Free Republic

The number of new positive cases of COVID-19 reported in South Africa has continued its downward trend despite increased testing, according to South African National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) data.The NICD reported 17,154 new cases on Dec. 11, nearly 2,000 down from the 19,018 new cases reported on Dec. 10. At the same time the NICD recorded 104,831 new tests conducted on Dec. 11, which was over 20,000 more carried out than on Dec. 10.Professor Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute, noted a “dramatic decrease in test positivity,” which fell from 45 percent on Dec....

Omicron is the unwelcome party guest at everyone’s holiday gatherings this year.Scientists are still trying to learn about the new Covid variant — including how transmissible it is, how well current vaccines work against it and where its biggest hotspots are. Many of those answers won’t be known for at least a couple weeks, just in time for Christmas. Without those answers, you may need to ask yourself a tough question: Is it safe to attend a holiday party? If everyone at your party is vaccinatedIf you’re vaccinated and gathering with other vaccinated people, the answer is a simple “yes,”...

We’re getting into the cold months when more people will be gathering indoors and respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 thrive. Requiring some proof of immunity is becoming more standard and widely accepted, and it remains a generally good rule. And the new boosters, now finally available to all adults, will help with this immunity. But immunity alone has proven insufficient to protect a gathering, particularly in the new environment of more aggressive and contagious variants like delta and omicron. Breakthrough infections — those in people who are already immunized — are on the rise. A stark demonstration of this is the...

A Temple City-based COVID-19 testing firm that contracts with Los Angeles County vehemently denied allegations Tuesday by Sheriff Alex Villanueva that the company shares patient DNA data with the Chinese government, a concern that prompted the sheriff to announce his department will no longer use the county’s chosen testing provider. “Fulgent is an American company, and its founder, board of directors and leadership team is made up of United States citizens,” Fulgent Genetics Chief Commercial Officer Brandon Perthuis said in a statement Tuesday. “Fulgent Genetics operates privately and independently in the People’s Republic of China and does not share personal...

The University of California (UC) Board of Regents announced Nov. 18 to eliminate standardized tests from the admission process, without any alternative exam to be adopted in the foreseeable future. The board originally approved in May 2020 the removal of standardized testing—for applications for admission to the nine UC colleges—and planned to put an alternative test in place of ACT and SAT by 2024. During the board’s meeting on Thursday, the regents reached a consensus to keep exams out of admission requirements for a longer time, in favor of practices promoting educational equity and quality. “UC will continue to practice...

Each day in many ways God tests us, or allows us to be tested. Will I believe what God says, or will I make my own judgment? Will I go along with the crowd, or will I follow truth regardless of whether anyone believes or not? Is Sigmund Freud correct when he says I need to “love myself more”, or is God correct when he says “whoever loves their life will lose it, whoever hates their life in this world will keep it unto eternal life”? Do I need Government to provide for my needs, or does God provide? Will...

A number of years ago I was preparing to board a flight to Miami when a mechanical failure forced me to take another plane to Jacksonville. On the new plane, I was inadvertently seated next to Dennis Deyoung, lead singer of the 70s — 80s Rock Band, Styx (his wife in the seat behind because of a seating mix-up.) I did not recognize him at first, only remembering his 1980s look, so I continued reading my A.W. Tozer book, ‘In Pursuit of God’. It didn’t take long for me to recognize my famous seatmate when passengers, flight attendants, and even...

The EWG wrote their own in those cases where the EPA did not have a standard for a contaminant. The EWG wrote their own standards for several contaminants already regulated by the EPA, with most about a 100-fold lower than EPA’s standard. For example, the EPA standard for a group of disinfection by-products (trihalomethanes) is 80 parts per billion (ppb); the EWG’s 0.15 ppb. Total trihalomethanes were detected at 28.3 ppb in my drinking water supply, so it complied with EPA’s regulations but exceeded the EWG’s. Anyone can make a standard look bad by writing a lower one.

COVID-19 testing site reopens at Dodger Stadium © Getty Dodgers Stadium reopened its COVID-19 testing site this week amid an increase in demand in the Southern California area, CW affiliate KTLA reported. The site is run by Curative and offers drive-through PCR testing seven days a week, according to the news outlet. Curative spokesman Pasquale Gianni said the "site is relaunching due to increase demand in testing coupled with an increase in positivity across the state of California.”

6. Paragraph (g) – COVID-19 Testing for Employees Who are Not Fully Vaccinated 6.A. Do unvaccinated employees who work remotely need to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing? No. The requirements of the standard do not apply to the employees of covered employers who do not report to a workplace where other individuals such as coworkers or customers are present or while working from home. This includes the testing requirements of paragraph (g) of the ETS. 6.B. If an unvaccinated employee only comes into the workplace once a month is that employee required to be tested every seven days? No. The...

