| Wisconsin is battling America's worst coronavirus outbreak, and the state's broken politics is partially to blame Posted: 10 Oct 2020 07:36 AM PDT  The state GOP's relentless campaign to delegitimize pandemic precautions as partisan overreach has restricted the government's ability to address a worsening crisis.
|
| Hunter Biden’s Former Business Partner to Be Sentenced after Court Revives Fraud Conviction Posted: 09 Oct 2020 07:32 AM PDT  Hunter Biden's former business parter will face sentencing in a fraud case after a federal appeals court on Wednesday reinstated his conviction.Devon Archer, a longtime business associate of Joe Biden's son, was convicted in June, 2018 on charges related to his involvement in a scheme to defraud a Native American tribe.The defendants, including Archer, are accused of pressuring the Wakpamni Lake Community Association, an affiliate of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to issue $60 million in economic-development bonds which the defendants then used for their own purposes, such as investing in their own businesses instead of investing it back into the tribe.After his conviction, a federal judge in New York overturned Archer's conviction later that year, saying the evidence was insufficient to prove that Archer was aware of the multi-million dollar bond fraud scheme.The three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Archer's conviction on Wednesday, ruling that the lower court "abused its discretion in vacating the judgment and granting a new trial" and stating that Archer "knew at least the general nature and extent of the scheme and intended to bring about its success."Archer is scheduled to be sentenced on January 21.Archer worked with Hunter Biden on various business ventures, including serving with the Democratic presidential nominee's son on the board of a Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings.Hunter Biden was appointed to Burisma's board in 2014 while his father was vice president and resigned from the board in April of last year after his lucrative position on the board drew scrutiny.In spring, 2016, Biden called on Ukraine to fire the prosecutor who had been investigating the energy company paying his son. The vice president threatened to withdraw $1 billion in U.S. military aid to Ukraine if the country did not fire the prosecutor, who was accused by the State Department and U.S. allies in Europe of being soft on corruption.
|
| Britain, France, and Germany said they will sanction Russia over Alexei Navalny's poisoning. Putin won't care. Posted: 10 Oct 2020 01:14 AM PDT  Just as in the 2018 poisoning of the Skripals in England and the 2019 killing of a Chechen leader in Germany, Europe's threats will go unheeded.
|
| Surfer vanishes in suspected shark attack in Australia Posted: 08 Oct 2020 10:08 PM PDT |
| Breonna Taylor: What happened on the night of her death? Posted: 09 Oct 2020 02:16 PM PDT  The 26-year-old was killed by police in her Louisville home, sparking protests and calls for justice.
|
| No charges for Wisconsin officer in killing of Black teenager Posted: 08 Oct 2020 10:52 AM PDT  A Black Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot a Black teenager outside a suburban Milwaukee mall in February won't be charged because he had reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.
|
| Who won the VP debate? Polls show what Americans thought of Pence and Harris Posted: 08 Oct 2020 01:49 PM PDT  Early polls conducted after Wednesday's vice presidential debate show who Americans favor so far.
|
| Pompeo warns of China risks ahead of US-India talks Posted: 09 Oct 2020 01:35 PM PDT  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday urged closer ties with India as he warned of China's growing might on its doorstep, amid a flurry of diplomacy between the world's two largest democracies.
|
| Coronavirus pushes Trump into a 'fiasco vortex' as events spin out of administration's control Posted: 09 Oct 2020 01:15 PM PDT  The coronavirus outbreak at the White House has plunged Trump's presidency into what crisis relations expert Eric Dezenhall calls "the fiasco vortex," a phenomenon in which crisis overtakes a public figure, destroying any attempts to impose a favorable cast on developments.
|
| Israel to 'immediately' bring over 2,000 Ethiopian Jews Posted: 10 Oct 2020 01:08 AM PDT |
| Pence's office says he's healthy, but won't explain why he canceled trip to vote in Indiana Posted: 08 Oct 2020 07:26 PM PDT  Vice President Mike Pence will no longer be flying to Indianapolis on Friday to engage in early voting, and while his office won't say what's behind the cancelation, his spokesman is adamant that Pence is healthy."Nobody's sick," Press Secretary Devin O'Malley told the Indianapolis Star. "The VP is planning on traveling on Saturday and Monday. We'll have more information on the vice president's schedule next week soon." O'Malley also said Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, both tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday.Pence had planned on flying into Indianapolis on Friday, then voting in person at the Indianapolis City-County Building before returning to Washington, D.C., in the evening. While his office won't say why the trip was canceled, it did promise that the visit would be rescheduled. Pence spent Thursday on the road, attending rallies in Nevada and Arizona.More stories from theweek.com Mike Pence was the unlikely winner of the vice presidential debate The myth of Mike Pence's appeal Trump is shockingly bad at this
|
| Hong Kong police arrest smuggling group for helping speedboat fugitives Posted: 09 Oct 2020 10:12 PM PDT  Hong Kong police on Saturday arrested a group accused of helping 12 pro-democracy activists detained in mainland China for nearly two months after attempting to flee to Taiwan in a speedboat.
