Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #104

[CharlestonGal]

NJ Walmart Temporarily Closes After 90 Employees Catch COVID, Worker Says

A New Jersey Walmart turned away customers Tuesday evening and will remain closed to the public on Wednesday after dozens of employees tested positive for COVID-19, a worker at the store said.

The Walmart on W Edgar Road in Linden closed at 2 p.m. on Tuesday "as part of an ongoing company-initiated program ... for a third-party specialist to further sanitize the store," the company said in a statement. A spokeswoman said that closing the store will also "give our associates additional time to restock and prepare the store," as it expects to reopen at 6 a.m. Thursday.

The spokesperson wouldn't confirm just how many cases had been confirmed at the store, but an employee said that more than 90 other workers caught COVID. The company spokesperson also said it wasn't the first time a Walmart location has been shut down during the pandemic.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Judge rules against Stitt over vaccine mandate for National Guard

A judge on Tuesday rejected Oklahoma’s request to block the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for National Guard members, giving members of the Air National Guard just days to comply.

"The court is required to decide this case on the basis of federal law, not common sense. But, either way, the result would be the same. The claims asserted by the Governor and his co-plaintiffs are without merit," the Oklahoma City federal judge said.

"The court would be hard-put to find that the public interest would be served by entry of an order prohibiting the implementation of a vaccine mandate which adds one FDA-approved vaccine to the list of nine that all service members are already required to take — that tenth vaccine being the one which has been shown to be remarkably effective in mitigating the effects of the pandemic which has affected millions of Americans, including thousands of service members."

 

[WichitaFalls]

The CDC slashes estimates of omicron's prevalence in the U.S. — NPR

The gist: still more Delta, get vaccinated, wear masks. No joking around.

My head is spinning, it's so difficult to feel like I have a grip on current conditions every day. Seems like it changes depending on the source (which are MSM).

 

[ilovewings]

Judge rules against Stitt over vaccine mandate for National Guard

A judge on Tuesday rejected Oklahoma’s request to block the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for National Guard members, giving members of the Air National Guard just days to comply.

"The court is required to decide this case on the basis of federal law, not common sense. But, either way, the result would be the same. The claims asserted by the Governor and his co-plaintiffs are without merit," the Oklahoma City federal judge said.

"The court would be hard-put to find that the public interest would be served by entry of an order prohibiting the implementation of a vaccine mandate which adds one FDA-approved vaccine to the list of nine that all service members are already required to take — that tenth vaccine being the one which has been shown to be remarkably effective in mitigating the effects of the pandemic which has affected millions of Americans, including thousands of service members."

Love that judge!!!!!

 

[anneg]

Judge rules against Stitt over vaccine mandate for National Guard

A judge on Tuesday rejected Oklahoma’s request to block the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for National Guard members, giving members of the Air National Guard just days to comply.

"The court is required to decide this case on the basis of federal law, not common sense. But, either way, the result would be the same. The claims asserted by the Governor and his co-plaintiffs are without merit," the Oklahoma City federal judge said.

"The court would be hard-put to find that the public interest would be served by entry of an order prohibiting the implementation of a vaccine mandate which adds one FDA-approved vaccine to the list of nine that all service members are already required to take — that tenth vaccine being the one which has been shown to be remarkably effective in mitigating the effects of the pandemic which has affected millions of Americans, including thousands of service members."

More from the article:
Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot urged the Biden administration to give Guard members more time to comply before taking action that would directly or indirectly end their military careers.

Friot said it appears the non-compliant members "did not have the benefit of well-informed leadership at the highest level of the Oklahoma Guard."

The judge pointed out in his order that the Guard and its members could be deployed with little or no notice anywhere in the world. "From day one of the military vaccine mandate, the Guard was included," he said. "The Guard was included … because 'to defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force.'”

He also said the vaccine mandate is intended to protect service members from a virus that already has killed more Americans than have been killed in action in all of the wars the United States has ever fought....

 

[CharlestonGal]

More from the article:
Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot urged the Biden administration to give Guard members more time to comply before taking action that would directly or indirectly end their military careers.

Friot said it appears the non-compliant members "did not have the benefit of well-informed leadership at the highest level of the Oklahoma Guard."

The judge pointed out in his order that the Guard and its members could be deployed with little or no notice anywhere in the world. "From day one of the military vaccine mandate, the Guard was included," he said. "The Guard was included … because 'to defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force.'”

He also said the vaccine mandate is intended to protect service members from a virus that already has killed more Americans than have been killed in action in all of the wars the United States has ever fought....

I don't know how many times the court has to be forced to hear these federal and military anti-vaccine cases. And vaccines in schools and colleges. They've been done to death and the result is always the same and has been for the last 100 years. jmo

 

[WichitaFalls]

More from the article:
Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot urged the Biden administration to give Guard members more time to comply before taking action that would directly or indirectly end their military careers.

