GOP Rep. Greene Introduces Bill to Cut Fauci’s $400,000 Salary to Zero Until He Is Replaced
The post GOP Rep. Greene Introduces Bill to Cut Fauci’s $400,000 Salary to Zero Until He Is Replaced appeared first on The Georgia Star News.
Coronavirus cases continue to trend upward despite productive vaccination days (LIVE UPDATES)
Latest
2,839 new COVID-19 cases in Illinois as Cook County faces ‘the beginning of another surge’
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22419935/CV_UPDATE_032421_08.jpg)
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-TimesA troubling rise in COVID-19 cases across the Chicago area and the rest of Illinois means another coronavirus “clamp-down” could soon be in store for businesses in suburban Cook County, officials warned Saturday.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,839 new cases of the deadly respiratory disease were diagnosed across the state, raising Illinois’ average testing positivity rate to 3.8%. That figure has almost doubled in just three weeks.
Hospitals statewide have seen a 32% increase in COVID-19 patients over that period, with 1,426 beds occupied Friday night.
And with about 600 people testing positive in Cook County each day — most of them young adults — suburban cases have more than doubled over the past month, according to Dr. Rachel Rubin, co-lead and senior medical officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health.
“We are in the beginnings of another surge now,” Rubin said during a virtual news conference. “Maybe this is as high as we’ll go, and maybe it’ll level out and go down. We can’t say. It’s very very hard to predict. But that’s one of the reasons we’re pushing out vaccine as quickly as we get it.”
The state reported its second-most productive vaccination day yet with 145,315 doses administered Friday. At a rolling average of 110,057 shots given per day, Illinois is vaccinating more people than ever — but still, only 18.2% of the population have been fully immunized.
Read the full story from Mitchell Armentrout here.
News
9:05 a.m. From child care to COVID-19, rising job market faces obstacles
WASHINGTON — A surge in hiring in the United States last month — 916,000 added jobs, the most since August — coincides with growing confidence that a blistering pace of job growth will continue as vaccinations increase and federal aid fuels economic growth.
The most optimistic economists even predict that between now and year’s end, the nation could produce as many as 10 million more jobs and restore the labor market to its pre-pandemic level.
Maybe so. Yet even in normal times, it would be hard to regain all those jobs so quickly. And these aren’t normal times.
Many people who’ve been thrown out of the labor force remain fearful of the coronavirus and reluctant to take face-to-face service jobs. Millions of women are still caring for children attending school online — and can’t take jobs because they can’t find or afford child care.
Extended unemployment aid has meant that some employers might have to pay more to attract workers, which they may feel unable to do. And some people will need new skills before they can land a job to replace the one they lost.
While few doubt that the trillions in federal money flowing through the economy will help accelerate hiring, the challenges are sure to endure. Here’s a look at some of them:
New Cases & Vaccination Numbers
- The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,839 new cases of the deadly respiratory disease were diagnosed across the state.
- The state reported 13 more COVID-19 deaths, including that of a Cook County woman in her 40s.
- Illinois’ pandemic death toll is up to 21,361, among almost 1.3 million who have tested positive over the past year.
- Public health officials announced Friday that more than 6 million COVID-19 vaccinations have now gone into Illinois arms.
Delta Cancels Over 100 Flights, Opens Some Middle Seats
DETROIT—Delta Air Lines canceled about 100 flights Sunday due to staff shortages, and it opened up middle seats a month earlier than expected in order to carry more passengers. The airline says it had over 1 million passengers during the past few days, the highest number since before the coronavirus pandemic began last year. “We […]
The post Delta Cancels Over 100 Flights, Opens Some Middle Seats appeared first on NTD.
Vaccinations Rise, but Variants and Factory Mix-Up Present Hurdles
Officials worry that the debacle at a Baltimore plant that ruined 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will erode public confidence just when states are expanding capacity to deliver shots.
