thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--The Battle For Florida’s Latino Voters Could Decide The Entire Presidential Election

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Donald Trump has ramped up his `` socialism '' attacks over the last two years , as @ @ @ @ @ Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — an effort many observers regard as a cynical ploy to @ @ @ @ @ voters in Florida in the 2020 election .
Two years ago , many Democrats believed @ @ @ @ @ focus on health care would help bolster its outreach to Latino voters , particularly in @ @ @ @ @ home to large Cuban American populations and some of the highest Affordable Care Act enrollment @ @ @ @ @ When they lost both the gubernatorial and Senate races , many Democrats figured that in @ @ @ @ @ to do more to counter the “ socialism ” narrative , no matter how cynical @ @ @ @

Donald Trump has ramped up his "socialism" attacks over the last two years, as he's tried to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — an effort many observers regard as a cynical ploy to target Cuban and Venezuelan American voters in Florida in the 2020 election. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
At the Republican National Convention last week, Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez painted a dire picture of America under Joe Biden. Reliving the story of her family’s decision to flee Cuba, she warned of a looming “socialist takeover of our nation” and urged voters to turn out for President Donald Trump.
“We can go down a dark road of chaos and government control,” said Nuñez, the chair of Latinos for Trump. “Or we can choose the path of freedom and opportunity that was paved by those who sacrificed everything to preserve the American Dream for future generations. Let us join our president in his vow that America will never be a socialist country!”
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To win the 2020 election, Trump needs Florida ― no Republican has won the White House without winning the state since 1924, and given Trump’s falling polling numbers in several key battlegrounds, it’s nearly impossible to come up with a combination of outcomes that gets Trump across the 270-vote electoral college threshold without Florida’s 29.
And to win Florida, the president likely needs Cuban Americans like Nuñez to support him in numbers similar to those of 2016, when 54% of Florida’s Cuban American voters backed him over his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
That has set up a furious fight between Trump and Biden for this familiar group of Floridians, who may no longer be the largest bloc of Latino voters in the Sunshine State but are still the most influential. And “socialism” has become a key focus of the dispute, especially as Trump has waged cynical battles to bring down socialist Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and cripple the Communist government in Cuba.
Protesters wear Cuban, Puerto Rican and Costa Rican flags during an anti-racist protest in Orlando, Florida, after the killing of George Floyd this spring. While Trump has accused Joe Biden of favoring radical "socialism" and fomenting unrest, the Biden campaign has begun to compare Trump's response to the protests to the authoritarian tendencies of the Latin American leaders the U.S. president claims to oppose. RICARDO ARDUENGO via Getty Images
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Unlike Democrats in recent elections, Biden isn’t ignoring the charge. He can’t afford to. He holds a slim lead in Florida overall — and summer polls from Fox News and CNN show him leading Trump by 17 and 19 points, respectively, among Florida’s Latinos — but that’s well behind Clinton’s 2016 margin. Biden’s relative struggle with Latinos nationwide has generated concern that he hasn’t done enough to pitch himself to Latinos who oppose Trump but aren’t sold on the Democratic candidate.
Biden is trying to flip the script on Trump, honing in not just on Cuban Americans but on South Florida’s small-but-growing segment of Venezuelan Americans. Last week, the Biden campaign organized a virtual roundtable where Latino supporters who’d fled Venezuela, Cuba and other authoritarian states in Latin America made the case that it’s Trump who is the caudillo so many Florida Latinos ran away from — the sort of dictatorial strongman they thought they’d left behind.
The federal government’s hard-line response to anti-racist protests this summer may help Biden’s argument. Diego Scharifker, a former student movement leader and city councilman in Caracas who left Venezuela amid Maduro’s crackdown on political opponents and protesters, said that images of federal agents firing tear gas at protesters outside the White House in June, all so Trump could stage a photo op, was a troubling reminder of home.
“Since I moved here to the U.S. three years ago, I feel like I am living a deja vu,” said Scharifker, a former member of the Venezuelan opposition (which Trump backs) who is now part of Venezolanos Con Biden, a grassroots offshoot of the Biden campaign, during the roundtable event. “I’m living the same situations I fled from my country because of political persecution and attacks against democracy.”
Daniela Ferrera, a 22-year-old who fled Cuba and now heads Cubanos Con Biden, added that her family is “terrified” of Trump and what his reelection in November would mean for the country they have adopted as their own.
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“We’re reliving the trauma that we lived in Cuba,” Ferrera said. “We lost one homeland, and we refuse to lose another.”
Another Fight Over ‘Socialism’
Trump has leaned into the “socialism” narrative, nationally and in Florida, mimicking the strategy Florida Republicans used against Democrats in 2018. That year, they won narrow victories in the state’s U.S. Senate and gubernatorial contests thanks in part to massive margins among Cuban American voters in South Florida, who had been trending toward Democrats in previous elections.
Trump’s saber-rattling approach to Maduro in Venezuela, the current government in Cuba, and President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua ― the so-called “Troika of Tyranny” of leftist Latin American leaders ― has helped boost support for Trump among Cuban Americans, two-thirds of whom approved of him in a November 2019 poll conducted by Equis Research, a firm that focuses on Latino voters. Among those who arrived in the U.S. after 1993 ― a group that has typically taken a more favorable view of Democrats ― three-quarters approved of Trump’s approach to Cuba and Venezuela.
The poll’s hypothetical head-to-head matchup between Trump and a generic Democrat found the president ahead 63-29, a result that the firm estimated would earn him an additional 90,000 votes over his total in 2016 when he won Florida by just more than 100,000 votes.
Trump’s failures to dislodge Maduro and deliver the “new day” of Latin American democracy he once promised ― or to address a novel coronavirus pandemic that has killed at least 10,000 Floridians and cratered the state’s economy ― has left him little choice but to ramp up the rhetoric to even higher volumes, said Frank Mora, a professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University in Miami.
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“It’s based on fear-mongering, and trying to play with peoples’ emotions and their frustration with a lack of change in Venezuela and Cuba,” Mora said. “When you have little to offer, or you don’t have much of an agenda that you can show, then you resort to this kind of fear-mongering.”
Trump lost Florida Latinos overall in 2016, but won 54% of Cuban American voters. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Biden’s efforts to push back are also informed by the 2018 defeats ― and the fact that nearly half of Cuban American voters are still up for grabs, according to Equis.
Two years ago, many Democrats believed the party’s national focus on health care would help bolster its outreach to Latino voters, particularly in South Florida counties that are home to large Cuban American populations and some of the highest Affordable Care Act enrollment rates in the country. When they lost both the gubernatorial and Senate races, many Democrats figured that in 2020, they would have to do more to counter the “socialism” narrative, no matter how cynical it might seem.
“There wasn’t pushback to be like, here’s what socialism is, and here’s what it isn’t,” said Stephanie Porta, the executive director of Organize Florida, a progressive grassroots group. “Or to really reposition that into a conversation about authoritarianism and what’s happening right now in our country.”
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Their failure to do so in 2018 may have hampered Democratic efforts to change the narrative of the election: Polls have shown that only a small number of Cuban Americans base their votes entirely on a candidate’s foreign policy toward the island, but in focus groups, Equis researchers found that the “mere mention of socialism” can flip Cuban Americans’ views on issues like health care, where polls show many have more favorable perceptions of progressive policies.
“There are things people won’t even consider ― like Medicaid expansion ― because it’s associated with these other [political] systems that have nothing to do with the moment,” said Ana Sofía Peláez, a Cuban American activist and writer who lives in Miami. After the 2018 elections, Peláez helped launch the Miami Freedom Project to bolster progressive engagement with Cuban voters in South Florida. “So we’ve really tried to refocus those conversations.”
“The president can yell ‘socialist’ and ‘communist’ all he wants, but it’s what he’s actually done that will count against him.” - Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.)
In an effort to blunt Trump’s potential momentum with undecided Cuban and Venezuelan voters, Democrats have argued that Trump’s authoritarian impulses have rendered him incapable of approaching Cuba and Venezuela as anything other than an extension of a domestic political and electoral agenda that is hostile to democracy and especially to Latinos.
Trump “hasn’t done anything” to improve the situations in Cuba or Venezuela, said Rep. Donna Shalala, a Miami Democrat who flipped a South Florida congressional district in 2018. “The president can yell ‘socialist’ and ‘communist’ all he wants, but it’s what he’s actually done that will count against him.”
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More than 4 million Venezuelans have left the country over the last five years amid an economic collapse and Maduro’s autocratic governance, but Trump and the GOP have refused to grant Temporary Protected Status to the 200,000 Venezuelan migrants who have attempted to enter the United States. (Biden has said he’d grant TPS to Venezuelans early in his administration.)
And while he has talked tough on Cuba, Trump has pulled Cubans ― who for decades enjoyed preferential immigration status in the U.S. ― into his broader crackdown on immigrants. The United States deported more than 1,100 Cubans in 2019, 10 times the number sent back to the island in the final year of Barack Obama’s presidency.
That has made immigration ― typically a less salient issue in Florida, given the prominence of its Puerto Rican and Cuban communities ― a bigger issue in this year’s elections, Shalala said.
Biden emphasized Trump’s policies at the Democratic National Convention. “He’s failed the Latino community time and again, in order to satisfy the vicious right-wing of his party that he keeps feeding raw meat to,” he said during a conversation with “Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Biden's strategy is informed by Democratic defeats in Florida in 2018, when Sen. Ben Nelson (D) lost his seat as Republican candidates exceeded expectations with Puerto Rican voters and ran up huge margins with Cubans. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
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The Pandemic Shifts The Landscape
Florida’s Latino and Caribbean communities are not a monolith, and Democrats’ losses in the recent elections can’t be chalked up to their struggles to engage Cuban American voters alone. In 2016, the party also lost ground among Haitian Americans; in 2018, it failed to turn out the expected number of Puerto Ricans, who make up the largest single group of Latino eligible voters in Florida after thousands relocated to the state in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
Efforts to win over Cuban American voters don’t necessarily help make up ground among other Latino voters, and “socialism” talk won’t get a candidate far, one way or the other, outside of South Florida. But focusing on Trump’s authoritarianism might: This year, Equis Research found in focus groups that highlighting Trump’s autocratic tendencies helped drive up opposition among Florida Latinos who aren’t Cuban or Venezuelan.
“I’m old enough to understand the patterns that characterize a dictatorship,” Frandley Julian, a Miami lawyer who was born in Haiti during the country’s Duvalier dictatorship, said during the virtual roundtable last week. “And when I’m looking at the current administration in the United States, I see those same patterns that I had to deal with back home.”
“Anti-Trump messaging is not sufficient. People want to know where Biden stands.” - Andrea Mercado, New Florida Majority
Countering the “socialist” attack, the Biden campaign clearly hopes, will also help it shift the focus of the election to the coronavirus pandemic ― which has disproportionately affected Latinos ― and the resulting economic collapse, which has sent unemployment rates skyrocketing and made issues like affordable housing and the minimum wage more prominent.
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“The Hispanic community has been disproportionately affected by COVID,” said Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is Ecuadorian American and flipped a GOP-held South Florida seat in 2018. “They’ve lost their jobs. They can’t get quality health care. They’re right now facing food insecurity. The rent is going up here. They know that under a Trump administration, their lives have gotten harder.”
Yet Trump is still above water among Florida Latinos for his handling of the economy, even amid the pandemic-driven downturn, and has recently tried to bolster his standing on that front with a Latino-focused agenda and ads slamming Biden for wanting to raise taxes.
“Anti-Trump messaging is not sufficient,” said Andrea Mercado, the executive director of New Florida Majority, a progressive grassroots group that has worked to engage and register Latino voters across the state. “People want to know where Biden stands.”
In January, the Florida Democratic Party purchased a billboard reading "Never Forget" in Spanish to remind Puerto Rican voters of Trump's dismissive approach in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2017. GREGG NEWTON via Getty Images
In August, Biden released his own agenda for the Latino community that outlines detailed policy proposals on a host of economic issues, including affordable housing, access to health care, jobs and wages, and support for Latino small businesses.
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“We’re going to use every tool at our disposal to take on inequities that hurt Latinos,” Biden said during the discussion with Miranda. He’s also hammered Trump for “turning his back” on Puerto Ricans in the wake of Hurricane Maria, promising that, as president, "I never will.”
There are still concerns, especially among progressives, that Biden hasn’t done enough to engage Latino community leaders or young voters who could help drive turnout to levels necessary to ensure a Democratic victory, and that the campaign and the party are still too focused on winning over moderates at the expense of the base. “Our swing voters are not people who swing from Republican to Democrat, they’re people who swing from voting and staying home,” Mercado said. “That is our task: To talk to and engage and expand the electorate.”
The Florida Democratic Party fell short of its goal to register 1 million new voters before the 2020 election. But more than 107,000 new Latino voters registered in 2019, according to the Florida secretary of state’s office, and while nearly half did not choose a party affiliation, 33% registered as Democrats, nearly double the number that chose the GOP.
Turnout for August’s state primary elections was especially high in South and Central Florida, and in Miami, at least, new voters came to the polls in huge numbers. Roughly one-third of the ballots cast were from first-time primary voters, according to Christian Ulvert, a veteran Florida political strategist.
Of the Democrats and unaffiliated voters who cast ballots for the first time, Ulvert said, 70% were Latinos.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--Reggae Legend Toots Hibbert Reportedly Placed In Medically Induced Coma