Friot said it appears the non-compliant members "did not have the benefit of well-informed leadership at the highest level of the Oklahoma Guard."

The judge pointed out in his order that the Guard and its members could be deployed with little or no notice anywhere in the world. "From day one of the military vaccine mandate, the Guard was included," he said. "The Guard was included … because 'to defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force.'”

He also said the vaccine mandate is intended to protect service members from a virus that already has killed more Americans than have been killed in action in all of the wars the United States has ever fought....

Okay, the bolded part had me laughing hard.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Okay, the bolded part had me laughing hard.

I love that part, too! What an eloquent way to convey his opinion the highest level leaders are, in layman's terms, idiots that caused their own vaccine hesitancy problem among the troops. jmo

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Front-line workers describe symptoms they've observed in latest Covid wave (nbcnews.com)

“I’m not seeing people who have got two doses and a booster and are coming in profoundly short of breath. It’s just not happening," one doctor said.

Physicians around the country facing the latest surge of Covid-19 cases, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, have a straightforward message based on what they're seeing in their emergency rooms: Vaccinations and boosters are having a positive effect.

“The general trend that I’m seeing is, if you’re boosted and you get Covid, you really just at worst end up with bad cold symptoms. It’s not like before where you were coughing, couldn’t say sentences and were short of breath,” said Dr. Matthew Bai, an emergency medicine physician at Mount Sinai Queens in New York City.

“There are obviously exceptions like if you start out with a very weakened immune system, your immune response won’t be as strong with a booster. But in your average person, a booster’s definitely going to make a difference is what I’m seeing,” he said...

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I cannot think of any medical reasons (except perhaps severe PTSD from being gagged, severe developmental disabilities, or dementia) that would make someone unable to wear a mask. JMO.

I have heard that there are many phobia conditions, and many autistic individuals experience different forms of trauma. I do believe there are valid and understandable cases.

I made a couple of trips back and forth between New England and Florida this Fall........ I just could not believe the differences in mask wearing between the two areas. Such a percentage of folks in New England just casually putting on their masks as they entered a building. Florida, none. This was before Omicron... so many more masks down here now...

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Just chiming in to say I am with ya’ll who are so frustrated and sick of the stupid people who are prolonging this pandemic. If everyone had just worn a dang mask and gotten vaccinated we could have starved this virus out by now and be back to normal. Before we had the vaccines (which are flat out an amazing scientific feat and I am SO grateful for them) if everyone had just worn the stupid mask when out and about we COULD have mostly been able to safely do the things we need to do (school, grocery shopping etc.) But no, we have a gigantic group of complete idiots who don’t like to be told what to do and think they know better than real doctors and scientists and FACTS.
This is a pandemic of stupidity, and in the future I think it will be clear that the stupids have thinned themselves out because at this point, they are the ones dying. Whatever. Sorry, but it’s the truth and it didn’t have to be. But the sad thing is there will of course still be casualties of people who did the right things. Older people, immunocompromised, babies. I’m just sick of it, because I want us all to be able to get back to life, and we’re all at the mercy of ignorant, selfish people.

I hear ya.

 

[weepingangel]

A Walmart here in mass was one of the first and largest clusters in the state back in the olden days of covid. Spring 20

NJ Walmart Temporarily Closes After 90 Employees Catch COVID, Worker Says

A New Jersey Walmart turned away customers Tuesday evening and will remain closed to the public on Wednesday after dozens of employees tested positive for COVID-19, a worker at the store said.

The Walmart on W Edgar Road in Linden closed at 2 p.m. on Tuesday "as part of an ongoing company-initiated program ... for a third-party specialist to further sanitize the store," the company said in a statement. A spokeswoman said that closing the store will also "give our associates additional time to restock and prepare the store," as it expects to reopen at 6 a.m. Thursday.

The spokesperson wouldn't confirm just how many cases had been confirmed at the store, but an employee said that more than 90 other workers caught COVID. The company spokesperson also said it wasn't the first time a Walmart location has been shut down during the pandemic.

 

[CSIDreamer]

I agree. I think it’s possible it’s more likely some will isolate for 5 days, whereas they basically said screw it when it was 10 days. That’s just so impractical for the average working American.

I also think the new guidelines are much more about the fact that society as we know it is going to implode if essential workers are told they have to quarantine for 10 days. We cannot function from a staffing standpoint in healthcare with those guidelines if this spreads as quickly and thoroughly as we expect.

We can barely function right now with short staff.

 

[CharlestonGal]

I have heard that there are many phobia conditions, and many autistic individuals experience different forms of trauma. I do believe there are valid and understandable cases.

I made a couple of trips back and forth between New England and Florida this Fall........ I just could not believe the differences in mask wearing between the two areas. Such a percentage of folks in New England just casually putting on their masks as they entered a building. Florida, none. This was before Omicron... so many more masks down here now...

