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Health

NFL makes Covid security plans for followers

NFL makes Covid safety plans for fans

National Football League fans gather in downtown Tampa prior to Super Bowl LV during the COVID-19 pandemic on January 30, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.

Octavio Jones | Getty Images

The National Football League is preparing for the final competition of the season with Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay, and the league promises the event will not become a Covid-19 superspreader.

The NFL said it would be handing out kits of hand sanitizer and KN95 masks to fans during Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to limit the spread.

NFL manager Jeff Miller said the wearing of masks will be mandatory for fans, players and team staff and the league will enforce social distancing measures. The NFL said attendance at the 65,000-seat Raymond James Stadium will be limited to 25,000, including 7,500 vaccinated health workers.

“It has been a lot of work by a lot of people and a lot of commitment with local, state, and national health officials to do this as safely as possible,” said Miller, who oversees the NFL public and political affairs.

Health and safety experts speaking to CNBC agreed with the way the NFL is coordinating their event, but still raised issues.

“My biggest concern about when Covid-19 could spread in the stadium isn’t necessarily with people sitting in their seats,” said Stephen Kissler, an epidemiologist at Harvard University. “It is actually when they mingle in other parts of the stadium.”

The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs fans watch during the Super Bowl LIV game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL on February 2, 2020.

Robin Alam | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

What is the plan?

Kissler, a researcher in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, said people who gather in lines to enter the stadium or wait for concessions are more likely to spread droplets containing the virus.

To counteract this, the NFL has its own entry points, which are larger for the fans present, although they don’t offer temperature tests at the gates.

The NFL also sells Super Bowl tickets in groups of two to six so that they can sit in “pods” together. Jonathan Barker, the NFL’s head of live event production, said the pods were not placed too close together and a maximum of 10 people per pod.

“There will never be anyone in front of or behind another person,” said Barker, counting on 30,000 clippings of fans to fill the empty spaces.

Barker, who has been in Tampa Bay since Jan. 4, said the stadium had undergone rigorous daily cleaning. “And when we have three days off, we will step up that effort to clean, disinfect and disinfect everything,” he said.

The NFL estimates that by kick-off there will be around 200,000 health screenings for people working on the event, including staff. BioReference Laboratories, a diagnostics company, supports the NFL’s health and safety efforts at Super Bowl LV. The company is expected to distribute 35,000 PCR tests to employees and salespeople at the stadium.

In order to limit contact, the NFL has partnered with Visa to offer cashless ATM transactions. These corporations will go in two different directions.

In Tampa Bay, Mayor Jane Castor mandated outdoor masks near targets near the Super Bowl. Epidemiologist Kissler said the limited capacity and atmosphere outdoors, as well as the vaccinated fans should help, but warned, “We still don’t know exactly how much the vaccine prevents the spread of Covid-19.”

“We have to remain vigilant, keep our distance, wear masks and keep up with sensible measures that we have become so familiar with over the course of the year,” said Kissler.

Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said the tracing plans were shared with federal health officials, including President Joe Biden’s Covid Task Force. He said the “detailed plan” provided guidelines for getting on and off.

“We take our responsibility very seriously to model the best behavior and show how we believe an event of this magnitude can be safely conducted,” said Sills.

A view of Raymond James Stadium, home of Super Bowl LV, during the COVID-19 pandemic on January 30, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.

Octavio Jones | Getty Images

No signs of anger

Although the league had its own problems with outbreaks among players and staff during the regular season, Sills said no persistent cases had occurred over NFL games. Miller said over 1 million people played 116 NFL games during his pandemic season.

“We haven’t traced an outbreak or cluster of cases to any of the places we’ve hosted fans,” said Sills. “It’s an important benchmark for us and something we’re really focusing on in this game.”

The league released the latest Covid test results on Tuesday, reporting zero new positive results from the players and one from the staff. To date, the NFL said 262 players and 463 staff have tested positive.

It is unknown if the NFL is insured for the Super Bowl. While discussing the NBA bubble in July, Attorney Alan Taylor suggested that the leagues need to seek new event guidelines as most had no insurance for a pandemic. Until the federal government supports such measures, they are likely to remain expensive.

“The guidelines that the professional leagues must receive must be new guidelines based on the new situation we are in,” said Taylor, co-chair of the professional liability division of Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney law firm.

Gil Fried, a stadium safety and risk management expert at the University of New Haven, said the NFL has a safe way out of legal troubles when outbreaks occur.

