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Thread: COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus pandemic

  1. #451
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    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crim...iled-1.4293744

    There is now a Coughing assault allegation in Ireland and now that person has been convicted for the assault.

    A judge on Wednesday jailed a woman for six months for the assault on two paramedics when coughing in their direction in the back of an ambulance and telling them “I have the virus”.

    At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan stated Rebecca Blunnie’s behaviour on April 10th last “was of an absolutely appalling nature”.

    Blunnie (30) of Pella Road, Kilrush had pleaded guilty to the assault of paramedics David Meaney and Frank Greaney at Dunogrogue, Killimer, on April 10th.

    Sgt Aiden Lonergan stated the two paramedics were within one metre of Blunnie when she coughed in the confined space of an ambulance and stated she had the virus.

    Judge Durcan said: “On that date, this country was in a maelstrom in the middle of the worst public health crisis that has ever been experienced here.

    “Ambulance service personnel were laying their lives on the line day in and day out to assist people who were genuinely ill,” he said.

    Judge Durcan stated that in her drunken, selfish stupor, Blunnie had an ambulance sent for her. He added that Blunnie, who has 43 previous convictions, “has an appalling record”.

    Blunnie told the court previously: “It was just a joke. I didn’t mean to do it” and later added “I don’t have the virus”.

    Solicitor for Blunnie, Monica Roche, told the court her client sincerely apologises to the paramedics and the garda? for her actions.

  2. #452
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    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Keeping your friend in my thoughts and prayers.
    Your results may be negative.
    I would think if you had it, they wouldn't be so lackadaisical in allowing a covid- positive person to be walking around not knowing. But then again, government agents suck.
    I hope you don't have it!
    Thank you! That is what I am thinking also, but who knows. I just watched the news and they are saying they have all test results out now by 6 days, even with the increased testing. WRONG!

  3. #453
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    Quote Originally Posted by raisedbywolves View Post
    Thank you! That is what I am thinking also, but who knows. I just watched the news and they are saying they have all test results out now by 6 days, even with the increased testing. WRONG!

    Hope for the best!

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    https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020...edical-exempt/



    CERES (CBS13) – Sara Fontana is upset she was kicked out of her In-Shape gym in Ceres for not wearing a mask while working out. She has asthma and says wearing a mask while running isn’t doable.

    “I fall under one of the exemptions, medical condition,” she said.

    Under the state’s guidelines for face coverings, people must wear a face covering when inside any indoor public space. But people with a medical condition are exempt including those who may have a hard time breathing because of the mask.

    But can a business refuse service to someone for not wearing a mask? Even if they are exempt?

    Attorney Mark Reichel says a business can ask a customer if they are exempt.

    “If someone is asserting an exemption, absolutely. The burden is on them obviously to prove their exemption is legitimate and to back it up with medical paperwork,” Reichel explained.

    Fontana just wishes her situation was handled differently.

    “They need to come up with some form of identification maybe they put us in a specific spot so people know that there is an exemption for these people working out,” she said.

    Francesca Schuler, CEO of In-Shape Health Clubs, said in a statement:

    Our policy has and always will be to work with members to handle exemptions. We offered our member as we do with all members an opportunity to work with us on finding an accommodation to keep her safe and all members around her safe but she chose to not take advantage of it which then could place other members in the club at risk. Her membership has not been canceled. We are reaching out to her again and hoping we can find a safe and suitable solution.

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    https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020...-win-over-rest

    Science’s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.

    Within days of the first confirmed novel coronavirus case in the United States on 20 January, antivaccine activists were already hinting on Twitter that the virus was a scam—part of a plot to profit from an eventual vaccine.
    Nearly half a year later, scientists around the world are rushing to create a COVID-19 vaccine. An approved product is still months, if not years, away and public health agencies have not yet mounted campaigns to promote it. But health communication experts say they need to start to lay the groundwork for acceptance now, because the flood of misinformation from antivaccine activists has surged.

    Such activists have “kicked into overdrive,” says Neil Johnson, a physicist at George Washington University who studies the dynamics of antivaccine groups on social networks. He estimates that in recent months, 10% of the Facebook pages run by people asking questions about vaccines have already switched to antivaccine views.

