Category: Breaking News

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Schumer, Pelosi take steps to enact $1.9T relief plan

https://youtu.be/GR78gm19CT4

Washington, DC – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced they have filed a joint budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2021 that gives Congress an additional legislative tool to pass the urgently-needed bipartisan COVID relief legislation that enacts President Biden’s comprehensive American Rescue Plan which helps defeat the virus and provide workers and families the resources they need to survive the pandemic while the vaccine is distributed to every American.

Introduction of a joint budget resolution is the first step to potentially enacting a Budget Reconciliation bill, one legislative tool available to Congress to quickly pass bipartisan COVID relief legislation. The Resolution outlines the “reconciliation instructions” for each House and Senate committee, or how much funding can be spent in their jurisdiction. If both the House and Senate pass identical Budget Resolutions (which do not require a Presidential signature), both chambers can begin work on the Reconciliation bill that is signed by the President. According to an analysis of research from the Congressional Research Service, reconciliation bills has been passed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis 17 times in recent years, including to pass the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997.

“Congress has a responsibility to quickly deliver immediate comprehensive relief to the American people hurting from COVID-19,” said Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer. “The cost of inaction is high and growing, and the time for decisive action is now. With this budget resolution, the Democratic Congress is paving the way for the landmark Biden-Harris coronavirus package that will crush the virus and deliver real relief to families and communities in need. We are hopeful that Republicans will work in a bipartisan manner to support assistance for their communities, but the American people cannot afford any more delays and the Congress must act to prevent more needless suffering.”

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Specifically, the Joint Budget Resolution Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer filed offers instructions to the relevant Congressional Committees to provide relief including but not limited to:

  • Immediate relief for individuals and families throughout 2021 including $1,400 per-person and per-child direct payments, an extension of Unemployment Insurance programs through September 2021 with a $400/week federal enhancement and $350 billion in critical state, local, Tribal and territorial fiscal relief. The resolution will also provide funds to greatly increase health care coverage to Americans that have lost it through no fault of their own during the pandemic.
  • Funding to help defeat the coronavirus including through support for vaccines, testing and public health programs. It also includes funding to help K-12 schools safely re-open and provides crucial support for the child care system.
  • Relief funds for the millions of Americans struggling to make rent and mortgage payments, as well as those experiencing homelessness. The resolution also includes funding for transit agencies deeply impacted by the pandemic and support for the use of the Defense Production Act to expand domestic production of supplies critical to beating the coronavirus.
  • Additional relief for our nation’s small businesses and hard-hit industries through increased funding for EIDL Advance grants, the creation of a dedicated grant relief program for restaurants, expanded PPP assistance for nonprofits and digital media services, more funds for Save Our Stages grants to independent live venues, independent movie theaters and cultural institutions and new community navigator technical assistance to help connect underserved communities with critical resources.
  • Funding for crucial investments in broadband and distance learning and relief for Amtrak and the aviation sector struggling with declining revenues and volumes due to COVID-19.
  • Funding for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund to ramp up the President’s national vaccination program and provide flexible, targeted assistance to state, local, Tribal, territorial and the District of Columbia governments, as well as those individuals hit hardest by the pandemic.
  • Support for hungry families through programs like SNAP, WIC and Pandemic-EBT. This also includes critical funding for the food supply chain and the Agriculture Department’s lending and financial assistance programs to support farmers across the country.
  • Health care and other support to meet the needs of veterans during the coronavirus pandemic. These funds will support vaccine distribution, expanded mental health care, enhanced telehealth capabilities, extended support for veterans who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless, PPE and supplies for clinical employees, and improved supply chain management.
  • Critical funding for the Indian Health Service, Administration for Native Americans, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education and Native American housing programs to maintain essential health, education and social services and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Native communities.
  • Funding to the Economic Development Administration and environmental justice grants to help low-income, minority communities who have been hardest hit by COVID.
  • Funding for critical programs to aid in the global response to and recovery from the pandemic. These instructions include significant funding for humanitarian assistance and Global Health programs.

