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New York City Drops Random Testing for School Students, but Vaccination Still Mandatory for Teachers
New York City schools will no longer require students to be randomly tested for COVID-19 when the new school year begins on Sept. 8, but face masks will be mandatory in some cases and teachers are still required to have the COVID-19 vaccine, according to new guidelines issued on Aug. 16.
Instead of random testing for students, schools will provide home test kits for students, parents and teachers that can be used if they’re exposed to the virus. Students will also no longer be required to submit to a daily health screening to enter the building.
Masks are now “strongly recommended” indoors and will be available to those who need or want them at the school, but they are mandatory for students and staff who have been exposed to the virus and are returning to school on the sixth day after testing positive, and they must wear them through the 10th day after a positive test or the onset of symptoms.
In late 2021, New York City schoolteachers who did not comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate were placed on unpaid leave by the city’s Department of Education. The vaccine mandate is yet to be lifted and many teachers have filed lawsuits against the city.
California Appeals Court Rejects COVID Fines for Church
A California church that defied safety regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic by holding large religious services won’t have to pay about $200,000 in fines, a state appeals court ruled.
Calvary Chapel San Jose and its pastors were held in contempt of court and fined in 2020 and 2021 for violating state and county limits on indoor public gatherings.
On Monday, California’s 6th District Court of Appeal reversed those lower court decisions, citing a May 2020 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2021 that a ban by Gov. Gavin Newsom on indoor worship services in counties where COVID-19 was surging violated freedom of religion.
The decision by a new conservative majority court came less than a year after the high court previously ruled the ban was justified on health and safety grounds.
Artificial Intelligence Was Supposed to Transform Healthcare. It Hasn’t.
Investors see healthcare’s future as inextricably linked with artificial intelligence. That’s obvious from the cash pouring into AI-enabled digital health startups, including more than $3 billion in the first half of 2022 alone and nearly $10 billion in 2021, according to a Rock Health investment analysis commissioned by POLITICO.
And no wonder, considering the bold predictions technologists have made. At a conference in 2016, Geoffrey Hinton, British cognitive psychologist and “godfather” of AI, said radiologists would soon go the way of typesetters and bank tellers: “People should stop training radiologists now. It’s just completely obvious that, within five years, deep learning is going to do better.”
But more than five years since Hinton’s forecast, radiologists are still training to read image scans. Instead of replacing doctors, health system administrators now see AI as a tool clinicians will use to improve everything from their diagnoses to billing practices.
AI hasn’t lived up to the hype, medical experts said, because health systems’ infrastructure isn’t ready for it yet. And the government is just beginning to grapple with its regulatory role.
Maryland County Brings Back School Mask Mandate
A Maryland county is bringing back the school mask mandate as the 2022 school year starts, citing an uptick in COVID cases.
Prince George’s County Public Schools announced Friday that face masks will be mandatory again at all schools and facilities in the district.
The policy took effect on Monday, and it will stay in effect until further notice, the district said.
Indian-Origin Cardiologist Calls for Review of COVID Vaccine Mandates
A leading Indian-origin consultant cardiologist based in the U.K. on Tuesday called for an urgent review of government health authorities’ mandated COVID-19 vaccination policies and the release of raw data from vaccine trials for expert analysis globally.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a National Health Service (NHS) trained cardiologist who has had two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, said being pro-vaccination and pro-transparency are not mutually exclusive.
“Global vaccine mandates for COVID-19 must stop until we have the full data on the efficacy of all available vaccines,” said Malhotra. Malhotra’s call for an urgent review has been backed by other senior medical professionals worldwide, who also demanded transparent access to data for analysis.
“COVID vaccine mandates passports were instituted on the false thought that the COVID vaccines stop transmission of disease and that COVID recovered people somehow do not possess as strong immunity and protection as vaccinated people,” said Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Medicine at the University of Stanford.
COVID Lockdown Patrols ‘Triggered Fear and Trauma’ Among Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Inquiry Hears
Police and military on the streets at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns traumatized refugees and asylum seekers who had fled war-torn countries and didn’t understand what was happening, an inquiry has been told.
Helicopters hovering over some Sydney suburbs ordering people to stay indoors had been intimidating and unhelpful, a witness told an NSW parliamentary hearing on Tuesday. People felt like criminals, Arab Council Australia CEO Randa Kattan said.
Senior members of the community were among those particularly vulnerable because most did not have smartphones to access government messaging, or they did not understand it.
Twelve local government areas housing culturally and linguistically diverse communities were under the tightest lockdown restrictions in Sydney.
Lawmakers Demand FBI, DHS and Others Reveal Purchases of Personal Data That Circumvent Warrants
Two top Democrats in the House of Representatives have issued requests to a host of federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, demanding details of alleged purchases of Americans’ personal data.
The lawmakers accuse the seven federal agencies of using commercial dealings with data brokers and so-called location aggregators to sidestep warrant requirements in obtaining Americans’ private data.
In a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and six other agency heads on Tuesday, Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Bennie Thompson said that recent reports had found many law enforcement agencies — “including yours” — had purchased data or direct access to it “instead of obtaining it through statutory authorities, court order, or legal process.”
The lawmakers said companies trading in data have been known to package and sell a range of personal information, including, among others, records of internet browsing activity and precise locations.
Meta Rolls out Plan for Midterms, Pledges to Remove Misinformation
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, pledged to remove misinformation about voting and invest an additional $5 million in fact-checking ahead of the midterm elections, according to a Tuesday blog post.
Much of Meta’s plans for midterm-related content use the playbook the company implemented in 2020.
The social media giant will continue its policy of removing posts with misinformation about dates, locations, times and methods of voting, as well as false claims about who can vote and whether a vote will be counted and calls for violence related to voting, Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg wrote.
TikTok to Clamp Down on Paid Political Posts by Influencers Ahead of U.S. Midterms
TikTok will work to prevent content creators from posting paid political messages on the short-form video app, as part of its preparation for the U.S. midterm election in November, the company said on Wednesday.
Critics and lawmakers accuse TikTok and rival social media companies including Meta Platforms (META.O) and Twitter (TWTR.N) of doing too little to stop political misinformation and divisive content from spreading on their apps.
While TikTok has banned paid political ads since 2019, campaign strategists have skirted the ban by paying influencers to promote political issues.