    Recent polls have found as few as 50% of people in the United States are committed to receiving a vaccine, with another quarter wavering. Some of the communities most at risk from the virus are also the most leery: Among Black people, who account for nearly one-quarter of U.S. COVID-19 deaths, 40% said they wouldn’t get a vaccine in a mid-May poll by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago. In France, 26% said they wouldn’t get a coronavirus vaccine.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now working on a plan to boost “vaccine confidence” as part of the federal effort to develop a vaccine, Director Robert Redfield told a Senate committee this week. Advocates urge campaigns that include personal messages and storytelling. “We better use every minute we have between now and when that vaccine or vaccines are ready, because it’s real fragile ground right now,” says Heidi Larson, an anthropologist and head of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

    Even before the pandemic, public health agencies around the world were struggling to counter increasingly sophisticated efforts to turn people against vaccines. With vaccination rates against measles and other infectious diseases falling in some locations, the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 listed “vaccine hesitancy” as one of 10 major global health threats.

    Any coronavirus vaccine will face additional hurdles, especially the lack of a long-term safety record, Johnson says. The frenetic pace of vaccine development may play into that concern. Even advocates have worried that the rush for a vaccine raises the risk it could be ineffective or have harmful side effects. Consider the very name for the U.S. vaccine initiative, Operation Warp Speed, says Bruce Gellin, president of the nonprofit Sabin Vaccine Institute. “What is a worse name for something that’s supposed to give you trust in a product that you want everybody to take?”

    Do you plan to get a coronavirus vaccine when one is available?
    For some in the United States, the answer is no, according to a survey of 1056 people in mid-May.

    Overall
    Under age 60
    Age 60 and older
    White
    Black
    Hispanic
    49
    31
    20
    40
    35
    23
    67
    21
    12
    56
    27
    16
    25
    32
    40
    37
    37
    23
    Yes
    Not sure
    No
    Did not answer
    (GRAPHIC) V. ALTOUNIAN/SCIENCE; (DATA) ASSOCIATED PRESS–NORC CENTER FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
    Del Bigtree, a U.S.-based vaccine critic, claims scientists are pursuing one of “the most dangerous vaccines ever attempted,” for a virus that poses little risk to most people. He says he spreads his message through an online talk show, Twitter, and presentations, and that “we have seen incredible growth” since the pandemic started.

    In addition to safety concerns, activists have embraced a plethora of other antivaccine messages. In May, a documentary-style video, “Plandemic,” purporting that COVID-19 related deaths were exaggerated and a vaccine could kill millions, got more than 7 million views on YouTube before it was removed because of its unsubstantiated claims. U.S. activists in late April hosted an online “Freedom Health Summit” featuring antivaccine leaders and railing against “medical tyranny” during shutdowns. Other outlandish claims include that vitamin C can cure COVID-19 and that the disease is a conspiracy involving philanthropist Bill Gates. Statements by French doctors that coronavirus vaccines might be tested in Africa led to fears of Africans being exploited in trials.

    Social media posts that create the impression of a real debate over vaccine safety can tap into psychological habits that make people think doing nothing is safer than taking action, says Damon Centola, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania. He fears such concerns could spread more easily among people already suspicious of medical authority, including minority communities. For example, many Black people are keenly aware of the history of medical experiments such as the infamous federal Tuskegee Study, which failed to treat Black men with syphilis. “That, to me, is the major issue of the day that I’m very worried about,” Centola says.

    Accuracy and authority are at a disadvantage in a media environment that favors speed, emotion, and memorable stories, says Peter Sheridan Dodds, a complex systems scientist at the University of Vermont who studies how ideas move through social media. Antivaccine activists have used those factors to attract followers, Dodds says. “In the end, it’s story wars.”

    Vaccine promoters say they need to start now to counter all this, because epidemiologists estimate that to break the pandemic, 70% of the population may need to develop immunity, either by getting a vaccine or becoming infected. Health communication experts suggest taking some pages from the antivaccine playbook. When more than
    40 experts from around the world gathered online for a strategy session organized by experts with the City University of New York and LSHTM, a top recommendation was to develop faster, more creative ways to communicate with the public that “speak more directly to the emotions.”

    Traditional messages promoting vaccination—authoritative and fact-filled—just don’t cut it with people worried about vaccine safety, says Larson, who helped organize the 20 May meeting. “We don’t have enough flavors” of messages, adds Larson, whose book about vaccine rumors is about to be released. “I’ve had people say to me, ‘All these social media platforms can send us to WHO or CDC. … We’ve been there, but it doesn’t have the answers to the questions we have.’”

