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Despite Lifting NYC Restaurant Requirements, Mayor Adams Keeps Vaccination Mandate for Workers
You may not need proof of vaccination to eat inside a New York City restaurant, but Mayor Adams said Monday you’ll still need it to work.
During a news conference in the Bronx, Adams vowed to keep in place requirements that public and private employees be vaccinated for COVID — despite his earlier announcement that restaurant and bar patrons will soon no longer have to provide proof of vaccination status.
On Monday, Adams was asked to provide the scientific underpinning behind ending that Key to NYC requirement while keeping in place the vaccine mandates. He responded that he wants to “continue the trend” toward the city’s primary COVID goal: encouraging New Yorkers to get vaccinated.
Big Tech Antitrust Bills Ignore What Makes Silicon Valley Powerful
How far we’ve come. The internet was once the new frontier, the next Wild West where enterprising entrepreneurs could make a name for themselves or strike gold.
Now, Sen. Amy Klobuchar‘s (D-Minn.) American Innovation and Choice Online Act is making its way through the Senate. The bill targets “self-preferencing” — when a tech company like Amazon or Google discriminates in favor of its own products on its e-commerce platform, or its own sites in its search results.
But while these bills might help small business owners, app and website developers, it’s not clear how they will help users.
“Self-preferencing” is nobody’s number-one beef with Big Tech. Of far greater public concern are free speech, fake news, lobbying, data collection, code theft, collaboration with dictators, social media‘s addictive properties and its propensity to target children.
TikTok War: How Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Played to Social Media’s Youngest Audience
When Russia invaded Ukraine last week, some of social media‘s youngest users experienced the conflict from the front lines on TikTok.
Videos of people huddling and crying in windowless bomb shelters, explosions blasting through urban settings and missiles streaking across Ukrainian cities took over the app from its usual offerings of fashion, fitness and dance videos.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it has called a “special operation,” is the latest example of the central role TikTok has played in bringing news and current events to the app’s large Gen Z audience. Its famed algorithm is known for serving trending content even if users do not follow certain people, allowing topics to quickly go viral among its 1 billion monthly users.
U.S. Trucker Convoy Swells as It Moves Across Country to DC
The largest truck convoy in the United States has grown in size since departing California and is attracting thousands of supporters as it makes its way toward the East Coast.
The “People’s Convoy” started with around 150 vehicles and has grown to more than 250 as it made its way through Texas and Oklahoma over the weekend. More vehicles have joined for stretches of time. That, along with the length of the convoy, makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly how many participants it has.
Convoy organizers say they’re against vaccine mandates, the federal government’s continuation of a national emergency declaration over COVID-19 and other actions by the Biden administration.
Are Americans Ready to Ditch COVID Restrictions? It’s Complicated.
Americans don’t want to continue with masks and social distancing, but are largely fearful of what relaxing COVID-19 mitigation measures could mean for the near future, according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation published Tuesday.
The survey of 1,502 U.S. adults was conducted Feb. 9-21. as a growing number of states and municipalities were announcing plans to lift COVID restrictions.
It was conducted before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it was easing guidelines for mask mandates, however. That announcement, from Friday, means that 70% of Americans may now go without masks in indoor public settings.
U.S. Parents Still Divided Over School COVID Masking Rules — Survey
As public schools around the United States lift COVID-19 mask mandates, parents are divided over the issue, with nearly 43% saying face-covering requirements should remain in place to prevent virus transmission, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
Most parents who responded also expressed concern about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines for children under age 5, saying they do not have enough information, according to the KFF survey of 1,502 adults conducted between Feb. 9 and 21.
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drastically eased its guidelines for when people should wear masks indoors, including in schools.
NYC Vaccine Mandate to Still Affect Kyrie Irving; Mayor Wants Him on Court, but ‘I Have to Follow the Rules’
New York City mayor Eric Adams announced on Sunday that barring any “surprises,” he plans to lift the city’s public sector vaccine mandates on Mar. 7. That will not, however, clear the way for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play home games at Barclays Center.
As it turns out, New York City also has a separate private-sector vaccine mandate which states, “employers may not allow any unvaccinated employees to report to their physical workplace, unless they have requested and received an accommodation.”
In Adams’ announcement on Sunday, he said that “all other vaccine mandates in New York City will remain in place at this time as they are, and have been, vital to protecting New Yorkers.”
