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      in UK Politics

      Chaffeur-driven passengers exempt from mandatory face mask rule

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      New face mask rules for taxi passengers will not apply to those in chauffeur-driven cars, Downing Street has said. The new restrictions included a rule stating passengers in taxis and private hire vehicles would have to wear face masks.However, No10 said this rule would not apply to passengers in chauffeur-driven cars – although the driver’s employer would have to ensure they could work safely.The UK prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “The employer of the chauffeur will have to make sure that their employees can work in a Covid-secure way.”Read moreWhen pressed if chauffeurs are covered by the new law, the spokesman said: “The important point to make is the driver of a licensed vehicle will be picking up a wide variety of customers throughout the day but it’s important to protect the driver from being infected from a significant number of different people.They added: “The scenario that you’re describing, that person would only be a single individual around so I don’t think they’re comparable.”The spokesperson said he would check whether the rule applies to ministers being driven around in ministerial cars.The new rule requiring taxi passengers to wear face masks came into force on Wednesday.Watch moreMr Johnson said earlier this week people will have to start wearing face masks in pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues while moving around the site – but not when sat at tables – from Thursday.People working in hospitality and retail will also have to wear a face coverings from Thursday.Mr Johnson announced a doubling of fines to £200 for a first offence for anyone who breaks the mask-wearing rules or the “rule-of-six”.On top of these expanded face mask rules, the UK prime minister also revealed a curfew for pubs and restaurants in England and told office workers in the country to work from home where possible. New coronavirus infections topped 6,100 in the UK on Wednesday – the highest daily total since the start of May.Additional reporting by Press Association More

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      in UK Politics

      Coronavirus: Infections doubling each week in England in ‘concerning’ rise

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      Coronavirus infections are doubling every seven to eight days in England, according to a major testing programme commissioned by the government, and the R rate could be as high as 1.7. Expressing concern over the increased prevalence of Covid-19, researchers at Imperial College London said they had found evidence of an epidemic in the community “not a result of increased testing capacity”.The Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT-1) study — commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care – said its latest findings for the period 22 August and 7 September with 150,000 volunteers indicated that cases doubled every 7.7 days.It is estimated 13 people per 10,000 were infected in England in the same period, compared to 4 people per 10,000 between 24 July and 11 August – highlighting growing transmission of the virus.Read moreThe study also claims the reproduction rate of the virus now stands at 1.7 based on swab tests among volunteers. This is separate from the government’s official R rate produced weekly by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).Professor Paul Elliot, the director of the major programme at Imperial from the school of public health, said: “Our large and robust dataset clearly shows a concerning trend in coronavirus infections, where cases are growing quickly across England and are no longer concentrated in key workers.“What we are seeing is evidence is evidence of an epidemic in the community and not a result of increased testing capacity. This is a critical time and it’s vital that the public, our health system and policy-makers are aware of the situation as we cannot afford complacency.”DHSC said the report highlighted the need for “vigilance” from the public, adding that cases of Covid-19 infections are on the rise across all adult age groups below 65 and all areas of the country, with the highest rates in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and North West.The department added the findings reinforced the need for social restrictions unveiled earlier this week that will restrict social gatherings – both indoors and outdoors – to six people in the first national curbs on freedoms since the lockdown was eased in England.Boris Johnson: ‘You must not meet socially in groups more than six’Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said: “We’ve seen all across the world how a rise in cases, initially among younger people, leads to hospitalisations and fatalities. The pandemic is not over, and everyone has a role to play to keep the virus at bay and avoid further restrictions.“It’s so important that everyone abides by the law and socialise in groups up to six, make space between you and those outside your household, get a test and self-isolate if you develop symptoms and wash your hands regularly. “It is vital you engage with NHS Test and Trace service if contacted to provide details of your close contacts and self-isolate if you are asked to do so.” More

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      in US Politics

      As our former lives dissolve into uncertainty, facts are something solid to cling to | Lenore Taylor

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      I have always worked with facts. I have sifted them for relevance, assembled them to make sense of things, and used them to construct an argument or to disagree with another point of view. Facts are, for journalists, the essential ingredient, like flour for bakers or clay for sculptors. So I recall very clearly how disconcerted I felt when I first sensed they were turning to liquid and sliding through my hands.It was during Tony Abbott’s campaign against the Labor government’s carbon pricing scheme – the policy he dubbed a “great big tax on everything”. There were, for sure, some factual arguments that could have been deployed against that policy, or alternative ideas that could have been raised. The then opposition leader opted for neither of these methods. Instead, he travelled the country saying things that were patently nonsensical. But most news outlets reported them uncritically, and this firehose of nonsense proved impossible to mop up. More