Fans participating in the game consent to the “taking of risks” associated with attending such an event, with Covid still very active. According to the Buccaneers website, fans must “leave, and not enter, the stadium grounds” if they do not consent to the risks associated with visiting Raymond James Stadium.

“This is a very big shield that the NFL will have,” Fried said. “I think the NFL will do a good job of enforcing the rules, but I think it’s a bigger problem with the fans and what they do,” he added. “You can have any rules you want, but if the fans don’t follow or do what they’re supposed to, you’re going to get into serious trouble.”

Fried suggested that the NFL use frequent announcements and other behavioral triggers to help fans adhere to protocols.

“They need signs,” said Fried. “They need announcements on their tapes in the stadium that all say, ‘This is what you have to do.’ They need to be constantly reminded. And make sure your security enforces it and dump them if they don’t meet the requirements. “

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Politics

Lacking in College Reopening Plans: Black Households’ Belief

Missing in School Reopening Plans: Black Families’ Trust

Thousands of black students have returned to the classroom in the past few months. Distance learning has been disastrous, especially for many black children, and data has shown that students are falling behind in key subjects. This could undermine decades of work by local school districts and the federal government to close the performance gap between black and white students.

In interviews, some parents said they had no choice but to bring their children back to classrooms so they could work. Others said they couldn’t take it any longer if their children struggled with online learning.

Charles Johnson, a Brooklyn parent, allowed his son to return to personal high school classes last fall after his son requested. He then attended a day of class before the city closed high schools indefinitely.

“He hates distance learning, oh my god, he hates it,” said Mr. Johnson. But Mr Johnson, who suffers from diabetes and other health problems, said he would not consider sending his child back. The risk feels too great.

“As bad as I want the schools to open,” he said, “I don’t want him in these classrooms.”

Also, in many cities and counties, Latin American and Asian American families are less likely than white families to send their children back. Asian-Americans have opted out of in-person tuition with the highest rates of any ethnic group in New York City. Latino families in Chicago most likely said they would keep their children at home when schools reopened.

Still, the pattern is most consistent and pronounced among black families, who have been particularly hard hit by decades of segregation, divestment, and racism. By one estimate, a $ 23 billion gap, or $ 2,226 per student, separates funding from predominantly white and non-white districts, and Indiana University Bloomington sociologist who studied the reopening, Jessica Calarco, said the pandemic said the pandemic have increased this inequality.

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Business

Virgin Galactic shares pop as firm plans to redo spaceflight take a look at as early as Feb. 13

Virgin Galactic SPCE stock drops after aborted spaceflight test

SpaceShipTwo “Unity” on the runway after an abandoned space test on December 12, 2020.

Virgo Galactic

Virgin Galactic is preparing for the next space flight attempt. The company announced on Monday that it will repeat its canceled flight test in December on February 13th.

The space tourism company said one of the main goals of the space flight test will be “to test the remedial actions that have been completed since … the on-board computer stopped the rocket motor firing”.

“The team has since performed root cause analysis, completed the necessary corrective work and conducted extensive ground tests. The next phase will be to evaluate and verify this work during a missile flight,” Virgin Galactic said in a press release.

Virgin Galactic’s shares rose up to 9% in premarket trading from the previous close of trading.

Virgin Galactic will also pursue each of the original goals of the December flight test, “including evaluating elements of the customer’s cabin, testing spacecraft-to-ground live-stream capability, and evaluating the improved horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during the boost phase of the In flight, “said the company.

Following the flight test, Virgin Galactic said it would “conduct a comprehensive data review” to provide “information on the next steps in the flight test program.” Prior to the canceled December flight, Virgin Galactic had expected to conduct three remaining space flight tests before launching commercial flights. The second and third space flight tests were previously planned for the first quarter of 2021.

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Business

American Airways plans one other $1 billion inventory sale after huge rally

American Airlines plans another $1 billion stock sale after big rally

American Airlines Flight 718, the first US Boeing 737 MAX commercial flight since regulators lifted a 20-month primer in November, will take off from Miami, Florida on December 29, 2020.

Marco Bello | Reuters

American Airlines approved the sale of an additional $ 1 billion worth of shares, the airline said in a report filed Friday, to prop up cash as Covid-19 continues to depress demand for travel.

American approved a $ 1 billion stock sale in October and sold $ 882.4 million at $ 12.87 per share. Under the new deal, it would sell up to $ 1.12 billion.

The American decision follows a sharp price rally earlier this week after being featured on the popular WallStreetBets Reddit forum. The airline declined to comment on whether the stock movement was taken into account in its decision. The airline is the most short-circuited US airline.

