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mydeztination · 3 years

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Solo Female Travel Mexico - Is Puerto Vallarta Safe? + Yelapa & Los Arcos Video

Is Puerto Vallarta Safe?

Puerto Vallarta is located on the West side of Mexico and is lined by the Sierra Madre Mountains & a lush jungle coastline. Puerto Vallarta is known for its warm tropical weather, inexpensive cost of living and traditional Mexican culture. During whale season (November to March), you are guaranteed to see whales every day in the Bay of Banderas, and sting rays and dolphins year around.

So, is Puerto Vallarta safe for solo female travelers?

The answer is - YES!

As a solo traveler myself I have lived in Puerto Vallarta for almost 4 years now and have never run into any situations that I felt were dangerous or unsafe.

Is there a lot of theft or violence in Puerto Vallarta?

There is not a lot of theft, danger or violence in the tourist areas of Puerto Vallarta and any of the surrounding cities, but like with any place you choose to travel to it is smart not to wear a lot of flashy jewelry and keep a small amount of cash on your body.

The key here is: don’t come to a third world country and flash your first world luxuries and you should be just fine.

Puerto Vallarta is very safe and violent crime does not exist in here.

What is public transportation like in Puerto Vallarta?

Taxi’s, Uber, the bus and now INDriver are all available to you in PV and are all equally safe. Taxi’s are the most expensive option while the bus is still only $10 pesos (.50$ USD). Uber and INDriver are reasonably competitive.

The bus is currently the most used form of public transportation in Puerto Vallarta and personally my favorite! Can you drink a beer or a margarita on the bus in YOUR home country? Didn’t think so!

Is the ocean safe in Puerto Vallarta?

Tides, currents and jelly fish are all things to watch out for anytime you’re in the ocean, but there is no reason to be overly concerned.

In the Bay of Banderas, waters are calmer here than most other parts of Mexico because it’s crescent shape protects the beaches from currents out in the open ocean.

Sharks are not a concern in Puerto Vallarta which is one of the main reasons the humpback whales choose to breed here as well as bring their young calf’s to the warm tropical waters.

There are life guards on the beach at some beaches, but its good to pay attention to the flags on the beach:

Green Flag: Water conditions are safe for swimming.

Yellow Flag: Use caution while swimming.

Red Flag: Dangerous conditions.

Black Flag: The highest warning level. Do not swim.

Is it safe to eat the food in Puerto Vallarta?

Street food stands are located everywhere in Puerto Vallarta and are safe to eat at. Some of the best food in Mexico comes out of a little mom and pop street food stand because it is delicious and cheap.

Is it safe to drink the water in Puerto Vallarta?

That depends on where you are in the city and where you are staying. A lot of the major hotels have a filtration system and will inform their guests that the water is potable - ok for consumption.

Locals and visitors do not drink tap water in Puerto Vallarta, so we purchase a garrafon (5 gallon filtered water jug) 2-3 times per week from any OXXO or grocery store for around $35 pesos.

Is there crime in Puerto Vallarta?

Puerto Vallarta is safe, but that doesn’t mean you should always be letting your guard down. Crime still exists, but crime levels are low, especially compared with the rest of Mexico and significantly lower than the crime rates of major cities in the U.S. like Miami and Las Vegas.

Is there Cartel activity in Puerto Vallarta?

Puerto Vallarta has largely remained uninvolved in Cartel conflicts. Violent crime is rare, and in the few instances of violence that have occurred, the victims were expected to be involved with the cartel in some way.

Crimes that do occur are usually petty in nature, and mostly crimes of opportunity such as bag snatching, pick-pocketing or theft. But even these aren’t very common.

Mexico has this reputation…

Mexico has a reputation - mostly with Canadian and American travelers - that it is not a safe destination to travel to for people like retirees and solo female travers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In 2018, AARP ranked Puerto Vallarta the #1 place to retire in based on safety and the cost of living against 100 other cities around the world.

10 Quick Solo Female Travel Tips for Puerto Vallarta

Double check the license plate of your Uber/InDriver.

Never leave drinks unattended.

Take your belongings to the bathroom with you.

Smile and acknowledge the people you pass, most of the time they just want to say hello.

If you need help, ask for it. Almost everyone is here to help you enjoy your time in Puerto Vallarta.

Don’t wear flashy jewelry.

Always be conscious opening your wallet in public.

Be aware of leaving your purse open and pick-pocketers.

Don’t carry too much cash. $200 USD per day is more than enough.

Avoid walking home at night if you don’t know the neighborhood.

watch the video below

More Videos on Youtube

Travel Experts Interviewed in this video:

**Current COVID-19 Safety Protocol in Puerto Vallarta**

Masks are required in all public places & social distancing is enforced. Public beaches are open & groups are limited to 10 or less, with mask use optional once you are on the beach & distanced from others.

Restaurants & bars have limited capacity, but isn’t much of a problem since tourism is so low right now since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Wearing a mask or not wearing a mask is not a political statement here as it is in the US, but from my observation, most seem to follow the protocol.” - Jim Kellett.

“As of January 26th, 2021, all passengers on international flights bound for the United States will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, PCR or rapid antigen, or written documentation of recovery following a COVID-19 infection. Canada only requires the PCR test.”

Testing requirements for both countries must be within 72 hours prior to departure.

