Month: December 2021

A cruise ship out of South Florida will skip two ports after 55 people onboard tested positive for COVID-19. Royal Caribbean International confirmed Thursday that its ‘Odyssey of the Seas’ ship will not stop in Curaçao or Aruba as planned. The ship left Port Everglades on Saturday for an 8-night Caribbean sailing. It plans to remain out at sea until returning to Fort Lauderdale as scheduled on Sunday.  Last Saturday, another Royal Caribbean ship – ‘Symphony of the Seas’ – arrived back in Miami after 48 people tested positive for COVID-19.

Royal Caribbean said in a statement: “The decision was made together with the islands out of an abundance of caution due to the current trend of COVID-19 cases in the destinations’ communities as well as crew and guests testing positive on board — 55 crew members and guests, representing 1.1% of the onboard community. The cruise sailed with 95% of the onboard community fully vaccinated.”

Royal Caribbean says all 55 people who tested positive are fully vaccinated and mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. The cruise line declined to say how many of those people are passengers and how many are crew.  Their statement read: “We continue to monitor their health. Close contacts were also identified and placed in quarantine to be monitored for 24 hours prior to testing.”

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On Thursday, jurors convicted suburban Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter of two manslaughter charges in the killing of Daunte Wright, a black motorist she shot during a traffic stop after she said she confused her gun for her taser.

The mostly white jury deliberated for about four days before finding former officer Potter guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. The 49-year-old Potter faces about seven years in prison on the most serious count under the state’s sentencing guidelines, however, prosecutors said they would be seeking a longer term.

Potter shot and killed the 20-year-old Wright during an April 11 traffic stop in Brooklyn Center as she and other officers were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge. The shooting happened at a time of high tension in the area, with former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin standing trial just miles away for the killing of George Floyd.

Jurors were shown video of the shooting that was captured by police body cameras and dashcams. In sometimes tearful testimony, Potter told jurors that she was “sorry it happened.” She said that she shouted her warning about the Taser after she saw a look of fear on the face of Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was leaning into the passenger-side door of Wright’s car. She also told jurors that she doesn’t remember what she said or everything that happened after the shooting, as much of her memory of those moments “is missing.” Potter’s lawyers argued that she made a mistake by drawing her gun instead of her taser.

Under Minnesota law, defendants are sentenced only on the most serious conviction if multiple counts involve the same act and the same victim.  The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years. A sentencing date was set for Friday, February 18 at 10 a.m. ET.

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The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday it has authorized Pfizer’s antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 for emergency use, allowing limited use of the drug in Americans as young as 12 who are at “high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.”

Early data suggests Pfizer’s pills, called Paxlovid, are effective against Omicron cases. The FDA said in a statement: “This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.”

The new treatment option comes as doctors are facing a nationwide shortage of monoclonal antibodies to treat high-risk cases of the disease, with most formulas ineffective against the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Paxlovid treatment needs to begin within a few days of first developing symptoms. A course of treatment is made up of three tablets that are taken twice a day, in the morning and evening, over the course of five days, for a total of 30 pills. Two of the tablets are nirmatrelvir, an antiviral Pfizer designed to target SARS-CoV-2, and one is ritonavir, a drug that has also been used to treat HIV.

Like with some other COVID-19 treatments that have been authorized by the FDA, the regulator will limit Pfizer’s drug to only people at “higher risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19.” That includes seniors and people with underlying conditions like heart disease or diabetes.  The FDA said Wednesday that “Paxlovid is available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset.”

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The White House announced Wednesday that President Biden extended a pause on student loan repayments an additional 90 days through May 1, 2022. Those with student loans had been scheduled to begin repayments on February 1.

Mr. Biden said in his statement announcing the extension that although unemployment is relatively low, many are still struggling with the economic fallout from the pandemic: “Now, while our jobs recovery is one of the strongest ever — with nearly 6 million jobs added this year, the fewest Americans filing for unemployment in more than 50 years, and overall unemployment at 4.2 percent — we know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments.”

The pause began under former President Donald Trump, and continued under Mr. Biden. Some progressives have been urging the president to cancel student loans entirely, not just pause them. Student loan interest is set to kick back in when payments resume, but some Senate Democrats are asking President Biden to waive it. It is not yet clear whether this will be the final extension on student loan repayments.

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President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday afternoon, announcing changes to his winter COVID-19 plan in light of the Omicron variant causing a rapid surge in positive cases across the country. Among the changes the President noted were providing an additional 500 million rapid coronavirus tests for use across the country. Biden also detailed other changes, including new testing sites, greater support for overloaded hospitals and more efforts for vaccination and booster doses.

Biden and his medical advisers have been monitoring the spread of the Omicron strain, which has quickly become the dominant variant nationwide. The mutation is responsible for almost 75% of all new cases across the United States. The President said: “I know you’re tired. I really mean this, and I know you’re frustrated. We all want this to be over. But we’re still in it. And this is a critical moment. We also have more tools than we have ever had before. We’re ready. We’ll get through this.”

A new website will make nearly 500 million COVID-19 rapid antigen tests available and delivered to homes free of charge for anyone who wants them. Biden also reinforced that his vaccine mandate has been reinstated by an appeals court. The rules require companies with more than 100 employees to require them to be vaccinated or conduct daily testing. “The rule is legal and effective, and it’s going to save thousands of American lives,” he said.

Biden said the the Defense Department is being directed to prepare an additional 1,000 military doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical personnel to be deployed to hospitals in January and February in an effort to prevent hospitals from becoming overfilled.

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The U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will allow federal inmates who had previously been released to serve home confinement because of the threat of COVID-19 in prisons to remain at home. The department originally said it would force inmates released under the program to eventually return to federal custody. Densely populated prisons have become a breeding ground for COVID-19, according to researchers.

The decision on the Justice Department’s website read: “This office concluded in January 2021 that, when the COVID-19 emergency ends, the Bureau of Prisons will be required to recall all prisoners placed in extended home confinement.” Since March 2020, some nearly 5,000 federal inmates have been released from prison and placed into extended home confinement. The directive was part of the CARES Act, an initiative to address COVID-19 crisis. At least 2,830 of those prisoners would have to be returned to a correctional facility once the pandemic emergency is deemed over, under the previous interpretation of the rule.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement:  “Thousands of people on home confinement have reconnected with their families, have found gainful employment, and have followed the rules. We will exercise our authority so that those who have made rehabilitative progress and complied with the conditions of home confinement, and who in the interests of justice should be given an opportunity to continue transitioning back to society, are not unnecessarily returned to prison.”

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