Saturday, September 18, 2021
India Registers 30,773 Coronavirus Cases In Last 24 Hrs, Recovery Rate At 97.68%
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Ensure Execution & Implementation Of Ideas: PM Modi To Top Bureaucrats During 4-hr Marathon Meet
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West Virginia governor says the state will have to 'keep lining the body bags up' if COVID-19 vaccination rates don't improve
AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File
- West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice warned the state to brace for more COVID-related deaths if vaccination numbers increase.
- The state has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases and a deceleration in vaccination rates since July.
- The governor said he doesn't want to mandate vaccines for employees, saying getting the vaccine should be a choice.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice warned the public can expect more people to die from COVID-19 if vaccination rates across the state don't improve drastically.
"Seventy-four more people have died since Wednesday," Gov. Justice said, providing updates to the state's ongoing battle against the coronavirus in a news briefing on Friday. "And they'll keep dying. That's all there is to it."
"We just are going to keep lining the body bags up, and we're going to line them up, and line them up," he continued.
This comes as new COVID-19 cases in the state continue to skyrocket. West Virginia reported 2,070 new probable and confirmed cases on Friday, based on data from the West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources.
The state excelled in vaccine rollouts, reporting a higher percentage of vaccinations in its population than any other state in February, the Wall Street Journal reported. Now, only 46% of the state's vaccine-eligible population is fully vaccinated against the virus, the lowest of any state according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials in West Virginia are citing vaccine hesitancy as a main factor in this vaccine slowdown. The government has offered several vaccine incentives in the past nine months, like a $100 savings bond to vaccinated people between 16 and 35, and even a firearm lottery giveaway in June. Health experts and data has repeatedly shown the vaccines to be safe and effective against the virus.
Justice previously expressed his uneasiness over the rise in the Delta variant in July and the state's ability to effectively respond to it, saying it made him want to "pee and throw up."
The governor also said in the Friday briefing that he doesn't believe in mandating employees to get the COVID vaccine. President Biden announced policies earlier this month requiring vaccinations for all government employees and employees at large companies with more than 100 people.
"At the end of the day, we're going to do one of two things: We're going to run to the fire and get vaccinated right now, or we're going to pile the body bags up until we reach a point in time to where we have enough people that have natural immunities and enough people that are vaccinated," he added. "That's all there is to it. I would really highly encourage you to get vaccinated."
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Having Symptoms Post Covid Vaccination? These 5 Syndromes Need Special Attention - Know More
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A doctor from Oregon who said mask-wearing can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning got his medical license revoked
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- The Oregon Medical Board has revoked the license of a doctor who refused to wear a mask.
- Steven Arthur LaTulippe ran a family clinic and falsely told his patients mask-wearing could carbon monoxide poisoning.
- He told the board he would continue to refuse to follow COVID-19 guidelines like mask-wearing.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
An Oregon doctor who falsely claimed that wearing masks can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning has had his license revoked.
As of September 2, Steven Arthur LaTulippe is no longer allowed to practice, according to records from the Oregon Medical Board. LaTulippe also received a $10,000 fine.
An investigation conducted by the Oregon Medical Board found that LaTulippe engaged in "8 instances of unprofessional or dishonorable conduct, 22 instances of negligence in the practice of medicine, and 5 instances of gross negligence in the practice of medicine."
LaTulippe's family practice, South View Medical Arts, did not ask patients whether they had been in close contact with someone who exhibited COVID-19 symptoms or tested positive for the disease, records say. LaTulippe had also asked his receptionist to screen individuals for COVID-19 by looking at the patient's facial expression rather than asking common screening questions.
He "had trained his receptionist 'to look at [the patient] and just take a look at them and see if they look sick,' and, if the patient was 'smiling and happy,' the receptionist was instructed to ask how the patient was feeling," medical records say. "If the patient indicated that they 'felt fine' and they were 'not ill,' the receptionist would direct the patient to sit in the waiting area" before heading to an examination room.
Neither LaTulippe nor his wife, who ran the clinic with him, wore a mask between March 2020 and December 2020 while treating patients, the investigation says. LaTulippe also told patients they didn't have to wear a mask in the clinic unless they were "actively ill, coughing, [or] congested," the investigation says.
Masks have been show to dramatically reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Additionally, LaTulippe told elderly and pediatric patients that mask-wearing was "very dangerous" for them because they can exacerbate asthma or "cause or contribute to multiple serious health conditions" like strokes, collapsed lungs, and pneumonia. He also claimed that mask-wearing would lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
LaTulippe believes he's been "a strong asset to the public in educating them on the real facts about this pandemic," according to the investigation.
