be delayed if a second wave of new COVID-19 cases emerges, “but this still is an important milestone,” said Michael Goodman, an economist and professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. “It will move people off the unemployment rolls, and it will get construction projects and manufacturing moving again.”
Goodman said the pace and strength of the recovery will hinge on the confidence of businesses and consumers to resume normal routines. “With permission to return, how many will? That’s an open question,” he said.
Well, a "new normal" routine anyway.
Auto dealer Herb Chambers shares that same sense of uncertainty.
He has a full-page ad in the Globe every day, without fail, even during the COVID cri$i$!
Dealerships have been able to continue to sell and service cars, but their showrooms won’t be able to reopen until the second phase. Chambers said the high unemployment rate worries him, because it’s likely to make some people hold off on car purchases. “Most people don’t need a new vehicle. They want one,” he said.
He projects that 70 to 80 percent of his auto sales will return by the fall, but a full recovery will probably be a year away. “We hope it will be tomorrow. It’s not going to be tomorrow,” Chambers said.
Did he just take the tailpipe?
Economists said the recovery may also be pushed back by the dire financial straits of state and local governments. Municipalities have cut about 12,000 jobs, a small percentage of the total layoffs in the state so far.
They are a DRAIN on the economy.
On Monday, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation revised downward its forecast for the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, citing a higher-than-expected unemployment rate and slower-than-expected recovery. Foundation president Eileen McAnneny said the forecast was done before details of Baker’s plan were released, but the idea of a phased reopening was baked into its analysis.
McAnneny now expects the shutdown to raise the state unemployment rate to 22 percent by the end of June. She projects that 323,000 jobs will be recovered by June 2021, but employment is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2024.
BOING!
That will have a devastating effect on the state budget that goes into effect July 1, with revenues projected to fall by $6 billion, more than a third larger than the foundation’s forecast from just a month ago. “This might not be the last revised forecast we have to issue,” said McAnneny. “This is definitely a moving target.”
The US House of Representatives has approved another rescue package that includes some $1 trillion in aid for local governments, but GOP senators and President Trump are against the bill.
Bain Capital cochair Steve Pagliuca, who has advocated for a gradual reopening, applauded Baker’s plan, saying that after a cautious start, reopening could speed up if the public health data indicate the virus is well under control.
Why does the Globe make it now seem like he was not the lead member and designer of Baker's plan?
Still, Pagliuca does not anticipate the economy will fully return until a vaccine is available, which could be at least a year away. Restrictions on sectors dependent on social interaction, such as restaurants and movie theaters, may have to be in place for some time to keep the virus at bay.
“I would urge people to have patience,” he said.
I'm all out of that, and have been for some time. This COVID-19 $cam and hoax has only aggravated it to the nth degree.
--more--"
(flip to below fold)
"From salons to boutique gyms, small businesses try to parse what reopening will look like" by Hanna Krueger, Janelle Nanos and Anissa Gardizy Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent, May 18, 2020
Throughout the state on Monday, small business owners waited with bated breath, like spring-seekers on Groundhog Day: Would their business get the nod to reopen, or would it mean six more weeks — or more — until they could begin getting back to normal?
Well, a "new normal," anyway.
After weeks of postponement and limited details, Governor Charlie Baker released a comprehensive timeline of his office’s plan to reopen the economy in Massachusetts, so long as coronavirus metrics continue to trend downward.
The news was welcome.
Diane Roseman who owns FitLAB pilates studio in Inman Square, she says being in the Phase 3 reopening plan "feels a little wrong, because we're such a small studio with only seven people at a time in the room." She's one of many business owners frustrated and uncertain about how their businesses will sustain themselves in the wake of the pandemic (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff).
That's when I decided skip the workout.
--more--"
Related:
"A North Shore woman raised more than $5,000 this week to provide meals of chicken, arroz con gandules, and sweet plantains to patients who are staying at the COVID-19 isolation hotel in Revere, after learning that the state was providing Italian food to a mostly Latino population. “I just felt like it’s such a small gesture that could mean something," said Cindy Ross, a yoga teacher and board member at the Salem nonprofit Root, about organizing the fundraiser......"
Ross, huh?