Reggae legend Toots Hibbert has reportedly been placed in a medically induced coma after exhibiting “ tell-tale symptoms ” of COVID-19 , according to LoopJamaica.com .
The 77-year-old lead singer of Toots and the Maytals was admitted into a private hospital in St. Andrew , Jamaica , after complaining about breathing difficulties .
HuffPost reached out to Hibbert ’ s camp for comment , but no one immediately responded .
However , Maytals manager Cabel Stephenson told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper that results from a coronavirus test for the singer are still pending .
Stephenson said that Hibbert isn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family and management want him to stay at the hospital “ under full observation because of his age and who he is.
” Hibbert is a legendary figure in reggae , known for classic songs such as “ Pressure Drop , ” “ 54-46 Is My Number ” and “ Monkey Man.
” His hospitalization comes just a week after the Maytals released their first album in a decade , “ Got To Be Tough , ” according to The Guardian .
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Reggae legend Toots Hibbert has reportedly been placed in a medically induced coma after exhibiting “tell-tale symptoms” of COVID-19, according to LoopJamaica.com.
The 77-year-old lead singer of Toots and the Maytals was admitted into a private hospital in St. Andrew, Jamaica, after complaining about breathing difficulties.
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HuffPost reached out to Hibbert’s camp for comment, but no one immediately responded. However, Maytals manager Cabel Stephenson told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper that results from a coronavirus test for the singer are still pending.
Stephenson said that Hibbert isn’t worried about catching COVID-19, but family and management want him to stay at the hospital “under full observation because of his age and who he is.”
Hibbert is a legendary figure in reggae, known for classic songs such as “Pressure Drop,” “54-46 Is My Number” and “Monkey Man.”
His hospitalization comes just a week after the Maytals released their first album in a decade, “Got To Be Tough,” according to The Guardian.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--Dr. Anthony Fauci Refutes COVID-19 Death Toll Claim Retweeted By Trump

Dr. Anthony Fauci this week debunked an online theory that suggested the coronavirus had accounted for only 9,000 U.S. fatalities , noting that such a figure was only a fraction of the actual death toll .
The infectious disease expert stated unequivocally on “ Good Morning America ” that more than 180,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 .
“ The point that the [ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ] was trying to make was that a certain percentage of them had nothing else , just COVID , ” Fauci said Tuesday .
“ That does not mean that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dies of COVID didn ’ t die of COVID-19 , but they did .
So the numbers you ’ ve been hearing , the 180,000 plus , are real deaths from COVID-19.
” “ Let there not be any confusion about that , ” he added .
“ It ’ s not 9,000 deaths from COVID-19 .
It ’ s 180,000-plus deaths.
” Fauci ’ s comments came in response to an Aug. 26 CDC report which found that for 6 % of the deaths included in its statistics , “ COVID-19 was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person ’ s death certificate .
Over the weekend , a supporter of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory identified as “ Mel Q ” reinterpreted those statistics in a since-deleted tweet .
In the tweet , Mel Q implied that the CDC had updated its figures to indicate “ only 6 % ” of people listed as coronavirus deaths actually died ” of COVID-19 , while the remaining “ 94 % had 2-3 other serious illnesses.
” Trump retweeted the claim shortly before Twitter flagged and deleted it for having violated the social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to CNN .
In his “ Good Morning America ” interview Tuesday , however , Fauci said he believed the president trusted his research in spite of the misleading tweets and public remarks .
“ I think when you get statements like that , that doesn ’ t really reflect what actually goes on , ” he said .
“ So I think it ’ s a distraction to pit me against the president .
We ’ re all on the same team .
”