    Some current initiatives have pioneered a more story-based approach. The National HPV Vaccination Roundtable, which promotes vaccination against the human papillomavirus, a leading cause of cervical cancer, uses YouTube videos of women who survived cervical cancer. “We need to get better at storytelling,” says Noel Brewer, a behavioral scientist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and chair of the HPV roundtable. “We need to carry positive stories and also negative stories about the harms of not vaccinating.” The downsides of refusing a coronavirus vaccine might include not visiting grandparents and continuing to traverse the produce aisle as if it were a minefield.

    In West Africa, officials are deploying the same tools that spread rumors about vaccines to counter them, says Thabani Maphosa, who oversees operations in 73 countries for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which supplies and promotes vaccines around the world. In Liberia, for example, officials are using Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging app to survey people and to address the rumors behind a drop in routine vaccinations. “We need to use this as a teachable moment,” Maphosa says.

    In the United States, the nonprofit Public Good Projects plans to recruit volunteers to swarm outbreaks of vaccine misinformation online and eventually develop memes and videos, says CEO Joe Smyser.

    But the most effective tools may lie outside the digital realm. Real-world nudges and infrastructure, such as phone call reminders to come in for a shot, may be more powerful than any social media campaign, Brewer says. Social media doesn’t have “as much of an effect as you would imagine from the noise it’s generating,” he adds.

    Public health agencies should consider taking vaccinations out of medical settings and into places where people work or shop, adds Monica Schoch-Spana, a medical anthropologist at Johns Hopkins University. That also means talking to leaders in various communities to understand their views. Such outreach could prove particularly important with minority communities. “You really do have to meet people where they are both figuratively and literally,” she says.

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    https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/coronavi...ports/2400647/

    The Alabama Department of Public Health said it could not verify reports of so-called COVID-19 parties where students deliberately tried to become infected, but also warned people not to try it.

    Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry told news outlets this week that she heard of students holding parties and wagering over who would become infected.

    The department said it could not verify any parties where persons tried to contract COVID-19 but warned that it is a dangerous and sometimes deadly virus.

    Persons should not willfully expose themselves to this virus both for their own health and the health of others," the department said.

    Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith told the City Council on Tuesday that fire officials confirmed some students had attended parties despite knowing they were infected.

    The department thought the parties were rumors, but Smith said after some research, officials discovered they were real.

    The Department of Public Health said people with COVID-19 are to remain in home quarantine and could be fined for violating quarantine.

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    https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/coronavi...id-19/2401569/

    Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo has tested positive for COVID-19. He is asymptomatic, and is at home self-isolating, Rangers President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels told the local media on Monday.

    Gallo initially tested positive as a result of his intake test on June 27. A follow-up test came up negative on June 30. The team then waited 48 hours, tested him again, and received the result on Sunday that he was positive.

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    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN2481EK

    The President of Brazil has been tested positive for COVID-19

    SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, adding in a television interview that he was in good health despite running a fever.

    The right-wing populist, who has played down the severity of the virus which he has called a “little flu,” took the test on Monday after developing symptoms.

    In the interview broadcast on state-run TV Brasil, Bolsonaro said he began feeling ill on Sunday and has been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug with unproven effectiveness against COVID-19.

    Brazil has the world’s second-largest outbreak behind the United States. Latin America’s largest country has more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and 65,000 COVID-19 deaths.

    Bolsonaro has repeatedly defied local guidelines to wear a mask in public, even after a judge ordered him to do so in late June. Bolsonaro has also railed against social distancing rules supported by the World Health Organization.

    Over the weekend, Bolsonaro attended several events and was in close contact with U.S. Ambassador Todd Chapman during July 4 celebrations. Pictures showed neither wearing a mask.

    The U.S. embassy in Brasilia said via Twitter on Monday that the ambassador had lunch on July 4 with Bolsonaro, five ministers and the president’s son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro. The ambassador had no symptoms, but would undergo testing and is “taking precautions,” the embassy said.

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    https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/atl...ws-no-symptoms

    The Mayor of Atlanta has been tested positive for COVID-19

    ATLANTA - Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

    In a tweet Monday afternoon, she wrote about the positive test results but said she showed no signs of the illness.

    Her tweet reads:

    "COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive."

