"Students who do not return home can enter isolation and quarantine in designated areas on campus and off campus, said Providence College spokesman Steven J. Maurano, but he declined to identify those locations"
I'm sorry, say what?
The kids who allegedly test positive (the tests are bogus with 90% false positives for common colds and such. It's really reached farce levels) are being isolated and quarantined on AND off campus but he won't say where or for how long?
You parents need to get your kid out of there if it is not too late already.
"Providence College discovers another 41 COVID-19 cases among students, bringing the total to 165 in the past week; School and state health officials are scrambling to contain the outbreak on and around the Providence campus" by Edward Fitzpatrick Globe Staff, September 21, 2020
PROVIDENCE — Another 41 Providence College students have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total to 165 students who have contracted the virus over the past a week, a college spokesman said Monday.
On Friday, the college tested 1,411 students, and 19 were positive, an infection rate of 1.34 percent. On Saturday, the college tested another 1,080 students, and 15 were positive, an infection rate of 1.39 percent. Seven more students tested positive on Sunday, Providence College spokesman Steven J. Maurano said.
The percentages they claim are minimal, so WTF?
This thing has been so overblown.
The 41 new cases add to the 124 confirmed cases that the state Department of Health reported on Friday. In all, 175 students have tested positive over a two-week time frame, which would match the incubation period, Maurano said. None of the students who tested positive have been hospitalized, he said.
The scary thing is they swooped into the neighborhood without warning.
The college had completed testing most of the student body by the end of Saturday, but it conducted a small number of tests on Sunday for those who had been missed or who had problems with test results, he said. The college will begin retesting all students over three days beginning Tuesday.
The outbreak came to light when Providence College announced late Thursday that it had issued a stay-at-home order to all students — those living in on-campus housing as well as those renting apartments in the nearby neighborhood — and will have full remote learning until at least Sept. 26 because 84 of its students had tested positive in just two days. Of those 84, 23 live on campus and the rest are off campus.
There is going to be more and more of that as the semester progresses, so get home now kids.
Maurano said it is still not clear how the outbreak began. He has said the college has not seen large gatherings like those seen at other campuses, but officials are hearing that there might have been a gathering at an off-campus house of 30 or 40 people.
“We have heard of talk about several different small gatherings,” he said.
COVID loves to party but hates protests, kids!
A team of Providence College officials is doing contact tracing and trying to figure out how the virus spread, he said.
Department of Health spokesman Joseph Wendelken said health officials have not pinpointed the cause of the outbreak yet.
“We are at a stage of community transmission of the virus, meaning that it can be very difficult to definitively say how someone got sick, or how an outbreak started," he said. "This is especially true when talking about a situation where people had many common exposures.”
Are you sick of this fraud yet?
I am!
Right now, Maurano said, the focus is on getting all students tested — a process that should be completed later this week.
Providence College has more than 4,800 students, including undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students. In all, 13 percent of students are from Rhode Island, and 54 percent are from other New England states.
The college also is focused on getting students into isolation if they have tested positive for COVID-19 or quarantine if they may have been exposed to the virus, Maurano said.
Students are being allowed to return home for quarantine and isolation if their families don’t live too far away, he said, but the students are not allowed to use public transportation, and their families must come pick them up. Also, students cannot return home if they would endanger family members with compromised immune systems or other health risk factors.
Students who do not return home can enter isolation and quarantine in designated areas on campus and off campus, Maurano said, but he declined to identify those locations.
As to the questions I posed above, the Globe doesn't even bother to ask as the new generation of bohemians as they dream and dance their way into a different future.
At least they deliver a meal to your cell, 'er, room and there is television to watch.
Dean of Students Steven A. Sears wrote to the campus community on Sunday, saying, “Although the majority of our positive COVID-19 cases are off campus, we all must remain vigilant. You must continue to take this matter seriously, and do all the right things to keep yourselves and those around you safe.”
He said large gatherings are prohibited in residence halls and outdoors.
“This is a critical juncture,” Sears wrote. “Let’s be disciplined and smart, so that we can work our way through this period as a community of people who care about each other. This is our chance to show what PC is made of and we need to take advantage of it.”
Screw the guilt trip and mind-f**k of the kids, you detestable creature.
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Time to form a lynch mob:
"Seemingly overnight, a college neighborhood has become the epicenter of the coronavirus in Rhode Island" by Dan McGowan Globe Staff, September 21, 2020
PROVIDENCE — Residents of the leafy Elmhurst neighborhood that surrounds Providence College have learned to become numb to the debauchery they witness most Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights between August and May.
This is a college neighborhood, after all, so you tend to overlook the party fouls. That means you learn to ignore the red Solo cups that line Eaton Street each weekend morning after a hard night of partying, and you mark it a successful semester when no one throws up on your lawn.
There are times when things get out of hand, like when students lit a couch on fire after the Friars won the national championship in men’s hockey in 2015, or the time an aggressive group of young people started throwing bottles at police officers who were breaking up parties in 2017. Those kinds of incidents usually require the college’s stepping in, and a ramped-up law enforcement presence, at least for a few weeks, but after 165 students from the college tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, neighbors are worrying that middle-class Elmhurst has, virtually overnight, become the new epicenter of the highly contagious virus in Rhode Island.
That is so meek and mild at this point you don't even know you had it because you didn't.
It's media most foul, kids.
“The one thing that has stayed consistent is [students] who don’t respect the neighborhood,” said Sandy Winters, an elementary school teacher who lives several blocks from the college. “If they had such reckless behavior before, what makes me think they’re going to be compliant now?”
Get off my lawn!
What's worse is the scolding comes from an elementary school teacher who should know better.
What's next, torches and pitchforks?
Following the recent outbreak, the college announced that it was issuing a stay-at-home order to all students until at least Oct. 3, and requiring everyone to participate in remote learning for the time being. Providence College’s president, Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, issued a dire warning to students, explaining that failing to contain the virus would force officials to close the campus for the rest of the semester.