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Dr. Anthony Fauci this week debunked an online theory that suggested the coronavirus had accounted for only 9,000 U.S. fatalities, noting that such a figure was only a fraction of the actual death toll.
The infectious disease expert stated unequivocally on “Good Morning America” that more than 180,000 Americans have died of COVID-19.
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“The point that the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] was trying to make was that a certain percentage of them had nothing else, just COVID,” Fauci said Tuesday. “That does not mean that someone who has hypertension, diabetes who dies of COVID didn’t die of COVID-19, but they did. So the numbers you’ve been hearing, the 180,000 plus, are real deaths from COVID-19.”
“Let there not be any confusion about that,” he added. “It’s not 9,000 deaths from COVID-19. It’s 180,000-plus deaths.”
Fauci’s comments came in response to an Aug. 26 CDC report which found that for 6% of the deaths included in its statistics, “COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned” on the person’s death certificate.
FULL INTERVIEW: Dr. Fauci weighs in on 6M US coronavirus cases, deaths and comorbidity.@arobach https://t.co/Jmk8Ni1mQV pic.twitter.com/ELvo50X68N — Good Morning America (@GMA) September 1, 2020
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Over the weekend, a supporter of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory identified as “Mel Q” reinterpreted those statistics in a since-deleted tweet.
In the tweet, Mel Q implied that the CDC had updated its figures to indicate “only 6%” of people listed as coronavirus deaths actually died” of COVID-19, while the remaining “94% had 2-3 other serious illnesses.”
Trump retweeted the claim shortly before Twitter flagged and deleted it for having violated the social media platform’s rules, according to CNN.
In his “Good Morning America” interview Tuesday, however, Fauci said he believed the president trusted his research in spite of the misleading tweets and public remarks.
“I think when you get statements like that, that doesn’t really reflect what actually goes on,” he said. “So I think it’s a distraction to pit me against the president. We’re all on the same team.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--States Asked To Prepare For Possible COVID Vaccine By Mid-Fall: Report

Public health officials across the country have been advised to prepare for the potential distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as late October or early November , The New York Times reported Wednesday , citing guidance sent out last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
A vaccine for the coronavirus has yet to be developed .
However , should that happen , the CDC says that limited amounts would first be distributed to health care workers and members of other high-risk groups .
The supply would “ increase substantially ” over the next year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reportedly sent to health officials in all 50 states as well as those in several major cities on Aug. 27 .
Should a potential vaccine be proven effective and safe by the end of October , roughly 2 million doses would be released .
Another 10-20 million doses would be released by the end of November , and 20-30 million more by the end of December , the CDC guidance states of one potential , hypothetical scenario intended for planning purposes only .
CDC Director Robert Redfield has also directly asked states to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permits for vaccine distribution sites , The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday , citing a letter he sent to the states , also on Aug. 27 .
“ CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities , and , if necessary , asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by Nov. 1 , 2020 , ” his letter read .
Redfield ’ s letter , along with the vaccine distribution guidance , went out the same day President Donald Trump announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus vaccine may be available before the end of the year .
A poster seeking volunteers for a possible COVID-19 vaccine study in Binghamton , New York , in July .
The FDA 's commissioner has said that he would be willing to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine before Phase 3 clinical trials were complete .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ― who has frequently been at odds with Trump over the virus ’ handling and prognosis ― told NBC ’ s “ Today ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe and effective vaccine ” will be developed “ by the time we get to the end of this calendar year.
” Fauci made no mention of when it may be distributed but he did suggest that he would be open to allowing an unapproved vaccine to be used under an Emergency Use Authorization , so long as there ’ s enough data showing it ’ s “ safe and effective for the American public.
” Dr. Stephen Hahn , the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration , told the Financial Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be willing to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine for use before Phase 3 clinical trials were complete as long as the benefits outweigh the risks .
He insisted that this authorization was not for the sake of Trump , who faces reelection in early November .
“ Having a vaccine ” and “ proving that a vaccine is safe and effective are two different things , ” Fauci told ABC News in response to news of Russia ’ s decision to skip the final large-scale clinical trial .

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Public health officials across the country have been advised to prepare for the potential distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as late October or early November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
A vaccine for the coronavirus has yet to be developed. However, should that happen, the CDC said in guidance sent to health officials last week that limited amounts would first be distributed to health care workers and members of other high-risk groups.
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The supply would “increase substantially” over the next year, according to the guidance first published by The New York Times, which was reportedly sent to health officials in all 50 states as well as those in several major cities on Aug. 27.
Should a potential vaccine be proven effective and safe by the end of October, roughly 2 million doses would be released. Another 10-20 million doses would be released by the end of November, and 20-30 million more by the end of December, the CDC guidance states of one potential, hypothetical scenario intended for planning purposes only.
President Donald Trump tours a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant where components for a potential coronavirus vaccine are being developed in North Carolina. Carlos Barria / reuters
CDC Director Robert Redfield has also directly asked states to speed up the approval process for building permits for vaccine distribution sites, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing a letter he sent to the states, also on Aug. 27.
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“CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities, and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by Nov. 1, 2020,” his letter read.
A CDC spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the documents published by the Times, as well as Redfield’s letter.
“COVID-19 vaccination program plans must be flexible and accommodate multiple scenarios based on what we’ve heard from vaccine manufactures,” the spokesperson said in an email to HuffPost. “For the purpose of initial planning, CDC provided states with certain planning assumptions as they work on state specific plans for vaccine distribution, including possibly having limited quantities of vaccines in October and November.”
Redfield’s letter, along with the vaccine distribution guidance, went out the same day President Donald Trump announced at the Republican National Convention that a coronavirus vaccine may be available before the end of the year.
“We are delivering lifesaving therapies and will produce a vaccine before the end of the year — or maybe even sooner,” he said.
A poster seeking volunteers for a possible COVID-19 vaccine study in Binghamton, New York, in July. The FDA's commissioner has said that he would be willing to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine before Phase 3 clinical trials were complete. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ― who has frequently been at odds with Trump over the virus’ handling and prognosis ― told NBC’s “Today” on Wednesday that he believes a “safe and effective vaccine” will be developed “by the time we get to the end of this calendar year.”
Fauci made no mention of when it may be distributed but he did suggest that he would be open to allowing an unapproved vaccine to be used under an Emergency Use Authorization, so long as there’s enough data showing it’s “safe and effective for the American public.”
Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told the Financial Times in an interview published Monday that he would be willing to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine for use before Phase 3 clinical trials were complete as long as the benefits outweigh the risks. He insisted that this authorization was not for the sake of Trump, who faces reelection in early November.
Fauci criticized Russia last month for skipping the final large-scale clinical trial of its promoted COVID-19 vaccine.
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“Having a vaccine” and “proving that a vaccine is safe and effective are two different things,” Fauci told ABC News in response to news of Russia’s decision to skip the final large-scale clinical trial.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--Canada’s Next Frontline Fight Is The Classroom. Are Teachers Ready?

FatCamera via Getty Images Teachers and students are preparing to go back to school in September amid the COVID-19 pandemic @ @ @ @ @ all really muddled and up in the air right now , ” she told HuffPost @ @ @ @ @ of us who ’ ve had medical notes , we don ’ t know what @ @ @ @ @ to be .
We don ’ t know if we will be sent back into @ @ @ @ @ much as you get the lip services of ‘ We want things safe for students @ @ @ @ @ feel like they want things safe for students to keep parents off their backs — @ @ @ @ @ think they want things safe for teachers , other than what they have to do @ @ @ @ @

