ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It’s only a few days into the new school year, but New Mexico’s largest district is reeling from a shooting that left one student dead and landed another in custody.

The gunfire at Washington Middle School during the lunch hour Friday marked the second shooting in Albuquerque in less than 24 hours. With the city on pace to shatter its homicide record this year, top state officials said they were heartbroken by what they described as a scourge.

“These tragedies should never occur. That they do tells us there is more work to be done,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said.

Albuquerque Police Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock described the shooting as an isolated incident between two students who were believed to be about 13 years old. He said a school resource officer ran toward the two boys after gunfire erupted and prevented any other violence while tending to the boy who was shot.

Investigators were trying to determine how the student obtained the gun and what may have prompted the shooting, Hartsock said. Other students were being interviewed as detectives tried to piece together what happened, he said.

Dozens of fretful parents gathered outside the school Friday afternoon as they waited for their children to be released.

Friday marked the third day of classes for Albuquerque’s public school district. While students won’t return until Tuesday, Superintendent Scott Elder said the staff will be making preparations to ensure students have access to counseling and any other support services they need.

“Of course it’s extremely difficult,” he said of something like this happening so early in the school year. “There’s a lot of pressure in the community. People are nervous. It was a terrible incident that happened between two people. It should have never happened. … This shouldn’t happen in the community. It certainly shouldn’t happen at a school.”

Police said more officers will be present when students return, hoping to provide a sense of security and in case students have any more information about the shooting they want to share.

Gunfire also rang out Thursday night at a sports bar and restaurant near a busy Albuquerque shopping district. Police said one person was killed and three were injured after someone pulled out a gun during a fight.

No arrests have been made in that case. Investigators were reviewing surveillance video and interviewing witnesses.

Authorities identified the man who was killed as Lawrence Anzures, a 30-year old boxer from Albuquerque.

A makeshift memorial of flowers and candles grew Friday outside the restaurant, providing more evidence of the frustration that families having been feeling.

The shootings come as Mayor Tim Keller convened his latest session with other officials to talk about curbing violence and crime in the city. His administration is hoping to come up with recommendations for improving the criminal justice system and addressing the problem of repeat offenders. The mayor’s office noted that for most Albuquerque homicides this year, more than 45% of charged offenders and nearly 60% of suspects have criminal records.

“For low-level offenders, we need to bolster diversion programs and real access to resources to change their lives,” Keller said in a statement. “But for violent offenders, we have to stop the revolving door.”

Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/shootings-violence-new-mexico-gun-violence-297f65674513b3edbe284d025ea69f8a

A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra. Tropical storm warnings are also in effect for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Montserrat, along with Saba and Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy and the British Virgin Islands.

Source Article from https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-tropical-storm-grace-saturday-update-20210814-kq3xgunh5recfftt7yiuamjnce-story.html

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban seized a province just south of Afghanistan’s capital and launched a multi-pronged assault early Saturday on a major city in the north defended by powerful former warlords, Afghan officials said.

The insurgents have captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in a breakneck offensive less than three weeks before the United States is set to withdraw its last troops, raising fears of a full militant takeover or another Afghan civil war.

The Taliban captured all of Logar and detained its provincial officials, Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province, said Saturday. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 11 kilometers (7 miles) south of the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban also attacked the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif from several directions, setting off heavy fighting on its outskirts, according to Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the provincial governor. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city’s defenses, meeting with several militia commanders, including Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor, who command thousands of fighters.

They remain allied with the government, but during previous rounds of fighting in Afghanistan, warlords have been known to switch sides for their own survival. Ismail Khan, a powerful former warlord who had tried to defend Herat, was captured by the Taliban when the insurgents seized the western city after two weeks of heavy fighting.

Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif expressed fear about the security breakdown.

“The situation is dangerous outside of the city and inside the city,” Mohibullah Khan said, adding that many residents are also struggling economically.

“The security situation in the city is getting worse,” said Kawa Basharat. “I want peace and stability. The fighting should be stopped.”

The Taliban have made major advances in recent days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second- and third-largest cities. They now control 18 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, leaving the Western-backed government in control of a smattering of provinces in the center and east, as well as Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.

The withdrawal of foreign forces and the swift retreat of Afghanistan’s own troops — despite hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. aid over the years — has raised fears the Taliban could return to power or the country could be shattered by factional fighting, as it was after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

The first Marines from a contingent of 3,000 arrived on Friday to help partially evacuate the U.S. Embassy. The rest are set to arrive by Sunday, and their deployment has raised questions about whether the administration will meet its Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.

