#why do i keep getting positive covid tests on significant dates

[branloaf]

shoutout to all the homies with christmas covid (a lot of us apparently)

#why do i keep getting positive covid tests on significant dates #and of course cosmically it works out that the year my brother and i are alone for christmas we both get it together

[lokiondisneyplus]

As the film and TV industry attempts to restart after a COVID-19 shutdown, some states like Georgia hope to be trailblazers. Home to Tyler Perry's sprawling film studio, Pinewood's Atlanta outpost and other production facilities, the Peach State is establishing itself as a pioneer in the industry's quest to get back to work.

Perry was one of the first Hollywood players to lay out his plans to restart production. The producer — who said he'd fly actors on two of his TV shows, Sistas and The Oval, to Atlanta on his private jet and keep cast and crew quarantined on his 330-acre studio campus throughout the duration of filming in July — detailed on-set safety protocols May 20 in a 30-page document titled "Camp Quarantine." But he's far from the only producer who's been plotting a return to filming in the state.

While studios are wary of naming specific projects and target shoot dates due to the volatile nature of the pandemic (after all, Georgia set a new single-day record on July 1 with 3,000 new COVID cases in 24 hours), sources say that some of the major projects expected to start or restart production in the state in the coming months include Universal's feature adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen, MGM's Sylvester Stallone action pic Samaritan and a pair of Disney+ series: Loki and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In addition, at least two major Netflix projects plan to return to Georgia: comedy thriller Red Notice, starring Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot, and Stranger Things. Sources say the cast of the latter was told season four production would tentatively start back up again on Sept. 17.

“Georgians want to get back to work and show that we can not only beat this virus but be leaders in this industry to hopefully encourage America to get back to work,” says John Rooker, founder and owner of Atlanta Metro Studios (AMS), where HBO’s Watchmen filmed.

Georgia, which has lured Hollywood productions in recent years with its uncapped film incentives program, says it plans to hire an estimated 40,000 production workers across roughly 75 upcoming productions. Together, those projects are expected to invest $2 billion into the state’s economy over the next 18 months. The industry first got the green light to get production back up and running when Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp officially released the state’s protocols for film and TV production on May 22, two weeks before California released its filming guidelines.

"Thanks to the 'Best Practices' for set safety released by the state, in addition to the guidelines provided by the national guilds and unions, we look forward to helping thousands of crew members and support service personnel get back to work safely," says the state’s film commissioner, Lee Thomas. "It will help Georgia maintain its position as one of the busiest production locales worldwide."

A large part of that return to work will be led by Pinewood Atlanta Studios. President and CEO Frank Patterson has spent the past few months exploring how to make the facilities safer, investing $1 million in new safety protocols. The film studio has brought on BioIQ, a medical testing firm that will monitor the wellness of entrants, and Synexis, a biodefense company that uses tech to try to reduce viruses, bacteria and mold in the air.

"We've put a whole lot of thinking into how we should do this safely, and I think we're going to learn and iterate a lot in the next few months in terms of how these protocols work," says Patterson. Though he isn't at liberty to name any of the projects starting up soon, sources say Pinewood has two feature films and multiple streaming shows (including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki) beginning preproduction this month, with the aim to start filming as early as August.

Some studios are testing out protocols with smaller productions first. Atlanta Metro Studios, for instance, recently hosted a commercial shoot. "It was a good dress rehearsal for when production comes back full speed," says Rooker, who notes that he has a large show (which he also can't name) returning in July that will be using their entire facility for the remainder of the year.

Over at Atlanta-based Blackhall Studios, which saw HBO's Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams-produced series Lovecraft Country and Paramount's Chris Pratt thriller The Tomorrow War conveniently wrap production just before the shutdown, chairman and CEO Ryan Millsap has focused on the physical aspects of making the facility safer — that means looking at getting rid of door handles and swapping out all the bathroom fixtures for touchless ones — in an effort to get his facility ready for the rush of projects he's anticipating post-virus.

In fact, there are currently six productions vying for space at his studio, and he has room for about two. "Right now, we have people circling like sharks," says Millsap. "It's just a question of who can finally pull the trigger in a world where everybody wants to be working but nobody knows exactly how to work — and it's going to come down to whoever is ready to go tomorrow."

In an effort to remain competitive, others in the state are building out new production facilities that are pandemic-proof. Patrick Millsaps, a lawyer and political consultant turned film producer, is constructing a brand-new 1,500-acre studio complex in Albany, Georgia, named Kane Studios that will not only offer 650,000 square feet of purpose-built soundstages, 300,000 square feet of production offices and 1,000 acres of backlot — it will also be able to sequester an entire production the way that Perry’s studio can.

"We hopefully won't open until post-vaccine of this pandemic, but Bill Gates keeps calling this Pandemic One, so we're making sure the things that we've learned during this pandemic are a permanent part of what we're building," says Millsaps, adding that the studio is slated for a 2022 debut. “In this business, where people are always crammed in on top of each other, we just thought, why not make this the safest and healthiest studio on the planet?”

Surely, now more than ever, Georgia’s wide-open spaces are appealing to cast and crew coming from densely packed cities like New York and Los Angeles. And in another recent win for the state's film supporters, concerns about its controversial abortion legislation were attenuated this week when the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Louisiana. Though a Georgia Senate discussion about the uncapped film incentive program may have briefly worried some, ultimately the Senate Finance Committee's approval of a bill that requires audits for all film and TV projects that claim the credit seemed to quell any concerns about potentially more significant changes to the program.

"There’s a really beautiful element to what's happening in Georgia and the support that we're getting at the political level to return to production," says Millsap, noting he gets regular calls from the governor's office and state senators asking him when he's getting production going again. “They know that entertainment is one of the few sectors that's going to come up out of COVID like a rocket ship, and everything I hear from all of my relationships with politicians in Georgia is that they are ready to rock and roll this thing.”

#Atlanta #film and tv production #Loki #Falcon and the Winter Soldier #Pinewood

[beardstory9]

What Are Peptides Advantages?

Various Types Of Sarms Discussed Complete List & What They Do.

Content

What Are The Most Effective Kinds Of Sarms And Also Supplements For Bodybuilding?

Bicyclic Peptides: Kinds, Synthesis And Also Applications.

Welcome To Imuscle Sarms Uk.

Why Are Individuals Consuming Collagen?

The regarded benefits of using these sorts of materials vary from enhancing the dimension and interpretation of muscle mass, lowering water retention as well as body fat, to enhancing physical toughness and endurance. The team has actually carried out scientific research studies to show that C-peptide is a crucial forecaster of how well a medication works in specific patients to details diabetes medicines. C-peptide has the ability to stratify action to an expensive treatment in insulin-treated diabetes mellitus indicating the examination can determine people that will certainly not benefit from this medicine.

Could Natural Products Help Us Beat COVID-19 Virus? - Lab Manager Magazine

Could Natural Products Help Us Beat COVID-19 Virus?.

Posted: Fri, 08 Jan 2021 14:50:43 GMT [source]

I've been making use of collagen daily for 3 months and my skin is most definitely more youthful and fresher looking-- as well as it's tough not to discover that my hair is expanding much faster than common. As the protein that serves as the body's significant building block, collagen is important to general health, health and wellbeing & vibrancy. Examples of peptide groups based on their function include hormonal agents, neuropeptides, as well as alkaloids. Ribosomal peptides are produced through mRNA translation whereas nonribosomal peptides (e.g. glutathione) are those produced by enzymes specific to each peptide instead of by a ribosome. Peptones are peptides that are not as common as the ribosomal and nonribosomal peptides. In the photo listed below the Recombinant Overlapping Peptide is the "Antigen" existing to the T Cell Receptor. This after that sets off the development of T Cells that will certainly recognise the exact same pen on cancer cells leading to their damage.

What Are The Very Best Types Of Sarms And Also Supplements For Bodybuilding?

Treatment for an addiction to anabolic steroids will certainly resemble that of other sorts of dependency. As a variety of synthetic peptides hormonal agents are speculative or not yet authorized for human use, it is tough to pinpoint the certain harms they may trigger. proven sarms describe substances that are typically utilized to boost muscular tissue development (' anabolic' impacts) or to lower body fat (' catabolic effects').

The proof that shows this partial dual bond personality is from the length of the bond. It is 0.13 Angstrom much shorter than the C-N solitary bond yet not as brief as a double bond. Our non-GMO collagen healthy protein is crafted from 4 costs sources to provide you the largest series of health benefits. I've tried a lot of Collagen-brands, and also I believe this set is it. It blends conveniently with no preference and also it's likewise incredibly cost effective.

Bicyclic Peptides: Kinds, Synthesis And Also Applications.

Considering that the peptide was safe to use, the next step would be a Stage II medical test, to review if the therapy is effective at preventing the development of Type 1 diabetes. This MonoPepT1De study was designed to see if peptide immunotherapy is secure as well as to research its effect on the body immune system in individuals with Kind 1 diabetes mellitus. Peptide immunotherapy depends on infusing small protein pieces to 're-train' the body immune system and stop it assaulting the pancreas, possibly preventing or slowing down Kind 1 diabetes mellitus. Scientists at King's College London, supported in part by Diabetes mellitus UK, and Cardiff University have actually shown that a peptide immunotherapy is secure to use in individuals with Type 1 diabetes. While there is research to suggest collagen supplements can benefit your skin, more research studies are required to get a conclusive solution. Dr Mahto doesn't believe collagen supplements will be dangerous, specifically in the dosages readily available. An enhancing number edible collagen-containing products are appearing in the shops.

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Argireline Is the New Botox Alternative You Should Have on Your Radar.

Posted: Thu, 07 Jan 2021 13:00:56 GMT [source]

It is a toxic substance discovered in some plants like seed of black mustard etc . It is a yellowish-brown substance having bitter taste which is developed by modification of the anthraquinone framework by including a sugar molecule. provensarms.com’s free SARMs- What Results Can You Expect? - Sarms is created as a result of a response between the carbonyl group of a carb or its derivate and also a hydroxyl group of some other substance. The carbonyl group of carbohydrate may be a part of an aldehydic team or a ketonic group.

Welcome To Imuscle Sarms Uk.

Our personal choice is powder style just like a pure collagen powder you are obtaining 100% collagen - it's also unflavoured so you can include in your tea, coffee, water, smoothie mixes or even yoghurt. Supports Physical Fitness and also Athletic Efficiency-- Apart From all the outstanding advantages talked about until now, collagen is at heart a protein powder.

Advertises Digestive Tract Health And Wellness-- Collagen is an essential structural healthy protein for digestive organs, aiding to avoid dripping intestine syndrome, absorb nutrients totally and also minimize the danger of digestive conditions. Taking care of your digestive tract supports total physical as well as mental wellness so this is an extremely crucial benefit of raising your collagen intake.