    The mayor's office has offered no further information regarding the the mayor's tweet.

    According to scientists at Scripps Research Institute, asymptomatic people may account for 40 to 45% of cases. Researchers say that even without any symptoms, CAT scans showed lung damage in patients.

    After a record-breaking week in per-day increases in confirmed coronavirus cases, new cases in Georgia is now on a steady increase. As of 3 p.m. Monday, the Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed 97,064 coronavirus cases, an increase of 6,571 cases since Friday, or an average of 2,190 new cases each day. At the current rate, the state could break the 10,00 mark before the end of the week.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the symptoms of COVID-19 include:

    • Cough

    • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

    • Fatigue

    • Muscle or body aches

    • Headache

    • New loss of taste or smell

    • Sore throat

    • Congestion or runny nose

    • Nausea or vomiting

    • Diarrhea

    • Trouble breathing

    • Persistent pain or pressure in the chest

    • New confusion

    • Inability to wake or stay awake

    • Bluish lips or face

    Know how the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting Georgia

    Best prevention measures:

    • Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least twenty seconds.

    • If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

    • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

    • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

    • Stay home when you are sick.

    • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

    • Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces

  12. #462
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    Starting tomorrow everyone here will have to wear a mask in public. We are in the "red zone".

    I just drove by the testing center and damn. It was packed.

    Im ashamed to admit I had to take my mask off at the grocery store today. I was so hot I almost passed out and im a fainter. I probably have covid now. Also my son wont wear a mask but i saw a bunch of kids wearing one.

    "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin

    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Chelsea, if you are a ghost and reading mds, I command you to walk into the light.

  13. #463
    Senior Member curiouscat's Avatar
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    My county is now a hot spot.
    How naive I was for being glad that other counties were getting hit hard and we weren't.
    Quote Originally Posted by Boston Babe 73 View Post
    I don't have a thousand dollars hanging around to buy a fart in a jar lol.

  14. #464
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    My mom is working at a testing site tomorrow and I'm really worried she's going to get infected.

    "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin

    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Chelsea, if you are a ghost and reading mds, I command you to walk into the light.

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    https://abc7.com/society/newsom-orde...death/6304295/

    LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- California is honoring a senior detention officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, the agency's first employee to die from COVID-19.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that state Capitol flags will fly at half-staff in remembrance of Erica McAdoo, who was assigned to the agency's Custody Services Division.

    The 39-year-old "lost her valiant battle with coronavirus" late Friday evening, the LAPD said in a statement. She is believed to be the first LAPD officer to die after contracting COVID-19.

    "Jennifer and I were extremely saddened to learn of the death of Senior Detention Officer Erica McAdoo, who lost her courageous fight with COVID-19,'' Newsom said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and her LAPD colleagues as they mourn her untimely passing."

    McAdoo is survived by her mother, Donna Royston.

    LAPD officials said there were 287 department employees who are currently at home after having been exposed to or have tested positive for COVID-19.

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    My friend's SIL was supposed to get tested. He missed his appt. He just got notified that he is positive, and they contact traced 22 relatives of his and told them that they needed to get tested. HE NEVER GOT TESTED. WTF?!

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    Quote Originally Posted by raisedbywolves View Post
    My friend's SIL was supposed to get tested. He missed his appt. He just got notified that he is positive, and they contact traced 22 relatives of his and told them that they needed to get tested. HE NEVER GOT TESTED. WTF?!
    Do they have him confused with someone else? Maybe someone with the same/similiar name?

    "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin

    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Chelsea, if you are a ghost and reading mds, I command you to walk into the light.

  18. #468
    Senior Member curiouscat's Avatar
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    If I die from coronavirus, I was really murdered!
    My husband refuses to wear a mask indoors.
    Quote Originally Posted by Boston Babe 73 View Post
    I don't have a thousand dollars hanging around to buy a fart in a jar lol.

  19. #469
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    Quote Originally Posted by Angiebla View Post
    Do they have him confused with someone else? Maybe someone with the same/similiar name?
    I have no idea. I was floored.

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    https://www.kron4.com/news/californi...ublic-schools/

    Yes COVID-19, Politics and school funding are at play here.

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KRON) – California and several other states are suing the Trump Administration over coronavirus relief funds meant for schools across the country.

    California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday the state is suing the U.S. Department of Education and its secretary Betsy Devos.