“We recognize how serious and difficult these directives are, but this is our last chance to remain together in person for the fall semester,” Sicard wrote in a letter to students and faculty.
Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.
A spokesman for the college said contact tracing efforts have failed to pinpoint a single party or event that led to the outbreak, but the fact is, the majority of positive cases involve students who live off campus. The school requires its freshmen and sophomores to live on campus, but juniors and seniors have the option to live in apartments.
On Wednesday, Governor Gina M. Raimondo singled out Providence College — and the University of Rhode Island — for their outbreaks.
“This is hurting people’s businesses in Rhode Island,” Raimondo said. “It’s not a joke. We’re hurting people because of our selfishness. Following the rules matters.”
She is absolutely outrageous, for she is the one wo ordered the destruction of business with her tyrannical lockdowns.
Go tell it to your rich, genocidal string-pullers, b**ch.
With roughly 4,000 undergraduates, Providence College is much smaller than Brown University, the Ivy League school across the city, but residents identify with the Catholic college in a deeper way. When the men’s basketball team, called the Friars after the Dominican order that runs the school, is good, the Dunkin' Donuts Center sells out for Big East games, and the team’s success has helped raised millions of dollars for the college, helping to transform the campus in recent years.
All that is ancient history now.
Although the campus itself is tiny, the neighborhood has become an extension of the school. Neighbors say they aren’t surprised that the college has been unable to trace the outbreak to a single house, because they say that every weekend, students have their choice of parties on or around Eaton Street. It has the feel of a frat row, except the college doesn’t recognize Greek life.
“It’s like they think they’re immortal, like they think nothing is going to happen to them,” said Darlene Correia, who lives on Clym Street. “I think they forget that there are other people that live in the neighborhood.”
I don't blame the kids for pissing on their lawn.
Correia and Winters pointed fingers at the college, arguing that officials need to do more to hold students accountable.
“I love that Northeastern said, ‘You broke the rules, go the hell home,’ ” Winters joked, referring to the Boston school that expelled a group of students who failed to follow its coronavirus restrictions.
I don't think it is funny to the parents who are out 36.5K.
Where does the Globe find these people?
Providence College did suspend 17 students last month for violating the school’s coronavirus code of conduct, and other students say the school has set high expectations for those who choose to live off campus.
Now signs are posted on lawns up and down Eaton Street, warning students to wear masks inside and outside of their apartments. Sean King, a senior whose semester in London last spring was cut short because of the first wave of the coronavirus, said he has 12 housemates in his off-campus apartment, and all of them tested negative for the virus. He said private security now roams the neighborhood to remind students to wear masks and stay inside.
Unless you are headed to a $ocial ju$tu$ prote$t.
Do they remind the residents, too?
King said that the virus has derailed some of the most highly anticipated moments of every student’s time at the college, like the weekend when they get their class rings and homecoming.
“It’s not like the normal senior year that everyone envisioned,” King said, “but every senior class is different, and I think this is going to have to be our legacy.”
Even if college life can resume under somewhat normal circumstances, the virus has already taken its toll on the neighborhood.
Yeah, we are never back to normal and let's hope the generations to come have a legacy and are not exterminated as planned.
Shelley Peterson, whose lives in Elmhurst and ordinarily sends her children to the St. Pius V Catholic school near the college campus, said she decided to keep her kids home this year for remote learning. Part of the reason: Providence College has students who volunteer at the school, and Peterson didn’t want to take any chances. “I’m glad that the kids are listening now because it is a life-and-death scenario, unfortunately,” Peterson said.
Home schooling is better, and it is life-or-death but not in the way she thinks.
Michael Manni, who owns LaSalle Bakery, which has two stores on either side of the campus, said he noticed fewer students the weekend after the lockdown started. He said the bakery normally serves dozens of breakfast sandwiches on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and only “around 10” were served this past weekend, but Manni said the college students are a crucial part of his business, and he hopes the school can keep its campus open.
“The worst thing that could possibly happen is to close the school,” Manni said. “I’ll take a two-week hit rather than a forever hit.”
The second shutdown will be forever.
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At least they still let you kids out for the movies, right?
"Rhode Island's largest airport is hosting a popup drive-in movie in one of its parking lots as a thank you to the community. The film “Linda Ronstadt, The Sound of my Voice” is scheduled to be shown at T.F. Green Airport’s parking lot located across from the Hampton Inn and Suites Hotel at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The event is free but attendance is limited to 100 cars by reservation only, which can be made starting at noon Monday at https://newportfilm.com. Cars will be allowed to arrive as much as an hour before showtime, and food trucks will be on site to provide refreshments. The movie night is a partnership between the Rhode Island Airport Corp, newportFILM, and Frontier Airlines. “We’re proud to help bring a fun and memorable experience to thank everyone for their continued support of T.F. Green Airport and connect with our community partners during this difficult period,” Iftikhar Ahmad, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Airport Corp. said in a statement."
The Globe celebrates the memories with popcorn as I start up the car and leave.
"The pandemic has profoundly altered the college experience for students. As colleges in the Boston area settle into their first full COVID semester, students have been forced to learn new rules (gathering with more than 10 people is a sure way to get disciplined and even kicked out) and develop tedious new routines (scheduling a coronavirus test every few days). Colleges that have brought students back promised them some semblance of the traditional campus experience and a chance to connect not just with their professors but their peers. Some are offering in-person classes, hosting virtual game nights and meet-ups, and adding more outdoor seating so students can safely gather, but the signs of a changed world are everywhere, quite literally. Colleges have transformed their physical spaces to protect students and keep the virus at bay. In dorms, furniture has been removed from common rooms to discourage larger gatherings. At libraries, the stacks are blocked off with tape, like a crime scene. Students must make appointments to use the gym, most clubs are meeting online, and even chapel services are on hold....."
It does seem like a PRISON, doesn't it?
The crime is being committed against YOU, kids.