COVID Testing locations and prices in Puerto Vallarta: https://visitpuertovallarta.com/covid-19

Puerto Vallarta Activities x My Deztination

Book now!

What is the weather like in Puerto Vallarta?

From December through April, the average daily high temperature is about 81 degrees, with a low at night hovering around 65 degrees, so not too hot during the day & no air conditioner needed!

During the rainy season (June through November), temperatures are higher at around 89 degrees, with full-day sun and lightening showers in the evenings.

Where is Puerto Vallarta?

Puerto Vallarta follows the coast of the Pacific Ocean & shares the same latitude line as Hawaii, making it the best year around weather in the world. Most tourists visit the East coast of Mexico first because they assume that the Caribbean Sea will provide a better ambiance, but once those same people come to Vallarta they realize it’s the only place in Mexico where the tropical ocean is lined with the lush jungle of the Sierra Madre Mountain range.

Thanks for reading!

Puerto Vallarta Activities

by My Deztination

#Mexico #Puerto Vallarta #Best Beaches #Activities #Ecotourism #Female Travel #Travel Tips #Gay Travel #Culture & Deztinations #Inspiration #Solo Travel #Couples Travel #Animals #COVID-19 #Yelapa #Los Arcos #Safety Tips

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snohc · 3 years

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Limitations of Covid-19 antibody testing

The COVID-19 test results may not be very accurate, especially if you immediately take the test after infection. Unfortunately, some manufacturers do not have enough precision and supervision over the production process of antibody test kits. For this reason, you can access online data on the performance of some antibody tests at the US Food and Drug Administration.

In addition to the above, there is a possibility of false-positive or negative results. False-positive results cause you to mistakenly think you are immune to reinfection. However, even with true-positive results, you can not be sure of immunity. False-negative results are also obtained when you do the antibody test soon after infection.

Remember that the body needs time to make antibodies.

Despite a positive test result, you should not be sure that you will not get the infection again. So you still have to wear a mask, wash your hands regularly, and keep your social distance to avoid spreading the virus.

Covid-19 test for travel in Las Vegas

Covid-19 test for the traveler is available in Southern Nevada Occupational Health Centre for travelers and the residents of Las Vegas. You have come to the city and don’t know the area might be looking for a center to complete a COVID-19 test? SNOHC is your trusted option to take the test. Although no COVID-19 test is 100% accurate, we provide the highest level of accuracy with our tests. The CDC recommends completing a test before flying if you are not vaccinated. Wearing a mask during the flight and staying away from the crowd is also necessary. CDC also recommends keeping the social distance. By the CDC recommendations, you also need to take a test 3-5 days after your flight and stay in quarantine for seven days if your test is negative. You can take PCR and antibody tests in our occupational health center. Southern Nevada Occupational Health Center performs antibody and PCR tests in Las Vegas. The SNOHC has been providing Occupational Health services in Las Vegas for plus 15 years. Call us at (702) 381-3989 for further information. To make an appointment, fill the form on the right side out.

Where to get a PCR test near me?

If you need to get a PCR test, you can go to your local or state health department’s website for local test information. We recommend that you contact your doctor before doing the test.

COVID-19 testing in Las Vegas

Southern Nevada Occupational Health Center performs antibody and PCR test in Las Vegas. The SNOHC has been providing Occupational Health Service in Las Vegas for plus 15 years. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we stand by your side. Call us at (702) 381-3989 for further information. To make an appointment, fill the form on the right side out

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Monday, June 21, 2021

‘I quit’ (NYT) The blazing-hot job market is in part being fueled by two words: I quit. According to the Labor Department, nearly four million people quit their jobs in April, the most on record. The dynamic has placed more power firmly in workers’ hands: With employers offering higher wages and incentives to combat the labor shortage, many workers—especially in low-wage positions in restaurants and hotels—are leaving their jobs and jumping to ones that pay even slightly more. The pandemic has driven workers to quit for other reasons as well. People were able to save money and pay down their debts, giving them a cushion to leave jobs that left them dissatisfied. Other workers, disinclined to give up remote work, are abandoning jobs that are less flexible.

‘Protected them to death’: Elder-care COVID rules under fire (AP) Barbara and Christine Colucci long to remove their masks and kiss their 102-year-old mother, who has dementia and is in a nursing home in Rochester, New York. They would love to have more than two people in her room at a time so that relatives can be there too. “We don’t know how much longer she’s going to be alive,” Christine Colucci said, “so it’s like, please, give us this last chance with her in her final months on this earth to have that interaction.” Pandemic restrictions are falling away almost everywhere—except inside many of America’s nursing homes. Rules designed to protect the nation’s most vulnerable from COVID-19 are still being enforced even though 75% of nursing home residents are now vaccinated and infections and deaths have plummeted. Frustration has set in as families around the country visit their moms and, this Father’s Day weekend, their dads. Hugs and kisses are still discouraged or banned in some nursing homes. Visits are limited and must be kept short, and are cut off entirely if someone tests positive for the coronavirus. Family members and advocates question the need for such restrictions at this stage of the pandemic, when the risk is comparatively low. They say the measures are now just prolonging older people’s isolation and accelerating their mental and physical decline.