"Scientists say Baker’s reopening plan is sensible, but still concerning; Epidemiologists say a second wave of infection is likely, and a return to church and worship services could be especially problematic" by Naomi Martin and Dasia Moore Globe Staff, May 18, 2020
The $cienti$ts don't like the churches, huh?
Even as some businesses called for a more immediate reopening of the economy, public health experts’ first reaction Monday to Governor Baker’s conservative plan was worry — that more interaction would make a second wave of infections possible, perhaps likely.
Scientists who have followed the disease’s spread told the Globe that Baker’s plan made sense, and they were encouraged by recent statistics showing a downward trend in infections. Still, they were unenthused with the loosening of social distancing measures and suggested that it may lead to a future spike in Massachusetts, where 5,800 people have died and more than 1,000 new infections are still reported each day.
Then again, it MAY NOT!
“We’re going in the right direction but we still have a lot of cases per day," said Erin Bromage, a professor of immunology at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. "It would be wise to get it lower before we start the interactions back up again.”
Wow, another deja vu.
Samuel Scarpino, an epidemiologist at Northeastern University, said he felt Baker’s guidelines were appropriate, but he thought an emphasis on screening workers for fevers and coughs could be misleading, given the high percentage of transmission caused by people with no symptoms.
“This is likely to give a false sense of security and will be frustrating when the inevitable spread happens from someone who wasn’t visibly sick,” Scarpino said, adding that mandatory masks, frequent testing, and heightened contact tracing are crucial.
Wasn't he in charge of their modeling effort?
“These two will be inseparable: getting back to work and fighting COVID — until there is a medical breakthrough with treatments or a vaccine,” Baker said.
We get the point, so quit jabbing it!
Helen Jenkins, a biostatistics professor at Boston University, said she thought the public health metrics Baker used to guide the reopening were inadequate.....
--more--"
Help i$ on the way:
"Early results from Moderna coronavirus vaccine trial help to spark a big rally on Wall St.; The Cambridge biotech reported that it has the ‘potential’ to prevent infection from the virus" by Jonathan Saltzman Globe Staff, May 18, 2020
A closely watched experimental vaccine for COVID-19 developed by Cambridge biotech Moderna produced antibodies in eight healthy volunteers similar to those found in people who recovered from the disease, suggesting that the vaccine “has the potential to prevent” infection, according to a company executive.
The encouraging results from the first phase of a clinical trial buoyed investors, boosting Moderna’s stock by nearly 20 percent and helping to spark a major rally on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing up just shy of 4 percent.
Hmmmmmmm!
More than 100 experimental vaccines are in the works as drug firms, academic laboratories, and governments around the globe scramble to develop a way to prevent COVID-19, which has killed more than 90,000 people in the United States and 315,000 worldwide. The potential financial reward for the first company that markets a successful vaccine could be worth billions of dollars, but some vaccine experts expressed skepticism about Moderna’s announcement, which came two hours before the market opened Monday morning.
As did I after the previous paragraph (this is looking like market manipulation), and the reward is billions, huh?
Hmmmmmmm.
Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, said updates on COVID-19 vaccine efforts generally feature an online preview of the study, which Moderna didn’t provide. Although these so-called preprint studies aren’t peer-reviewed ― like those published in a scientific journal ― Hotez said they give scientists an opportunity to scrutinize back-up data.
“You cannot do science by press release," said Hotez, who is working on two other potential COVID-19 vaccines, including a partnership with PATH, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public health. “They didn’t back it up with any data, and the statements they did make about it simply confused rather than illuminated.”
He has a conflict of intere$t, like they all do.
Experts say multiple vaccines are probably needed to inoculate people worldwide because no single drug maker has the ability manufacture enough doses by itself.
They are all going to feed at the trough!
Moderna’s vaccine candidate was the first to enter clinical trials, although at least seven others have followed. The eight subjects in the Moderna trial received two doses of the vaccine and developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus at levels comparable to those in people who recovered, the company said. The antibodies — extracted from the blood and tested in cells in the lab ― stopped the virus from replicating, the fundamental requirement for an effective vaccine, according to Moderna.
Then you shouldn't be catching it again, right?
Scientists suspect that antibodies found in the blood of people who fight off COVID-19 may make them immune to reinfection, but that has not been proven.
There were no serious side effects from the vaccine in volunteers, although one had redness around the injection site in the shoulder, Moderna said.