    The lawsuit claims the department is attempting to divert some pandemic relief funds meant for K-12 public schools to private schools.

    “The Trump Administration has this bad habit of ripping off those most at need,” Becerra said.

    Becerra says the CARES Act established $13.2 billion in relief to schools nationwide using title one funds which are earmarked for low income families.

    But the lawsuit claims the Trump Administration set a new rule allowing school districts to receive money based on total student population, leading tens of millions of dollars away from public schools in the poorest districts to pricey private schools.

    Becerra noting private schools have been eligible for funds under a different federal aid source, the paycheck protection program.

    State officials warning this could cost California public schools $1.5 billion.

    “It’s not that private schools are categorically ineligible for relief, it’s that Congress called for these funds to be distributed on the basis of need,” Becerra said.

    The Department of Education didn’t comment on the specifics of the lawsuit but said the CARES Act requires funding to be used to help all students.

    This latest lawsuit marking California’s 85th against the Trump Administration.

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    https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/cor...virus/2361205/

    Wait What the Fuck??? I thought Hydroxychloroquine kills people who are not Lupus and Malaria Patients??

    Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he is confident that he will swiftly recover from the new coronavirus thanks to treatment with hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that has not been proven effective against COVID-19.

    Bolsonaro said he tested positive for the new coronavirus on Tuesday after months of downplaying its severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country.

    The president told reporters he underwent a lung X-ray on Monday after experiencing fever, muscle aches and malaise. As of Tuesday, his fever had subsided, he said, and he attributed the improvement to hydroxychloroquine.

    He stepped back from the journalists and removed his mask at one point to show that he looked well.

    The 65-year-old right-wing populist who has been known to mingle in crowds without covering his face confirmed the results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters huddled close in front of him in the capital, Brasilia.

    “I'm, well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations,” Bolsonaro said.

    Later Tuesday, he posted a video to Facebook of him taking his third dose of hydroxychloroquine, which has also been promoted by President Donald Trump..

    “Today I’m a lot better, so certainly it’s working,” Bolsonaro said, downing the dose with a glass of water. “We know today there are other remedies that can help fight the coronavirus. We know none of them have their efficacy scientifically proven, but I’m one more person for whom this is working. So I trust hydroxychloroquine. And you?”

    Brazil, the world's sixth-biggest nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the outbreak's most lethal hot spots. More than 65,000 Brazilians have died from COVID-19, and over 1.5 million have been infected.

    Both numbers are the world’s second-highest totals, behind those of the U.S., though the true figures are believed to be higher because of a lack of widespread testing. On Tuesday alone, 1,254 deaths were confirmed.

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    https://www.kxly.com/freedom-foundat...ent-overreach/

    An advocacy group has filed a lawsuit challenging Washington’s mask mandate, and whether Governor Inslee and Secretary of Health John Wiesman have the authority to issue such an order.

    The lawsuit was filed by the Freedom Foundation, a non-profit organization with offices in Washington, Oregon, Ohio and California.

    According to its website, the Freedom Foundation’s mission is to “advance individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government.”

    The organization has equated the mask mandate in Washington to “government overreach,” and says it violates the First Amendment.

    “If people choose to wear a mask, that’s their choice. But Inslee is going after otherwise law-abiding citizens when there are rioters destroying Washington cities such as Seattle with no punishment in sight,” said Aaron Withe, national director of the Freedom Foundation.

    The FF argues the mandate goes against Washingtonian’s freedom of conscience, which is prohibited by the state constitution.


    Washington’s mask mandate went into effect at the end of June, requiring everyone in Washington to wear a face covering when indoors or in a public setting where social distancing isn’t possible.

    Inslee recently expanded the order, requiring businesses to legally turn away customers who refuse to wear a mask.

    The mandate was issued in an attempt to lower a recent spike in COVID-19 cases statewide.

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    https://www.fox9.com/news/minnesota-...d-by-the-state

    (FOX 9) - A Minnesota State Senator and doctor known for disputing government-reported fatality data related to COVID-19 says he is being investigated by the Minnesota State Board of Medical Practice in Minnesota.

    In a Facebook video Sunday, Dr. Scott Jensen, a Republican state senator for Carver County and a family medicine doctor, said he was “ticked” to receive notice from the state that he was being investigated.

