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President Biden’s job approval sinking on inflation, crime and COVID: POLL

December 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is facing significant skepticism from the American public, with his job approval rating lagging across a range of major issues, including new lows for his handling of crime, gun violence and the economic recovery, a new ABC/Ipsos poll finds.

As the White House confronts rising and widespread concern about inflation, Americans are especially negative on how the Biden administration is managing this issue.

More than two-thirds of Americans (69%) disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation (only 28% approve) while more than half (57%) disapprove of his handling of the economic recovery. Partisan splits for inflation show expected negativity in Republican views (94% disapproving), but the survey also reveals weaknesses from Biden’s own party with only a slim majority of Democrats (54%) approving. Biden’s orbit is also hemorrhaging independent voters, with 71% disapproving of his handling of inflation.

The ABC/Ipsos poll, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, reveals these rocky ratings for Biden at a time when the bulk of Americans name inflation and paying everyday bills as a top concern. Concern about inflation has eclipsed worry about the coronavirus pandemic, according to recent polls from Monmouth and AP-NORC, as Republicans continuously spotlight rising prices at the gas pump and the grocery store as a key issue for the upcoming midterm elections — likely to be a referendum on Biden’s performance.

These low job assessments in areas of high public concern have led to a new low in Biden’s overall approval rating, measured by FiveThirtyEight at 43%.

The findings show Biden slightly above water in one sector: his handling of COVID-19. A slim majority (53%) of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the pandemic. Even so, Biden’s COVID approval rating is now numerically at its lowest point in ABC/Ipsos polling since he took office, another warning sign for what might be a tough battle to maintain majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.

The White House has expanded federal COVID-19 mitigation efforts as the delta and omicron variants spur stricter vaccination and mask requirements across the country.

Biden has stood by his politically controversial decision to require vaccinations for federal employees and all contractors, a move affecting millions of workers in the public and private sectors. The decision, challenged by state GOP lawmakers, was recently blocked by a U.S. District Court. That said, a bare majority of Americans (51%) are on Biden’s side regarding vaccine mandates, and 7 in 10 Americans believe that mask mandates should remain the same or be more strict.

Biden also sees lagging support for his handling of rising rates of violence in many places across the county. As the national murder rates see historic jumps, only a little more than 1 in 3 Americans (36%) approve of Biden’s handling of crime, down from 43% in an ABC News/Ipsos poll in late October. Similarly, approval of Biden’s handling of gun violence is 32%, down from 39% in the October poll. That figure shrinks among nonpartisans with only 1 in 4 independents approving of Biden’s work on gun violence.

A slim majority of Americans (51%) disapprove of Biden’s handling of climate change. But a large majority of Democrats (81%) approve on this issue, despite some grumbling from progressives that the administration has not done enough. Soon after assuming office, Biden issued a series of executive orders in an attempt to reduce greenhouse emissions and pause new oil and gas leasing on federal property.

Biden’s recent two-hour video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear to have impressed the American public. This poll finds that most Americans (55%) disapprove of how Biden is handling relations with Russia. Further, only 38% of Americans trust Biden to negotiate on America’s behalf with Putin, which is down from 49% in an ABC News/Ipsos poll in June.

This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs’ KnowledgePanel® Dec. 10-11, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 524 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 5.0 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 29-25-36%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. See the poll’s topline results and details on the methodology here.

ABC News’ Dan Merkle and Ken Goldstein contributed to this report.

One dead, 14 injured after shooting at vigil in Texas: Officials

December 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(BAYTOWN, Texas) — One person is dead and 14 are injured — three critically — after a shooting in Baytown, Texas, officials said.

A gunman opened fire on a crowd participating in a celebration of life in the area, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to ABC’s Texas station, KTRK.

KTRK spoke to HCSO’s sergeant, who said a mother was holding a vigil for her son who was killed at his home a couple weeks ago, when an unknown suspect drove down the road shooting rounds into the crowd.

“@HCSOTexas units responded to 1403 N Market Loop. Preliminary info: a large crowd gathered for a celebration of life. A vehicle approached and someone from the vehicle began shooting into the crowd. At least 8 people sustained injuries; 7 are non-fatal, but one has been,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted.

“Update to shooting on N. Market Loop: told the number of wounded individuals is now up to 14; 1 has been pronounced deceased, 3 being taken by Lifeflight in critical condition, and the remaining ones are said to have non/fatal injuries,” he later added.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.

