Tag: Orleans

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Politics

Biden to Tour Hurricane Ida Harm in New Orleans

Biden to Tour Hurricane Ida Damage in New Orleans

WASHINGTON – President Biden will fly to New Orleans on Friday to view the damage caused by Hurricane Ida to demonstrate his commitment to the federal government’s storm response, even as his administration remains embroiled in other urgent matters of the coronavirus surge after his departure from Afghanistan.

In guidelines to reporters issued late Thursday evening, White House officials said Mr. Biden would investigate storm damage and meet with government officials from hurricane-hit communities, which the president on Thursday named the fifth largest hurricane in American history .

Mr Biden, speaking at the White House Thursday, said he would meet with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, along with mayor presidents and other local officials.

“Governor Edwards encouraged me to come and assured me that the visit will not disrupt the on-site recovery effort,” said Biden. “I wanted to be sure of that. My message to all concerned is: We are all in it together. The nation is here to help. “

Ida stormed Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane Sunday, leaving at least 12 dead and the power grid in ruins before its remains marched up the east coast, flooding New York and much of the rest of the northeast, killing dozens more.

Despite the withdrawal of the last of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Monday, Mr Biden has struggled throughout the week to show his commitment to the assault effort. On Sunday when the storm hit the Gulf Coast, it stopped at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington to give workers a lift.

Mr Biden said Thursday that he “will be kept informed of progress from FEMA every hour late into the night and that we will work around the clock until the region’s critical needs are fully met”.

Floods in New York

Updated

9/3/2021, 5:00 p.m. ET

Mr. Biden’s itinerary and aggressive public efforts to highlight how his administration prepared for the storm contrast sharply with President George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago.

Bush drew harsh criticism for the federal government’s slow response to the storm that inundated parts of New Orleans and claimed the deaths of more than 1,800 people. Mr Bush was famously photographed viewing the devastation of the storm from a window on Air Force One, which became a symbol of the state’s distancing from the damage. He later said he regretted the photo and wished he had ended up in Louisiana.

“I should have landed in Baton Rouge, met with the governor and walked out and said, ‘I’m listening,'” Bush said in a 2010 interview. “And then I flew back to Washington. I didn’t do that. And pay a price for it. “

Mr Biden did not mention Mr Bush in his remarks about the hurricane this week. But he has repeatedly promoted government efforts to position electrical workers, medical teams, power generators, and other aid in front of the storm in hopes of bringing relief quickly to those affected.

“As we tackle the core elements of disaster relief, we’re also deploying new tools to expedite this recovery – things that weren’t used very often in previous hurricane responses,” Biden said Thursday. “Working with private companies that own and operate the lifeline infrastructure such as electricity and communications, we’ve used the latest technology to expedite restoration of power and cellular service.”

Mr Biden also used the storm, including the floods in the northeast on Wednesday, to raise awareness of his climate change agenda. Democrats in Congress are looking to pass a multi-trillion dollar spending bill this month that Biden said should include tax incentives for low-carbon energy use along with other measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday that the hurricane reaffirmed the president’s “commitment to adopt his Build Back Better agenda, which has a big, big focus on addressing the climate crisis.”

Categories
World News

Rising Covid Instances Drive Organizers to Cancel New Orleans Jazz Fest

Rising Covid Cases Force Organizers to Cancel New Orleans Jazz Fest

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been canceled, officials said Sunday, citing the “exponential growth of new Covid cases in New Orleans and the region.”

The festival, which usually takes place in the spring, has been postponed to October 8-17 in the hopes that vaccinations would make the event possible. Ticket holders will receive emails shortly describing the refund options.

Coronavirus infections hit a record high in Louisiana this month, with the state reporting an average of 4,600 new cases per day over the past week, according to a New York Times database. Hospital stays rose 140 percent to an average of 2,037 per day, and deaths rose 193 percent to an average of 30 per day.

Louisiana reintroduced indoor masking requirements this month in an attempt to contain infections fueled by the state’s low vaccination rate and the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus. Only 37 percent of the state’s population, including children under 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccination, have been fully vaccinated, according to the New York Times.