The board originally suspended his license in December 2020. When investigators asked whether he planned to follow COVID-19 protocols like mask-wearing, LaTulippe said no.
"In a choice between losing his medical license versus wearing a mask in his clinic and requiring his patients and staff to wear a mask in his clinic, he will, 'choose to sacrifice my medical license with no hesitation,'" the investigative report reads.
His decision to flout COVID-19 guidelines like mask-wearing was irresponsible and "actively promoted transmission of the COVID-19 virus within the extended community," investigators wrote.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested Nicki Minaj should be Donald Trump's running mate in 2024
Left: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File; Right: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File
- Rep. Matt Gaetz in a tweet suggested that Donald Trump and Nicki Minaj run for office together in 2024.
- Minaj over the course of this week has tweeted skeptical remarks about the COVID-19 vaccines.
- Those remarks led to an anti-vaccine protest and criticism from high-profile figures like Joy Reid.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Rep. Matt Gaetz on Friday suggested Nicki Minaj should be former President Donald Trump's running mate in 2024.
Gaetz was responding to an article from the Daily Beast that said Minaj publicly shared the phone numbers of two reporters who were looking into her claim that an individual got swollen testicles after having received a COVID-19 vaccine.
"My cousin in Trinidad won't get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you're comfortable with ur decision, not bullied," Minaj tweeted.
"Trump/Minaj 2024," Gaetz tweeted in response to the Beast article that reported her claim.
-Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 17, 2021
Earlier this week, Minaj revealed that she is not yet vaccinated against the coronavirus. She said she would not attend the Met Gala because vaccines were mandated at the event.
"They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. If I get vaccinated it won't for the Met. It'll be once I feel I've done enough research. I'm working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face," Minaj wrote.
Immediately after, she received intense backlash from high-profile figures, including MSNBC host Joy Reid, who blasted her for using her platform with nearly 23 million followers to amplify vaccine skepticism.
"You've got that platform. It's a blessing. It's a blessing that you got that, that people listen to you," Reid said. "And they listen to you more than they listen to me. For you to use your platform to put people in the position of dying from a disease they don't have to die from, oh my god, as a fan, as a hip-hop fan, as somebody who's your fan, I'm so sad that you did that."
Fox News host Tucker Carlson invited her to speak on his show.
The nation's topmost coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci also responded, saying there is no evidence the vaccines cause reproductive issues.
Despite efforts from health officials like Fauci to dispel worries about the coronavirus vaccines, Minaj with her tweets has galvanized significant anti-vaxxer impact.
Earlier this week, for example, anti-vaxxers demonstrated outside the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control, where they chanted "down with the CDC, Fauci lies to me." There a masked man told the crowd, "Nicki Minaj said I'm not going to take your vaccine," according to a video of the event.
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Georgia GOP Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan says party leaders pushed restrictive election laws 'because they got scared': book
AP Photo/John Bazemore
- In a new book, Geoff Duncan said that GOP leaders pushing restrictive voting laws are "scared."
- "Many held to the theory that if more people vote, Republicans will lose," he wrote.
- The controversial SB 202 was signed into law in Georgia after generating enormous pushback from Democrats.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan of Georgia, who has vocally defended the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, said that GOP leaders who have sought to make voting more difficult are "scared."
Duncan, who in 2018 was elected on a conservative slate alongside Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, has since come out against former President Donald Trump's attacks on the election results, stressing that the relentless onslaught has only served to undermine trust in the voting process.
In his newly-released book, "GOP 2.0," the lieutenant governor laid out a case for a more independent and inclusive party, while also acknowledging the consequences of Republican mistrust in voting systems, especially as the 2021 legislative session began in the Peach State.
"Many held to the theory that if more people vote, Republicans will lose," he wrote. "Is that true? No. But the former president and other leaders convinced many in our party that is true."
He added: "Here's what's really true: If our party wants a future where it can win majorities and pass conservative legislation, it needs ideas and policies that can capture the hearts and minds of a majority, no matter how many people vote."
Earlier this year, the GOP-controlled legislature passed a roughly 100-page long bill known as SB 202, or the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which restricts ballot drop boxes to early voting sites and limits their usage to voting hours, and narrows the window for requesting an absentee ballot, among other measures.