Omicron live updates: South Africa’s president tests positive for COVID-19

December 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 797,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 60.8% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Dec 13, 5:29 am
Omicron appears to spread faster and weaken vaccines, WHO says

The omicron variant appears to have a “growth advantage” over the delta variant, the World Health Organization said in a technical brief released Sunday.

“It is spreading faster than the delta variant in South Africa where delta circulation was low, but also appears to spread more quickly than the delta variant in other countries where the incidence of delta is high, such as in the United Kingdom,” the WHO said in the brief, which was dated Friday. “Whether omicron’s observed rapid growth rate in countries with high levels of population immunity is related to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility, or a combination of both remains uncertain. However, given the current available data, it is likely that omicron will outpace the delta variant where community transmission occurs.”

Meanwhile, preliminary findings from South Africa suggest omicron may cause less severe illness than delta, and all cases of omicron reported in Europe to date have been mild or asymptomatic. But the WHO said “it remains unclear to what extent omicron may be inherently less virulent” and that “more data are needed to understand the severity profile.”

The WHO also noted that “there are limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for omicron.” However, preliminary evidence, and the considerably altered antigenic profile of the variant’s spike protein, suggests a reduction in vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission associated with omicron.

“There is some preliminary evidence that the incidence of reinfection has increased in South Africa, which may be associated with humoral (antibody-mediated) immune evasion,” the WHO said.

The diagnostic accuracy of routinely used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and antigen-based rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) assays does not appear to be influenced by omicron. Therapeutic interventions for the management of severe or critical COVID-19 symptoms associated with omicron are also expected to remain effective, according to the WHO.

“However, monoclonal antibodies will need to be tested individually, for their antigen binding and virus neutralization and these studies should be prioritized,” the WHO added.

Dec 13, 4:37 am
South Africa’s president tests positive for COVID-19

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is receiving treatment for “mild COVID-19 symptoms” after testing positive for the virus on Sunday, his office said in a statement.

Ramaphosa, 69, began feeling unwell earlier Sunday after leaving a state memorial service in Cape Town in honor of Frederik Willem de Klerk, South Africa’s last apartheid president and a Nobel laureate, who died last month. Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, was experiencing “mild” symptoms and a test confirmed he was infected, according to his office. The statement didn’t say whether he has the omicron variant, which was discovered by scientists in southern Africa last month and is spreading rapidly.

Ramaphosa is self-isolating in Cape Town and is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service. He has delegated all his responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next week, his office said.

Last week, Ramaphosa traveled with a delegation to four West African nations. He and the members of the South African delegation were all tested for COVID-19 in each of the countries during their trip. They returned to South Africa on Dec. 8, after testing negative in Senegal. Ramaphosa tested negative again upon arriving in Johannesburg that day, according to his office.

The statement advised people who had contact with the South African president on Sunday to watch for symptoms or to get tested for COVID-19.

“President Ramaphosa says his own infection serves as a caution to all people in the country to be vaccinated and remain vigilant against exposure,” his office said in the statement. “Vaccination remains the best protection against severe illness and hospitalization.”

What makes Kentucky’s devastating tornadoes so rare

December 11, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — At least 22 reported tornadoes ripped across six states overnight, devastating communities and killing dozens of people, including over 70 in Kentucky, during what is typically a quieter time in the United States for the storms.

Tornadoes can happen any time of year, though the greatest threat is typically in spring and summer, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, with the peak season on the earlier side for more southern states. So far this year, the days that reported the highest number of tornadoes were in March, May and July, a National Weather Service tally shows.

That’s what makes the latest activity so rare, experts say.

“Something like this is an unusual event for the month of December. It’s typically our quietest month for tornadoes, especially in Kentucky,” ABC News meteorologist Rob Marciano told “Good Morning America” on Saturday.

It’s unclear if climate change could play a role in the activity, he said.

“There’s no evidence that climate change has any impact on the strength of severe storms or tornadoes,” he said. “That said, to get a tornado this strength and magnitude or length — in December — is incredibly rare.”

An average of 24 tornadoes were reported in the U.S. during the month of December from 1991 to 2010, according to data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. Last year, there were 30 preliminary tornado reports in December.

