Over 25 area restaurants closed their doors for good – several that have been in business for decades – due to the impact of Health Department stay-at-home orders and restrictions on business operations that began in March 2020 with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A few days after Thanksgiving, Governor Brian Kemp issued an executive order further restricting restaurant operations. The Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA) published a statement shortly after.
Read the full story
Ohio began administering the coronavirus vaccine in its nursing homes for the first time on Friday as part of a federal program that pairs pharmacies with long-term care facilities.
Read the full story
Governor Bill Lee called out Tennessee for its recent Thanksgiving gatherings as selfish, indifferent, and foolish decisions. The governor issued these remarks during a press conference as some of the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered at Vanderbilt University.
“We do stand here and celebrate a tremendous breakthrough in this pandemic,” stated Lee. “But there is a darkness before the dawn that’s happening right here in Tennessee – we have to recognize that. Tennessee’s cases are surging. The holidays have caught up with us. Decisions that some made during Thanksgiving have a severe reality in this hospital and all across Tennessee today.”
Read the full story
A Vanderbilt University poll suggested that 88 percent of Tennessee’s registered Republican voters doubt the legitimacy of the presidential election. According to the university, the poll’s purpose was to discover any correlation between support of the COVID-19 vaccine and views on the election’s integrity. The poll lasted 21 days, surveying just over 1,000 individuals. Nowhere in their methodology did the research include the exact number of Republicans, Democrats, independent, and “other” respondents.
A supplementary video summarizing the polling results noted that 83 percent of Democrats pose a large public health problem, as opposed to 47 percent of Republicans. After providing that information, the video noted that 97 percent of Democrats believed nationwide votes from the Presidential election were counted fairly and accurately, as opposed to 12 percent of Republicans.
Read the full story
Some vials containing Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine contain more doses than expected, potentially expanding the country’s supply by up to 40%, public health officials said late Wednesday.
The FDA advised that the extra doses were acceptable to use and that it was collaborating with Pfizer over the issue.
Read the full story
Ohio health officials have claimed to have no record of which nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have seen deaths caused by the coronavirus, an investigation from local media found.
Read the full story
Minnesota’s new unemployment claims last week dropped by 9,254 from the week ending Dec. 5, according to Department of Labor statistics released Thursday morning.
Unemployment claims in the state continue to drop despite the ongoing prohibitions of indoor gatherings imposed by Gov. Tim Walz to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus. On Wednesday, Walz announced he was extending his lockdown orders through the holiday season.
Read the full story
Michigan’s new unemployment claims dropped last week by 5,855 from the week ending Dec. 5, according to Department of Labor statistics released Thursday morning.
Unemployment claims in the state continue to drop despite the ongoing prohibitions of indoor gatherings imposed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Read the full story
Pandemic restrictions forced 32% of Michigan businesses to close at least temporarily, the most of all 50 states in the nation, federal data show.
Only Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory where 50% of businesses closed, ranked higher.
Read the full story
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is warning residents to watch out for scams related to the coronavirus vaccine distribution that began this week.
Yost has said scammers could potentially impersonate distributors or other health officials to mine for personal information such as a Social Security number with promise of putting them on a list to get vaccinated.
Read the full story
Governor DeWine unexpectedly called a press conference on Monday. It was the day the Pfizer vaccine arrived in Ohio and DeWine called it “historic,” our “hope” and the “beginning of the end” of COVID. A video of he and First Lady Fran DeWine can be viewed below as the vaccine shipment arrives via UPS. During the Monday briefing, The Ohio Star asked DeWine about his alleged ties to drug maker Pfizer. The Star asked: Governor, from a viewer, a two-part question regarding your potential ties to drug makers: First, do you own stock in Pfizer and Moderna – and did these companies contribute to your campaign pre, and post, gubernatorial fund? Second, many people have diversified holdings in pharma, so that would be understandable but in the past as a U.S. Senator you received criticism for approving immunization for drug makers from accountability for harm their drugs do – while holding pharma stock. As Ohio Attorney General you received criticism for stock in companies that an AG’s legal action could affect the value of – now as governor, do you see it as a conflict of interest – holdings and contributions – since you are a primary policymaker and…
Read the full story
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter, at-home coronavirus test Tuesday.