Flavourings as well as sweeteners are typically included in make them extra enticing. You can also purchase unflavoured collagen powder to mix into juices, shakes, soups and even coffee. Collagen has actually long been a popular ingredient in skin creams, but there is a concern over whether it can permeate the epidermis. Injecting collagen has befalled of favour, as it doesn't last as lengthy as some alternate fillers and also has actually been associated with issues such as allergies. They are the most up to date vibrant access into the anti-ageing skincare sector as they are a reasonable option to Retinol and also proven to heal as well as promote optimum skin health at the mobile degree. Types I and also III can be taken together whereas kind II ought to be taken separately to get the full advantages.

An ester bond is created when a particle having the carboxylic group reacts with an additional molecule having a hydroxyl team. The carboxylic group loses its hydrogen as well as oxygen while the alcohol loses hydrogen of its hydroxyl team. As a result, a water particle is launched, as well as the two carbons are linked using an oxygen bridge developing a -COC- link. The substances with S-glycosidic bonds are called S-glycosides as an example Sinigrin.

This is an all-natural enzymatic procedure and does not call for severe hexane chemicals. https://provensarms.com/2020/11/11/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sarms/ can come from a whole host of different sources, such as plant healthy protein, whey healthy protein or collagen itself. Everything you have actually ever before wished to know regarding collagen and how you can use it as part of your day-to-day routine for stronger hair, vendor skin, stronger joints as well as bones plus improved intestine health and wellness.

Why Are People Consuming Collagen?

Types I as well as III tend to be made use of for charm products whereas kind II is made use of in joint and cartilage material assistance. You need to see your General Practitioner if you think you're addicted to anabolic steroids.

You could undoubtedly get an ionic bond between the adverse and also the positive team if the chains folded as if they were close to each various other. And also ultimately, although you can't see it from this insufficient layout, each full turn of the spiral has 3.6 amino acid deposits in it. The next layout shows how the alpha-helix is held with each other by hydrogen bonds. We'll talk it via in some information after you have took a look at it. In an alpha-helix, the healthy protein chain is curled like a loosely-coiled springtime.

A particle of water is launched in this procedure, making it an irreversible response. It is a key bond or a covalent bond that offers to connect carbs to other teams or particles. The partner or combining particle might be carbohydrate or non-carbohydrate in nature. The peptide bond is a stable covalent bond as well as is claimed to be a stiff planar bond due to the fact that it has a partial double bond character.

How long does it take for peptides to work?

When taking peptides, you can start noticing a difference in a matter of weeks. Most treatments, however, take anywhere from 3-6 months to display their full benefits.

So, it still has the muscle conditioning, endurance-boosting and also recovery-enhancing effectsof a high quality healthy protein supplement. Deals With the Noticeable Indications of Aging-- Getting enough collagen aids to keep your skin plump, firm and wrinkle-free-- assisting to reduce the visible signs of aging. It additionally helps to create strong nails as well as shiny hair for a much more youthful appearance.

The team's study additionally shows that C peptide screening is sensible in clinics. They recognized ideal storage space problems for the examples, which were previously believed to be unsteady, so example collection is currently much easier. They showed that utilizing a certain chemical implies that blood C-peptide is secure for more than 1 day. For the very first time, this means it is practical to carry out an examination to be gauged in primary care and outpatient centers. This proof with each other eliminated essential obstacles to implementation that had actually formerly blocked extensive adoption of this examination in regular professional treatment. C-peptide is produced at the same time and also in the exact same amounts as the insulin that manages our blood glucose. By measuring C-peptide levels, doctors can now tell just how much insulin an individual is generating themselves, also if they are taking insulin shots as treatment.

If the peptide has lots of standard amino acids, make use of an aqueous acetic acid (1 to 10 %) service, with or without sonication.

Many peptides have the very same order of amino acids however may be changed by color labels or various other changes.

We sustain research study groups at the Crick by synthesising peptides, peptide ranges as well as small particles for usage in experiments to examine how biomolecules (e.g. healthy proteins) engage with each other.

Peptides are likewise excellent for ageing or menopausal skin as they will promote collagen manufacturing as well as boost the skin's elasticity.

Peptides are straight polymers comprised from the 20 common amino acids, joined together like grains on a string in any kind of order.

Perfect for menopausal skin, this super-hydrating, moisturiser is rich in phytoestrogens, peptides and also healthy proteins, all of which collaborate to improve skin's elasticity as well as minimise the indications of hormonal aging.

The T Cell that identifies these foreign agents is then multiplied to give a defence against the attacking organism or tumour. If you havediabetes mellitus and also your physician wants to see if you are generating any one of your very own insulin, if you are believed to be insulin resistant, or to assist develop if it is time to include insulin injections to your current treatment. Your doctor additionally may request a C-peptide blood examination if you have an episode of low blood glucose, called hypoglycaemia. This test included 27 individuals with Type 1 diabetic issues who were within the very first 100 days of their medical diagnosis. They were either receiving sugar pill injections every 2 weeks, peptide shots every two weeks, or peptide shots every 4 weeks, over the course of 6 months.

The body immune system utilizes specialist representatives to assault particular targets on invading microorganisms and tumors. These CTLs are produced when a T Cell comes across a protein or other particle it thinks about to be international and also not generally discovered in the body.

This test has actually implied many more clients with diabetes are getting the appropriate medical diagnosis of the sort of diabetic issues they have, and also is the emphasis of sessions at the Diabetes mellitus UK Expert Meeting in Liverpool on Thursday, March 7. To your current criteria, distinctively you 'd most likely be the worlds very first costs go-to, one-stop complete range collagen peptide shop. You will certainly find that collagen can come in numerous forms, such as liquid sachets, powders or tablets.

The "alpha" suggests that if you look down the size of the springtime, the coiling is happening in a clockwise direction as it quits you. The end of the peptide chain with the -NH2 group is referred to as the N-terminal, and also completion with the -COOH team is the C-terminal. By convention, when you are drawing peptide chains, the -NH2 group which hasn't been exchanged a peptide link is created at the left-hand end. In each instance, the affiliation shown in blue in the framework of the dipeptide is known as a peptide web link. In chemistry, this would also be known as an amide web link, but since we are currently in the worlds of biochemistry and biology as well as biology, we'll use their terms.

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[doctormike]

Thoughts on the Reopening of Schools

Hello, friends and families…! In this blog post I will NOT tell you if it is OK for your child to return to school for remote, in-person, or hybrid learning.  Any article that gives you specific advice about this may be well intentioned, but will rarely apply to your individual situation, and will be based on information that is going to be out of date by the time you read it.

I AM, however, going to review some important points to keep in mind when you juggle the pros and cons of any individual decision that you make for your family, and I think that will be helpful.  Just like deciding about surgery, it will ALWAYS come down to weighing the risks and benefits of any given path.  When I’m helping parents decide about an operation, I often hear “we just want what’s best for our child”.   But it’s very rare that a situation is clear enough so that there is only one reasonable choice.  The decision almost always comes down to balancing personal risk tolerance and a wide range of intangibles.  That’s why it’s not usually my job to tell my families WHAT to do, but to help them understand the tradeoffs so that they can make those decisions themselves. With that said, here are some things to keep in mind when you are making a decision about school in the era of COVID-19. 1) I probably don’t have to tell you this, but any official recommendation, government regulation or organizational decision about school reopening is NOT only considering the medical aspects of the situation.  Economic, political, parenting, regional and developmental concerns are always going to be a big part of what you are told, and that’s reasonable.  From a purely medical point of view, the “safest” thing to do would for everyone to stay in full lockdown until a vaccine arrives, but virtually no one is seriously recommending that.  So don’t discount those factors, but be aware of their impact and relative importance. 2) Most people making these decisions are working in good faith, and trying to get the best possible outcome.  It’s easy to vilify school administrators and other parents by assuming the worst underlying motives.  But the majority of people who actually have the responsibility of making community decisions are trying to strike the right balance.  Give them the benefit of the doubt, hear them out and consider the tradeoffs that they are dealing with before forming your own opinions.  Be open to new strategies to minimize school risks.  For example, one such idea is pooled saliva testing which is to be used by the SUNY system.  This is much cheaper and less invasive than traditional testing methods, and it will allow schools to rapidly shut down new outbreaks before they spread widely in the community.  

3) There are a large number of controls - administrative, infrastructure / engineering, epidemiological and personal - that can be incorporated into an in-person reopening plan.  It’s beyond the scope of this email to discuss them all, but here is a good summary.  Not every school needs to adopt every possible control, but this should give you an idea about the kind of things that you might be asked to consider. Try to understand the goals that are reasonable for your child's particular situation, taking into account the time, place and current community infection rates.  Keep this passage in mind:

“Given the uncertainty, reliance on an effective vaccine to solve the return-to-school problem is unrealistic, and other strategies that may at first glance seem too difficult or too expensive must be developed and implemented. If the position adopted by society is: ‘not until it is completely safe,’ then we have to recognize that the kindergarteners who left their elementary schools in March of 2020 may never see the inside of those buildings again. This is not feasible. Thus, we really need to shift the conversation from ‘perfectly safe’ and ‘only if there is vaccine’ to ‘how can we do this as safely as possible?’ and ‘what resources do we need in order to achieve this common goal?’“

4) The people who know more about COVID-19 than anyone else in the world never heard of it 8 months ago.  This is a new virus, and we are learning about it daily.  Beware of anyone who is absolutely certain, who doesn’t qualify their advice with words like “as best as we know right now”, or who makes definitive statements about the long term effects of infection.  Watch out for people trying to score cheap political points by comparing someone’s prior and current statements, and claiming “hypocrisy” or “flip-flopping”.  For something new like this, it is always important to follow current developments and continually refine policy and practices.  Don’t be like the guy that Stephen Colbert was describing when he said: "He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened on Tuesday.” 5) Having accurate, current data about the number of local infections is CRUCIAL in running any sort of school plan, and that has to be monitored regularly.  Plans for in-person education can change overnight - you can see that with the early opening and reclosing of several college campuses.  As schools open, we are getting new data about the rate of infection in children, which must be watched closely as this process continues.  Some recent information suggests that infection rates are actually rising faster in children than in adults.  However, this data set covers all patients under ager 18.  There is other evidence that toddlers have exceptionally low infection rates, despite being - as this article describes them - "mask licking germ bombs". 6) The American Academy of Pediatrics has a document outlining its recommendation for school reopening.  In general, they recognize that there are serious downsides to remote learning including the challenges of effective teaching, the loss of the social aspects of school, and the inherent inequality of online classes, especially for underserved communities.  So if in-person education can be done safely, that's better for kids. But they also stress the point that there is no one single answer for all times and places.  Increasing evidence that children can be asymptomatic for weeks and spread the virus has to be incorporated into any school plan.  While the AAP’s initial recommendations strongly advocated for in-person classes, these recommendations have been revised as it has become clear that more study is needed.  This passage is from these guidelines:

“To be able to open schools safely, it is vitally important that communities take all necessary measures to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2. School policies must be flexible and nimble in responding to new information, and administrators must be willing to refine approaches when specific policies are not working…the AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. Unfortunately, in many parts of the United States, there is currently uncontrolled spread of SARS-CoV-2. Although the AAP strongly advocates for in-person learning for the coming school year, the current widespread circulation of the virus will not permit in-person learning to be safely accomplished in many jurisdictions.”

