- Public Health
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AP: Indians turn to black market, unproven drugs as virus surges
In the past week, India has had to face one of the largest surges of COVID-19 cases yet, coming second to the US with more than 18 million identified cases, in addition to over 200,000 deaths. Hitting a new global record this past Thursday of over 379,000 new cases in a single day, the healthcare systems in India are more than overwhelmed. Because of these rapid increases, more individuals than ever are turning to unproven medicines and treatments, in desperate hopes of saving their friends and family members. What is most concerning is that prior to the pandemic, the regulation of drugs was already an issue, and the recent surges of the virus have only made matters worse. Out of distress, doctors have been advising their patients to search for and take different drugs and medicines that are not proven against COVID-19, largely due to the scarcity of all other resources such as oxygen therapy and even hospital beds. The people of India are like any other in that they will go to great lengths to help their loved ones, regardless of the likelihood that the unproven drugs will have any positive effects in fighting the virus.
- Human Interest
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The state of Ohio has officially become the second to last state to permit transgender people to alter their assigned gender on their birth certificate to one which they identify with. This is a momentus step in the direction for the equality of transgender people, with Tennessee being the only state remaining to make said changes. One of plaintiffs in this case had been harassed because the gender on her birth certificate is stated as male, and she had no way of changing it. This type of harassment, both physical and verbal, is not uncommon. A survey from the National Center for Transgender Equality recorded that 36% of Ohioans reported to have been “verbally harassed, denied benefits or service, asked to leave or assaulted” when presenting identification that did not correspond with the gender they identified as. However, once this ruling goes into effect by June 1st, transgender people will be able to make the neccessary alterations to their birth certificate, which will hopefully lead to more gender equality.
- Style
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The well-known media star Selena Gomez has launched her second campaign in collaboration with her cosmetics brand: Rare Beauty. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, Gomez has decided to concentrate her campaign to making both financial aid and mental health resources more accessible to schools. Her Rare Impact Fund has a set goal of raising $100 million throughout the coming 10 years to increase the number of mental health resources in low-income communities. Additionally, her brand, Rare Beauty, will be continuing to match donations to her Rare Impact Fund up to $200,000 Gomez is especially driven by the lack of mental health education she received throughout her childhood and hopes to make changes so that more students have these resources readily available to them. She believes that all young people should be educated on mental health the way they are educated about any other subject, which is a change that must be made in the school systems, but especially in underserved communities.
- Other News
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Girl Scout troops in Christiansburg, Virginia are getting some extra help this year delivering cookies from Wing, a part of Google’s subsidiary Alphabet. Wing states it was a way to help troops with the challenges they were facing with selling in a pandemic as well as build some public excitement around their delivery service Wing. There has been a challenge getting buy in from customers to use Wing as many are concerned about privacy, safety and noise issues. The Wing drone flies without a human remotely controlling and when a drone reaches a customer it hoovers and drops the package on their lawn.A recent survey conducted on the town of Christiansburg found that most residents are content with the drone delivery service.
- Health
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More women than men are getting the COVID-19 vaccine in the state of Maine. This trend is similar to what is being seen across the country in other states. 58% of people who have received their first dose in Maine have been women. In addition the Maine CDC is reporting similar numbers of nearly 56% of people getting the vaccine are women. Many think this can be contributed to the fact that women hold a larger percentage of jobs in the education and health fields and those professions had early access to the vaccine.The Maine CDC is also stating that overall people in their 60’s are getting the vaccine more than any other age group.
https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-maine-0eb3a294858ba170cc2695d0815be3ae
- Health
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The Center for Disease Control is predicting a sizable decline in the birth rate this year. Many predicted a COVID 19 baby boom would occur after people were locked down for months with nothing to do for the year. It appears the opposite has occurred. Before the pandemic the birth rate in the US was already falling, dropping less than 1% over the past decade. Data from 25 states, including California, show a bigger decline. In all of 2020 births were down 4.3%. Preliminary numbers show the decline was 6.5% in December, 9.3% in January and 10% in February 2020. Together these make up an 8% decline. It appears Netflix and Chill didn’t produce predicted quarantine results.
https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-science-health-3dc7033a62728f1a99a176c5577af58c
- Politics
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California is considering allowing adult children to add their parents to their healthcare plans. If this passes California will be the only state offering this to their residents. The problem with the proposal is that businesses pay for many of their employee premiums, at least partially, and those companies are expressing concerns that their costs could go up between $200 and $800 million a year, depending on how many employees engage in the option. This would lead to higher health care costs for everyone across the board. Many feel this initiative will also put a strain on small businesses, particularly those still trying to recover economically from limitations instituted during the pandemic.. This program would only be open to eligible parents, those who are truly dependent on their children, or as defined by the IRS those that rely on their adult children for at least 50% of their support. Many agree that this issue needs to be addressed, especially for those in the country illegally and not able to qualify for government funded programs, but many aren’t sure this is the solution.
- Pop News
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On Tuesday this week Brittney Spears court appointed attorney told the Judge presiding over her case that Spears would like to address the court to talk about her conservatorship that has controlled her life and her money for 13 years. The judge approved a date of June 23, 2021. Spears has not appeared in court since May 10,2019. At that time the courtroom was sealed. Spears has been pushing for more transparency and like the June proceedings to be public. Outside of court on Tuesday Spears’ massive support was evident by her picketing fans of the #FreeBritneyMovement. The carried signs touting “This is Toxic” and “Conservatorship is SLavery”. Spears has been petitioning the court to give her back more control over her life, but has not yet requested the court end the conservatorship. Spears has said several times that she welcomes the support from her fans and the attention they are giving her circumstance.