Teachers and students are preparing to go back to school in September amid the COVID-19 pandemic. FatCamera via Getty Images
As teachers prepare to be the new frontline workers in the COVID-19 pandemic, many say they don’t feel their school reopening plan is safe.
In response to a callout, HuffPost Canada heard from over 100 teachers about their feelings on their province’s back-to-school plans.
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Many teachers are concerned about their own health; some have updated their wills, or consulted their doctors about the risks of returning to school. Many are also frightened of passing the virus on to older family members, or of students or their families becoming sick.
Still, most teachers acknowledge the benefits of going back to school: Children need socialization, and school will give them a routine and a sense of structure to their days. But while many say the face-to-face instruction will be beneficial for students, they still warn that rushed back-to-school plans could have disastrous consequences.
Ontario teachers feel left in the dark
Just over two weeks before the start of the school year, Sunita Albuquerque still doesn’t know if she’ll be teaching in-person or online.
The teacher of 22 years is immunocompromised and her husband has a serious heart condition. She submitted a medical accommodation document to the Toronto District School Board, but hasn’t heard back yet about where she’ll be teaching — or which grade — when classes start in September.
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Sunita Albuquerque has been a teacher for 22 years. She said she feels at risk teaching right now. Courtesy of Sunita Albuquerque
“It’s all really muddled and up in the air right now,” she told HuffPost Canada. “For those of us who’ve had medical notes, we don’t know what the online option is going to be. We don’t know if we will be sent back into the classroom.”
Before now, Albuquerque says, teachers have largely avoided the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, approaching a semester that’s expected to include — or at least begin with — in-person instruction, some won’t have a choice about returning to school.
““I don’t think I’ve ever felt so vulnerable and so much at risk in my whole life”
Albuquerque has been making sure her will is in order, bills are paid, donating clothing so her family wouldn’t have to do it in case something happens to her, and telling her family more often how much she loves them.
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“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so vulnerable and so much at risk in my whole life,” she said.
In response to HuffPost’s questions about the health risks teachers face going back to school, Caitlin Clark, a spokesperson for Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce, said parents expect educators to return to work in September “knowing that if they are sick, they benefit from the most generous sick leave program in Canada for teachers and educator workers.”
Teachers flag concerns about social distancing in B.C.
As a teacher since 1996, Bettie Marchiori is used to projecting safety to her students.
In an earthquake drill, the Surrey, B.C. teacher would be able to stand in front of her classroom as alarm bells rang and assure students they’re safe.
In a pandemic, though, she’s less certain.
“In this case, there’s no safety to project,” Marchiori told HuffPost.
Bettie Marchiori said she worries B.C.'s plan will fail without physical distancing measures. Courtesy of Bettie Marchiori
In her classroom, her 30 Grade 4 students won’t be able to properly distance. “My kids are going to be breathing on each other,” she said.
In March, when classes moved online, she welcomed the challenge. Some of her Grade 6 students thrived doing remote learning; working in small, digital groups she saw them engage in deep thinking they didn’t display in the classroom.
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She’s preparing to use the September in-person start to create an environment where students can be successful in the event that all classes move online.
“Without physical distancing in place, in my mind, there’s no doubt that it’s going to fail,” she said of B.C.’s back-to-school plan.
A spokesperson for the province’s ministry of education said while students should be spread out as much as possible, students within a learning group won’t be required to maintain physical distancing all the time.
“Schools must consider different classroom and learning environment configurations to allow distance between students and adults,” the spokesperson said.
Marchiori’s husband has severe asthma and her two children are both on the autism spectrum. The only place any of them have gone since March 13 is their vet’s office. Groceries and anything else they need are delivered to their house.
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She said she could only get an accommodation to teach online if her husband needed her as a caregiver. (The ministry spokesperson said school districts are working with individual staff members’ accommodation requests that will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.)
“If somebody brings home a bug, we all catch it,” Marchiori said. “We’re careful — we were careful before. We wash our hands, we get our flu shots, all of that. But it’s scary to not be in control.”
Alberta ‘doesn’t want things safe for teachers’
As Grade 2 teacher, Angela says she’s used to being sneezed on by students. Now, the Calgary, Alta. teacher isn’t sure what the plan is for incidents like that in classrooms — or other crucial aspects of her province’s back-to-school plan like emergency staffing or teachers’ mental health.
“I feel like I don’t know anything,” the teacher, who asked that her real name not be used to avoid retribution from her employers, told HuffPost.
WATCH: Feds issue guidance on reopening schools. Story continues below.
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Angela is planning to run some of her lessons through small group activities, making “mini cohorts” in her class. She will ensure students are wearing their masks properly and sanitize supplies before and after students touch them.
But, she said as she talks about what her days may look like, with extra sanitizing of the classroom, monitoring students’ entry in the morning and recess and planning her physically distanced lessons at night, she’s realizing she still has a lot to figure out to ensure student learning doesn’t suffer.
Colin Aitchison, press secretary to Alberta Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange, said the province understands teachers want a safe return to work and will continue to follow the advice of their chief medical officer of health. Guidelines will be adjusted “as necessary” and the government will “continue to meet and listen to feedback provided by education stakeholders,” Aitchison said.
“... I don't think they want things safe for teachers ...”
Although her board hired 500 more substitute teachers, Angela is also worried about supply teachers’ willingness to work and potentially expose themselves to the virus, considering they may assume the teacher they’re filling in for could have contracted COVID-19 in their classroom.
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“They’re basically going to assume they’re walking into a classroom that has had COVID exposure,” she said. “That’s stressful — a lot of [substitute teachers] aren’t going to want to do that.”
Aitchison, the minister’s press secretary, said local trustees are in the best position to make decisions about staffing and substitute teachers.
Angela’s board staggered start dates, but she said she wanted to see this come as a government directive rather than it being up to individual school boards.
“As much as you get the lip services of ‘We want things safe for students and teachers,’ I feel like they want things safe for students to keep parents off their backs — but I don’t think they want things safe for teachers, other than what they have to do,” she said.
Despite her concerns, Angela said she sees the benefits in returning to school for students. Technology can’t replace the human interaction and care that teachers provide at school, she said, and it’s challenging to do that relationship building through remote or online learning.
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While she hopes that students will be excited to return and take the new changes in stride, she also worries about heightened anxiety in making mistakes on the new protocols or struggling to adapt to new and changing guidelines.
Masks not mandatory in Quebec classrooms
Quebec’s school reopening guidance recommends, but does not mandate, mask wearing in classrooms — only for students in Grade 5 or up in hallways or common areas — or physical distancing in classrooms.
Alexandra, a Grade 5 teacher who asked to only be identified by her first name, said she thinks outbreaks will happen in Quebec’s schools because of this guidance. When schools in the province reopened in May, 41 students and staff tested positive for COVID-19.
The teacher said she’s worried students, especially younger ones, may be confused why they don’t have to wear masks most of the time at school when they’re otherwise required for people 12 and older on transit and in public places.
Teachers will have to remind students “this is the school rule,” Alexandra said. “What happens outside of the school walls [for COVID-19 precautions] is completely different.”
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“We are preparing both for reopening and closure at the same time ...”
Alexandra said she wants to see the government ask for teachers’ input on how to make schools safe.
“I feel like the government — yes, they made this plan — but I don’t think they realize how small and how limited schools are,” she said, noting some schools have small classrooms or older ventilation systems that could pose risks to students and staff.
A spokesperson for Quebec’s Ministry of Education did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Although they were told to prepare for in-person classes, teachers were also told to bring their belongings home every night in case schools suddenly close, Alexandra said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--Joe Biden Accuses Trump Of Ignoring COVID-19 Pandemic And Stoking Unrest

The Democratic presidential nominee ’ s broadsides came a day ahead of his own trip to Kenosha , Wisconsin , where Biden said he wants to help “ heal ” a city reeling from another police shooting of a Black man .
The wounding of Jacob Blake and subsequent demonstrations have made the political battleground state a focal point for debate over police and protest violence , as well as the actions of vigilante militias .
Biden assailed Trump for his vilifying of protesters as well as his handling of the pandemic that has killed nearly 190,000 Americans and crippled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of work , schools straining to deal with students in classrooms or at home and parents struggling to keep up .
An American president , Trump ’ s challenger declared , should be able to lead through multiple crises at the same time .
“ Where is the president ?
Why isn ’ t he working on this ?
, ” Biden asked .
“ We need emergency support funding for our schools — and we need it now .
Mr. President , that is your job .
That ’ s what you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kids back to school .
Not whipping up fear and division — not inciting violence in our streets.
” Trump answered almost immediately with his own event in North Carolina , where he continued casting the protests generally as “ violent mobs here at home ” that must be met with a strong show of force .
“ These people know one thing : strength , ” he said .
If local leaders would ask for federal muscle , Trump said , “ We ’ ll have it done in one hour.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use existing federal disaster law to direct funding to schools to help them reopen safely , and he urged Trump to “ get off Twitter ” and “ negotiate a deal ” with Congress on more pandemic aid .
He repeated his assertions that a full economic recovery isn ’ t possible with COVID-19 still raging , and that reopening schools safely is a necessary part of both limiting the virus ’ spread and allowing parents to return to work .
The former vice president said he plans to meet in Kenosha with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He ’ s already been in contact with Blake ’ s family .
Blake remains hospitalized after he was shot seven times in the back by police as he was trying to get into a car while police were trying to arrest him .
“ We ’ ve got to put things together , bring people together , ” Biden said , adding that he was “ not going to tell Kenosha what they have to do ” but instead would encourage citizens to “ talk about what has to be done.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ keeps throwing gasoline on the fire ” and ” encouraging people to retreat to their corners.
” Trump made his own foray to Kenosha on Tuesday , underscoring his blanket support for law enforcement , while blaming “ domestic terror ” for looting and arson that ’ s taken place in the city .
The violence included the burning of several buildings and the killing of two protesters by a 17-year-old , who said he went to Kenosha , armed , to help protect businesses .
He is now in custody .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to usurp local authorities ’ power to decide whether to reopen with in-person instruction or virtual learning or some combination .
But he said the federal government should make local systems financially whole as they incur considerable costs from software for virtual instruction , personal protective equipment and reducing class sizes for social distancing at schools that bring students to campus .
Also ahead of his Wisconsin trip , Biden ’ s campaign launched a $ 45 million advertising buy for a one-minute ad featuring his condemnations of violence during a speech Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is “ fomenting ” the unrest .
The ad , which has English and Spanish language versions , is running on national cable networks and in local markets across Arizona , Florida , Michigan , Minnesota , Nevada , North Carolina , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin .
“ Violence will not bring change .
It will only bring destruction , ” Biden says in the ad .
Trump “ adds fuel to every fire , ” he says , and “ shows how weak he is ” by “ his failure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop acting as an armed militia.
” Trump ’ s advisers hope that his stance – which includes falsely accusing Biden of wanting to “ defund the police ” — shifts attention away from the pandemic that has all but crippled the nation during the president ’ s fourth year in the White House .
They also believe the tactics help Trump attract white voters in suburbs and exurbs , key slices of his 2016 coalition .
Trump won Wisconsin by less than 23,000 votes out of more than 1.9 million in 2016 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state since Ronald Reagan in 1984 .
Biden ’ s trip Thursday will be the first time since 2012 that a Democratic presidential candidate campaigns in Wisconsin .
Hillary Clinton did not campaign in the state after she lost the primary in 2016 , one of the reasons often cited for Trump ’ s narrow victory .