The Taliban meanwhile released a video announcing the takeover of the main radio station in the southern city of Kandahar, renaming it the Voice of Sharia, or Islamic law.

In the video, an unnamed insurgent said all employees were present and would broadcast news, political analysis and recitations of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. It appears the station will no longer play music.

It was not clear if the Taliban had purged the previous employees or allowed them to return to work. Most residents of Kandahar sport the traditional dress favored by the Taliban. The man in the video congratulated the people of Kandahar on the Taliban’s victory.

The Taliban have used mobile radio stations over the years, but have not operated a station inside a major city since they ruled the country from 1996-2001. At that time, they also ran a station called Voice of Sharia out of Kandahar, the birthplace of the militant group. Music was banned.

The U.S. invaded shortly after the 9/11 attacks, which al-Qaida planned and carried out while being sheltered by Taliban. After rapidly ousting the Taliban, the U.S. shifted toward nation-building, hoping to create a modern Afghan state after decades of war and unrest.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced a timeline for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of August, pledging to end America’s longest war. His predecessor, President Donald Trump, had reached an agreement with the Taliban to pave the way for a U.S. pullout.

Biden’s announcement set the latest offensive in motion. The Taliban, who have long controlled large parts of the Afghan countryside, moved quickly to seize provincial capitals, border crossings and other key infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their homes, with many fearing a return to the Taliban’s oppressive rule. The group had previously governed Afghanistan under a harsh version of Islamic law in which women were largely confined to the home.

___

Rahim reported from Istanbul and Krauss reported from Jerusalem.

Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-taliban-f600d6faf28e9c2ccb454ad176987b19

The Biden administration is working to finalize an agreement with Qatar to temporarily house thousands of Afghans who worked with the United States and their families and are fleeing their country as the security situation deteriorates, according to a source familiar with the ongoing discussions. The source said it could be as many as 8,000 Afghans but cautioned the deal is not final.

A State Department spokesperson told CNN, “We are evaluating all available options. We have no announcements to make on third-country relocation sites for Afghan SIV applicants.”

Should an agreement be reached, an initial group of around 1,000 to 2,000 Afghans is expected in Doha “soon,” the source said

The Biden administration has been considering using third countries to process the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and on Thursday the Pentagon announced it would send around 1,000 troops to Qatar in the coming days to facilitate the processing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with his Qatari counterpart on Thursday and the State Department said he thanked Qatar for supporting “U.S. efforts to provide safety and security to Afghan nationals.”

Qatar’s defense minister is expected in Washington next week for talks.

A Qatari spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pressed Friday evening by CNN’s Anderson Cooper on the Biden administration’s plan to house Afghans in Qatar, Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger – who served as an Air Force pilot in Afghanistan and Iraq – said, “It’s great the Qatar option is possibly there.”

“The administration needs to continue to lean forward as hard as they can,” Kinzinger said.

Kinzinger previously said he opposed the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and raised concerns that the Afghan government would collapse after US troops left.

“There is a lot of Afghans that basically fought with us that are going to die and have died already because of lack of planning, and it’s sad,” he said.

“Let’s save as many as we can because it makes a difference, but I don’t think it’s going to lessen the stain on us right now.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Rachel Janfaza contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/politics/afghanistan-us-qatar-siv-translator-housing/index.html

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/08/13/new-covid-cases-us-soar-700-week-over-week-since-july-1-cdc-says/8123616002/

He always comes to the rescue, one soldier said.

Late last month, as the Taliban pushed into Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand Province, an outpost called their headquarters elsewhere in the city asking for reinforcements. In an audio recording obtained by The New York Times, the senior commander on the other end asked them to stay and fight.

Captain Tofan was bringing reinforcements, he said, and to hold on a little longer. That was around two weeks ago.

By Friday, despite the Afghan military’s tired resistance, repeated flights of reinforcements and even American B-52 bombers overhead, the city was in the hands of the Taliban.

Taimoor Shah and Jim Huylebroek contributed reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan. Najim Rahim and Fatima Faizi contributed from Kabul. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/world/asia/afghanistan-rapid-military-collapse.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — The upcoming 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks as well as approaching religious holidays could inspire extremist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security said in a terrorism alert issued Friday.

DHS did not cite any specific threats in the National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin. But it noted that the U.S. is in a “heightened threat environment,” fueled by factors that include violent extremists motivated by racial and ethnic hatred and resentment of restrictions imposed during the pandemic.

