Featured COVID + ~ The INVISIBLE ENEMIES

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AUSTIN, Texas — Two weeks ago, amid the coronavirus pandemic, about 70 students from the University of Texas at Austin partied in Mexico on spring break. The students, all in their 20s, flew on a chartered plane to Cabo San Lucas, and some returned on separate commercial flights to Texas.

Now, 28 of them have tested positive for the virus and are self-isolating. Dozens more are under quarantine and are being monitored and tested, university officials said on Wednesday.

The Austin outbreak is the latest to result from a group of college students who ignored social-distancing guidelines, went on traditional spring break trips and have now tested positive for the coronavirus. Many of them appeared to be under the mistaken impression that young people are not as likely to get the coronavirus as older people are. Students at the University of Tampa, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other colleges have tested positive after returning from spring break trips to Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and elsewhere.

The defiant attitude, at a time when millions of Americans were hunkered down at home and staying away from school, work and relatives, was embodied by Brady Sluder, a young man on spring break in Miami who declared from a packed beach: “If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.” Mr. Sluder, whose television interview was shared widely, later apologized on Instagram.

“The virus often hides in the healthy and is given to those who are at grave risk of being hospitalized or dying,” Dr. Mark E. Escott, the interim medical director and health authority for the city of Austin and Travis County, said in a statement. “While younger people have less risk for complications, they are not immune from severe illness and death from Covid-19,” the disease caused by the coronavirus.

In Austin, health officials with the city government and the university have contacted every young person who was on the chartered plane, using flight manifests shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the authorities said. City health officials used the case to urge residents of all ages to stay home and to avoid nonessential travel. Four of the 28 students who tested positive had not shown any symptoms of the coronavirus.

The state’s flagship university has been hit hard by the virus. Its president, Gregory L. Fenves, announced last month that his wife had tested positive, and that his family was self-isolating. Mr. Fenves’s wife, Carmel, began exhibiting flulike symptoms after the couple traveled to New York City for events with alumni and students. Mr. Fenves’s tests later came back negative.

Mr. Bird said that as of Tuesday, 38 students and seven faculty members had either tested positive, were presumed positive or had self-reported having the virus. That figure includes the 28 students who went to Cabo San Lucas.

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When it comes to limiting the spread of COVID-19, it’s certainly top of mind these days. As coronavirus spreads at an alarming rate in the United States, we’re all doing our best to stay healthy — and relying on our immune system to help make that happen.

At the same time, most of us are spending our days and weeks at home now, which can mean frequent visits to the cupboards for cookies and the freezer for ice cream. We’re looking for all the comfort we can get these days, so what’s the harm in a little sugar?

Potentially a lot, as it turns out. The studied harmful effects of sugar run the gamut from increased anxiety to early death. Oh, and a suppressed immune system.

Yes, there’s some research to back up the idea that sugar wreaks havoc on the immune system. But just how seriously should we take it? Let’s take a closer look.

Your Body On Sugar

While sugar found in fruit or other natural sources can give the body a little boost (mostly because it’s paired with great-for-your body things like fiber and vitamins), processed sugar tends to have some unpleasant effects on the body as a whole.

“Consuming too much sugar can affect the cells in your immune system that target bacteria. ... Sugar affects the way your white blood cells attack bacteria.” explained board-certified internist and gastroenterologist Niket Sonpal. “Nutrient deficiencies can increase your risk level when warding off infection, and food items with high levels of refined sugar are usually nutritionally obsolete. Sugar triggers low-grade inflammation in the body and also increases the mass. This can contribute to diseases that are chronic in nature, things as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”

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Congress' $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package is the rare legislative agreement that will have an immediate — and lasting — impact on ordinary citizens around the country.

Why it matters: Though the full details won't be officially released until later today, we already know that the package will include thousands of dollars in direct payments to most Americans, as well as a huge loan package designed to help keep small businesses afloat.

