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newstfionline · 4 years

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Thursday, October 8, 2020

More than 5.5 million Americans have already voted, suggesting record turnout (Reuters) Americans are rushing to cast ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election at an unprecedented pace, early voting numbers show, indicating a possible record turnout for the showdown between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. With four weeks to go before Election Day, more than 5.5 million Americans already have voted, more than 73 times the 75,000 at this time in 2016, according to the United States Elections Project, which compiles early voting data. The early surge has led researchers to predict a record turnout of about 150 million, representing 65% of eligible voters, the highest rate since 1908.

Polls warning of civil war, violence shows deep partisan chasm over election (USA Today) Bill Fry, 61, is a supporter of President Donald Trump in rural Ohio who doesn’t share much in common politically with Matt Edelman, 29, a Joe Biden backer in Brooklyn, New York. Except this: They both worry about the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential election and fear an outcome that appears tainted could heighten the nation’s already frayed psyche and exacerbate violence in the streets. They’re not alone. A new poll shows a large swath of Americans harbor deep reservations about the election results weeks before Election Day and are concerned about what actions people might resort to as a consequence. The YouGov poll of 1,999 registered voters found that nearly half—47%—disagree with the idea that the election “is likely to be fair and honest.” And that slightly more than half—51%—won’t “generally agree on who is the legitimately elected president of the United States.” In addition, a YouGov poll of 1,505 voters found that 56% said they expect to see “an increase in violence as a result of the election.”

White House lurches in new direction on stimulus talks, pushing for airline aid (Washington Post) The White House’s economic relief agenda lurched in a new direction Wednesday as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tried to make a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to rescue the airline industry, just a day after President Trump abruptly cut off talks on a broader stimulus bill. The new effort to fast-track airline aid comes as negotiators appear to have largely shelved prospects for broader unemployment aid and other assistance. But the situation seemed somewhat fluid in the wake of a late-night change of heart from Trump on Tuesday, where he demanded piecemeal legislation on $1,200 stimulus checks and small-business assistance, in addition to airline aid.

September was the world’s hottest on record, EU climate change service says (Reuters) Last month was the world’s hottest September on record, with unusually high temperatures recorded off Siberia, in the Middle East, and in parts of South America and Australia, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Wednesday. Extending a long-term warming trend caused by emissions of heat-trapping gases, high temperatures this year have played a major role in disasters from fires in California and the Arctic to floods in Asia, scientists say.

Hurricane Delta makes landfall in Mexico, toppling trees (AP) Hurricane Delta made landfall just south of the Mexican resort of Cancun on Wednesday, downing trees and knocking out power along the northeastern coast of Yucatan Peninsula, but without immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said satellite imagery, radar data from Cuba and surface observations in Mexico indicate that the center of the Category 2 storm came ashore around 5:30 a.m. local time, sustaining top winds of 110 mph (175 kmh). The center said Delta would emerge into the Gulf of Mexico after having crossed over the Yucatan peninsula, where it knocked out power to about 266,000 customers, one third of the total in the area. A hurricane watch has been issued for central Louisiana.

Venezuela, Once an Oil Giant, Reaches the End of an Era (DNYUZ) For the first time in a century, there are no rigs searching for oil in Venezuela. Wells that once tapped the world’s largest crude reserves are abandoned or left to flare toxic gases that cast an orange glow over depressed oil towns. Refineries that once processed oil for export are rusting hulks, leaking crude that blackens shorelines and coats the water in an oily sheen. Fuel shortages have brought the country to a standstill. At gas stations, lines go on for miles. Venezuela’s colossal oil sector, which shaped the country and the international energy market for a century, has come to a near halt, with production reduced to a trickle by years of gross mismanagement and American sanctions. “Venezuela’s days as a petrostate are gone,” said Risa Grais-Targow, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. The country that a decade ago was the largest producer in Latin America, earning about $90 billion a year from oil exports, is expected to net about $2.3 billion by this year’s end—less than the aggregate amount that Venezuelan migrants who fled the country’s economic devastation will send back home to support their families, according to Pilar Navarro, a Caracas-based economist.

