Tag: police state

Time to look at our quarantine hotel contingency plan

The minister in charge of managed isolation, Megan Woods, told RNZ’s Morning Report: “At the moment we have 75 rooms available in Jet Park and 100 extra that could be brought on. We’ve certainly got capacity.”

A written response from MBIE’s spokesperson to Newsroom’s query about plans if Jet Park Hotel reached capacity didn’t mention the extra 100 rooms: “We are always working to align capacity with demand and are always looking at what requirements will be necessary to safely accommodate future arrivals.”

The spokesperson said setting up a new quarantine facility would take work. 

“Managing more than one quarantine facility will require a significant multi-agency response to ensure the health and safety of the returnees and facility staff. This will involve central and local government officials, along with NZDF, police and security representatives working together to manage the facilities and provide health and wellbeing support, security and assistance to guests, hotel staff and other government agency personnel.”

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Coronavirus: All New Zealand’s confirmed COVID-19 cases to be put in quarantine facilities from now on

All confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand will be placed quarantine facilities from now on.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced the change at a press conference on Thursday, moments after revealing there are 13 new cases of coronavirus linked to an outbreak in south Auckland.

The use of quarantine facilities marks a major departure from how positive cases were managed by health officials when New Zealand was last at level 3, as cases earlier in the year were told to simply self-isolate in their homes.

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DPH: Flu vaccine required for all students of Massachusetts schools

Flu shots will now be required for all students in Massachusetts schools, from child care through colleges, the Department of Public Health announced Wednesday.

Students older than six months will have to be vaccinated by Dec. 31, unless either a medical or religious exemption is provided.

“The new vaccine requirement is an important step to reduce flu-related illness and ​the overall impact of respiratory illness during the COVID-19 pandemic,” officials wrote in an announcement of the new policy.

Students who are homeschooled are exempt from the policy, but health officials said students at elementary and secondary schools that are using a remote learning model are not exempt.

College or university students who are entirely off-campus will also be exempt from the mandate.

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Government Must Not Assign a Coronavirus Vaccine By Race

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Afederal advisory committee recommending priorities for the eventual distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine has floated a very bad idea: according priority to some beneficiaries over others because of their race. If implemented, the regime would very likely be struck down by courts as unconstitutional. But even aside from that, racial preferences on this question would constitute a dangerous betrayal of the neutrality and impartiality citizens have a right to expect from government.

The Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been examining vaccine priority issues since the spring. Last month the New York Times reported that ACIP’s members were weighing what the Times called the “contentious option” of “putting Black and Latino people, who have disproportionately fallen victim to COVID-19, ahead of others in the population.” A more recent Washington Post report confirms that the idea is still under consideration.

It’s coming from some well-placed players, too. One is Dr. José R. Romero, who chairs the committee and is one of the four members detailed to examine the priority issue; he is also chief medical officer of the Arkansas Department of Health. The Times quotes him as saying, “They are groups that need to be moved to the forefront, in my opinion.”

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Scientists warn it may be years before students can return to school without masks, social distancing

Experts say it may take a couple of years before students can resume classes without the risk of an outbreak,especially among grade-school children. They say a combination of herd immunity, a coronavirus vaccine and hygienic practices are needed to bring the virus down to low enough levels and allow schools to safely return to normal.

“You’re really going to need all three moving forward,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Offit, who was a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, added that social distancing measures are difficult in some school settings. 

Public health officials say herd immunity is not likely soon, adding at least 60% to 80% of the population need to have the antibodies to fight off new infections, leaving the virus without enough new hosts to infect.

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