7) As parents, we are used to meticulously planning our children's lives far into the future. COVID-19 has shown us again and again that this is not always possible.   Of course, we still need to anticipate challenges and make decisions, but we need to be much more comfortable with contingencies and accept the fact that things can change rapidly due to forces beyond our control.  As the old joke goes: "How do you make God laugh?  Tell him your plans." 8) The mitigation practices that have helped us get the virus under control in New York City over the past few months are vital, and need to be continued, especially as schools reopen and socialization outside of school increases. Masks work.  Hand hygiene works.  Social distancing works.  Our overall rate of positive test results has recently stayed around or below 1%. Unfortunately, there is no book that will tell you exactly what to do in every situation - we all use judgement in deciding what to do when.  Masks work, but most people don't wear them inside with their immediate family members who are taking precautions when away from home, or when eating at an outdoor restaurant with adequate separation from other tables.  On the other hand, for example, we might wear them when outside with a more distant family member who has been traveling from areas with a higher infection rate. Even if your family remains vigilant, if your child spends a significant amount of time indoors and/or without masks with someone from another family who isn’t so careful, you can reverse all of those hard won gains.  Ideally, your child's social life will be built around families that share your concerns and attitudes, so that you can safely maintain the socialization that is so vital for healthy cognitive and emotional development. As infection rates have fallen, so has our attention to detail.  The virus isn’t gone, and the cold weather will probably make transmission more likely.  Stay strong, watch the numbers, listen with an open mind, and take care of each other.   And as always, I’m happy to chat or email with any of you about your individual concerns. Best, Mike Rothschild

[epacer]

In-Depth

Why San Diego Unified School District is struggling with modified quarantine

San Diego Unified’s district physician says an experimental alternative to home quarantine is keeping more students in classrooms following a COVID-19 exposure, but it’s also posing daunting administrative burdens for school staff.

As of September 15, about 550 San Diego Unified students were in quarantine after close contact with a person who tested positive, said district spokesman Michael Murad.

Typically, those students would complete an up to 10-day quarantine at home, but the district was able to keep some of the students in class under a new framework from the state called modified quarantine.

Murad could not immediately say how many of the roughly 550 students were on modified quarantine and how many were sent home. District physician Dr. Howard Taras estimated a few hundred students had participated in modified quarantines during the first few weeks of school.

“It was designed to keep students in school, and I think it is doing that,” Taras said.

Modified quarantine allows unvaccinated students to remain in school after an exposure under certain conditions. The exposure must have occurred at school, with everyone involved consistently wearing masks. Going forward, the exposed student has to undergo twice-weekly testing and stay masked.

Students on modified quarantine are allowed to attend class as they would normally, but they are barred from extracurriculars and after-school programs like sports.

“The idea is that if the initial exposure occurred in the classroom and you remain in that classroom, you’re not adding any other additional children to the equation,” Taras said.

Vaccinated students without symptoms do not have to quarantine after a COVID-19 exposure, but they are encouraged to get tested.

Taras said the state designed the modified quarantine framework to strike a balance between continuity of classroom instruction and safety. Still, the first few weeks of school have revealed significant technical challenges.

“All school districts in San Diego County are struggling with this,” said Taras. “It is a bit of a logistical nightmare.”

School staff must sort through a complicated web of testing and notification requirements, Taras said. Since the state bases the twice-weekly testing requirement on a student’s date of exposure, staff members sometimes have to generate different testing schedules for students within the same cluster.

Several of California’s largest school districts have delayed offering a modified quarantine option, instead opting to send exposed children home regardless of masking or vaccination status. ABC 10News reviewed nine large California districts and found four do not offer modified quarantine: Long Beach Unified School District, Oakland Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District and Santa Ana Unified School District.

San Francisco Unified said the framework was too impractical with their current staffing and supply of COVID tests. Additionally, the district said it did not have the capability to verify that children on modified quarantine refrained from after-school programs and activities.

The Oakland Unified School District recently announced it would no longer offer modified quarantines for high school students.

By contrast, Los Angeles Unified, which reported about 6,500 students in isolation after one week of school, said last week it would begin offering modified quarantine for unvaccinated students.

“There is an incredible amount of variability, both within California districts and then also across the country,” said Bree Dusseault, a researcher at the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington.

Other states like Illinois, Kansas, and Massachusetts are experimenting with similar approaches, often called test-to-stay programs.

Some of these programs allow exposed students to stay in class even if they were unmasked as long as they undergo more frequent testing, Dusseault said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it “does not have enough evidence” to support the modified quarantine approach. The agency said it was working with districts that were experimenting with the framework to gather more data.

Instead, the CDC recommends unvaccinated students found to be close contacts quarantine at home after exposure for up to 14 days. The caveat, however, is that the agency does not consider students a “close contact” if they were consistently and properly masked, regardless of vaccination status.

The CDC does not attach a testing requirement like California does.

“It’s not just local to California. Really across the country, far fewer districts are following the CDCs guidelines than I think we would have expected,” said Dusseault, whose group routinely surveys 100 large districts nationwide.

It is common for districts to exempt vaccinated students from quarantine, but few exempt masked students, she said.

In California, the state Department of Public Health outlines quarantine policy. Dr. Taras said the district had a legal obligation to follow guidance from state health officials but no such obligation to follow recommendations from the CDC.

In other states, districts might diverge from CDC guidance out of concerns about practicality or a desire to err on the side of caution, Dusseault said.

“In a quarantine, what you find is you’re really balancing two equally important things: student safety with students’ access to learning,” she said. “That would be an example of a district saying, ‘We’re going to really put safety first.’”

However, some school districts are moving to prioritize in-class learning. In Florida, seven of the eight school districts reviewed by the Center on Reinventing Public Education set quarantines between two and five days, well below the CDC's reccomendation.

Most quarantine periods in California are between 10 and 14 days. San Diego Unified offers an option to shorten a quarantine to 7 days with a negative test.

As the school year stretches on and districts experiment with different approaches, Dusseault said they need to prepare for the possibility that kids have to be quarantined more than once.

In San Diego, which sets a 10-day quarantine, two exposures could lead to 20 days of missed school, the definition of chronic absenteeism. “Chronic absenteeism in a normal school year is a really big deal. The state gets involved,” Dusseault said.

What worries Dusseault most is that many districts have not spelled out a plan to keep kids learning during home quarantines.

San Diego Unified outlines a commitment to enroll students in an online learning platform, but many districts have not released any plans, according to Dusseault. Five of the nine California districts the group reviewed had no publicly available plans for continuity of instruction. *Reposted article from 10 News by Derek Staahl, September 21, 2021

[westcoastprancer]

My Auto-Spaz-Ography

***WARNING - WAY TOO MUCH UNNECESSARY PROFANITY***

Getting past the only child bullshit...sue me I guess? Not my fault my parents could only handle one of me. Pretty annoying growing up hearing from morons that I must be a spoiled little shit...

Can’t really argue there. Aside from self-inflicted hunger (you know...that junior high self image bullshit..starve and lose 5 lbs in a weekend), I’ve never gone hungry. I’ve never been cold, without clothes, or a roof over my head. I was taught values. So yeah, I am fucking spoiled rotten. No apologies there.

People who continuously stay “stuck” royally piss me off. These weirdos are toxic. Avoid them at all costs. They will not change. You will thank me for this piece of advice sometime in your life. Everybody’s got a problem. So do I. Set goals for yourself. Get the fuck off your sad ass every couple weeks. Find your best friend (if you don’t have one of those...you should seriously consider working on finding one) get trashed, talk it out and let that shit go for a while. If you’re stuck in a rut for more than 2-3 months, get help. Seriously. It’s not embarrassing. It’s way more shitty in the long run when you turn out to be the aforementioned person who just stays fucking “stuck”. On another note, subject of the week has been middle aged divorced broads with kids and how sly and bitchy they are. If they go ape shit on me before getting their facts straight, imagine what they do to all these poor men? No fucking wonder a good, non hot dog throwing down hallway status, loyal, no bullshit broad like me can’t find a solid dude. The good dudes are out there getting berated by these broads they knocked up and can’t get out of it now because...you know...the kids and stuff. I’m glad I took a different path. Can’t imagine being in that desperate place looking for affection because I am 37-47 year old wrinkly, loosey goosey broad thinking I was tossed aside by a shitty man, when I am the nutbag...just looking for attention. It’s easy to get laid. No strings. No problems. Many people make it way too complicated. My friend’s brother is hilarious. He is kinda a douche and I love his stories about profiling chicks. My favorite was when he told this broad at the bar she looked beautiful and she said how he made her day! (First red flag) They go to exchange numbers and she once again tells him what a nice time she had meeting him ( nothing wrong with that) but then goes on daily wishing him a good day. That’s another desperate sign. Come to find out...middle aged. Divorced. Kids. Lonely in the panties. You know the drill. I used to host this radio show called Cryin’ Lovin’ Laughin’ or Leavin’ so I learned these things sort of young. You remember the patterns of people. You know warning signs of crazy. Here’s the most invaluable lesson, most people are batshit crazy. Keep the wall up a while. Test people. I have caught so many good people (so I thought) in lies through the years. Even little irrelevant lies. It doesn’t matter if it’s a friend, relative, colleague, or significant other. When you catch someone in a lie of even the smallest, you wonder what else they are capable of lying about. It changes everything. Be like me. Don’t lie. Sometimes it’s hard, but then you have nothing to hide and having the truth on your side keeps you out of some really shitty situations.Even if it is so embarrassing and you have to put a towel over your head to face the truth...do it. If you don’t believe a word of anything else I say...believe me when I tell you about people. The good and the bad. Just take the time to get to know a person. You don’t want a lazy middle aged squinty eyed salmoncake real estate selling Mom moving her and her kids asses into your house all of a sudden. You ain’t that desperate. Oh and dudes, I’m coming for you...don’t act desperate either. Just don’t. I tend to take your sides on this shit because dudes on the other sides of things are usually just happy to be free, so their demeanor is totally different. But that doesn’t mean I won’t flip sides on you if you guys start getting weird. Covid seems to have made everyone crazy.