A few dozen volunteers participated in the first phase of the study, which took place at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, but Moderna said data were available for only a small portion of them.
The data "substantiate our belief that mRNA-1273 has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease and advance our ability to select a dose for pivotal trials,” said Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer.
I do NOT want my DNA altered over something that has "the potential" to do something!
Alan Carr, an analyst at Needham & Co, said the results were “pretty encouraging.” The vaccine, he said, appeared to produce a significant immune response and caused no worrisome safety concerns. “Based on these data, we believe the vaccine is likely to be found effective for prevention of infection" in the final phase of a clinical trial, he said in a note to investors.
Nor do I want my DNA altered over a "likely" effectiveness.
Unlike Hotez, the Texas vaccine developer, Carr wasn’t troubled by the absence of an accompanying pre-print study. He said the National Institutes of Health will probably publish the backup data soon.
Hotez also said he didn’t know what to make of Moderna’s statement that the vaccine developed neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those in people who recovered from infection.
He noted that a recent pre-print by scientists from the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at Rockefeller University in New York found that plasma obtained from individuals who recover from COVID-19 without hospitalization “do not contain high levels of neutralizing activity.”
Do I even need to say it?
Moderna was founded 10 years ago by Flagship Pioneering, a Cambridge venture capital firm, and went public in December 2018. Like many biotechs, it has no approved products to sell, yet it has a market value of more than $24 billion. Moderna’s share price has more than tripled this year, based largely on investors’ hopes for the coronavirus vaccine.
Wow, the arrival of COVID really SAVED the COMPANY!
Hmmmmmmm!
After trading closed Monday, Moderna announced that it plans to sell $1.25 billion worth of stock to fund manufacturing and distribution of its vaccine candidate, if it can receive regulatory approvals.
The biotech’s experimental vaccine uses custom-built messenger RNA ― the genetic material that directs cells to do something ― to trigger an immune response. Moderna developed the vaccine candidate with investigators from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID conducted the first phase of the study.
You can put the needle away now. I don't want it.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a federal agency, has pledged up to $483 million to help the biotech develop the vaccine.
That's BARDA, isn't it?
The company announced on May 7 that the Food and Drug Administration had cleared its application to proceed to a mid-stage clinical trial, an indication that the first phase was likely going well. The mid-stage trial will involve about 600 people and is expected to begin shortly. Assuming that it’s successful, the last stage of the study is expected to start in July.
To be ready by fall then, huh?
Stephane Bancel, the French billionaire who is chief executive of Moderna, has repeatedly said that even if his firm’s vaccine wins FDA approval, it wouldn’t be commercially available until sometime next year at the earliest, but that would still set a record, public health experts say. Vaccines typically take 10 to 15 years of research and testing before they can be deployed. Nonetheless, President Trump has predicted that a vaccine will be available by the end of the year.
Not much is known about Bancel.
Like most experimental drugs that enter clinical trials, vaccine candidates generally fizzle out before they get to market. At least 90 percent never win approval from the FDA, according to public health experts.
I'm sure this one will, what with Bill Gates' ID chip in it.
--more--"
You can't sue the vaccine companies, of cour$e.
Also see:
Dover surgeon describes how he allegedly killed his wife and disposed of her body in chilling police report
It is a horrific case that shows domestic violence knows no boundaries when the stress of lockdown is added.
Looks like their number is up:
"‘Triple whammy’ of good news powers Dow more than 900 points higher" by Taylor Telford Washington Post, May 18, 2020
WASHINGTON — A ‘‘triple whammy’’ of good news — led by promising results from a coronavirus vaccine trial — buoyed investors Monday, powering Wall Street to strong across-the-board gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged nearly 700 points at the opening bell, then kept going, after Moderna, a Cambridge, Mass., biotech company, announced that an early-stage human trial for its coronavirus vaccine had successfully produced COVID-19 antibodies in participants.
Moderna said a large clinical trial to determine the treatment’s effectiveness would follow in July.
Moderna’s share price soared nearly 20 percent, to $80.00.
Related:
White House Vaccine Czar Sells $12 Million Slug Of Moderna Options For Massive Profit
That is who Trump put in charge of Operation Warp Speed.