DHS issues the warnings to alert the public as well as state and local authorities. They reflect intelligence gathered from other law enforcement agencies.

The bulletin is an extension of a similar one issued in May that expired on the day the new one was issued. DHS says domestic extremists remain a national threat priority for U.S. law enforcement and will for at least the remainder of the year.

The agency noted that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula recently released the first English-language edition of its Inspire magazine in four years, apparently to mark the upcoming anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The anniversary and the approaching holidays “could serve as a catalyst for acts of targeted violence,” it said.

DHS also noted that domestic extremists motivated by religious and ethnic hatred have in the past attacked houses of worships and other gatherings, but it said there aren’t any “credible or imminent threats identified to these locations.”

As in previous bulletins, DHS expressed concern about both domestic extremists, motivated by “personal grievances and extremist ideological beliefs,” and foreign influences.

The agency said Russian, Chinese and Iranian government-linked media outlets have helped spread conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19 and the effectiveness of vaccines and have in some cases amplified calls for violence against people of Asian descent.

Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-religion-race-and-ethnicity-bfde115ff5407b2e2042c8108f8ca270


Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. | Susan Walsh/AP PHoto

08/13/2021 07:03 PM EDT

Updated 08/13/2021 07:25 PM EDT


TALLAHASSEE — The Biden Administration further inserted itself into Florida’s mask fight on Friday by offering to pay the salaries of Florida school board members who lose state funds by defying Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on local K-12 mask mandates.

In a letter to DeSantis and his Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote that school districts stripped of state funding for passing local coronavirus safety measures can use federal relief dollars to replenish the cash. Cardona said he was “deeply concerned” by DeSantis’ efforts preventing schools from requiring students to wear masks amid a surge in Covid infections, and that his agency could reach the schools directly if need be.

“We are eager to partner with [Florida Department of Education] on any efforts to further our shared goals of protecting the health and safety of students and educators,” Cardona wrote. “If FLDOE does not wish to pursue such an approach, the Department will continue to work directly with the school districts and educators that serve Florida’s students.”

DeSantis’ spokeswoman Christina Pushaw on Friday night criticized the White House for wanting to spend funds “on the salaries of superintendents and elected politicians, who don’t believe that parents have a right to choose what’s best for their children, than on Florida’s students, which is what these funds should be used for.”

Cardona’s letter comes the same day as the Florida Department of Education announced an emergency meeting to hash out possible sanctions against school leaders in Alachua and Broward counties, which have enacted stricter student mask mandates than allowed by the DeSantis administration.

The weekslong fight over school mask mandates has consumed Florida ahead of the new in-person school year just as the state is facing a spike in coronavirus infections. Locally, schools are starting to report Covid-19 cases and quarantines in droves. Palm Beach County, for example, this week has sent some 1,020 students home to quarantine as a close coronavirus contact, the local Sun-Sentinel reports.

DeSantis is threatening to hit school leaders with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for breaking the rules — an amount equal to their pay. The Republican governor maintains that masks don’t make enough difference in school-age children to be required through blanket statewide or local policies.

The U.S. Education Department said that DeSantis’ stance against mask mandates, which goes against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for schools, “puts students and staff at risk.” Local school leaders should be allowed to make their own Covid-19 safety rules, Cardona wrote.

“The Department stands with these dedicated educators who are working to safely reopen schools and maintain safe in-person instruction,” Cardona wrote.

Florida landed $7.04 billion from the American Rescue Plan for schools, with the bulk — 90 percent — set aside for local school districts.

The DeSantis administration and school board members have been fighting over school mask mandates and local control for weeks now, a squabble that has caught President Joe Biden’s attention. The U.S. DOE’s intervention could escalate tensions ahead of the emergency meeting next week that could see Florida officials dropping sanctions.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/08/13/biden-administration-offers-financial-help-to-florida-school-leaders-defying-desantis-1390026

A federal judge rejected on Friday a request by landlord groups to block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new eviction moratorium.

The decision by Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is a win for the Biden administration. 

More than 11 million Americans remain behind on their rent, moving the CDC to issue a new eviction ban earlier this month after its previous one expired on July 31. That protection applies until Oct. 3 and to places where Covid rates remain high.

The ruling was on technical grounds. Friedrich said the “Court’s hands are tied,” by an earlier appellate ruling to keep the moratorium in effect. She said the plaintiffs could challenge the policy with the D.C. Circuit.