Southwest US states bake, wildfire threatens Arizona towns (AP) The Southwest U.S. continued to bake Saturday, and weather forecasters kept warnings in effect for excessive heat in Arizona, Nevada and desert areas, at least through the weekend. High temperature marks didn’t fall Saturday, but Phoenix reached a sweltering high of 115 degrees (46 C) for the day and Las Vegas hit 111 degrees (44 C). Both were 3 degrees shy of records for the date, forecasters said. In Arizona, fire officials blamed extreme heat for the spread of a wildfire that started late Wednesday and grew by Saturday to nearly 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) near Strawberry and Pine, mountain towns east of Interstate 17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff.

Life-threatening flash flooding rises in Claudette’s path (AP) Forecasters warned of life-threatening flash flooding in parts of the Deep South, particularly across central Alabama, as Tropical Depression Claudette traveled over coastal states early Sunday. Heavy rain led to high water late Saturday into early Sunday in the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa metropolitan areas. Claudette was expected to cross into the Atlantic Ocean on Monday, and regain tropical storm strength over eastern North Carolina.

US Catholic bishops and communion (NYT) The divergence of the conservative American Catholic church from Pope Francis has come into sharp focus. On Friday, U.S. Catholic bishops decided to draft new guidance on communion that would deny President Biden the sacrament because of his support for abortion rights. The vote flouted a warning from the Vatican and was squarely aimed at Biden, above on Saturday, perhaps the most religiously observant president since Jimmy Carter. The bishops are expected to vote on a text in November. But on Saturday, Pope Francis said nothing, church officials and experts said, because he remains confident that the American conservatives would never have enough votes to pass a doctrinal declaration on banning communion. Nonetheless, the pope’s allies worry that the rite of communion will be turned into a political weapon.

At least 15 die in multiple attacks near US-Mexico border (AP) Gunmen aboard a number of vehicles staged attacks in several neighborhoods in the Mexican border city of Reynosa on Saturday, and at least 15 people died in clashes that caused widespread panic, according to local law enforcement. The Tamaulipas state agency coordinating security forces said in a statement that the attacks began in the early afternoon in several neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city, which borders McAllen, Texas. The area’s criminal activity has long been dominated by the Gulf Cartel, but there have been fractures within the gang.

As Brazil tops 500,000 deaths, protests against president (AP) Anti-government protesters took to the streets in more than a score of cities across Brazil on Saturday as the nation’s confirmed death toll from COVID-19 soared past half a million—a tragedy many critics blame on President Jair Bolsonaro’s attempt to minimize the disease. Saturday’s marches came a week after Bolsonaro led a massive motorcycle parade of supporters in Sao Paulo, though his allies and foes differ dramatically on the size of that event.

EU Opens The Door To American Travelers. But Be Sure To Read The Fine Print (NPR) Americans are now able to visit the European Union again, vaccinated or not. The European Council has updated its list of countries whose citizens and residents should be allowed to travel freely to the bloc’s 27 member nations, and the United States is finally on it. But before you get on a plane, be aware there may be catches. In fact, there could be 27 different combinations of them. While the updated list published Friday is a recommendation on who may be granted entry based on their home country’s health situation, each EU government makes its own border decisions. This includes what nationalities to admit, whether to require PCR or rapid antigen coronavirus tests upon arrival, and whether quarantine is mandatory. And there’s yet another factor EU governments may take into account when deciding whether to grant access to American travelers: reciprocity. The U.S. government has not yet lifted its ban on non-essential travel by Europeans.

Feeling abandoned by Europe, Greece hardens migration policy (Reuters) With walled camps and tougher border controls, Greece is hardening its approach ahead of summer when migrant arrivals pick up, defying criticism from aid groups and saying it has little choice given a lack of support from the rest of Europe. The squalid conditions facing many asylum-seekers were laid bare last year when a fire devastated the sprawling Moria camp on Lesbos, and Greece has denied repeated accusations that its coast guard vessels have pushed back migrant boats as they entered Greek waters from Turkey. Greece was the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015, when a million refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan landed. The numbers have slowed sharply since, but Greece says it is still left shouldering much of the burden.

Thailand Once Shut Out Covid-19 but Is Now Pivoting to Living With It (WSJ) Last year, Thailand was one of the world’s top performers at fighting the coronavirus. It sacrificed the tourism dollars that normally buoy its economy to shut out Covid-19. In September, it celebrated 100 consecutive days of no locally transmitted infections. The government is now making a stark departure from that vision of an infection-free oasis. Its new message: Learn to live with the virus long term. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha pledged this week to fully reopen the nation in the next 120 days, or by mid-October, allowing most restrictions on business and tourism to be lifted. Foreign visitors would have to be vaccinated but could enter and travel freely. Doing so, he said, would mean accepting higher infection rates, but the step is necessary to ease the enormous suffering of those struggling to earn a living. “I know this decision comes with some risk because when we open the country, there will be an increase in infections, no matter how good our precautions,” he said in a televised address Wednesday. “But, I think, when we take into consideration the economic needs of people, the time has now come for us to take that calculated risk.”