Investors also found comfort in comments by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell during a ‘‘60 Minutes’’ interview broadcast Sunday. He said that the central bank is ‘‘not out of ammunition by a long shot’’ as it moves to support the economic recovery, even as he cautioned that it could stretch late into 2021.
That is not how the Globe reported it yesterday.
The comment come as most states have begun to ease restrictions on businesses and social activity after weeks of stay-home orders affecting about 315 million Americans.
At Monday’s close, the Dow was up 911 points, or 3.9 percent, to 24,597.37. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index soared 3.2 percent, to 2,953.91, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.4 percent, to 9,234.83.
Are you kidding?
Those two numbers are figuring very prominently lately!
David Rosenberg, chief economist at Rosenberg Research, said investors were being rewarded with a ‘‘triple whammy of good news’’ after two weeks of market volatility marked by dramatic intraday swings as bad news piled up, interspersed with notes of optimism on the medical-research front, rising consumer sentiment, and rumblings from business.
‘‘For one, there is palpable relief that the majority of the states are reopening their economies, including 75 percent of California,’’ Rosenberg said in an e-mail to The Washington Post. ‘‘Second, there is growing hope that a vaccine is coming our way sooner, rather than later. Lastly, Fed Chairman Jay Powell told investors over the weekend that the central bank’s checkbook remains wide open, strongly hinting that more monetary policy stimulus is on its way.’’
How much money can they print before the currency collapses?
Last week, fresh economic data revealed the pandemic’s mounting economic toll: The Labor Department on Thursday reported weekly jobless claims of 3 million, bringing the two-month total to more than 36 million unemployed people. April’s retail sales plummeted 16.4 percent, a drop that was worse than analysts had predicted as lockdowns kept consumers at home.
The darkening retail picture prompted some economists to issue even graver predictions for second-quarter gross domestic product, given that consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of US economic growth.
The economy shrank 4.8 percent in the first quarter — the biggest decline since the Great Recession — and some analysts believe the April-to-June period could see a contraction of as much as 40 percent. ‘‘The economic collapse has taken a dangerous turn where now it is consumer prices that are being pulled down into the abyss as consumers sitting at home have postponed their purchases,’’ Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist and MUFG Union Bank, wrote in a commentary.
‘‘The danger is that consumers will see that prices are falling and actually stop buying goods and services to wait for even cheaper prices and a better deal which will only serve to prolong the recession and reinforce the economy’s downward spiral into the unknown.’’
We have no money to purchase anything, sorry.
That put investors in a selling frame of mind, with the Dow ending the week 2.6 percent lower. The S&P 500 fell 2.2 percent, and the Nasdaq shed 1.2 percent over the five-day run, but Monday’s news led investors to leave safe havens for riskier ground.
In addition, crude oil prices continue to recover, adding to the positive sentiment, as the easing of restrictions around the world is also reining in fears of an oil glut.
West Texas intermediate crude, the US oil benchmark, jumped 7.8 percent, to $31.83 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading up 7.7 percent, at $35 per barrel.
‘‘The supply cuts of the last month combined with gradual reopening of various countries around the world has put a significant dent in the supply/demand imbalance and alleviated capacity concerns that led to last months panic,’’ wrote Craig Erlam, an analyst with OANDA, in a commentary released Monday.
There is an oversupply because there is no demand.
--more--"
The nursing homes are now an afterthought:
The National Guard arrived at the Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley in April to perform COVID-19 tests on patients (John Tlumacki/Globe Staff).
In April, the National Guard was deployed to Quincy to assist nursing homes with COVID-19 testing (Stan Grossfeld/ Globe Staff).
More than 50 residents of the Courtyard Nursing Care Center in Medford have died of COVID-19 (Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff/The Boston Globe).
With the gradual end of the lockdowns, people are starting to realize that a horrible crime has been committed, and they are demanding justice. Never before in history have government, medicine and media lost all credibility in the eyes of so many. If we don't bring these criminals to justice, they will repeat this scam until we are destroyed.
Yes, sue then prosecute, sue then prosecute, sue then prosecute!
UPDATE:
An onlooker’s cellphone video depicts the arrest of Marvia Gray and her son, Derek Gray (Action Injury Law Group via Associated Press).
