Free Republic

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 16, 2021 Media Contact: Cindy Clayton, VDH PIO, cindy.clayton@vdh.virginia.gov Virginia Department of Health Announces Launch of QR Codes to Verify COVID-19 Vaccination Status ~ QR codes are secure and private for users, easy for businesses ~ RICHMOND – The Virginia Department of Health today announced the addition of QR codes – a type of barcode that can be scanned with smartphones – to Virginia COVID-19 vaccination records. QR codes – short for “quick response” – are commonly used in retail, logistics, and other sectors. The technology allows anyone to show proof of vaccination with a...

It costs about €325,000 in construction and capital costs alone nowadays to provide an additional hospital bed. That’s according to a confidential submission drawn up by the Department of Health for the new Oireachtas committee looking at the future of the health service. It says that “based on current tender returns and space standards, the construction costs of a replacement hospital bed is in the region of €325,000, not including equipping costs”. As a rule of thumb, it adds, annual ongoing revenue costs of operating an additional hospital bed run to €78,000 per year.

The New York Police Department, the F.B.I. and the city's health department have agreed for the first time on a set of rules that will govern investigations of suspected biological attacks in the city, detailing the roles the agencies will play as well as how confidential medical information is to be shared. The "protocol," a six-page document that officials regard as something of a remarkable cooperation agreement, resulted in part from lessons learned in New York during the 2001 anthrax letter attacks, which killed five people in Florida and the Northeast and infected more than a dozen others in the...

IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 25, 2002 White House Bird Test Positive for West Nile Virus (Washington, DC) The District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH) announced that the crow, retrieved from the White House on Sunday, July 21, tested positive for the West Nile Virus.   In response, DOH has larvacided, and spoken to White House Secret Service.  In addition, DOH has identified sites to collect mosquitoes, near the location, for testing. White House Secret Service reported two dead crows to DOH on Sunday night at 8:30 pm.  The birds were discovered on the South Lawn. One of the crows was...