- Nigerian Military Was Alerted Of Suspicious Movements Of Terrorists In Federal University, Zamfara But They Failed To Mount Vigilance – Northern Coalition SaharaReporters.com
- 24 Female Students Among Dozens Kidnapped By Gunmen At Nigerian University NDTV
- Tinubu orders immediate rescue of abducted Zamfara students Punch Newspapers
- Zamfara: Kidnaping of female students, threat to girl-child education – ACF Vanguard
- Tinubu directs security agencies to rescue remaining female students abducted at Nigerian university Premium Times
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: vigilance
US Coronavirus: One Florida mayor says ‘too many people’ coming for spring break as US health officials urge vigilance
Among the top concerns for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: travel.
“We are very worried about transmissible variants,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told CNN late last week. “A lot of them have come through our travel corridors, so we’re being extra cautious right now with travel.”
The director has said that every time travel numbers are up, a surge in Covid-19 cases tends to follow — as was the case with major holidays like July 4, Labor Day and the winter holiday season.
“There’s about the same amount of travel now as happened during Thanksgiving,” she said.
With spring breaks kicking off, air travel is setting pandemic-era records. TSA figures show more than 1.3 million people were screened at airports on Friday — the highest number since March 15, 2020.
Florida — a popular spring break destination — is already seeing packed beaches.
“We’re seeing too much spring break activity,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told CNN Saturday morning. “We’ve got a problem with too many people coming here, we’ve got a problem with too many people coming here to let loose.”
“We are concerned,” the mayor said. “It’s very challenging.”
In Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer urged visitors to practice Covid-19 safety precautions.
“We’ve come a long way as a community in slowing the spread of the virus,” Dyer wrote on Twitter. “As you enjoy our city and our wonderful weather this weekend, continue your pandemic precautions.”
You asked, we answered: Your top questions about Covid-19 and vaccines
Keep your mask on. Here’s why:
And it’s not just the crowds that are making experts nervous. It’s the loosened Covid-19 restrictions that have now taken effect in states across the country.
“I think we are letting loose a bit too early. Because we’re talking about lifting mask mandates,” emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen told CNN Saturday. “I understand reopening businesses, I want our businesses and our schools, our churches and other institutions to reopen. We can do that if we keep in place mask mandates.”
Texans are no longer under a statewide mask mandate. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also announced earlier this month he was lifting all county mask mandates. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced the state will remove its statewide mask requirement and allow allow bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms to resume normal operations starting Tuesday.
These are the states that don’t require face masks
In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Thursday he was doing away with any restrictions on events or residents and was removing a mask requirement in state buildings.
But, citing concerns over the B.1.1.7 variant, that was first spotted in the UK and is now spreading in the US, one expert said now is the “wrong time” to be taking away mask mandates.
“If there was ever a time to put on the mask, this is it,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins told MSNBC Saturday. “Every bit of data proves that mask wearing reduces infections, reduces deaths are we are still seeing 50 to 60,000 cases a day right now… this is the time.”
Expanded eligibility in some states starting Monday
It’ll be crucial to keep practicing safety precautions while the US works to boost its vaccination numbers.
So far, more than 68.8 million Americans have gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine while more than 36.9 million are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
But the US still faces major challenges when it comes to getting shots in arms, including “constrained vaccine supply ongoing vaccine hesitancy and increasing myths and disinformation,” according to Walensky.
In efforts to boost vaccination numbers, state leaders across the country are announcing expanded requirements for vaccine eligibility.
In Alaska, people living or working in the state who are 16 or older can get the vaccine. Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is the only one available for use by people who are 16 or older, while the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are both restricted to people 18 or older.
Rhode Island eligibility opened Friday to residents who are 60 to 64 as well as people 16 to 64 with certain underlying health conditions.
In Georgia, residents 55 and older and people with disabilities and certain medical conditions will be eligible for the vaccine starting Monday.
Also starting Monday, Kentuckians 16 and older with any medical or behavioral health condition that the CDC says could be at increased risk of severe Covid-19 illness will also be eligible for the vaccine. Health officials added that smoking will not be in the covered conditions in the state.
Meanwhile in California, people with certain high-risk medical conditions or disabilities will also become eligible for a vaccine on Monday.
“The national supply of the vaccine remains limited, so appointments for the estimated 4.4 million Californians with these conditions or disabilities will not immediately be available to all who are eligible,” state health officials said.
The dangerous side effects of a pandemic
With the help of vaccinations, the light at the end of the pandemic’s tunnel is growing brighter. But it’s been a devastating year with far-reaching consequences.
For one, there have been “concerning” declines in childhood vaccinations against other infectious diseases, Walensky said during a White House briefing Friday.
“On-time vaccination throughout childhood is essential because it helps to provide immunity before children are exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases,” Walensky said. “During the pandemic, we have seen substantial declines in pediatrician visits, and because of this, CDC orders for childhood vaccinations dropped by about 11 million doses — a substantial and historic decline.”
As leaders work to get students back to school, “we certainly do not want to encounter other preventable infectious outbreaks, such as measles and mumps,” Walensky said.
“When planning for your child’s safe return to childcare programs or school, please check with your child’s doctor to make sure that they are up-to-date on their vaccines,” she added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he’s also worried about the mental health toll the pandemic has had on the nation.
“That’s the reason why I want to get the virological aspect of this pandemic behind us as quickly as we possibly can, because the long-term ravages of this are so multifaceted,” he told CBS on Thursday.
One expert told CNN Saturday it would be helpful for the US to prepare for a potential surge in mental health care needs by increasing access to mental health services.
“We know that 75% of adults here in America are feeling stressed — are feeling overwhelmed, anxious and depressed,” Riana Elyse Anderson, an assistant professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan, said.