"At the Sam’s Club, Derek Gray purchased a 65-inch Sony Bravia flat-screen TV for his mother, along with other items, said Andrew M. Stroth of the Chicago-based Action Injury Law Group. When his mother and he got to his SUV they realized everything wouldn’t fit, so Derek Gray asked the store to hold the TV until he could return later and pick it up. The trouble began when he went back to the store. At first, the lawsuit said, someone at the store expressed suspicion that Gray was trying to steal the TV. A store employee interceded and confirmed that Gray had paid for the TV and was there to pick it up. Still, a Des Peres officer who was in the store followed Gray to the SUV and accused him of theft before being told by an employee that Gray had bought the TV, the lawsuit said. Gray returned to his mother’s home and told her about the false accusations. They decided, based on how he was treated, to return the TV and get their money back. The lawsuit said that while the Grays were at the store seeking a refund, four officers “violently and physically seized Marvia Gray and Derek Gray, throwing them to the floor, beating them, handcuffing them, then arresting them.”
Related:
New Jersey father’s outrage after a homeowner called the POLICE on him for taking his two children to an empty park to play
Cop Snaps, Threatens to Throw Handcuffed Man Off Bridge
You thought cops were out of control before lockdown?
Also see:
Mass. reports 873 new coronavirus cases, 76 new fatalities; UMass model predicts death toll will rise over 8,100
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Moderna riding a wave if vaccine hope
Came just in time and no one knows why it takes so long, but that's what the Globe is featuring today, before drawing a deep breath below the fold:
"So far in the United States, pregnant women appear to be getting as sick as others with the virus, no better or worse, but because so many people have gotten infected with the virus, an unusually large number of pregnant women have ended up in ICUs and on ventilators. A study of 427 pregnant women with COVID-19 who were admitted to the hospital in the United Kingdom found that almost one in five of their babies was born prematurely, but it’s still unclear how many women in the United States have faced this daunting situation. "We lack a true understanding of the numbers,'' said Dr. Sarah Rae Easter, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Lisseth Hernandez does not recall much about her hospital stay until she awoke a day later. The mother’s recovery was remarkably fast. Last Wednesday afternoon, Hernandez sat in a rocking chair in the Tufts neonatal ICU, Sebastian resting in the crook of her right arm, Aurora on her left. After she was released from Mass. General on April 18, she had to wait two weeks to see her twins to make sure she was no longer infectious. The first day her husband drove her to see their babies, she was so nervous she was sweating. Dr. Jacyln Boulais, associate medical director of the Tufts neonatal ICU, said the twins are improving quickly. They have gained weight. They now each weigh more than 4 pounds and are drinking milk from doll-sized bottles. Hernandez said their personalities have emerged. Aurora is feisty, Sebastian is mellow. She spoke to them softly in Spanish, telling them about the family waiting for them at home......"
Please excuse my hyperventilating, but I have a hormonal imbalance.
"Do you still own clothes that aren’t sweat pants? Dust them off, because you can now leave home and go somewhere besides the grocery store for the first time in two months. With the expiration Monday of Governor Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home advisory and the unveiling of a reopening plan, Massachusetts residents can now make plans to visit hair salons, beaches, some offices, and houses of worship. You’re even allowed to have “limited” play dates, for yourself and your kids, but with newfound freedoms come new, difficult decisions about how to protect yourself and others. How worried should you be about passing unmasked runners, taking the T, or seeing friends? We asked several public health experts about how to best adapt to life in the Coronaverse. Their main advice: proceed with caution. “People need to understand that they — not the government, but they — carry the success of this [reopening] plan in their personal actions,” said Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the immunology and infectious disease department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health....."
The Coronaverse, huh?
Not newfound freedoms allowed by tyrannical government, but reclaimed freedom that is our God-given right, and get this: the Globe suggestions from $cienti$ts include "not letting up on the basics: hand hygiene, masks, and distancing; keeping outings with others short, small, masked, outdoors, and to consider adding a fire pit," but beware because the hot smoke is not good for either you or the environment, and the resulting respiratory problems you will suffer will likely result in a diagnosis of COVID.
I mean, you gotta love it, right?
Also see:
Walmart’s online sales soar 74 percent during pandemic
Hawaii enforces quarantine rules with arrests
Pandemic a final blow for Pier 1
UPDATE:
An onlooker’s cellphone video depicts the arrest of Marvia Gray and her son, Derek Gray (Action Injury Law Group via Associated Press).