While Duncan was not a fan of earlier iterations of SB 202, he told Georgia Trend magazine that "a number of bipartisan ideas [were] incorporated into the final version" and contended that the legislative process worked in creating a "better" bill.
The bill, which Democrats have widely criticized since its introduction in the legislation, led to Major League Baseball moving their 2021 All-Star Game from the Atlanta region to Denver.
In June, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that the statewide law is discriminatory against Black Georgians.
Duncan expressed that backers of restrictive voting measures had a "clear motive."
"Because they got scared, GOP leaders became too focused on making voting more difficult," he wrote. "One of the former president's prominent supporters - a longtime Georgia congressman - attacked our Republican secretary of state, questioning why he was 'working so hard to add drop boxes and take other steps to make it harder for Republicans to win.'"
The Republican in question was former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented a Cobb County-anchored suburban congressional district from 1979 to 1999.
Duncan wrote that Republican attempts to tighten voting laws across the country have deprived the party of any real standing on the issue.
"As states began their legislative sessions, more than 250 election-related bills were filed across the country," he wrote. "Many were filed by Republican representatives as reactions to the GOP headliner losing the 2020 election, so right there, our party lost all credibility on election reform."
He added: "We had a clear motive and selfish aims. Nobody thought GOP efforts were anything more than attempts to ensure more Republicans won next time."
Contrary to many conservatives who backed Trump's election claims, Duncan said that Americans "should be proud of our states and country for conducting a fair election" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lieutenant governor in May announced that he would not run for reelection to a second term in 2022 and would instead focus on the GOP 2.0 independent movement to expand the Republican coalition.
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Right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who once said 'bad fajitas' were worse than COVID-19, has tested positive and says she's in 'so much pain'
Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
- Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist, said that she has tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
- She has described her symptoms as "brutal" and said she feels like she "got hit by a bus."
- Loomer has previously said she hoped to catch COVID-19 to prove that it's a "hyped up virus."
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who once said that food poisoning after eating "bad fajitas" was worse than COVID-19, has said that she has tested positive for the virus.
In a post on GETTR, Loomer told her followers that she now has "fever, chills, a runny nose, sore throat, nausea and severe body aches" and that she feels like she "got hit by a bus."
She described her symptoms as "brutal" and said she is in "so much pain" in follow-up messages posted on her Telegram channel, The Daily Beast reported. "Just pray for me please," she wrote.
Loomer said that she has not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and added that she doesn't plan on "ever taking it."
She said on GETTR, social media platform targeted to American conservatives, that she is being treated with Azithromycin and Hydroxychloroquine and a dietary supplement. Hydroxychloroquine, which was often touted by former President Donald Trump, has proven ineffective in treating the coronavirus.
Loomer, infamous for her anti-Muslim rhetoric, social media bans, and losing a House bid in Florida last year, previously said she wished to catch COVID-19 to prove that it was nothing more than a "hyped up virus."
Per The Daily Beast, she wrote on Parler in December 2020: "I hope I get COVID just so I can prove to people I've had bouts of food poisoning that are more serious and life-threatening than a hyped-up virus. Have you ever eaten bad fajitas? That will kill you faster than COVID."
On Friday, Loomer accused the "leftist media" of relishing in her COVID-19 diagnosis. "Their hopes that i die are a clear reminder that the left's growing outrage over supposed increased COVID deaths is all for show and political gain," she wrote.
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A $100 million loan on Trump Tower in Manhattan has been placed on a bank watch list, due to a slump in occupancy, reports say
- A $100 million loan on Donald Trump's Fifth Avenue tower has reportedly been placed on a watch list.
- Bloomberg reported that the decision was due to "lower average occupancy."
- Wells Fargo said occupancy fell to 78.9% from 85.9% at the end of 2020.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
A $100 million loan on Donald Trump's Fifth Avenue tower has been placed on a debt watch list, according to data from banking giant, Wells Fargo.
Bloomberg first reported the story on Friday, noting that the decision was a result of "lower average occupancy."
Wells Fargo, which is the master servicer of the loan, said occupancy has dipped to 78.9% from 85.9% at the end of 2020, according to the outlet.
Real estate income was $33.7 million in 2020 and $ 7.5 million in the first quarter of this year, according to loan documents, Bloomberg noted.
The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Insider's Kelsey Vlamis previously reported other financial challenges at Trump Tower.
Recently, multiple tenants fell behind on rent. The Trump Organization sued the maker of Ivanka Trump's shoe line earlier this year for $1.5 million in unpaid rent, according to reports.