Australia accused of 'excessive and unnecessary' secrecy (AP) Australia’s suppression of information seen as pivotal to a free and open media is at the center of accusations that the country has become one of the world’s most secretive democracies. Last week, a former Australian spy was convicted over his unconfirmed role as a whistleblower who revealed an espionage operation against the government of East Timor. It’s the latest high-profile case in a national system in which secrecy laws, some dating back to the colonial era, are routinely used to suppress information. Police have also threatened to charge journalists who exposed war crime allegations against Australian special forces in Afghanistan, or bureaucrats’ plan to allow an intelligence agency to spy on Australian citizens. Australians don’t even know the name of the former spy convicted Friday. The Canberra court registry listed him as “Witness K.” K spent the two-day hearing in a box constructed from black screens to hide his identity. The public and media were sent out of the courtroom when classified evidence was discussed, which was about half the time. The only sign that anyone was actually inside the box was when a voice said “guilty” after K was asked how he pleaded.

After cease-fire, Israel and Hamas revert to calibrated routine of provocation and reprisal (Washington Post) On just the second day of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s tenure, Jewish nationalists marched through East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 war, yelling, “Death to Arabs.” In what Hamas said was a response, the group launched incendiary balloons from Gaza, injuring no one but burning crops and wildlands. Hours later, Israeli warplanes struck two “military sites” in Gaza, injuring no one but unnerving residents. This was a version of the finely calibrated dance of provocation and reprisal well known to residents on both sides of the Gaza-Israel border. Nearly a month after a cease-fire ended 11 days of intense fighting, neither side is eager for a return to a full air war, according to military and political analysts, although the situation remains volatile. Hamas launched more fire balloons Thursday and Israel hit additional sites in Gaza, again with no reported injuries. But so far, Hamas has not resumed rocket fire, which would all but ensure a more muscular response from the Israeli military. Both sides are pressing their demands in negotiations over a longer-term truce being brokered by Egyptian mediators. Israel is insisting that Hamas return the remains of soldiers it has held since 2014 and two Israeli citizens it is assumed to hold. Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and stop blocking millions of dollars that Qatar is seeking to provide to pay Palestinian government salaries in Gaza. As the talks go on, an international program to help Gaza rebuild is waiting to launch. Israel has yet to open the border crossings, except for humanitarian and emergency traffic. No mail has reached Gaza since fighting broke out May 10.

Jordan’s unprecedented palace drama moves to the courtroom (AP) Jordan’s version of a trial of the century gets under way Monday when a relative of King Abdullah II and a former chief of the royal court are to be ushered into the defendants’ cage at the state security court to face charges of sedition and incitement. They are accused of conspiring with a senior royal—Prince Hamzah, a half-brother of the king—to foment unrest against the monarch while soliciting foreign help. The palace drama erupted into the open in early April, when Hamzah was placed under house arrest. It has since broken taboos in Jordan and sent jitters through foreign capitals, with Western powers rallying behind Abdullah, an indispensable ally in an unstable region. The case exposed rivalries in Jordan’s traditionally discreet Hashemite dynasty and spawned unprecedented public criticism of the monarch. The defendants are the most senior establishment figures to appear before the security court, which typically goes after drug offenders or suspected militants. “As far as I know, there has not been a case this big in the history of Jordan,” said defense lawyer Ala Khasawneh. The state news agency Petra said the trial starts Monday.

#headlines #news

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japangelito · 3 years

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🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶* ▶️ Photo (s) of 1/20/2018* ▶️ Mexican Souvenirs 🇲🇽 Have you tried Mexican coffee before? ☕️* ▶️ I delay my posts for a long time, but I am posting little by little. 🙏* ▶️ Recent Activities: Hospitalization Day 4 🏥* I still can’t go back home because my condition haven’t been improved yet. 🤦‍♂️* BTW, When I was at the ER at the first day, I took the COVID test forcibly there. It was totally negative. 💪* I still believe this is a side affect from the second vaccine of Moderna. I had it last week Monday. After that, I had a very bad chill, fever, and headache at the same time. After the dry cough, it became an asthma, and I made a short breath. And now I am hospitalized... Sigh...🤦‍♂️ I don’t know when I can’t leave from here... 🤷‍♂️* 🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶* ▶️ 2018/1/20 の写真:* ▶️ メキシコ��お土産 🇲🇽 メキシコのコーヒー飲んだことありますか。☕️* ▶️ 投稿はもう随分遅れておりますが、徐々に載せます。🙏* ▶️ 近況: 入院4日目。🏥* まだ回復していないために今夜まだ家に帰れません。🤦‍♂️* ところで初めて緊急室に行った時に、そこでPCRテストを強制的に受けされられましたが、陰性でした。💪* 今回のはモデルナ製のワクチン接種後の副反応だと僕は考えてます。先週の月曜に2度目のワクチンを摂取しましたが、その後酷い寒気と発熱と頭痛に見舞われました。その時に空咳がありましたが、喘息に悪化し、さらに息切れしてます。今では入院することになりました。。。ため息したありません。。。🤦‍♂️ いつここから出れるのか分かりません。🤷‍♂️* 🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶🔷🔶* #mexicancoffee #madeinmexico #echoenmexico #souvenirs #souvenir #mexicansouvenir #mexicansouvenirs #Mexico #mexicotrip #trip #tripgram #travel #travelgram #oldpic #メキシコのコーヒー #メキシコ土産 #メキシコ #メキシコ産 #旅 #旅行 #旅スタグラム #海外生活 #海外旅行 #旅行好きな人と繋がりたい #海外旅行好きな人と繋がりたい #旅好きな人と繋がりたい #ファインダー越しの私の世界 #旅行行きたい #いつかまた世界で #過去pic (at Las Vegas, Nevada) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNODGw3re2I/?igshid=9y7s2d6cqy6g

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techcrunchappcom · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/the-latest-pennsylvania-governor-warns-virus-getting-worse-world-news/

The Latest: Pennsylvania governor warns virus getting worse | World News

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf warned Monday that the coronavirus is running rampant throughout the state and could soon force overwhelmed hospitals to begin turning away patients.