"More than 250 students at Merrimack College in North Andover are in quarantine after 16 students in one residence hall tested positive for COVID-19 in the past day, officials said. The 16 new cases follow one other positive test result from a student who lives in Monican Centre, bringing the total number to 17, Merrimack College said in a statement. Of the 266 students who live in the residence hall, more than 250 are quarantining off-campus, and the remaining students are isolating in campus-designated quarantine spaces, the statement said. The students should plan to remain in quarantine for 14 days or until the college contacts them with further information, the statement said. They will attend classes remotely, according to the statement. Monican Centre is empty and will be systemically and professionally cleaned before anyone moves back in, the statement said. College officials anticipate more positive tests as the result of their “aggressive testing” of students who live in the residence hall, the statement said. The college conducted surveillance testing on more than 150 students as they entered quarantine and are awaiting the results. All students who live in other residence halls will need to be tested by 5 p.m. Wednesday, school officials said. Students, faculty, and staff who have been in close contact with one of the students who tested positive will be contacted by the college’s contact tracing team. The college will remain open, school officials said....."
Okay, the results are from aggressive testing with faulty tests, and when Trump claimed that was the reason for increasing caseloads in the spring and summer he was pilloried.
What a band of disingenuous f**ks!
"Quinnipiac University has sent home or suspended more than 20 student in recent days for violating visitor and other policies, both on- and off-campus, that are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, according to a top school official. Tom Ellett, the school's chief experience officer, said in an email sent Thursday to students that 11 undergraduates have been sent home for four weeks and a dozen off-campus students were suspended. He said they've been accused of violating the school's no visitor policy for residence halls, having non-Quinnipiac University guests on campus and/or exceeding capacity limits on indoor gatherings. “We’re enforcing these policies because every violation potentially can have a negative impact on your health and on the health of multiple others in the QU community,” Ellett said in the email. “I fervently hope we don’t encounter these circumstances again. As of Friday, there has been only one positive case of COVID-19 at the school. More than 11,500 tests have been conducted since Aug. 5. The university's COVID-19 dashboard states the school is currently at low risk level for infection."
It doesn't matter. Escape while you can.
"After a spike in coronavirus cases among University of Colorado at Boulder students, public health officials are banning 18- to 22-year-olds from gatherings of any size in the city of Boulder. The order from the Boulder County Department of Health was announced Thursday and went into effect the same day. It will be reevaluated in two weeks, with county officials looking to see “whether there is success in reversing the curve of infection,” university Chancellor Phil DiStefano wrote in a message to students, faculty and staff. The health department said it had become “essential to slow the virus among CU Boulder students aged between 18 to 22 years old." It noted that since classes started on Aug. 24, there have been 1,392 confirmed or probable positive cases among University of Colorado at Boulder students in that age group — representing 78 percent of the county’s caseload in that time period....."
Remember when this was all only going to be 15 days to flatten the curve?
It's been eight months now, and they can kiss my ass:
Incoming freshmen wait in line to ask questions at an informational tent while arriving at University of Colorado, Boulder, last month. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Also see:
"U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s husband, University of California Regent Richard Blum, was named Thursday by the state auditor’s office as one of the regents involved in admissions scandal where UC wrongly admitted dozens of wealthy, mostly white students as favors to well-connected people. Blum told the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday that he’s done nothing wrong and that he has used his clout to get friends and family into the elite public system for years....."
Virginia governor, wife test positive for coronavirus
How amazing was it that he could totally wipe away the Blackface?
Is it not strange that the coronavirus is now striking cities with much smaller populations in the heartland, often in conservative corners of America where anti-mask sentiment runs high?
Florida governor proposes college ‘bill of rights’ to party
Here is your hero, kids, and be sure to toast him:
"Gov. Ron DeSantis lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses in Florida on Friday, and banned local fines against people who refuse to wear masks as he seeks to reopen the state's economy despite the spread of the coronavirus. The Republican governor's order unleashed fresh debate in the politically divided state, where pandemic responses have become intertwined with the upcoming presidential election....."
Florida will soon look like Sweden:
"Sweden, where a shutdown-free pandemic response prompted a global debate, is seeing another wave of covid-19 cases, with the country’s state epidemiologist warning this week that it was heading in the “wrong direction” as winter approaches. Sweden’s public health body recorded 554 new covid-19 cases Thursday — the highest since early July — and 417 on Friday, according to its online tracking tool, capping off what epidemiologist Anders Tegnell had warned would be a record week for new cases. “It is slowly but surely going in the wrong direction in Sweden, even if the situation is not as serious as in other parts of Europe,” Tegnell said at a news briefing Thursday, according to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. Unlike many other nations, Sweden has pursued a policy for containing the virus that avoided strict government measures such as school or restaurant closures. The success or failure of that policy is still being debated far beyond Sweden’s borders, where most countries implemented some form of a lockdown."
Can you smell Swedish bull$hit?
Related:
"Fewer than 1 in 10 Americans showed signs of past infection with the novel coronavirus as of late July, suggesting that most of the country may still be vulnerable to infection, according to one of the largest studies of its kind published Friday in the journal The Lancet....."
The Lancet used to be a respectable medical journal but no longer, while the WHO warns 2 million deaths ‘not impossible’ as global fatalities approach 1 million.
Of course, they predicted there would be 2 million dead Americans at this point, although I do believe there is cause for concern:
“Is there cause for concern? As long as COVID is here, yes,” Cuomo aide Gareth Rhodes stressed on Twitter Saturday. Rhodes also noted improving numbers among college-aged people, suggesting better compliance on campuses. Still, the uptick has been a cause for concern....."
"More than 1,000 New Yorkers have tested positive for COVID-19 in a single day for the first time since June 5 the state has seen a daily number that high. The number of positive tests reported daily in the state has been steadily inching up in recent weeks, possibly because more businesses have been reopening and students have been returning to schools and college campuses....."