At least 22 tornadoes alone were reported Friday night through Saturday morning in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. A powerful supercell thunderstorm traveled more than 200 miles, from Arkansas to Kentucky, and likely spawned several massive tornadoes.

Kentucky is combing through the wreckage of likely the deadliest tornado system in state history, with at least four tornadoes reported in western Kentucky.

Among the at least 70 people killed in western Kentucky, dozens were at a candle factory in Mayfield, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

“This has been the most devastating tornado event in our state’s history,” Beshear said during a press briefing Saturday. “And for those that have seen it, what it’s done here in Graves County and elsewhere, it is indescribable. The level of devastation is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

At least two people also were killed in southern Illinois, when an Amazon distribution warehouse in Edwardsville was ravaged by a tornado, officials said.

In Arkansas, two people were reported dead from a tornado, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

The deadliest tornado in Kentucky history was March 27, 1890, when 76 people died, according to the National Weather Service. Beshear said he anticipates the current death toll will exceed 100.

In more recent memory, Kentucky’s only recorded F5 tornado killed more than 30 people on April 4, 1974.

One of Kentucky’s most violent storms to have occurred later in the year was a multiple-vortex tornado that destroyed over 150 buildings in Hopkins County on Nov. 15, 2005, according to NWS. No fatalities were reported.

ABC News’ Kelly McCarthy and Dan Peck contributed to this report.

Omicron appears to cause mild illness, but experts say too early to know for sure

December 11, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Since the first case of the new Omicron variant was detected last month, early anecdotal reports indicate people infected seem to be experiencing mild illness — leading some scientists to wonder if this version of the virus could be less dangerous than prior variants.

But scientists have cautioned it’s too soon to know for sure.

It “looks less severe in really early data,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton in an interview from CDC headquarters in Atlanta. “We’re certainly following and very interested in disease severity.”

Omicron was dubbed a “variant of concern” due to its many mutations. As a result, scientists are scrambling to determine if these changes lead to increased transmissibility or weakened response from vaccines. The World Health Organization said several studies are underway and that more information will emerge in the following days to weeks. Preliminary studies show that the Pfizer vaccine may be less effective against the Omicron variant, but, again, more research is needed.

Early clinical data from researchers in South Africa hint that the virus may cause less severe COVID-19 infections. The South African Medical Research Council has reported that very few hospitalized patients with the Omicron variant have required supplemental oxygen or were admitted to an ICU.

Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and professor with the Department of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said that preliminary results are “very encouraging.”

The U.S reported its first Omicron case on Dec. 1 in California. Many subsequent cases in the U.S. have happened among younger, healthier and vaccinated people who already are less likely to become very sick from COVID-19. But there are still too few people with Omicron to draw meaningful conclusions about whether the variant itself causes a more mild illness, experts told ABC News.

With an increase in the number of cases, Brownstein said scientists “will be able to characterize the [variant] better.” This information will aid public health officials in establishing better guidelines and preventative measures.

If it turns out Omicron is more transmissible but less severe than other variants, some experts said that could bode well overall — perhaps signaling the virus will still circulate among people but become less life-threatening.

“I think Omicron may represent the first step in adaptation that you want to see, which is that it’s more contagious and less virulent,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease pediatrician.

Even with all eyes on the Omicron variant, experts are reminding the public that the Delta variant remains the predominant circulating strain in the United States, where it’s still responsible for more than 99% of cases. Among best practices for avoiding all variants, officials continue to recommend vaccinations, obtaining booster shots as soon as eligible and following mask-wearing guidelines.

Bernadette Baker M.D., a family medicine resident physician with Emory School of Medicine, is a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit. Sony Salzman is the unit’s coordinating producer.

Far-right pundit vies for French presidential office

December 11, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — On Sunday, Eric Zemmour, a former journalist and far-right political pundit with tough views on immigration had his first campaign rally as candidate for the French presidential election. Zemmour announced the creation of his own political party, “Reconquête,” or “Reconquest,” which had already garnered 20,000 supporters in two days, according to French media outlet, BFMTV.

During his televised speech,violence broke out between Zemmour’s supporters and protesters from the organization SOS Racism. Sixty-two people were arrested according to French paper Le Parisien, including some members of SOS racism. Zemmour was also attacked by a protester in the crowd, The Associated Press reported.