“We have to be willing to heal.”
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Naomi Thomas, Melissa Alonso, Rebekah Riess, Jacqueline Howard, Pete Muntean and Greg Wallace contributed to this report.
Trump acquittal: Biden urges vigilance to defend ‘fragile’ democracy after impeachment trial | Trump impeachment (2021)
US president Joe Biden has urged Americans to defend democracy following the acquittal of Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial, saying: “This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile.”
In a statement on Saturday night, Biden said the substance of the charge against his predecessor over the Capitol riot on 6 January in which five people died was not in dispute, and noted the seven Republicans who voted guilty.
“Even those opposed to the conviction, like Senate minority leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a ‘disgraceful dereliction of duty’ and ‘practically and morally responsible for provoking’ the violence unleashed on the Capitol,” he said.
Remembering those who fought to protect democratic institutions that day, he added: “This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant … Each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.”
Biden spoke hours after Trump was acquitted by the Senate in his second impeachment trial – a verdict that underscored the sway America’s 45th president still holds over the Republican party even after leaving office.
After just five days of debate in the chamber that was the scene of last month’s invasion, a divided Senate fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict high crimes and misdemeanors. A conviction would have allowed the Senate to vote to disqualify him from holding future office.
Seven Republicans joined every Democrat to declare Trump guilty on the charge of “incitement of insurrection” after his months-long quest to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden and its deadly conclusion on 6 January, when Congress met to formalize the election results.
The 57-43 vote was most bipartisan support for conviction ever in a presidential impeachment trial. The outcome, which was never in doubt, reflected both the still raw anger of senators over Trump’s conduct as his supporters stormed the Capitol last month – and the vice-like grip the defeated president still holds over his party.
Among the Republicans willing to defy him were Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Trump’s acquittal came after grave warnings from the nine Democratic House managers, serving as prosecutors, that Trump continued to pose a threat to the nation and democracy itself.
“If this is not a high crime and misdemeanor against the United States of America then nothing is,” congressman Jaime Raskin, the lead manager, pleaded with senators in the final moments before they rendered their judgments as jurors and witnesses. “President Trump must be convicted, for the safety and democracy of our people.”
In a floor speech after the vote, Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leaders, said Trump’s conduct preceding the assault on the Capitol amounted to a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” by the former president, who he held “practically, and morally, responsible for provoking the events of the day”
But McConnell concluded that the Senate was never meant to serve as a “moral tribunal” and suggested instead that Trump could still face criminal prosecution.
“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he’s in office,” McConnell said. “He didn’t get away with anything yet.”
The vote on Saturday came after the proceedings were briefly thrown into chaos when the House managers unexpectedly moved to call witnesses, in an effort to shed light on Trump’s state of mind as the assault unfolded. Caught off guard, Trump’s legal team threatened to depose “at least over 100” witnesses, and said Pelosi was at the top of their list.
After a frantic bout of uncertainty in which it appeared the managers’ request could prolong the trial for several more weeks, senators struck a deal with the prosecution and Trump’s lawyers to avert calling witnesses. Instead, they agreed to enter as evidence the written statement of a Republican congresswoman who had been told that Trump sided with the rioters after the House minority leader pleaded with him to stop the attack on 6 January.
L.A. County sees progress against COVID, stresses vigilance
Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 5,925 new cases of the coronavirus and 124 related deaths, a further sign that the outbreak may be leveling off but that comes at a time when the state has begun relaxing restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.
Case numbers tend to be lower on the weekends because not all laboratories report results. Still, the data bolster evidence that the region is emerging from a vicious surge that started in late October and nearly overwhelmed area hospitals.
Hospitalizations have also continued to decline since peaking earlier this month. There were 5,398 COVID-19 patients in L.A. County hospitals as of Saturday, a decrease of about 26% from two weeks before, when there were 7,322 patients.
“Although some restrictions were just lifted in our County, we are still in a very dangerous period in terms of cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said in a statement. “We all want our businesses currently operating to remain open and more to reopen safely in the future. Our case rates must continue to come down.”
The apparent signs of progress came as the state took steps toward reopening some businesses that had been shuttered by the pandemic.
On Monday, California officials lifted regional coronavirus stay-at-home orders across the state, returning counties to the color-coded tier system that assigns local risk levels based on case numbers and rates of positive test results for coronavirus infections.
Most areas, including Southern California, continue to be classified under the purple “widespread” risk tier, which permits hair salons to offer limited services indoors but restricts many other nonessential indoor business operations. As part of the shift, restaurants were also permitted to reopen for outdoor dining.
But Ferrer urged people to continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid gathering with people outside their households.
“Because some sectors have reopened, it doesn’t mean that the risk for community transmission has gone away; it hasn’t, and each of us needs to make very careful choices about what we do and how we do it,” she said.
The new numbers bring the county’s total to 1,116,892 coronavirus cases and 16,770 deaths, according to The Times’ tracker.
Ferrer also warned that health officials had confirmed a second case in Los Angeles County of the U.K. coronavirus variant, which spreads more easily. New research strengthens the case that the COVID-19 vaccines being administered across the United States and elsewhere should protect against that variant.
Still, Ferrer urged the public to remain vigilant in guarding against the spread of the virus as the race to vaccinate the population continues. Those currently eligible for the vaccine include front-line healthcare workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, and county residents age 65 and older.
“This virus is strong, and we are now concerned about variants and what these will mean in our region,” she said. The presence of the U.K. variant in Los Angeles County “means virus transmission can happen more easily, and residents and businesses must more diligently implement and follow all of the personal protective actions and safety measures put in place.”
Orange County reported 1,355 new cases of the virus and 44 deaths Sunday as its hospitalizations also continued to drop, to 1,412 patients, a decrease of about 28% from two weeks before.
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