Author: BigGuy

(Bloomberg) — Governors and mayors have cracked down on schools, restaurants, gyms, nursing homes, places of worship and much more. But enforcement is proving almost useless in Americans’ homes, where some leaders insist that hang-out culture is a major source of pandemic risk. California Governor Gavin Newsom is the latest to try: On Thursday, he declared regional stay-home orders whenever intensive-care unit availability drops below 15%. Earlier this week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered 4 million residents to stay indoors without visitors or face fines and imprisonment. And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is running ads warning of “living-room spread” — infection via small gatherings in homes and other private spaces that he says account for 70% of new cases. That’s hard to confirm, though, in part because contact tracing, an effective public-health tool early in the pandemic, is no longer fully illuminating the path of the disease. Even before Wednesday, when Kentucky reached record cases and deaths, the 1,600-person tracing team was so overwhelmed that officials started asking residents to do the job themselves for lower-risk contacts. In Pennsylvania, only about 25% of people with the virus are cooperating with tracers; New Jersey is only slightly better, with about 30%. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease doctor, told ABC News last week that small groups aren’t as prominent a danger as, say, crowded bars. And even proponents of the most extreme distancing — locking down with one’s housemates — acknowledge that strong encouragement or even legal orders carry only so much weight against constitutional rights. “There’s no amount of law enforcement in New Jersey or in any state in America that can effectively get inside everybody’s living room and ensure 100% compliance,” Governor Phil Murphy said Wednesday at a Trenton news conference. © Bloomberg A Latino Task Force Covid-19 T

\ In an era when many Americans consider even mask mandates an affront to liberty, opponents of Covid-19 restrictions have a powerful ally in the U.S. Supreme Court.. On Nov. 25, the justices ruled against Cuomo’s order to restrict the number of worshipers at religious ceremonies. Among the majority was Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose confirmation in October gave conservatives a 6-to-3 majority on the court. And on Thursday, the court told a federal judge to re-examine assertions that California is infringing on religious rights by banning indoor worship services in most of the state. “Elected officials are in a very difficult situation, because they know that if they push too hard, it could lead to not just resistance, but possibly unrest,” said Dan Schnur, who teaches political communications at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Southern California. “Their concern about that backlash ends up leading to further outbreaks.” And restriction backers look foolish when they don’t heed their own guidance. The French Laundry, the Michelin Guide-rated three-star Napa Valley restaurant, proved irresistible to Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Democrats who attended group dinners there a day apart last month. Austin Mayor Steve Adler, another Democrat, warned residents to stay home — from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Democratic Mayor Sam Liccardo of San Jose was chastened when he gathered with relatives even though California officials had begged residents to skip Thanksgivings. “I understand my obligation as a public official to provide exemplary compliance with public health orders, and certainly not to ignore them,” Liccardo said in a press release. “I commit to do better.” And there are less initimate gatherings. In New Orleans, a swingers convention became a super-spreader event. In New York, officials have broken up several illicit parties where hundreds of revelers have gathered. In Chicago, authorities in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood broke up a 300-person party on Nov. 29 whose attendees had failed to distance and wear face coverings. The city business affairs and consumer protection department also performed more than 90 investigations over that weekend amid a ban on indoor dining and large gatherings. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, is considering stay-at-home rules because people who aren’t taking precautions in public “have an outsize effect” on spread, he told reporters Tuesday, a day before Illinois reported a record 238 deaths. “We need people to comply.” In Colorado, Democratic Governor Jared Polis on April 27 replaced an early set of restrictions with what he called “Safer at Home” guidance on reopening for retail and personal services, offices and elective surgeries. Still, infection surged: On Oct. 25, two days after the state capped “personal gatherings” at 10 people from two households, Colorado reported more than 2,100 cases, a single-day record. The most recent seven-day average is 4,179 cases. On Saturday, Polis disclosed on Twitter that he and his partner, Marlon Reis, had tested positive, were isolating at home and “feeling well.” Keith Baker, a county commissioner in Colorado’s Chaffee County, said policy can do only so much to arrest the rise. “It really comes down to the public — like people in a lifeboat, working together, each doing his or her part, keeping each other’s morale and spirits up,” Baker said. In Pennsylvania, Health Secretary Rachel Levine on Thursday said several counties are approaching intensive-care unit capacity while daily deaths and cases have hit record highs. Modeling projects 22,000 new cases a day this month. Democratic Governor Tom Wolf has issued an advisory against household gatherings with outsiders. Rachel Kostelac, a spokeswoman for the health department, said law enforcement officers are authorized to issue warnings or citations to anyone who fails to comply with an updated masking order. In the end, authorities have little choice but to rely on residents. “In Pennsylvania and nationwide,” Kostelac said, “our biggest tool is for individuals to stay home unless absolutely necessary.”