American stocks fell more than 5% to $ 17.17 on Friday but ended the week 8.5%. Other airline stocks fell this week.

American and Southwest Airlines each reported record losses for 2020 on Thursday. US airlines lost around $ 34 billion last year.

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Business

Division retailer retailer Belk plans to file for Chapter 11 chapter

Department store retailer Belk plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Belk department store

John Greim | LightRocket | Getty Images

The Belk department store chain announced on Tuesday afternoon that it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This marks the youngest retailer in malls as its sales have declined and challenges have accelerated during the Covid pandemic.

The North Carolina-based retailer announced that it will be entering into a restructuring agreement with its majority owner, private equity firm Sycamore Partners, along with the owners of more than 75% of its term loan debt and 100% holders of its term loan debt.

Belk said it plans to recapitalize the business, reduce the debt burden by around $ 450 million, and extend the maturity of all term loans through July 2025. Sycamore will retain majority control over Belk under the agreement.

The company announced it has received funding commitments for $ 225 million in new capital from Sycamore, KKR and Blackstone, as well as some of its existing first-term lenders. The retailer said it plans to keep paying its suppliers and that all normal business operations will continue during the restructuring process.

She hopes to end Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the end of February.

“We are confident that this agreement will put us on the right long-term path to significantly reduce our debt and provide us with more financial flexibility to meet our commitments and continue to invest in our business, including further improvements and additions to our omnichannel capabilities von Belk, “said Lisa Harper, CEO of Belk, in a statement.

America’s department store operators – including Belk and its nearly 300 stores mainly in the Southeast – are facing problems as consumers visit malls less often and buy fewer clothes during the pandemic.

Last year Neiman Marcus, JC Penney, Stage Stores and Lord & Taylor filed for bankruptcy. The latter, the oldest department store chain in the country, eventually liquidated and closed all of its stores. Penney narrowly escaped the same result after US mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners acquired it.

Sycamore, a consumer and retail investment firm, recently bought womenswear brands Ann Taylor, Loft, Lou & Gray and Lane Bryant from bankruptcy from Ascena Retail Group.

Here is the full press release from Belk.

FIX: This story has been updated to say that Belk has announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. An earlier version incorrectly stated that the company had already filed.

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Health

J&J plans to have 100 million vaccines for Individuals by spring, board member says

J&J plans to have 100 million vaccines for Americans by spring, board member says

Dr. Johnson & Johnson board member Mark McClellan told CNBC that “if the clinical trial works,” the company could significantly increase the availability of Covid vaccines in the coming weeks.

“I know J&J has a very large supply with its production both here in the US and elsewhere in the world, with the goal of maybe having enough vaccines for 100 million Americans by spring or April So,” said the former FDA commissioner in a Thursday evening interview on “The News with Shepard Smith”.

During a speech at the White House Thursday, government lead infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci said Johnson & Johnson would have enough data on its vaccine to start analysis within a week or two. McClellan told host Shepard Smith that the most important thing about the company’s vaccine is the large-scale clinical trial that is ongoing.

“Based on these results, the independent scientists overseeing this study should take a closer look in the near future and we’ll see how quickly the vaccine could advance,” McClellan said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 883,000 syringes of the Covid vaccine are given per day in the US for the past six days. Even so, less than 50% of the 37,960,000 cans distributed have found their way into people’s arms.

At least 12 states have reported vaccine shortages. Officials from San Francisco and New York warned they could be completely out of dose this week. At least 15 vaccination sites in New York City are temporarily closed. New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio told NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez that at least 23,000 vaccine appointments must be postponed.

McClellan noted that “the supply will go up, but probably not enough to keep up with the large number of Americans who are now really looking to get vaccinated.” However, he told Smith that he believes the Biden administration can help speed up the vaccine adoption rate.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but I think more than 100 million Americans can be vaccinated in the next few months,” said McClellan, a health policy expert at Duke University.

President Joe Biden promised a “full war effort” to fight the coronavirus pandemic and accelerate vaccine production using the Defense Production Act during a briefing Thursday.

“We have already identified suppliers and are working with them to move the plan forward,” said Biden.

He added that the DPA would help fix supply chain issues, including a shortage of syringes.

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Politics

Biden plans blitz of govt motion in first 10 days

Biden plans blitz of executive action in first 10 days

President-elect Joe Biden plans to take immediate executive action after his inaugural address this week to turn the page on the Trump era, Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Sunday after setting out Biden’s plan for his first few days in the office.

