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The view that COVID-19 lockdowns were draconian and often tyrannical is gaining strength throughout the world. For example, Human Rights Watch has accused the UK government of setting aside “human rights for the sake of political expediency” and excoriates it for its “worrying disdain for the rule of law.” In Italy, authors Piero Stanig and Gianmarco Daniele have argued that the worst possible thing a government could do during the pandemic “when dealing with a highly infectious disease that spreads almost exclusively indoors and targets the elderly is to lock old people up inside their homes … and ban citizens...

Authorities in Shanghai have denied a report by a leading Chinese real estate research firm that claimed more than a third of shops in a major mall had been shuttered because of strict Covid curbs. The report by China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC), published late last month, quickly went viral. It claimed that vacancy rates in the city’s malls were surging to an alarming level because of the restrictions and said 34% of shops were closed in a landmark mall in Shanghai’s Lujiazui financial district. On average, 9% of shops in Shanghai’s 20 major malls have been closed since...

Psychiatrist Carole Lieberman, who holds a master’s degree in public health, hopes that Americans will learn from the draconian measures that the citizens of Shanghai, China, are being subjected to under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She warns that if Americans do not stand up for their freedoms, then authorities may take away more of our fundamental rights in the name of public health. “Yes, China is the ultimate nightmare,” Lieberman told the host of NTD’s Capitol Report, Steve Lance, in a recent interview. “I hope Americans realize that if we keep being sheep and following all the rules, like...

Law enforcement personnel have allegedly assaulted residents in Shanghai over apparent breaches of the locked-down city’s stringent COVID-19 restrictions, according to footage circulating on the Chinese internet. In one video, at least eight people wearing white protective gear—including six who are said to be police officers—repeatedly punch and kick a young Shanghai resident on the street outside the Lianyang community in the Songjiang district. The man buries his head in his hands while being beaten, and later runs from the officers before being chased down and beaten again. The video, apparently recorded from a nearby apartment, went viral on China’s...

Last week, Biden made a push for even more COVID funding as part of his administration's new strategy of “living with the virus.” Curiously enough, small government conservatives have been saying that this would have to be the strategy from day one. Looking back, perhaps one of Biden’s worst mistakes was when he promised the following on the campaign trail in late 2020: “I’m never going to raise the white flag and surrender. We’re going to beat this virus. We’re going to get it under control, I promise you.” Controlling the virus and learning to live with it are two...

While Shanghai continues its lockdown and massive PCR testing campaign as COVID-19 surges through the city, a CDC expert’s complaint about chaotic PCR test reports that have confused people was recently exposed online. Shanghai CDC issued a notice demanding staff answer public inquiries “in line with the policy.” There have been complaints about the conflicting PCR test results on Chinese social media because people receive a negative test result on their cell phones but then receive a positive test result from the CDC. Shanghai adopted the Healthcare Cloud app as its integrated Internet and Healthcare services platform. Locals register through...

China has nothing like the critical-care facilities of Western cities. In dozens of sprawling metropolises larger than any in the West, China would be faced with millions more severely ill and dying people than it could possibly care for. An early study found the original Wuhan outbreak, if repeated in the U.S., would require 26 intensive-care beds per 100,000 citizens. The U.S. had these beds. China didn’t and still doesn’t. And yet one irony of the leadership’s decision to treat zero Covid as a national triumph has been a slowness to expand hospital capacity. Its go-it-alone approach on vaccine development,...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Doctor Patrick Jackson with the University of Virginia has advice for people looking to get vaccinated. Dr. Jackson says COVID-19 vaccines have a very low Myocarditis or heart inflammation risk, however the risk is highest in young men. He says says the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not have any association with this side effect and could be the best choice for some. “Now that we have more data about these vaccines people can talk to their doctors about which vaccine might be the ideal one for them, or even now that we have some flexibility,...

One year ago, the biggest vaccination drive in American history began with a flush of excitement in an otherwise gloomy December. Trucks loaded with freezer-packed vials of a COVID-19 vaccine that had proved wildly successful in clinical trials fanned out across the land, bringing shots that many hoped would spell the end of the crisis. That hasn’t happened. A year later, too many Americans remain unvaccinated and too many are dying. The nation’s COVID-19 death toll stands at around 800,000 as the anniversary of the U.S. vaccine rollout arrives. A year ago it stood at 300,000. An untold number of...

Direct from the Comirnaty package insert... https://www.fda.gov/media/151707/download 5.2 Myocarditis and Pericarditis Postmarketing data demonstrate increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly within 7 days following the second dose. The observed risk is higher among males under 40 years of age than among females and older males. The observed risk is highest in males 12 through 17 years of age. Although some cases required intensive care support, available data from short-term follow-up suggest that most individuals have had resolution of symptoms with conservative management. Information is not yet available about potential longterm sequelae. The CDC has published considerations related to myocarditis...