• Los Angeles County confirmed 24 new deaths and 4,544 new cases on Friday
• Officials banned most gatherings but stopped short of full shutdown on stores
• Restrictions were brought on by average of 4,751 cases a day for last five days
• Residents of nation’s most populous county are being urged to stay home
• People are also not allowed to gather with those from outside their household
• Exceptions are being made for church services and protests, officials said
• Non-essential retail businesses could stay open, but at 20 per cent capacity
• • • Los Angeles County announced a new stay-home order as coronavirus cases surged out of control in the nation´s most populous county, banning most gatherings but stopping short of a full shutdown on retail stores and other non-essential businesses. The three-week order takes effect Monday and advises residents to stay home ‘as much as possible’ and to wear a face covering when they go out. It bans people from gathering with others who aren’t in their households, whether publicly or privately. However, exceptions are made for church services and protests, ‘which are constitutionally protected rights,’ the county Department of Public Health said in a statement. It came as the county of 10 million residents confirmed 24 new deaths and 4,544 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The county had set a threshold for issuing the stay-home order: an average of 4,500 cases a day over a five-day period, but hadn’t expected to reach that level until next month. However, the five-day average of new cases reported Friday was 4,751. ‘We know we are asking a lot from so many who have been sacrificing for months on end,’ Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. ‘Acting with collective urgency right now is essential if we want to put a stop to this surge.’ Indoor retail businesses, which make much of their profits during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons, are allowed to remain open but with just 20 per cent of capacity, including nail salons and other personal care services. Restaurants in the county already were recently barred from in-person dining. They can still offer pickup, delivery and takeout services. Beaches, trails, and parks will remain open, with safety requirements.

      

      The order, which runs through December 20, is more modest than a statewide closure order issued by Governor Gavin Newsom in mid-March. That order closed schools and most businesses and severely restricted movement except for essential workers or to perform essential chores such as buying groceries or picking up medications. The restrictions are said to have slowed the spread of COVID-19 and some restrictions were eased but the caseload picked up again in summer and in recent weeks has surged to record levels throughout most of the state – as well as throughout most states in the country.

      Daily cases numbers in California have set records in recent days. Hospitalizations statewide have increased more than 80 per cent in the last two weeks.

      Nearly 2,000 people in the county are now hospitalized and the new order is part of an effort to prevent the county’s health system from being overwhelmed. Meanwhile, public health officials are bracing for a wave of cases that could follow gatherings at Thanksgiving.

      

      The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, surpassed 383,00. Meanwhile, more than 7,600 residents of LA County have died after contracting COVID-19. Recent data also indicate a sharp spike in the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 With infections out of control, the other options for public officials to take are even more onerous and unlikely to be enacted in the US, said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. China, for example, tested millions of people and enforced quarantines. Italy brought in the military to enforce a shutdown. ‘It’s hard to imagine how much further you can go in a society like we have,’ he said. ‘It’s a balancing act, right? You want people to obey it but you don’t want to make it so draconian that people are trying to figure out ways around it all the time.’ The rate of hospitalizations – now at the highest since the pandemic began – has pushed some medical centers beyond capacity. The rapid increase comes after weeks of rising infection rates across the country and sees the total number of infections since the pandemic began pushed beyond 13 million, with 264,000 deaths.

Investing.com – The S&P 500 closed at a record high Wednesday, as renewed optimism over a stimulus relief package and ongoing positive news on Pfizer ‘s Covid-19 vaccine lifted investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20%, or 60 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.20% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.05%.

In a boost to hopes that lawmakers may roll out a fiscal package to support the economy U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backed the bipartisan $908 billion stimulus deal that includes support for small businesses and unemployed Americans. The deal should be used “as the basis for immediate negotiations,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.

The positive update on stimulus arrived on the back of positive vaccine news after the U.K. approved temporary emergency use authorization for Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)’s and development partner BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX)’s vaccine. Approval from the U.S. is not far behind, with many expecting the Pfizer vaccine to get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before year-end. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), meanwhile, is expected to begin trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in children aged 12 to 18, The New York Times reported. Renewed action on the value trade in the wake of positive vaccine news – bullish bets on stocks tied to the progress of the economy– also benefited cruise lines, casinos, and airlines. As well as vaccine optimism, positive comments on a stimulus for the aviation industry lifted sentiment on the sector. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he supported another $20 billion in additional government payroll support for U.S. airlines. “I think that would be very meaningful in terms of employment and saving the industry,” Mnuchin said at a House hearing, according to Reuters. American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) were up more than 4% and 3%, respectively. On the economic front, a weaker-than-expected private sector jobs report for November was largely downplayed by analysts. “The ADP employment report showed a 307,00 increase in private employment below our forecast of 750,000… but it also showed that the “broad-based job gains across firm size continued,” Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said in a note.

