According to Hank

US life expectancy drops by year and a half due to COVID-19

Life expectancy in the US fell by a year and a half in 2020 to 77.3 years — the lowest level since 2003, the Centers for Disease and Prevention announced Wednesday. Deaths from COVID-19 largely contributed to the drop, accounting for 73.8 percent of the decline in life expectancy, according to researchers with the Centers for Disease and Prevention. In 2019, US life expectancy was 78.8 years. It…

Rand Paul accused Anthony Fauci of lying to Congress about COVID-19 origins. Then, it got loud.

White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and Sen. Rand Paul got into a heated exchange at a Tuesday morning Senate hearing after Paul accused Fauci of lying to Congress as Paul believes the National Institutes of Health funded a Wuhan, China, lab that contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul, R-Ky., referred to a May meeting Congress had with Fauci, head of the National Institute of…

Satellite images show Kim Jong-Un’s water-slide yacht in action, while North Korea struggles with famine and COVID-19

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with military officers in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 16, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS Satellite images caught the movements of Kim Jong-Un’s luxury yacht, suggesting he is partying. North Korea is undergoing food shortages and struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic. The amusement-park-themed yacht can be a…

White House says Harris tests negative for COVID-19

Vice President Kamala Harris tested negative for the coronavirus after meeting with infected Democratic legislators from Texas — and isn’t being isolated from President Biden, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday. Psaki’s remarks came after Harris’ spokeswoman said late Saturday that the vice president didn’t need testing because she never got close enough to be exposed to the deadly…

2 more Texas Dems who fled state to block GOP voting bill get COVID-19

Two more Texas Democrats who have been in Washington, DC, since last week in an effort to prevent a vote on a GOP-backed election reform bill have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total to five infected state lawmakers, many of whom visited with Vice President Kamala Harris. Texas state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer has now also come down with COVID-19.Alex Wong/Getty Images The new…

In Undervaccinated Swaths of Arkansas, COVID-19 Upends Life All Over Again

Linda Marion, 68, lays in her hospital bed with complications due to COVID-19, at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Ark., July 8, 2021. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times) MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. — When the boat factory in this leafy Ozark Mountains city offered free coronavirus vaccinations this spring, Susan Johnson, 62, a receptionist there, declined the offer, figuring she was…

In U-turn, UK’s Johnson to quarantine after COVID-19 contact

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will spend 10 days self-isolating after contact with a confirmed coronavirus case, his office said Sunday — reversing an earlier announcement that he would not have to quarantine. Johnson’s 10 Downing St. office said Sunday that the prime minister and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak were both alerted overnight by England’s test-and-trace phone app. He…

3 Texas Democrats test positive for COVID-19 in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON — Three Texas House Democrats have tested positive for COVID-19 in Washington, D.C., according to Texas House Democratic Caucus leadership. They’re among nearly 60 lawmakers who fled the state Monday to break quorum in the House, part of an effort to block the passage of a GOP-led elections bill. Most members are staying in the same hotel. One member found out about their positive test…

Tokyo Olympics village resident tests positive for COVID-19: Officials

A resident of the Tokyo Olympics athletes’ village has tested positive for COVID-19 — the first case found there, local officials said Saturday. Toshiro Muto, CEO of the organizing committee, said the person is a visitor from abroad involved in planning the Games, and not an athlete, The Guardian reported. The positive test came back on Friday, and the person was placed in a 14-day quarantine,…

Most people won’t need a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for years, vaccination experts predict

COVID-19 vaccine Ian Forsyth/Getty Images The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is meeting next week to discuss whether immunocompromised Americans should be authorized to receive a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and Pfizer said last week it will seek regulatory approval for an eventual third booster shot of its vaccine amid the…

White House ‘flagging’ posts for Facebook to censor due to COVID-19 ‘misinformation’

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday the Biden administration is identifying “problematic” posts for Facebook to censor because they contain “misinformation” about COVID-19. Psaki disclosed the government’s role in policing social media during her daily press briefing after Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on companies to purge more pandemic posts. The demand for censorship —…

964 people got COVID-19 after an outdoor music festival, despite compulsory negative tests, vaccines, or other proof of immunity

People at an unnamed festival Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images 964 people who attended a Dutch outdoor music festival tested positive for the coronavirus. The festival did not impose social distancing, arguing that its screening procedures were enough. Information on the severity of the cases was not available. See more stories on Insider’s business page. Nearly a thousand people tested positive for…

Spike in hospitalizations due to Delta variant underscores need for COVID-19 vaccination, experts say

As the Delta variant of the coronavirus has spiked in areas of the country with low vaccination rates, the staff at Missouri’s Mercy Hospital Springfield has struggled to keep pace. “Our physicians on the floors are pretty tired. They’re working almost daily, some of them for weeks on end, same with all of our other care provider teams,” Erik Frederick, the hospital’s chief administrative…

US COVID-19 cases rising again, doubling over three weeks

The COVID-19 curve in the U.S. is rising again after months of decline, with the number of new cases per day doubling over the past three weeks, driven by the fast-spreading delta variant, lagging vaccination rates and Fourth of July gatherings. Confirmed infections climbed to an average of about 23,600 a day on Monday, up from 11,300 on June 23, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And…

FDA warns of possible link between J&J vaccine, autoimmune disorder: Latest COVID-19 updates

The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is once again raising concerns. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday warned about a possible link between that vaccine and the autoimmune disorder known as Guillain-Barré syndrome. In a statement, the agency said the data “suggests an association” between the vaccine and a higher risk of the condition, but not enough “to establish a causal…

COVID-19: It’s not all about you. Get the vaccine, and save someone else’s life

It’s seldom that conservatives get me frowning as much as regressive progressives do. But quite a few are arguing that people should not take coronavirus vaccines if they don’t want to. My frown is forming permanent wrinkles. They frame the issue as a matter of rights when, in fact, it’s a matter of everyday morality. By the calculation of most of the world’s medical scientists, not taking a…

Miami-Dade commission chairman, vaccinated for COVID-19, tests positive for the virus

The chairman of Miami-Dade’s county commission has tested positive for COVID-19 about four months after he said he was fully vaccinated for the virus — prompting a wave of planned tests for senior county leaders and raising questions about exposure at the Surfside command center. Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz has been a frequent presence in Surfside, appearing beside Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at…