So nothing to worry about or will college campuses soon look like Australia?
"The health minister in Australia’s Victoria state has resigned in the fallout from an inquiry into why security guards were used instead of police or the military at quarantine hotels. Lapses in security at the hotels were given as the major reason for a second wave of COVID-19 cases. Health Minister Jenny Mikakos on Saturday issued a statement confirming her resignation, just a day after Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews gave evidence to the inquiry and pointed partial blame at Mikakos for her role in the bungled quarantine program. Mikakos appears to be taking the blame when no one else would...."
That is called a scapegoat, kids, and it's time to beach Andrews.
Pro-Kennedy Super PAC was fueled by father’s money
No wonder he is laughing, and the Globe says it is a victory for us all that the prosecutors dropped prostitution charges with the gift of acceptance.
Lizzie Borden’s home in Fall River can be yours for $890,000
It's a nice off-campus apartment if you take a look inside.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Opera hit a $our note:
"The Met Opera Fired James Levine, Citing Sexual Misconduct. He Was Paid $3.5 Million" by James B. Stewart and Michael Cooper, New York Times | September 20, 2020
Last summer, Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, convened the executive committee of the company’s board to announce the end of one of the highest-profile, messiest feuds in the Met’s nearly 140-year history. A bitter court battle had concluded between the company and the conductor James Levine, who had shaped the Met’s artistic identity for more than four decades before his career was engulfed by allegations of sexual improprieties.
Mr. Gelb told the committee that the resolution was advantageous to the Met, but the settlement, whose terms have not been publicly disclosed until now, called for the company and its insurer to pay Mr. Levine $3.5 million, according to two people familiar with its terms.
The Met had fired Mr. Levine in 2018 after an internal investigation uncovered what the company called credible evidence of “sexually abusive and harassing conduct toward vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers.” Rather than going quietly, Mr. Levine sued the company for breach of contract and defamation, seeking at least $5.8 million. The Met countersued, revealing lurid details of its investigation and claiming that Mr. Levine’s misconduct had violated his duties. It sought roughly the same amount.
A year later, and after millions of dollars in legal fees on both sides, the company agreed to pay Mr. Levine, though millions less than he had sought. The terms of the settlement have not previously been disclosed because a confidentiality agreement has kept both parties from revealing its details.
So he basically got away with it and then $ome.
The Met’s multimillion-dollar payment to Mr. Levine came before the coronavirus pandemic forced the company to close its theater — leaving many employees, including its orchestra and chorus, furloughed without pay since April. Even when the deal was struck, the Met’s finances were precarious. Now the company is fighting for its survival.
I $u$pect the arts will $urvive the Great Re$et.
The size of the payment to Mr. Levine, whom the Met had accused of serious misconduct, casts doubt on the strength of the company’s case had it gone to trial. Mr. Levine’s contract, which had been amended over the years but was essentially based on agreements struck decades ago, lacked a morals clause, an increasingly common feature in the entertainment world that prohibits behavior with the potential to embarrass an employer.
Before the Met’s investigation and Mr. Levine’s firing, it appeared that Mr. Gelb had succeeded in easing the revered but ailing maestro into a dignified career coda, making way for Mr. Levine, now 77, to be succeeded by the young and dynamic Yannick Nézet-Séguin. After ill health forced Mr. Levine to repeatedly cancel performances and miss two full seasons, he had reluctantly agreed to become music director emeritus. He would continue to oversee the young artist program he had founded and to conduct many of his signature operas.
(Blog author can't believe it)
Mr. Levine’s continued role came at considerable cost to the company. In addition to his $400,000 salary, the Met agreed to pay him his customary $27,000 fee for each performance he conducted.
That arrangement came to an abrupt end in December 2017, after The New York Times published the accounts of four men who said that they had been sexually abused by Mr. Levine as teenagers; Mr. Levine denied the accusations. Coming at the height of the #MeToo movement, the accounts caused a furor, and the Met suspended Mr. Levine without pay and began an investigation. Other orchestras and festivals immediately cut their ties with him, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival outside Chicago, where he had longstanding relationships.....
The NYT sat on stuff like this for years before their hand was forced.
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I would suggest you kids get running if you want to stay safe.
Related:
Stage is nearly set for Museum of Fine Arts employees to vote on whether to unionize
In Boston theater, a growing group of Black leaders have a decisive role at a pivotal time
Lois Torf, print collector who helped MFA ’set the highest standards,’ dies at 93
She joined Uncle Ben in death, and though the stage may be dark, the show goes on as a teacher’s new business helps families dance to their own music and away from campus sexual assault that sent droves to a small town in Vermont for an unproven vaccine with risks unknown instead of Harvard because COVID-19 is political and the feds need to be kept out of civics education.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
They also want to kidnap your kids in Massachusetts:
"Education commissioner leans on 16 remote-only school districts to spell out their plans to reopen classrooms" by Katie Lannan State House News, September 21, 2020
The Baker administration has left school reopening plans up to local officials, but the state education commissioner is asking 16 districts to lay out plans for when they will reopen classrooms, citing a “stark discrepancy” between their reopening models and the local public health metrics.
Education Commissioner Jeff Riley on Friday wrote to officials in the districts that are offering remote-only instruction but have COVID-19 transmission rates in the lowest risk categories in the state’s assessment system. They are:
Amesbury, Bourne, Boxford, East Longmeadow, Gardner, Pittsfield, Provincetown, West Springfield, Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public, Hoosac Valley Regional, Gill-Montague, Mohawk Trail, Mohawk Trail/Hawlemont, Manchester Essex Regional, Belmont, and Watertown.
He asked for more information about their fall reopening plans and gave them 10 calendar days to respond.
“In light of the stark discrepancy between local public health data and your reopening plan, I am requesting a timeline by which you anticipate providing in-person instruction for the majority of your students including in-person instruction for vulnerable populations, such as students with disabilities, if these students have not already returned to in-person school,” Riley wrote.
