Covid-19 – Gloomberg News

18Dec

By Gloomberg NewsNo Comments

Politics

Top House intel Republican says committee will subpoena intel community over COVID origins

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee says Republicans will issue subpoenas to the intelligence community to gather information about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. GOP Rep. Mike Turner told CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge that Republicans plan to examine the intelligence behind the virus' origins, which they are not currently able to access. Republicans this week released a report on the intelligence community's look at the pandemic's origins this week. Democratic investigators on the committee also released their own report alleging that intelligence agencies may have lost a key opportunity to determine the virus' origins by not securing resources earlier. "We will be issuing subpoenas on these materials and on this informati...

12Dec

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Science

Elon Musk targets Dr. Anthony Fauci in viral tweet, drawing backlash

As Dr. Anthony Fauci prepares to step down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of the year, the leading immunologist faced derision on social media over the weekend from tech billionaire and Twitter CEO Elon Musk."My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci," Musk tweeted on Sunday. The jibe, shared largely without context, drew support from prominent conservatives such as right-wing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — whose account was reinstated with Musk's decision to end the platform's COVID-19 misinformation policy last month, and who has been criticized in the past for her own comments mocking the use of gender pronouns — as well as backlash.While Musk's tweet acquired roughly half a million likes in its first few hours online, health experts lik...

Mexico draws young American professionals working remotely

24Sep

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Business

Mexico draws young American professionals working remotely

As remote work in the age of COVID-19 is forecast to stay for many Americans, more and more professionals are choosing new places to live. Lately, more Americans have been choosing to live in Mexico, including Mexico City. It has become a top destination for young professionals working remotely, CBS News correspondent Enrique Acevedo reports."Now we have younger Americans that can work remotely looking for a better quality of life ... and they're coming now to Mexico City," said Alexandra Demou, founder of a relocation and real estate company called Welcome Home Mexico. "They love the climate," she said. "They love the people, the culture, the food, the beauty.""Yes, of course, safety can be an issue. ... And when I say quality of life, I mean of...

Secret Service returns $268 million in fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief loans

26Aug

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Politics

Secret Service returns $268 million in fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief loans

The Secret Service has returned about $286 million in wrongfully obtained COVID-relief loans to the Small Business Administration, the agency announced Friday. The federal small business loan program was set up to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic's economic impacts.Conspirators fraudulently obtained Economic Injury Disaster Loans with applications based on fabricated or stolen personal and employment information, the Secret Service said in a news release Friday. According to the Secret Service, conspirators used a debit card issuer to conceal and move the funds through over 15,000 accounts. The Secret Service worked with the debit card issuer, Green Dot Bank, to seize the $286 million. The Secret Service has not announced...

President Biden tests positive for COVID again, will return to isolation

30Jul

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Politics

President Biden tests positive for COVID again, will return to isolation

President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 again, just days after he recovered from his previous case of the virus, the White House physician said in a statement Saturday. He is not experiencing any symptoms but will self-isolate again. In a tweet, the president said he is "still at work" but isolating "for the safety of everyone around me." He will not go on his upcoming trips to Wilmington, Delaware, or Michigan, the White House said. Folks, today I tested positive for COVID again. This happens with a small minority of folks. I’ve got no symptoms but I am going to isolate for the safety of everyone around me. I’m still at work, and will be back on the road soon.— President Biden (@POTUS) July 30, 2022 Later Saturday afternoon, the president proved his point — sh...

Biden makes first live remarks — virtually — since COVID diagnosis

24Jul

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Politics

Biden makes first live remarks — virtually — since COVID diagnosis

President Biden made his first live appearance — virtually — since he was diagnosed with COVID-19 Thursday, participating in a meeting with his economic team on gas prices Friday."I'm feeling much better than I sound," the president said as he began the meeting. His voice, albeit deeper than normal, was strong during his brief remarks, and he coughed slightly once. When a reporter asked how he's feeling, the president gave a thumbs-up sign and smiled. U.S. President Joe Biden, who has coronavirus disease (COVID-19) appears on a screen during a virtual meeting with his economic team at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 22, 2022. ELIZABETH FRANTZ / REUTERS "Gas prices are coming...

The pandemic in Russia and the bankruptcy of national-chauvinist politics

24Jul

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Politics

The pandemic in Russia and the bankruptcy of national-chauvinist politics

The pandemic continues to exact a terrible toll in Russia. Since the invasion of Ukraine, efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have been abandoned. This essay has been submitted to the World Socialist Web Site by the Young Guard of Bolshevik Leninists, an organization of Trotskyist youth in Russia.On Tuesday, July 19, the Rospotrebnadzor press service reported the detection of the new Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant in five people in Russia. The press service wrote, “The material was sampled in July. The material was collected in the city of Moscow. The disease had a mild form in all the patients. There are no hospitalized patients.”Previously, this heavily mutated Omicron subvariant has been found in India, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. ...

What Is mRNA and Who Invented the Technology? – NBC New York

10Jun

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Science

What Is mRNA and Who Invented the Technology? – NBC New York

Recognized for the expeditious development of a lifesaving shot, scientists Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman accepted an award in front of dozens of their peers celebrating the duo's tireless efforts in inventing the mRNA technology behind the COVID-19 vaccine. On Tuesday in Manhattan, in conjunction with the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and Molecular Medicine, the Ross Prize honored the two biomedical researchers who changed the game during the COVID pandemic. Dr. Weissman, a physician and researcher at Penn Medicine, directs a variety of projects including a pan-coronavirus vaccine to prevent the next COVID epidemic. Dr. Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist and researcher at Penn Medicine and a senior vice president at BioNTech, a German biot...

Politics and pandemic fatigue doom California’s covid vaccine mandates

31May

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Politics

Politics and pandemic fatigue doom California’s covid vaccine mandates

In January, progressive California Democrats vowed to adopt the toughest covid vaccine requirements in the country. Their proposals would have required most Californians to get the shots to go to school or work — without allowing exemptions to get out of them. Months later, the lawmakers pulled their bills before the first votes. One major vaccine proposal survives, but faces an uphill battle. It would allow children ages 12 to 17 to get a covid-19 vaccine without parental permission. At least 10 other states permit some minors to do this. Democrats blamed the failure of their vaccine mandates on the changing nature and perception of the pandemic. They said the measures became unnecessary as case rates declined earlier this year and the public became less focused on the pa...

Engineered water nanostructures as a new technology against SARS-CoV-2

24May

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Science

Engineered water nanostructures as a new technology against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent study published in the MDPI journal Nanomaterials, a research group from the United States (US) has shown the possibility of inactivating surrogates of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on surfaces with the use of specific water nanostructures incorporated with nature-derived antimicrobials. Study: Inactivating SARS-CoV-2 Surrogates on Surfaces Using Engineered Water Nanostructures Incorporated with Nature Derived Antimicrobials. Image Credit: peterschreiber.media / Shutterstock Even though manifold effective vaccines have been developed against SARS-CoV-2, a causative agent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, we need more weapons in our armamentarium. Hence, halting the spread of COVID-19 through environmental disinfec...