New York mayor wants people entering stores to remove masks
Mayor Eric Adams wants New York City business owners to require shoppers to remove face masks upon entering stores — at least briefly. The recommendation is an effort to reduce shoplifting, but would circumvent the city’s COVID-19 pandemic protocols. “Let’s be clear, some of these characters who go to stores wearing their masks, they’re not doing it because they’re scared of the pandemic; they do it because they are afraid of the police,” Adams told PIX11 Morning News on Monday. “We need to stop allowing them to exploit pandemic security by wearing masks, by committing crimes.”
Adams said a person wearing a mask and hazmat suit fatally shot a store owner in the city over the weekend. The National Retail Federation reported a 26.5% increase in “organized retail crime” last year. The mayor offered a compromise for those still hoping to avoid coronavirus infection. Adams suggested they keep their masks on long enough for surveillance cameras to capture their image before putting them back on. “So we’re asking the partnership – we’ll do our job of apprehending these culprits, we’ll do our job of finding them, but for our stores to make it clear that you’re not allowed to wear a mask to come in,” a- he said. “Once you are inside the store, you can put on the mask.”
Long COVID linked to increased gastrointestinal issues, study finds
According to a new study, people who have persistent symptoms of COVID-19 after 30 days are at increased risk for a wide variety of gastrointestinal problems one year after their infection. The researchers compared the medical records of 154,068 COVID-19 patients in the Veterans Health Administration system with about 5.6 million age-matched patients who did not test positive for the coronavirus.
According to the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communication. About 9,600 problems encountered affecting the digestive system and vital organs. “The constellation of findings suggests that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are at increased risk for gastrointestinal upset in the post-acute phase of COVID-19. The risks and burdens are not insignificant – suggesting that post-acute care strategies should include attention to gastrointestinal disease,” the authors wrote.
Study: Bivalent booster protection decreases in as little as 2 months for seniors
The protection against death and hospitalization of bivalent COVID-19 boosters — injections designed to protect against both omicron and earlier strains of the coronavirus — begins to fade after as little as two months in older people , according to a Finnish research study published on Monday. Analysis of patient charts between September and January, when omicron variants were dominant, relied on hospitalizations and death data from nearly 1.2 million patients aged 65 and older and of 444,683 people suffering from chronic diseases between the ages of 18 and 64. The researchers found that the updated shots from Moderna and Pfizer effectively reduced the worst COVID-19 outcomes in the older age group, their effectiveness quickly declined. The recalls did not reduce the risks for the chronically ill. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and has been published as a preprint on the MedRxiv server.
“Because we found signs of decline already 60 days after bivalent vaccination, additional boosters for the elderly may be an option at some point in the future,” the authors wrote. “However, the need for further strengthening should also be considered in light of the epidemic situation and economic analyses.”
Instagram influencer admits million dollar relief fraud
An Instagram influencer admitted on Monday that she fraudulently obtained more than $1 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief loans to fund her lavish lifestyle. Danielle Miller, 32, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston. Federal prosecutors have charged the Miami resident with using the identities of more than 10 people and several false business names to apply for and receive economic disaster loans as well as pandemic unemployment assistance from the government from July 2020. Miller was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2021.
Prosecutors accuse Miller of using a fake driver’s license in the name of a Massachusetts victim to arrange a private jet charter flight from Florida to California, where she stayed at a luxury hotel under the same name. victim. Miller allegedly used the identity of another victim to rent a luxury apartment in Florida. Throughout the alleged scheme, Miller maintained an active social media presence through his Instagram account, which had more than 34,000 followers. “There Miller publicized his extravagant use of fraud proceeds and stolen identities, publicizing his purchase of luxury goods and rental of luxury accommodations. Postings to this account included a post showing Miller at luxury hotels in California where transactions were made using the bank account in the name of one of the victims,” according to the prosecution report.
Worker’s lawsuit alleges unsafe conditions early in pandemic at Tyson’s meatpacking plants
Thirty-four Tyson Foods employees, former employees and family members sued the company on Monday, claiming it failed to take proper precautions at its meatpacking plants at the start of the COVID pandemic. The lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court in Tyson’s home state of Arkansas said Tyson’s negligence and disregard for workers resulted in emotional distress, illness and death . Several of the plaintiffs are the spouses or children of Tyson workers who died after contracting COVID. Tyson did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking comment. Meatpacking facilities were early epicenters of the COVID outbreak in the United States, with employees working closely together on production lines. At least 59,000 meatpacking workers contracted COVID-19 and 269 workers died in 2020, according to a 2021 US House report.
Rock band KISS used a little-known treatment to stave off the virus
Members of rock band KISS relied on a little-known treatment created by a Vancouver biomedical company to stave off contracting COVID during the band’s farewell world tour, manager Doc McGhee told a talk release Monday in Toronto. The group relied on a technology developed by Ondine Biomedical called Steriwave, which uses light therapy to kill viruses in the nasal cavity. “Without that, we wouldn’t be on the road. We couldn’t have done the extra 100 shows we just did,” McGhee said, according to the Vancouver Sun. The treatment has been used to reduce infections in surgical patients at Vancouver General Hospital for more than a decade. Last week, a study was published that showed its “nasal photodisinfection” reduced the length of stays and readmissions for patients at The Ottawa Hospital.
Another study, published in January, found that the treatment reduced COVID infections and slowed the progression of symptoms in those infected. Among the 344 patients in the study led by Toronto surgeon Dr. Jack Kolenda were all four members of the band KISS as well as several members of their team after singer and guitarist Paul Stanley tested positive in August 2021. The band canceled some shows but were able to press on with the End of the Road World Tour with daily use of a Steriwave machine, according to McGhee. The company said it was in talks with US health officials about conducting clinical trials of Steriwave in US hospitals.
1 in 4 parents lied about their child’s infection status, study finds
About a quarter of parents have lied to others about their child’s COVID-19 positivity status, according to a study published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. The December 2021 Probability-Free National Online Survey asked parents if they had ever engaged in seven types of misrepresentation and non-compliance behavior regarding COVID-19 public health measures for their children: yes , they had been dishonest about their child’s health or vaccination status, about 1 in 4 people told researchers. And 1 in 5 allowed their child to break quarantine rules at the height of the pandemic.
The findings were based on responses from 580 parents of children under 18 surveyed in late 2021, when cases were rising and schools were moving to remote learning. About 10% of adults said they lied about their child’s vaccination status, 20% avoided having their child tested when they thought they were infected, and 10% lied about their child’s age for the test. get vaccinated. The researchers were from Middlesex Community College in Connecticut, the medical schools of the University of Utah, the University of Colorado and the University of Iowa, the Denver Veterans Information Center and other academic institutions.
Contact Aidin Waziri: avaziri@sfchronicle.com