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Biden believes relief can ‘go both big and bipartisan’ – Psaki

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has agreed to meet a group of 10 Republican senators who have proposed spending about one-third of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking in coronavirus aid, though congressional Democrats are poised to move ahead without Republican support. Sunday’s invitation to the White House came hours after the lawmakers sent Biden a letter urging him to negotiate rather than try to ram through his relief package solely on Democratic votes. The House and Senate are on track to vote as soon as this week on a budget resolution, which would lay the groundwork for passing an aid package under rules requiring only a simple majority vote in the closely divided Senate. The goal is for passage by March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires. The meeting offered by Biden would amount to the most public involvement for the president in the negotiations for the next round of virus relief. Democratic and Republican lawmakers are far apart in their proposals for assistance. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday that Biden had spoken with the leader of the group, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Though Biden is wanting “a full exchange of views,” Psaki reiterated that he remains in favor of moving forward with a far-reaching relief package. A meeting could come in a matter of days. “With the virus posing a grave threat to the country, and economic conditions grim for so many, the need for action is urgent, and the scale of what must be done is large,” Psaki said. In challenging Biden to fulfill his pledge of unity, the group said in its letter that its counterproposal will include $160 billion for vaccines, testing, treatment and personal protective equipment and call for more targeted relief than Biden’s plan to issue $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans. Winning the support of 10 Republicans would be significant for Biden in the 50-50 Senate where Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaker. If all Democrats were to back an eventual compromise bill, the legislation would reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome potential blocking efforts and pass under regular Senate procedures. “In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief framework that builds on prior COVID assistance laws, all of which passed with bipartisan support,” the Republican senators wrote. “Our proposal reflects many of your stated priorities, and with your support, we believe that this plan could be approved quickly by Congress with bipartisan support.” The plea for Biden to give bipartisan negotiations more time comes as the president has shown signs of impatience as the more liberal wing of his party considers passing the relief package through a process known as budget reconciliation. That would allow the bill to advance with only the backing of his Democratic majority. The Republicans did not provide many details of their proposal. One of the signatories, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, said that it would cost about $600 billion. “If you can’t find bipartisan compromise on COVID-19, I don’t know where you can find it,” said Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who also signed the letter. But even as Biden extended the invitation to the Republican lawmakers, Psaki said that $1,400 relief checks, substantial funding for reopening schools, aid to small businesses and hurting families, and more “is badly needed.” “As leading economists have said, the danger now is not in doing too much: it is in doing too little,” Psaki said. “Americans of both parties are looking to their leaders to meet the moment.” Biden also spoke on Sunday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who are facing a growing push from the more liberal Democratic members to move forward with Biden’s legislation with or without Republican support. The other GOP senators invited to meet with Biden are Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Brian Deese, the top White House economic adviser who is leading the administration’s outreach to Congress, said earlier Sunday that administration officials were reviewing the letter. He did not immediately commit to a Biden meeting with the lawmakers. But Cedric Richmond, a senior Biden adviser, said the president “is very willing to meet with anyone to advance the agenda.” When asked about the senators’ plan, Richmond said, “This is about seriousness of purpose.” Deese indicated the White House could be open to negotiating on further limiting who would receive stimulus checks. Portman suggested the checks should go to individuals who make no more than $50,000 per year and families capped at $100,000 per year. Under the Biden plan, families with incomes up to $300,000 could receive some stimulus money. “That is certainly a place that we’re willing to sit down and think about, are there ways to make the entire package more effective?” Deese said. As a candidate, Biden predicted his decades in the Senate and his eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president gave him credibility as a deal-maker and would help him bring Republicans and Democrats to consensus on the most important matters facing the country. But less than two weeks into his presidency, Biden showed frustration with the pace of negotiations at a time when the economy exhibited further evidence of wear from the pandemic. Last week, 847,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits, a sign that layoffs remain high as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage. “I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the COVID relief has to pass — no ifs, ands or buts,” Biden said on Friday In the letter, the Republican lawmakers reminded Biden that in his inaugural address, he proclaimed that the challenges facing the nation require “the most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity.” Cassidy separately criticized the current Biden plan as “chock-full of handouts and payoffs to Democratic constituency groups.” “You want the patina of bipartisanship … so that’s not unity,” Cassidy said. Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said Biden remains willing to negotiate but that officials needed to see more details from Republicans. At the same time, Bernstein pressed the administration’s argument that doing too little to stimulate the economy could have enormous impact on the economy in the near- and long-term. “Look, the American people really couldn’t care less about budget process, whether it’s regular order, bipartisanship, whether it’s filibuster, whether it’s reconciliation,” Bernstein said. “They need relief, and they need it now.” Portman and Deese were on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Deese also was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Cassidy and Bernstein appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and Richmond was on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