Biden plans a 10-day blitz of executive action on what his administration has dubbed the country’s “four crises” problems – Covid-19, economic downturn, racial injustice and climate change.

“He will return to the White House after this speech in the Capitol and take immediate action to move this country forward,” Klain told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.

Biden will officially take office on Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET. Klain said Biden’s inaugural address was “a message to move this country forward, a message of unity, a message to get things done”.

Klain outlined Biden’s plans for his first few days in a memorandum to White House staff sent to NBC News on Saturday entitled “A Review of the First Ten Days.”

“We are facing four overlapping and worsening crises: the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis and a racist stock crisis,” Klain wrote in the memo.

“In his first ten days in office, President-elect Biden will act decisively to address these four crises, prevent other urgent and irreversible harm, and restore America’s place in the world,” added Klain.

The executive actions take a variety of forms, including executive orders, presidential memoranda, and instructions to cabinet agencies.

The first steps Biden will take on Wednesday include re-entering the Paris Climate Agreement and lifting President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which applies to several Muslim-majority countries. Biden will also require masks for federal estates and interstate travel, and will take steps to expand eviction and foreclosure restrictions.

On Thursday, Biden will sign executive measures related to reopening schools and businesses, and on Friday he will “instruct his cabinet agencies to take immediate action to provide economic aid to working families who are bearing the brunt of this crisis,” it said in the memo.

The following week, according to the memo, Biden will “take significant early action to promote justice and support communities of color and other underserved communities.”

Biden will also take action this week to address climate change, expand access to health care, and “restore the dignity of our immigration system and border policies.”

The memorandum contains few details and states that Biden splits up executive action to highlight the activity.

It is also noted that the objectives behind executive action, while “bold”, are backed by “sound” legal theory and are “a restoration of an adequate constitutional role for the President”.

Klain wrote in the memo that legislation will be required for the administration’s more ambitious agenda items, including immigration reform and the increase in the federal minimum wage.

Biden on Thursday unveiled his $ 1.9 billion Covid-19 relief agenda, which calls for action to combat the public health crisis and new cash injections to stimulate the economy. The plan would also raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour.

Democrats control the House of Representatives and will soon take control of the Senate after two Republicans were defeated in Georgia’s Senate runoff earlier this month. But Klain said Sunday that, given the small Democratic majority, the Biden team would push for GOP support for its plans.

Democrats have 222 seats in the House of Representatives compared to the GOP’s 212, and the parties will split the Senate equally between 50 and 50, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris able to break votes that break the votes.

“We’re going to try to work hard with people in both parties,” Klain said on CNN.

“The American people voted in November and they voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden, no question about it, but they elected an evenly divided Senate, they elected a tightly divided Congress, we have to find ways that Democrats and Republicans do Get things done. ” ,” he added.

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Health

UnitedHealthcare launches digital major look after employer plans

UnitedHealthcare launches virtual primary care for employer plans

This arranged photo shows a UnitedHealth Group health insurance card in a wallet in this image illustration dated October 14, 2019.

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

UnitedHealthcare is expanding its telemedicine offering for employers to include a new virtual basic care service that gives doctors access to routine visits on their phones or computers who pay little or no co-payments.

“Before Covid, we worked with big primary care practices … and it was really difficult to get an admission. Patients wanted it, but doctors were really uncomfortable with the whole idea of ​​virtually seeing patients,” said Dr. Donna O’Shea, Chief Medical Officer, Population Health Management at UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance arm of the UnitedHealth Group.

Doctors have been slow to introduce telemedicine, as the reimbursement rates for virtual visits were often lower than for personal care. That has changed because of Covid. Government Medicare’s plans for seniors and private health insurers increased reimbursement rates during the pandemic last year, and inevitably increased adoption of virtual care by doctors and patients.

Now UnitedHealth is betting that patients are ready to take the next step towards a more convenient option.

“We know 25% of people don’t have a basic provider … maybe it’s really difficult to get out of work (to see one) and maybe if it were easier for you, you might have one,” said O’Shea .

The pandemic has also fueled the race to enter virtual basic services. Telemedicine provider Teladoc Health has tried to move beyond one-time urgent care visits to a basic care model for employers. So is Amazon, which is exploring the expansion of its in-house Amazon Care virtual health program for Washington state workers to include a service for other employers.