“Please note that your response may trigger an audit to assess overall efforts to provide in-person instruction and to ensure your remote learning program is consistent with 603 CMR 27.08.”
Get your kids out of the state school system now and HOME SCHOOL at ALL COSTS!
IT'S STARTING!
The message refers to regulations the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education amended in June to reflect the new realities of the pandemic and spell out procedures for when students cannot safely attend classes. Those regulations called for the school districts, which had shuttered their buildings in March and abruptly pivoted to remote learning, to develop reopening plans that prioritize "providing in-person instruction to all students in a safe environment.”
Decisions about how to best reopen schools have been fraught, and local officials are tasked with dealing with the risks of virus transmission, the benefits of in-person learning, physical spaces that may lack ventilation or room for social distancing, strained budgets, working parents' child-care needs, and the various concerns of teachers, students, and families.
The state launched a color-coded measurement system, based on average daily COVID-19 rates over a two-week period, in August, and it was quickly tied to the school reopening process.
The system assigns each municipality a color based on the number of new cases per 100,000 residents: red for an average daily case rate of more than eight per 100,000, yellow for four to eight, and green for fewer than four. Cities and towns with fewer than five cases in the two-week period, regardless of the rate, are in the “gray” or “unshaded” category.
The day that system was launched, Riley sent out a memo outlining the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s “expectation” for how schools should reopen — remotely, in-person, or with a hybrid model, depending on their classification. Barring any extenuating circumstances, green and unshaded locales were expected to offer full-time, in-person instruction. The department expected remote learning in red municipalities and a hybrid setup in the yellow areas.
“Given your community’s designation of green or gray, I am concerned that the school committee has voted to keep most students learning remotely for the start of the 2020-21 school year,” Riley wrote to the 16 school systems. “We have recommended remote learning only for those municipalities receiving a ‘red’ designation three weeks in a row on the color-coded metric unless the district identifies other extenuating circumstances that prevent in-person instruction.”
Riley’s letter noted the Baker administration’s reopening guidance has been endorsed by the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and said that the state, with a two-week COVID-19 test positivity rate of 0.9 percent, is “well below” the 5 percent threshold set in the World Health Organization’s standards for reopening.
Schools in a handful of places, including Dedham, Lynnfield and Nantucket, have pulled back or postponed their plans for in-person instruction after case counts ticked up. Those three all landed in the red category in the most recent Department of Public Health update, published Wednesday.
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We get lots of numbers but no context.
Better do what King Baker says or else:
"Baker ramps up pressure on low-risk districts to get students back into schools; Governor identifies 16 communities where ‘public health data supports a return to in-person learning’" by Felicia Gans and Meghan E. Irons Globe Staff, September 23, 2020
Governor Charlie Baker turned up the pressure Wednesday for most Massachusetts school districts to bring students back for in-person classes, singling out those that are beginning the academic year remotely even though their communities are at low risk for a coronavirus outbreak.
Then do not!
Baker said 16 school districts had chosen a remote-only start when “the public health data supports a return to in-person learning.” His comments put those school communities on the defensive and prompted a sharp rebuke from the state’s largest teachers union.
“Local officials run their local schools,” Baker said during a press conference. “We understand that, but the state has an obligation to ensure that local officials are providing the best possible education in these difficult circumstances to kids and their communities.”
I gotta tell you, I don't know of anyone around here who trusts this lying slime bag and his public health data.
The comments came just days after state education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley asked the 16 districts to create a timeline for bringing students back for in-person learning. Riley said there was a “stark discrepancy” between their school reopening models and the public health data.
In an apparent effort to encourage the schools to act, Baker pointed out that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has the option of auditing those districts to assess their efforts to provide in-person instruction, depending on the responses from the targeted districts.
Ah, the heavy hand of state tyranny!
The push came with emotions running high over how to reopen school in the pandemic.
School administrators who are juggling union negotiations as they try to safely reopen schools said they had been made to feel that any plans for returning students to school buildings would be left in the hands of the districts, but now things seemed turned around.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association jumped into the fray Wednesday, accusing Baker and Riley of interfering with school districts' “well-thought out plans” because they did not get the results they wanted, said the union’s president, Merrie Najimy.
“They’ve had a reckless agenda to push people into [school] buildings from the beginning,” Najimy said. "They’re just imposing their political will against the better judgment of every single school district that has made these decisions based on what they know is best for their communities.''
I am with the teachers now, too, as well as the ultra-Orthodox Jews.
What the hell is going on?
The state’s virus risk map, updated weekly since early August, places communities in one of four color-coded risk categories, from the lowest to the highest — gray, green, yellow, and red — based on the average daily rates of cases in each community.
On Wednesday, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said the city is “very close” to moving into the red category. The governor emphasized that communities can bounce into different risk categories based on single events — a nursing home outbreak or a private gathering — and then bounce back to a lower risk category fairly quickly.
I'm getting the feeling that he is no longer up to the job.
“In many cases, it’s because of a single event or a single institution that creates that, and that’s why we think it’s really important for people to look for trends, and trends don’t happen in seven days,” he said. “Trends happen over the course of three weeks worth of reporting, which represents four weeks worth of data.”
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Parents aren't taking the kids to the doctor, so what makes you think they want them in school?
"Sharp decline in child health care amid coronavirus prompts call to action by Medicaid chief" by Kay Lazar Globe Staff, September 23, 2020
A sharp decline in the number of low-income children receiving vital care during the pandemic, including vaccinations and mental health care, prompted a call to action Wednesday by the nation’s top health insurance administrator, who is seeking creative solutions, starting in Boston.
“A lot of pediatricians are sounding the alarm," Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in an interview with the Globe. “We’re trying to sound that alarm at the federal level to get a better focus on this issue.”
New CMS data show millions of children, many living in poverty, missed vaccinations and other care in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic from March through May, as parents feared going out or bringing their children to doctors’ offices.