Even in a good mood, there is nothing better than a super depressing 90’s country song...am I right? It’s that sad shit that always gets me in my damn near non-existent soul. Look, I randomly placed 6th out of 20 on a totally impromptu Roast Battle at the Laugh Factory in LA one night. One of the roastmasters told me I did so well for my first time because I have no soul. HA HA HA...that one fucking stuck with me. Back to the point - if you can’t sit down with a couple good homies now and then and blast “Alibis” on 10 while chugging Crown, you should really address some things in your monotonous life. Just sayin for someone who doesn’t do the bar scene much anymore and barely has feelings...I know every color of every neon sign. I’m always hashin out a heartache in the back of my mind. Makes me remember not to go there ever again. People suck. I feel like I have already mentioned this. I’m not a “hard” person. I’m a realist. I don’t want to miss fantastic opportunities with people, but I also know those people are few and far between so I really keep my guard up. The right people always tear it down in time. 

People who get offended by profanity seriously piss me off more than a hive of wasps chasing me. Let me be clear...if I wasn’t dropping at least 72 f-bombs a day...I’m not sure where I would be in life. It’s turning all negative events in my life into positivity. I mean when you think about the F word. No matter how you slice or dice it...it does have a positive meaning in any context. “Go fuck yourself.” - Ok! “Fuck that!” - With what?! “Fuck You!” - Time and place please? Etc… Do you know what I am fucking saying?

Seriously asked my father the other day why he didn’t own Hilton chains or something. I’m sick of this fucking sweaty ass work too hard lifestyle with hardly any time to do fun shit. The idea of being some stuck up heiress with holes in my pockets sound fucking fantastic to me sometimes. Maybe just not the stuck up part. Could you imagine me that way? Snap my fingers and a drink comes! First class flights to St. Croix with my inner posse.  Living the goddamn dream. Me and my doggies on a private island!

I’ve become a bit dramatic, I think. For an extremely hard headed Portagee, I can still call myself out when needed. It’s kinda weird not living alone anymore. I’ve got a badass homie around now (wish I would have met years ago) who actually gives a shit how my day was. So I kinda get called out now on my bullshit. (Side note: It’s important to keep company around you who doesn’t enable your negative traits. Your best friends will call you on your shit and help you grow.) Sometimes I’ll lay down and pout all day over some shit that is NOTHING. Just get stoned and forget the fuck about it. I’m sure this is something I’ve been doing for years. Never caught it til now. Checklist to work on. No one likes even a small percentage of a drama queen. Yuck.

Amazing the shit I think of while stoned. What’s the point of dating? Attach yourself to another person for life? Is that even natural? Attach yourself to yourself...not American Pie style you pervert. Attach yourself to doggies. I cannot stress enough how fulfilling life is raising pups. Watching them grow and learn. I’m not even talking about the ones you raise from babies. Even at an older age, your dog will still learn and grow with mental stimulation and affection. It’s so amazing to watch the new things they learn and pick up on. If you treat your dogs well, they will treat you double as well until death do you part. Sure, it’s shitty you get so attached and they don’t live very long, but it teaches you perseverance. True value of cherishing your pals and moving on in your life always keeping a piece of them with you. Sounds fucking gut wrenching sad. It is, but I promise you the time you spend with your pups outweighs the sadness in the end.( If you’re planning on spending zero time with your animal, leave your pet in constant confined spaces, starve or beat it...don’t fucking get one. Don’t even get close to one. They are better off in the wild than with your crazy ass. You ain’t right.)

You can’t be a lying dickface all the time and expect everyone to be nice to you. Saw a good one on Family Guy that touched my sweet heart a little. Stewie to Brian: “You’re not my friend. Friends come and go. You’re family. That’s for life.” Sounds so sweet. In fact I wanted to call my bestie and tell him that. Then I snapped out and realized “family” can be a super toxic F word. Sad thing is I have a pretty big “family” on each side, yet the older I get, I have realized my only family is my parents. In fact, I have created my own family full of non-blood relatives. Life is wonderful in the positive environment I have created for myself through the years. It’s amazing to form bonds with amazing people who have no ulterior motives like wills and money. Fucking money brings out the true colors in people. It’s sad. People spend their whole lives trippin balls over money. That must suck. 

Those dorks at Central Catholic. Even at 15 made me laugh like hell. They’d interview the football “stars” getting full rides to Notre Dame and shit. My favorite was when asked about their favorite band... “Creed man. Such great “hard rock” with such powerful, positive messages.” Those dudes are probably miserable in their physical therapists jobs with their cheating whore wives who come home smelling like ratty vaginas. Someone had to fucking say it. Embarrassing confession: “My Sacrifice” is a FANFUCKINGTASTIC song!

I have a hard time with people. I try my best. I always learn and continue to grow. I got that goin for myself. People suck. People are cruel. (3rd time I’ve said this today?)  People take no time to disappoint me for the most part. If you’re kind to me, I will be twice as kind to you. If you’re a fuckface to me, expect me to be an extra double fuck with a cherry on top. Add some nuts too and suck on that shit. I’m a badass person to have in your life and on your team. If you’re lucky enough to make it into my inner circle, I’ll probably be one of the best friend’s you’ve ever made. If you can’t look at yourself in the mirror and see the person that you would like to be friends with, you need to make some changes. It took me a long time to become my own best friend. If you can’t be solid with spending time with yourself, you can’t be solid with anyone and you’ll eventually become a dead weight. Take the time to get to know yourself and work on it...for me it’s constant. I know there is other people with my qualities in the world. If you find one, take the time to learn about them and ease your way into friendship slowly. Actions speak louder than words. Prove yourself to be a good human. Be patient. The best relationship of any type comes with time and work.

Let’s see…

Don’t be a fucking retail investor.

Don’t be a fucking commie.

Don’t be a fucking douchebag. 

Don’t fucking settle.

Don't stop bettering yourself for you and those you care for.

Don’t stop fucking being YOU!

LO

#westcoastprancer spaztime mybio wildchild speakyourmind

[contradictoryenigmas]

2020 Postmortem: 10 Questions

2020. A year that did not go as planned. Okay, I am massively downplaying just what a complete shitshow it was. The best way I can describe is that episode of Seinfeld where George declares it to be the "Summer of George", only to have him in a hospital bed towards the end, disappointed that it didn't work out.

When I started writing this year's 10 questions piece, I wasn't sure how it would form considering most of the year was spent at home, trying to survive. But the result is the longest 10 questions to date. Guess I had a lot to get out there.

Author's Note: If you are new to this or want to take a look back at previous pieces, you can click on the links here: 2017, 2018, and 2019.

What made up your body of work this year? Which parts are you most proud of?

I should start with one of the major elephants in the room. Since March 12th, I have been working from home. The day before, all of us at work got an email from the home office in the United Kingdom saying the offices there and in the U.S. would be closed for a time to protect employees from the growing spread of COVID-19.  Many of us thought we would be back in the office in a month or so. Oh boy, how wrong we were considering later that day, news would come out that Tom Hanks and his wife contracted the virus and the NBA would suspend their season after a player tested positive.

Not being in an office has some significant downsides for me. For one, it was the place where I interacted with people outside of close family. Now, the only real interaction I do with co-workers is either over email or Microsoft Teams, mostly dealing with work stuff. I worry this long period of isolation will hurt my social abilities, which to be fair were at negative levels when I had started this job last year, but were improving. The other is losing the separation between work and home. Since coming home and spending time in my room as an office and place to rest, my anxiety and feelings that I should be working started to come in. Some of this was alleviated by me setting some ground rules such as having a hard stop. But those feelings are still there and likely hampered efforts to try and relax.

Most of my work for the year was spent on three big projects that would set the course for the future of the company. Having this on the back of my shoulders added a bit of anxiety and drained me of a lot of energy. Every day, I found myself crashing in bed to take a quick nap so I could regain some energy.

That brings me to writing. 2020 I was hoping to get back to writing in a big way. Not only with automotive stuff, but doing some more with this blog and launching a new project. But with everything that has been going on this year, a lot of these ambitions had to be shelved. A lot of this stems from not having any energy or motivation to either start and/or finish various pieces. There would be moments where a burst of energy comes on and could I belt out a quick review or news story, but it was rare. At the end of this year, I have a bit of a backlog of new car reviews to get up. But at least I'm not pushing myself to the grindstone and getting them out. This only results in shoddy work and I feel quite bad.

For the personal blog, this is going to be the first and last piece for the year. It wasn't for the lack of trying. Several pieces currently sit on my laptop that are in varying states of completion, but again, I lacked the energy or motivation to go forward.

There are a couple of pieces I want to call out,

Afterthoughts: A Car In Troubled Times: This was written after my Grandfather passed away in June (not from COVID). With this and everything going on in the world, I wrote about how the car became a place where I could escape the world for a bit and work out various thoughts and feelings.

Quick Drive: 2020 Lexus RC F: My last new car review of the year and man what a car. I loved the throaty V8 engine and the grand touring nature of the suspension. I think the last line sums up my feelings about this car,

"It brought me the joy which sometimes is all you need a car to do."

What were your top 5 moments of the year?

Getting back to reviewing vehicles on a somewhat regular basis

Saving enough money to move forward on finding my first apartment

I know that's only two, but I really can't think of anything else from this landfill fire of a year.

What are you really glad is over?

THE YEAR!  (cymbal crash)

Okay, that was obvious, so let go a bit deeper.

The mess of the 2020 elections are mercifully done. A lot of us knew this was going to be very different, but I don't think we knew how much it would be. Just look at the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Then election day rolls around and seeing the collective sadness rear its head as the first ballots are being counted, even though we knew that the mail-in ones were still waiting in the wings to be tallied. It took a few days, but the sense of jubilation when the results were leaning towards Biden was not all that surprising, considering the mess of the past four years. Whether or not this gets better remains to be seen.

How are you different today than you were 365 days ago?

I touched on this with the first question, but loneliness has been a big issue. Not being able to interact with people outside of my own family has brought back memories of some of the dark days of depression where I wouldn't talk with anyone. Thankfully, I'm not fully returning to these ways. But I can't help but worry that my socials skills will be back at a negative level. Twitter and Instagram have filled in some of the missing social aspects, but I can only use it so much before feelings of "Fear of Missing Out" and not being able to interact in person. Also, the deluge of various events such as the killing of George Floyd and the election meant I had to turn off social media at times to allow time to process and work out various feelings.