|
| North Korea just unveiled what appears to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile, and it's huge Posted: 10 Oct 2020 07:00 AM PDT  Analysts said the road-mobile, liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile appears to be the largest of its kind anywhere in the world.
|
| Trump hails his COVID 'cure' as leading medical journal calls him 'dangerously incompetent' on pandemic Posted: 09 Oct 2020 01:05 PM PDT  President Trump continued to hail an experimental monoclonal antibody treatment as a "cure" for COVID-19, telling radio host Rush Limbaugh that it sped his recovery from the disease and was "better than a vaccine."
|
| Facebook's nudity-spotting AI mistook a photo of some onions for 'sexually suggestive' content Posted: 09 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Facebook said the onion-seed ad had been removed for breaking its rules on "products with overtly sexual positioning."
|
| No one will buy the Watts murder house featured in Netflix's 'American Murder: The Family Next Door Posted: 09 Oct 2020 12:54 PM PDT  The house is technically still owned by Watts despite its foreclosure
|
| Snowboarders accused of starting avalanche should pay $168,000, Colorado official says Posted: 09 Oct 2020 03:07 PM PDT  "I've never heard of anyone receiving a criminal penalty for making a mistake like this," one of the snowboarders said.
|
| Judge lets ex-cop charged in Floyd's death live out of state Posted: 09 Oct 2020 10:03 AM PDT  A Minnesota judge cited safety concerns as he issued new conditions of release for an ex-Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd that would allow him to live in a neighboring state while he awaits trial. Derek Chauvin posted $1 million bond on Wednesday and was allowed to walk free from the maximum security state prison where he had been held for his safety since shortly after his arrest. Floyd died after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for several minutes even after the handcuffed Black man pleaded for air before his death May 25.
|
| Woman says Southwest wouldn’t let her on plane due to ‘inappropriate’ outfit Posted: 09 Oct 2020 09:35 AM PDT  Kayla Eubanks said Southwest Airlines employees told her that she needed to wear a shirt over her outfit in order to board one of their planes.
|
| White House spokesperson evades answering when Trump last tested negative 6 times in 1 interview Posted: 09 Oct 2020 08:18 AM PDT  The White House really doesn't want to reveal last time President Trump tested negative for COVID-19.While the White House insists Trump first tested positive for the coronavirus a week ago, late on Oct. 1, that test only came after he had reportedly been showing symptoms of the virus. Reporters have since been trying and failing to get an answer on just when Trump last tested negative, including MSNBC's Hallie Jackson, who pressed White House Deputy Press Secretary Brian Morgenstern six times for an answer on Friday.When Jackson first asked for the date of Trump's last test, Morgenstern first insisted he didn't know, to which Jackson questioned if he'd even asked for an answer. Jackson then reminded him there is public health value to this question, as knowing when Trump was last testing negative could help pinpoint when he was infected and who he could've spread it to. And when Jackson asked if Trump had at least tested negative for the virus before debating Democratic nominee Joe Biden last week, Morgenstern echoed Trump's doctor Sean Conley in telling Jackson she was "very focused in looking backwards." After her final attempt, when Morgenstern implored Jackson to talk about something else, she shut the interview down. > Watch White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern refuse to answer on MSNBC when asked six times when the president's last negative test was. pic.twitter.com/dZJfTwd91i> > -- andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) October 9, 2020More stories from theweek.com Mike Pence was the unlikely winner of the vice presidential debate The myth of Mike Pence's appeal Trump is shockingly bad at this
|
| Al-Qaeda and Islamic State: A 'fratricidal' clash Posted: 09 Oct 2020 06:24 AM PDT  To the uninitiated, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group may be pursuing the same long-term goal of spreading Islamic law through territorial expansion and deadly violence.
