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Pregnant Woman Loses Baby After Hospital Denies Her Entry Over Invalid COVID Test
An expectant mother who was eight months pregnant miscarried outside an emergency room in northwestern China on New Year’s Day, after hospital staff refused to treat her without a valid negative COVID-19 test.
The woman, who was not named, was eventually let into the hospital in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, two hours later when medics noticed blood pooling by her feet, her niece said in a social media post. She underwent emergency surgery, but her unborn child didn’t survive.
ER staff at the privately run Xi’an Gaoxin Hospital had denied entry to the woman because the test proving she was free of the coronavirus had expired four hours earlier, her relative said.
On Thursday, a notice by the municipal government of Xi’an, where 13 million people have been under full lockdown for two weeks, said the hospital’s general manager was suspended over the incident. The respective heads of the outpatient and medical departments were dismissed, according to the statement.
The Great Disruption on Social Media Platforms
Between the last presidential election and the continuing pandemic, the last two years were a turning point for social media giants — and not a good one.
Big Tech companies that once prided themselves on facilitating the free flow of information and their commitment to liberal democracy are now routinely censoring users and content. Platforms that once had great potential to hold governments accountable have allowed themselves to become the government’s speech enforcement arm. An industry that once promised to upend the media landscape has become entrenched in it.
It turns out this kind of censorship and discrimination from Big Tech isn’t just bad for democracy — it’s a bad business model as well.
Italian Government Rules That People Aged 50 and Over Must Be Vaccinated to Go to Work
Italy is mandating COVID-19 vaccines for those aged 50 and older, its government announced Wednesday. Both public and private-sector workers need to show that they have either been vaccinated or recently recovered from COVID-19 to access their workplace, from Feb. 15.
Previously, people in this age group could also show a negative test to visit their workplace. This remains an option for people under 50.
Reuters reported that people who don’t follow the rules will be suspended from work without pay, but won’t be dismissed. People aged 50 and over who aren’t in employment need to get vaccinated or they could face sanctions, Politico reported.
The Italian government on Wednesday also introduced rules requiring proof of vaccination, recent recovery or a negative test to access public offices, post offices and banks.
Chicago School Closures Leave Parents Divided: ‘A Catastrophic Failure’
Parents in Chicago were divided as classes were canceled for a second day in a row after the teachers’ union and Mayor Lori Lightfoot‘s administration failed to agree on how to keep schools open amid an Omicron-fueled surge in virus cases.
Just two days after students returned from winter break, the Chicago Teachers Union voted to revert to remote instruction in the nation’s third-largest school district. Chicago Public Schools responded by canceling classes altogether on Wednesday. Classes were canceled again on Thursday after no agreement was reached on Wednesday evening.
District officials have blasted the union’s move as an “illegal strike” and insist that schools are safe for students with protocols in place. The union argues that those protocols are far from adequate, and is calling for a negative test result to return to school and for the in-school weekly testing program to be expanded.
Walmart Halves Paid Leave for COVID-Positive Workers
Walmart Inc (WMT.N) workers in the United States who must isolate or who have tested positive for COVID-19 will receive one week of paid leave instead of two under a new policy that aligns with a change in U.S. health guidance.
The retailer, the largest private employer in the United States with about 1.6 million workers, is among the first major retailers to reduce paid leave for COVID-19, and could serve as a bellwether for other major employers.
Thousands of Cops Deployed to Quell Public Anger in China’s Locked Down Xi’an Amid Widespread Food Shortages
Tens of thousands of police officers were deployed to China’s Xi’an where public anger has exploded among the city’s 13 million residents who were left bargaining and bartering for essential foodstuffs amid ongoing food shortages, as the city entered its 13th day of lockdown amid a wave of COVID-19 cases.
As some people took to social media to appeal for assistance as their food supplies ran low, or they were unable to access medical care, others started local trading networks in residential compounds to try to meet each other’s needs through bartering.
“Everything is getting bartered in Xi’an,” a resident of the city told RFA. “People are swapping stuff with others in the same building, because they no longer have enough food to eat.”