Wolf calls it a “dangerous, disturbing scenario” that will become reality if people don’t take steps to slow the spread. He said additional pandemic restrictions might be on the way but did not elaborate on what his administration might be considering while also acknowledging the ones already in place have not worked.

Wolf said the unchecked spread of the virus in all regions of the state means that resource-sharing agreements among hospitals could soon begin to break down and force them to begin rationing care.

Still, the governor all but ruled out a return to the kinds of statewide restrictions he imposed in the spring, when schools were closed, thousands of businesses deemed non-essential were shut down, and all 12.8 million Pennsylvanians were under a stay-at-home order.

———

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Health officials warn Americans not to let their guard down

— UK gears up for coronavirus vaccination program watched around the world

— Citing low virus rates in schools, New York City reopens schools again

— Biden picks Calif. Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead HHS, pandemic response

— Senator says Trump, McConnell likely to back COVID-19 relief

— Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani in hospital after positive COVID-19 test

———

Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

———

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

———

ATLANTA — The number of confirmed and suspected coronavirus infections has soared more than 70% in Georgia in the week ended Monday as hospitals continue to sound alarms about their ability to absorb new COVID-19 patients and a few schools give up in-person instruction for the remaining two weeks before Christmas holidays begin, with all students learning at home until 2021.

The last week has seen a rapid takeoff in new infections, with the state averaging more than 5,000 confirmed and suspected cases each day as of Monday. Even just the confirmed cases, based off molecular PCR tests, are now above the high set on July 24.

More than 2,500 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized Monday statewide. That’s below the summer peak of 3,200, but more than double the most recent low point in mid-October.

Despite the rapid rise, Georgia still ranks only 44th among the states for the most new cases per capita in the past 14 days, because cases are spreading so rapidly everywhere else. Still, the Georgia Department of Public health rates 60% of Georgia’s counties as having high transmission.

Georgia is likely to record its 10,000th confirmed or suspected death from COVID-19 sometime this week. On Monday, the death total stood at 9.851. The state passed 500,000 confirmed or suspected infections on Sunday.

———

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee lawmaker has been hospitalized with COVID-19 after attending a House Republican caucus meeting nearly two weeks ago.

Rep. David Byrd was flown by helicopter over the weekend to a Nashville hospital. The 63-year-old lawmaker attended the House GOP caucus meeting with nearly 70 lawmakers on Nov. 24 and also participated in a House GOP overnight retreat the weekend prior.

Byrd is at least the second lawmaker to be hospitalized after contracting the virus. Republican Rep. Mike Carter was hospitalized earlier this year for COVID-19.

Byrd had attracted scrutiny for more than a year over allegations by three women of sexual misconduct three decades ago when he was a high school teacher and their basketball coach. He was never charged.

———

LAS VEGAS — Officials have reported that the number of people hospitalized in Nevada with COVID-19 has more than doubled over the last month.

The Nevada Hospital Association reported Monday that hospitalized coronavirus patients increased to 1,617 statewide from Nov. 6 to Dec. 6 as the state continues experiencing a surge. That’s up from 692, a rise of more than 230%.

Nevada COVID-19 response director Caleb Cage says officials expect the number of reported cases to continue rising because of gatherings over Thanksgiving. Cage says that will likely increase the number of hospitalizations.

Nevada has reported 170,587 COVID-19 cases and 2,319 deaths during the pandemic.

———

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has announced plans for a nighttime curfew during the upcoming Hanukkah holiday to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

The curfew is set to go into effect on Wednesday, on the eve of Hanukkah. It says commercial activities will be banned and intercity travel will be limited.

An announcement Monday night said the measure, approved by the advisory coronavirus cabinet, still requires approval from the Cabinet.

Israel has already imposed two lockdowns this year and is still emerging from the latest set of restrictions imposed in September. In recent days, the number of daily confirmed cases has sharply climbed.

Also Monday, President Reuven Rivlin said the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine are expected to arrive in the country in the coming days.

———

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced plans Monday for a series of community meetings across Arkansas to address the growing surge of coronavirus cases.

Hutchinson’s office said that the governor will have meetings this week in Benton, Springdale and Jonesboro, followed by additional meetings in other cities next week. The governor also planned to give a speech Thursday night for a statewide audience.

Hutchinson said last week that he’s considering requiring state approval for smaller indoor events. Under the state’s current COVID-19 restrictions, indoor events with more than 100 people expected must have a plan approved beforehand by the state.

But overall, the Republican governor has resisted calls for widespread restrictions, such as stricter capacity requirements on indoor dining, which has been recommended by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Arkansas’ rolling average number of daily new virus cases has increased by 21% over the past two weeks, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. One in every 205 people in Arkansas tested positive in the past week, researchers said.

———

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s health department has loosened its coronavirus quarantine guidance for schools and workplaces to match the latest recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The guidelines suggest people who’ve come in close contact with someone infected with the novel coronavirus can resume normal activity after 10 days if no symptoms have emerged, or seven days if they test negative. That’s down from 14 days.