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WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden is calling the struggle to reopen U.S. schools amid the coronavirus a “national emergency” and accusing President Donald Trump of turning his back to instead stoke passions about unrest in America’s cities.
The Democratic presidential nominee’s broadsides came a day ahead of his own trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Biden said he wants to help “heal” a city reeling from another police shooting of a Black man. The wounding of Jacob Blake and subsequent demonstrations have made the political battleground state a focal point for debate over police and protest violence, as well as the actions of vigilante militias.
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Biden assailed Trump for his vilifying of protesters as well as his handling of the pandemic that has killed nearly 190,000 Americans and crippled the national economy, leaving millions out of work, schools straining to deal with students in classrooms or at home and parents struggling to keep up. An American president, Trump’s challenger declared, should be able to lead through multiple crises at the same time.
“Where is the president? Why isn’t he working on this?,” Biden asked. “We need emergency support funding for our schools — and we need it now. Mr. President, that is your job. That’s what you should be focused on — getting our kids back to school. Not whipping up fear and division — not inciting violence in our streets.”
Trump answered almost immediately with his own event in North Carolina, where he continued casting the protests generally as “violent mobs here at home” that must be met with a strong show of force. “These people know one thing: strength,” he said. If local leaders would ask for federal muscle, Trump said, “We’ll have it done in one hour.”
The opposing events reflected the clear fault lines of the general election campaign. Each man casts the other as a threat to Americans’ day-to-day security, but Trump uses “law and order” as his rallying cry while Biden pushes a broad referendum on Trump’s competence and thinking.
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Biden said Wednesday that he’d use existing federal disaster law to direct funding to schools to help them reopen safely, and he urged Trump to “get off Twitter” and “negotiate a deal” with Congress on more pandemic aid. He repeated his assertions that a full economic recovery isn’t possible with COVID-19 still raging, and that reopening schools safely is a necessary part of both limiting the virus’ spread and allowing parents to return to work.
Addressing the ongoing unrest over racial injustice and policing, Biden told reporters he believes the Kenosha officer who shot Blake “needs to be charged.” Biden also called for charges in the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed in her Louisville, Kentucky, home by police in March.
Biden also called for legal action on citizens who’ve committed violence as part of civil unrest, a direct answer to Trump’s continued assertions that Biden backs violent protests.
The former vice president said he plans to meet in Kenosha with civic and business leaders and law enforcement. He’s already been in contact with Blake’s family. Blake remains hospitalized after he was shot seven times in the back by police as he was trying to get into a car while police were trying to arrest him.
“We’ve got to put things together, bring people together,” Biden said, adding that he was “not going to tell Kenosha what they have to do” but instead would encourage citizens to “talk about what has to be done.” The president, he said, “keeps throwing gasoline on the fire” and ”encouraging people to retreat to their corners.”
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Trump made his own foray to Kenosha on Tuesday, underscoring his blanket support for law enforcement, while blaming “domestic terror” for looting and arson that’s taken place in the city. The violence included the burning of several buildings and the killing of two protesters by a 17-year-old, who said he went to Kenosha, armed, to help protect businesses. He is now in custody.
Before his remarks Wednesday, Biden and his wife, Jill, a longtime community college professor and former high school teacher, met with public health experts. He emerged saying Trump’s inaction on school aid has left a haphazard response nationally.
Biden said he doesn’t want to usurp local authorities’ power to decide whether to reopen with in-person instruction or virtual learning or some combination. But he said the federal government should make local systems financially whole as they incur considerable costs from software for virtual instruction, personal protective equipment and reducing class sizes for social distancing at schools that bring students to campus.
Also ahead of his Wisconsin trip, Biden’s campaign launched a $45 million advertising buy for a one-minute ad featuring his condemnations of violence during a speech Monday, along with his assertions that Trump is “fomenting” the unrest. The ad, which has English and Spanish language versions, is running on national cable networks and in local markets across Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
“Violence will not bring change. It will only bring destruction,” Biden says in the ad. Trump “adds fuel to every fire,” he says, and “shows how weak he is” by “his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia.”
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It’s an answer to a consistent charge from Trump and his allies: “You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.” Indeed, when in Kenosha, Trump toured a block charred by protesters’ fire, calling the destruction “anti-American” and suggesting Biden’s election would ensure similar scenes in U.S. cities across the country.
Trump’s advisers hope that his stance – which includes falsely accusing Biden of wanting to “defund the police” — shifts attention away from the pandemic that has all but crippled the nation during the president’s fourth year in the White House. They also believe the tactics help Trump attract white voters in suburbs and exurbs, key slices of his 2016 coalition. Trump won Wisconsin by less than 23,000 votes out of more than 1.9 million in 2016, the first Republican to win the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Biden’s trip Thursday will be the first time since 2012 that a Democratic presidential candidate campaigns in Wisconsin. Hillary Clinton did not campaign in the state after she lost the primary in 2016, one of the reasons often cited for Trump’s narrow victory.
__
Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporters Jonathan Lemire in Washington and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--Steroids Boost COVID-19 Survival Rates Among Those Critically Ill: Study

LONDON ( Reuters ) - Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with corticosteroid drugs reduces the risk of death by 20 % , an analysis of seven international trials found on Wednesday , prompting the World Health Organisation to update its advice on treatment .
The analysis ― which pooled data from separate trials of low dose hydrocortisone , dexamethasone and methylprednisolone ― found that steroids improve survival rates of COVID-19 patients sick enough to be in intensive care in hospital .
“ This is equivalent to around 68 % of ( the sickest COVID-19 ) patients surviving after treatment with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surviving in the absence of corticosteroids , ” the researchers said in a statement .
Researchers have found that steroids , like Dexamethasone pictured , improve survival rates of COVID-19 patients who are sick enough to be in intensive care in a hospital .
The WHO ’ s clinical care lead , Janet Diaz , said the agency had updated its advice to include a “ strong recommendation ” for use of steroids in patients with severe and critical COVID-19 .
“ Steroids are a cheap and readily available medication , and our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in reducing deaths amongst the people most severely affected by COVID-19 , ” Jonathan Sterne , a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Britain ’ s Bristol University who worked on the analysis , told the briefing .
He said the trials ― conducted by researchers in Britain , Brazil , Canada , China , France , Spain , and the United States ― gave a consistent message throughout , showing the drugs were beneficial in the sickest patients regardless of age or sex or how long patients had been ill .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the American Medical Association , reinforce results that were hailed as a major breakthrough and announced in June , when dexamethasone became the first drug shown to be able to reduce death rates among severely sick COVID-19 patients .
Martin Landray , a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Oxford who worked on the dexamethasone trial that was a key part of the pooled analysis published on Wednesday , said the results mean doctors in hospitals across the world can safely switch to using the drugs to save lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regardless of whether patients were on ventilation at the time they started treatment .
They said the WHO would update its guidelines immediately to reflect the fresh results .
Until the June findings on dexamethasone , no effective treatment had been shown to reduce death rates in patients with COVID-19 , the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus .
Anthony Gordon , an Imperial College London professor who also worked on the analysis , said its results were good news for patients who become critically ill with COVID-19 , but would not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infection control measures .
“ Impressive as these results are , this is not a cure .
We now have something that will help , but it is not a cure , so it ’ s vital that we keep up all the prevention strategies .
”