My mental health has also taken a bit of a stumble. Various aspects of my ADHD have started to come back in force with procrastination, distractions, fear of rejection, and warped perception of time to name a few. There has also been a large amount of stress and anxiety to work through because of the year. I think it's a bad sign when your anxieties have their anxieties to deal with.

To top it off, it has been hard to find something to keep my mind occupied for longer than five minutes. I look at the number of books and video games currently sitting on shelves or stacked in the closet waiting to be open, or the various movies and TV shows I have in queues for various streaming services and my own media server. Yet, they are left untouched. I drift towards scrolling through various social media outlets or watching the same YouTube videos. I've been trying to figure out why these are my go-to and not the items listed above that would give the same pleasure and stimulation, but also open some new windows and ideas. I haven't fully figured it out yet, but I do have some clues and ideas as to why.

On the flip side, I'm very lucky that I am still employed. That may seem like a put-down, but out of my close family, I'm the only one who has stayed employed throughout the year. My mom's last day of school was the day I started working from home, and she wouldn't return until the start of the new year. Both my dad and brother had furloughs at their respective jobs during the late Spring.

I have been slowly messing around with some projects that I've been wanting to do. These include expanding my media sever collection to include music, cataloging various media so I stop buying duplicates,  and starting to explore various interests that I had when I younger.

Getting back to reviewing new cars has been quite enjoyable. Despite having a backlog that will not be finished till sometime in February or March, it has been fun again to figure out a vehicle's high and low points.

Is there anything you achieved that you forgot to celebrate?

Nope.

What have you changed your perspective on this year?

Two things come to mind. First is that I don't need a firehose of information. I was subscribed to several sites through RSS and had many people I was following on Twitter to see what was happening. But this massive flow of information was only making my anxiety and stress worse. For the past month, I have started to unsubscribe to a number of newsletters and RSS feeds, along with culling down my Twitter following list.

Second is that I need to slow down. What I mean by this is I need to take my time and not focus on trying to finish everything as fast as possible so I move on to the next thing. There is something about taking a moment to breathe or letting things play out to a point to where you can jump in and provide a different point of view.

Who are the people that came through for you this year?

My therapist came through this year, transitioning from in-person visits to doing chats either through Zoom or on the phone - depending on whether or not either of us run into technical issues. They have been really helpful just listening to whatever was on my mind that week, and point out possible thoughts and directions to chew on to get me into a better place.

There is also a large number of people I interacted with that made the lockdown and isolation a little bit more bearable. Too many to list here, but I would like to say thank you to all.

What were some pieces of media that defined your year?

Casiopea, Mint Jams: There is a person who I follow on Twitter that brings up Casiopea from time to time. This Japanese jazz fusion band has been around since 1976 and produced a number of albums. I had them in the back of my mind for a time to check, but wasn't until the fall when I started listening to Mint Jams - their seventh album (and I believe second live album). I immediately fell in love with the band after hearing the first track Take Me. Something about this brings absolute joy and pleasure. Since then, I have bought the CD and started to dive fully into the discography.

Yakuza Like A Dragon (Playstation 4): I don't know how to describe a game where one minute you're beating up criminals and the next minute you're trying to figure out who is urinating in a river. It seems ridiculous, but that's Yakuza Like a Dragon in a nutshell. There are moments of complete absurdity that is intertwined with tender and heartfelt moments as you interact with your compatriots. I'm currently on chapter five and finding new stuff to do such as a Mario Kart knockoff and running my own business, while trying to figure why I was betrayed by a father figure. It's chaotic and beautiful at the same time.

Zero 7, Simple Things: This album was the one I would play if I was feeling down or needed a reminder to slow down.

Growing Collection of Face Masks: If I am going to wear face masks to protect myself and others, I might as well have some interesting ones. Currently have around twenty masks that I wear and wash, all of them with some distinct pattern or fabric to have them stand out. I'm likely going to be buying a few more in the new year because I'm really like wearing them.

Honorable Mentions: Ghost of Tsushima; Animal Crossing: New Horizons; Paper Mario: The Origami King; Tatort - German Crime Drama; Motorweek's Retro Reviews on YouTube; Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson;  x + y: A Mathematician's Manifesto for Rethinking Gender by Eugenia Cheng (currently reading, may appear in my 2021 10 Questions).

What will you be leaving behind in 2020?

This one hurts but it is the "old normal". I remember listening to a podcast about a couple of months after starting working from home and one of the hosts brought up that the old normal isn't coming back. We need to take time and mourn the loss. I didn't know what to make of this at the time, but it really started to sink in as this mess slowly continued throughout the year.

Think about how much has changed in your day to day routine. For example, I don't leave the house unless I really need to get something from the grocery store, taking the dog for a walk, or going for a drive to clear my head. A lot of places I would have normally gone are either only allowing pickup or closed down. I haven't seen anyone outside my family since March and have seen only a couple of relatives since then.

No one knows what comes after the virus is at a state where all of us can resume some sort of 'normal'. Will our favorite places still be around? Is virtual learning going to be the next step for schools? Are we going to watching new movies over streaming services and not at a theater? Will online shopping take over as the main source of getting goods?

There's a lot of unknowns that will not have an answer for quite some time. But I have started to mourn that the old normal is gone. As much I hate it and don't know what's next, I know that I have to ready myself in some fashion.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2021?

Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff I want to work on in the coming year depends on what happens with the rollout of the vaccine and containing the virus. There are a few things I have marked as priorities.

Moving into my first place: So I never have talked about this publicly except to a few close people, but I'm really looking forward to moving out and into an apartment. Originally I was planning to do it this year, but then everything came to a screeching halt. This proved to be a blessing in disguise as I was able to save a bit more money so that I had two months of rent and the security deposit. I have a few places in mind and the goal is to move in before the end of March. That will give me enough time to figure out several items such as insurance.

Writing: I feel like this is something I mention every year. Some progress is made, but not as much as I would like. This past year, I was hoping to branch out by doing more with this blog and starting a couple of projects that had been sitting around for a while. But none of those things happened. Next year, I have some maintenance items to do for the personal blog. I don't know if I'll have anything worth writing about at the moment since my brain is currently recovering from a pile of mush. As for the projects, I'm hoping to launch one sometime in the next few months. The other is going to sit on the sidelines still as I still need to work out some items with that.

Keeping Records: I always think that I remember 'x' and I don't need to write anything down about it, and it turns out I do forget. Yeah, I'm wanting to change that for this coming year. Primarily, I'm doing this for any vehicle I review because it might be months before I start writing, and have forgotten key parts I wanted to mention. This is also something I want to do with books, video games, and music as a way to remember what I enjoyed throughout a given year.

It would be at this point I would end this postmortem with some pithy note about 2020 getting kicked out and 2021 hopefully being a massive improvement. Except that feels quite insincere. We have various vaccines rolling out, but it remains a massive question as to how fast and whether or not enough people take it. There's also the toll on mental health that is only going to get larger not only from those working in hospitals but in other fields. I could go on with other items, but you get a general idea.

#2020 #postmortem #reivew

[deniscollins]

All Eyes Are on Pfizer as Trump Pushes for Vaccine by October

In media appearances and talks with investors, Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla nearly always mentions conclusive evidence on its coronavirus vaccine trials by October, prior to the presidential election. By repeating a date that flies in the face of most scientific predictions, Dr. Bourla is making a high-stakes gamble. If Pfizer puts out a vaccine before it has been thoroughly tested — something the company has pledged it will not do — it could pose a major threat to public safety. The perception matters, too: If Americans see the vaccine as having been rushed in order to placate Mr. Trump, many may refuse to get the shot.

But there is a significant upside, to the tune of billions of dollars, in being first to the U.S. market with a vaccine. And staying in the president’s good graces — particularly when he keeps talking about ways to lower drug prices — might not be a bad thing for a company that brought in nearly $40 billion in 2019 from sales of high-priced, brand-name drugs. If you were Pfizer’s CEO, would you continue to promote the October date: (1) Yes, (2) No? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

In media appearances and talks with investors, Pfizer’s chief executive nearly always mentions a word that is so politically perilous, most of his competitors shy away from it: October.

“Right now, our model — our best case — predicts that we will have an answer by the end of October,” the chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla, told the “Today” show earlier this month. In other interviews, he has said he expected a “conclusive readout” by then, with an application for emergency authorization that could be filed “immediately.”

Dr. Bourla’s statements have put his company squarely in the sights of President Trump, who has made no secret of his desire for positive vaccine news to boost his chances on Election Day, Nov. 3. “We’re going to have a vaccine very soon. Maybe even before a very special date,” Mr. Trump said recently.

And yet by all other accounts, the idea that it will be ready in October is far-fetched. Even if the vaccine shows promising signs in clinical trials — still a big if — the company will not have collected enough data by then to say with any statistical confidence that it is safe and effective.

By repeating a date that flies in the face of most scientific predictions, Dr. Bourla is making a high-stakes gamble. If Pfizer puts out a vaccine before it has been thoroughly tested — something the company has pledged it will not do — it could pose a major threat to public safety. The perception matters, too: If Americans see the vaccine as having been rushed in order to placate Mr. Trump, many may refuse to get the shot.

But there is a significant upside, to the tune of billions of dollars, in being first to the U.S. market with a vaccine. And staying in the president’s good graces — particularly when he keeps talking about ways to lower drug prices — might not be a bad thing for a company that brought in nearly $40 billion in 2019 from sales of high-priced, brand-name drugs.

“There’s a huge financial advantage to being first out of the gate,” said Dr. Megan Ranney, an associate professor of emergency medicine and public health at Brown University. She was one of 60 public health officials and others in the medical community who signed a letter to Pfizer urging it not to rush its vaccine.

And given the White House’s persistent efforts to interfere in the decisions of federal health agencies, some scientists fear a vaccine approval could come under similar pressure.

“What I worry about is that the politics or the financial gain may drive earlier release than is scientifically appropriate,” Dr. Ranney said.

Pfizer will not be anywhere near completion of its clinical trial by the end of October, according to a company spokeswoman. When Dr. Bourla referred to a “conclusive readout” next month, she said, he meant that it’s possible the outside board of experts monitoring the trial would have by that date found promising signs that the vaccine works.

Pfizer’s trial blueprints allow the panel to look at the data after just 32 volunteers have become ill with Covid-19. Even if most of those cases were in the placebo group, regulators at the Food and Drug Administration would likely need data from more volunteers before making a decision on authorization, according to people familiar with the government’s vaccine approval process.

The F.D.A. has also told vaccine makers that they will need to track at least half of the patients’ safety data for two months before the agency will grant emergency access. That would push the earliest possible date into at least November.

In a statement, Pfizer said that it would continue to collect data on trial volunteers’ health for two years, and that it planned to submit two months of safety data to the agency “to help inform F.D.A.’s ultimate determination of authorization or approval.”