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Republicans press $600bln COVID-19 bill as Democrats ready Biden’s $1.9tln plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ten moderate Republican U.S. senators urged Democratic President Joe Biden on Sunday to significantly downsize his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package to win bipartisan support as Democrats in Congress prepared to push ahead with his plan this week.

A top White House economic adviser signaled willingness to discuss the ideas raised by Republican senators who floated a $600 billion alternative, but said the president was not willing to compromise on the need for a comprehensive bill to address the public health crisis and economic fallout.

“He is open to ideas, wherever they may come. … What he’s uncompromising about is the need to move with speed on a comprehensive approach here,” Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “A piecemeal approach … is not a recipe for success.” It was unclear whether the outreach by 10 of the 50 Republicans in the 100-seat chamber would shift plans by congressional Democrats to take up legislation in the coming days. Biden and fellow Democrats are seeking to make use of their control of the House of Representatives and Senate to move quickly on the president’s top goal of addressing the pandemic.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said his chamber would begin work on it as early as this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would complete a preliminary step before the end of the week.

Congress enacted $4 trillion in COVID-19 relief last year.

Passage of the new relief legislation not only would impact Americans and businesses reeling during a pandemic that has killed about 440,000 people in the United States but also offers an early test of Biden’s promise to work to bridge the partisan divide in Washington. Biden took office on Jan. 20.

Biden’s proposal includes $160 billion for vaccines and testing, $170 billion for schools and universities, and funds to give certain Americans a $1,400 per-person stimulus check, among other provisions. Some Republicans have questioned the overall price tag, while others urged more targeted measures, particularly over the direct payments to individuals. In their letter to Biden, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and seven other senators asked Biden for a meeting and said their compromise proposal could be quickly passed with bipartisan support, promising more details on Monday. They said their proposal sought more targeted assistance for families in need and additional funds for small businesses, while echoing Biden’s plan for more funding to boost vaccines and testing as well as support for schools and childcare centers. They also pointed to unspent money from previous COVID-19 relief bills. “Ours is about $600 billion. … We’re targeted to the needs of the American people,” Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the 10 senators, told “Fox News Sunday.” Deese said the White House was reviewing their letter but did not say whether Biden would meet with the group, which also included Republicans Shelley Moore Capito, Todd Young, Jerry Moran, Michael Rounds and Rob Portman. Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that the Republicans’ letter was “a positive sign that folks want to work together.” With the Senate split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris wielding the tie-breaking vote, Democrats are considering using a parliamentary tool called “reconciliation” that would allow the chamber to approve the bill with a simple majority. Under Senate rules, legislation usually requires 60 votes for passage.