Alabama landlords who made the request will probably appeal.

“The Administration believes that CDC’s new moratorium is a proper use of its lawful authority to protect the public health,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Friday. “We are pleased that the district court left the moratorium in place, though we are aware that further proceedings in this case are likely.”

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The CDC’s eviction ban has faced numerous legal challenges and landlords have criticized it, saying they can’t afford to house people for free or shoulder the country’s massive rental arrears. On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down at least part of New York’s eviction moratorium.

Housing advocates say evictions must be barred until states distribute the $45 billion in rental assistance allocated by Congress. Just around $4.2 billion of that money has reached households, according to a recent analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

“It’s imperative that cities and states deliver the rental assistance to at risk communities as quickly as possible to prevent eviction and the consequences for public health across all of our communities,” said Emily Benfer, a visiting professor of law at Wake Forest University.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/us-judge-denies-landlords-request-to-block-cdc-national-eviction-ban-.html

An analysis of four months worth of emails from Ron DeSantis’ (R) office reveals the Florida governor’s myriad appearances on Fox News to be “carefully crafted” ahead of time — so much so, the network even helped the 2024 standout stage a vaccination news event back in January, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

DeSantis’ office, attempting to paint a more flattering picture of Florida’s confusing vaccine rollout and overshadow images of desperate seniors in long lines, pitched an appearance from the governor to Fox & Friends. The top-rated show’s producers were thrilled, and a “plan came together in a flurry of emails and phone calls” over the next several days, per Tampa Bay.

The governor’s team “provided a senior, a location, and the talking points,” while Fox brought “the cameras and its audience.” No other media was allowed in. The segment, which featured a 100-year-old veteran receiving his first shot while DeSantis cracked jokes and “boasted that Florida was leading the country in vaccinating older residents,” aired on Jan. 22.

The event is just one instance of there being “few surprises” when DeSantis appears on Fox, writes Tampa Bay. Topics, talking points, and sometimes even graphics are reportedly shared in advance.

The network likens such instances to typical pre-interviews with on-air guests, but A.J. Bauer, a University of Alabama communications professor who has studied Fox for years, believes the governor and the network are “blurring the lines” that divide networks and contributors.

He adds, “Whatever tenuous wall existed between Fox News and DeSantis, it seems to have deteriorated where you have people on both sides sitting in a digital room together pitching programming ideas.” Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.

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Source Article from https://news.yahoo.com/fox-news-reportedly-helped-ron-162333445.html

U.S. Marines have begun arriving in Kabul to help secure the evacuation of embassy staff as the Taliban offensive sweeps through Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Friday.

In just the past day, mIlitants have captured two of the country’s largest cities, and they appear to be trying to isolate Kabul before launching an offensive there, said Defense Department spokesman John Kirby.

In response to the worsening security situation, two battalions of Marines and a battalion of Army soldiers started arriving in the capital city on Friday to assist the State Department, Kirby told reporters at a Pentagon press briefing in Washington.

The battalions are expected to be in place by the end of the weekend, and will be capable of supporting the evacuation of several thousand people a day, both U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals.

Meanwhile, the State Department has instructed employees in Kabul to begin destroying “sensitive material,” including items featuring embassy logos or the American flag.

A State Department spokesperson told CNN that providing burn bins to staff for incinerating documents was “standard operating procedure” for a “drawdown.”

Taliban militants captured Kandahar, the second-most populous city in the country, as well as the third-largest city of Herat, NBC News reported Friday, citing a Taliban spokesman and local Afghan officials.

The insurgents have now seized at least half of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals, taking control of roughly two-thirds of the nation and encircling Kabul, where the U.S. Embassy is preparing to evacuate all but its core diplomatic personnel.

Kirby insisted the U.S. military had not been caught by surprise at the speed of the Taliban’s advancements, but that it remains “concerned” by the pace of military gains.

He noted that the Afghan National Army battling Taliban forces on the frontlines is better trained and better equipped than the Taliban, thanks to decades of U.S. training and billions of dollars worth of American weapons.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/taliban-seize-two-key-afghan-cities-as-us-evacuates-embassy-staff.html

Asante and Providence Hospitals in Medford, Ashland and Grants Pass say they’re beyond capacity in the face of a flood of new cases of the Delta variant.

Officials from the counties’ health departments and local hospitals met Thursday morning for a press conference, where they painted a dire picture of what they’re seeing on hospital floors.

