Telemedicine home kit coming for Tampa
This local hospital hopes a new at home kit will make a difference during this pandemic.
The La Soufriere volcano has erupted multiple times since Friday, and the damage to St Vincent is shocking
"It's gonna be more like days to weeks rather than weeks to months," Fauci said at Tuesday's White House press briefing.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Joe Biden's nominee Wendy Sherman to be deputy secretary of state, the number two position at the department. The Senate backed the nomination by 56-42, as a handful of Republicans joined Biden's fellow Democrats to vote in Sherman's favor. Sherman, 71, a foreign policy veteran, ran into Republican resistance because she helped negotiate the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, which was fiercely opposed by Republicans as well as some Democrats.
Following ‘another senseless tragedy’, former first family stresses urgency for ‘nationwide changes that are long overdue’ to address racial inequities
‘Our movement will not be silenced,’ says Black Lives Matter
Reports about the mysterious COVID-related inflammatory syndrome that afflicts some children and teenagers have mostly focused on physical symptoms: rash, abdominal pain, red eyes and, most seriously, heart problems like low blood pressure, shock and difficulty pumping. Now, a new report shows that a significant number of young people with the syndrome also develop neurological symptoms, including hallucinations, confusion, speech impairments, and problems with balance and coordination. The study of 46 children treated at one hospital in London found that just over half — 24 — experienced such neurological symptoms, which they had never had before. Those patients were about twice as likely as those without neurological symptoms to need ventilators because they were “very unwell with systemic shock as part of their hyperinflammatory state,” said an author of the study, Dr. Omar Abdel-Mannan, a clinical research fellow at University College London’s Institute of Neurology. Patients with neurological symptoms were also about twice as likely to require medication to improve the heart’s ability to squeeze, he said. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times The condition, called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), typically emerges two to six weeks after a COVID infection, often one that produces only mild symptoms or none at all. The syndrome is rare, but can be very serious. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 3,165 cases in 48 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, including 36 deaths. The new findings strengthen the theory that the syndrome is related to a surge of inflammation triggered by an immune response to the virus, Abdel-Mannan said. For the children in the report, the neurological symptoms mostly resolved as the physical symptoms were treated. Doctors in the United States have also recently reported neurological symptoms in children with MIS-C. In a study published last month in JAMA Neurology, 126 of 616 young people with the syndrome admitted to 61 U.S. hospitals last year had neurological issues, including 20 with what the researchers described as “life-threatening” problems like strokes or “severe encephalopathy.” The new report, presented as preliminary research Tuesday as part of an annual conference of the American Academy of Neurology, evaluated children under 18 who were admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) between April and September of last year with the syndrome (it has a different name and acronym, PIMS-TS, in Britain). The data is also included in a preprint of a larger study that has not yet been peer-reviewed. As was the case with other studies of the syndrome, including in the United States, the researchers said a majority of those afflicted were “nonwhite,” a pattern that public health experts believe reflects the disproportionate way the pandemic has affected communities of color. Nearly two-thirds of the patients were male, and the median age was 10. All 24 of the patients with neurological symptoms had headaches and 14 had encephalopathy, a general term that can involve confusion, problems with memory or attention and other types of altered mental function. Six of the children were experiencing hallucinations, including “describing people in the room that were not there or seeing cartoons or animals moving on the walls,” Abdel-Mannan said. He said some experienced auditory hallucinations involving “hearing voices of people not present.” Six of the children had weakness or difficulty controlling muscles used in speech. Four had balance or coordination problems. One child had seizures and three children had peripheral nerve abnormalities including weakness in facial or shoulder muscles. One patient’s peripheral nerve damage led to a foot-drop problem that required the use of crutches and a recommendation for a nerve transplant, said Abdel-Mannan, who is also a senior resident in pediatric neurology at GOSH. Some of the patients underwent brain scans, nerve conduction tests or electroencephalograms (EEGs), including 14 who showed slower electrical activity in their brains, the study reported. Thirteen of the 24 with neurological symptoms needed to be placed on ventilators and 15 needed medication to improve their heart contractions, Abdel-Mannan said. By contrast, only three of the 22 children without neurological issues needed ventilators and seven needed such heart medication, he said. None of the children with hallucinations needed psychotropic medications. Three children had to be hospitalized again after their initial stay, one for another episode of encephalopathy and two for infectious complications, Abdel-Mannan said, but he added that there were no deaths and “almost all children made a complete functional recovery.” Abdel-Mannan said a team led by the study’s senior author, Dr. Yael Hacohen, will be following patients who had the syndrome — both those who had neurological symptoms and those who did not. They will conduct brain scans and cognitive assessments to see if the children experience any long-term cognitive or psychological effects. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company
During a memorial service at the US Capitol Rotunda for Officer William Evans, President Joe Biden picked up a toy dropped by the officer’s daughter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told his family that while “no words are adequate” to address their loss, “we hope it’s a comfort to you that so many now know about your dad and know he’s a hero”. “And that the President of the United States is picking up one of your distractions.” Officer Evans was killed outside the Capitol on 2 April after a driver struck two officers before slamming into a security barrier outside the Capitol, then exited the car with a knife, according to police.
