Month: December 2021

Upon reopening after the holiday break on January 3rd, New York City public schools will expand in-school coronavirus testing, but relax quarantine rules for students in a bid to keep them in class as much as possible amid skyrocketing infection and hospitalization rates.  NYC Mayor de Blasio announced Tuesday that roughly 80,000 students will be tested every week across the public school system once classes resume. de Blasio said in a virtual briefing at City Hall that while only unvaccinated students were eligible for the randomized in-school surveillance tests at the start of the school year, vaccinated kids will now also be able to get them. In another policy shift, de Blasio said students who are exposed to an infected classmate will receive an at-home rapid test kit that their parents should administer as soon as they’re home. Students who are negative on the at-home test can return to school the very next day as long as they’re asymptomatic — a marked shift from the previous mandatory 10-day quarantine rule for kids exposed to an infected classmate.

de Blasio, who leaves office on Saturday, was joined for his briefing by incoming Mayor Eric Adams and New York Gov. Hochul. “We have a lot of evidence now that tells us this is going to be the approach that works in the future,” de Blasio said, citing data from the Health Department indicating 98% of kids who have a close interaction with an infected classmate do not contract the virus. Gov. Hochul added that her administration is setting aside 2 million at-home testing kits for city schools that can be distributed to students as needed in the event of a positive case.

Adams, who’s set to be sworn in as de Blasio’s successor on Saturday, noted that data indicates children are at a comparatively low risk of catching COVID-19 in school. “Your children are safer in school, the numbers speak for themselves,” said Adams.  However, he also suggested at a later press conference he may adjust the outgoing mayor’s school plan once he takes over. “We’re going to roll out our plan. It’s going to be a very clear plan,” Adams said at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

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Authorities said that five people were killed (including a police officer) and three injured in a series of shootings that began in the Denver area and ended later in the suburb of Lakewood. Police said the shootings began when the gunman killed two women and injured a man just before 6 p.m. Monday in Denver. The gunman fatally shot another man a few blocks away, with police then killing the suspect.

Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said at a news conference: “There are four significant locations where gunfire took place in the City and County of Denver.” Denver Police officers identified a vehicle associated with the incident and a pursuit ensued. There was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and officers, Pazen continued. No officers were injured as a result.

A motive for the shootings is unknown, and an investigation is ongoing. The deceased victims names were not released.

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President Joe Biden signed a nearly $770 billion defense bill into law on Monday, which includes an overhaul on sex assault crimes prosecution.The National Defense Authorization Act for military appropriations in the 2022 fiscal year includes $740 billion for the Department of Defense, which is $25 billion more than Biden’s budget request. It also includes $27.8 billion for  Department of Energy defense-related activities and another $378 million for other defense-related activities.

The bill includes funding to change how the military prosecutes sexual assault cases, along with other items, such as military construction, basic pay increase for troops, national security programs and intelligence programs, a brief White House statement shows.

The bill also specifically includes a 2.7% pay raise for troops, an independent commission to review the two-decade war in Afghanistan. Biden said in a White House statement: “The Act provides vital benefits and enhances access to justice for military personnel and their families,” Biden also said in the statement that “unfortunately,” certain sections of the legislation continue to bar the use of funds to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States or custody of certain foreign countries unless certain conditions are met. He added that these restrictions “constrain the flexibility of the executive branch with respect to its engagement in delicate negotiations with foreign countries over the potential transfer of detainees,” and urged Congress to eliminate the restrictions.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) announced on Monday that Americans who test positive for COVID-19 but do not have symptoms can stop isolating after five days as long as they continue wearing masks, cutting in half the agency’s previous isolation period down from 10 days.  The CDC also said it was loosening its guidance for quarantining after a COVID-19 exposure for unvaccinated Americans or those eligible for a booster who have not yet received their additional shot. It now recommends a five-day quarantine followed by five days of strict mask-wearing, but says that if quarantine “is not feasible,” it can be skipped as long as they wear a mask in the 10 days after exposure.

The CDC says people who are fully vaccinated and boosted do not need to quarantine after exposure. The agency had previously said all vaccinated Americans, regardless of whether they had received a booster shot, did not need to quarantine after a close contact as long as they did not have symptoms.

The change mirrors a similar move by the CDC announced last week to shorten its isolation guidance for health care workers. Many communities are now seeing record numbers of cases and rising hospitalizations fueled by the variant. Nationwide, the daily average of cases tallied by the CDC has accelerated to a pace not seen since the deadly surge of cases last winter.

Several industries have blamed the recent surge in Omicron cases for crippling much of their workforce. Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed over the holiday weekend, as pilots, flight attendants and other airline workers were forced to isolate after breakthrough cases.In deciding to shorten the recommended isolation period, the CDC said data shows the majority of transmission “occurs early in the course of illness,” within two days before symptoms begin and three days after. The CDC also cited recent data from South Africa and the United Kingdom, where Omicron has spread widely, showing a booster shot could restore vaccine effectiveness against infection.

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