Our Species Is Enduring Largest Uncontrolled Experiment Ever, We Shouldn’t Ignore Vanden Bossche’s Warning
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Defender is committed to providing a space for scientific debate. This is an opinion piece by Rob Verkerk, Ph.D., on concerns raised by Geert Vanden Bossche, Ph.D. about immune escape and mass vaccination during a pandemic. This article follows Verkerk’s recent interview and previous analysis of the ongoing debate (this piece + this piece) sparked by Vanden Bossche.
It was a week ago that we released my interview with Geert Vanden Bossche on our brand new Speaking Naturally channel. It’s caused something of a stir in some circles. Mainly among those of us who don’t see vaccines as a panacea or at least the sole exit strategy to exit lockdowns, social distancing and other elements of the surrealism that have swept the world since the genome of a virus causing pneumonia-like symptoms in China was sequenced last January.
The silence from those who are overseeing or administering the global mass vaccination program has been deafening.
Some of the scientific concerns around Geert Vanden Bossche’s arguments appear to be the result of linguistic interpretations. Others challenge Geert’s speculative concerns linked to immune escape through the application of selection pressure from vaccines that could create ever more vaccine resistant, and potentially dangerous, virus variants.
For the uninitiated, “immune escape” is a term used to describe when the host (in this case humans) is no longer able to recognize and counter (eliminate or sterilize) a pathogen (in this case, a relevant variant or mutant of SARS-CoV-2).
“Selection pressure,” on the other hand, is a term used to describe the process (gene-environment interactions) that helps an organism or pathogen to evolve in ways that make it better adapted (i.e., more able to survive and propagate) to its changing environment. Antibiotic (antimicrobial) resistance is a good example of selection pressure caused by overuse of antibiotic drugs, which has selected for more and more bacterial strains that can detoxify or tolerate commonly used antibiotic drugs.
Let’s be reasonable, not polarized
I’m not an immunologist, virologist or an epidemiologist. But I do have three science degrees in ecology with a Ph.D. and postdoctoral research (Imperial College London) in the area of multitrophic interactions in agroecosystems. I’ve therefore been long fascinated by interactions between hosts, herbivores, carnivores and pathogens. I’ve also been looking closely at the science around COVID-19 since the outset and have been a critic of health authority and government handling of it from the outset (see ANH-Intl covid zone).
I’m writing this update on the Vanden Bossche controversy because I’m concerned it has the potential to unnecessarily divide people who share many common views and values, while differing in others. Alongside generating mutant variants of SARS-CoV-2, one of the haunting consequences of lockdowns has been their ability to polarize communities. I believe passionately that we need to be more tolerant of those with whom we share significant areas of our respective COVID-19 Venn diagrams.
Don’t expect that you’ll find unanimous agreement with many people given the amount of scientific uncertainty that abounds on so many of the scientific, medical, social, political and economic issues surrounding COVID-19 and the way it’s been and is being handled. We must have forums to be able to discuss scientific matters and we must be ever careful to not destroy the reputation of individuals who potentially can be important catalysts for change.
The host-pathogen tango
The reality is that — as ever — the relationship between a pathogen and its host is not a simple one. It is not only highly complex, it is also dynamic. It’s a tango that involves both players who don’t like dancing to the same music. While lockdowns might increase the time it takes to achieve herd immunity, the mainstream scientific view accepted by governments with little evidential basis has been that lockdowns will also reduce opportunities for transmission chains being established. Lockdowns, curfews, social isolation and the like were meant to be temporary stand-ins until vaccines were ready.
There are two fundamental problems with this approach. First, people don’t stop transmitting viruses among each other even in lockdowns and more opportunities for mutation are created, including among the most vulnerable people that allow for the greatest level of viral replication.
This explains the generation of at least 16 mutant lineages in South Africa. Secondly now that the vaccines have come, they don’t stop transmission of all SARS-CoV-2 strains, especially those that are resistant to antigen-specific antibodies that they are designed to induce.
More than that, if you apply a very strong selection pressure because you have a highly infectious virus that has lots of opportunities to express its inborn error code (mutations) — or you vaccinate millions or even billions of people with a highly specific antigen constructed around the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, you are inducing massive selection pressure — like never before in human history. That is one of Geert Vanden Bossche’s concerns, one he has a right to have and express.