Virus Crisis Grips British Universities (NYT) Inside a dormitory now known by students as H.M.P., for Her Majesty’s Prison, trash piled up in shared kitchens. Students washed their clothes in bathroom sinks. Security guards stalked the gates, keeping anyone from leaving or entering. The building had been primed for a coronavirus outbreak since first-year students arrived at Manchester Metropolitan University for Freshers’ Week, Britain’s debaucherous baptism into university life, complete with trips to heaving pubs and dorm room parties. But when the inevitable happened, and the virus tore through chockablock student suites, the university largely left students on their own: It imposed such a draconian lockdown that students had to nurse roommates back to health, parents drove hours to deliver food and lawyers offered pro bono help. To date, roughly 90 British universities have reported coronavirus cases. Thousands of students are confined to their halls, some in suites with infected classmates, and many are struggling to get tested. The outbreaks have shone a harsh light on Britain’s decade-long campaign to turn higher education into a ruthless market. By cutting state grants and leaving schools dependent on tuition fees and room rents, the government encouraged them to jam more students onto campuses. The pandemic threatened to dry out that income stream. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government largely withheld the rescue money it gave to other industries, so universities carried on as normal, whatever the risks.

Who pays for the toilet paper? The big questions of the work-from-home era (Reuters) As the world convulses in crisis, and tens of millions of us dig in for the long haul of working from home, one question looms large: who pays for the tea and toilet paper? The answer, according to the Dutch, is your bosses. And how much? About two euros ($2.40) per working day, on average. That’s meant to cover not only coffee, tea and toilet paper used in work hours, but also the extra gas, electricity and water, plus the depreciation costs of a desk and a chair—all essentials that you’d never dream of paying for in the office. “We have literally calculated down to how many teaspoons there are in an average household, so from there it’s not that difficult to establish the costs,” said Gabrielle Bettonville of family finances institution NIBUD, which is mainly funded by the government and researched the extra costs of remote working. Dutch authorities have already started applying NIBUD’s research, citing it to offer bureaucrats working from home a 363 euro COVID-19 “bonus” this year, starting in March when the country went into lockdown. Of course, the 2 euros a day is for an average worker with average costs, but can be tweaked depending on measures such as home heating and water costs, or the quality of insulation.

Czech COVID-19 cases rising at fastest rate in Europe (Reuters) The Czech Republic reported a record 4,457 new coronavirus cases in a single day, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday, as a spike in infections over the past month is now rising at Europe’s fastest pace. The daily rise in new COVID-19 cases, recorded on Tuesday, surpassed a previous record of 3,794 to bring the total number of cases recorded since March to 90,022—a fourfold increase since Aug. 25. Hospitalisations have soared tenfold in that period to add strain on the healthcare system.

Protesters Storm Government Buildings as Russia Looks on (Foreign Policy) Kyrgyzstan has been thrown into crisis over the results of last weekend’s parliamentary elections, representing the latest in a string of post-Soviet republics to be rocked by political turmoil. The elections saw strong performances for two pro-government parties but were marred by allegations of electoral fraud. Opposition figures quickly took to the streets to protest the results, storming government buildings on Tuesday and forcing the resignations of top government officials. Under intense pressure from protesters, the country’s Central Electoral Commission chose to annul the results of the election and promised to hold a new vote, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov. The unrest enveloping Kyrgyzstan represents the latest in a string of crises to grip Russia’s so-called near abroad, and much of the international community will look to see how Russia responds. The former Soviet republic houses a Russian air base and maintains close relations with Moscow, but Russian officials have stopped well short of offering support to the embattled government.

Report: 3.7 million Afghan children don’t attend school (AP) Nearly half of war-torn Afghanistan’s 18,000 schools lack proper buildings and an estimated 3.7 million school-aged children are still out of school—despite massive investment in the country’s education sector, the World Bank says. In a school on the outskirts of Kabul, 1,700 students in grades 1-6 don’t have proper classrooms, safe drinking water or sanitary restrooms. Principal Fazel Rahim says that at his Allah Gul Mujahid primary school just east of the Afghan capital, there are only six teachers and several classes must be combined to be taught by a single teacher. He has been unable to get the attention of the Ministry of Education or others in the Kabul-based government, despite almost six years of attempting to provide classrooms, well-trained teachers, enough text books and other necessities for a proper learning environment for his students. “They study in open area,” he told The Associated Press. “We don’t have enough tents to provide them with a proper place to study, but still with all these difficulties we are trying to provide them some opportunity to learn something.”