“If you come to our hospital for any reason, we might not be able to help you,” says Amanda Kotler, Vice President of Nursing at Asante. “We’re out of beds, our staff are stretched, and we have limited resources. We are trying, but we’re running out of options.”

The region’s hospitals say their emergency waiting rooms are crowded with up to 50 people at a time, and many people are having to wait up to six hours to be seen. Hospital staff are having to treat patients in hallways because they don’t have enough space.

“And that might get to the point where we’re utilizing cots in conference rooms, if necessary,” says Chief Medical Officer Jason Kuhl of Providence Medford Medical Center.

Jackson County Medical Director Jim Shames says during the week of July 4, there were 99 new cases. Last week, the county had a record high of 655 new cases.

On Thursday, the county reported 416 new cases in a single day.

“We have surpassed anything we’ve seen before in terms of this disease,” Shames says.

Shames says the health department isn’t able to keep up with case investigations, so it’s relying on patients to contact people if they test positive for the coronavirus.

The surge of serious coronavirus cases is also postponing treatments that people need for other diseases and emergencies, just as wildfire smoke has choked the region for several days straight, creating more patient needs.

“We’re having a lot of asthma exacerbations,” Kuhl says. “We have stroke patients. We have patients needing treatment for their cancers or their heart disease.”

Asante says it’s had to cancel 350 surgeries.

“That’s 350 people that could be in pain or need life-saving treatment that have had to wait,” Kotler says.

Coronavirus testing capacity is also strained. Michael Weber, the public health director for Josephine County, says demand for tests dropped over spring, so many organizations pulled back their testing capacity. Now they’re overwhelmed.

“We are expanding right now, but I could tell you these last couple of weeks we’ve been floundering a little bit to meet the demand effectively,” Weber says.

Weber adds that he’s seen unprecedented demand for help at hospitals in recent days.

“This is by far the worst we’ve seen since COVID began,” Weber says. “This is the worst condition our hospitals have ever seen. I don’t know that anyone could recall a time where we’ve had this much pressure on our health care system.”

Despite the influx in cases, Josephine County is still holding its county fair, which opened on Wednesday. It’s called on everyone to wear masks.

Shames says there have been 2,741 cases in Jackson County since July 4. Of all the people who were admitted to the hospital because of the coronavirus, about 5 percent were vaccinated.

“We have very effective tools to help the spread of COVID and protect our community: vaccination and masking,” Shames says. “Our vaccines are very safe, they’re very effective, and masks worn to protect each other from disease is a proven strategy to help turn this around. So please, do this for yourself and do it for all of us.”

Jackson County needs to vaccinate more people than any other county in the state in order to reach an 80 percent vaccine rate. About 57 percent of adults over 18 years old are vaccinated, according to state data. Still, local officials say less than half of all people eligible for the vaccine, including teens, are vaccinated.

The county on Tuesday night sent a request to state officials asking for help establishing a 300-bed field hospital where medical providers in Jackson and Josephine counties can divert non-critical patients. The counties’ largest hospital system, Asante, says it needs another 185 staff to meet demand, while Providence needs another 34.

The county’s request also asked for the ability to redirect 60 COVID patients to long-term nursing facilities — regardless of their age — where they can be monitored by nurses.

Asante has three hospitals in Jackson and Josephine counties and it accepts patients from surrounding rural areas. Its vice president of nursing, Kotler, says it’s had to deny 200 patient transfers.

That’s left areas like Curry County having to transfer patients to other states, including Idaho, California and Nevada.

During a separate interview with JPR, Curry Health Network CEO Ginny Williams says the hospital has had to transfer patients as far as Reno.

“We are definitely feeling the impact,” Williams says. “We too have limited numbers of staff. Protecting them is paramount to us.”

Williams adds that Curry County is also experiencing a surge in demand for rapid COVID tests. She says pharmacy shelves that were once full with take-home tests are now empty.

Williams expects that demand to increase when Brown’s mandate that nurses either get vaccinated or get tested weekly takes effect on Sept. 30. She wouldn’t say what percentage of the hospital’s workforce is vaccinated.

During the press conference, hospital representatives from Asante and Providence also didn’t say what percentage of their staff are vaccinated.

Christopher Pizzi, Chief Executive of Providence Medford Medical Center, says Brown’s mandate will be “quite an undertaking.”

“The details of operationalizing something like that still need to be worked out,” Pizzi says.