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Schumer: This Senate will deliver aid fast

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. Senate will act alone to approve a fresh round of coronavirus stimulus if Republicans do not support the measure, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday, the morning after securing a deal to exert his newly won leadership. “We want to work with our Republican colleagues to advance this legislation in a bipartisan way. But the work must move forward, preferably with our Republican colleagues, but without them if we must,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. President Joe Biden has made addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 420,000 Americans, thrown millions out of work and is currently infecting more than 173,000 people per day, a major focus of his first week in office. He’s calling on Congress to approve $1.9 trillion in spending, on top of the roughly $4 trillion authorized over the past year to address the heavy human and economic toll. Schumer’s comment comes the morning after top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s former majority leader, agreed to dropped his blockade of a deal for a power-sharing agreement in the Senate, where each party controls 50 seats. The Democrats have control of the chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie-breaking vote. Biden has called for unity and has urged bipartisan support of his plan, but Republicans have balked at the high price tag and senators of both parties have said they want the package to be more targeted. The White House has scheduled a call with members of the bipartisan group of lawmakers known as the Problem Solvers Caucus on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The White House is expected to detail how much money remains in the coffers after previous stimulus packages, in a follow-up to a weekend meeting. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are introducing on Tuesday a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, one of the components of Biden’s coronavirus package, raising the possibility that lawmakers could take a more piecemeal approach to the legislation. Congressional Republicans have traditionally been opposed to such measures. In 2019, only three Republicans voted for a similar minimum wage hike in the House of Representatives. The federal minimum wage has not been changed since 2009, when it became $7.25 an hour.

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Last Hurrah! 2 Trillion Stimulus Will Drive the market

Nick Bit: The main takeaway here is Biden said he will pass the stimulus bill with or without Republican vote. And he can do it. That means happy checks are on the way, And the millennias newline embolden will buy the crab out of stocks. And i want to be their for what i regard of the last wave up before the correction, look at the comments below

“It’s pretty crazy because I think I mean, I look at the whole GameStop thing with the stocks as a revenge of the nerds kind of attack on the big boys in Wall Street and against a lot of the big, big trading firms that are out there. This is one of the things with a small guy kind of triumphs. And I think this is the way Robinhood had to stop it, even though they’re one of those smaller, you would think, stealing from the rich, giving to the poor, that they would just let it rip. But I mean, I’m for it to a degree, until it gets out of control. The robo trading, if i t’s too much, it can really upend things. But I think it’s a good shot across the bow of the big… big traders.” “I think the little man finally got an ounce of what they deserve, and it was the assholes in there that took it from them, they delisted it, Ameritrade, Robinhood, Webull, they all can’t stand to have the little guy win. And that pisses me off. And that’s why it’s f***k the suit. It’s buy Bitcoin. It’s always been that for… for four decades. It shows you that you can be your own bank. You can do your own transactions, verifiable, permission-less, decentralized. It’s the future of commerce. And the assholes in there, they haven’t caught on to it yet. But Grayscale, Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy, they’re starting to dip their feet in. And this is the future of finance right here.” “I think it’s great that rich people are losing money because capitalism is destroying this world, and that’s all I have to say about that.”

STORY: GameStop shares jumped, awarding retail investors the advantage in the latest round of their week-long slugfest against major financial institutions that had shorted the video game retailer. The so-called “Reddit rally” has inflated stock prices for GameStop and other previously beaten-down companies that individual investors championed on social media forums. GameStop surged 83% on Friday (January 29) after brokers including Robinhood eased some restrictions on trading. On Thursday (January 28), GameStop shares slid following the trading halts from Robinhood and other trading apps, which drew outrage from politicians and calls for action from regulators. Headphone maker Koss more than doubled in value, although it and GameStop remained below peaks reached earlier this week. Hedge funds and other short sellers had bruising week. GameStop short sellers endured mark-to-market losses of $19.75 billion so far this year, according to S3. Even so, the stock remained highly shorted with $11.2 billion short interest. GameStop and other companies have said little about the volatility in their shares. Robinhood said Friday it had temporarily disabled a feature on its app that allows users to buy crypto securities instantly. Robinhood has been one of the hottest venues in the retail-trading frenzy but its sudden curbs on buying set off online protests as the firm tapped credit lines to ensure it could continue trading. The brokerage said it had raised more than $1 billion from its existing investors after high volumes and volatility of trading strained it this week. A website on the short squeeze strategy set up by one WallStreetBets participant, told traders with Robinhood accounts to “find a new broker asap,” listing rivals Vanguard, Ameritrade and Fidelity. Both Ameritrade and Charles Schwab placed some restrictions on trade on Thursday. Fidelity says it has not limited trading in the stocks.