The state Department of Education is expected to give public school systems the green light to follow the relaxed quarantine rules.

But the health department is sticking to a 14-day recommendation for prisons and nursing homes where people live together in tight quarters.

———

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans may be in store for stricter coronavirus restrictions next week.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in Monday social media posts that cases are on the rise in the city. Cantrell said that if the numbers don’t look better in one week, more restrictions will be needed.

There’s been a sharp increase in the percentage of tests with positive results. The seven-day average, as reported by the city, has gone from around 1% in early November to 3.6% as of Sunday.

Cantrell didn’t provide details on what the tighter rules might entail.

Restrictions are already tight in a city famous for its hospitality industry and night life. Indoor social gatherings are limited to 75 people and outdoor gatherings to 150 people. Restaurants are limited to half their indoor capacity and bars to 25%, and alcoholic beverage sales end at 11 p.m. Indoor live entertainment remains off-limits.

———

COLUMBIA, S.C. — With new COVID-19 cases reaching record levels in South Carolina, a teacher group is asking districts to go back to all virtual teaching until this second spike in the virus can be flattened.

The plea was given more emotional weight over the weekend after the death of 50-year-old third grade teacher Staci Blakely from COVID-19. Her family asked the school district to announce her death publicly to remind people how serious the disease can be, District Superintendent Greg Little said in a statement.

Blakely was a 28-year teaching veteran who was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus on Nov. 11. No one else in her classroom has been infected, the district said.

At least four school districts in South Carolina have returned to all virtual learning. Nearly a quarter of the state’s districts are teaching in person every day.

When averaged out over seven days, South Carolina is seeing about 2,300 new COVID-19 cases a day. That’s more than during the July peak that saw the state among the nation’s leaders in coronavirus spread.

———

BERLIN — A panel of medical experts in Germany is recommending that nursing home residents, people over 80 and certain medical personnel in acute and elderly care should receive coronavirus vaccines first when they become available.

A draft recommendation released Monday defines some 8.6 million people who would receive a vaccine first. That’s over 10% of the German population.

According to the 62-page document, only once those groups have been immunized and if vaccines are still limited should other high risk groups receive the shot.

The draft, which still needs to be approved, has a total of six categories grouped according to their risk of serious illness from COVID-19 and the likelihood they might expose others. Teachers belong to the fourth category, while people working in key positions of government, in critical infrastructure and in small stores are in the fifth.

All other healthy individuals under 60 — an estimated 45 million people in the country of 83 million — would be last in line for a vaccine.

The expert panel says people who have recovered from confirmed infection with COVID-19 do not need to get immunized.

———

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa posted another 35 deaths from the novel coronavirus on Monday, continuing the high level of deaths related to the pandemic.

The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from 29 deaths per day on Nov. 22 to 45 deaths per day on Sunday, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

State health officials reported on Monday 912 new cases in the previous 24 hours. State data indicates new case trends have slowed with the average number of daily new cases decreasing by nearly 37% in the past two weeks.

Although slowing, the virus spread remains high in Iowa. There were 1,083 new cases per 100,000 people in Iowa over the past two weeks, which ranks 16th in the country for new cases per capita. One in every 195 people in Iowa tested positive in the past week.

State data also show positive trends with fewer hospitalized patients at 898 on Monday and fewer people admitted in the previous 24 hours.

———

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuania’s government began advising people on Monday only to leave home for serious reasons, banned private parties of more than two families, and tightened requirements in shopping centers.

The government also directed almost all public sector employees to work from home, after initial measures failed to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Shops are urged not to have short-term sales promotions and to have no more than five people stand in a line. Also, only one person per family is recommended to go shopping.

People in the southernmost Baltic country will have to celebrate Christmas under the new regulations, which will last until at least the end of the month.

A country of almost 3 million, Lithuania managed to curb the first COVID-19 wave but now faces one of the highest surges in Europe per capita with 76,036 total cases and 637 deaths, most of those registered in the last two months.

———

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s government says it will maintain core lockdown measures through the Christmas holidays, acknowledging that monthlong restrictions have not reduced COVID-19 infections to the extent it had hoped for.

Schools, courts, and restaurants will remain closed through Jan. 7, government spokesman Stelios Petsas announced Monday, while non-essential travel between Greece’s administrative regions will also be banned.

Stay-at-home orders nationwide will remain in effect until that date, with movement outside households granted by the government by SMS.

Greece’s pandemic death toll reached 3,000 at the weekend, with most deaths occurring after Nov. 1. The number of daily infections, based on a seven-day rolling average, is currently at 1,609 compared to 2,674 in mid-November, Petsas said.

Restrictions for stores, churches, and hair salons will be announced later this week, Petsas said.

The current lockdown was launched on Nov. 7 and initially planned to last for three weeks.

———

HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will go to health care workers in the state’s major hospitals, Gov. Steve Bullock announced Monday.

Hospitals first in line for the vaccine are in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Missoula.

Montana could receive 9,750 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in mid-December.

Large hospitals were selected as the recipients in the first round because the Pfizer vaccine must be stored in cold temperatures, and doses are shipped in boxes of 975 per box. The number of doses distributed to each hospital will be based on a survey conducted by the state’s health department.

A second shipment of vaccines is expected a week after the first round, which will contain both the Pfizer vaccine and a vaccine developed by drug company Moderna. The second shipment will be distributed primarily to rural hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, according to the governor’s office.