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LONDON (Reuters) - Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with corticosteroid drugs reduces the risk of death by 20%, an analysis of seven international trials found on Wednesday, prompting the World Health Organisation to update its advice on treatment.
The analysis ― which pooled data from separate trials of low dose hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and methylprednisolone ― found that steroids improve survival rates of COVID-19 patients sick enough to be in intensive care in hospital.
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“This is equivalent to around 68% of (the sickest COVID-19) patients surviving after treatment with corticosteroids, compared to around 60% surviving in the absence of corticosteroids,” the researchers said in a statement.
Researchers have found that steroids, like Dexamethasone pictured, improve survival rates of COVID-19 patients who are sick enough to be in intensive care in a hospital. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The WHO’s clinical care lead, Janet Diaz, said the agency had updated its advice to include a “strong recommendation” for use of steroids in patients with severe and critical COVID-19.
“The evidence shows that if you give corticosteroids ...(there are) 87 fewer deaths per 1,000 patients,” she told a WHO social media live event. “Those are lives ... saved.”
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“Steroids are a cheap and readily available medication, and our analysis has confirmed that they are effective in reducing deaths amongst the people most severely affected by COVID-19,” Jonathan Sterne, a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Britain’s Bristol University who worked on the analysis, told the briefing.
He said the trials ― conducted by researchers in Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Spain, and the United States ― gave a consistent message throughout, showing the drugs were beneficial in the sickest patients regardless of age or sex or how long patients had been ill.
Nurses tend to a COVID-19 patient in a Stamford Hospital intensive care unit in Stamford, Connecticut, back in April. John Moore via Getty Images
The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reinforce results that were hailed as a major breakthrough and announced in June, when dexamethasone became the first drug shown to be able to reduce death rates among severely sick COVID-19 patients.
Dexamethasone has been in widespread use in intensive care wards treating COVID-19 patients in some countries since then.
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Martin Landray, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Oxford who worked on the dexamethasone trial that was a key part of the pooled analysis published on Wednesday, said the results mean doctors in hospitals across the world can safely switch to using the drugs to save lives.
CLEAR BENEFITS
“These results are clear, and instantly usable in clinical practice,” he told reporters. “Among critically ill patients with COVID-19, low-dose corticosteroids ... significantly reduce the risk of death.”
A patient suffering from COVID-19 is treated in the Intensive Care Unit at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, California, back in May. Lucy Nicholson / reuters
Researchers said the benefit was shown regardless of whether patients were on ventilation at the time they started treatment. They said the WHO would update its guidelines immediately to reflect the fresh results.
Until the June findings on dexamethasone, no effective treatment had been shown to reduce death rates in patients with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.
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More than 25 million people have been infected with COVID-19 and 856,876 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Gilead Sciences Inc’s (GILD.O) remdesivir was authorized by United States regulators in May for use in patients with severe COVID-19 after trial data showed the antiviral drug helped shorten hospital recovery time.
Anthony Gordon, an Imperial College London professor who also worked on the analysis, said its results were good news for patients who become critically ill with COVID-19, but would not be enough to end outbreaks or ease infection control measures.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--States With The Best And Worst Pandemic Safety Nets

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed how vulnerable American workers are like few crises before .
Millions of workers around the country have lost their jobs in the ensuing recession .
Others have faced life-threatening hazards as “ essential ” personnel , or had to give up their livelihoods due to a lack of available child care .
The help available to workers as they navigate these challenges varies greatly from one community to the next .
A new report from Oxfam America , a nonprofit focused on poverty in the U.S. , shows some states offer a far more robust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefits , health care coverage and basic workplace protections like paid leave requirements .
The authors of the report , entitled ” Best States To Work In America During COVID-19 , ” determined that Washington state has the strongest protections during the pandemic .
That ’ s due to policies like mandated paid sick days and family leave , an expansion of Medicaid health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act , and broad eligibility for unemployment insurance .
The state with the worst safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic was Alabama ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The state has no paid leave requirement , still has not expanded Medicaid , and didn ’ t implement a moratorium on utility shutoffs .
Alabama was also slow to adopt a mask requirement to protect essential workers in industries like groceries and retail .
At the bottom of the rankings , Missouri ( 22.08 ) and Georgia ( 23.08 ) were just above Alabama .
The authors said those three states all lacked leave mandates and declined to enact housing assistance during the pandemic .
The pandemic may be a national crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stimulus bills to prop up the economy , but it ’ s largely been left to states to determine their own policies to deal with the effects .
Oxfam looked at 27 data points to see how states were helping workers stay safe on the job and stay afloat if they lost one .
Katy Henderson , one of the researchers who worked on the report , said Oxfam has done a similar annual analysis in recent years but decided to conduct one specifically for the pandemic , given the unique nature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criteria were straightforward : What policies have states put in place to prevent people from ending up homeless , hungry , or sick from coronavirus ?
States that have strong safety nets in general tended to score well on Oxfam ’ s coronavirus test .
Blue states on the coasts have more employer mandates and a wider safety net than red states in the South , which helps explain why so many of the latter ended up in the basement of the rankings .
But Henderson said there were some surprises , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the state ended up in the middle of the pack ranked at 31 , but stood near the top of the list in the health care category , tied at second with New Mexico , behind only Illinois .
Arkansas has expanded not just Medicaid eligibility but also telehealth services and workers compensation for the pandemic , Henderson said .
Puerto Rico ended up ranked 21st overall on the 52-jurisdiction list , which also includes the District of Columbia .
Henderson said Puerto Rico has been “ proactive in using relatively meager @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s high debt , offering stronger worker protections and health care policies than a lot of states .
The report noted a few caveats on the research .
The authors could not measure how well a state enforced its policies , or to what lengths it went to make sure residents were aware of them .
The data also captures policies in place during a set period of time ― between Feb. 15 and July 1 ― so a state like Alabama doesn ’ t get credit for the mask mandate it implemented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Safety and Health Administration have played a smaller role in the response than safety experts had hoped , leaving it to states to enact their own COVID-19 health regulations .
And in lieu of a nationwide mask mandate , it ’ s been left to governors to decide whether and when to require residents to cover their faces .
Several have avoided issuing statewide orders , and Georgia Gov .
Brian Kemp ( R ) even tried to block cities like Atlanta from enacting their own .
Henderson said the role of states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic drags on , with help from the federal government already drying up .
Congress allowed the additional $ 600 weekly federal unemployment benefit to expire , leaving a messier and less generous benefit program in its place .

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The coronavirus pandemic has revealed how vulnerable American workers are like few crises before. Millions of workers around the country have lost their jobs in the ensuing recession. Others have faced life-threatening hazards as “essential” personnel, or had to give up their livelihoods due to a lack of available child care.
The help available to workers as they navigate these challenges varies greatly from one community to the next. A new report from Oxfam America, a nonprofit focused on poverty in the U.S., shows some states offer a far more robust safety net than others, through unemployment benefits, health care coverage and basic workplace protections like paid leave requirements.
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The authors of the report, entitled ”Best States To Work In America During COVID-19,” determined that Washington state has the strongest protections during the pandemic. That’s due to policies like mandated paid sick days and family leave, an expansion of Medicaid health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and broad eligibility for unemployment insurance.
Washington scored 76.41 on Oxfam’s scale of 100. It was followed by New Jersey (72.17), California (72.03) and Massachusetts (71.66) at the top of the list.
The state with the worst safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic was Alabama (17.76), the authors found. The state has no paid leave requirement, still has not expanded Medicaid, and didn’t implement a moratorium on utility shutoffs. Alabama was also slow to adopt a mask requirement to protect essential workers in industries like groceries and retail.
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At the bottom of the rankings, Missouri (22.08) and Georgia (23.08) were just above Alabama. The authors said those three states all lacked leave mandates and declined to enact housing assistance during the pandemic.
The pandemic may be a national crisis, with Congress hashing out a series of stimulus bills to prop up the economy, but it’s largely been left to states to determine their own policies to deal with the effects. Oxfam looked at 27 data points to see how states were helping workers stay safe on the job and stay afloat if they lost one.
The report considers whether states offered enhanced food assistance, helped essential workers secure child care, guaranteed grace periods on health insurance premiums, or helped cover the cost of COVID-19 treatment, among other policies.
Katy Henderson, one of the researchers who worked on the report, said Oxfam has done a similar annual analysis in recent years but decided to conduct one specifically for the pandemic, given the unique nature of the emergency. She said the criteria were straightforward: What policies have states put in place to prevent people from ending up homeless, hungry, or sick from coronavirus?
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“COVID dealt a shattering blow to the economy,” she said. “This is a question of how workers and their families are being supported, or not supported.”
States that have strong safety nets in general tended to score well on Oxfam’s coronavirus test. Blue states on the coasts have more employer mandates and a wider safety net than red states in the South, which helps explain why so many of the latter ended up in the basement of the rankings.
But Henderson said there were some surprises, like the strong showing by Arkansas. Overall, the state ended up in the middle of the pack ranked at 31, but stood near the top of the list in the health care category, tied at second with New Mexico, behind only Illinois. Arkansas has expanded not just Medicaid eligibility but also telehealth services and workers compensation for the pandemic, Henderson said.
Puerto Rico ended up ranked 21st overall on the 52-jurisdiction list, which also includes the District of Columbia. Henderson said Puerto Rico has been “proactive in using relatively meager resources” due to the territory’s high debt, offering stronger worker protections and health care policies than a lot of states.
The report noted a few caveats on the research. The authors could not measure how well a state enforced its policies, or to what lengths it went to make sure residents were aware of them. The data also captures policies in place during a set period of time ― between Feb. 15 and July 1 ― so a state like Alabama doesn’t get credit for the mask mandate it implemented in mid-July.
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Henderson said it was important to evaluate state policies because President Donald Trump’s administration — which downplayed the threat of the virus since the pandemic began — has abdicated so much responsibility.
“This is a question of how workers and their families are being supported, or not supported.” - Katy Henderson, Oxfam America
Agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have played a smaller role in the response than safety experts had hoped, leaving it to states to enact their own COVID-19 health regulations. And in lieu of a nationwide mask mandate, it’s been left to governors to decide whether and when to require residents to cover their faces. Several have avoided issuing statewide orders, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) even tried to block cities like Atlanta from enacting their own.
Henderson said the role of states will become even more important as the pandemic drags on, with help from the federal government already drying up. Congress allowed the additional $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit to expire, leaving a messier and less generous benefit program in its place.
“We hope this inspires a race to the top, for states and federal policy makers to enact changes to help their residents survive,” Henderson said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--I Fear I'll Never Be The Same: Here’s What It’s Really Like To Be A COVID Long-hauler