|
| South Korea to replace Black Hawks with homemade Surion helos, says lawmaker Posted: 09 Oct 2020 09:15 AM PDT  The lawmaker has decried the effort as a means to support the local economy without considering performances and production cost.
|
| Embattled Texas AG drops case that set off staff revolt Posted: 09 Oct 2020 04:04 PM PDT  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday dropped an investigation sought by a wealthy donor that set off an extraordinary revolt by the Republican's top deputies, who accused him of bribery and abuse of office, and fueled new calls for his resignation. The announcement came hours after prosecutors in Austin expressed unease over why Paxton launched an investigation sought by Nate Paul, an Austin developer and Paxton donor whose offices were raided by the FBI.
|
| The Vatican has betrayed the faithful in China Posted: 10 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The Catholic Church's agreement with the Chinese government will cost the Church its convictions and endanger the lives of its Chinese members.
|
| At least 12,000 mink dead as coronavirus spreads among fur farms in Utah and Wisconsin Posted: 09 Oct 2020 02:34 PM PDT  Covid-19 is killing mink in the same way it kills humans, and is wreaking havoc on fur farms in Utah and Wisconsin
|
| Homeless migrants sleep rough beneath Dubai's skyscrapers as Covid employment crisis bites Posted: 09 Oct 2020 06:49 AM PDT  Dubai is witnessing a rare uptick in homelessness as migrant workers left destitute by the Covid downturn have begun sleeping out in parks under the glistening skyscrapers. Blue collar workers from Asia and Africa say they are trapped after losing jobs and running out of money to return home. Migrant workers who spoke to The Telegraph claimed they have been left abandoned after losing their jobs as the economy tightens. With no jobs and expired visas, many have congregated in parks in Dubai's poorer Satwa area, appealing for help for repatriation flights home. Homelessness and poverty are not typically visible in the United Arab Emirates' glitziest city. White collar jobs have also been threatened by the pandemic in UAE, with many UK expats returning home since coronavirus. Dubai's economy is geared towards heavy consumer spending in hospitality, luxury real estate and travel. Oxford Economics, a UK forecaster, estimates 900,000 jobs are under threat among a population of under 10 million.
|
| White House aides fear Trump's medications have triggered manic behavior: report Posted: 09 Oct 2020 11:52 AM PDT  Many argue Trump should have already invoked the 25th Amendment to transfer power to Vice President Mike Pence
|
| Texas officer charged with murder in Jonathan Price shooting fired for 'egregious violation' of department policies Posted: 08 Oct 2020 08:51 PM PDT  The city of Wolfe City said Officer Shaun Lucas "was terminated for his egregious violation of the City's and police department's policies."
|
| Republican senator says 'democracy isn't the objective' of US system Posted: 08 Oct 2020 11:08 AM PDT  * Mike Lee makes inflammatory declaration in morning tweet * Lee claimed US 'is not a democracy' during Wednesday debateA top Republican senator has said that "democracy isn't the objective" of America's political system, sparking widespread outrage at a time when his party has been accused by Democrats of plotting voter suppression and questioning a peaceful transition of power in November's election.The Utah senator Mike Lee made the inflammatory declaration in an early morning tweet following Wednesday's vice-presidential debate."Democracy isn't the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that," he wrote, misspelling prosperity.It followed a series of tweets he made during the debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris in which Lee claimed "We're not a democracy" and questioned its role in US government.Lee, who is among a swath of Republicans who recently tested positive for coronavirus, wrote: 'The word "democracy" appears nowhere in the Constitution, perhaps because our form of government is not a democracy. It's a constitutional republic. To me it matters. It should matter to anyone who worries about the excessive accumulation of power in the hands of the few.'He added: "Government is the official use of coercive force–nothing more and nothing less. The Constitution protects us by limiting the use of government force."His democracy tweet immediately prompted alarm, including from a number of former government officials.Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI assistant director, tweeted: "'Democracy isn't the objective'. Our suspicions are confirmed."Walter Shaub, former director of the US office of government ethics, said: "People of my grandfather's generation knew what to do about fascists. Now a member of Congress is urging us to join them. I wonder what made you hate America so much."The Bloomberg columnist Jonathan Bernstein wrote: "If we're not to have rule of the people, who exactly should rule? Throughout American history, from the Framers up to the present, the answer has always been the same: the people." It comes amid growing concerns over the integrity of the election on 3 November. In the vice-presidential debate Harris accused Donald Trump of promoting voter suppression, saying he "openly attempted to suppress the vote".During the presidential debate he prompted fears over potential voter intimidation when he told supporters to "go into the polls and watch very carefully".Meanwhile, Trump and Pence have refused to assure voters of a peaceful transfer of power if the Republicans lose November's election. The president has said: "Well, we're going to have to see what happens." And in the vice-presidential debate, when asked what he would do if Trump refused a peaceful transfer of power, Pence said: "First and foremost, I think we're going to win this election."With less than a month to go until the election, Democrats and civil rights groups have sought to make it easier to vote by mail during the pandemic, while Republicans and the Trump campaign have fought to keep restrictions in place. In Florida, a federal appeals court ruled in September that people with felony convictions could not vote unless they had repaid all outstanding debts – potentially blocking an estimated 744,000 people from voting.