———

HONOLULU — Officials gathered in Pearl Harbor to remember those killed in the 1941 Japanese attack, but public health measures adopted because of the coronavirus pandemic meant no survivors were present.

The military broadcast video of the ceremony live online for survivors and members of the public to watch from afar.

USS Utah survivor Warren Upton says it’s too bad he can’t be there in person, but that it’s for safety reasons. The 101-year-old planned to watch the ceremony from his home in California.

A moment of silence was held at 7:55 a.m. That’s the same time the attack began 79 years ago, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,400.

———

LISBON — Portugal has surpassed the threshold of 5,000 COVID-19 deaths and set a new record for hospital admissions.

The General Directorate for Health said Monday that 3,367 patients with the novel coronavirus are in hospital and 78 people had died over the previous 24 hours.

Authorities officially recorded fewer than 3,000 cases of COVID-19, as the pandemic has ebbed from a peak of 7,497 daily cases in early November. Hospital admissions have leveled off but remain high.

Portugal’s 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people is 600, according to the European Centre for Disease Control. That makes it ninth highest in the 31 European countries monitored by the EU agency.

———

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ longtime partner, first gentleman Marlon Reis, has been hospitalized as a precaution after experiencing shortness of breath and a worsening cough eight days after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

Polis’ office said in a statement late Sunday that the governor, who also was diagnosed with COVID-19, drove Reis to a hospital “for review and treatment.” Polis was not experiencing severe symptoms, his office said.

No additional information was immediately released. Both Polis and Reis tested positive Nov. 28, and both had been quarantining at home.

Polis, a Democrat, had described his symptoms as “very mild” Dec. 1 as he worked last week from home. He had previously said Reis was asymptomatic.

———

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is warning that the upcoming holiday season may be even worse than Thanksgiving in terms of spreading the coronavirus.

Fauci told CNN on Monday that because the traditional Christmas season is an extended period that stretches into New Year’s, the prospects for spreading the virus as people travel “may be even more compounded than what we saw at Thanksgiving.”

Fauci said “it’s a very critical time in this country right now” with the virus surging and more important than ever for people to take precautions like avoiding indoor gatherings, wearing masks and social distancing.

Over Thanksgiving, many people traveled to gather with families, against warnings from health officials. Fauci said the U.S. is “probably just at the beginning” of seeing the resulting uptick in cases.

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kristinsimmons · 4 years

Text

Viruses on Motorcycles

By ANISH KOKA

The most recent fiction dressed up as science about COVID comes to us courtesy of a viral Washington Post article. “How the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have spread coronavirus across the Upper Midwest” screams the headline. The charge made is that “within weeks” of the gathering that drew nearly half a million visitors the Dakota’s and adjacent states are experiencing a surge of COVID cases.

The Sturgis Rally happens to be a popular motorcycle rally held in Sturgis, South Dakota every August that created much consternation this year because it wasn’t cancelled even as the country was in the throes of a pandemic. While some of the week long event is held outdoors, attendees filled bars and tattoo parlors,(and that too without masks!), much to the shock and chagrin of the virtuous members of society successfully able to navigate life via zoom, amazon prime, and ubereats.

This particular Washington Post article’s sole source of data comes from a non-profit tech organization called The Center For New Data that attempted to use cellphone data to attempt to track spread of the virus from the Sturgis rally. Unfortunately, tracking viral spread using cellphone mobility data is about as hard as it seems. The post article references only 11,000 people that were able to be tracked out of a total of almost 500,000 visitors, and isn’t able to assess mask wearing, or attempts at social distancing. How many bars are there to stuff into in Sturgis anyway?? And so it isn’t surprising that even in an article designed to please a certain politic, this particular sentence appears:

“But precisely how that outbreak unfolded remains shrouded in uncertainty.”

The other striking feature of the article is the timing of this ptome to journalistic excellence. The article is published in the latter half of October precisely because South Dakota is documenting its highest numbers of new cases now. It doesn’t seem to matter that the Sturgis Rally was held in early August, more than 2 months prior to the recent spike in cases. The Post article spends the majority of its time meandering through a few anecdotes from rally attendees who have finally seen the error in their ways, but provide no other data points to substantiate the condescension of the blue-checkmark twitterati that were all too happy to amplify the article.

In fairness, this isn’t the first time a scarlet C has been attempted to be hung on Republican Governor of South Dakota, and the band of deplorables she leads. The unabashed Trump supporting Governor has had the conventional public health experts on mute for much of the pandemic. The South Dakotan approach has emphasized private personal responsibility and was one of only eight states to eschew stay-at-home, or safer-at-home orders. The really annoying aspect of this approach to public health autocrats was that it seemed to work really well, as new COVID cases leading up to the Sturgis rally numbered in the 5o’s and 60’s per day while other, admittedly larger states, had outbreaks in the tens of thousands per day.

The current attempts to tie increasing cases to a gathering that took place months earlier is squarely in the realm of politics, not science. After almost eight long months the citizens of the globe are weary, and are restarting life out of necessity. Schools are opening, traffic into cities is building, and grandparents are hugging their grandkids again. Tracking spread of the virus as this happens is simply a reflection of the social interactions that have come to define life. Testing for COVID is ubiquitous enough at this point to have largely become a meaningless exercise used primarily to support shoddy scholarship that generates a clickbait headline. If it was politically expedient to connect France’s recent spike in COVID case to the Sturgis Rally, some ‘researcher’ would find a way to make science say it was so.

