covid-19

Dow tumbles 900 points for worst day of year on fears of new Covid variant, S&P 500 drops 2.53%

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U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Friday as a new Covid variant found in South Africa triggered a global shift away from risk assets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 905.04 points, or 2.53%, for its worst day of the year, closing at 34,899.34. The S&P 500 lost 2.27% to close at 4,594.62, while the Nasdaq … Read more

Disney World pauses COVID-19 vaccine mandate

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Walt Disney World confirmed Saturday that it has paused its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

“We believe that our approach to mandatory vaccines has been the right one as we’ve continued to focus on the safety and well-being of our cast members and guests, and at this point, more than 90% of active Florida-based cast members have already verified that they are fully vaccinated,” a Disney spokesperson said. “We will address legal developments as appropriate.”

An internal memo from Disney said that the pause will remain in effect as the company “assesses the new state laws protecting workers from vaccine mandates,” according to FOX 35 Orlando. The station said it had obtained a copy of the internal memo sent to Disney cast members.

Nick Caturano, a cast member at Disney World for more than 16 years, said that he had heard managers were leaking e-mails detailing the move two hours before the cast members received them.

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Federal appeals court halts Biden administration’s vaccine requirement

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A federal appeals court in New Orleans has halted the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for private businesses, delivering another political setback to one of the White House’s signature public health policies.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, helmed by one judge who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and two others who were appointed by President Donald Trump, issued the ruling Friday, after temporarily halting the mandate last weekend in response to lawsuits filed by Republican-aligned businesses and legal groups.

Calling the requirement a “mandate,” the court said the rule, instituted through the Labor Department, “grossly exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority,” according to the opinion, written by Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt and joined by Judges Edith H. Jones and Stuart Kyle Duncan.

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Evidence why you would NEVER get a fountain drink at a gas station convenience Store

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The photos below are from an ice machine mounted atop a fountain drink dispenser at a very large national chain of gas station/convenience stores in Orlando. It’s funny how the name of the national chain gas station used to describe its hours of operation. After Covid-19 hit, restaurants and bars cut back their maintenance budgets … Read more

Antibody treatment’s use soars

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Vaxxed and holdouts embrace therapy; experts debate use of therapy by vaccinated

A nurse enters a monoclonal antibody site, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, at C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines. Numerous sites are open around the state offering monoclonal antibody treatment sold by Regeneron to people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Vaxxed and holdouts embrace therapy; experts debate use of therapy by vaccinated

It isn’t just people who are unvaccinated using Florida’s 25 monoclonal antibody treatment clinics, according to Florida officials.

About 45% of the more than 135,000 people who have received the COVID-19 treatment were fully vaccinated, state officials estimate. In parts of the state with higher vaccination rates, such as MiamiDade County, the percentage has been as much as 60%.

But do vaccinated people with breakthrough cases and mild symptoms need to get monoclonal antibody treatment? The question of who should be prioritized is drawing debate in the medical community. The pricey drug cocktail is free to patients but costs taxpayers about $2,100 a dose.

Patients should talk with their doctor, but people who are fully vaccinated and otherwise healthy don’t benefit much from getting the treatment if they develop a breakthrough case of COVID-19, said Michael Teng a virologist at the University of South Florida.

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Merck says experimental pill cuts worst effects of COVID-19

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In a potential leap forward in the global fight against the pandemic, drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental pill for people sick with COVID-19 reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half.

That could add a whole new easy-to-use weapon to an arsenal that already includes the COVID-19 vaccine.

The company said it will soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize the pill’s use. A decision from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could come within weeks after that, and the drug, if it gets the OK, could be distributed quickly soon afterward.

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Pandemic Mask Rules Are Making Even Less Sense

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed sent an important but unintentional message last week when she was caught violating her own mask mandates while partying away, maskless, in a jam-packed jazz club.

Her excuse was incoherent; she said she was “feeling the spirit,” enjoying the music and so not thinking about a mask.

But the more serious problem wasn’t her hypocrisy and lame rationalizing so much as the mixed and misleading messages sent by the rules themselves. Americans are in dire need of guidance that’s coherent, fair, sustainable and backed by evidence. And they’re not getting it from public health authorities or the rule-makers who rely on them, even as the country slouches toward a confusing new normal with no end to Covid-19 in sight.

“We don’t need the fun police to come in and micromanage and tell us what we should or shouldn’t be doing,” Breed said when questioned. She was making a good point! But as Charles C.W. Cook wrote on Monday in National Review, she is the person who authorized the mask mandate. She is the fun police.

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I’ve been working at home during the pandemic — do I qualify for home office tax deductions?

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Say you’ve had to work from home during the COVID-19 crisis. Join the club. Like many others who are lucky enough to be able to do their jobs from home, you might now be wondering if you can claim a federal income tax deduction for home office expenses. As things currently stand, the answer is no unless you’re self-employed.

But the answer could change if Congress grants additional COVID-19-related tax relief. Here’s what you need to know about home office write-offs as things stand right now.

No home office deductions for employees
Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), an employee could potentially claim itemized deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses —including home office expenses —if you used a home office for the convenience of your employer. In that case, you could lump the home office expenses together with other miscellaneous expenses — such as fees for investment advice, tax advice, tax preparation, and union dues.

If your total miscellaneous expenses exceeded 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), you could write off the excess — as long as you itemized deductions.

Unfortunately, that was then and this is now.

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