Iran’s Rouhani slams sending fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh (AP) Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday warned that his country will not tolerate the presence of foreign fighters—“terrorists that Iran has fought for years”—near its northern border, where a conflict is raging between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Rouhani did not elaborate but Armenia accuses Ankara of sending Turkish-backed Syrian fighters to the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. In Syria’s civil war, Iran, an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is on the opposite side of Ankara, which supports Syrian opposition fighters. Heavy fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region since Sept. 27 has killed scores of both servicemen and civilians. Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994, when a truce ended a war that raged for several years and killed an estimated 30,000 people on both sides. The fighting, involving heavy artillery, warplanes and drones has continued despite numerous international calls for a cease-fire. Armenia alleges that Turkey, a key supporter of Azerbaijan, is sending mercenaries from Syria to the region—a charge that Ankara denies. The Britain-based monitoring group that tracks Syria’s civil war—known as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights—has reported that as many as 850 Syrian fighters have arrived in Azerbaijan.

India’s daily infections slow down (Reuters) India reported 72,049 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, dropping from the daily highs of last month in a sign infections were peaking for now, officials and experts said. Since it hit a single-day high of 97,894 new cases on Sept. 17, the country has reported a downward trend with 75,909 daily cases on an average, according to a Reuters tally.

#headlines #news

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gordonwilliamsweb · 3 years

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Mississippi’s Black Communities Turned Around Their Covid Rates. Next Up: Make Strides on Vaccines.

At its first pop-up vaccination event on April 10, the Northeast Mississippi Coalition Against Covid 19 gave shots to nearly 40 people in Shannon, a town where roughly 60% of some 1,800 residents are African American.

This story also ran on NBC News. It can be republished for free.

Though a fraction of the doses typically given out at large mass vaccination sites, the event was a success, say organizers — a coalition of health care providers and elected officials. Held outdoors, it allowed for a physically distant, communal atmosphere that many have missed over the past year.

“People would get their shot, and then say, ‘I’m going to get my wife or my daughter,’” said Dr. Vernon Rayford, a Tupelo internal medicine physician and coalition member.

The group has held two more events and administered a total of 110 doses, Rayford said. More pop-ups are scheduled.

Mississippi had already narrowed an outsize gap in covid-19 incidence and mortality rates for its Black residents, leveraging community partnerships to promote masks and physical distancing while dispelling rumors. Now health advocates hope to stretch those partnerships to help ensure vaccines reach all Mississippians equally.

It appears to be working. Vaccine rates are neck and neck among Black and white residents, with available state data showing a slightly higher rate for whites and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing the opposite. Mississippi is one of the few states where the Black rate isn’t lagging significantly behind the rate for whites.

And as of mid-May, African Americans, who make up 38% of the state’s population, are getting 40% of the doses given each week, said state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers.

“We continue to reach parity with our doses,” Byers said during a May press conference.

This is the latest phase of Mississippi’s dramatic turnaround on covid among its Black residents.

In the first four months of the pandemic, the incidence of covid was almost three times higher for African Americans than whites — 1,131 cases per 100,000 for Black Mississippians compared with 403 cases per 100,000 for whites. Mortality in those first months was almost twice as high for African Americans — 46.2 per 100,000 compared with 24.6 per 100,000 for whites, based on an analysis of weekly covid reports published by the Mississippi State Department of Health.

“Covid revealed what many already knew in the public health community: that the inequities in Black and brown communities have existed for a long time,” said Victor Sutton, who directs the state health department’s preventive health and health equity division.