"At the Sam’s Club, Derek Gray purchased a 65-inch Sony Bravia flat-screen TV for his mother, along with other items, said Andrew M. Stroth of the Chicago-based Action Injury Law Group. When his mother and he got to his SUV they realized everything wouldn’t fit, so Derek Gray asked the store to hold the TV until he could return later and pick it up. The trouble began when he went back to the store. At first, the lawsuit said, someone at the store expressed suspicion that Gray was trying to steal the TV. A store employee interceded and confirmed that Gray had paid for the TV and was there to pick it up. Still, a Des Peres officer who was in the store followed Gray to the SUV and accused him of theft before being told by an employee that Gray had bought the TV, the lawsuit said. Gray returned to his mother’s home and told her about the false accusations. They decided, based on how he was treated, to return the TV and get their money back. The lawsuit said that while the Grays were at the store seeking a refund, four officers “violently and physically seized Marvia Gray and Derek Gray, throwing them to the floor, beating them, handcuffing them, then arresting them.”
Related:
New Jersey father’s outrage after a homeowner called the POLICE on him for taking his two children to an empty park to play
Cop Snaps, Threatens to Throw Handcuffed Man Off Bridge
You thought cops were out of control before lockdown?
Also see:
Mass. reports 873 new coronavirus cases, 76 new fatalities; UMass model predicts death toll will rise over 8,100
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Moderna riding a wave if vaccine hope
Came just in time and no one knows why it takes so long, but that's what the Globe is featuring today, before drawing a deep breath below the fold:
"So far in the United States, pregnant women appear to be getting as sick as others with the virus, no better or worse, but because so many people have gotten infected with the virus, an unusually large number of pregnant women have ended up in ICUs and on ventilators. A study of 427 pregnant women with COVID-19 who were admitted to the hospital in the United Kingdom found that almost one in five of their babies was born prematurely, but it’s still unclear how many women in the United States have faced this daunting situation. "We lack a true understanding of the numbers,'' said Dr. Sarah Rae Easter, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Lisseth Hernandez does not recall much about her hospital stay until she awoke a day later. The mother’s recovery was remarkably fast. Last Wednesday afternoon, Hernandez sat in a rocking chair in the Tufts neonatal ICU, Sebastian resting in the crook of her right arm, Aurora on her left. After she was released from Mass. General on April 18, she had to wait two weeks to see her twins to make sure she was no longer infectious. The first day her husband drove her to see their babies, she was so nervous she was sweating. Dr. Jacyln Boulais, associate medical director of the Tufts neonatal ICU, said the twins are improving quickly. They have gained weight. They now each weigh more than 4 pounds and are drinking milk from doll-sized bottles. Hernandez said their personalities have emerged. Aurora is feisty, Sebastian is mellow. She spoke to them softly in Spanish, telling them about the family waiting for them at home......"
Please excuse my hyperventilating, but I have a hormonal imbalance.
"Do you still own clothes that aren’t sweat pants? Dust them off, because you can now leave home and go somewhere besides the grocery store for the first time in two months. With the expiration Monday of Governor Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home advisory and the unveiling of a reopening plan, Massachusetts residents can now make plans to visit hair salons, beaches, some offices, and houses of worship. You’re even allowed to have “limited” play dates, for yourself and your kids, but with newfound freedoms come new, difficult decisions about how to protect yourself and others. How worried should you be about passing unmasked runners, taking the T, or seeing friends? We asked several public health experts about how to best adapt to life in the Coronaverse. Their main advice: proceed with caution. “People need to understand that they — not the government, but they — carry the success of this [reopening] plan in their personal actions,” said Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the immunology and infectious disease department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health....."
The Coronaverse, huh?
Not newfound freedoms allowed by tyrannical government, but reclaimed freedom that is our God-given right, and get this: the Globe suggestions from $cienti$ts include "not letting up on the basics: hand hygiene, masks, and distancing; keeping outings with others short, small, masked, outdoors, and to consider adding a fire pit," but beware because the hot smoke is not good for either you or the environment, and the resulting respiratory problems you will suffer will likely result in a diagnosis of COVID.
I mean, you gotta love it, right?
Also see:
Walmart’s online sales soar 74 percent during pandemic
Hawaii enforces quarantine rules with arrests
Pandemic a final blow for Pier 1
