DARPA unveils ‘COVID microchip,’ claims not for surveillance purposes | One America News Network

The Pentagon unveiled a coronavirus microchip that it claims can detect illness and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“The tiny green thing in there, you put it underneath your skin and what that tells you is that there are chemical reactions going on inside the body. And that signal means you’re going to have symptoms tomorrow,” retired Col. Matt Hepburn, an army infectious disease physician said.

The implant was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which claimed the device can not be used for surveillance purposes.

Source: DARPA unveils ‘COVID microchip,’ claims not for surveillance purposes | One America News Network

Pittsburgh Public Schools students are returning to classrooms

Young students wearing masks entered the doors and were greeted by school staff, including Principal Nathan Berkowicz.

“This was very, very exciting today,” Berkowicz said. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. This has been a year in the making since the students have last been in the building.”

Inside the school, stickers were on floors to remind students to keep 6 feet of distance, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says 3 feet will suffice.

Teachers sat in classrooms behind their plastic shields near rearranged student desks.

It may not be perfect, but Berkowicz said in-person learning is the focus here.

“It’s very difficult in a remote environment — you know, students holding devices and keeping their attention span — so at that age, it’s real important to get them in front of their teachers,” Berkowicz said.

When you don’t get students in front of teachers, Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said the educating starts to become undone, which is why expanded summer learning and Saturday courses are being explored for potentially 6,000 students.

“That’s something we’re planning for next year, and, so, traditionally, being in the situation we are with the learning loss, we’ve already had the summer slide, now what I call the COVID slide coupled with the summer slide, we know some kids will be behind,” Hamlet said.

To bring the students up to speed for later, day one for in-person is the first step.

“I was always confident we would be here at some point,” Hamlet said.

Source: Pittsburgh Public Schools students are returning to classrooms

Lib News Article Claims We May Be Living in a ‘Permanent Pandemic’

We’ve now endured a year of life-disrupting measures due to the coronavirus pandemic, which the country — and world — has adapted to. Sadly, it appears as though our own social lockdown measures created needless death and despair.

The cure was worse than the problem.

If you ask one Bloomberg columnist, who formerly worked as a columnist for The Economist, the nightmare will never end– and why should it? Everything is bad and sad and most definitely hopeless, despite the fact that states across the country are rolling back restrictions with great success.

Andreas Kluth, who writes opinions for the left-wing publication, argued Wednesday, “We must start planning for a permanent pandemic,” and he cited the emergence of these supposedly deadly new viral “variants” we keep hearing so much about.

“For the past year, an assumption — sometimes explicit, often tacit — has informed almost all our thinking about the pandemic: At some point, it will be over, and then we’ll go ‘back to normal,’” Kluth wrote. “This premise is almost certainly wrong.”

Source: Lib News Article Claims We May Be Living in a ‘Permanent Pandemic’

Idaho Legislature votes to halt session after multiple lawmakers infected with COVID-19 | ktvb.com

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Legislature voted Friday to hit pause on the 2021 session after multiple lawmakers became infected with COVID-19.

The motion to halt the session until noon on April 6, 2021 passed both the House and the Senate with a unanimous vote.

At least half a dozen lawmakers are currently positive for the virus.

Rep. Julie Yamamoto, R-Caldwell, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, Rep. Ryan Kerby, R-New Plymouth, Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell and Rep. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, have all said they were infected.

Source: Idaho Legislature votes to halt session after multiple lawmakers infected with COVID-19 | ktvb.com

Where did COVID originate? WHO thinks it knows – al.com

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, the question has been, “Where did COVID-19 originate?”

According to a report by NPR, a member of the World Health Organization investigative team says the most likely source of the COVID-19 pandemic are “wildlife farms in southern China.”

Peter Daszak, a disease ecologist with EcoHealth Alliance, and a member of the WHO delegation that traveled to China earlier this year, told NPR that during that trip, new evidence was found by the WHO team, that vendors at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan were being supplied with animals from these wildlife farms.

Source: Where did COVID originate? WHO thinks it knows – al.com

Paris to enter four-week lockdown as France faces third Covid wave | France | The Guardian

Since late January, when he defied the calls of scientists and some in his government to lock down the country, Macron has said he would do whatever was needed to keep the euro zone’s second-largest economy as open as possible. However, this week he ran out of options just as France and other European countries briefly suspended use of the Oxford/AstraZenca vaccine.