The test, developed by the Australian company Ellume Limited, is a rapid antigen test that can deliver results in approximately 20 minutes, and works on any patient older than two years of age, the FDA said in its announcement.
Read the full story
Some two-thirds of small business owners say more federal relief funds are needed for them to be successful in the coming year during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the fourth quarter Small Business Index survey from the United States Chamber of Commerce.
Read the full story
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on CNN Monday that the U.S. is seeking to double its COVID-19 vaccine order.
“So far, we have an agreement with the U.S. Government to provide them 100 million doses and this is a fixed order and we will provide those 100 million doses starting from now by the end of the first quarter and we will honor this commitment,” Bourla told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on “New Day With Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.”
Read the full story
by Anthony Gockowski More than 150 businesses plan to reopen this week in defiance of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s coronavirus shutdown. The businesses have organized as the Reopen Minnesota Coalition. This group has created a Facebook page and GoFundMe to raise awareness and money for business owners who will likely face legal consequences for their actions. Rural businesses involved in the effort plan to open Wednesday, Dec. 16, while metro businesses will open two days later on Friday. Walz’s current shutdown order is set to expire on Friday, but an extension is possible. Those who choose to participate in the statewide reopening effort are encouraged to indicate their intent and sign up with the Reopen Minnesota Coalition to receive publicity and support. At least three Minnesota businesses were sued in recent weeks by Attorney General Keith Ellison after they reopened. Already, the coalition has raised over $3,000 to support business owners and their employees should legal action against them occur. The group’s founder, Darius Teichroew, assured listeners of this recently on the radio show Justice & Drew. On the show, Teichroew described his group as “a grassroots coalition” to “get businesses back on their feet.” While he expressed concern for business owners during the interview,…
Read the full story
Vaccines for the novel coronavirus have arrived and are being administered in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Monday.
The vaccine was first delivered to the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, where it was administered to healthcare workers. It was also delivered to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Each hospital received 975 doses.
Read the full story
Video footage showed the first shipment of the coronavirus vaccine leaving Pfizer’s Michigan location on Sunday.
UPS, Boyle and FedEx trucks were captured on video leaving the facility located close to Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Read the full story
With COVID-19 vaccines expected in states throughout the country next week, some communities need more than others, according to a recently released study, and Ohio is home to three of those cities.
According to the personal finance website WalletHub, Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati rank among the top 10 of 90 large cities in the United States in terms of vaccine need based on 13 key factors, such as frontline healthcare workers, nursing home residents, essential workers, residents diagnosed with various diseases and other things.
Read the full story
An all new LIVE STREAM of War Room: Pandemic starts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday.
Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon began the daily War Room: Pandemic radio show and podcast on January 25, when news of the virus was just beginning to leak out of China around the Lunar New Year. Bannon and co-hosts bring listeners exclusive analysis and breaking updates from top medical, public health, economic, national security, supply chain and geopolitical experts weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon ET.
Read the full story
Given the spread of misinformation about Covid-19, Just Facts is providing a trove of rigorously documented facts about this disease and its impacts. These include some essential facts that have been absent or misreported in much of the media’s coverage of this issue.
Read the full story
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that the first coronavirus vaccinations outside a clinical trial could begin as early as Monday.
Azar’s announcement follows a key FDA panel’s vote of confidence Thursday for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, clearing the way for the agency to issue an emergency use authorization. The FDA said that authorization would be announced later Friday, and that it was communicating with the CDC and Operation Warp Speed to ensure the most efficient distribution possible.
Read the full story
Over the weekend Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, took to Twitter to criticize Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker for not taking more assertive government action to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Massachusetts has more new COVID cases per capita than Georgia, Florida, or Texas,” observed Jha, who also serves as the Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “Our hospitalizations, deaths are up 100% in [the] last 3 weeks. But our casinos and tanning salons are still open.”
Read the full story
The Michigan Senate on Thursday night approved a bill 22-16 along party lines that aims to limit the state health department’s epidemic order power.
