Month: May 2020

After facing criticism over the handling of nursing facility outbreaks, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that New York nursing homes must start twice-weekly coronavirus testing for all staffers, and will no longer be sent COVID-19 patients leaving hospitals.

The new testing requirements and ban on hospitals sending coronavirus patients to nursing homes came a day after an AP report in which residents’ relatives, nursing home watchdogs and politicians from both parties criticized the Cuomo administration’s policies on both. They second-guessed a state directive as requiring nursing homes to take on new residents infected with COVID-19 — an order that critics said accelerated outbreaks in facilities that are prime breeding grounds for infectious diseases.

Of the nation’s more than 26,000 coronavirus deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, over 5,200 are in New York –  the highest number of nursing home deaths in the country. Now, workers will be tested twice a week, Cuomo said at a news briefing. 

Cuomo says coronavirus death toll at lowest level since mid-March

Via www.cbsnews.com

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered all nursing home staff will have to be tested twice a…

05/10/2020 2:44 PM

 

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Dr. Anthony Fauci, along with several other members of the White House coronavirus task force, are taking precautions after possible exposure to the coronavirus. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and lead health expert on the White House’s coronavirus task force, has entered a “modified quarantine” for 14 days after making a “low risk” contact with a White House staffer who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The 79-year-old Fauci is expected to work mostly from home over the next two weeks.  A spokesperson said: “Dr. Fauci has tested negative for COVID-19, and he will continue to be tested regularly. He is actively monitoring his temperature and other health indicators.”  Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control, will also self-quarantine for 14 days after he was similarly exposed to the White House staffer with COVID-19, while Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, has already gone into quarantine.

Fauci is expected to testify in-person at a Senate hearing about the coronavirus pandemic next week, while Hahn and Redfield will testify by video conference.

Dr. Anthony Fauci joins list of government officials entering self-quarantine over COVID-19 exposure

Via abcnews.go.com

The head Director Dr. Robert Redfield, announced Saturday afternoon he would be going into…

05/10/2020 12:50 PM

 

A polar vortex may sweep into the Northeast this weekend, potentially bringing the Albany, NY region its first measurable May snowfall in 18 years, as well as potentially record low temperatures to parts of the East Coast.

The wintry air mass is expected to send a chill through the region beginning on Friday, according to the Albany branch of the National Weather Service. “We continue to closely watch a storm for Friday afternoon into Friday night that may bring a period of snow to most of eastern NY and western New England,” the weather service posted to Facebook.

Albany itself may not see more than an inch, and the Catskill Mountains can also expect some snowfall, but the heaviest accumulation is predicted for New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as Maine, who may see between 6 and 12 inches.

Temperatures will drop down into the mid-30s Friday night, possibly brushing with a record low of 35 degrees. Saturday afternoon, temperatures will only hit the upper 40s.

Potentially historic May snowstorm headed for Northeast and New England

Via www.nbcnews.com

In addition to snow, 75 million people will wake up to below freezing temperatures Saturday. For…

05/07/2020 7:16 PM

 

On Thursday, the Justice Department dropped its case against retired Army general Michael Flynn. The decision comes just more than a week after President Trump claimed that newly released FBI notes outlining agents’ strategy in advance of their 2017 interview in the retired Army general’s White House office exonerated Flynn.

In new court documents filed Thursday, federal prosecutors asserted the FBI’s interview of the then-national security adviser was “unjustified.”  The documents also stated, “the government is not persuaded that the January 24, 2017 interview was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis and therefore does not believe Mr. Flynn’s statements were material even if untrue. Moreover, we do not believe that the government can prove either the relevant false statements or their materiality beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Flynn had pleaded guilty in 2017. However his sentence had been stalled in federal court for more than a year after he dumped his initial defense team and hired new attorneys, alleging he was framed in a government conspiracy and while seeking to withdraw his 2017 guilty plea.

Justice Department drops case against ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn

Via www.nbcnews.com

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he was happy about the Justice Department’s move.

05/07/2020 6:15 PM

 

Editorial credit: mark reinstein / Shutterstock.com

A day after President Donald Trump stated that he planned to disband the White House coronavirus task force, Trump announced Wednesday that it will now continue indefinitely. In a series of tweets, Trump said the task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, has done a “fantastic job of bringing together vast highly complex resources that have set a high standard for others to follow in the future.” Trump said later Wednesday that the task force will also be “very focused” on the development of a coronavirus vaccine and treatments and he would be announcing “two or three new members to the task force” as soon as Monday. 

The president’s apparent change of plans comes a day after he told reporters during a visit to a mask factory in Phoenix that he would wind down the task force.  The President said at the time, “I think that, as far as the task force, Mike Pence and the task force have done a great job. But we’re now looking at a little bit of a different form, and that form is safety and opening, and we’ll have a different group probably set up for that.”

Trump’s announcement to keep the task force going comes as more than 70,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19, and there have been more than 1.2 million reported cases across the country.

Trump Reverses Course and Says White House Coronavirus Task Force Will Continue ‘Indefinitely’

Via time.com

One day after saying that the White House COVID-19 task force would be winding down, President…

05/06/2020 12:39 PM

 

Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com