In public interviews, government health officials have refuted the October date. Both Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort that has awarded billions of dollars to vaccine makers, and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, have said October was unlikely.

Pfizer’s leading competitors in the vaccine race, Moderna and AstraZeneca, have been more vague about timing, saying they expect something before the end of the year. In a recent interview, Moderna’s chief executive, Stéphane Bancel, said: “October is possible, because very few things in life are impossible.” The better word, he said, is “unlikely.”

“They will not get approved before the election,” said Ronny Gal, an analyst with the Wall Street firm Bernstein. “The timing just doesn’t work.”

One key to understanding how Pfizer vaulted to first place in the vaccine race is found in its trial blueprints, known as a protocol.

Even though Moderna and Pfizer began their trials on the same day, Pfizer’s is “built for speed,” as one Wall Street firm, SVB Leerink, described it.

Participants in Pfizer’s trial are given two doses of a vaccine 21 days apart, whereas those in Moderna’s wait 28 days in between. Pfizer begins looking for sick volunteers seven days after the second dose, whereas Moderna does so at 14 days. And Pfizer’s plan allows an outside review panel to look at early data after just 32 volunteers have become ill with Covid-19. Moderna’s plan doesn’t allow for a first peek until 53 cases.

Some experts have speculated that Pfizer’s volunteers happen to be in places where the virus is spreading quickly, making it more likely that they would have been exposed to the virus and put the vaccine to the test. While Moderna’s trial is being conducted only in the United States, Pfizer’s is international, with locations set up or planned in the United States, Brazil, Turkey and Argentina.

In Argentina, which has seen a surge of coronavirus infections since August, 33,000 volunteers quickly signed up for about 4,500 slots, said Dr. Fernando Polack, the head researcher of the Pfizer study that is being carried out at the Hospital Military Central in Buenos Aires.

“We have a lot of years of experience in these kinds of trials, and we’ve never seen these numbers before,” Dr. Polack said in an interview. He declined to comment on whether he was aware of any Covid-19 cases among volunteers.

Across all of its trial sites, Pfizer said, 24,000 volunteers have received the second dose of the vaccine, more than half of the 44,000 that are expected to enroll.

Despite Pfizer’s confident pronouncements, a win is not guaranteed. Around 15 percent of vaccines in late-stage trials do not make it to approval.

Dr. Mark Goldberger, an infectious disease expert at the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership and a former F.D.A. official, noted that the agency has scheduled a meeting of outside experts to discuss experimental coronavirus vaccines on Oct. 22.

“It would take an enormous effort to get the data by then,” he said. “It’s within the realm of possibility, but there are things that could trip them up — a manufacturing issue, a safety issue, the efficacy is not as good as they expect.”

Taking first place in the vaccine race isn’t just about bragging rights, although the public-relations boost from developing a vaccine that could liberate the world from a deadly pandemic cannot be overstated.

Mr. Gal, the Bernstein analyst, said that Pfizer could win a significant commercial edge by taking control of the early market for a coronavirus vaccine. Unlike Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which have said they will not profit from their products during the pandemic, Pfizer has made no such promises.

It also has not taken federal money to develop its vaccine, instead signing a $1.95 billion deal to sell the first 100 million doses of its vaccine to the U.S. government. Dr. Bourla has said that the company didn’t accept federal investment in its research and development so that the government wouldn’t be able to control the price of the vaccine later on.

“We didn’t take money so that we don’t have any restrictions,” Dr. Bourla said on Sept. 16 at an event organized by the investment bank J.P. Morgan. “Because I can imagine, if you take money, then you have to — a little bit to explain about your pricing.”

While smaller companies like Moderna have already benefited financially by rising share prices, Pfizer has not seen a similar stock bump. Mr. Gal has estimated the initial wave of vaccination as an $18 billion market. “So to the extent that they are able to capture any material amount of it, even for a company like Pfizer, it’s not a small thing,” he said.

Pfizer also has more at stake when it comes to doing business with the federal government. Moderna does not sell any approved products, but Pfizer has a broad portfolio of vaccines and drugs. The federal government is both a major customer — paying for treatments and vaccines through Medicare — and makes weighty decisions about everything from drug approvals to drug-pricing policy.

Even as Mr. Trump has urged the speedy approval of a vaccine, he has employed harsh rhetoric against the industry. Earlier this month, he issued an executive order aimed at lowering the cost of some drugs by tying them to prices in other countries. The measure was strongly opposed — and is likely to be challenged in court — by the drug industry.

Earlier this month, the president singled out Pfizer for special praise, describing it as a “great company,” and saying he had spoken to Dr. Bourla, who was a “great guy.”

Dr. Bourla, who has spent much of the past month giving interviews to media outlets and appearing on industry panels, has insisted the company’s accelerated timeline had nothing to do with politics. “We have politicians or journalists speaking about efficacy or safety about medicines which, of course, is not appropriate,” Dr. Bourla said at the company’s investor day on Sept. 15. “The scientists should be having these discussions.”

Ultimately, Pfizer’s strategy may be about managing the public’s expectations, said Brandon Barford, a partner at Beacon Policy Advisors, a research firm. Pfizer could now explain any delay past October by “saying, ‘We’re being extra cautious.’ And you get kudos for it.”

But if the opposite occurs, and Pfizer is seen to be pushing a vaccine before it is ready, the “potential fallout is enormous,” said Dr. Ranney, of Brown University. “We cannot afford to have a vaccine released for Covid-19 that is either unsafe or ineffective.”

#Pfizer #Vaccine

[saraseo]

[mineapolice]

[informationpalace]

Coronavirus Facts the Experts still Don’t Know

Despite substantial work and investment worldwide, Covid-19 pandemic-causing remains unknown for most. How much are we really aware of the novel coronavirus facts, the lethal pandemic that has spread all over the world and killed over 137,000 people? As it turns out, while groundbreaking medical science has made big strides in curing infectious diseases, some fundamental questions remain unanswered about the nature and course of transmission in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus. For instance, Can a sneeze from an infected person standing a few feet away transmit you the virus? A Query of Viral Proportions Siddhartha Mukherjee – science journalist – wrote in the New Yorker earlier this month, “So far, in the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been measuring the spread of the virus across people. As the pace of the pandemic escalates, we also need to start measuring the virus within people.” Over the last few weeks, virologists have been debating whether high Coronavirus exposure has contributed to serious symptoms and increasing death chances. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus disease primarily spreads through a viral load – tiny droplets of saliva from the nose when somebody infected sneezes or coughs. Thus, it is generally recommended that people wear face masks and gloves and maintain a minimum distance of six feet to prevent infection. Sarah L Caddy – a clinical research fellow in viral immunology at University of Cambridge – said , ““Viruses are tiny particles that must get into our cells in order to replicate, so the logic is that the more starting virus particles there are, the more cells will be infected.” But, how much is more? Scientists are focusing on the infectious dosage and viral cache of the virus to find a response.

Willem Van Schaik – professor of microbiology and infection at University of Birmingham – unfolded, “The infectious dose is the amount of virus, the viral particles, that somebody breathes in and then causes disease, while the viral load is the amount of virus that is present at a specific body site, for example the throat or the lungs at any specific time.” Scientists are so far unaware of how many particles can cause the infection. But because it has spread like wildfire, to make you ill, the exposure needs to be relatively small. Likewise, it is uncertain whether a higher viral load, or more infection, will translate into more serious symptoms. At China’s Guangzhou, a study on 94 patients revealed that there was no distinction between those who experienced extreme symptoms and those who did not. Yet another study found an association between the two. Schaik said, “Typically speaking, we agree that higher levels of a pathogen associate with more serious symptoms but it is becoming increasingly apparent that in Covid-19 the patient's immune responses often play a role in the severity of the disease.” Seeking answers to such confusing questions will significantly impact healthcare workers' protection, who are more likely to be exposed to the virus in ICUs. Schaik said it is not easy to figure out how much of a pathogen's infectious dose such as the coronavirus is required to make you sick due to laboratory testing limitations. “Ideally what you would want to do is to systematically infect humans with defined doses of the virus to determine how much virus is needed to cause disease. In addition, you could even determine whether a higher infectious dose leads to more severe disease,” he added. “However, this is clearly an unethical experiment as those infected are at risk of dying from the disease.” Why Do Less Pakistanis Get Infected?

The Covid-19 spread and the subsequent deaths in the Indian subcontinent have been much lower compared with the United States, Italy or Spain. There may be a few explanations for this-the most prominent being the disparity in the number of coronavirus experiments being carried out. Pakistan, which has a population of 210 million people, had carried out about 54,706 tests, according to a recent count by Anadolu Agency. This amounts to approximately 248 tests per million people. Italy, with a population of 60 million, had carried out more than 850,000 studies, which amounts to 14,114 per million. Pakistan does have a much younger population despite being heavily populated. Observers claim that because older people are more vulnerable to coronavirus, the age factor may have kept the death toll so low. But another hypothesis being tested now is that this sharp difference may result from the BCG vaccine, which was developed to combat tuberculosis more than a hundred years ago. The vaccine for Bacillus Calmette-Guerin is mandatory in Pakistan, where TB remains a significant health-care problem killing about 70,000 people annually. Scientists are now performing studies and pondering over coronavirus facts to determine whether BCG will strengthen the immune system, in addition to the bacterium that causes TB, to fight coronavirus. Schaik said controlled studies were being conducted among health care workers in the Netherlands and Australia to develop a relationship and this will take time to see if BCG is really having a positive short-term impact. “I want to stress that it is also possible that this immune system priming may actually predispose individuals to a worse Covid-19 outcome, so I would not want anyone to quickly get BCG vaccinations now in the hope that it will protect them!” he added further. Wishing the Best Summer One hope some researchers have is that coronavirus transmission can slow as the temperature rises in summer. In winters people catch the flu more frequently because the virus thrives in cold conditions. And so some analysts are hoping its spread can be shortened in the coming months. But again, everybody can witness the differences of opinions and finding here. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that most of the cases occurred in areas with comparatively low temperature and humidity. Another Harvard University research found that the dry environment had no significant impact on the rate of transmission. The emphasis was on data from China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand regarding weather and coronavirus transmission. Novel coronavirus facts are expected as time moves on. Do not forget leaving your valuable comment on this piece of writing and sharing with your near and dear ones. To keep yourself up-to-date with Information Palace, put your email in the space given below and Subscribe. Furthermore, if you yearn to know about football return and coronavirus facts, ‘Coronavirus: Football Will Return behind the Closed Doors’. Read the full article

#Coronavirus #coronavirusdiagnosis #CoronavirusDisease #coronavirusfacts #CoronavirusIncubationPeriod #coronavirusoutbreak #CoronavirusPandemic #coronavirusprecautions #coronavirusprevention #coronavirussymptoms #coronavirustreatment #coronavirusupdate #coronavirusvaccine #healthcare #historyofcoronavirus #lockdown #protectionfromcoronavirus #self-isolation #Self-Quarantine #SocialDistancing

[greenhorn-teacher]

White People and Our History

My mother was born on July 4th.