That disproportionate toll on Black Mississippians started to wane, though, as covid cases began a rapid climb in the state and the rest of the country in the fall. Public health officials saw per capita rates of infection and deaths for African Americans drop below the rates of the white population. Through the peak of the holiday covid wave in mid-January, the infections and deaths rose for both groups, but the rates for African Americans remained lower than for whites.

State health department officials pointed to outreach through churches, historically black colleges and universities and community organizations that reinforced the importance of masking and physical distancing among African Americans. Efforts were also underway to reach other underserved groups, including Hispanics across the state, Native Americans in eastern Mississippi and Vietnamese communities on the Gulf Coast.

While Mississippi was among the first states to drop its mask rules, the groups hit hardest by the pandemic were more open to masking and physical distancing than the overall population, health officials said.

“It didn’t get political in the African American community,” Rayford said.

In Tupelo, the Temple of Compassion and Deliverance’s Bishop Clarence Parks was among the Mississippi clergy who used his pulpit both in his church and on Facebook. He lost his 91-year-old mother to covid on April 9, 2020. Hers was among the first cases diagnosed in Tupelo.

“It did give me a sense of urgency,” Parks said. “I saw what covid was doing.”

In addition to moving church services online and into the parking lot, Parks made a point to talk to his congregation about how to protect themselves, their parents and grandparents from covid. As small groups came back inside the church, masks were required. He talked to other pastors about safeguarding their flocks. Parks, 61, posted on Facebook when he got his covid vaccine.

In his congregation of 400, Parks estimates about 15 became infected with covid.

“My mom is the only one in our church who passed from covid,” Parks said.

Mississippi Valley State University, a historically Black school in Itta Bena, a town in the Mississippi Delta, hosted drives to distribute masks and information on protective measures, plus hosted Zoom community meetings to reach beyond its campus boundaries.

“We’re trying to focus on the Delta,” said La Shon Brooks, chief of staff and legislative liaison for the Mississippi Valley president.

Parity on vaccines, though, got off to a slow start. When supply was limited and appointments were snapped up in minutes in February, African Americans were receiving about 15% of the vaccines distributed through the state health department. As more vaccine became available, the department started sending thousands of doses to community health centers and clinics serving large minority populations, said State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.

“We want to make sure we‘re addressing trust and access issues,” Dobbs said during a February press conference.

In southwestern Mississippi, Alcorn State University, a historically Black school, organized a vaccine clinic in partnership with the state health department and local county emergency management agency. Located in a rural county with the closest hospitals about 45 minutes away by car, the university has attracted between 160 and 200 Mississippians to each drive-in clinic session. The organizers even made walk-up appointments available to reach students and staff members on campus.

“We’re drawing a wide range of ages and races,” said Jennifer Riley Collins, Alcorn State’s covid response coordinator.

In recent weeks, the state health department has increased efforts to partner with community groups on smaller vaccination events and to reach the homebound. They are also working to direct the public to pharmacies and clinics offering the vaccine.

Health advocates remain concerned that more Mississippians of all races and ethnicities need to be vaccinated or the state risks another wave of infections that could overwhelm health care resources.

In survey results released in mid-May, the Mississippi State Health Department, which polled 11,000 state residents across all 82 counties between December and March, found that 73% were likely to take the vaccine, but as of Thursday only 33.7% of the state’s residents had rolled up their sleeves for at least one dose, according to CDC data. Nationwide, the rate was 49.9%.

Among African Americans, the survey found 56% intended to get vaccinated, compared with 80% of white Mississippians.

“We’re still at risk,” Dobbs said. “We still have a large part of the population that is still vulnerable.”

Even as racial equity in vaccine distribution has improved, closing the gap among the still hesitant and skeptical remains a significant challenge to achieving widespread immunity.

Health care workers, ranked as top vaccine influencers in the health department survey, will need to switch out of their traditional role of giving monologues and engage instead in a dialogue to understand what is preventing the unvaccinated from getting the shots, said Dr. Jeremy Blanchard, chief medical officer for Tupelo-based North Mississippi Health Services.

“We need to listen more effectively,” Blanchard said.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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stephenmccull · 3 years

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Mississippi’s Black Communities Turned Around Their Covid Rates. Next Up: Make Strides on Vaccines.