 

(Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co said on Wednesday it had sold its equity investment in vaccine developer Moderna Inc. Merck said it had achieved a substantial gain on its direct holding in Moderna, particularly this year, as the company moved closer to developing a coronavirus vaccine. Merck did not disclose the details of the sale proceeds, but said it expects to record a small gain from the sale in the fourth quarter of 2020. Moderna’s shares have risen more than seven-fold this year, valuing the company at $55.80 billion as of Tuesday’s closing price. Moderna is one of the front-runners in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine, and on Monday filed for U.S. emergency use authorization of its vaccine. Merck, which had invested $50 million in Moderna in 2015, said it would retain exposure to the company indirectly through its investment in venture funds.

The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use.

It has been given the go-ahead by the health regulator MHRA and will be rolled out from early next week. Studies have shown the jab is 95% effective and works in all age groups. The government has secured 40 million doses of the vaccine, which needs to be refrigerated at -70C (-94F). Ten million doses are expected in the UK by the end of the year and patients need two each. Care home residents and their carers will be first in line to be vaccinated, the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed. Studies have shown the jab is 95% effective and works in all age groups. The government has secured 40 million doses of the vaccine, which needs to be refrigerated at -70C (-94F). Ten million doses are expected in the UK by the end of the year and patients need two each. Care home residents and their carers will be first in line to be vaccinated, the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed. Speaking to Sky News this morning, health secretary Matt Hancock said the approval of the vaccine is “fantastic news”. He added: “The MHRA – the fiercely independent regulator – has clinically authorised the vaccine for rollout. “The NHS stands ready to make that happen so from early next week we will start the programme of vaccinating people against COVID-19 here in this country. “As we know from earlier announcements, this vaccine is effective, the MHRA have approved it as clinically safe and we have a vaccine, so it’s very good news.”

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s treasury secretary nominee Janet Yellen said on Tuesday the country is facing a historic crisis from the pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout.

This past week, millions of Americans joined together in total defiance of all public health advice for another round of infecting and killing their loved ones, while ensuring that the nation’s medical professionals will face several more months of risky, grueling, emotionally draining labor trying to keep a country full of heedless jerks and credulous conspiracy-mongers alive. Many doctors, nurses, and hospital staff are increasingly hopeless and disillusioned. Gone are the 7’oclock cheers and “Thank you essential workers” signs in every window. That fleeting solidarity has been replaced by a cold, selfish indifference to the staggering and seemingly pointless sacrifices these heroic workers continue to make on our behalf. And many of them are wondering how much longer they can keep it up. Never has this been more clear than it was over the long Thanksgiving weekend. While many Americans did the sensible — if heart-wrenching — thing and stayed home or limited their gatherings to small, pre-existing “pods,” more than 8 million people traveled through airports the day before Thanksgiving. In one poll, 40 percent of respondents told researchers they were planning on attending a large, in-person gathering. All of this while a record 90,000 people were already hospitalized with COVID-19, and public health professionals begged people to stay home so as not to exacerbate the problem. How can people do this, knowing that their actions risk their own lives and the lives of others? It would be one thing if the incredible, worldwide scientific effort to create a vaccine for this terrible virus was failing and there was no hope on the bleak horizon. But it looks like multiple vaccines will be deployed beginning next month, with the possibility of a return to some kind of normalcy by the end of next year. The end of this thing is now tantalizingly in sight. This is not to minimize what people have been through, or the misery that awaits those who hunker down for the winter, still cruelly shorn of nearly all social contact and ordinary joys. But the reality is that many Americans are now consciously choosing to spread death and suffering over finding the strength to endure for a few more months. And they aren’t just harming themselves: They are putting unimaginable strain on the country’s health-care system, as burned out doctors, nurses, and staff ask themselves why they are martyring themselves on behalf of such a venal society. One viral immunologist told me that, “I feel upset with these folks because this is inevitably going to cause more death and harm and not just to them but others who did stay home and followed guidelines.” He added that much of the blame rests with national and state political leaders determined to play down the gravity of the problem so they could rush economic re-openings. A palliative medical counselor said that the staff at her facility “is wonderful but furious when it is the patients’ reckless behavior that puts them in the ICU for COVID.” Fury gives way to exhaustion and resignation. “They still provide superhuman care,” she says, “but it’s only human to be frustrated.” Health-care workers are not in the army. No one is forcing them to suit up and plunge themselves into another 16-hour shift of watching a deadly virus suffocate people to death. There is no law that says they must carry on even when COVID patients show up convinced the whole thing was a plot designed to harm President Trump’s re-election prospects. Health-care providers know perfectly well that a lot of the patients they are treating scoffed at the danger and shrugged off expert guidelines and did whatever they wanted anyway.