The prime minister, Jean Castex, said on Thursday that France was in the grip of a third wave, with the virulent variant first detected in Britain now accounting for about 75% of cases. Intensive care wards are under severe strain, notably in Paris where the incidence rate surpasses 400 infections in every 100,000 inhabitants. “The epidemic is getting worse. Our responsibility now is to not let it escape our control,” Castex told a news conference.

The lockdowns will start from Friday at midnight in France’s 16 hardest-hit departments that, with the exception of one on the Mediterranean, form a corridor from Calais to the capital. Barbers, clothing stores and furniture shops will have to close, though bookstores and other shops selling essential goods can stay open.

Source: Paris to enter four-week lockdown as France faces third Covid wave | France | The Guardian

Majority Of Colleges Canceled Spring Break 2021 : NPR

According to new research from the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College, about 60% of colleges have done away with spring break this year. Many campuses are instead offering smaller, shorter breaks or wellness days. Of the more than 600 colleges offering alternative breaks, scheduling days off mid-week was the most common option, likely an attempt to curb travel away from campus, and ultimately keep coronavirus cases down.

“You can make all of the rules and tell students to stay on campus, but at the end of the day, they’re going to do what they want to do,” says Daniel Mangrum, an economist who has studied the connection between last year’s spring break and the spread of COVID-19. Mangrum found that student travel in March 2020 was associated with the virus spreading more on campuses and in nearby communities. It was also associated with higher mortality rates.

Source: Majority Of Colleges Canceled Spring Break 2021 : NPR

Brazil coronavirus: country in crisis as second wave and deadly new variant overwhelm hospitals – CNN

(CNN)A second wave of Covid-19 is ripping through Brazil, pushing hospitals and ICUs toward collapse and claiming record numbers of daily deaths.

While a new variant of the coronavirus spreads throughout the country, many Brazilians continue to defy mask mandates mobility restrictions following the example of President Jair Bolsonaro, who recently said people need to “stop being sissies” and “whining” about the virus.
The consequences of that combination are deadly, experts say. “We are going through the worst-case scenario since the beginning of the pandemic. You just have to look at the trends in the average number of deaths,” Gonzalo Vecina Neto, a Sao Paulo University professor of Public Health, recently told Reuters television. “This could have been avoided and the most important factor is gatherings.”
Brazil has broken its own record three times this month for number of deaths in a 24-hour period. On Wednesday, Brazil’s Health Ministry registered a devastating new high — 2,286 lives lost to the virus. In total, more than 270,000 people are known to have died due to Covid-19, making Brazil’s the second-highest national death toll after the United States.

Source: Brazil coronavirus: country in crisis as second wave and deadly new variant overwhelm hospitals – CNN

Coronavirus variants driving another surge across Europe – Axios

Why it matters: European countries reported around 1 million new cases last week, around a 9% increase from the week prior. Last week’s surge ended a six-week decline in new infections, the WHO said Thursday, according to AP.

By the numbers: The variant first found in the United Kingdom, which may be more transmissible and more deadly than the original strain of the virus, is spreading in 27 European countries monitored by WHO, according to AP.

  • It’s now the dominant strain in at least 10 countries: Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal.
  • Meanwhile, the variant first discovered in South Africa has been found in 26 European countries. Vaccine producers ModernaPfizer and Novavax have each reported their vaccines, while still effective, offer less protection against the South African variant.
  • The Brazilian variant, detected in 15 European countries, may be able to reinfect people who survived infections with earlier versions of the coronavirus, according to Reuters.

The big picture: Italy’s government tightened coronavirus restrictions in some of its 20 regions this week in response to the surge.

Source: Coronavirus variants driving another surge across Europe – Axios

Kids More Likely To Die From Suicides Due To COVID-19 Lockdowns: Study Shows

A Fair Health Study shows that lockdowns due to COVID-19 greatly affect the mental health of kids and often leads to suicide, a cause of death for kids that is more rampant than the infection of the virus itself.

In Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight broadcast on March 2, Carlson explained in depth how kids are 10 times more likely to die from suicide due to mental health issues brought about by the lockdown than “from the coronavirus they’re meant to be protected from.”

Source: Kids More Likely To Die From Suicides Due To COVID-19 Lockdowns: Study Shows

Does Ivermectin Alleviate Covid-19 Symptoms? 

“Ivermectin is currently being used widely,” said Dr. Eduardo López-Medina, a doctor and researcher at the Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases in Cali, Colombia, who led the new trial. “In many countries in the Americas and other parts of the world, it’s part of the national guidelines of treating Covid.”