Categories
Business

To Promote Vaccines, New Orleans Dances With Its Sleeves Rolled Up

To Promote Vaccines, New Orleans Dances With Its Sleeves Rolled Up

Public health officials and politicians have repeatedly called for national vaccination campaigns since the summer. However, in the absence of a meaningful federal campaign, concerned local officials have started developing their own publicity.

New Orleans is possibly best positioned to be at the top. The city is regularly hit by hurricanes and has an emergency management office that works in the field of public messaging.

Covid19 vaccinations>

Answers to your vaccine questions

If I live in the US, when can I get the vaccine?

While the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary from state to state, most doctors and residents of long-term care facilities will come first. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help.

When can I get back to normal life after the vaccination?

Life will only get back to normal once society as a whole receives adequate protection against the coronavirus. Once countries have approved a vaccine, they can only vaccinate a few percent of their citizens in the first few months. The unvaccinated majority remain susceptible to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines show robust protection against disease. However, it is also possible that people spread the virus without knowing they are infected because they have mild or no symptoms. Scientists don’t yet know whether the vaccines will also block the transmission of the coronavirus. Even vaccinated people have to wear masks for the time being, avoid the crowds indoors and so on. Once enough people are vaccinated, it becomes very difficult for the coronavirus to find people at risk to become infected. Depending on how quickly we as a society achieve this goal, life could approach a normal state in autumn 2021.

Do I still have to wear a mask after the vaccination?

Yeah, but not forever. The two vaccines that may be approved this month clearly protect people from contracting Covid-19. However, the clinical trials that produced these results were not designed to determine whether vaccinated people could still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. That remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected with the coronavirus can spread it without experiencing a cough or other symptoms. Researchers will study this question intensively when the vaccines are introduced. In the meantime, self-vaccinated people need to think of themselves as potential spreaders.

Will it hurt What are the side effects?

The vaccine against Pfizer and BioNTech, like other typical vaccines, is delivered as a shot in the arm. The injection is no different from the ones you received before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported serious health problems. However, some of them have experienced short-lived symptoms, including pain and flu-like symptoms that usually last a day. It is possible that people will have to plan to take a day off or go to school after the second shot. While these experiences are not pleasant, they are a good sign: they are the result of your own immune system’s encounter with the vaccine and a strong response that ensures lasting immunity.

Will mRNA vaccines change my genes?

No. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to boost the immune system. This molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell, allowing the molecule to slide inside. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus that can stimulate the immune system. At any given point in time, each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules that they produce to make their own proteins. As soon as these proteins are made, our cells use special enzymes to break down the mRNA. The mRNA molecules that our cells make can only survive a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is engineered to withstand the cell’s enzymes a little longer, so the cells can make extra viral proteins and trigger a stronger immune response. However, the mRNA can last a few days at most before it is destroyed.

At the beginning of the pandemic, a “Masks Up, NOLA!” Slogan. As the virus raced through the neighborhoods, Laura A. Mellem, the city’s public engagement manager for its NOLA Ready program, was well aware that black New Orleans were being hit in disproportionate numbers. Blacks make up about 60 percent of the city’s population, but nearly 74 percent of Covid-19 deaths.

“But the communities hardest hit by the virus are probably the most reluctant to get the vaccine because they have long been abused in the name of science,” Ms. Mellem said.

How can you convince them to get the shot?

In November, the city assembled the Vaccine Equity and Communications Working Group, a coalition of high-profile public health doctors, religious leaders, leaders from Black, Latin American, and Vietnamese communities, and leaders of the city’s major social clubs. The group completed surveys and identified cultural icons that would appeal to residents.

Instead of focusing the news on the misery caused by the pandemic, Ms. Mellem decided to emphasize an ambitious and welcoming tone, a central finding from behavior change research and thought leaders in cities like San Francisco. As Edward Maibach, Professor of Public Health Messaging at George Mason University writes, the most effective communication makes “the behavior we encourage simple, fun and popular.”

“I get my shot so I can visit my 92-year-old mother and eat in our favorite restaurants,” says Julie Nalibov of the Krewe of Red Beans, who helps the city’s ailing cultural artists, many of whom are over 70.