Here's what is expected to be included in the final bill, according to summaries and conversations with senior Hill aides:

• Direct payments: Americans will receive a one-time direct deposit of up to $1,200, and married couples will get $2,400, plus an additional $500 per child. The payments will be available for incomes up to $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married couples. This is true even for those who have no income, as well as those whose income comes entirely from non-taxable means-tested benefit programs, such as Social Security.
• Use of retirement funds: The bill waives the 10% early withdrawal penalty for distributions up to $100,000 for coronavirus-related purposes, retroactive to Jan. 1.
• Small businesses will get $367 billion in loan guarantees to keep making payroll while workers have to stay home. Companies with 500 employees or less that keep paychecks steady could get up to $10 million each in forgivable small business loans.
• The unemployed: The program's extended unemployment insurance program — "unemployment on steroids," as Chuck Schumer calls it — expands eligibility and offers workers an additional $600 per week for four months, on top of what state programs pay. It also extends UI benefits through Dec. 31, and allows furloughed workers to stay on as employees. The deal extends to gig economy workers.
• Hospitals and health care workers: The deal injects $100 billion into hospitals and the nation's health system, and billions more into providing personal and protective equipment for health care workers, testing supplies, and increased workforce and training.
• Coronavirus testing: All testing and potential vaccines for COVID-19 will be covered at no cost to patients.
• Large corporations: $500 billion will be allotted to provide loans, loan guarantees, and other investments, overseen by a Treasury Department inspector general. These loans will not exceed five years and cannot be forgiven.
• Airlines will receive $25 billion (of the $500 billion) for passenger air carriers, and $4 billion for cargo air carriers.
• Payroll taxes: The measure allows individuals to defer payment of their 2020 payroll taxes until 2021 and 2022.
• States and local governments will get $150 billion, with $8 billion set aside for tribal governments.
• Agriculture: The deal would increase the amount the Agriculture Department can spend on its bailout program from $30 billion to $50 billion, according to a press release issued by Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.).

The timing: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to pass the measure today, an 11th-hour standoff developing between four Senate Republicans and Sen. Bernie Sanders could delay that timetable.

• Once the bill is voted out of the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants to pass the measure via unanimous consent. A House vote could come as early as tomorrow.
• But the House could be forced to return from recess to vote on the legislation in person if just one person objects.

Go deeper:

• Read a summary of the tax and unemployment insurance provisions
• Read a summary of the health care provisions

 

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Breaking: Nancy Pelosi is stalling the passage of the $2 Trillion stimulus bill due to partisan politics.

Pelosi and the Democrat House are Denying CASH PAYMENTS to the American People BUT the final Stimulus bill includes $25,000,000 for The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts It also has $75,000,000 for PBS & NPR

This is government at its worst.



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Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat held House wouldn’t cooperate with Mitch McConnell on a relief bill that would help out millions of Americans who have been rendered jobless due to the quarantine.

Apparently Schumer and Pelosi want to work in all sorts of other provisions including climate change pork. The Democrats’ partisan bickering, progressive virtue signaling and, of course, hatred for President Trump undoubtedly helped contribute to the delay.

Such endless and massive currency creation will lead to inflation. Gold and silver should do well, but most Americans are too broke to afford precious metals. Toilet paper is more affordable.

Democrats have had their heads in the sand (or other places) for far too long.

—Ben Garrison

 

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Former National Security Adviser John Bolton condemned China for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak and called on the rest of the world to "act" and hold the communist government accountable.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Communist Party have been accused of silencing doctors and critics in the early stages of the coronavirus, costing thousands of lives.

Now that they have seemingly turned the corner in tackling the virus at home, the communist-run nation has now positioned itself as the country ahead of the coronavirus curve, and has routinely made unsubstantiated claims that the U.S. is behind the crisis.

In turn, President Trump has routinely referred to coronavirus as the "Chinese virus".

Despite no longer seeing eye to eye with President Trump, Bolton, a notorious hawk, took China to task Saturday morning for their role in the spread of the virus.

"China silenced coronavirus whistleblowers, expelled journalists, destroyed samples, refused CDC help, and concealed counts of deaths and infections. It's fact there was a massive coverup. China is responsible. The world must act to hold them accountable," the former U.N. ambassador tweeted.

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