But the drug has also proved divisive. While some scientists see potential, others suspect that effectively inhibiting the coronavirus may require extremely high, potentially unsafe doses. Health officials have also worried that people desperate for coronavirus treatments might take versions of the drug that have been formulated for pets. (It is commonly used to prevent heartworm in dogs.)

Source: Ivermectin Does Not Alleviate Mild Covid-19 Symptoms, Study Finds – The New York Times

Biden Administration Steps Up Push for School Reopenings – The New York Times

MERIDEN, Conn. — Having told educators that they would soon be vaccinated, the Biden administration began an aggressive push on Wednesday to drum up support for reopening schools, putting on a show of unity with the leaders of teachers unions and highlighting measures to keep students and staff safe from the coronavirus.

A day after President Biden announced a new federal program to give teachers nationwide access to at least a first dose of the vaccine by the end of March, the administration sought to position itself as intent on opening schools as soon as possible while also addressing the concerns of teachers that their fears were being ignored.

To carry the message, the White House dispatched the first lady, Jill Biden, and the newly confirmed education secretary, Miguel Cardona, on a trip to Connecticut and Pennsylvania to emphasize that teachers should no longer fear returning unprotected to the classroom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that teachers do not have to be vaccinated for schools to reopen safely.

Getting shots into the arms of educators and school staff would be his “top priority” as education secretary, Dr. Cardona said in Connecticut, where he and the first lady were joined by Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Source: Biden Administration Steps Up Push for School Reopenings – The New York Times

Eager to act, Biden and Democrats leave Republicans behind

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are jamming their agenda forward with a sense of urgency, an unapologetically partisan approach based on the calculation that it’s better to advance the giant COVID-19 rescue package and other priorities than waste time courting Republicans who may never compromise.

The coronavirus pandemic is driving the crush of legislative action, but so are the still-raw emotions from the U.S. Capitol siege and the hard lessons of the last time Democrats had the sweep of party control of Washington. Republicans are mounting blockades of Biden’s agenda just as they did during the devastating 2009 financial crisis with Barack Obama.

Democrats, in turn, are showing little patience for the GOP objections and entertaining few overtures toward compromise, claiming the majority of the country supports their agenda. With fragile majorities in the House and the Senate, and a liberal base of voters demanding action, Democrats are operating as if they are on borrowed time.For many lawmakers, it’s personal.Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., led the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to House passage Wednesday on the 30th anniversary of the Rodney King beating by police in Los Angeles that she thought at the time would spur policing reforms. Instead, more Black Americans and others have died in police violence, even after Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement last summer.“It’s examples like that that lead to the urgency,”

Bass said Wednesday.The start of the first congressional session of the Biden administration was supposed to be a new era of bipartisan deal-making. The Senate evenly split, 50-50, and the House resting on a slim majority for Democrats set prime conditions for Biden to swoop in and forge across-the-aisle compromises.

But the rush through Biden’s first 100 days is shaping up as an urgent era of hardball politics, with Democrats prepared to go it alone, even if that means that changes to the Senate filibuster rules are needed to work around Republican roadblocks to legislation that many Americans support.

Source: Eager to act, Biden and Democrats leave Republicans behind

Gov. Wolf says Pa. will vaccinate teachers, staff with J&J shot | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday said the state will give the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to PreK-12 teachers and other school staff, an announcement that comes as Pittsburgh Public Schools employees are expected to return to their buildings this month for the first time in a year.

Source: Gov. Wolf says Pa. will vaccinate teachers, staff with J&J shot | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Texas Gov. Abbott strikes down statewide mask mandate, but you’ll still have to wear a mask at these places | KXAN Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On the heels of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement Tuesday to take down the statewide mask and occupancy mandates, many groups and businesses are letting people know where they stand.

“It’s time to reopen Texas 100%,” Abbott said. “Everybody who wants to work should have that opportunity. Every business that wants to be open, should be open.”

“Travelers at AUS are required to wear a mask at TSA airport screening checkpoints and throughout the commercial and public transportation systems. Passengers without a mask may be denied entry, boarding, or continued transport. Failure to comply with the mask requirement can result in civil penalties,” a spokesperson wrote.

Capital Metro will also be keeping its requirements for passengers who want to board its buses.

Source: Gov. Abbott strikes down statewide mask mandate, but you’ll still have to wear a mask at these places | KXAN Austin

Biden Administration Won’t Allow Media To Tour Migrant Children Facility ‘Due To The COVID-19 Pandemic’ | The Daily Caller

Media will not be able to visit migrant detention centers holding minors near the southern border due to COVID-19, a spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Reporters will not be allowed inside the Carrizo Springs facility for unaccompanied minors that was recently opened under the Biden administration in Texas, a Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) spokesperson told the DCNF.