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Racing the virus: Why tweaking the vaccines won’t be simple

CHICAGO (Reuters) – After developing and rolling out COVID-19 vaccines at record speed, drugmakers are already facing variants of the rapidly-evolving coronavirus that may render them ineffective, a challenge that will require months of research and a massive financial investment, according to disease experts.

Executives from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE are considering new versions of their vaccines to respond to the most concerning variants identified so far. That is just one piece of the work needed to stay ahead of the virus, nearly a dozen experts told Reuters.

A global surveillance network to assess emerging variants must be built. Scientists need to establish what level of antibodies will be required to protect people from COVID-19 and determine when vaccines need to be altered. And regulators must convey what is needed to demonstrate updated vaccines are still safe and effective. “At this point, there is no evidence that these variants have changed the equation in terms of protection from the vaccine,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota. “But we have to be prepared for that.” Johnson & Johnson told Reuters the concerning variant first identified in South African has got its attention and will tweak its vaccine accordingly if needed. Pfizer said it could produce a new vaccine relatively quickly, but a top vaccine executive said manufacturing it presents additional challenges. Moderna on Monday said lab studies showed antibodies made in response to its vaccine were six times less effective at neutralizing a lab-created version of a South African variant than prior versions of the virus. A study released on Wednesday ahead of peer review found the South African variant reduced neutralizing antibodies 8.6-fold for the Moderna vaccine and by 6.5-fold for the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, although a separate Pfizer-backed study released on Wednesday suggests its vaccine may be more hardy. Moderna said this week it is starting work on a potential booster shot. Just how far protection can drop before a COVID-19 vaccine needs to be altered is not yet known. With influenza, an eightfold drop in vaccine-induced antibody protection means time to update. That does not necessarily apply to this coronavirus. “The problem is we don’t know what the cut point is for coronavirus,” said Dr. John Mascola, director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), whose scientists helped develop Moderna’s vaccine. Mascola said both studies testing the Moderna vaccine against the South African variant are roughly in the “same ballpark.” It could be that antibody protection is high enough from the vaccine that it will still be effective, he said. NIAID scientists are analyzing data from Moderna’s late-stage trial to see what level of neutralizing antibodies is required for protection. They are comparing individuals who were vaccinated but got sick anyway to vaccinated people who remained healthy. It could take two months to complete this work, Mascola said. They hope to produce a benchmark for the minimum level of vaccine-induced antibodies needed to protect against COVID-19. A global surveillance network is also needed to identify troubling new variants as they emerge, similar to one used to track fast-mutating flu viruses. That could cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States alone. Richard Webby, a flu surveillance expert from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, said the United States could probably build a system to identify variants fairly quickly. Developing the capability to determine whether they evade current vaccines will take more time. The United States is currently conducting genetic sequencing to look for changes in the virus in just 0.3% of positive coronavirus tests. That pales compared with 10% in the UK, which was first to discover a major mutation in the virus that increases transmission by at least 50%. Experts said countries should sequence at least 5% of positive cases to detect significant changes in the virus. Companies are waiting for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to relay what testing will be needed for altered vaccines, said Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists. With influenza vaccines, companies can make changes without new trials. “But that’s after doing it for 50 years,” he said. Peter Marks, who oversees the FDA’s vaccine approval process, has said small trials testing updated vaccines in around 400 participants may be needed at first. Even that could add months to the process. Norman Baylor, chief executive of Biologics Consulting and a former FDA vaccines official, said the agency will lay out the regulatory road. But public health agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization would decide when vaccines should be updated, as with flu.