    Jensen said he is being investigated for public statements he made “spreading misinformation” about death certificates and COVID-19 on a news program and “provided reckless advice” comparing COVID-19 and influenza.

    Jensen has been a vocal critic of Minnesota’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including disputing the reported death totals, disputing future modeling of the virus and comparing the virus to influenza.
    In the video, Jensen said he was “trying to provide some context for the flu, for COVID-19.”

    He took particular issue with COVID-19’s place on death certificates, saying that too many death cases where COVID-19 was “assumed to have caused or if it contributed” were listed as COVID-19 deaths. He pointed to medical guidelines that say the virus should not be listed unless the patient was confirmed positive.

    Jensen said the Medical Practice Board does “important work” and said he plans to “fully cooperate with them,” but went on to say that he feels targeted by anonymous complainants. He lamented the fact that he was not allowed to know who complained about him.

    “I don’t know what to tell ya,” he said in the video. “I just know this is wrong.”

    The Board of Medical Practice is made up of 16 members, including 11 physicians and five members of the general public who are appointed by the Governor. The board works with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office when reviewing complaints against physicians, the Board’s web page says.

    Most complaints are about competency, impairment or chemical abuse, sexual misconduct and inappropriate prescribing, the Board’s website says.


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    https://www.wkms.org/post/west-ky-tv...tests#stream/0


    A west Kentucky television station manager told his employees they need his permission before getting tested for coronavirus, after an employee at the station tested positive for infection by the virus. Some employees of the station’s parent company, Paxton Media Group, say that policy discourages them from getting a test. Health and legal experts say the station policy is problematic, putting employees of the station and the public at large at risk for spreading the virus.

    Some employees of WPSD-TV in Paducah say their coverage promoting safety measures against the spread of COVID-19 is disconnected from how the company protects employees from the virus. The Ohio Valley ReSource spoke on background with three people associated with Paxton Media Group — which owns WPSD, the Paducah Sun newspaper, and numerous other media outlets in west Kentucky. Those people, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid reprisal, say they fear their health and safety is not a priority at the company. They cited a memo from Bill Evans, the Vice President and General Manager of WPSD, implementing a new testing protocol at WPSD that legal and health experts say is problematic.

    “If you DID NOT have direct contact (within six feet, for more than 10 minutes) with the employee that tested positive, and you ARE NOT showing symptoms — there is no reason to get tested,” Evans wrote in the memo dated June 26, which was subsequently posted on social media. “Any further COVID-19 testing will be done with my approval only.”

    Evans added that the station’s weekend morning newscast would be cancelled due to the need to isolate employees after being tested. He also stated that getting his permission for testing would let the station manage “staffing needs.”


    An excerpt from the WPSD management memo instructing employees to get permission before a COVID-19 test.
    CREDIT LIAM NIEMEYER / OHIO VALLEY RESOURCE

    PMG sources said some WPSD employees potentially exposed to the person who tested positive had already received COVID-19 tests before the June 26 memo was issued.

    Evans, who is also publisher of the Paducah Sun, declined an on-the-record interview about the memo. In a July 8 statement to the ReSource, Evans acknowledged an employee tested positive and that afterwards employees who had close contact with that person were tested. The June 26 memo states some employees were tested at Baptist Health Paducah Hospital’s Urgent Care.

    All employees were then required to wear masks in common areas of the workplace. Some asymptomatic employees who weren’t in close contact with the positive case also requested and received tests, he said, and the facilities offering the test required all employees tested to not return to work until getting a negative test result.

    “As a result, we were required to cancel our weekend morning newscasts. I directed that any other employee that wished to be tested should clear such testing with me so that I could make staffing arrangements in anticipation of the state mandated quarantine following such testing,” Evans said in the statement. “No other employee indicated that they wished to be tested. The following week every employee who had been tested reported receiving a negative test result.”

    Susan Dunlap, Executive Director of the Office of Public Affairs in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in a statement state health officials only recommend — not mandate — that Kentuckians quarantine after receiving a test in all cases to prevent the spread of the virus.

    Sources associated with PMG said the June 26 memo discouraged employees from getting COVID-19 tests on their own out of fear of reprisal from management. Sources also said the protocol in the memo was still in force, publicly posted in WPSD’s office as of July 7.

    Leading experts in public health, employment law, and media commentary say the station memo’s demand for permission to get coronavirus testing could expose PMG to legal liability, potentially violate state COVID-19 guidance for employers, and could put the health of employees and the public at large at risk.