Novak Djokovic, Tennis Superstar, to Be Deported From Australia Over Vaccine Requirements
The top men’s tennis player in the world will be deported from Australia over the country’s vaccine mandate. Now, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic will not be able to defend his Australian Open title, which he has won in each of the last three years.
The tennis superstar’s attorneys said they will challenge the decision, the BBC reported. It’s unclear whether or not Djokovic will remain in Australia while his lawyers try to overturn the country’s decision.
Djokovic, who is unvaccinated and has verbally been against vaccinations, reportedly said he had an exemption into the country. Once arriving, he was placed in a room that was guarded by police. Things got dicey for Djokovic when he first landed around midnight Wednesday and there was a mistake found in his visa application.
Philippines’ Duterte Threatens Unvaccinated People With Arrest
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday people who have not taken COVID-19 shots will be arrested if they disobeyed stay-at-home orders as infections hit a three-month high.
Duterte in an televised address to the nation said he was asking community leaders to look for unvaccinated people and make sure they were confined to their homes.
“If he refuses, if he goes out his house and goes around the community, he can be restrained. If he refuses, the captain is empowered now to arrest recalcitrant persons,” Duterte said. Under existing rules unvaccinated people in the capital region of Manila can only step out of their homes for essential trips.
Vaccine Mandates, Fines, Gym Bans: How Europe Hopes to Persuade Unjabbed
European governments are ramping up the pressure on people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by making life progressively harder for those who have not done so, but few are opting to make jabs compulsory — and one country that plans to is now having doubts.
Sceptics say the real difficulty with compulsory vaccinations is likely to start after the law comes into effect: tracing those who decline to be jabbed would require merging two different databases, which comes with further legal and logistical obstacles.
“A government that pushes to make vaccinations mandatory but cannot execute such a law makes a mockery of a general mandate”, the health spokesperson of Austria’s liberal NEOS party, Gerald Loacker, said.
French MPs Pass Controversial COVID Vaccine Bill With Large Majority
French MPs have passed the government’s controversial vaccine pass bill after three days of an angry stop-start debate.
The legislation, which requires people to be fully vaccinated to enjoy social, sporting and cultural activities, was approved by a large majority in the assemblée nationale in the early hours of Thursday morning. The bill was passed by 214 votes against 93 and 27 abstentions. It will now be presented to the upper house, the sénat, to be debated on Monday.
Until now they have been able to use a passe sanitaire (health pass) that required either vaccination, recovery from COVID or a negative COVID test for everyone over the age of 12 to access restaurants, bars, museums, theatres and other public places.
Austria Shortens Coronavirus Quarantine, Presses Ahead With Mandatory Jabs
Austria will impose new COVID-19 measures from Saturday and the government is still working on a draft law to make vaccinations compulsory from Feb. 1 as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads, Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Thursday.
The new measures include shortening quarantine times to five days, requiring people to wear masks outdoors when in crowds and limiting to six months the validity of vaccine certificates, officials said.
The government will also step-up inspections to ensure shops are granting access only to people who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19. “If businesses do not comply, we will have the power to shut them down,” Nehammer said.
Google, Facebook Hit With More Than $200 Million in Fines by French Regulators
French regulators fined Google and Facebook a combined more than 200 million euros, or $226 million, saying the tech giants made it easier to users to accept being tracked online than to opt out.
An investigation found the sites “offer a button allowing the user to immediately accept cookies” but they do not provide an option to “easily refuse the deposit of these cookies,” the CNIL data privacy watchdog announced on Thursday.
CNIL said that it would fine Google 150 million euros and fine Facebook 60 million euros as a result of the investigation’s findings.
The Success of Web Browser Brave Is a Bad Sign for Google — Here’s Why
Privacy-centric web browser Brave has surpassed 50 million active monthly users for the first time, the company has announced.
“Users all over the world are looking for a private, safe and faster browsing experience, along with tools that give them independence from Big Tech. This long-term and sustainable growth reflects that user desire,” said Brave.
The uptake of privacy-centric browsers, VPNs, proxies, encrypted email and other privacy tools in recent years hints at a shift in attitudes that could have major ramifications for the largest technology companies in the world, whose businesses are predicated on the collection of vast amounts of data.