“The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is not hosting media tours of unaccompanied children (UC) facilities currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” an ACF spokesperson told the DCNF. “If media tours resume, we will send a media advisory,” the spokesperson added.

Source: Biden Administration Won’t Allow Media To Tour Migrant Children Facility ‘Due To The COVID-19 Pandemic’ | The Daily Caller

Couple in their 40s found dead from COVID-19 in St. Louis County | ksdk.com

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Along Glen Bay Drive in Mehlville, there are lots of heavy hearts.

“It’s really a terrible, tragic thing,” said neighbor Chuck Duy.

St. Louis County police say last Thursday morning the husband and wife were found dead in their bed by their only child, a girl aged 11.

The girl made the grim discovery on Feb. 18, NBC reported. It was unclear whether she was living with her parents while they were quarantined.

“To lose both parents at one time you know for an 11-year-old, it’s really tragic,” neighbor Chuck Duy told KSDK-TV. “We’re praying for them. They were the nicest people. We’re so happy they moved into the neighborhood.”

Police say both were in their 40s and both died of COVID-19.

Source: Couple in their 40s found dead from COVID-19 in St. Louis County | ksdk.com

Senate parliamentarian strikes down minimum wage hike in latest COVID-19 relief bill – YouTube

Senate parliamentarian strikes down minimum wage hike in latest COVID-19 relief bill

Progressives are willing to accept defeat on the minimum wage for now and vote for President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package. But they’re channeling their energy into a renewed push to kill the filibuster.

One day after the Senate parliamentarian effectively forced a $15 minimum wage hike out of Democrats’ coronavirus relief package, leading liberal activists are racing to turn their bitter setback into opportunity. The need to sacrifice a key Biden priority in order to ensure the Covid aid bill can pass the Senate with a simple majority has handed progressive lawmakers and their allied groups a new talking point in their long-running quest to eliminate the legislative filibuster.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/26/progressives-minimum-wage-defeat-471772

Organ transplant patient dies after receiving Covid-infected lungs

Doctors say a woman in Michigan contracted Covid-19 and died last fall two months after receiving a tainted double-lung transplant from a donor who turned out to harbor the virus that causes the disease — despite showing no signs of illness and initially testing negative.

Officials at the University of Michigan Medical School suggested it may be the first proven case of Covid-19 in the U.S. in which the virus was transmitted via an organ transplant. A surgeon who handled the donor lungs was also infected with the virus and fell ill but later recovered.

The incident appears to be isolated — the only confirmed case among nearly 40,000 transplants in 2020. But it has led to calls for more thorough testing of lung transplant donors, with samples taken from deep within the donor lungs as well as the nose and throat, said Dr. Daniel Kaul, director of Michigan Medicine’s transplant infectious disease service.

Source: Organ transplant patient dies after receiving Covid-infected lungs

Low-income Californians to receive new COVID stimulus checks – Los Angeles Times

Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced Wednesday that they have agreed to provide low-income Californians a $600 state stimulus payment to help them weather financial hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic, part of a $9.6-billion economic recovery package that also includes $2.1 billion in grants for small businesses.

The “Golden State stimulus” payments provided under the state proposal, which will be expedited for legislative approval next week, are in addition to the $600-per-person stimulus checks already approved by Congress and would be on top of direct payments of up to $1,400 per person that have been proposed by House Democrats.

Source: Low-income Californians to receive new COVID stimulus checks – Los Angeles Times

Doctors push back against new Pa. Health Department COVID-19 vaccine policy | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

Pushback among doctors and pharmacists is mounting to a state Department of Health pivot in vaccine strategy that aims to boost the number of COVID-19 inoculations by favoring bigger hospitals over smaller physician practices and clinics.

Within hours of the Health Department’s announcement Friday that it will shrink the number of providers administering COVID-19 vaccines by eliminating the smallest ones, three physician groups lodged their objections — calling the new policy a “misguided allocation change” and a “woeful mistake.”

“We urge acting secretary Alison Beam and Gov. Tom Wolf to immediately rescind the order to avoid further problems in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine,” their statement said. It was signed by the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians and Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association.

Source: Doctors push back against new Pa. Health Department COVID-19 vaccine policy | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh permanently closes Camp Soles in Somerset County; tentative sales agreement in works | TribLIVE.com

Source: YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh permanently closes Camp Soles in Somerset County; sale in works | TribLIVE.com

The 263-acre camp was a destination for kids, families and school groups for generations.