|
| U.S. border agency said it 'rescued' a Honduran woman and newborn. Then it separated them and detained her Posted: 09 Oct 2020 05:44 PM PDT  Border Patrol agents said they 'rescued' a mom and her newborn. Advocates say they almost immediately took the mother from the hospital, put her in detention hours away from her newborn and told her they'd send her back to Mexico alone.
|
| Trump administration hits 18 countries with aluminum tariffs Posted: 09 Oct 2020 05:54 AM PDT  The United States on Friday imposed steep new tariffs on nearly $2 billion in aluminum from 18 countries the Commerce Department accuses of dumping into the American market, including Germany, Spain and Brazil.
|
| Harrison demands Graham get COVID-19 test before next debate Posted: 09 Oct 2020 01:18 PM PDT  Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison are set to meet for their second debate on Friday.
|
| Deputy burglarizes home of a dead man he found while on duty, California officials say Posted: 09 Oct 2020 10:10 AM PDT  "When we call on law enforcement officers for help, we expect that they answer that call for help with the purest intentions to help those in need."
|
| 'It was an honor': US Army soldier, one of the first women to earn Ranger tab, on leading Ruth Bader Ginsburg's lying in state ceremony Posted: 08 Oct 2020 11:26 AM PDT  "I am a huge fan of really strong leaders, and I think that Justice Ginsburg was able to champion a lot of things," Capt. Shaye Haver told Insider.
|
| Trump warns California will have to ration water because it dumps so much in the sea to help 'certain little tiny fish' Posted: 09 Oct 2020 03:58 AM PDT  'They have farms here and they don't get water. It is so ridiculous they're taking the water and shoving it out to sea'
|
| Fearing Biden tax hikes, wealthy Americans rush to change estate plans Posted: 09 Oct 2020 04:37 AM PDT  The biggest concern is that the White House and Congress could get swept up in a "Blue Wave" of Democratic wins that give Biden the power to propose and pass a sweeping set of tax reforms. Democrats want to raise estate taxes to the "historical norm," according to the party's platform.
|
| International Coalition Backs Embattled Expert on Chinese Foreign-Influence Operations Posted: 09 Oct 2020 01:32 PM PDT  Nearly 150 China-focused experts and academics signed on to a letter this week expressing their support for Anne-Marie Brady, a professor at New Zealand's University of Canterbury, whose work on the Chinese Communist Party's foreign political interference has been the target of a review by the school's vice chancellor.The paper that triggered the review is "Holding a Pen in One Hand, Gripping a Gun in the Other," Brady's investigation of how China's People's Liberation Army has infiltrated civil society and higher education in New Zealand for the purposes of military research. The CCP "is preparing China for what the Chinese leadership believes is an inevitable war," Brady writes in the paper. "The New Zealand government needs to work with businesses and universities to devise a strategy to prevent the transfer of military-end-use technology to China." The report asserts that New Zealand universities — including the Victoria University of Wellington, Massey University, and Lincoln University — have partnerships with Huawei, in addition to alleging the participation of academics in Beijing's Thousand Talents Program.The University of Canterbury's vice chancellor, Cheryl de la Ray, ordered a review into the report after Brady presented it to New Zealand's parliament this past summer. De la Ray put the paper under review because it has "manifest errors of fact and misleading inferences," Canterbury's deputy vice chancellor of research Ian Wright told Stuff, the biggest news website in the country. A number of the academics and universities mentioned in the document have denied Brady's claims.Brady declined a request for comment, saying that she has been instructed by university administrators not to discuss the inquiry. But the academics who signed onto this week's letter have defended the integrity of her scholarship and maintained that the accusations against her are baseless. Among them are Adrian Zenz, the researcher who has spurred a public reckoning with the CCP's drive to eradicate its Uyghur population in Xinjiang, and Clive Hamilton, the Australian professor who wrote a book that brought widespread public attention to Chinese political interference in his country.Describing the "ground-breaking" nature and "profound impact internationally" of Brady's work, the letter states:> We, who know this area, can see no manifest errors or misleading inferences based on the evidenced material provided in the report. The paper does not make "inferences." People who study it may draw some, but that does not mean the paper made them, misleading or otherwise. Since Professor Wright publicly voiced the allegations a group of us peers again went through Professor Brady's Parliamentary submission. We find in it no basis for the allegations. Some of the links in its comprehensive sourcing have gone stale since she submitted it but those URLs all still work if put into Wayback or archive.today.