Month: May 2021

At least two people were killed and more than 150 injured after a bleacher collapsed at an uncompleted West Bank synagogue on Sunday, the eve of a major Jewish holiday. The bleacher was packed with ultra-Orthodox worshippers and collapsed during prayers at the beginning of Shavuot. Paramedics had treated more than 157 people for injuries and pronounced two dead, a man in his 50s and a 12-year-old boy. The collapse comes weeks after 45 ultra-Orthodox Jews were killed in a stampede at a religious festival in northern Israel.

Israeli military said in a statement that it dispatched medics and other search and rescue troops to assist at the scene, and army helicopters were airlifting the injured.

Shavuot is a spring harvest festival that also marks the day in the Jewish calendar on which the Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is traditionally marked with all-night Torah study and the consumption of dairy.

Wall Street bounced back from a  three-day losing streak on Thursday powered by Big Tech companies and banks. The S&P 500 gained 1.2% after its loss from a day earlier, which was the biggest one-day drop since February. 

Technology stocks led the gain — Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google’s parent company all rose. Financial companies also did well. JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab and Capital One Financial each rose more than 2%. The energy sector was the only loser in the S&P 500 as oil prices fell sharply.

The S&P 500 gained 49.46 points to 4,112.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 433.79 points, or 1.3%, to 34,021.45. The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, climbed 93.31 points, or 0.7%, to 13,124.99. Smaller company stocks also recovered some of their losses from earlier in the week. The Russell 2000 index picked up 35.81 points, or 1.7%, to 2,170.95.

In other markets, the price for Bitcoin plunged 10% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk reversed his earlier position on the digital currency and said the electric car maker would no longer accept it as payment.

Dow futures rise after major averages snap 3-day losing streak

Via www.cnbc.com

U.S. stock index futures were little changed in overnight trading on Thursday, after all three…

05/13/2021 4:03 PM

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or physically distance, both indoors or outdoors in most circumstances. The CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said during a media briefing Thursday afternoon: “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy. Based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases, the scientific data on the performance of our vaccines and our understanding of how the virus spreads. That moment has come for those who are fully vaccinated.”

More than 35 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.  A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the last dose of Covid-19 vaccine. That gives the immune system enough time to develop antibodies against the virus. 

Dr. Walensky said that the new mask recommendation is proof that vaccines are working extraordinarily well.  However, the new guidelines also state that people who have compromised immune systems should talk to their doctors about continuing with mitigation measures. And even fully vaccinated people may still be asked to wear masks in certain places, such as in hospitals or other health care settings, as well as public transportation. For those who remain unvaccinated or who have only had a single dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, Walensky advised continuing to wear masks.

CDC eases indoor mask restrictions for fully vaccinated people

Via www.cbsnews.com

The CDC defines “fully vaccinated” as two weeks after the second dose, or two weeks after the…

05/13/2021 5:28 PM