White House press secretary Jennifer Psaki has said that she has tested positive for COVID-19 days after members of her household came down with the virus. Psaki, who opted to stay in Washington due to a family emergency as President Joe Biden left for his trip to Rome and Glasgow on Oct. 28, said in a statement on Sunday, “On Wednesday [Oct. 27], in coordination with senior leadership at the White House and the medical team, I made the decision not to travel on the foreign trip with the President due to a family emergency, which was members of my...

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention data from the new K-12 school year bolster the agency’s recommendation for masks in schools and in-person classes. One study in two Arizona counties found coronavirus outbreaks were almost four times more common at public schools without mask mandates on the first day than at those that re-opened with a masking requirement. Another study found case rates in children and teens increased more in U.S. counties where public schools had no mask mandates than in those where schools had that requirement. These studies lacked data on other measures that could have influenced the...

There have been 673,472 deaths in the United States due to the Chinese coronavirus, more than the combined numbers of American military lives lost during battle in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. As of Sunday afternoon, Johns Hopkins University & Medicine reported 42,050,638 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 673,472 deaths.

Hospitalizing Americans who aren't vaccinated against the coronavirus is leading to billions of dollars in unnecessary health care costs, according to a new analysis. Over a recent three-month period, the cost of treating unvaccinated COVID-19 patients around the U.S. amounted to $5.7 billion, the report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Peterson Center on Healthcare concluded. Drawing on hospital admissions and public health data, the groups based that estimate on the roughly 287,000 hospitalizations among unvaccinated people between June and August. They assumed the cost of their care at $20,000 per person, citing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data...

Study Shows Vaccine Will ENHANCE Delta InfectivitySTORY AT-A-GLANCEA group of Japanese researchers released research showing that the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant “is poised to acquire complete resistance” to existing COVID-19 jabs When four common mutations were introduced to the Delta variant, Pfizer’s mRNA injection enhanced its infectivity, causing it to become resistant A Delta variant with three mutations has already emerged, which suggests it’s only a matter of time before a fourth mutation develops, at which point complete resistance to Pfizer’s jab may be imminent A number of experts have raised concerns that COVID-19 jabs and the mass vaccination program could...

Police officials are reviewing a staff party held at a western Sydney station in July while the city was under strict lockdown to determine if public health orders were breached. On Friday more than a dozen employees at Mount Druitt Police Area Command gathered together in a brightly decorated common room to share buffet platters of food. Pictures from the event posted online show staff around a party table at the station, located in one of the 12 Covid-hit LGAs of concern, as they celebrate Wear It Purple Day to support the LGBTQIA+ community. 'Happy Wear it Purple Day. Follow...

Updated: 7:43 PM EDT Aug 21, 2021 The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., and his wife, Jacqueline, have both been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which was founded by Jackson, announced the couple's hospitalization on Saturday in a news release. The organization said anyone who has been around either of them over the last five or six days should isolate, per CDC guidelines. The couple is under medical observation at Northwestern Hospital. According to a release on the Rainbow PUSH Coalition website, Jackson received his COVID-19 vaccination in January.

Sweden's Covid-19 strategy for schools is complex, but nonchalant attitudes and a lack of systematic protection for schoolchildren can only be described as irresponsible, argues Lisa Bjurwald in this opinion piece.In the US, liberal news media are reporting with horror that several Republican-led states will penalise schools that require masks. This despite the number of infected children soaring, not least in Republican states such as Florida and Texas, and despite leading public health experts including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending universal indoor masking in schools this year. In Swedish schools, you’d...

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger said “you’re a schmuck” if you don’t wear a mask, just days after photos and video showed prominent Democrats — from Barack Obama to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) — partying indoors maskless. “You cannot go and not put the mask on because when you breathe, you can infect someone else. And you can infect someone that then gets sick and may die,” the Terminator star and former governor of California said during a discussion with CNN’s Bianna Golodryga and Alexander Vindman. “So this is why I think we all have to...

Biometrics in future of vaccine passports Any kind of document, especially a passport, needs to be built on a foundation that allows it to operate across borders and jurisdictions. Biometrics could be the easiest and fastest path to get started. It can add convenience and security, while identifying a person’s vaccination status easily. Modern biometric solutions have many different modalities at their disposal, from fingerprints and face to voice and iris recognition. The biometric modalities most likely to be used for vaccine passports, however, are anticipated to be face or voice recognition, as these can easily be performed on an...