TPTB didn't expect that reaction. They expected us to run into their heroic arms instead.
So how long until the creative solutions is to unwelcomely show up at your house?
During that stretch, there were 22 percent fewer vaccinations nationwide among children under age 2 who rely on Medicaid insurance. There were 44 percent fewer child screenings that track growth, assess health, and provide early detection of autism and developmental delays. Also, there were 69 percent fewer dental services.
In Massachusetts, Verma said, that translates into about 30,000 fewer vaccinations for children under 2, nearly 90,000 fewer screenings, and 200,000 fewer dental services.
Since May, preliminary numbers suggest that telehealth for children has increased dramatically, but not enough to offset the decline in care for vulnerable children, Verma said. Also, some services, such as vaccinations, can’t be provided through telehealth.
I knew there was some redeeming quality to that ridiculousness.
While national data show that vaccination rates are increasing, the number of vaccines administered so far has yet to make up for the large decline, she said. That increases the risk of vaccine-preventable illnesses, such as measles, mumps, and whooping cough.
You don't want the autism-causing MMR vaccine, parents.
Verma is holding virtual roundtable discussions with health leaders across the country to brainstorm ways to convince parents it’s safe to bring their children back to the doctor. She spoke Wednesday with leaders at Boston Children’s Hospital, where administrators had success easing parents' fears by holding well-child visits and administering vaccines in a separate building, across the street from the primary care clinic.
The hospital is often considered a leader in children’s health care, and CMS viewed it as a natural choice to hear from local leaders about their on-the-ground experiences related to forgone care.
Among those in discussions with Verma was Dr. Shari Nethersole, executive director of BCH’s Community Health. Nethersole said much of the hospital’s other child health services have rebounded, to about 90 percent of where they were before the pandemic, but now they face a new challenge: getting flu shots to thousands of children. Typically, the hospital invites 50 children and their families at a time in the evenings for the vaccine, but they can’t do that this year because of the need to socially distance. So they are searching for bigger spaces or different opportunities.
Those have been mandated, so how big a challenge can it be?
Just one more reason to keep the kids home!
“We are having conversations with the Boston Public Health Commission for options to get more children in for flu shots before the end of the year," Nethersole said. “We’re really encouraging families to know that it’s safe to bring their children to the doctor. If they hold off they will be sicker when they come in, particularly as we get into the fall and winter."
The latest reports from nearly three dozen community health centers across the state are encouraging, indicating visits have started to rebound. The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers said pediatric visits are down only 28 percent for the year, compared to this time last year. About 30 percent of those visits were through telehealth.
In stressing the importance of regular child screenings, Verma spoke from experience.....
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Related:
"MIT artificial intelligence researcher Regina Barzilay’s work in AI, which ranges from tools for early cancer detection to platforms to identify new antibiotics, is increasingly garnering recognition: On Wednesday, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence named Barzilay as the inaugural recipient of a new annual award honoring an individual developing or promoting AI for the good of society. The award comes with a $1 million prize sponsored by the Chinese education technology company Squirrel AI Learning. With the selection of Barzilay, AAAI’s award committee is honoring work in health care — widely seen as one of the most promising fields in which AI is being applied, but also a realm in which plenty can go wrong....."
Here are some things the kids can do at home:
"Board games, stuffed animals, playsets, and dolls round out this year’s top toys. One thing largely absent: screens. Analog is making a comeback as children and parents overloaded with screen time during the pandemic seek a break. The events of 2020 are shaping the types of toys that kids and parents are looking for, according to Toy Insider, an industry publication that predicts holiday trends. Besides a drop in screen-based toys, social responsibility is emerging as a theme amid protests over racial justice and a greater focus on climate change. Affordable items are also in favor as some parents face financial hardship. There are timeless elements in this year’s top toys. Pokemon, Star Wars, Blue’s Clues, and Super Mario all make appearances, partly due to a gaping hole left by the lack of new children’s movies with Hollywood studios still roiled by the virus. Toy makers are under increased pressure to make dolls inclusive and reflective of their user. Zoe, a top 20 pick made by Healthy Roots Dolls, sports a shirt that reads “my black is beautiful” and teaches children to style curly and wavy hair. The Blippi Recycling Truck, aimed at 3- to 4-year-old budding environmentalists, comes equipped with bins and pretend trash, while the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Grow-the-Fun Garden to Kitchen lets kids prepare their own farm-to-table meals."
They are propagandizing them right out of the womb.
Related:
"The Trump administration has rejected scientific evidence linking the pesticide chlorpyrifos to serious health problems, directly contradicting federal scientists’ conclusions five years ago that it can stunt brain development in children. The Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment of the pesticide, which is widely used on soybeans, almonds, grapes and other crops, is a fresh victory for chemical makers and the agricultural industry, as well as the latest in a long list of Trump administration regulatory rollbacks....."
That's bad chemistry, and could lead to the loss of hair:
"Annrene Rowe was getting ready to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary this summer when she noticed a bald spot on her scalp. In the following days, her thick shoulder-length hair started falling out in clumps, bunching up in the shower drain. Rowe, who was hospitalized for 12 days in April with symptoms of the coronavirus, soon found strikingly similar stories in online groups of Covid-19 survivors. Doctors say they too are seeing many more patients with hair loss, a phenomenon they believe is indeed related to the coronavirus pandemic, affecting both people who had the virus and those who never became sick. In normal times, some people shed noticeable amounts of hair after a profoundly stressful experience such as an illness, major surgery or emotional trauma. Now, doctors say, many patients recovering from Covid-19 are experiencing hair loss — not from the virus itself, but from the physiological stress of fighting it off. Many people who never contracted the virus are also losing hair, because of emotional stress from job loss, financial strain, deaths of family members or other devastating developments stemming from the pandemic......"
Has nothing to do with "COVID," and everything to do with the fraud!
