N.Y.C. mayor's reason for closing public schools was 'arbitrary,' adviser says
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio insists he relied on science when he closed public schools after the Covid-19 test positivity rate hit 3 percent, but one of his advisers told NBC News on Thursday that this was an “arbitrary” figure.
Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative at Columbia University and one of the mayor’s informal emergency response advisers, said he was indirectly involved in the talks over the summer between the city and the powerful teachers union on reopening the schools when that number was agreed upon.
“They were very concerned about reopening the schools and endangering teachers and school staffers and I don’t blame them,” according to Redlener, who said he had access to the discussions, meetings and senior members of the de Blasio administration while negotiations were taking place.
Ohio reaches “critical hospitalization levels,” governor says
Ohio has reached “critical hospitalization levels,” the governor’s office said in a Thursday statement.
There are currently 3,829 people hospitalized with Covid-19 in Ohio, 943 of whom are in the ICU, Gov. Mike DeWine’s said.
Positive cases have increased nearly 300 percent over the past month. Ohio has already recorded 326,615 cases, and seen more than 5,890 deaths.
“Almost all counties are seeing more cases and more healthcare use that could threaten the medical system if they continue," DeWine said.
First federal execution of a woman in decades halted after lawyers diagnosed with Covid
A federal court delayed the execution of Lisa Montgomery, the first woman to face the federal death penalty in decades, on Thursday because her attorneys caught Covid-19 and couldn't prepare her clemency application.
The court order, signed by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, blocks the federal government from executing Montgomery before the end of the year. That will give her lawyers — Amy Harwell and Kelley Henry — time to prepare a petition to president for a commuted sentence.
Biden urged to pick person of color for top health job amid pandemic's toll on minority groups
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is being pushed to name a person of color as his Health and Human Services secretary, a move supporters say is designed to acknowledge the need to address the disproportionate burden the pandemic has placed on minority communities.
Among the nominees allies have been advocating for are Michelle Lujan Grisham, the Latina governor of New Mexico, a former member of Congress also served as the state’s secretary of health; California Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Latino physician and former emergency room doctor; and Rep. Karen Bass, a Black California congresswoman and former physician assistant, according to four people familiar with the discussions who spoke on background to detail private deliberations.
Another top contender is rumored to be Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general whose family immigrated from India and has been a top Biden adviser, said a person advising the transition.
More than 119,000 Americans have died since last White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing 4 months ago
The White House will be holding a Coronavirus Task Force briefing Thursday -- it's first in four months. In that time, more than 119,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus.
A White House official confirmed to NBC News that the last one took place July 8 at the Department of Education. There have been other briefings and news conferences since then that have included members of the task force.
Atlas on the outs with coronavirus task force but still pushing Trump's pandemic claims
President Donald Trump’s top medical adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Scott Atlas, has not attended White House task force meetings in person since late September, according to two administration officials, as he continues to spread misinformation about the worsening health crisis.
The growing split came after the group’s leading medical experts — Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci — indicated that they did not appreciate Atlas’ controversial input or contributions in the Situation Room gatherings.
“That was done in deference to Fauci and Birx because they basically said they will not work with him,” a senior administration official said about the adviser's absence at the meetings.
'It's not enough': Health experts say Iowa governor's new Covid order is 'weak'
Over the past few weeks, Dana Jones has grown increasingly alarmed at how Iowans are handling Covid-19, with hospitals running out of intensive care unit beds and the state surpassing a 45 percent positivity rate.
So, Jones, a nurse in Iowa City, initially felt relieved to hear Monday that Gov. Kim Reynolds would sign a proclamation that included a statewide mask mandate — but then she read it.
The proclamation only requires face coverings in public when someone is within 6 feet of other people for 15 minutes or more, and there are a number of exceptions. Bars and restaurants can stay open, but have to close by 10 p.m., and masks are not required for people exercising in gyms.
“It’s not enough,” said Jones, 39.
Rhode Island gov. orders 2-week 'pause'
Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo announced on Thursday a two-week "pause" in the state to combat rising coronavirus rates.
The pause will shutter some businesses and leave others open, and will run from November 30 to December 13, Raimondo said, according to NBC affiliate WJAR.
In-person colleges, universities, bars, recreational areas and indoor sporting and gymnasium venues are to be closed while crowding restrictions will reduce capacity at high schools, indoor dining, retail and places of worship.
Notably, K-8 in-person education and childcare remain fully open during the Ocean State's two-week pause.
Suit alleges Tyson Food plant manager bet on how many workers would get coronavirus
A federal wrongful death lawsuit alleges that a manager at a Tyson Foods plant in Iowa organized a group bet on how many meatpacking employees would contract Covid-19 just as the coronavirus began to spread widely among plant workers in late March and early April.
The suit, filed on behalf of the estate of deceased Tyson Foods, Inc. employee Isidro Fernandez, alleges that Covid-19 was spreading widely at the Waterloo, Iowa pork processing plant in early April when Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson visited with county health officials.
Working conditions at the plant were so bad that they "shook" Thompson "to the core," according to the suit, which said that, at that time, Waterloo plant workers were crowded together and few wore face coverings.