An earlier, more scholarly attempt to make the Sturgis Rally the nation’s largest super-spreading event provides a particularly good example of how science bends to politics. In September, economists tried to use another cellphone dataset to show that counties across the nation that contributed more travelers to the Sturgis Rally saw a much higher rise in COVID cases than those that sent relatively few travelers. A closer read of the paper finds the wheels start coming off this particularly poorly constructed narrative almost immediately. One would think that researchers intent on demonstrating a COVID apocalypse triggered by a mass gathering would use deaths, but instead COVID cases are used. The authors explain that their reason for using cases is because of the relatively low level of mortality since the Sturgis event. At the time the article was published September 2nd, there had been one recorded death since the rally.

It is true that South Dakotans appear to obey the natural laws of viral spread. As people gather and socialize doing the things they value, whether that be at motorcycle rallies or the local Target, cases rise. Two weeks after the Sturgis rally, South Dakota goes from seeing fewer than a 100 new cases per day to almost 400 new cases per day.

To put these numbers into context, one need only look at the rise in cases in California, Washington and Florida, all seemingly quiet until a few weeks after massive gatherings in major cities during the Memorial Day Weekend.

Fascinatingly the same researchers confident about the link between national superspreading and the Sturgis Rally also found no link between widespread Memorial day protests and a spike in cases 2 weeks later.

The data in early September, almost one month after the Sturgis Rally actually suggests S. Dakotans had a reasonably small uptick in cases that was already beginning to dissipate according to the snapshot available from the South Dakota COVID dashboard.

And its not just PCR positivity, even the weekly influenza like illness reporting trends year-over-year, shows no significant spike compared to prior years.

The danger of superspreader events is that they create a conflagration that overwhelms hospitals, yet the hospital occupancy data In South Dakota shows almost 50% of regular hospital beds, and 36% of ICU beds were empty one month after the Sturgis Rally.

The real meat in this scholarly work, of course, is the proposition that Sturgis spread the virus far and wide. The paper sought to demonstrate this by by showing counties across the country that contributed a high number of attendees to the Sturgis Rally saw higher rates of COVID spread in the weeks that followed.

The following national map shows the counties that were noted to contribute a high number of travelers to the sturgis rally. The deepest blue are high inflow counties, that were found to have an increase in cases between 6-12% after the Sturgis Rally. Conversely, low inflow counties appeared to have no increase in new COVID cases.

This would appear to be concerning, visual evidence of COVID spread directly as a result of the Sturgis rally, until one actually uses the nice map to take a look at outbreaks in high inflow counties. Here is one of the graphs of COVID cases in the deep blue high inflow Weld County, Colorado. Even an electron microscope wouldn’t be able to manufacture a meaningful spike three weeks after the Sturgis even in early August..

Weld County, Colorado

The next high inflow county of interest is the home of Las Vegas, which also shows absolutely no visual evidence of chaos unleashed after the August gathering. The spike in cases here instead seems to time out well with casino openings in mid June.

Clark County, Nevada

Campbell County, Wyoming, another high inflow county, is perhaps more promising for the Sturgis superspreader narrative on first glance. There appears to be a spike in cases about 2 weeks after Sturgis, but a closer look at the y-axis shows the spike in cases was 8 new cases in one day. Not 80, not 8000, but eight cases.

Campbell County, Wyoming

But as cases rise across the nation in October in multiple disparate states, somehow the edifying narrative the Washington Post and other social media influencers are latching onto is that the Sturgis rally was the unique event that set fire to the midwest. Never mind that non-contiguous Alaska and Sturgis-adjacent North Dakota have new case/hospitalization peaks that appear to mirror each other by both accelerating in October, well after one would expect Sturgis to be responsible.

Alaska

North Dakota

On the other hand, Hawaii appears to have some cause to blame its epidemic on the irresponsible Dakotans from Sturgis based on the timing of its new case and hospitalization peaks. It’s just too bad motorcycle traffic between Hawaii and South Dakota is of the non-existent variety.

Even casual observers at this point should realize that Science is in the process of being shaped by politics. Perhaps this has always been so, and it just took COVID to make the contortions transparent. Nonetheless, we live in a world where the answers are known before the research begins and the headlines are written before journalists put pen to paper. This goes well beyond the garden variety cherry picking of research that is the hallmark of all debates, whether they be scientific or political. This is utilizing the research enterprise to manufacture science that suits a particular politic. And so we get a particular focus on Sturgis two whole months after the event because the point is to shame deplorables in states with Republican leadership 3 weeks before a Presidential election. In this brave new world, the science tells us that massive Memorial Day protests don’t trigger viral outbreaks, but motorcycle rallies in South Dakota do. “Science” careens towards science fiction.

Anish Koka is a cardiologist in Philadelphia. He is co-host of the Accad & Koka report. Follow him on twitter @anish_koka.

Viruses on Motorcycles published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/

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lauramalchowblog · 4 years

Text

Viruses on Motorcycles

By ANISH KOKA

“But precisely how that outbreak unfolded remains shrouded in uncertainty.”

And its not just PCR positivity, even the weekly influenza like illness reporting trends year-over-year, shows no significant spike compared to prior years.