USA - Covid : CDC wants to 'give people a break' from mask wearing - by John Bacon Jorge L.Ortiz Jeanine Santucc

COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths are all declining and federal health officials could ease guidance on masks soon, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, speaking at a White House briefing on COVID-19, said her agency was assessing data and "will soon put guidance in place" that encourages prevention measures while protecting public health and hospitals.

The CDC recommends indoor masking in areas with substantial or high transmission. That includes 97% of U.S. counties, Walensky said.

"We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better," Walensky said. "And then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen."

Read more at: CDC wants to 'give people a break' from mask wearing: COVID-19 updates

USA: Why the CDC’s guidelines on isolation, boosters, and masks are so confusing - by Dylan Scott

The fierce backlash to the CDC’s recent decision to shorten the recommended isolation period for people who test positive for Covid-19 was the latest in a series of communications blunders so severe that they have now become a meme.

Communication is an essential part of any public health response. But US health agencies have struggled with it since the very beginning of the pandemic, when government officials initially advised against wearing masks in early 2020 before reversing themselves to recommend nearly

It appeared the initial guidance may have been issued in order to preserve enough masks for health care workers. Government officials were warning at the time that hospitals’ supplies could be depleted at a critical moment if there was a run on masks. It was the first of the pandemic’s “noble lies,” The Week’s Ryan Cooper wrote in a blistering essay on the paternalistic treatment of the US public that has undermined the country’s Covid-19 response.

America’s public health institutions have failed to communicate effectively with the US public throughout the pandemic for two reasons: either they have been left trying to defend poor policies, or the messaging has taken the place of creating any kind of coherent policy at all

Read more at: Why the CDC’s guidelines on isolation, boosters, and masks are so confusing - Vox

USA: CDC approves Pfizer's COVID vaccine for kids 5 to 11 in the U.S.

U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave final approval to Pfizer's kid-sized COVID-19 shot, a milestone that opens a major expansion of the nation's vaccination campaign to children as young as five.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already authorized the shots for children ages five to 11 — doses just one-third of the amount given to teens and adults. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) formally recommends who should receive FDA-cleared vaccines.

The announcement by CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky came only hours after an advisory panel unanimously decided Pfizer's shots should be opened to the 28 million youngsters in that age group.

Read more at: CDC approves Pfizer's COVID vaccine for kids 5 to 11 in the U.S. | CBC News

Coronavirus Vaccine: Pfizer to ask permission to give booster shot; FDA, CDC say it’s not necessary

Pfizer announced Thursday it plans to seek Food and Drug Administration authorization for a booster shot to its two-dose vaccine that could further protect people from COVID-19 variants, the company announced Thursday.

However, a joint statement on Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA said, "Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time."

Read more at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/as-pfizer-wants-to-push-booster-shot-fda-and-cdc-say-its-not-necessary-at-this-time/ar-AALYAiU?ocid=BingNewsSearch

USA: Coronavirus Surge: 'Right now, I'm scared,' CDC head says as she warns of potential 4th pandemic surge in U.S.

U.S. officials issued what was intended to be a sobering warning Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic could still get a whole lot worse.

Their unusually emotional message carried obvious international implications, especially given that the U.S. has already vaccinated its citizens at a rate triple Canada's. The theme of a White House briefing Monday was that this is a terrible time for the country to let down its guard and reopen as some states are doing.

Read more at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-officials-pandemic-warning-1.5968462

USA: Putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank: Trump gets help from Kushner and rails against new 'witch-hunt' at coronavirus briefing

Donald Trump sparked fresh criticism on Thursday by deploying his son-in-law Jared Kushner at a White House coronavirus taskforce briefing and accusing Democrats of launching a fresh “witch-hunt”.

Kushner, a senior adviser to the US president who is married to his daughter Ivanka, made a surprise appearance on the podium and said Trump had instructed him to “break down every barrier needed to make sure the teams can succeed”.

Kushner added: “The president also wanted us to make sure that we think outside the box, make sure we’re finding all the best thinkers in the country, making sure we’re getting all the best ideas.”

But by way of example, Kushner said Trump became concerned about supply shortages after hearing about them “just this morning” from “friends of his in New York” – implying the president responds to anecdotes rather than the state governor or public health officials.

“We went to the president today,” Kushner continued. “And earlier today, the president called Mayor [Bill] de Blasio to inform him that we are going to send a month of supply to New York public hospital system.”

The vice-president, Mike Pence, later said there would be 200,000 masks sent to New York.

Kushner said: “We’ll be doing similar things with all the different public hospitals that are in the hotspot zones and making sure that we’re constantly in communications with the local communities.”

Media reports have suggested that Kushner, a property developer with no medical expertise, is running a “shadow taskforce” – a rival power base that conflicts with the official task force led by Pence.

Read more at: Trump gets help from Kushner and rails against new 'witch-hunt' at coronavirus briefing | World news | The Guardian

Coronavirus | About | Prevention and Treatment | CDC

CDC Coronavirus: About prevention and treatment - Describes how to reduce your risk of getting coronavirus infection, and how to relieve symptoms if you get infected.

Read more at :
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/prevention.html

Terrorism in the Sky? Counter-terror police ‘monitoring’ Emirates plane at JFK as 100 people reportedly fall ill - by Sam Sweeney

New York counter-terrorism police are “monitoring” the ongoing quarantine of an Emirates airplane at JFK airport in New York, after 100 people reportedly fell ill during a flight from Dubai.
 

Emirates Airline Flight EK203 touched down in New York around 9am ET Wednesday after the pilot contacted air traffic controllers, telling them that many of his 500 passengers appeared to be sick with fevers over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 C) and several of them were coughing.

The Airbus A380 was met by rows of ambulances and police vehicles from Port Authority Police and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Rather than going to a terminal, the aircraft was instead directed to a hard-stand area so that  emergency medical response teams could investigate.

NYPD’s Counter-Terrorism unit said it was “monitoring” the quarantine in case the incident progressed above a medical situation and that it was working with the Port Authority and federal partners.

Read more: Counter-terror police ‘monitoring’ Emirates plane at JFK as 100 people reportedly fall ill (PHOTOS) — RT World News