We also know (e.g., Ho et al 2021) that the UK variant B.1.1.7 that originated in the UK and B.1.351 from South Africa have extensive mutations in the main (receptor-binding domain, RBD) region of the spike protein that binds to the ACE2 receptors in human tissues. Not only that, neutralizing antibodies that have been created in response to exposure to wild virus or the vaccines (developed to match the original Wuhan strain) don’t neutralize the virus effectively.
Vanden Bossche’s red flags
The story continues to evolve and unfold because the relationship between the virus and its host does as well. What we’re now beginning to see is the same mutations in the spike protein cropping up in different parts of the world. For example, the UK variant (B.1.1.7), the Brazilian variant (P1/B.1.1.28) and the South African variant (B.1.351) all share common mutations such as E484K and N5011Y. These were Geert’s red flags.
It suggests that different virus strains have found the same way of outsmarting the highly specific vaccine and in the process, these new virus strains are becoming more transmissible including among younger people. That creates ever greater opportunities for mutation. The show goes on. And potentially never stops. Especially if you keep interspersing your strategy with lockdowns and related measures.
But don’t trust me on this — I’m just an ecologist. Some of the most thorough work in this area is being conducted by Paul Bieniasz’s group at the Rockefeller University, the same university with which Knut Wittkowski (see our separate interview) was associated for many years. The group has shown clearly that new mutant variants such as E484K and Q493R are resistant to antibodies produced by the original Wuhan strain on which the existing clutch of vaccines were based.
OK — so Bieniasz’s group has gone down the road of developing engineered monoclonal antibodies as a solution to get around the problem of immune escape both from wild infection or antigen-specific vaccines. In fact, they’re moving forward with trials for commercialization of monoclonal antibody therapies that could be delivered as injection.
Find out more about the research of Bieniasz around 37 minutes into the following video:
And so…?
What our species is currently enduring is the largest uncontrolled experiment ever conducted. Not only are highly-specific vaccines being applied in a manner that is considerably different from any previous vaccines, the frontrunner Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are also most definitely experimental (phase 3 trials results are incomplete), and they rely on lipid encapsulation delivery systems that have never been used at any significant scale to get synthetic codes into our muscle cells.
We also have no good idea of how effectively our T cells will be corralled into our armory of immune defense. Or how vaccine-induced immunity compares with naturally-acquired immunity (let’s not forget the SARS and MERS epidemics never had the same opportunity for mutation).
Geert Vanden Bossche has rung an alarm bell — that many, it seems, don’t want to hear. To ignore the wider concern he expresses around the selection pressure that will create immune escape and antibody resistant strains would be foolhardy — and would be inconsistent with the known science.
Originally published by Alliance for Natural Health International.
The post Our Species Is Enduring Largest Uncontrolled Experiment Ever, We Shouldn’t Ignore Vanden Bossche’s Warning appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.
Fauci on AstraZeneca Shots; Sinovac Milestone: Virus Update
Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease official, said the country may not need AstraZeneca’s vaccine even if it passes U.S. regulatory approval, Reuters reported, citing an interview. Sinovac said annual production capacity of its Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac has reached 2 billion doses.
Berlin State Hospitals Pause AstraZeneca Shots for Women Staff Under 55
BERLIN—Berlin’s state hospital groups Charite and Vivantes have stopped giving women under the age of 55 shots of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, spokeswomen for the hospitals said on Tuesday. The moves follow reports of rare but serious blood clots, bleeding, and in some cases death after vaccination, mainly in young women. “From the Charité’s point of view, this step is necessary because in the meantime further cerebral venous thromboses have become known in women in Germany,” a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. Charite said the action was precautionary while they waited for final assessments. No complications have occurred in its hospitals following vaccinations with AstraZeneca. A spokeswoman for Vivantes clinics also said the move to pause the shot for younger women was a precautionary measure. Some 19,000 people work at the Charite hospitals and 17,000 at Vivantes, which operates clinics as well as care homes. Tagesspiegel, which first reported the …
Germany Indefinitely Suspends AstraZeneca Vaccine for Anyone Under Age 60
Germany indefinitely suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine for anyone under 60 following advice from STIKO, the country’s independent vaccine committee and external experts. The committee investigated reports of blood clots, some fatal, in people who received the vaccine
According to the Associated Press, Health Minister Jens Spahn and state officials unanimously agreed to give the vaccine only to people 60 or older unless they belong to a high-risk category where the benefits outweigh the risk of a serious side-effect.