The Biden administration’s emergency COVID-19 vaccination requirement released today could be expanded in the future to employers who have fewer than 100 workers. The emergency temporary standard, issued by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and scheduled to go into effect on Friday, is presented as only applying to firms that have 100 or more employees. But OSHA is seeking public comments on that aspect of the standard, and it may be ultimately expanded to include smaller businesses, the agency said in the 490-page document.

India’s recent testing of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile came on the heels of failed military and diplomatic talks between India and China, as well as reports of a hypersonic missile test by the Chinese regime.But experts told The Epoch Times that India’s test-fire was not a retaliatory response to the regime’s recent actions.Agni-5 CapabilitiesAnimesh Roul, executive director of the New Delhi-based Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, said this was not the first time India test-fired an Agni-5 surface-to-surface ballistic missile. In 2012, 2013, and 2018, the Agni-5 was tested several times.“However, the Oct. 27 test at...

An October survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that 37% of unvaccinated adult participants say they would leave their job if forced to either get a COVID-19 vaccine or take a weekly test. And if their employer mandated the vaccine and didn’t offer the testing option, 72% of unvaccinated workers say they would quit. The percentage of unvaccinated adult participants who say they would quit if vaccines were a requirement equates to roughly 9% of all adults, according to KFF, a nonprofit focusing on national health issues. **SNIP** "About a fifth (21%) of workers say that they...

Dr. Lobelo says, it is important to remember that family gatherings can drive the spread of the virus, especially in households where certain members are not vaccinated. "We know on average 70% of household members who aren't vaccinated are going to catch the virus if someone brings it home," Lobelo says. "It doesn't matter if it's a kid or it's an adult." So, he recommends taking some some basic precautions, including wearing masks. "If you're going to be gathering at home with people you don't typically gather with, that you don't know their vaccination status, you all need to wear...

Allegations that Pfizer are conducting experiments on six-month-old orphans to test their Covid-19 vaccine have been made by whistleblowers in Poland leading to a group of lawyers, medical professionals and activists demanding members of the Polish parliament and Senate organize an urgent conference on Saturday 2nd October. Children’s Health Defense was recently alerted by Polish whistleblowers that Pfizer is conducting experiments on orphan babies 6 months old to test their new vaccines. Babies and children do not die from Covid and rarely transmit the disease. This alone should be enough to refuse any kind of clinical trials with experimental vaccines....

With a shortage of school bus drivers, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is putting out an urgent call to find drivers. In addition, Pennsylvania Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam is encouraging school districts to make preparations for vaccine clinics in November in anticipation of federal approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5-11. Currently, the vaccine is only approved for those 12 and older. And the administration is urging schools to take part in the state’s COVID-19 testing program. At a news conference Thursday, members of Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration are outlining those steps to keep children in classrooms amid...

The Vatican City State said Tuesday that it will require all employees to provide proof of vaccination or documentation of a recent negative COVID test, the Washington Post reports.Why it matters: Pope Francis, who was vaccinated in January, has campaigned for people to get the shots, calling it a moral duty. Some Catholics, however, have argued for exemptions on religious grounds.Employees without proper documentation will be considered "unjustly absent" and receive no salary, per the Post.The Vatican is not allowing exemptions at the moment, though the Secretariat of State and the city-state's health department will review the issue.The new policy...

The Covid-19 vaccine question is a complicated one which involves many issues. Are government mandates appropriate? Are private employer mandates appropriate? How good and/or bad are the vaccines as a prevention against Covid-19, or against serious health issues, or against death from Covid-19? How risky are the vaccines when it comes to possible side effects? How risky is taking the vaccine as opposed to not taking it? Should there be religious exemptions for people who have conscience concerns about the vaccine? This article doesn't deal with any of those. I might take up some of those issues in the future,...

The FDA just released its briefing book for Pfizer’s request for a third dose of Comirnaty (or is that BNT162b2? No matter! It’s approved either way, sorta). It is every bit the mess we all expected. Let’s go to the highlights: Pfizer basically hasn’t bothered to test the booster AT ALL in the people actually at risk - it conducted a single “Phase 1” trial that covered 12 people over 65. The main Phase 2/3 booster trial (beware efforts to cover multiple “phases” of drug research at once, you want it bad you get it bad) included no one over...

President Biden announced Thursday that the federal government will shell out $2 billion to buy almost 300 million rapid tests for COVID-19 – despite the fact that the tests are woefully inaccurate compared to PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, tests. Biden said the rapid tests would be distributed to community health centers, food banks and schools across the US “so that every American, no matter their income, can access free and convenient tests.” However, rapid COVID-19 tests — which typically involve a health professional swabbing a person’s nose or throat but also have at-home versions — vary in accuracy depending...