While non-traditional companies like Amazon can bring expertise to consumer engagement, that is not enough to gain a foothold with employers, said Steven Shill, national director of the BDO Center for Healthcare Excellence & Innovation.

“There must be complementary skills and part of the complementary skills must be healthcare,” Shill said, adding that half of the healthcare executives surveyed by BDO plan to consider new partnerships this year.

“I think these partnerships will come and go until you have the right partners together,” he said.

UnitedHealth is working with telehealth provider Amwell, who will provide the platform for virtual care and clinical services through its medical group. The virtual primary care program will initially be available to employers in 11 states, including Colorado, Texas, Maryland and Washington, DC.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Donna O’Shea is the Chief Medical Officer for Population Health Management at UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance arm of the UnitedHealth Group.

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Health

Cuomo Outlines Plans to Revive Arts and Tradition Industries

Cuomo Outlines Plans to Revive Arts and Culture Industries

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday that New York urgently needs to revitalize its arts and entertainment industries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic in the short term and get more unemployed artists back to work.

“We need to bring art and culture back to life,” said Cuomo as he continued a week-long series of political talks setting out his agenda for the state.

The governor said bringing back the arts and culture was vital – not just to help artists who have suffered from the country’s worst unemployment, but to make New York City an important and exciting hub in which to live people want to live and work.

“Cities are, by definition, centers of energy, entertainment, theater and cuisine,” Cuomo said, highlighting the threats the city is facing from the increase in remote working, crime and homelessness. “Without this activity and attraction, cities lose a lot of their attractiveness. What is a city without social, cultural and creative synergies? New York City is not New York without Broadway. “

Mr Cuomo said the state would form a public-private partnership to offer a series of nationwide pop-up concerts with artists including Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Renée Fleming and Hugh Jackman; launch a pilot program to investigate how socially distant performances can be safely held in flexible locations with undefined seating; and work with the Mellon Foundation to distribute scholarships that can help more than 1,000 artists get back to work and raise money for art groups in the community.

The governor said the state couldn’t wait until the summer when more people would be vaccinated to bring the performances back.

The public-private partnership New York Arts Revival, which will feature pop-up performances with more than 150 artists starting February 4th, is led by producers Scott Rudin and Jane Rosenthal, along with the New York State Council on the Arts. The plan will culminate with the opening of Little Island, the park-like pier built by Barry Diller on the downtown Hudson River, and the Tribeca Film Festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in June.

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 symptoms or no symptoms at all. 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 reaction 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 moment, 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 hold for a few days at most before it is destroyed.

Mr Cuomo said he hopes to expand rapid testing, including at pop-up locations, to make it easier for people to get tested before visiting restaurants or theaters in areas with sufficiently low virus rates. He pointed to the state’s experiment at the Buffalo Bills game last Saturday when the state tested nearly 7,000 fans.

There were problems with rapid tests. While rapid test devices are portable and can provide results quickly, many are not considered to be as reliable as other tests on people with no symptoms. The White House had relied on quick tests to protect President Trump and his inner circle by asking all White House visitors to take the test, even though that was not the way the test was supposed to be used.

New York reported at least 196 new coronavirus deaths and 14,179 new cases on Monday, and the rate of positive tests continues to rise.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the foremost infectious disease expert in the United States, told performing arts professionals at a virtual conference Saturday that he believed theaters could reopen this fall with relatively few restrictions if the vaccination program were successful, despite it the audience suggested you may need to wear masks for some time.

“When we get to early to mid-fall, people can feel safe on stage, as can people in the audience,” said Dr. Fauci.

However, the distribution of vaccines in the US is behind schedule, and public health officials have made efforts to deliver the vaccine to hospital workers and at-risk older Americans.

Mr Cuomo said New York could not wait until enough people were vaccinated to achieve herd immunity before steps were taken to revitalize the performing arts scene.

“We’re seeing downtime for months,” he said. “We have to start acting now. We cannot float and let pain, hardship and inequality grow around us. “

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Politics

Pompeo Returns Cuba to Terrorism Sponsor Listing, Constraining Biden’s Plans

Pompeo Returns Cuba to Terrorism Sponsor List, Constraining Biden’s Plans

WASHINGTON – The State Department on Monday named Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism in a short-term foreign policy stroke that will complicate plans by the new Biden administration to restore friendlier ties with Havana.

In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited Cuba’s reception of 10 Colombian rebel leaders as well as a handful of American refugees wanted for crimes in the 1970s and Cuba’s support for Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.

Mr Pompeo said the operation sent the message that “the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and the subversion of the US justice system”.