The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh was unable to sustain the camp because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Carolyn Grady, chief development officer.

“Camp T. Frank Soles operated over the summer with pandemic restrictions but was never able to regain the level of program participation that would make it financially viable,” she said in a statement. “We made the difficult decision to end programs at Camp Soles in October and listed the building for sale.

Despite vaccine, Redstone Highlands reports covid spike at Greensburg facility | TribLIVE.com

About 1,000 employees and staff members at Redstone Highlands’ three skilled nursing facilities have their first and, in some cases, second doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

With the facilities on their way to being protected, president and CEO John Dickson said it was a shock to learn the virus made its way back in. An outbreak of covid-19 was reported in the Greensburg center, where 15 residents and three staff members tested positive during the past week. One resident died.

“This has been surprising to us,” Dickson said.

Source: Despite vaccine, Redstone Highlands reports covid spike at Greensburg facility | TribLIVE.com

Bombshell Report Surfaces On COVID Deaths In New York Nursing Homes – YouTube

Learn about vaccine progress from the CDC

Bombshell Report Surfaces On COVID Deaths In New York Nursing Homes

Republicans were outraged. U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., called for a Justice Department investigation.

“The families of thousands of dead New York seniors deserve accountability and justice for the true consequences of Governor Cuomo’s fatally flawed nursing home policy and the continued attempts to cover it up. It’s clear what’s happening here is criminal,” Zeldin said.

The Post report coincided with a second correction from state officials in as many weeks about underreported nursing-home deaths.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., demanded that Cuomo and his “senior team” be “prosecuted immediately” in connection with DeRosa’s revelations. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

PFAS exposure linked with worse COVID-19 outcomes | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

People who had elevated blood levels of a toxic chemical called perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) had an increased risk of a more severe course of COVID-19 than those who did not have elevated levels, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. PFBA is part of a class of man-made chemicals known as perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs), which have previously been shown to suppress immune function.

The study, published December 31, 2020 in PLOS ONE, was led by Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health.

PFASs have water- and grease-resistant properties and are used in a wide variety of products, including nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, food packaging, and firefighting foams. PFBA, more than other PFASs, is known to accumulate in the lungs, according to the study.

Source: PFAS exposure linked with worse COVID-19 outcomes | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Chicago strikes deal with teachers to reopen school buildings – The Washington Post

Teachers in Chicago, home to the nation’s third-largest school district, are set to return to classrooms this week after striking a deal with the city on health and safety standards, capping months of tense negotiations that raised the specter of a strike during a school year that has already seen repeated disruptions.

Chicago Teachers Union officials accepted the agreement begrudgingly after concluding that they would be unlikely to extract any more concessions from the city. Nearly 70 percent of members who cast ballots endorsed accepting the agreement, less than a day after union brass had passed a vote of “no confidence” in Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D).

Source: Chicago strikes deal with teachers to reopen school buildings – The Washington Post

Vaccine passports: Path back to normality or problem in the making?

LONDON – Governments and developers around the world are exploring the potential use of “vaccine passports” as a way of reopening the economy by identifying those protected against the coronavirus.

Those developing the technologies however, say such tools come with consequences such as potentially excluding whole groups from social participation, and are urging lawmakers to think seriously about how they are used.

The travel and entertainment industries, which have struggled to operate at a profit while imposing social distancing regulations, are particularly interested in a way of swiftly checking who has protection.

Among those developing passports are biometrics company iProov and cyber security firm Mvine which have built a vaccine pass now being tested within Britain’s National Health Service after receiving UK government funding.

Source: Vaccine passports: Path back to normality or problem in the making?

Pennsylvania Covid-19 vaccination appointment hotline intercepted by hackers – CNN

At some point “mid-afternoon,” the Allegheny County health department and the 2-1-1 service became aware that a hacker was intercepting callers and diverting them away from the help line without their knowledge, officials said.

Source: Pennsylvania Covid-19 vaccination appointment hotline intercepted by hackers – CNN

Supreme Court lifts California worship bans prompted by coronavirus – POLITICO

The ruling issued just before 11 p.m. ET Friday produced four separate statements by the justices.

However, a majority of the court was only willing to lift the ban California has applied on all indoor worship in Tier 1 counties — those most challenged by Covid-19. The other restrictions remain undisturbed, for now.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Friday night ruling: new Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose conservative Catholic views drew suspicion from many liberals in advance of her confirmation last year, declined to grant the churches the most sweeping relief favored by her most conservative colleagues.

Source: Supreme Court lifts California worship bans prompted by coronavirus – POLITICO

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