Jack Ma's Ant Group - which owns China's largest digital payment platform Alipay and is an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba - announced on Monday that it will undergo a sweeping restructuring on the order of the Chinese government.The crackdown on Ant Group underscores Beijing's determination to rein in Big Tech.Chinese regulators had already derailed Ant Group's record $37 billion IPO in November. And, just two days ago, Jack Ma's Alibaba Group was hit with a record $2.75 billion-dollar antitrust fine as China tightens controls on the booming "platform economy." The overhaul of Ant Group includes turning itself into a financial holding firm, a move expected to curb its profitability and valuation by cutting back on some of its freewheeling businesses. Ant will also be subjected to tougher regulatory oversight and capital requirements and will be forced to cut links between its hugely popular payments app Alipay and its other businesses, which had been viewed as a big advantage due to Alipay's vast trove of customer data and more than 730 million monthly users in China.U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba were up 8% after Monday's announcement, tracking a similar gain for its Hong Kong shares earlier in the day, with investors cheering the end of uncertainty for the e-commerce giant after the antitrust fine.
For more than a decade Julian Edelman lived the ultimate NFL underdog story, going from undersized college quarterback to a favorite option of Tom Brady on three Patriots' Super Bowl-winning teams. Citing a knee injury that cut his 2020 season short after just six games, Edelman announced Monday that he is retiring from the NFL after 11 seasons. Earlier in the day, the Patriots terminated the contract of the Super Bowl 53 MVP after the receiver failed a physical.
Days before attack, law enforcement officials were warned Stop the Steal campaign could attract ‘white supremacists, militia members’ and other violent groups
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday that he is expanding the U.S. military presence in Germany by 500 troops and has stopped planning for large-scale troop cuts ordered by the Trump administration. Adding 500 troops to a current total of about 35,000 is a symbolic gesture of solidarity with Germany and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but it also fills a practical need that commanders in Europe had identified months ago. Austin said the extra troops will have a role in space, cybersecurity and electronic warfare.
‘Oh my gosh, what is that in the sky? Woah! Okay. Big piece of flash in the sky just then’
US political developments, as they happen
If confirmed after a likely contentious hearing, Kristen Clarke would be the first Black woman to fill the high-profile Justice Department post.
The fire in Niamey engulfed straw classrooms and those in the nursery could not escape.
India is a big player in vaccine production - but supply shortages have appeared in some areas.
The CDC and FDA are recommending a pause in the use of the one-shot, Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Latest COVID-19 news.
The school district deemed the language “inappropriate and offensive.”
The Scottish Greens want to enter a coalition government with the SNP after the Holyrood election and push through an array of tax hikes for the wealthy including a new "millionaire's tax", their co-leader has said. Patrick Harvie said his party "aspired" to enter government after May 6 if Nicola Sturgeon fails to win an outright majority as he unveiled a manifesto backing her plans for another independence referendum. Although he refused to set out his policy “red lines” for a coalition deal, the Green manifesto set out radical proposals to hike income tax for wealthier Scots and replace council tax with a levy based on property values that would also increase bills for the better-off. In a triple whammy, one in 10 Scots would also face a "millionaire's tax" levied on everyone who owns property, land, pensions and other assets that together are valued at more than £1 million. In addition, businessmen who have to take regular international flights for their work would be forced to pay an escalating tax on their tickets and a "windfall tax" imposed on companies deemed to have made "extraordinary profits" during the pandemic. Mr Harvie also unveiled proposals to ban homeowners from selling older properties until they spend thousands of pounds making them more energy efficient. Among their flagship rural policies are a total ban on fox hunting, forcing all "significant" landowners to be subjected to a public interest test if they want to keep their property and allowing community groups to purchase their holdings at below market rate. Opinion polls have indicated Ms Sturgeon's SNP is on the cusp of winning an overall majority but may require the support of the pro-Greens if she falls short.
A senior civil servant was granted permission to join the lender Greensill Capital while still working at the highest levels of government, a watchdog has revealed. Bill Crothers was head of Whitehall procurement, in control of a £15 billion annual purchasing budget, when he took on an external role as part-time adviser to the finance company's board in September 2015. Boris Johnson was understood to be personally concerned about the disclosure on Tuesday night, while Labour described it as "extraordinary and shocking", renewing demands for an MP-led inquiry into the lobbying row engulfing Greensill and David Cameron. The lender, which filed for insolvency last month, has been at the centre of controversy over the access its founder Lex Greensill was granted to numerous Whitehall departments during Mr Cameron's administration. The former prime minister then went on to join Greensill in 2018, and has been revealed to have directly lobbied Rishi Sunak and a series of other ministers on the company's behalf. Correspondence published on Tuesday between the appointments watchdog and the Cabinet Office revealed the overlap in Mr Crothers working for both the government and Greensill. Read more: The David Cameron/Greensill scandal explained In a letter to Lord Pickles, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), Mr Crothers said of his role at Greensill: "It was seen as a way of me transitioning back into the private sector, and was supported by the Cabinet Office leadership." Suggesting other top mandarins had also taken on dual roles in the private sector, he added: "This advisory role was not seen as contentious, and I believe not uncommon." Mr Crothers then left the civil service in November 2015 and went on to become a director at Greensill the following year.