Altering Pfizer’s vaccine would require “a very minor change,” Dormitzer said.

Like Moderna’s, it uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which relies on synthetic genes that can be generated and manufactured in weeks. He estimates the company could make a prototype version in a week or so, and take another two months to scale up and update their lab tests. J&J, which is expected to release late-stage trial data on its vaccine within days, has laid the groundwork to address troubling virus changes, Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels told Reuters. Its trial included sites in South Africa, which should give the company insight on that variant. If a change is necessary, Stoffels said J&J likely would add a second strain into its existing vaccine. “We are looking at this with a lot of attention,” he said.

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What are the symptoms of new Covid strains? The 6 signs to watch for

AS the coronavirus continues to spread, it has also mutated – with three significant new variants of the virus now present in the US.

Experts have warned the UK variant, which was first discovered in Kent in the south of England is up to 70 per cent more infectious – and has now emerged in the US. One cluster was found in Florida on November 6 and the other in California on November 23. The first discovery in the US was around six weeks before Sage told the UK government about its concerns about the new strain. In the US, the first case of the Kent strain was diagnosed on December 29. Researchers concluded the new UK strain is between 29 and 91 per cent more likely to be fatal – with three different studies showing very different results. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said it could be 1.35 times more deadly, Imperial College London said it was between 1.36, or 1.29 (depending on the method used), and the University of Exeter found it may be 1.91 times more deadly. Experts also revealed this week that the South African strain could also be more deadly. Nervtag scientists said today they had done some analysis on data in South Africa, finding “a hint of increased mortality”. But they cautioned there has not been detailed research into the mortality of the South African variant, as there has been with the Kent one, so they cannot be confident in the finding. The third variant originates in Brazil and has now spread to the US. It also is considered to be rather resilient to the coronavirus vaccine. After the new variants were detected, the UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said that symptoms aren’t any different to the original strain that emerged in 2020. Scientists agree that the virus affects different people in various ways and what has become clearer as the pandemic has unfolded are the signs to look out for. As the nation continues to battle with a rise in coronavirus infections it’s important to know the official symptoms of Covid-19.

1. New persistent cough

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) states that one of the three key coronavirus symptoms is a new persistent cough. This is defined as coughing a lot for more than an hour or three or more coughing episodes in a day. If you usually have a cough then it will be much worse that your usual cough and it’s likely to be more frequent.

2. Loss of taste and smell

In May 2020 Public Health England (PHE) added anosmia to the official list of Covid-19 symptoms, falling in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Many people who contract the virus reported being unable to taste their food or smell things – this is known as anosmia. Andrew Robson, ENT Consultant at North Cumbria Integrated Care said: “It has been known for some time that viruses can cause anosmia, and this can last for considerable lengths of time. “Anosmia also affects the sense of taste and is understandably quite distressing, affecting an individual’s appreciation of food and drink among other pleasurable scents. “This condition also potentially gives rise to dangerous situations, such as an inability to detect gas leaks, fire or spoilt food.”

3. High temperature

Another key symptom of Covid-19 is a high temperature.

This means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back and the NHS states that you don’t need to measure your temperature with a thermometer in order to check it. If you do measure your temperature – a high reading would be classed as anything above 38C. A high temperature is usually caused by your body fighting infection. If you have any of the three main symptoms as stated above then you should get a test and isolate. But some testing centres are now also offering tests to asymptomatic patients and almost one third of people who have the virus don’t have an signs.

4. Tiredness

Tiredness isn’t one of the main coronavirus symptoms listed by the NHS but many people are left feeling fatigued when they contract the virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) lists tiredness as another key coronavirus symptom. Many people who contract the virus say they don’t feel as though they have the energy to undertake every day tasks in the same way that they could before.