Ed Hornick started experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus in January .
More than seven months later , he 's still not back to normal .
( Photo : Courtesy Ed Hornick ) How it all began After returning home to the U.K. from a long weekend in Reykjavik , I ended up in the emergency room for lung and heart pain .
The doctor suspected a blood clot , but that was later ruled out .
An EKG of my heart was irregular but not overly concerning to the staff .
I asked if it could be the coronavirus ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what I was talking about .
After several hours , I was sent home .
My diagnosis ?
A viral infection , pneumonia and pericarditis — inflammation of the lining around the heart .
There was nothing I could do other than rest and drink fluids .
“ [ Doctors were ] minimizing me as a woman , minimizing me as a Latina , ” Albuquerque , N.M. , resident Alisa Valdés told NBC News .
“ Nobody is going to come right out and say that they ’ re discriminating against you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I have to go by ?
Intuition , instinct , past experience .
The attitude of certain providers .
The way they look at you .
The way they don ’ t look at you .
The way they shrug you off.
” “ What we are doing is we ’ re having an open mind and that we ’ re evaluating every patient — looking at what they have and doing our best to treat them , ” he said .
“ The need to really assess the patient and come up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ways to assess patients , new tools that we haven ’ t used in the past — that ’ s going to make a difference because this is really a new disease at this point .
”

Ed Hornick started experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus in January. More than seven months later, he's still not back to normal. (Photo: Courtesy Ed Hornick)
For a growing number of coronavirus patients, recovery hasn’t been swift or easy. In fact, it’s been almost as bad as having the virus itself. I should know — it’s been my daily hell.
Ever since coming down with COVID-19 symptoms in late January, my body feels as though it has been put through the grueling paces of the New York City Marathon without having the proper training for the 26.2-mile run. Or for the tech-savvy, like an iPhone 6S that won’t charge beyond 50 percent.
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If I overexert myself, I get a burning, acidic feeling in my lungs, and breathing becomes difficult. A dry cough, along with heart palpitations, come and go. Every muscle and joint aches. If I stand up too quickly, the room gets dark and I nearly pass out.
Electric-like zaps, along with nerve-tingling, radiate throughout my arms, legs and feet. I’m in a constant “brain fog,” always having trouble processing what I’ve just read or heard, or constantly trying to remember familiar names, dates and facts. I have constant pounding headaches that make it extremely difficult to do much of anything. And my dreams — when I can actually get more than three hours of sleep — are intense, bizarre and movie-like.
Welcome to the life of a COVID-19 “long-hauler.” It’s a terrible place to be — a kind of purgatory between being sick and being healed, not having a mild case or a severe-enough one to be on a ventilator in the hospital intensive care unit.
How it all began
So how did this “Dante’s Inferno”-like journey start? It began at Iceland’s iconic geothermal spa the Blue Lagoon on Jan. 18. Five days later, it picked up at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in London.
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After returning home to the U.K. from a long weekend in Reykjavik, I ended up in the emergency room for lung and heart pain. The doctor suspected a blood clot, but that was later ruled out. An EKG of my heart was irregular but not overly concerning to the staff. I asked if it could be the coronavirus; the doctor didn’t even know what I was talking about. After several hours, I was sent home. My diagnosis? A viral infection, pneumonia and pericarditis — inflammation of the lining around the heart. There was nothing I could do other than rest and drink fluids.
Days later, I was back in the hospital as the pain and symptoms had worsened. The EKG was normal this time, but some of my bloodwork came back irregular. I was sent home with naproxen, an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug. Over the next few weeks, my condition seemed to get a little better.
And then March came in like an angry lion. It started with flu-like symptoms — fever, nausea, vomiting, dehydration and chills so bad that I was shaking — and quickly progressed into respiratory and cardiovascular distress: shortness of breath, low oxygen levels, lung pain, cough, heart palpitations and pleurisy, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the lung and chest cavity. It felt as though I was having a heart attack every time I shifted positions on the couch.
I contacted the U.K. coronavirus hotline and was able to have nurses come to my home to administer a nasal swab test. The results came back a few days later: undetected. What? How?
In the days following the test, symptoms persisted and new side effects sprang up, impacting my gastrointestinal tract, eyes, liver, kidney and brain. It was as if the virus were ticking off some “to-do” list. It appeared that my immune system was at war.
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Dazed (from the lack of oxygen) and confused (by the flip-flopping advice from officials), I went through several weeks of coronavirus waves: pain followed by recovery followed by pain. In that time, I had turned 40, cut my own hair and ended up looking like Pee Wee Herman. I’d dealt with my deaf dog going blind, and — finally — during a visit to the ER, was diagnosed with COVID-19.
The long haul
After the initial infection cleared up in April, new ailments, combined with old symptoms, set in. Now I fear that I will never be the same again.
But I’m not alone; I’m just one of thousands of coronavirus patients speaking out about the long-term effects of this disease. A joint study by Indiana University School of Medicine and the COVID-19 nonprofit Survivor Corps has compiled nearly 100 symptoms, including hair loss, rashes, diarrhea and neurological issues.
“It started with a severe nosebleed,” Stephanie Taylor, 32, who lives in Smethwick, England, told Yahoo News writer David Knowles. “Never had one before. … Then began the nerve pain: burning, pins and needles. Crawling and tingling starting in my hand, and now it’s everywhere, even my head and face.”
“I have been dealing with this for 105 days, and I’m afraid that I’m never going to get back to 100 percent,” Jennica Harris, 33, of Southern California, said in an interview with Yahoo News reporter Suzanne Smalley.
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Long-haulers are like the Jan Brady of coronavirus patients — stuck in the middle, constantly fighting to get doctors, governments and even families to pay attention. It’s perhaps why so many support groups have popped up online and on social media.
Things are changing, though.
Medical practices dedicated to helping patients suffering from the COVID-19 aftermath are popping up in the U.K., Italy and the U.S. Dr. Zijian Chen, medical director for the Mt. Sinai Center for Post-COVID Care in New York City, told me that the goal is twofold: treating patients for a variety of ailments and using the research “to treat the patients that we will have in the future.”
Once admitted, patients are evaluated by a team of doctors representing specialties including pulmonology, neurology, cardiology, dermatology, rheumatology and rehabilitation, to name a few. I discovered the center through word-of-mouth and decided to look into it. Right now, it is accepting only test-positive patients, but the goal is to open up the program in the coming weeks to test-negative patients with symptoms, Chen said.
‘Gaslit’
For many long-haulers, going to the doctor can be one big Groundhog Day of disappointment: an exam followed by tests followed by the phrases “the tests show everything is normal” or “you’re likely just going through anxiety or depression.”
It’s been described as “medical gaslighting” — being told you are fine when you know deep down that you truly are not. It makes you wonder if doctors have forgotten the Hippocratic Oath they swore to uphold.
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The issue is particularly stark for women and people of color, who face bias in medical treatments, according to various studies.
“[Doctors were] minimizing me as a woman, minimizing me as a Latina,” Albuquerque, N.M., resident Alisa Valdés told NBC News. “Nobody is going to come right out and say that they’re discriminating against you for those reasons. So what do I have to go by? Intuition, instinct, past experience. The attitude of certain providers. The way they look at you. The way they don’t look at you. The way they shrug you off.”
“I have to remind myself I’m not making this up,” Ailsa Court of Portland, Ore., told NBC News. “Everybody is in this state of questioning reality. From the get-go, this country has been gaslit about COVID, and now on an individual level, patients are being gaslit.”
Epidemiologist Paul Garner, who is battling the long-term effects of the coronavirus, has railed against this type of denialism among doctors. “This stuff is real. People are ill. Doctors need to stop diagnosing this as anxiety,” Garner wrote in the British Medical Journal. “We have messed up before; let’s not do it again with long-term COVID-19 illness.”
For Dr. Chen, the key to changing doctors’ attitudes comes down to a very simple tactic.
“What we are doing is we’re having an open mind and that we’re evaluating every patient — looking at what they have and doing our best to treat them,” he said. “The need to really assess the patient and come up with, I think, even new ways to assess patients, new tools that we haven’t used in the past — that’s going to make a difference because this is really a new disease at this point.”
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But it’s not just the doctors doing the gaslighting — it can be your friends and family too. For long-haulers, these responses are all too familiar:
“Oh, you’re just tired and mentally stressed like the rest of us going through the pandemic.”
“Maybe you really have mono?”
“I see you posting on Facebook, so you must be fine.”
Looks can be very deceiving, as they say. For most of us, putting on a brave face is all we can do to keep from going crazy.
A co-worker, who asked to remain anonymous because she has not publicly revealed her coronavirus status, told me that friends and family questioning the symptoms “is a very real experience, and I think many don’t realize the impact it can have on patients who are already exhausted.”
“I was physically and emotionally exhausted — so tired, so weak and so afraid of what could happen next,” she added. “With the unpredictable COVID symptom progression, you just never know what that will look like or if you’ll end up in the hospital on a ventilator.”
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Scarlet letter ‘C’
I kept my diagnosis secret to nearly everyone except those who absolutely needed to know. But it felt as if I was carrying around an invisible scarlet letter C around my neck. When should I tell people? Was it their business to know?
I also worried that revealing my status would result in stigmas and shaming. During this pandemic, several groups faced egregious other-ism — especially Asian-Americans, who were, and still are, the target of hate-filled COVID racism.
Hannah Hwang, a bank employee in New York City, recounted to Time magazine that a customer told her, “I don’t want to speak to you. You’re Chinese. Please get me somebody else to work with.”
For COVID-19 patients, dispelling myths and enduring stigmas has become almost a second job. “I call it COVID shaming,” the Rev. Shane Harris, president of the People’s Alliance for Justice, told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s a real thing that happens. It happened to me for weeks after my healing. … I had people badgering me about my health status. That’s personal. You don’t have to tell people your health information.”
The decision to reveal what I had been going through changed after I came across an op-ed in the New York Times titled “I’m 26. Coronavirus Sent Me to the Hospital.” Something just clicked inside me. I found a link to the author’s Slack support group and quickly signed up. I soon wasn’t alone anymore.
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I encountered others around the world facing the same issues as me. I felt instant relief and a strong sense of community. I told my story to random strangers, and they responded in kind with words of encouragement and a virtual shoulder to cry on. I also connected with a friend of a friend going through a similar situation. Through solidarity I found hope.
As I was coming back from the pharmacy one sunny afternoon in London, I literally saw the writing on the wall — a billboard that read “Community Is Strength.” It was my Oprah aha moment. It made so much sense. Why was I battling this alone?
I decided to officially “come out” as a coronavirus patient to my family, friends and co-workers. For so long, I wanted to keep this to myself and battle it privately, but it dawned on me that what got me through hard times in the past — and what will get me through this — is a strong support network. In other words: community.
My community rallied hard around me — in London, back home in the United States and Italy, and around the world. I felt the love and the prayers and really believe that the positive reinforcement helped give me the strength to go back to work.
Ed Hornick began experiencing symptoms of coronavirus in late January. "I fear that I will never be the same again," he writes. (Photo: Courtesy Ed Hornick) GettyImages
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The future
With research coming in real time, patients are left wondering what the future holds. There are simply more questions than answers right now: Are these symptoms forever or will they go away? Are organs damaged? Is the immune system compromised? Is this Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome? Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? Dysautonomia? Guillain-Barré syndrome? Are we disabled?
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, recognizes the plight of long-haulers and admits that much is still unknown.
“We’re starting to see that they do not recover as completely and as quickly as you would like,” Fauci told MSNBC. “How long does it take you to get back to normal? That's an open question. We’re only six months into the outbreak."
For now, I fight on and hope like the rest of you that answers come quickly.
I want my life back.
Yahoo News
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
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Read more from Yahoo Life