Source Article from https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2021/08/covid-surge-has-hospitals-in-jackson-josephine-counties-treating-patients-in-hallways.html

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, here at a news conference Tuesday, has announced plans for a state-run mobile unit providing monoclonal antibody treatments.

Marta Lavandier/AP


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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, here at a news conference Tuesday, has announced plans for a state-run mobile unit providing monoclonal antibody treatments.

Marta Lavandier/AP

Florida is rolling out a mobile unit to administer monoclonal antibody treatments to coronavirus patients, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced.

Officials are expanding the availability of the treatments, which have emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, as a record number of new coronavirus infections is straining Florida’s health care system.

“There’s clear benefits to this early treatment for keeping people out of the hospital and reducing mortality,” DeSantis said during a Thursday news conference.

Monoclonal antibodies — which hold the coronavirus in check by mimicking the body’s natural immune defenses — can be used to treat people with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are 12 years of age or older. But the treatment doesn’t work for those who’ve already developed more severe symptoms or are hospitalized.

Both vaccinated and unvaccinated people who are infected can receive the treatments, officials said.

Former President Donald Trump received Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment when he contracted coronavirus last fall.

But some states have struggled to make the treatment widely available since it is administered by an intravenous infusion that can take up to an hour and requires medical staff that may already be overworked.

While announcing the new rollout, DeSantis noted that monoclonal antibody treatments may not be as well-known in the battle against COVID-19 because they received emergency authorization around the same time that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines also did.

Florida is looking to offer monoclonal antibody treatments at other locations throughout the state, and it will send “strike teams” into long-term care facilities to offer the treatment to older residents and others where they live.

The state has become a hot spot for new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks as the highly contagious delta variant has caused transmission rates to explode.

Still, DeSantis has resisted forcing students, many of whom are under age 12 and ineligible for the vaccine, to wear masks during the upcoming school year. He has threatened to withhold funding from any school districts that don’t let parents choose whether their children wear masks, though several counties have ignored the threat and kept their mask mandates or imposed new requirements.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/08/13/1027370861/florida-gov-desantis-monoclonal-antibody-treatments-covid-19-spike

(CNN)As experts race to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 by encouraging vaccinations and mask wearing, hospital systems in a handful of states are now straining to keep up with the surge.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/health/us-coronavirus-friday/index.html

    Overall, NOAA data showed Asia experienced its hottest July on record, while Europe experienced its second hottest July. July 2021 ranked in the top 10 warmest for North America, South America, Africa and Oceania.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/08/13/july-2021-hottest-record-month/

    More households got a monthly payment of the child tax credit in August, reaching an additional 1.6 million kids relative to July, the Treasury Department and IRS said Friday.

    The IRS disbursed $15 billion to families in the second round of payments, issued Friday to households with about 61 million total children, according to the agencies’ announcement.

    The federal government began sending the funds — up to $250 or $300 a month per child, depending on their age — on July 15.

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    However, about 15% of families who received a direct deposit in July will instead get a paper check in the mail for their August payment due to a “technical issue,” according to the announcement. The Treasury and IRS expect that problem to be resolved by the time the next payments are issued Sept. 15.

    Families can visit the Child Tax Credit Update Portal to see if they’re receiving a direct deposit or paper check in August.

    The monthly payments are an advance on half the portion of a family’s annual child tax credit. Households can opt out of receiving monthly payments and instead get their full credit during the 2022 tax season.

    There are many reasons more families are getting a monthly payment in August than July, according to a Treasury official.

    Additional tax returns have been processed, and more families who don’t typically file a tax return signed up for payments through a new IRS online portal, according to the official. The IRS also continues to improve its payment files and identify new families eligible for funds, the official said.

    Around 4 million children in low-income families are at risk of not getting payments of the expanded tax credit this year, due largely to limited data the federal government has on these individuals, according to a report published last month by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

    The monthly installments were created by the American Rescue Plan. The coronavirus pandemic relief law also raised the total annual credit amount for qualifying families – up to $3,600 for children younger than age 6 and $3,000 for those between 6 and 17. (That amount is up from $2,000.)

    The credit is also fully refundable and more low-income families are also eligible.

    The enhancements are temporary and will end after this year unless Congress extends the timeline. Senate Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget framework, which passed this week on a party-line vote, would extend the enhanced credit but didn’t specify a duration.

    Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/-irs-treasury-send-15-billion-in-child-tax-credit-payments-to-families.html