SB 1253, if signed into law, would amend the Public Health Code so Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon’s epidemic orders would be only valid for up to 28 days unless both houses of the Legislature approves Gordon’ extension request.
Read the full story
The FDA approved Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use Friday, officially beginning a nationwide mass vaccination effort in an attempt to overcome the coronavirus pandemic.
Its approval follows a key FDA panel’s overwhelming vote to endorse the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. President Donald Trump called for the agency to approve Pfizer’s earlier Friday, telling its director, Dr. Stephen Hahn, to “get the dam vaccines out” as soon as possible.
Read the full story
The FDA’s vaccine advisory panel voted 17-4 to approve Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for use, clearing the way for its approval and distribution nationwide.
After scouring over Pfizer’s data during the multi-hour meeting Thursday, the panel ensured that it was safe for the hundreds of million Americans expected to receive it in the coming months and voted to recommend approval. Though the panel’s decision is merely an advisory one, the FDA is expected to heed its recommendation and approve Pfizer’s vaccine as early as Friday.
Read the full story
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicted that up to 362,000 could die from COVID-19 by Jan. 2, their website said Wednesday.
The CDC’s forecast projected 12,600 to 23,400 people will die of coronavirus “over the next four weeks,” according to the website. The forecast projected 332,000 to 362,000 total virus deaths by Jan. 2.
Read the full story
It is not surprising that the political class tried to cancel Thanksgiving and wants to jettison Christmas this year. Americans have been made to live with all kinds of impositions in 2020, putatively for our protection, with no sign they’re going away anytime soon. Instead, the rules have increased relentlessly in number and severity.
Read the full story
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Thursday that he would be extending the state’s overnight curfew until January 2, 2021, to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Read the full story
Across America and Europe, many government officials are resuming lockdowns and tightening restrictions in the face of rising COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
The collateral damage of lockdowns, which has been well documented, includes widespread poverty, depression, bankruptcy, and unemployment. Meanwhile, the benefits of lockdowns remain murky.
Read the full story
Businesses in Ohio can expect to begin receiving state aid, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation said on Wednesday.
Read the full story
Although the audio feed for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s digital news conference Monday afternoon wasn’t completely clear, one message came through loud and clear: the three-week economic pause imposed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will be extended 12 days beyond its initial Dec. 8 deadline.
The new deadline is Dec. 20.
Read the full story
Americans’ mental health has plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic as lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures remain in effect across the country, according to a survey published Monday.
Mental health is worse than any other point in the last two decades, Gallup reported on Monday. A survey conducted by Gallup showed 76% of Americans reported their mental health as either excellent or good, a decline from past surveys in which more than 80% of Americans reported positive mental health.
Read the full story
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said during a Monday press conference that the curfew currently placed on the state will need to be extended, although he did not reveal more details.
DeWine imposed a 21-day curfew on Ohio from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. running from November 19 to December 10. The curfew was meant as a “slow down” aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus and applied to retail and indoor seating at restaurants. The curfew exempted businesses like restaurants operating on take-out only, pharmacies and grocery stores.
Read the full story
Hundreds of restaurants banded together to push back against Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent coronavirus mandates, Fox Business reported Monday.
Joe Vicari, president of the Joe Vicari Restaurant Group in a Monday appearance said a total of 400 eateries in the state have joined the push against Whitmer’s lockdowns, Fox reported. Michigan is nearing the end of a three-week pause that shuttered indoor dining and bar service, but the governor has indicated a willingness to re-extend the restrictions that end on Tuesday, according to Bridge Michigan.
Read the full story
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday addressed an interim report on the Michigan COVID-19 Task Force on Racial Disparities, but would not provide a direct answer to the question of whether she would extend the three-week pause on economic activity in the state.
More than two weeks after imposing a second lockdown of Michigan’s indoor dining facilities, theaters and bowling alleys, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services-imposed pause is due to expire next week.
Read the full story
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discouraged Americans from Christmas travel due to the coronavirus pandemic during a telephone press conference Wednesday.