Zemmour, who presents himself as a right-wing political outsider, has been referred to by some as the “French Trump,” with a political playbook full of controversial comments and attacks on the press. “For months our meetings have bothered journalists, annoyed politicians and driven mad the left,” he said at Sunday’s meeting.

The candidate exists outside traditional political parties, and uses rhetoric that even Marine Le Pen and the National Rally — the far-right party in France, formerly called the National Front — stay away from.

Zemmour has been fined for hate speech. In 2011, he was fined 10,000 euros for claiming on TV that “most drug dealers are black and Arab,” and in 2018 he was ordered to pay 3,000 euros for stigmatizing comments about a Muslim “invasion” of France, The Telegraph and other outlets reported.

“He is the only one in France to use the theory of “great replacement … even Marine Le Pen does not use that term,” said Jean Yves Camus, a political scientist and director of the Observatory for Political Radicalism, adding: “for Zemmour, the French population has been changed, and French people are now a minority on their own land.”

The theory of great replacement is an idea among France’s political far-right that French people will become minorities in their country after being replaced by immigrants.

If elected, Zemmour has said he wants to deport all immigrants convicted of crimes and incarcerated in French prisons back to their countries of origin, and take away social benefits for foreigners and immigrants who do not yet have French nationality. He also has espoused making immigrants prove they know the French language and are ready to assimilate to French culture.

Similarly to Trump, Zemmour is seen as someone who appeals to a part of the French population that is anxious about the future. “He is speaking to a French society that is particularly anxious, the most pessimistic nation in Europe … but this country is not doing so bad,” Camus said.

Zemmour’s economic plan is considered more liberal than Le Pen’s say experts who spoke with ABC News, and focuses more on the free market and the simplification of French bureaucracy, something that the experts say is appealing to upper-class voters.

But the comparison to Trump is an imperfect one, because of Zemmour’s long-standing ingratiation with the French elite. “Zemmour has the elites, Le Pen has the people,” said Nicolas Lebourg, a historian and specialist of far-right movements.

For Camus, the fact that Zemmour was a journalist for a mainstream newspaper, Le Figaro, and has been seen on television by voters for the past few decades puts him at an advantage from Marine Le Pen who cannot get out of the shadow of her father, Jean Marie Le Pen and the National Front’s extremist history.

“[Zemmour] was seen as someone on the right, resolutely conservative on the questions of identity and immigration, but he does not have a far-right history like Marine Le Pen,” says Camus.

Zemmour’s tough stand on immigration include his plans, if elected, he says to reduce the amount of immigrants and asylum seekers who are allowed to enter the country each year, and would only admit those willing to “assimilate,” although he is not clear on how he would measure assimilation. A recent report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that France’s population is composed of only 13% immigrants, less than its neighbors such as Germany.

Zemmour has also suggested reviving an 1803 law which was abolished in 1993 requiring parents to only give their children historically and traditionally French names.

Meanwhile, Zemmour has presented himself as a model for successful integration. “I am a Jewish man from Algeria who grew up in the Paris banlieue, and whose family heritage and readings transformed into a French man of land and ancestors,” he wrote in his latest book, “France Has Not Said its Last Word.”

A strong critic of the American “melting pot” approach to immigration, Zemmour often uses America as an anti-model. “[Zemmour] … thinks everything wrong in France is an import of everything that is wrong in America,” says Lebourg.

At an October 2020 rally in Versailles, Zemmour described “woke” culture as a plot to make “white, heterosexual, Catholic” men feel “so full of guilt” that they willingly abandon their “culture and civilization.”

The French presidential election will take place from April 10-24. The latest polls https://www.lci.fr/politique/sondage-exclusif-forte-percee-de-valerie-p… show Zemmour in fourth place after President Emmanuel Macron, Republican candidate Valerie Pecresse and Marine Le Pen.

Zemmour needs 500 signatures from local mayors to secure a place on the ballot, as per French law.

Donald Trump’s 2024 tease creates potential campaign woes for Republican contenders

December 11, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump’s public flirtation with the 2024 presidential race is complicating early stage campaigning for other Republicans who are criss-crossing the country to get an edge on their potential competition and pick up voters from Trump’s loyal and expansive base.

While a bulk of the political focus has been on the upcoming midterm elections, a group of GOP lawmakers have begun to position themselves as viable picks to lead the party.