Because of this, the 4th has always been a day of celebration for our family. We wake up absurdly early and go to watch a parade, pick up fried chicken for lunch (Dad tries to make it himself every few years and he never really gets it right, so it’s usually drive-through), watch 1776 over the afternoon, and then go to a fireworks show. This is how Mom likes to celebrate her birthday, and so that’s how we’ve celebrated for my entire life. Even during years where political and social issues make it very difficult to be proud of the U.S. and our society, we still had good times every 4th of July.

My dad is also a huge history buff, and every year, while watching 1776 (which if you don’t know is a 1972 movie of a 1969 musical about the writing of the Declaration of Independence), the subject of our ancestry usually comes up. On my mother’s mother’s side, my brothers and I are descended from one of George Washington’s generals in the Revolutionary War. We’re also descended from at least one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence itself (maybe two - my granddad was never the kind of guy to make stuff up, but we haven’t found a solid link to one of the two signers that he says we’re descended from). Three big figures in American history and mythology are among our ancestors.

Thing is, two out of three owned slaves.

Both of the signers of the Declaration, both the one that we know is our ancestor and the one we’re not 100% sure on, owned slaves. PolitiFact put out an article in late 2019 about that, if you want me to back it up. Jury’s out on the general, but there’s a non-zero chance that we’re three for three on slaveowners. Further complicating my feelings about my ancestry is my dad’s side. On dad’s side, we’re descended from plantation owners. They owned a pretty sizable plantation up until the early 1900s, when there were too many inheritors to keep the property in one piece and my great-a-few-times grandfather sold his plot. My family, both sides, is tainted by slavery and racism.

Now I’ve known about this since late middle school/early high school, and I’ve more or less made my peace with this knowledge. This is NOT to say that I in any way approve of what they did. Slavery is, was, and always will be one of the most horrific institutions to exist on this earth. But I was able to recognize that having bad ancestors doesn’t make me bad by default, something that many other Southerners seem to have trouble with (in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons the South has so much trouble with admitting the Confederacy was a super bad thing is because that means their ancestors were bad and therefore the present generation must be bad as a result, which is obviously untrue. The present generation is awful all on its own merits, but THAT’S ANOTHER POST). For my high school career, this was something that I knew in the back of my mind but it was never really relevant to my life.

Fast forward to college. In freshman orientation, I met my current partner, though we didn’t start dating until just after Spring Break freshman year. My partner is Latinx, and we share a number of interests, including literary analysis, superheroes, and historical discussion. One day, sophomore year, we were talking about ancestry, specifically about how, as a result of European colonization, my partner has zero clue what the family tree looks like more than a couple generations back. This is in stark contrast to my own experience, because I can track my family tree back almost 250 years, and could go even further if I wanted to put some more effort into it. Precious few people of color in the U.S. can trace their ancestry back even a few generations as a result of European colonization, while many white families can go back generations. Ever since my partner and I had this conversation, it’s been a running joke in our relationship that if my ancestors could see me dating my Latinx partner they would die from scandalized shock. Since my partner particularly enjoys scandalizing racist old white men, this is a definite win.

This ultimately came to a head on the 4th of July, 2020. The Summer of Covid, when a global pandemic swept across the world and the U.S. fell apart at the seams. My family knew that we weren’t going to be able to safely attend any parades or fireworks, so instead we had an at-home party. My partner was invited, provided both our families self-quarantined for two weeks ahead of time and none of us at home tested positive. Both criteria were met, and so my partner came over for the day. It was all great fun, we still managed to get fried chicken because our favorite restaurant was able to open for a couple weeks in the middle of the summer, and we had steaks (my partner’s favorite food of all time) for dinner. That afternoon, while we were watching 1776, the family started to talk about our ancestry. We got on the subject while listening to the songs in the movie, and how some of the songs, like “But, Mr. Adams,” have lyrics that lean towards the raunchy, which we never noticed as kids. That then shifted the conversation to the song “Molasses to Rum,” which is one of the most uncomfortable songs for any white person to hear because it’s the Founding Fathers singing about why slavery is really a good thing (spoiler alert: IT’S NOT). No matter how uncomfortable it made us, though, we all agreed it was still something we should watch and be aware of, because as my late granddad pointed out, “It’s still history.” It happened, and pretending it didn’t is supremely damaging to our understanding of history and our society as a whole today.

The whole thing stuck in my head, though, because by that point I had been with my partner for 4 years and was getting ready to propose. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wanted to marry my amazing Latinx partner, and while we joke often about what the look on my ancestors’ faces would be the solemn truth is that a century ago, we would be lucky to only be disowned by our families over our relationship. Before June 12th, 1967 when the Supreme Court struck down the anti-miscegenation laws in Loving v. Virginia, our relationship would have gotten us arrested. Living in the South, maybe we’d have been killed by a mob. Any children we have would be a mix of white and Latinx, and would never be accepted by my family. Unless they were pale enough to pass as white, neither would they be accepted by society at large. My family of 250 years ago was racist. My family of a hundred years ago was made up of racists. And as much as I love my grandparents, a small, guilty part of me feels relieved that they passed away before I met my partner because I’d be willing to bet money they were racist, too, and this way I don’t have to find out if they were.

The point of my telling you this story is this. If you are white in the United States of America, and your family goes back more than three or four generations, then you come from racist roots. At the time of the Revolutionary War, both the North and South had significant slave populations. There were still some slaves in the North as of the Civil War, and while Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declared the slaves of the Confederacy to be free, slaves in the North stayed slaves until the 13th Amendment. Even after slavery was officially ended, society deliberately built systems that kept former slaves and other people of color below white people. The Jim Crow laws in the South are the most strident examples, but the North wasn’t innocent in this. Segregation was a national phenomenon, but even after it ended in the 1960s people were still racist. Even through the 70s and 80s, up to the turn of the millennium and into the present day, racism exists. Some of it is easy to spot, people loudly shouting racist slurs at anyone they see as lesser. Some of it is less so, such as a family being 100% for equality until they have a black neighbor, or their kids start dating a person of color, and then suddenly they’re awkward about it. 

To any white people reading this, you have to understand, our ancestors were racist. Maybe they were the loud, easy to spot kind. Maybe they were the quieter kind, and only displayed this in smaller ways. That doesn’t change that they were. And this is something that we have to come to terms with. We cannot pretend otherwise, or tell ourselves that our ancestors couldn’t have been bad because some of them didn’t own slaves. Owning slaves is not a prerequisite for racism, and even people who never owned a single person could engage in racist behaviors. But bad ancestors do not make for bad descendants. We are not automatically bad because our roots are bad. We can be good people, and should be good people. If something you’re doing would upset your racist ancestors, you’re probably doing something right.

Because my family today is accepting in ways that my family of a century ago would never be, any child of my partner and I will grow up with a large, loving family, supported by four grandparents who will accept them regardless of the color of their skin. It might not seem like it, but I do believe our current generation is in a better place than previous ones were. That said, we are far from perfect, and there is work to be done still. Racism, obvious and otherwise, is still prevalent in the world, and since our ancestors are the ones that messed up the world, then we should do what we can to undo their work. Hopefully, someday soon the ghosts of the racist slaveowning Founding Fathers will look upon a country where we all live together in a truly equal and fair society, and they’ll be so scandalized by what they see they’ll die all over again.

TL;DR: We as white people need to come to terms with the fact that our ancestors were racist and work to undo what they did, because pretending that they weren’t racist is detrimental to our understanding of history and the state of society today.

[edsenger]

How to stay safe if you’re travelling overseas

With changes to the government’s travel policy coming into effect, some people will be planning to travel overseas. If you’re planning a trip, it’s never been more important to know the potential health risks of your destination. That’s why we’ve put together some top tips to help you and your loved ones to stay safe and make your trip memorable for all the right reasons.

Be in the know before you go

It’s better to prevent infection than to require treatment, so be prepared before you travel. The government has made key changes to its travel policies, which means the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in the UK has been lifted for certain countries. The current advice is to avoid all but essential international travel apart from some countries that are exempt from this advice.

PHE has carried out a joint country COVID-19 risk assessment with the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) to provide guidance to help you make informed decisions before you go. Listed by country, the travel advice includes information about:

COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

personal safety

insects and bites

sun safety

environmental hazards

While the current pandemic continues, travel advice and border measures may change rapidly. It’s crucial to regularly check TravelHealthPro and sign up to the updates, as this information is designed to keep you up to date with changing advice and guidance for before, during and after your trip. You can even sign up to email alerts on the FCO Travel Advice pages when planning your journey.

Before you travel, check the requirement for testing, quarantine, or specific social distancing and preventative measures that may be required at your destination.

Don’t travel if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Make sure you self-isolate and get tested in the UK if you are experiencing any symptoms.

Consider packing some travel health essentials, such as:

any medicines you may need

face masks or coverings

alcohol-based hand sanitiser

disinfectant wipes for surface cleaning

If you need pre-travel health advice on issues such as vaccination for example, consider arranging an appointment with a health professional, ideally 4-6 weeks before travel. This appointment is particularly important if you have pre-existing health conditions. You can find this advice and more online.

How to stay safe when you reach your destination

Whatever the conditions, here are some tips of how to stay safe when you reach your destination:

ensure to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds with soap and water, or use hand sanitiser, and avoid touching your face. It is especially important to wash your hands before and after travelling and before eating or preparing food

wearing a face covering is now compulsory on public transport and in shops in the UK but other countries may have different rules. Read our advice on how to wear and make your own face covering at home

avoid crowded spaces and plan when you can to avoid travelling on public transport at peak times.

if you go to bars or pubs, have fun but be sensible; show respect for others, follow the advice, and don’t do anything that puts you or other people at risk

What do I need to do if I’m returning to the UK?

The government announced that from 10 July, people arriving in England from certain countries will no longer have to self-isolate. You can view the full list of countries and territories on the self-isolation exemption list here.

Self-isolation terms can change quickly for any country or territory, in some cases overnight, so we strongly advise you regularly check on the advice for your destination.

The pandemic is constantly changing, so country risk assessments are reviewed daily and formally reviewed very week. The global situation is being monitored carefully and if significant changes in the epidemiology of COVID-19 are identified in a country or territory, decisions on border measures and travel advice may need to change rapidly to protect public health and reduce risk of infection coming into the UK.

