Month: January 2022

On Tuesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on the recommended Covid-19 isolation period, stating that if people have access to a Covid-19 test, the best approach is to use a rapid test toward the end of their five-day isolation period. The agency has faced pressure over the past week from outside medical experts to include a testing component in its new shortened isolation period.

The updated recommendations do not advise a test for isolated people, but they offer guidance on how those people should respond to a test result if they choose to take one. If the test is positive, isolated people are advised to continue their isolation until 10 days after their symptoms started. If the test is negative, isolated people can end their isolation but are advised to wear a mask around other people until day 10.The recommendations advise people who are isolating to avoid places where they can’t wear a mask, such as restaurants and gyms, and to avoid eating around others until day 10. People who are isolating are now urged to wait to travel until at least 10 days after the start of symptoms. Those who must travel on days six to 10 should wear a mask for their entire trip.

The updated guidance advising people to stay isolated until day 10 if they have a positive rapid test after five days in isolation appears to contradict Walensky’s claim to CNN last week that “we wouldn’t change our guidance based on the result of the rapid test.” Walensky repeatedly defended the CDC’s decision not to include recommending a rapid test in earlier guidance, telling CNN last week, “We opted not to have the rapid test for isolation because we actually don’t know how our rapid tests perform and how well they predict whether you’re transmissible during the end of disease.”

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The Virginia state police said that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) road crews have continued to clear abandoned vehicles on Interstate 95 after rain, snow and ice stranded drivers along a 40-mile stretch.  In a briefing Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam confirmed that that there have been no reports of fatalities or injuries, saying that the perfect storm created an “incredibly unusual event” that resulted in the major backup.  Northam said that road crews from VDOT and emergency responders have been working around the clock to tow disabled vehicles and get traffic moving again.

Said Northam: “First we had rain, which meant that VDOT couldn’t adequately pretreat the roads. Then we had slushy snow that fell a lot faster than our snowplows could move it, and then as the night fell, the temperatures dropped below freezing. All of those together created the perfect storm for what happened on I-95 last night.”   

Multiple tractor trailers, blocking the highway led to miles of backups with people stuck in their cars for many hours. Northam said that the region was not prepared for the weather that swept through the region:  “We were prepared for the storm that was predicted — a few inches of snow, but instead, Mother Nature sent more than a foot of snow to the Fredericksburg area.”  Northam said that the state has not called upon the National Guard for assistance because it takes time to deploy them and that their road crews. The VDOT anticipated that I-95 would be cleared of vehicles ahead of Wednesday’s rush hour.

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Former President Trump’s son Donal Trump Jr, and daughter Ivanka Trump, have refused to comply with subpoenas issued by the New York State attorney general’s office as it conducts a civil investigation into the way the family real estate business valued its holdings.

A document filed Monday said ‘a dispute has arisen between the OAG and the Individual Trump Parties regarding the Subpoenas.’  The document, filed jointly by New York Attorney General Letitia James and an attorney for the Trump Organization, said Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump will now be named as respondents in James’ ongoing inquiry, which parallels a criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.  A spokesperson for the Attorney General said: “As her investigation into financial dealing of the Trump Organization continues, Attorney General James is seeking interviews under oath of Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump. Despite numerous attempts to delay our investigation by the Trump Organization, we are confident that our questions will be answered and the truth will be uncovered because no one is above the law.”

Former President Trump and his company have denied wrongdoing, claiming the investigation is political. Thus far, the ongoing criminal investigation has resulted in indictments against the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg on tax charges.

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A federal jury in California on Monday found Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes guilty of fraud and conspiracy. Holmes had been charged with 11 counts of fraud for claims made to investors and patients of her Silicon Valley blood-testing company.

The jury handed down a partial verdict on Monday, finding Holmes guilty of four of the 11 charges – three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was found not guilty of an additional four, and the jury remained deadlocked on the other three counts.   Sentencing will come at a later date, however, Holmes now faces a federal prison sentence of up to 20 years. The federal government also must decide whether to retry Holmes for the three counts on which the jury could not reach a verdict.

Holmes first rose to prominence in 2014 as the founder and CEO of Theranos, which duped investors out of millions by falsely purporting that its technology could run hundreds of medical tests using just a few drops of blood. In 2015, Wall Street Journal journalist John Carreyrou reported that the machine Holmes was selling — dubbed The Edison — did not actually work, and that the company was using outside technology and other subterfuge to fake positive test results. Federal authorities then investigated Holmes, indicting her in 2018.  In addition to accusations she misled to patients and physicians about the efficacy of Theranos’ blood tests, Holmes was also accused of lying to investors in 2015, telling them that Theranos would generate $1 billion in revenue when she allegedly knew the company would only generate a few hundred thousand dollars that year.

During her trial, Holmes’ defense attorneys claimed she didn’t mean to defraud investors. Holmes also testified in her own defense, saying her judgment was clouded because of the alleged sexual, psychological and emotional abuse she endured during her relationship with former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her ex-boyfriend and co-defendant. Balwani faces the same fraud and conspiracy charges Holmes faced but will be tried separately in January.

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