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      in Elections

      Kim Kardashian requests compassion for Kanye West's bipolar disorder

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      Kim Kardashian West has spoken for the first time about her husband Kanye West’s bipolar disorder after he posted and deleted a string of erratic tweets regarding his family life after the launch of his presidential campaign in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday.“Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words sometimes do not align with his intentions,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories.The fashion and reality TV mogul said she had previously avoided commenting on West’s mental health in order to protect her children and West’s right to privacy. In breaking that silence, she said she wished to address the “stigma and misconceptions” surrounding mental health.She wrote: “Those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behaviour know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor. People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.”In the US, involuntary hospitalisation and treatment is deemed to violate an individual’s civil rights. An individual must pose a danger to themselves or others in order to be held, for evaluation only, which typically lasts no longer than 72 hours. An elderly or “gravely disabled” person may be placed under a conservatorship. Britney Spears has been subject to such an arrangement since she experienced a breakdown in 2008, which has given rise to controversy over its appropriateness to her situation.West was willingly admitted to hospital in 2016, after an emergency call regarding his welfare during a period of erratic behaviour.Kardashian West added: “I understand Kanye is subject to criticism because he is a public figure and his actions at times can cause strong opinions and emotions. He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder.”West has been subject to more widespread media attention than usual since he announced his presidential campaign in early July. While he is not thought to have filed official paperwork, he has tweeted asking fans to get him on the ballot in certain states.In Charleston on Monday, he gave a rambling address referencing the terms of his deal with Adidas for his fashion brand Yeezy, his faith in God and racism in the US, including an assertion that “[abolitionist] Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people”. He has since expressed doubt over whether to continue with his run this year, or postpone until 2024.Kardashian West asked the media and the public to give their family “compassion and empathy” and thanked those who had expressed concern for her husband’s wellbeing. “We as a society talk about giving grace to the issue of mental health as a whole, however we should also give it to the individuals who are living with it in times when they need it the most,” she wrote.West has said he will release a new album, Donda: With Child – named after his late mother – this Friday. More

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      in World Politics

      The Price of America’s Complacency in the Face of COVID-19 Is Survival

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      On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered many businesses statewide to shut down in response to the raging resurgence of COVID-19 in nearly all 50 US states. That same day, a friend of mine landed in San Francisco after having spent six months living in Japan. On his flight, a United employee sitting behind him failed to wear a mask, as did numerous other people on the flight. No one said or did anything. Upon arrival, he was not asked where he had been or if he had any symptoms of the virus. His temperature was not taken and there was no mention of any requirement for 14 days of quarantine. He boarded a connecting flight and was on his way — six months after the pandemic that has ravaged the world began.

      Countries the world over have gotten so many basic elements of the battle against the virus right. Why not America? The unfortunate politicization of COVID-19, the failure to implement mandatory and consistent rules nationwide, the absence of rule enforcement, selfishness, laziness and a culture of silence are all combining to doom us to the consequences of our shared failure. Our collective apathy, complacency and idiocy are killing us.

      Should We All Have Been Wearing Masks From the Start?

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      Not long ago I was in Whole Foods, in the produce section where foods are not packaged, and a perfectly healthy-looking woman in her 30s was the only one not wearing a mask. No one said a thing until I approached her and said she needed to wear a mask and that it had been the law in Connecticut since April. I was told to mind my own business. It is my business, of course, and everyone else’s business in that store, yet no one said or did a thing as she continued to breathe all over the produce. I even went to store management and said something. They had to let her in because she said she had an underlying medical condition that prevented her from wearing a mask. It just so happens that the law in Connecticut allows for that exception, but no doctor’s note is required.

      There are plenty of reasons why America continues to lead the world in COVID-19 infections and deaths, but our own stupidity and selfishness have not been talked about much in the media. Every time we see someone not wearing a mask, or wearing it over one’s mouth but not the nose, or under the chin, we should be going up to that person and saying something. Every time. Our culture of silence is raging every bit as much as the virus in this country.

      So is local, state and national authorities’ failure to make mask-wearing and social distancing mandatory in all public places throughout the country, backed up by enforcement, which is a critical ingredient that is missing. Many governments across the world have backed their policies with strict enforcement measures and fines. That is why countries such as China and South Korea have been able to successfully battle the virus, and why Morocco, which just started doing the same, now has a reasonable chance of beating down infection rates.

      America is capable of doing all this, but the politicization of the virus and silly interpretations of what freedom of action means under the US Constitution have prevented us from following their example. Yes, you are free to take your own health and life into your own hands by being stupid and selfish, but you are not free to do the same with someone else’s health and life. And that is what the “Live Free or Die” movement and conspiracy theory believers among us fail to acknowledge.

      Every one of us needs to remind ourselves that other peoples’ actions impact us, and start to act accordingly. Say something when you see someone not wearing a mask in public, or failing to wear it properly. If everyone did so, those who are failing to do so would stop. The majority of us who are now wearing masks and social distancing have the power, but our own complacency is preventing us from taking control of inconsiderate fellow citizens. We have a responsibility to ourselves and everyone else to say something. We should also be putting pressure on lawmakers to crack down on violators and enforce mandates.

      Until America gets smarter about how to battle the coronavirus, we will continue to lead the world in infections and death, and we will deserve it. We have only ourselves to blame for being so dumb and failing to take corrective action. America has the resources to get COVID-19 under control, especially if we start treating this as a war and start acting like our collective survival depends on it — because it does.

      The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy. More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      WHO's Covid-19 inquiry is a shrewd move in a sea of disinformation

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      In the world of epidemiology it’s sometimes said that pandemics are lived forwards and understood backwards.We encounter them head-on, chaotically, trying to fathom the disease in real time even while trying to mitigate its impact. Lessons generally come later as the evidence accumulates.What’s also true is public health, especially on a global scale, is rarely separable from politics. One of the complicating factors of the recently ended outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was the country’s long history of conflict and the toxic relationship between central government in Kinshasa and the affected population in the country’s east, which led to deep and sometimes violent distrust.One of the most depressing subtexts of the coronavirus pandemic is how these kinds of conflicts are now being writ large as a range of actors, including western ones, have used the crisis to spread disinformation.The past months have been marked by dodgy dossiers leaked to the media and conspiracy theories, pushed by US officials engaged in a struggle for global influence with Beijing, suggesting that the virus was deliberately cooked up in a Chinese lab. More