5. Headache

The WHO also lists headaches as a common symptom and this is also one of the main symptoms in children, according to the ZOE Symptom Tracker App. The study found that 53 per cent of children who contracted the virus also suffered from headaches.

6. Rash

Many people who have contracted Covid-19 have also developed a skin rash. In some cases this is seen on the back and arms, and others have developed conditions such as “Covid-toes” due to the inflammation caused by the virus. While the ZOE study didn’t suggest a rash was one of the five main symptoms in children – it did state that 15 per cent of kids who test positive also present with an unusual skin rash. Just last week one nurse shared shocking pictures of her 17-month-old son’s rash which she says was caused by Covid. Jade Roberts said that her son Bertie had first developed a runny nose before the rash started. She said the rash spread to his cheeks, ears, knees and stomach.

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US to buy 200M vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna – Biden

The Biden administration plans to buy 100 million more doses each of Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in order to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer. ‘The biggest problem, I hope you’re all asking me by the end of summer is that you have too much vaccine leftover,’ Biden said at the White House Tuesday afternoon. Biden delivered the update Tuesday on the heels of Vice President Kamala Harris getting her second shot of the Moderna vaccine at the Bethesda, Maryland headquarters of the National Institutes of Health. Biden said at his appearance that the vaccine program ‘is in worse shape than we anticipated or expected.’ Going forward, Biden said the administration will increase the supply of vaccines to states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses. ‘Starting next week, that’s an increase of 1.4 million doses per week,’ Biden said. ‘And so this is going to allow millions of more Americans to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated,’ he added. He also promised the state and local leaders ‘will now always have a reliable three-week forecast of the supply they’re going to get.’ ‘Until now, we’ve had to guess how much vaccine to expect for the next week and that’s what the governors had to do: “how much am I getting next week?” This is unacceptable,’ Biden said. By knowing these figures, Biden explain, governors, mayors and local leaders can carry out their plans to vaccinate the largest number of people possible. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are two-shot doses. Biden said by increasing the supply and being transparent about the supply, the U.S. should ‘God willing’ be able to get to his goal of 100 million shots in the first 100 days of the administration. ‘But I also want to be clear, 100 million shots in 100 days is not the end point, it’s just the start,’ the president said. ‘We’re not stopping there. The end goal is to beat COVID-19. And the way we do that is to get more people vaccinated, which means we have to be ready after we hit the goal of 100 million shots in 100 days.’ Biden then relayed the administration’s plan to buy 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which would be enough to vaccine 100 million more Americans. Biden continued to call fighting the coronavirus a ‘wartime effort,’ noting that the 400,000-plus death toll topped all the World War II American dead.’And we’re using the Defense Production Act to launch a full-scale wartime effort to address the supply shortages we inherited from the previous administration,’ Biden explained. The president said the administration was continuing to work to get the vaccines into local pharmacies around the country. ‘But the brutal truth is, it’s going to take months before we get the majority of American vaccinated. In the next few months, masks, not vaccines are the best defense against COVID-19,’ the president also said. ‘Experts say that wearing masks from now on, just until April would save 50,000 who otherwise will pass away if we don’t wear these masks.’

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German hospital under quarantine after 20 patients, staff infected with more infectious coronavirus variant

https://youtu.be/9hR-V0yLzl4

BERLIN (Reuters) – German health authorities put a Berlin hospital under quarantine after 20 patients and staff members tested positive for a more infectious variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and spreading fast around the world, officials said on Saturday. The number of people at the Humboldt hospital infected with the more infectious B117 variant was likely to rise further in the coming days, a spokeswoman of public hospital operator Vivantes told Reuters. The quarantine decision means that the Humboldt hospital in the German capital will not admit any new patients. “New patients and emergencies will be redirected to other hospitals,” the spokeswoman said. Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Thursday to stop complaining about the slow roll-out of a vaccine against COVID-19, and defended a decision to extend a lockdown as necessary to stem the more aggressive variant.