"..... Before the pandemic, there were weeks when Dr. Shilpi Khetarpal, an associate professor of dermatology at the Cleveland Clinic, didn’t see a single patient with hair loss of this type. Now, she said, about 20 such patients a week come in. One was a woman having difficulty home-schooling two young children while also working from home. Another was a second-grade teacher anxiously trying to ensure that all her students had computers and internet access for online instruction. For most patients the condition should be temporary, doctors say, but it could last months. There are two types of hair loss the pandemic seems to be triggering, experts say. The hair loss itself can cause more stress, Dr. Khetarpal said, especially for women, whose hair is often more closely tied to identity and self-confidence. “It’s your trademark,” said Mary Lou Ostling, 77, a retired educator who lives in the Stuyvesant Town neighborhood of Manhattan. She was hospitalized for Covid-19 for eight days in the early spring and later noticed that “my hair started coming out in chunks,” she said. “I always was clearing hair out of the comb, brush, the sink.” Ms. Ostling said she also could tell that her hair wasn’t growing much because she wasn’t seeing roots that contrasted with the color she had previously dyed it. “I’ve always had very long, very thick, very curly hair,” she said, but in July, “I simply had a lot of it all cut off. I couldn’t deal with it anymore.” When she came home from the hairdresser, she said, “my husband was just staring at me. He said, ‘I think I have a different wife.’ It was very depressing.” She said she has finally begun to detect some hair growth. Experts recommend good nutrition, vitamins like biotin and stress-reduction techniques like yoga, scalp massage or mindfulness meditation. Some also recommend minoxidil, a hair-growth drug, but Dr. Hogan warns patients that it can initially cause more hair loss before it starts working. For people depressed or traumatized by hair loss, Dr. Jafferany recommends psychotherapy, but not necessarily medication because some antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can exacerbate hair loss. When Liz Weidhorn, 44, of Fair Lawn, N.J., who tested positive for Covid-19 in March, noticed members of an online Covid group bemoaning hair loss, she told herself that if it happened to her, “I will take it with grace and I’ll get a kick-ass hat,” she recalled. But recently after showering, “I looked at my wet hair and I could see so much scalp,” she said, “and I couldn’t believe how emotional I got.” She cried and called her husband in to look at it. “It’s really shocking,” she said. “It got me very sad.” Ms. Weidhorn, who writes a blog about baking pastry, started taking biotin, had her mother cut her hair and is considering getting a headband....."
I'm about to pull out the rest of what little hair I have left (think it was the forever chemical in the black licorice or water that has since dried up and left the birds with no mosquitoes to eat.
I wouldn't plan on any meals, either:
"As the economic fallout of COVID-19 stretches into its seventh month, one in seven people in Eastern Massachusetts — and one in five children — are now experiencing food insecurity, according to Feeding America. Community fridges, or “freedges,” have been around since before the pandemic; the original conceit was to help combat hunger and reduce food waste at the same time, but as food insecurity has grown, the idea has taken off in cities throughout the United States. Many people compare the idea to the Little Free Library movement, a network of volunteer bibliophiles who construct small bookshelves in public spaces to distribute free books and promote literacy....."
Maybe they can get a seat at Baker's table starting next week.
I heard they were offering Cheerios and stone soup that was flown in from Marlborough via Sudbury:
"A Sudbury couple and their high-school aged child are all facing charges stemming from a recent large social gathering that violated coronavirus safety protocols, officials said. Sudbury police Chief Scott Nix confirmed the investigation in a brief email message, writing that “charges have been filed with the Framingham District Court and the Framingham Juvenile Court for the parents as well as the juvenile.” The specific charges, parents' names, and arraignment dates weren’t disclosed. Authorities generally don’t name juveniles charged with crimes. Nixs’s update came after the Sudbury Board of Health said in a statement last week that local police had informed the panel on Sept. 12 that “a large party involving approximately 50-60 Lincoln-Sudbury High School students. It is unknown if students from other towns attended. Many of the students fled or gave false information. The police reported the students were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.”
Is that why they emptied the jails?
I'm also proud of the kids for the nonviolent, noncooperation.
"Sudbury police want end to ‘volatile’ comments about gathering amid coronavirus that led to charges" by Travis Andersen Globe Staff, September 22, 2020
Sudbury police want town residents to stop making “volatile” comments on social media about a recent large gathering of high schoolers in town, noting Tuesday that the parents and teen child who allegedly held the party all stand accused of violating the state’s social host law.
In a statement, Sudbury police said the trio’s been charged under the law, which says anyone who provides alcohol to an underage guest or allows it to be consumed on the premises can face fines, jail time, or both.
Chief Scott Nix said in Tuesday’s statement, “We encourage residents to refrain from making any more volatile statements on social media regarding this incident as we are holding those responsible for providing the venue accountable.”
He said Monday evening via e-mail that police weren’t naming the parents, citing “the ongoing investigation along with continued threats.” Authorities generally don’t name juveniles charged with crimes.
According to Tuesday’s statement, Sudbury police responded Sept. 11 around 10 p.m. to a home for a report of a “large underage drinking party.” Police, the statement said, spotted “numerous individuals fleeing the scene as well as numerous alcoholic beverage containers and beer cans strewn about the back yard.”
That’s not all they found.
“Numerous juveniles and open containers were found throughout the home as well, including the basement, where a large group of youths who were allegedly disregarding state mandated social distancing and face covering protocols had been gathering,” the statement said.
Police said several party attendees made threatening comments to responding officers.
At least 50 underage teens were present, the statement said, adding that police continue to investigate along with the Sudbury Board of Health.
The bash had immediate consequences for the school year locally.
The town’s Board of Health said in a statement last week that local police had informed the panel on Sept. 12 of “a large party involving approximately 50-60 Lincoln-Sudbury High School students. It is unknown if students from other towns attended. Many of the students fled or gave false information. The police reported the students were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.”
The town said in the Sept. 15 statement that there were no known positive cases linked to the bash.