It’s also important to know that everyone travelling to the UK will need to complete a passenger locator form, which you should be prepared to show on arrival. The aim of this form is to help us contact you if you could have come into contact with a positive COVID-19 case during your travels. We will also provide you and others affected with the appropriate advice, support and care to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

We wish you a safe journey, and remember, for general travel health advice, visit TravelHealthPro to help you stay informed and safe wherever you or your loved ones may be travelling to.

  Read our blog on staying safe if you’re travelling within the UK.

How to stay safe if you’re travelling overseas published first on https://brightendentalhouston.weebly.com/

[jesseneufeld]

How to stay safe if you’re travelling overseas

With changes to the government’s travel policy coming into effect, some people will be planning to travel overseas. If you’re planning a trip, it’s never been more important to know the potential health risks of your destination. That’s why we’ve put together some top tips to help you and your loved ones to stay safe and make your trip memorable for all the right reasons.

Be in the know before you go

It’s better to prevent infection than to require treatment, so be prepared before you travel. The government has made key changes to its travel policies, which means the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in the UK has been lifted for certain countries. The current advice is to avoid all but essential international travel apart from some countries that are exempt from this advice.

PHE has carried out a joint country COVID-19 risk assessment with the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) to provide guidance to help you make informed decisions before you go. Listed by country, the travel advice includes information about:

COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

personal safety

insects and bites

sun safety

environmental hazards

While the current pandemic continues, travel advice and border measures may change rapidly. It’s crucial to regularly check TravelHealthPro and sign up to the updates, as this information is designed to keep you up to date with changing advice and guidance for before, during and after your trip. You can even sign up to email alerts on the FCO Travel Advice pages when planning your journey.

Before you travel, check the requirement for testing, quarantine, or specific social distancing and preventative measures that may be required at your destination.

Don’t travel if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Make sure you self-isolate and get tested in the UK if you are experiencing any symptoms.

Consider packing some travel health essentials, such as:

any medicines you may need

face masks or coverings

alcohol-based hand sanitiser

disinfectant wipes for surface cleaning

If you need pre-travel health advice on issues such as vaccination for example, consider arranging an appointment with a health professional, ideally 4-6 weeks before travel. This appointment is particularly important if you have pre-existing health conditions. You can find this advice and more online.

How to stay safe when you reach your destination

Whatever the conditions, here are some tips of how to stay safe when you reach your destination:

ensure to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds with soap and water, or use hand sanitiser, and avoid touching your face. It is especially important to wash your hands before and after travelling and before eating or preparing food

wearing a face covering is now compulsory on public transport and in shops in the UK but other countries may have different rules. Read our advice on how to wear and make your own face covering at home

avoid crowded spaces and plan when you can to avoid travelling on public transport at peak times.

if you go to bars or pubs, have fun but be sensible; show respect for others, follow the advice, and don’t do anything that puts you or other people at risk

What do I need to do if I’m returning to the UK?

The government announced that from 10 July, people arriving in England from certain countries will no longer have to self-isolate. You can view the full list of countries and territories on the self-isolation exemption list here.

Self-isolation terms can change quickly for any country or territory, in some cases overnight, so we strongly advise you regularly check on the advice for your destination.

The pandemic is constantly changing, so country risk assessments are reviewed daily and formally reviewed very week. The global situation is being monitored carefully and if significant changes in the epidemiology of COVID-19 are identified in a country or territory, decisions on border measures and travel advice may need to change rapidly to protect public health and reduce risk of infection coming into the UK.

It’s also important to know that everyone travelling to the UK will need to complete a passenger locator form, which you should be prepared to show on arrival. The aim of this form is to help us contact you if you could have come into contact with a positive COVID-19 case during your travels. We will also provide you and others affected with the appropriate advice, support and care to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

We wish you a safe journey, and remember, for general travel health advice, visit TravelHealthPro to help you stay informed and safe wherever you or your loved ones may be travelling to.

  Read our blog on staying safe if you’re travelling within the UK.

How to stay safe if you’re travelling overseas published first on https://drugaddictionsrehab.tumblr.com/

[lauramalchowblog]

How to stay safe if you’re travelling overseas

With changes to the government’s travel policy coming into effect, some people will be planning to travel overseas. If you’re planning a trip, it’s never been more important to know the potential health risks of your destination. That’s why we’ve put together some top tips to help you and your loved ones to stay safe and make your trip memorable for all the right reasons.

Be in the know before you go

It’s better to prevent infection than to require treatment, so be prepared before you travel. The government has made key changes to its travel policies, which means the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in the UK has been lifted for certain countries. The current advice is to avoid all but essential international travel apart from some countries that are exempt from this advice.

PHE has carried out a joint country COVID-19 risk assessment with the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) to provide guidance to help you make informed decisions before you go. Listed by country, the travel advice includes information about:

COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

personal safety

insects and bites

sun safety

environmental hazards

While the current pandemic continues, travel advice and border measures may change rapidly. It’s crucial to regularly check TravelHealthPro and sign up to the updates, as this information is designed to keep you up to date with changing advice and guidance for before, during and after your trip. You can even sign up to email alerts on the FCO Travel Advice pages when planning your journey.

Before you travel, check the requirement for testing, quarantine, or specific social distancing and preventative measures that may be required at your destination.

Don’t travel if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Make sure you self-isolate and get tested in the UK if you are experiencing any symptoms.

Consider packing some travel health essentials, such as:

any medicines you may need

face masks or coverings

alcohol-based hand sanitiser

disinfectant wipes for surface cleaning

If you need pre-travel health advice on issues such as vaccination for example, consider arranging an appointment with a health professional, ideally 4-6 weeks before travel. This appointment is particularly important if you have pre-existing health conditions. You can find this advice and more online.

How to stay safe when you reach your destination

Whatever the conditions, here are some tips of how to stay safe when you reach your destination:

ensure to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds with soap and water, or use hand sanitiser, and avoid touching your face. It is especially important to wash your hands before and after travelling and before eating or preparing food

wearing a face covering is now compulsory on public transport and in shops in the UK but other countries may have different rules. Read our advice on how to wear and make your own face covering at home

avoid crowded spaces and plan when you can to avoid travelling on public transport at peak times.

if you go to bars or pubs, have fun but be sensible; show respect for others, follow the advice, and don’t do anything that puts you or other people at risk

What do I need to do if I’m returning to the UK?

The government announced that from 10 July, people arriving in England from certain countries will no longer have to self-isolate. You can view the full list of countries and territories on the self-isolation exemption list here.

Self-isolation terms can change quickly for any country or territory, in some cases overnight, so we strongly advise you regularly check on the advice for your destination.

The pandemic is constantly changing, so country risk assessments are reviewed daily and formally reviewed very week. The global situation is being monitored carefully and if significant changes in the epidemiology of COVID-19 are identified in a country or territory, decisions on border measures and travel advice may need to change rapidly to protect public health and reduce risk of infection coming into the UK.

It’s also important to know that everyone travelling to the UK will need to complete a passenger locator form, which you should be prepared to show on arrival. The aim of this form is to help us contact you if you could have come into contact with a positive COVID-19 case during your travels. We will also provide you and others affected with the appropriate advice, support and care to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

We wish you a safe journey, and remember, for general travel health advice, visit TravelHealthPro to help you stay informed and safe wherever you or your loved ones may be travelling to.

  Read our blog on staying safe if you’re travelling within the UK.

How to stay safe if you’re travelling overseas published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

[michellelinkous]

How to stay safe if you’re travelling overseas

With changes to the government’s travel policy coming into effect, some people will be planning to travel overseas. If you’re planning a trip, it’s never been more important to know the potential health risks of your destination. That’s why we’ve put together some top tips to help you and your loved ones to stay safe and make your trip memorable for all the right reasons.

Be in the know before you go

It’s better to prevent infection than to require treatment, so be prepared before you travel. The government has made key changes to its travel policies, which means the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in the UK has been lifted for certain countries. The current advice is to avoid all but essential international travel apart from some countries that are exempt from this advice.

PHE has carried out a joint country COVID-19 risk assessment with the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) to provide guidance to help you make informed decisions before you go. Listed by country, the travel advice includes information about:

COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

personal safety

insects and bites

sun safety

environmental hazards

While the current pandemic continues, travel advice and border measures may change rapidly. It’s crucial to regularly check TravelHealthPro and sign up to the updates, as this information is designed to keep you up to date with changing advice and guidance for before, during and after your trip. You can even sign up to email alerts on the FCO Travel Advice pages when planning your journey.

Before you travel, check the requirement for testing, quarantine, or specific social distancing and preventative measures that may be required at your destination.

Don’t travel if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Make sure you self-isolate and get tested in the UK if you are experiencing any symptoms.

Consider packing some travel health essentials, such as:

any medicines you may need

face masks or coverings

alcohol-based hand sanitiser

disinfectant wipes for surface cleaning

If you need pre-travel health advice on issues such as vaccination for example, consider arranging an appointment with a health professional, ideally 4-6 weeks before travel. This appointment is particularly important if you have pre-existing health conditions. You can find this advice and more online.

How to stay safe when you reach your destination

Whatever the conditions, here are some tips of how to stay safe when you reach your destination:

ensure to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds with soap and water, or use hand sanitiser, and avoid touching your face. It is especially important to wash your hands before and after travelling and before eating or preparing food

wearing a face covering is now compulsory on public transport and in shops in the UK but other countries may have different rules. Read our advice on how to wear and make your own face covering at home

avoid crowded spaces and plan when you can to avoid travelling on public transport at peak times.

if you go to bars or pubs, have fun but be sensible; show respect for others, follow the advice, and don’t do anything that puts you or other people at risk

What do I need to do if I’m returning to the UK?

The government announced that from 10 July, people arriving in England from certain countries will no longer have to self-isolate. You can view the full list of countries and territories on the self-isolation exemption list here.

Self-isolation terms can change quickly for any country or territory, in some cases overnight, so we strongly advise you regularly check on the advice for your destination.

The pandemic is constantly changing, so country risk assessments are reviewed daily and formally reviewed very week. The global situation is being monitored carefully and if significant changes in the epidemiology of COVID-19 are identified in a country or territory, decisions on border measures and travel advice may need to change rapidly to protect public health and reduce risk of infection coming into the UK.

It’s also important to know that everyone travelling to the UK will need to complete a passenger locator form, which you should be prepared to show on arrival. The aim of this form is to help us contact you if you could have come into contact with a positive COVID-19 case during your travels. We will also provide you and others affected with the appropriate advice, support and care to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

We wish you a safe journey, and remember, for general travel health advice, visit TravelHealthPro to help you stay informed and safe wherever you or your loved ones may be travelling to.

  Read our blog on staying safe if you’re travelling within the UK.

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