“We did put out a message to postpone and stay at home […] around Thanksgiving and we’re putting out the same message: The best thing for Americans to do in the upcoming holiday season is to stay at home and not travel,” Dr. Henry Walke, director of the Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections (DPEI) in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said in the briefing.
Read the full story
A pilot program to collect DNA samples from individuals in Customs and Border Protection custody will be fully implemented on Dec. 31, officials announced Thursday.
The pilot program began in January of this year and was given three years to meet the legal requirements to implement national collection, according to CBP. The program was expanded in monthly phases and is on track to reach nationwide operation capacity by the end of this year.
Read the full story
National Guard personnel with appropriate training soon will be deployed to Tennessee hospitals to relieve capacity strain brought on by a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order Friday permitting National and State Guardsmen with appropriate training and skills to serve as nurses and ambulance drivers, and to conduct COVID-19 testing in hospitals, emergency rooms, and alternative care facilities.
Read the full story
On February 18, the Oxford Mail published an article headlined “Scientists working on a coronavirus vaccine in Oxford.”
The article explained that Sarah Gilbert, a British vaccinologist and professor at the University of Oxford, was leading a team of scientists at Oxford’s Jenner Institute in rapid development of a vaccine.
Read the full story
A local health agency has suspended the food service license of a Lynd, Minnesota, restaurant owner after she opened her café for in-person service in defiance of Gov. Tim Walz’s orders.
Southwest Health and Human Services (SWHHS) sent a letter last week to Larvita McFarquhar, owner of Haven’s Garden, warning her that a scheduled open-mic night would violate the state’s COVID-19 regulations.
Read the full story
The U.S. economy added 245,000 jobs in November, far below economists’ expectations, while unemployment fell to 6.7%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.
Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 245,000 in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 400,000 to 10.7 million. The U.S. added 638,000 jobs in October while the unemployment rate dropped to 6.9%.
Read the full story
Many families took one look at their school district’s remote or hybrid learning offerings this fall and said “no, thank you.” That’s the message gleaned from national and state-specific data on the surging number of homeschooled students this academic year.
Read the full story
Previously unseen costs of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns are coming to light.
Drug overdose deaths increased 31% during the first half of 2020 compared to the first half of 2019, according to new data released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).
Read the full story
As confirmed cases of the coronavirus continue to rise in the state, Ohio has warned its residents against traveling — to Ohio.
Read the full story
Though some students have found learning at home relieves them of school’s social stresses, many others miss their teachers, classmates, and the routine of the school day. Some of the little ones have become more defiant and have reverted to bed-wetting, while many older students suffer from depression.
Read the full story
Ohio residents applying for unemployment benefits after December 6 will be required to meet work-search requirements, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) announced on Wednesday.
Although the work-search requirement has been in effect “for decades,” it had been waived starting March 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the department said. Individuals who are quarantined or isolated by “order of a medical professional, local health authority or employer” are exempted from the requirement.
Read the full story
Gyms and fitness centers shuttered through Dec. 18 by Gov. Tim Walz claim the state’s own data doesn’t justify the mandate.
From June through Nov. 14, state data reported gyms accounted for 47 COVID-19 outbreaks, making up roughly 7.7% of the states’ 603 total outbreaks during that time.
Read the full story
Nashville’s restaurants are limited to 50% capacity and subject to a 10 p.m. curfew on food and beverage service despite no record of COVID-19 case clusters being connected to a restaurant since June.
The new restrictions by Nashville’s Metro Public Health Department, which were announced last week by Mayor John Cooper, went into effect Monday.
Read the full story
The Centers for Disease Control is set to issue new guidelines shortening the advised quarantine for people exposed to COVID-19, according to multiple administration officials.
The new guidelines call for those exposed to the virus to quarantine for 10 days, down from the original 14-day recommendation. The officials added that people exposed can end their quarantine after one week if they test negative for the virus, according to Politico.
Read the full story
As 2020 winds down, roughly 23 percent of households in the U.S. are struggling with food insecurity, a number that has doubled since last year.
Experts project over 50 million Americans will be food insecure in 2020, including roughly 17 million children, Craig Gundersen, a Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics professor at the University of Illinois, says.
Read the full story