Health

Vox - An investigation by the New York Times has revealed that experts and administration officials tried to warn Trump of the serious nature of the coronavirus pandemic early on. Alerts from high-ranking government experts began as far back as January, six weeks before his administration finally sprang into action on March 16, when he issued concrete guidelines for the public.

The report exhaustively outlines numerous ways in which Trump avoided listening to government authorities as they proposed strategies for dealing with the pandemic. It also details an administration mired in political bickering, which hamstrung officials at every phase of their response. The report prompted epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to respond that “obviously” lives could have been saved if the government had taken the warnings seriously.

U.S. Postal Service workers are facing a growing number of dog attacks, with 5,800 letter carriers suffering bites last year, according to the USPS.

 

Tristan Snell

Remember -- during Covid, as soon as the TV cameras went away, Marjorie Taylor Greene put on her mask.

 

As pharmacies shutter, some regions and communities are left behind

 

USAFacts - Data shows there were 18.1 million cancer survivors in the United States as of January 2022. USAFacts has a trove of data on the demographics of people diagnosed with cancer, survival rates, and more. From 2000 to 2019, the cancer incidence rate decreased by 5.4%, while the mortality rate dropped by 26.7%.... Non-Hispanic Black Americans had the highest cancer mortality rate, at 164.3 per 100,000 people. Native Americans/Alaska Natives had a similar rate: 162.8 per 100,000. Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander Americans had the lowest mortality rate at 92.4 cases per 100,000. Early cancer screenings can help lower mortality rates over time. That’s the case for prostate cancer, the mortality rate for which dropped from 30.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2000 to 18.4 in 2019.

Robert B. Hubbell -  The United States suffered more deaths from Covid than any other nation in the world (1.13 million) and the highest death rate (341 per 100,000) of any large, high-income country. Those shocking facts suggest that a congressional inquiry is urgently needed to understand why the US fared so poorly compared to other industrialized nations.

CNN -  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified about the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic in a contentious House hearing on Monday. Fauci fended off attacks from Republicans who sought to undermine his credibility and criticize the basis for public health recommendations. He testified about possible origins of the virus that caused Covid-19 and said the US still needs to be better prepared for the next pandemic. He also clarified that the 6-foot guidance for social distancing did not come from him but from the CDC. Additionally, Fauci detailed the threats he received during his tenure, which have continued since his retirement from government service in 2022.

Fauci dismisses ‘preposterous’ allegations that he led COVID coverup