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-02--New Study Shows How COVID-19 Might Affect Pregnant Women

Pregnant women with COVID-19 are less likely to have symptoms , and may be more likely to give birth early , new research shows .
Compared with non-pregnant women of a similar age , researchers found pregnant and recently pregnant women with COVID-19 were less likely to report symptoms of fever and muscle pain ( myalgia ) , but were more likely to need admission to an intensive care unit and need ventilation .
The study , published in the BMJ , found a quarter of all babies born to mothers with COVID-19 were admitted to a neonatal unit and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those born to mothers without the disease .
However , stillbirth and newborn death rates were low .
The odds of giving birth prematurely was also higher in pregnant and recently pregnant women with COVID-19 , compared to those without the disease .
Pregnant women are thought to be a high-risk group for COVID-19 , but reviews on COVID-19 in pregnancy quickly become outdated as new evidence emerges .
So , a team of researchers began a more extensive review to compare the outcomes of COVID-19 in pregnant and recently pregnant women , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Their findings are based on 77 studies and outcomes for 11,432 pregnant and recently-pregnant women admitted to hospital and diagnosed as having suspected or confirmed COVID-19 .
The researchers point to some study limitations that may have affected their results , but say healthcare professionals should be aware pregnant women with COVID-19 might need access to intensive care and specialist baby care facilities .
Mothers with pre-existing conditions will also need to be considered a high risk group for COVID-19 , along with those who are obese and of older age , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , calls the study a “ welcome and comprehensive synthesis of the available research on COVID-19 in pregnancy.
” “ This study highlights a possible increase in the need for intensive care among pregnant women with coronavirus , ” he told HuffPost UK .
“ This is also true for pregnant women should they contract flu .
This year , it ’ s particularly important pregnant women take up the offer of the free flu vaccine , which is safe in all trimesters of pregnancy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unwell.
” Norris added that the findings of this paper highlight the “ need for more research into the effects of the virus on pregnant women and their babies ” in order for health services to better respond to their needs .
Experts are still learning about COVID-19 .
The information in this story is what was known or available as of publication , but guidance can change as scientists discover more about the virus .
Please check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most updated recommendations .

kjekol via Getty Images
Pregnant women with COVID-19 are less likely to have symptoms, and may be more likely to give birth early, new research shows.
Compared with non-pregnant women of a similar age, researchers found pregnant and recently pregnant women with COVID-19 were less likely to report symptoms of fever and muscle pain (myalgia), but were more likely to need admission to an intensive care unit and need ventilation.
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The study, published in the BMJ, found a quarter of all babies born to mothers with COVID-19 were admitted to a neonatal unit and were at increased risk of admission than those born to mothers without the disease. However, stillbirth and newborn death rates were low.
The odds of giving birth prematurely was also higher in pregnant and recently pregnant women with COVID-19, compared to those without the disease.
Pregnant women are thought to be a high-risk group for COVID-19, but reviews on COVID-19 in pregnancy quickly become outdated as new evidence emerges. So, a team of researchers began a more extensive review to compare the outcomes of COVID-19 in pregnant and recently pregnant women, with non-pregnant women of a similar age.
Their findings are based on 77 studies and outcomes for 11,432 pregnant and recently-pregnant women admitted to hospital and diagnosed as having suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
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Maternal risk factors associated with severe COVID-19 were found to be increasing age, high body mass index, chronic high blood pressure, and pre-existing diabetes.
The researchers point to some study limitations that may have affected their results, but say healthcare professionals should be aware pregnant women with COVID-19 might need access to intensive care and specialist baby care facilities.
Mothers with pre-existing conditions will also need to be considered a high risk group for COVID-19, along with those who are obese and of older age, they add.
Edward Norris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, calls the study a “welcome and comprehensive synthesis of the available research on COVID-19 in pregnancy.”
“This study highlights a possible increase in the need for intensive care among pregnant women with coronavirus,” he told HuffPost UK. “This is also true for pregnant women should they contract flu. This year, it’s particularly important pregnant women take up the offer of the free flu vaccine, which is safe in all trimesters of pregnancy, to protect them from becoming seriously unwell.”
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Norris added that the findings of this paper highlight the “need for more research into the effects of the virus on pregnant women and their babies” in order for health services to better respond to their needs.
This story originally appeared in HuffPost UK.