> > We are disappointed to see no prompt follow-up, explanation or clarification of the University's position concerning the allegations. The impression left by that published report should have been corrected to show that the University did not intend any endorsement of the complaints, nor an approval or acceptance of complaints to the University as the appropriate way to criticise academic work. The silence has been interpreted as collaboration in slander against a very distinguished scholar whose work has been consistently based on sound social scientific methodology.Brady has previously faced harassment for her work on Chinese influence. Over the past couple of years, she has been the target of break-ins, mail tampering, and theft of banking information, she told the New Zealand Herald in 2019. The reason for this is no secret: Her work on China's political influence in New Zealand paints the picture of a country whose participation in international organizations, close access to Antarctica, dairy industry, and research on technologies with military applications has made it an enticing target. New Zealand's value to Beijing is also "as a soft underbelly through which to access Five Eyes intelligence," she has written of the intelligence partnership that also includes the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.Brady's travails raise further questions about the true level of CCP influence in New Zealand and around the world, and about how people who stand to be embarrassed by their ties to the Chinese regime work quietly to deter dissent. Charles Burton, a senior fellow at the MacDonald Laurier Institute in Canada who was one of the letter's organizers, called it "unfortunate that this matter is being addressed in a secret university tribunal" without due process or public scrutiny. Burton also says he worries that some human-resources departments could see this situation as an invitation to take similar Beijing-friendly steps going forward.There's no evidence that Canterbury undertook its review of Brady's work at the behest of the Chinese government, which makes the episode even more worrying. After all, when foreigners with an interest in preserving their ties to the CCP suppress scholarship inconvenient to its strategic aims on their own, the regime's aggressive, malignant foreign policy becomes that much harder to counteract.
|
| NYC cancels $900M payment to teachers due to financial crisis Posted: 09 Oct 2020 12:54 PM PDT  NYC teachers who were expected to receive their share of a $900 million payout were told those funds will not be released. The de Blasio administration canceled the payment and is blaming it on the pandemic, according to the New York Post. "It is the city's desire to avoid the necessity for layoffs, and to make a retroactive payment at this time would therefore be fiscally irresponsible," said First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan to Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers on Thursday.
|
| At Disney World, 'Worst Fears' About Virus Have Not Come True Posted: 10 Oct 2020 07:22 AM PDT  In July, one infectious disease expert said that Walt Disney World's reopening was a "terrible idea" that was "inviting disaster." Social media users attacked Disney as "irresponsible" and "clueless" for pressing forward, even as coronavirus cases surged in Florida. A few aghast onlookers turned Disney World marketing videos into parody trailers for horror films.Attendance has been lower than anticipated. Travel agents say families have been postponing Christmastime plans to vacation at the Orlando-area resort, in part because of concerns about the safety of flying. In recent days, Disney World, citing continued uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic, began laying off 15,550 workers, or 20% of its workforce.As tumultuous as the three months since the reopening have been, however, public health officials and Disney World's unions say there have been no coronavirus outbreaks among workers or guests. So far, Disney's wide-ranging safety measures appear to be working."We have no issues or concerns with the major theme parks at this point," said Dr. Raul Pino, director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, which includes Disney World.Disney declined to say how many Disney World employees had tested positive for the coronavirus since the resort reopened. In phone interviews, union leaders said cases had been minimal."We've had very few, and none, as far as we can tell, have been from work-related exposure," said Eric Clinton, president of UNITE HERE Local 362, which represents roughly 8,000 attraction workers and custodians.Clinton's assessment was echoed by UNITE HERE Local 737, which represents hotel housekeepers and food and beverage workers; Local 631 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, where members include stagehands and show technicians; United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1625, which handles merchandise and banquet workers; and Teamsters Local 385, which looks after bus drivers, laundry workers and entertainers who appear in costume as Disney characters."So far -- so far -- it has been a success story," said Julee Jerkovich, a United Food & Commercial