Several key favorites, such as Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis; former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley; Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla; and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem have already appeared at highly publicized conferences in Nevada and Iowa. Just this week, former Vice President Mike Pence made the rounds in New Hampshire, site of the nation’s first primary, fresh off an appearance in Washington, D.C.

Despite their early legwork, nearly all of major 2024 contenders have been unable to definitively declare their ambitions due to one major setback: Trump. A Quinnipiac University poll from October showed 78% of Republicans want Trump to run in 2024, which could easily disrupt a primary cycle full of his allies and former staff.

The former president’s continued political ambitions are clear, but what’s less certain is how those ambitions will manifest. Trump’s political travel has been limited to his own properties or the occasional arena-style rally, swapping out typical campaign trail cattle calls for phone calls to radio and television stations from the comfort of his home in Mar-a-Lago. In some of these interviews, Trump himself counted his allies out.

During a call with radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier this week, Trump declined to name a successor if in fact he doesn’t run for president, but said his base “will be very angry” if he decides to remain a private citizen. He told Hewitt he’d chime in with a potential successor — whether it be another Republican or himself — in about a year and quickly shifted the conversation to his high approval ratings and President Joe Biden’s poor performance. In another radio interview this week, Trump told local Florida host Brian Mudd that he’s confident DeSantis will not run if he does.

Trump’s position is a threat to many Republican hopefuls, and potentially recreates a dynamic many party candidates found themselves in during the crowded and chaotic 2015 GOP presidential primaries. Then, several candidates undercut Trump’s legitimacy, ultimately undercutting their own potential and leaving a clear runway for Trump to clinch the nomination, Republican strategist Sarah Isgur explained to ABC News.

“Each campaign thought at some point Trump will be out of the race and then it would really be down to them and fill in the Black Republican candidate,” said Isgur, a staff writer at the Dispatch and ABC News contributor. “If Republicans approach 2024 with the same attitude of wait and see without any sort of strategic vision, they’ll repeat the same mistakes as before and that will inure to Trump’s benefit.”

Isgur said the primary field is “Trump’s to decide” and he is likely a shoe-in if he runs.

“The only way that Trump doesn’t become the nominee is if Republican candidates can put their egos aside and circle around one alternative instead of divvying up the field,” Isgur said. “The problem is … is [anyone] willing to step aside and put their chips in with someone else? Maybe. But it’s hard to imagine.”

Several high-profile Republican lawmakers with rumored presidential ambitions have signaled their willingness to bend the knee on Trump’s behalf. DeSantis and Haley both stated they would make way for a Trump candidacy. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said he would “of course” support Trump. A spokesperson for Noem’s office confirmed to ABC News in an emailed statement that she has “no intention of running for president” and “hopes that President Trump runs again and would gladly support him.”

Scott’s office pointed ABC News to the senator telling Politico he has no plans to run for president.

But others have remained far more coy, leaving a potentially nasty and personal political battle on the table.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a vocal critic of the former president’s handling of the 2020 election, told CNN’s Dana Bash that he’s unsure if he or Trump will run, “but in the end, in 2021, the idea of making predictions for 2024 is a folly. There’s no reason to create tumult in a party that already has a lot of tumult in it.”

Pence told Christian Broadcast Network’s David Brody that he’ll “let the future take care of itself” when asked about his plans in 2024 if Trump also decides to run. Then, later in the week, Pence continued to hold his cards close, telling CNN: “I can honestly tell you in 2023, my family and I will do what we have always done. We’ll reflect, we’ll pray and determine where we might best serve. And we’ll go where we’re called.”

There’s some precedent for love lost between the pair. Recent revelations from ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl show Trump exacerbating his split with his former vice president, defending chants from Jan. 6 insurrectionists to “hang Mike Pence.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who shares a curious personal history with Trump, said in January 2021 that he’s “certainly looking” at a 2024 bid. Before the two were at odds during the 2016 election, Cruz considered Trump a “friend.” Tides shifted quickly once the pair hit the debate stage with Trump dubbing him “Lyin’ Ted.” Cruz eventually endorsed Trump and praised his administration’s policies from his perch on Capitol Hill.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is yet another name on the running list of former Trump allies who have signaled openness to taking him on, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity he’s “always up for a good fight.”

Isgur said she finds it difficult to see a sustainable path to the presidency for any of Trump’s allies if he’s in the mix as a candidate. Christie could dominate the anti-Trump lane, she said, but struggles to see any other current contender embracing that lane.