Some of Trump's properties elsewhere in the US have also been facing scrutiny. The former president's property tax was slashed for his Chicago office tower because the building's commercial space was mostly vacant, The Chicago Sun-Times first reported.
The building's retail space had its assessed value cut to $12.5 million, down from $19.9 million, Insider's Kevin Shalvey reported. The assessed value was cut by about 37% because about 95% of the square footage was vacant, the report said.
Separately, a new book claims that Trump snapped that he was tired and fatigued when his pollster said his divisive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic was exhausting voters.
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An in-person bar mitzvah for Chris Christie's nephew led to a COVID-19 outbreak and shut down a New Jersey middle school
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- A New Jersey middle school abruptly closed after a COVID-19 outbreak caused by a bar mitzvah, the New York Post reported.
- The bar mitzvah was held for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's 13-year-old nephew.
- The school is planning to resume in-person learning by Monday, Constantino said.
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A bar mitzvah held for the nephew of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie forced a middle school to close down after several students who attended got infected with the coronavirus.
Students came out to celebrate on behalf of Christie's 13-year-old nephew last weekend, the New York Post reported. Days later, Mendham Township schools Superintendent Salvatore Constantino told the Post the school had to shut down on Friday and hold virtual classes for the day.
"There were, unfortunately, a few adult cases and a few student cases that came out of it," Constantino said, according to the Post.
"We couldn't ensure a safe environment, so we thought it would be prudent for us to go virtual again on Friday," Constantino added.
The Mendham Township Middle School did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
But Constantino told the Post the school expects to resume in-person learning by Monday.
A photo taken at the event obtained by the Post shows the parents of the nephew and their four other kids posing at a club in Newark, New Jersey, without masks.
It's unclear how many students contracted the coronavirus at the bar mitzvah. Constantino, according to the Post, declined to give a specific number. But he said the school recorded "fewer than half a dozen [cases], stemming from the event and existing population."
It's also unclear how many people were in attendance at the event.
Christie told the Post his brother, the father of the nephew who had the bar mitzvah, had been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Last year, Christie was hospitalized in an ICU after he contracted COVID-19. Prior to that infection, he had flouted mask guidelines from health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Upon his hospitalization, he urged the public to take the virus seriously and wear a mask.
"Leaders, all across the politics, sports, the media, should be saying to people, put your masks on and be safe until we get a vaccine that could help to protect us," he said.
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More international airlines are banning cloth masks on flights in favor of medical and surgical masks
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- International airlines are starting to require passengers to wear surgical masks over medical masks onboard.
- According to one study, surgical masks "offer substantially higher filtration efficiencies".
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
More international airlines are starting to require surgical masks over cloth masks.
In August, Finland national carrier Finnair became the latest airline to require passengers to wear surgical masks on board, joining Lufthansa, Frenchbee, Air France, LATAM, Swiss, and Croatia Airlines.
Finnair said on its website: "Please note that we do not accept masks made of fabric, face shields, masks with a valve or scarves used as a mask, as they allow air to escape and do not provide comparable protection."
Acceptable masks are surgical, valveless FFP2 or FFP3, N95, or equivalent, according to the airline.
A study conducted by the University of Waterloo in Canada and published in the Physics of Fluids journal determined medical-grade N95 and equivalent masks better protect against COVID-19.
While some international carriers are mandating surgical masks, no US airline has implemented the policy, and the CDC has not banned cloth masks in its mask guidance. According to the agency, cloth masks are acceptable as long as they are double-layered, tightly woven without punctures or holes, and fit snugly around the face.
However, some carriers do ban certain types of face coverings, like scarves or masks with vents or valves. For example, Delta, Spirit, Hawaiian, Frontier, United, and American do not allow bandanas to be used in lieu of a double-layered face covering or surgical mask, according to each company's policy.
Getting passengers to comply with face mask requirements has been a challenge for airlines since the start of the pandemic, which has led some carriers to ban customers who do not comply. Last week, two JetBlue passengers caused chaos on a flight when they refused to mask up, forcing the airline to ban them from flying the carrier again.
In the US, the choice between wearing a medical-grade, surgical, or cloth mask is ultimately up to the traveler, though research suggests transmission on aircraft is rare. Last Wednesday, a published peer-reviewed study conducted by Delta Air Lines revealed the risk of COVID-19 transmission on aircraft where all passengers test negative within 72 hours is less than 0.1%.
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