Workers official. "As a union rep, I do not say that lightly."Disney's ability to keep workers and guests safe has been at the center of an increasingly tense standoff in California that has kept the company's West Coast resort closed since March. Gov. Gavin Newsom, citing coronavirus concerns, has refused to allow California theme parks to reopen; Disney, citing the efficacy of its safety procedures in Florida, has pressured him to reconsider. So have elected officials in Southern California, where the two-park Disneyland Resort in Anaheim supports 78,000 jobs, according to economists at California State University, Fullerton.Getting the California complex running again is important for Disney because other areas of the company -- theatrical films, cruise vacations -- have also been severely disrupted by the pandemic and face a more strenuous recovery. Disneyland generated an estimated $3.8 billion in revenue last year, according to Michael Nathanson, a media analyst.Last week, a frustrated Robert A. Iger, Disney's executive chair, resigned from an economic task force set up by Newsom at the start of the pandemic. California wants theme parks to remain closed until the rate of new daily coronavirus cases in their counties falls below 1 per 100,000 people and the counties have a less than 2% positivity rate for tests -- what the governor has deemed "minimal" on a four-level scale for coronavirus risk. Theme park owners, including NBCUniversal and Six Flags, have pushed back on that standard as unrealistic, saying it will effectively keep them closed until a vaccine has been deployed."We're going to be stubborn about it," Newsom said at a briefing Wednesday, noting that he wanted a "health-first" approach."There's no hurry putting out guidelines," he continued. "It's very complex. These are like small cities."Every other Disney resort has reopened, including those in Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.New coronavirus cases in Florida have dropped steadily since Disney World reopened in mid-July. Florida had about 11,800 new cases a day when Disney's theme parks unlocked their gates. A month into operations, the number was about 6,400. On Friday, Florida added 2,908 cases. The Orlando area has had an even sharper decline. Disney has said Floridians have made up about 50% of attendance since the reopening."The data shows that we opened responsibly," Dr. Pamela Hymel, chief medical officer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said by phone. "We didn't cause a surge." In response to Newsom's comments, Hymel said, "We absolutely reject the suggestion that reopening the Disneyland Resort is incompatible with a 'health first' approach."The coronavirus continues its rampage, with an average of 47,000 new cases a day in the United States over the past week and the Great Plains particularly struggling. The arrival of flu season and cooler fall air (prompting more people to spend time indoors) has added to concerns about a spike. Europe is already battling one.Anne W. Rimoin, an epidemiology professor at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA, said she remained concerned about Disney World as a potential coronavirus hot spot. She noted that people visiting from out of state could be infected during their trip -- if not at Disney World itself then at the airport or in a taxi -- and take the virus back to their communities. Tracking such cases would be impossible."Just because we don't have ample evidence of it happening -- yet -- doesn't mean it's not happening," Rimoin said. "There is simply no zero-risk scenario here. When you create opportunities for large numbers of people to come together, you are providing opportunities for the virus to spread."There is concern among Disney World union leaders that a recent decision by Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, to lift capacity restrictions on restaurants and other businesses, including theme parks, could lead to a wave of infections and hot-spot headlines."We need people to feel safe coming to Florida for vacation because that puts us to work," said Mike McElmury, trustee of Teamsters Local 385. "Everyone is worried about going backward."Despite the relaxation of regulations by DeSantis, Disney World has not changed its self-imposed capacity limits, according to a Disney spokesperson. The resort will continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in that regard.Union leaders note that Disney World has strengthened its safety protocols since reopening. At first, bandannas and neck gaiters were acceptable face coverings, but all visitors must now wear masks, and employees police whether they are being worn correctly. People were initially allowed to remove their masks when eating or drinking, including when walking around. Now they must be seated or stationary.More plexiglass dividers were installed in rides and restaurants in recent weeks."The safety protocols -- the cleaning and the social distancing and the mandatory face coverings -- have really proven to be workable," said Paul Cox, president of the stagehands local. "The worst fears have not come true."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
|
No comments:
Post a Comment