“That doesn’t mean that Trump can’t do something to turn voters off,” said Isgur. “[Trump voters] are open to another candidate, but does that candidate really exist when they get to know him? I hear a lot of voters talk about Ron DeSantis, but they haven’t seen him tested. They haven’t seen him up against Trump. In the end, if Trump runs, really throws his hat in the ring, what’s the upside to this? Having body blows from Trump may just not be worth it.”

How a Pennsylvania hospital system is working to free up beds during latest COVID-19 surge

December 11, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb in Pennsylvania, straining health care facilities across the state, hospitals are working to find ways to free up valuable bed space once again.

WellSpan Health, which operates six acute care facilities in south-central Pennsylvania, has been approaching 400 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in recent days — a volume not seen in nearly a year. About one-third of current hospitalizations are for COVID-19, hospital officials said.

As the number of COVID-19 patients quickly escalates, WellSpan’s hospitals are operating at 110% to 140% occupancy, Dr. Michael Seim, chief quality officer and senior vice president of WellSpan Health, told ABC News. He doesn’t expect the volume to let up for several more weeks.

“Unfortunately, our predictive models don’t show this wave peaking until January 2022,” Seim said. “I think we’re all bracing for this to be longer than last year.”

The health care system has been in this spot before. During the region’s first coronavirus surge, it converted its 73-bed WellSpan Surgery & Rehabilitation Hospital in York into an acute care facility to handle both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients — a measure it has resorted to once again in recent weeks. Twenty patients were at the hospital as of Friday afternoon.

To free up beds for acutely ill patients, WellSpan has also been working with a community partner to discharge patients to skilled nursing facilities for longer-term care. Though that’s also meant working around staffing shortages.

“A unique problem across south-central Pennsylvania is some of our skilled nursing facilities have empty beds, but they don’t have staffing,” Seim said. “So that’s creating a backlog in our hospitals, making it difficult to discharge patients to a skilled facility.”

To help, WellSpan has been training and deploying several of its nurses to staff those extra beds.

Remote care is another way the health care system has worked to shorten hospital stays during the pandemic. Through its home service, eligible patients who are in stable condition are monitored remotely and have clinicians visit them in their own homes. The hospital system treated over 400 patients through the program last year, saving 1,000 patient days in the hospital, Seim said.

The program will once again help free up bed space during the latest COVID-19 surge, and it is something the health care system will continue to offer post-pandemic, Seim said.

“It’s really designed to continue to be innovative in how we provide care to patients,” he said.

Though these practices will prove useful in the long-term, Seim said hospital workers were at one point hopeful they were moving past the pandemic and needing to find ways to free up hospital space is taxing.

“The fact that we’re taking a step back, it feels much worse to people,” Seim said.

Around 90% of WellSpan’s COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated, and almost 93% of COVID-19 patients on ventilators are unvaccinated, he said.

“We have to do our part to reduce the number of patients who require hospitalization for COVID,” Seim said. “We won’t be able to end or even curtail the pandemic until we vaccinate a substantially larger number of patients.”

Around 58% of Pennsylvania residents are fully vaccinated, according to state data. Hospital officials have been urging vaccination as COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the state are among the highest in the U.S.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Pennsylvania have increased at least 10% in the past week as of Friday, while available adult and pediatric intensive care unit beds have fallen to 13.5% and 7.7%, respectively, according to federal and state data. The vast majority of hospitalized patients statewide are not fully vaccinated.

Hospitals statewide are feeling the impact of the surge.

“From the northeast side to the northwest side, to down in the south-central, so all over Pennsylvania, hospitals are feeling a demand on beds,” Robert Shipp, vice president of population health and clinical affairs for the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, told Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.

Geisinger Health System, one of the state’s largest health systems, told the station it is running out of beds across its nine hospitals in central and northeastern Pennsylvania.

“The health care system in Pennsylvania is at the brink of collapse,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gerald Maloney told WPVI. “People continue to come with strokes, heart attacks, car accidents. It’s hard to get them out of the ambulance because we don’t have a place in the emergency department to put them.”

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky discusses how pandemic may end

December 11, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — When Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, takes stock of the coronavirus pandemic, she knows it’s far from over. But she also believes it won’t last forever.

For Walensky, one of the key signs the United States is exiting the pandemic will be when hospitals are no longer filled to the brim with COVID-19 patients. And when the number of daily deaths starts to plummet.