The New York Times reported last month that Mr Pompeo was considering the move and had a plan on his desk.

The move, announced only a few days ago in the Trump administration, reverses a step taken in 2015 after President Barack Obama restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and described his decades of political and economic isolation as a relic of the Cold War.

After his tenure, President Trump acted swiftly to undermine Mr Obama’s policies of openness, to the delight of Cuban-American and other Latino voters in Florida, who welcomed his aggressive stance on Havana and its socialist, anti-American ally, Mr Maduro.

Other Republicans cheered Mr. Trump, saying Havana failed to push through political overhauls and continued to crack down on dissent and break promises it made to the Obama administration.

U.S. officials said the plan to put Cuba back on the terrorism sponsor list was drawn up in a departure from the standard process by the State Department’s Western Hemisphere Affairs Office, rather than the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, which normally plays a pivotal role such a decision would play.

Monday’s denomination said Cuba had “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism,” according to the Foreign Ministry’s criteria for listing countries that include only three other nations: Iran, North Korea and Syria.

The move automatically triggers United States sanctions against Cuba – likely negligible effects, experts said given the magnitude of the existing American penalties against Havana.

But the action could be a symbolic deterrent for businesses and “add another of many negative incentives to look for ways to export, import from, or provide services to Cuba,” said John Kavulich, president of trade – and Economic Council of the USA and Cuba.

The statement by Mr Pompeo cited Cuba’s refusal to extradite ten leaders of the Colombian National Liberation Army. A foreign terrorist organization that has lived in Havana since 2017 was also named. The leaders traveled to Havana for peace talks in 2017 to end a long riot in Colombia and have not returned home.

The National Liberation Army has taken responsibility for a bomb attack on a police academy in Bogotá in January 2019 that killed 22 people and injured more than 87 others.

Mr Pompeo also cited the presence in Cuba of three refugees who were charged or convicted of murder in the early 1970s, including Joanne D. Chesimard, 73, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, now called Assata Shakur, who remains on the List of FBI Most Wanted Terrorists Who Killed a New Jersey State Soldier in 1973.

His statement also stated that the Cuban government “is engaged in a range of malicious behaviors across the region” and that its intelligence and security services are “assisting Nicolás Maduro in maintaining his stranglehold on his people and enabling terrorist organizations to operate,” the Cuban Government supported Colombian rebels beyond their borders and that their support for Maduro had helped “create a permissive environment for international terrorists to live and prosper in Venezuela”.

Speaking of a return to Obama’s more open approach to Havana during the campaign, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. vowed to “immediately reverse the failed Trump policies that have harmed the Cuban people and done nothing to move forward Democracy and human rights. “

While the Biden government can remove Cuba from the terrorism list, it requires a screening process that can take months.

Ted A. Henken, associate professor of sociology at Baruch College in New York, called the designation “a symbolic last gesture” by the Trump administration towards Cuba as well as a reward for the Cuban exiled community and like-minded Latino voters who stood for in November gave the president a surprisingly strong number.

“It’s unjustified based on merit or evidence,” he said. “Cuba is a dictatorship that systematically denies its citizens basic rights, but has not been shown to engage in terrorist activities.”

“The label is politically motivated for a domestic audience in the US,” he added.

William LeoGrande, a professor of government at the American University in Washington, noted that Trump’s numerous sanctions against Cuba meant that the new name would have little additional impact.

In the past two years, Cuba has faced the most severe sanctions in the United States in the past 50 years, which have contributed to rationing and the profound shortage of basic necessities such as medicine and food. According to Alejandro Gil, Cuba’s economics minister, the economy contracted by 11 percent last year.

Mr. LeoGrande said the designation could impede legal financial transactions with American financial institutions, such as a U.S. airline that pays the Cuban government for landing fees, as banks become more suspicious of the additional surveillance of such exchanges from Washington.

Banking transactions via third countries could also be affected. During Mr Trump’s tenure, European banks became increasingly reluctant to make payments to Cuban state-owned companies. The island’s terrorism designation could further reduce risk appetite.

Mr LeoGrande said the Cuban government would try to avoid escalating the conflict in the expectation that Mr Biden would try to improve relations.

The news was received with anger on the streets of Havana. “That’s a lie,” said Sergio Herrera, 45, a bicycle taxi driver.

“Trump has his neck in a noose” politically and is “looking for excuses,” he said.

Michael Crowley reported from Washington, Ed Augustin from Havana and Kirk Semple from Mexico City.