“In sum, it’s about weighing the risk of a side effect that is statistically small, but needs to be taken seriously, and the risk of falling ill with corona,” Spahn told reporters in Berlin.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) today said they’ve not yet identified any risk factors — such as age, sex or a previous history of blood clotting disorders — associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The EMA issued a new statement reiterating their previous conclusion that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks, but cautioned that people should be aware of the “remote possibility” of rare blood clots occurring, and must seek immediate medical attention in case of symptoms.
The EMA said it “continues to work with the national authorities in the EU Member States to ensure that suspected cases of unusual blood clots are reported” and analyzed.
As The Defender reported Tuesday, several regions of Germany, including Berlin and Munich, temporarily paused the vaccine for people under 60 after Germany’s vaccine regulator disclosed 31 cases of a rare brain blood clot, nine of which resulted in deaths. The decision was made as a precaution ahead of a meeting with national medical regulators scheduled for later in the day yesterday.
The outcome of the Tuesday meeting in Germany was the decision, announced today, to indefinitely suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in people under 60.
The German regulators’ decision was “based on the currently available data on the occurrence of rare but very severe thromboembolic side effects. This side effect occurred four to 16 days after vaccination, predominantly in people [under] 60 years of age,” STIKO said.
STIKO is also looking into the possibility of administering a second shot with a different COVID vaccine, for those who have already received their first dose.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the suspension of the vaccine’s use in the under-60s would help boost citizens’ trust in AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine after a series of missteps, Reuters reported.
“Everything is based on one principle and that is trust,” Merkel said. “Confidence arises from the knowledge that every suspicion is counted in every individual case.”
In a statement ahead of the announcement, the vaccine maker said tens of millions of people had received the vaccine and that the EU regulator and World Health Organization concluded the benefits outweighed the risks.
AstraZeneca told CNBC it would continue to analyze its database to understand “whether these very rare cases of blood clots associated with thrombocytopenia occur any more commonly than would be expected naturally in a population of millions of people.”
“We will continue to work with German authorities to address any questions they may have,” it added.
Previously, Germany had not given the vaccine to people 65 and over, saying there was insufficient data on its efficacy in that age group. Earlier this month, more than 20 countries, including Germany, suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of rare blood clots in the brain, some resulting in death, in healthy people who received the vaccine.
Although authorized for use in the EU, AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been authorized for use in the EU, it has not yet received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the U.S. The company plans to apply for EUA in the upcoming weeks. If approved, AstraZeneca would become the fourth available vaccine in the U.S., joining Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
The post Germany Indefinitely Suspends AstraZeneca Vaccine for Anyone Under Age 60 appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.
According To The New York Times, Blue Cities & Towns Continue To Struggle With Covid | “Covid Surge in Michigan Alarms Health Experts”
Covid-19 vaccinations at Greater Emmanuel Institutional church in Detroit on Saturday. In Michigan’s largest city, local leaders are racing to vaccinate residents amid a rise in cases. Credit…Cydni Elledge for The New York Times
DETROIT — The country is a study in contrasts. New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and other states in the Northeast continue to report high levels of cases, and troubling upticks have emerged in Illinois, Minnesota and some other Midwestern states. But in much of the South and West, case numbers remain relatively low…
Nearly 500 Chicagoans testing positive every day raising concerns of a potential third surge of COVID-19 (LIVE UPDATES)
Here’s Wednesday’s news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois.
Latest
Chicago sees ‘quantum leap’ in COVID-19 cases — widening Lightfoot-Pritzker split over vaccine plans
Illinois’ COVID-19 uptick took another jump Wednesday as Chicago’s “quantum leap” in cases raised more concerns of a potential third surge of the virus, officials said.