“We’ve gotten pretty cavalier about 1,100 deaths a day,” Walensky told ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton in a rare in-person interview from CDC headquarters in Atlanta.

“That’s an extraordinary amount of deaths in a single day from this disease,” Walensky said. “We can’t — I can’t — be in a position where that is OK.”

For the nation’s public health experts, deaths and hospitalizations have become a more reliable benchmark for progress than overall cases.

The more scientists have learned about the virus, the more they have moved away from concept of herd immunity — the idea that the virus will one day be stopped in its tracks when enough people are immune.

Instead, scientists agree that some mild breakthrough cases are still likely to happen, even among the vaccinated. In a world where almost everyone was vaccinated, COVID-19 cases would still happen.

The virus would still spread among us, akin to the seasonal flu. And like the flu, some people would still be hospitalized, and some would die — but dramatically fewer than 1,100 deaths per day.

Right now, roughly 65% of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. The more people who get vaccinated, the more deaths and hospitalizations are driven down.

The CDC’s real-world data is already demonstrating this to be true, with unvaccinated people 14 times more likely to die and 11 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19.

Despite the grim daily death count, Walensky said she believes that one day we’ll leave behind one of the key symbols of the pandemic: the face mask.

“Masks are for now, they’re not forever,” Walensky said. “We have to find a way to be done with them.”

And the best way to put the pandemic — and masks — in the rearview mirror is to “lean in” to the current strategies we know work, Walensky said.

And for now, Walensky is urging patience as public health guidance evolves to reflect new science.

“Science is hard in a two-minute soundbite,” she said. “Know that every single decision — as hard as they are — have been grounded in science.”

At least 50 dead as tornadoes devastate Kentucky; Amazon warehouse collapses in Illinois

December 11, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A devastating tornado outbreak in western Kentucky has claimed the lives of at least 50 people, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

The total could reach 75 to 100 people, he added, calling it “one of the toughest nights in Kentucky history.”

“Dozens” were killed at a candle factory in Mayfield, where 110 people were working when the storm hit Friday night, Beshear said.

One tornado was on the ground for 200 miles, he said, devastating towns like Mayfield and Princeton late Friday. At least four tornadoes tore through western Kentucky.

Beshear has activated the National Guard with 181 guardsmen deployed for search and rescue and recovery operations.

“We will make it through this, we will rebuild,” Beshear said at a 4 a.m. press conference. “We are strong, resilient people, and we will be there every step of the way.”

In southern Illinois, in Edwardsville, an Amazon distribution warehouse was hit by an apparent tornado, causing massive damage to the facility, officials said. Officials there confirmed at least two fatalities, but called the search and rescue operations still ongoing. Several dozen workers were able to escape from the building on their own, Edwardsville Police Chief Michael Fillback said Saturday morning.

There were at least 18 reported tornadoes across four states: Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri.

Michael Dossett, director of Kentucky’s Division of Emergency Management, compared the storms to the April 1974 outbreak that spawned hundreds of tornadoes across several states and killed more than 30 in Kentucky alone.

“Rescues and search efforts are ongoing, even before the wind stopped blowing, crews were out working,” Dossett said Saturday morning.

Beshear declared a state of emergency and has already submitted a request for a federal emergency declaration.

In Madisonville, Kentucky, a train derailment was caused by the storms, though there were no reported injuries. The freight train was carrying hazardous materials, Beshear wrote in his letter asking for a federal emergency declaration.

The storms began to cause tornadoes in the early evening hours west of Kentucky.

Shortly before 7 p.m. local time, a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” was confirmed near Jonesboro, Arkansas, moving northeast at 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

A tornado near Hornersville, Missouri, was on the ground at about 8 p.m. local time.

Tornadoes were also confirmed on the ground in Mayfield, Kentucky, at about 9:30 p.m. local time and in Princeton, Kentucky, just after 10 p.m. local time.

In Monette, Arkansas, one person was killed at a nursing home when a suspected tornado moved through Friday night, Craighead County, Arkansas, Judge Marvin Day told Jonesboro ABC affiliate KAIT. Authorities had initially said two people were killed. Five others suffered serious injuries.

Beshear said despite a COVID-19 surge in Kentucky, hospitals were in good shape.

ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway, Matt Foster and Hope Osemwenkhae contributed to this report.

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