Democrats Turn Against Mask Mandates as COVID Landscape and Voter Attitudes Shift
When President Joe Biden gives his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, the mask mandate will be gone in the Capitol, reflecting a stark nationwide shift for Democrats against the public safety rule that has fueled a red-versus-blue culture war.
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention say 70% of Americans reside in areas with low or medium COVID levels. All 50 states have eased or eliminated mask mandates, and the White House formally ditched its requirement Monday.
“We’ve beaten COVID. Time to take off the masks. Time to get back to life. Let’s open up our businesses. And let’s — everyone go back to having as normal a life as we can,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said Friday on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher.”
After 2 Years of Volatile Debates, COVID School Mask Mandate Ends Without Fanfare in Illinois
A cheerful contingent of kindergartners queued up outside Patton Elementary School in Arlington Heights Monday morning, blissfully unaware that Feb. 28 marked a dramatic milestone in their nearly two-year trek through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite months of fervent parent protests, a flurry of lawsuits, and increasingly polarized communities where grievances have erupted between even the closest of neighbors, the Illinois school mask mandate ended Monday without fanfare.
Masks Optional at United Center, but Full Vaccination or Negative COVID Test Still Needed to Enter
The United Center announced Monday that fans will be able to catch a game or event without a mask starting in March as Chicago dials down its COVID-19 requirements.
The home of the Bulls and Blackhawks will still require either a negative COVID-19 test or proof of full vaccination to enter the arena, but masks will be optional, according to a statement from the United Center.
In some cases, the NBA, the NHL and certain special events may require additional health and safety protocols, the statement said. Fans are encouraged to check the United Center website for the latest details before attending an event.
Britain Revokes Mandatory COVID Shots for Health Workers
Britain on Tuesday confirmed that a requirement for health workers to have a COVID-19 vaccination would no longer be introduced in April and care home workers would no longer be required to have the shots from Mar. 15.
Health minister Sajid Javid in January said that the government intended to revoke the regulations, subject to consultation. On Tuesday the health ministry said that following the consultation, the requirement would be dropped.
COVID: High Court Quashes ‘Unlawful’ Vaccine Mandate for Police and Defense Force Staff
The order required Defense Force personnel, and police constables, recruits and authorized officers to have two doses of the vaccine by Mar. 1, or face termination.
Fewer than 300 of the more than 31,000 staff affected by the mandate across the organizations remain unvaccinated. On Jan. 6, three unvaccinated staff sought a judicial review of the mandate. They were supported by affidavits from 37 of their colleagues in the same situation.
Justice Cooke today released his decision which upheld their claims that the vaccination order breached their rights under the Bill of Rights Act.
Nearly All COVID Public Health Measures Are Now Lifted in Alberta
Nearly all COVID-19 public health measures have now been lifted in Alberta. On Saturday morning, Premier Jason Kenney announced the province would move into Stage 2 of its reopening plan on March 1.
This marks the end to all indoor and outdoor public gathering limits, the lifting of capacity limits at large entertainment venues and the end of the provincial work-from-home order. The provincial mask mandate has also been lifted, with some exceptions.
The province’s mask mandate has been lifted except for in high-risk settings. Masks or face coverings are still mandatory on all forms of public transit, as well as at all Alberta Health Services-operated and contracted facilities. That includes all continuing care settings.
Google Wants Devices to Know When You’re Paying Attention
Google has been working on a “new interaction language” for years, and today it’s sharing a peek at what it’s developed so far. The company is showcasing a set of movements it’s defined in its new interaction language in the first episode of a new series called In the lab with Google ATAP. That acronym stands for Advanced Technology and Projects, and it’s Google’s more-experimental division that the company calls its “hardware invention studio.”
Specifically (so far, anyway), ATAP is analyzing our movements (as opposed to vocal tones or facial expressions) to see if we’re ready to engage, so devices know when to remain in the background instead of bombarding us with information.
But it’s easy to see how this new language can eventually find its way into the many things Google makes. The company’s been talking about its vision for a world of “ambient computing” for years, where it envisions various sensors and devices embedded into the many surfaces around us, ready to anticipate and respond to our every need.
For a world like that to not feel intrusive or invasive, there are many issues to sort out (protecting user privacy chief among them). Having machines that know when to stay away and when to help is part of that challenge.