Another 2,592 residents across the state were diagnosed with the virus among 77,727 tests, which lowered Illinois’ average positivity rate to 3.3%, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
But that key metric has shot up 57% overall in under three weeks, while COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped 24% over the same time frame. More than 1,400 beds were occupied by coronavirus patients Tuesday night, the most the state’s hospitals have treated since Feb. 24.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot agree the uptick has halted any talk of further reopening — but they’re still far apart on when all adults should be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine dose.
The governor voiced concern Wednesday over the city’s timetable for that move, saying “I think that they will want to do that sooner than they are currently planning to.”
Read the full story from Fran Spielman and Mitchell Armentrout here.
News
9:24 a.m. James Taylor kicking off rescheduled 2021 tour at the United Center
Live music may be returning to the United Center this summer.
James Taylor on Wednesday announced his postponed world tour with special guest Jackson Browne will kick off at the Chicago venue on July 29.
Tickets purchased for the original dates will be honored for the trek that wraps up Nov. 1 in San Diego. (The tour was originally slated for a stop June 9 the United Center; refunds are available at point of purchase for those unable to make the new date.)
Taylor postponed the tour last April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down all live music/theater venues across the country. Browne contracted coronavirus last March, revealing at the time he suffered only minor symptoms and recuperated while quarantining at home.
“(Jackson and I/James and I) want to thank all those who have graciously held onto their tickets; we appreciate your continued patience as we navigate these unchartered waters. We didn’t want to have to cancel this tour that we’ve been waiting so long to perform together, so we’ve been working to get these dates rescheduled to a time period when the U.S. is reopened and safe to gather for a concert,” the two legendary singer-songwriters said in a joint statement.”
Read the full story from Miriam Di Nunzio here.
New Cases & Vaccination Numbers
- Another 2,592 residents across the state were diagnosed with the virus among 77,727 tests.
- Nearly 500 Chicagoans are testing positive every day, an average figure that has jumped 37% over the past week.
- Illinois is vaccinating more people than ever as the state’s rolling average is up to a new high of 109,538 shots doled out per day.
- On Tuesday, 137,445 shots went into arms, the state’s third-highest daily total yet.
Below is Foundational Information Concerning Covid-19 - Including The Unscientific & Deadly War Waged Against Therapuetics
Good, solid information is the best resource that the public can use. Primary sources, when possible and good discussions and studies when informative.
With So Many Vaccines Being Released & Distributed Information Can Become Overwhelming On What Is Actually Being Officially Promulgated. Primary Sources Are Always Best. A CDC FAQ Page Has Been Added & Is Updated Frequently.
MY BODY. MY CHOICE. . . . NOT!
"Conspiracy theorists" have always claimed that the end game of political and legal licentiousness in culture is not freedom, but bondage. The idea is that Progressives are de facto statists. They may be right. "If you refuse to be vaccinated, the state has the power to literally take you to a doctor's office and plunge a needle into your arm." ~ Alan Dershowitz, prominent Harvard Lawyer and Liberal Activist
BANNED CNN DR. HARVEY RISCH INTERVIEW
Here Is The Final 3 Minutes Banned By CNN, Twitter, Youtube and Facebook. CNN Falsely Claimed There Is No Evidence For Early Treatment of Covid-19 With Hydroxychloroquine (An Anti-Inflammatory and Ionophore), Falsely Claimed FDA Only Approves Drugs After Placebo Randomized Trials and Brow Beat Dr. Harvey Risch For Over 9 Minutes. Then Dr. Risch Finally Got Two Minutes To Give A Few Inconvenient Facts and This Powerful Statement: “The FDA has no data (of harm) on out-patient use and yet it put a black letter warning against it. That to me is just unconscionable. That they could do that and allow 45,000 deaths in the month of July alone because of blocking a medication they had no data (of harm) on.”