    “Insanely Reckless”

    PMG sources detailed how in the months leading up to when the positive case was discovered among station employees, they felt that measures to protect employees at WPSD and The Paducah Sun were rudimentary, or an afterthought. One source said that social distancing behind the camera in the WPSD workplace wasn’t taken seriously until after the positive case was discovered.

    Two sources expressed that while alternatives were offered for doing interviews and reporting remotely, there was an expectation among management of The Paducah Sun and WPSD that reporting in public was preferred, even if some in-person reporting wasn’t necessary in light of risks due to the pandemic.

    In regards to the specific June 26 memo sent to WPSD employees, one source stated the memo was viewed in a negative light by staff, and the source worried that news of the memo would hurt the station’s credibility, considering the station’s extensive coverage of the pandemic and various safety measures.

    WPSD reporters covered some of the first meetings of McCracken County leaders as the specter of the pandemic materialized, making trips to local hospitals, into businesses, and talking with residents out in public. WPSD also provides a link to an information guide on their website’s landing page on coronavirus-related resources, including how to sew face masks, a list of local food pantries, and a list of regional testing sites.

    The same source also expressed dismay over what they saw as inaction by local government and health leaders on addressing the memo. The memo had been posted on social media, receiving discussion on Facebook as early as June 27.

    ”We’re in a life or death situation, and you’re telling us that we have to seek approval to get tested for this? I mean, it’s only killed over 120,000 people in the country so far,” a source said. “It’s just insanely reckless.”

    This source said even though they were asymptomatic and weren’t around the positive case for an extended period of time, they hadn’t received a test in part out of fear of reprisal from management from having to potentially miss work days until receiving a test result.

    “It’s kind of like we’re playing Red Rover with the coronavirus, and this isn’t a type of game you play for fun. Coronavirus is a life or death situation, and we should have been taking this way more seriously from the jump,” the same source said.

    Kentucky Department for Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack said in a statement that his department has consistently encouraged everyone, employers and employees, to isolate and receive testing if sick.

    “If an employer issued a memo, internal or otherwise, that discouraged employees from getting tested, they have endangered their employees, the public at large, and have violated the Healthy at Work guidance that has been published since early/mid-May,” Stack said in his statement.

    Stack referenced Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order from May 11, establishing “Healthy at Work” guidance for employers. The guidance states employers should have all employees experiencing COVID-19 symptoms receive a test within 36 hours, with employees trained on how to isolate certain cases, and make accommodations for employees at higher risk from the virus, among other requirements.

    Stack also referenced recent guidance from June 29 that requires employers to have a testing plan in place to prevent further spread of COVID-19 in a workplace. The guidance for a testing plan recommends employers to have a protocol in place to identify and test symptomatic employees and isolate close contacts, remaining in quarantine for 14 days to see if COVID-19 symptoms develop.

    The Kentucky Labor Cabinet enforces non-compliance of the “Healthy at Work” guidance. Cabinet Chief of Staff Marjorie Arnold said in a statement that cabinet employees can serve “Orders to Cease Operations to companies for failing to follow requirements and Notices of Deficiency for companies that have had minor deficiencies identified.”

    Arnold said an Order to Cease Operations mandates a company to stop operating until the company comes into compliance, while a Notice of Deficiency lets a company continue to operate while submitting evidence of actions taken to correct “identified deficiencies.” She added employers who fail to follow Healthy at Work guidance could face monetary penalties.

    Legal Liability

    One Louisville-based attorney specializing in employment law and representing employees facing wrongful termination and dangerous work conditions said he believes the memo could expose Paxton Media Group to legal liability.

    “This company’s memo, what they are doing gets in the way of Kentucky’s public policy that favors testing. And so they should be able to sue them over it. And also enjoin the memo from ever being applied to anybody else,” said John Friend, a director and shareholder at Bishop Friend, P.S.C. “You have a lot of companies that are losing money, and they're panicking because they were not prepared for something like this. And when people panic, they do dumb stuff. In an era where there is not this COVID-19 going on, there is not a company in the United States of America that would send out a memo like this. Anywhere. Like, this is crazy.”

    Friend said while he couldn’t immediately point to a specific executive order or state statute that would clash with the memo’s protocol, he believes “if somebody decides to come after them, I think they're gonna have a problem.”


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