I can relate to the mask phobia, somewhat. I didn't realize I had that problem until I had to do the gas chamber with a military issue gas mask. I had a full blown panic attack within moments of putting that thing on. Since there is no such thing as a gas mask exemption I was ineligible for continued service unless I could get over it. It took a series of biofeedback sessions but I eventually was able to get over the issue, wearing that awful thing for 12 hour stretches sometimes in Iraq. But I hated every minute of it.

I wonder what the local response would be if I showed up at Harris Teeter wearing that? Lol!

ETA:

Military Gas Mask K10 - EOD Technology

 

[ilovewings]

My head is spinning, it's so difficult to feel like I have a grip on current conditions every day. Seems like it changes depending on the source (which are MSM).

I think you cannot rely on the CDC for accurate information--Dont
know what happened to this once highly respected government department
but they have been disappointing during this pandemic

 

[ilovewings]

I can relate to the mask phobia, somewhat. I didn't realize I had that problem until I had to do the gas chamber with a military issue gas mask. I had a full blown panic attack within moments of putting that thing on. Since there is no such thing as a gas mask exemption I was ineligible for continued service unless I could get over it. It took a series of biofeedback sessions but I eventually was able to get over the issue, wearing that awful thing for 12 hour stretches sometimes in Iraq. But I hated every minute of it.

I wonder what the local response would be if I showed up a Harris Teeter wearing that? Lol!

I had no idea you were in Iraq!!!! Thank you for your service to this
country-- a gas mask is a lot different than the masks in use during this
pandemic!!!

 

[CharlestonGal]

As COVID outbreak intensifies, Israel said mulling ‘herd immunity’ policy

Israel recorded almost 3,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, according to data released Wednesday, as the infection rate continued to climb and senior Health Ministry officials were reportedly weighing a switch to a policy of reaching herd immunity through mass infection.

In light of the lack of immediate rise in serious illness, Channel 12 news reported Tuesday evening that senior officials in the Health Ministry have recently raised the option of switching to a “mass infection model.”

That would mirror Sweden’s policy in the early stage of the pandemic, which saw the country elect not to impose major restrictions on people who aren’t in risk groups, in a bid to continue normal life while eventually reaching herd immunity.

While that was widely seen as a failure, and Sweden then changed course, the increasing prevalence of the Omicron strain — which is more infectious than the Delta variant but causes milder illness — has led Israeli officials to mull such a move, the unsourced report said.

 

[MrX]

I can relate to the mask phobia, somewhat. I didn't realize I had that problem until I had to do the gas chamber with a military issue gas mask. I had a full blown panic attack within moments of putting that thing on. Since there is no such thing as a gas mask exemption I was ineligible for continued service unless I could get over it. It took a series of biofeedback sessions but I eventually was able to get over the issue, wearing that awful thing for 12 hour stretches sometimes in Iraq. But I hated every minute of it.

I wonder what the local response would be if I showed up a Harris Teeter wearing that? Lol!

ETA:

Military Gas Mask K10 - EOD Technology

OMG - do it! That would certainly get people's attention! Too funny.

 

[Skigh]

France sees 208,000 Covid cases in 24 hours - Europe's highest-ever daily tally | Daily Mail Online


France has recorded 208,000 new Covid infections in the past 24 hours, the highest number seen in Europe throughout the entire pandemic.

Health minister Olivier Veran warned lawmakers of the tsunami of new cases, breaking France's own record set a day before with 180,000 infections.

Every second, two people in France are testing positive for COVID-19, Veran said.

And 70 per cent of those in intensive care in Paris are unvaccinated, while among the vaccinated patients, 80 per cent are immunocompromised.

Veran added that the situation in hospitals was worrying because of the Delta variant, with Omicron yet to have an impact.

 

[CSIDreamer]

As COVID outbreak intensifies, Israel said mulling ‘herd immunity’ policy

Israel recorded almost 3,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, according to data released Wednesday, as the infection rate continued to climb and senior Health Ministry officials were reportedly weighing a switch to a policy of reaching herd immunity through mass infection.

In light of the lack of immediate rise in serious illness, Channel 12 news reported Tuesday evening that senior officials in the Health Ministry have recently raised the option of switching to a “mass infection model.”

That would mirror Sweden’s policy in the early stage of the pandemic, which saw the country elect not to impose major restrictions on people who aren’t in risk groups, in a bid to continue normal life while eventually reaching herd immunity.

While that was widely seen as a failure, and Sweden then changed course, the increasing prevalence of the Omicron strain — which is more infectious than the Delta variant but causes milder illness — has led Israeli officials to mull such a move, the unsourced report said.

CDC: 5 days is okay folks!
Translation: herd immunity

JMO