“Due to lack of information of who attended the event and the inability to consult directly with those students, the risk to the school community cannot be adequately assessed,” the health board said. “As a result, the Board of Health and Lincoln Sudbury Regional School High School (LSRHS), in consultation with the school physician, collectively decided to delay in-person learning.”
Officials are advising coronavirus testing for anyone who attended the party.
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The case count is skyrocketing as state public health officials monitor the increase and increase testing as the cold arrives.
Time to cede the right-of-way and march on.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Scenes from around the city as an uncertain year begins
The first day back was far from a sense of deja vu, what with the dilemma of racial profiling after a driver was killed after being struck by bus in the Charlestown MBTA yard.
Related:
"A 26-year-old Melrose woman died, and two other people were injured, in a fiery crash on Interstate 95 in Boxford early Saturday morning, Massachusetts State Police said. Shana Fusco-Russell was pronounced dead at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, where she was flown by medical helicopter from Beverly Hospital, State Police said in a statement. She was a passenger in a 2009 Toyota Avalon that was allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed when it crossed over all lanes on the northbound side of the highway at about 12:50 a.m. near exit 53A, State Police said in a statement....."
There still isn't anywhere to park in Bo$ton:
"You may think that street in the Seaport is public, but it’s not, and the city of Boston didn’t issue that parking ticket" by Sean P. Murphy Globe Staff, September 22, 2020
In need of fresh air after months of being cooped up, Dan Simovici and his wife hopped in the car on Aug. 26 and headed to the Seaport District for a cooling stroll along Boston Harbor.
On Fan Pier Boulevard, Simovici pulled his Mazda into what looked like a legal parking space. The white lines on the pavement, the signs giving notice of a two-hour parking limit, and the nearby brown metal kiosk for paying the $3.75 hourly fee — it all made him believe this was an ordinary spot under the jurisdiction of the City of Boston and subject to state law.
So Simovici, a 77-year-old college professor, and his wife sauntered off, unconcerned about getting ticketed. He has a disability, and under state law is exempt from street parking fees, so they didn’t feed the kiosk. His disability placard was prominently displayed, dangling from his rear-view mirror.
When they returned an hour later there was a $40, official-looking “ticket” under the windshield wiper.
Why? Because, despite its appearances, Fan Pier Boulevard and a couple of surrounding streets are actually private property, dating back to 2007, when the Fallon Co. began transforming a sprawling dirt parking lot into a new multibillion-dollar neighborhood of sleek glass office buildings and lavish waterfront condos.
The streets in question are owned by the various property owners in the neighborhood, among them some of the most wealthy in the city, through a corporation, which delegates parking and ticketing to a real estate management firm. The revenue from parking is used for upkeep of the streets, but the management company won’t say how much is collected in a year.
After getting tagged, Simovici wondered how he was supposed to have known he had strayed onto private property.....
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The wealthy and corporations literally own the parking $paces, and someone put ‘Trump 2020’ on Route 44 (the MassDOT wasn’t happy).
"A Lawrence man who owns a driving school in North Andover was arrested Friday on allegations that he was running a “large-scale methamphetamine” operation, State Police said. Police said Michael Larocque, 56, was arrested at his home Friday as investigators executed search warrants at his Colonial residence in Lawrence and the North Andover Auto School at 203 Turnpike St., which Larocque owns. About two pounds of methamphetamine were seized at Larocque’s home, according to police, plus “vials of an unknown liquid and paraphernalia related to narcotics distribution.” More methamphetamine was found in his car parked at the home, police said. The search of the auto school allegedly turned up another 400 grams of meth, police said, as well as pills and $12,000 in cash."
He has the right to rehab and a brew:
Sarah Richardson (left), her sister, Julia DePillo, and husband, Justin Richardson, had a beer with the sisters' parents, Stephen and Patricia DePillo at Trillium Garden.Craig F. Walker/Globe staff
It's just a quick flight to Maine:
"Someone who last week tested positive for COVID-19 went to Portland International Jetport in Maine Sunday with plans to travel to Florida with another traveler, but neither of them made the flight after public health officials intervened, authorities said Monday. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the person tested positive late last week “and was directed to isolate,” as were the individual’s close contacts, but instead the person tried to head south. The Maine CDC said anyone at the Jetport between 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday may have been exposed to the virus. They should monitor themselves for symptoms and consult their health care providers to determine whether they should be tested, according to the statement....."
That is what caused the car wreck:
"A Maine man has been arrested on assault charges for allegedly striking a bride and two others with his car at a wedding. Curtis Moody, a guest at Saturday’s private wedding, allegedly struck three people when others at the private event attempted to stop him from driving, the Sun Journal reported. Chief Deputy William Gagne said Monday that Moody, 51, was arrested at his residence on three counts of assault, reckless conduct, driving to endanger, and other charges. Moody then allegedly drove his car at the crowd striking the bride and two others before fleeing the scene, according to Gagne. When officers arrived at Moody’s Wilton residence he appeared to be intoxicated and told officers that he had a couple of beers after he got home, according to Gagne. Gange said that he did not believe that any of the victims, whose names have not been released, were transported to the hospital."
"An eighth death has been linked to a coronavirus outbreak stemming from a wedding and reception in the northern part of Maine. The man who died was in his 80s and from Somerset County, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday. The wedding and reception in the Millinocket area on Aug. 7 is linked to more than 270 cases of COVID-19, including in an outbreak at a nursing home in Madison and a jail....."
You don't want to get married up there and I have a headache.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Nothing left to do but watch television:
Getting Emmy predictions wrong is how I roll
Their viewership fell to a new low, as did the NFL in week one and two, with the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks game down 17% in viewership compared to last Sunday.
Looks like you guys f****d up listening to Billy Boy and Co, as $ports is now on ice (there may yet be some hope as the Dallas Stars won last night -- in double-overtime)!
Related:
Trudeau promises bold plan to reset Canada
I hope to get a re$et on the bets I put down today, and did you know Big Papi had COVID?