Congressman Louie Gohmert's "East Texas Now" Interview 8 Days After Testing Positive and 6 Days After First Experiencing Covid-19 Symptoms. Here Is What The Best Doctors In the Country Prescribed For Him
Above is a condensed 7 minute version of Congressman Louie Gohmert's interview where he addresses the following:
HCQ, Z-pak, Zinc, Vitamin D3, Vitamin C, Steroid Nebulizer, His Covid-19 Symptoms, Who Originally recommended HCQ, How Politics and Money May Be Driving Coverage, His Experience Taking HCQ, Dr. Richard Bartlett, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Mask Use.
Dr. Richard Bartlett's push since March 2020 for steroid use in helping Covid-19 patients vindicated. See the original Interview and read a post interview article on the call to study steroid use and Reuters' announcement on September 18, 2020.
Doctor Richard Bartlett Interview
Searched for an alternative after Hydroxychloroquine was falsely demonized
Dr. Richard Bartlett's Credentials:
- 28 Years serving as medical doctor
- Member of Texas' Health Disparity Task Force
- Reappointed to task force for 7 years
- Medical Expert for CBS affiliate in West Texas for 20 years
- Weekly update on Covid-19 on Talk 550 AM in West Texas
- Uses an alternative inhaled anti-inflammatory to treat Covid-19
- His preference is Budesonide, an asthma medication
- He uses Budesonide to stop the cytokine storm, Clarithromycin for walking pneumonia and Zinc to stop viral reproduction.
- Like many doctors and researchers, searched for an alternative after Hydroxychloroquine was falsely demonized
Dr. Bartlett's interview opens up studies on steroid use for Covid-19:
"As you can see, the science is still open when it comes to Budesonide and more studies are needed. If you have COVID-19 symptoms and are wondering about Budesonide, your best course of action is to talk to your doctor about whether it might be beneficial to try or not."
Dr. Bartlett's push for steroid use in helping Covid-19 patients vindicated. Reuters reports the steroid Dexamethasone has been approved in the EU as an official tool in the Covid-19 fight.
Europe’s healthcare regulator has endorsed using dexamethasone to treat COVID-19 patients with breathing difficulties, paving the way for the steroid to become the region’s second approved treatment for the respiratory illness.
Click Here To Read The Full September 18, 2020 Reuters Article
JOE ROGAN
The Most Popular Podcaster In The World Discusses Why Hydroxychloroquine Is Confusing To The General Public
Dr. Harvey Risch's
Courageous Stance To Save Lives
Hydroxychloroquine Works
Dr. Anthony Cardillo
Los Angeles Medical Clinic Director
Hydroxychloroquine & Zinc
Banned ABC Interview
July 31, 2020
Covid-19 Congressional Testimony
Study That Hydroxychloroquine Is Dangerous Fully Retracted
Renowned Yale Professor, Medical Dr. Harvey Risch,
Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine.
***Hyrodoxychloriquine Given Early As Out-Patient and Prophylactic Could Save 75,000 to 100,000 Lives***
MSNBC Shocked When Their Own Medical Experts Say They Absolutely Believe Schools Should Re-open For Their Own Children's Sake
Information Is Power
What To Expect On Great Bloggers
Good, solid information is the best resource that the public can use. Primary sources, when possible and good discussions and studies when informative.
Knowing the numbers is important to keep a level head in times of crisis and panic. John Hopkins' engineers seem to have the best grasp on what is going on with a detailed map of cases worldwide, including deaths and break downs by country.
U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H
"Everyone needs to act as if they have the virus right now. . ." ~ U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H.
WHY WE QUARANTINE
Our friends and family are at risk. Both young and old. This is a respiratory disease that appears to be more contagious than the common flu. As such, even if you experience no symptoms, you are at risk of endangering the innocent in our society including those that have lived exemplary lives in service to us all. Most of our veterans are in the vulnerable population, as well as our parents and grandparents. This is why we are trying to stop the spread. Even if the overall death rate is lower than we currently believe, we know the rate of fatality amongst the most vulnerable in our society is still very high.
THE VULNERABLE
The vulnerable are the elderly with underlying health conditions, as well as the general population with conditions like heart disease, respiratory illnesses, liver disease and diabetes. The hope is that this will be temporary and as short as possible.