爬墙云翻

Active COVID-19 up nearly 50% at Veterans Affairs since September as illness spikes again

Active COVID-19 cases at the Department of Veterans Affairs rose close to 4,000 on Thursday and Friday for the first time since August as the number of patients and VA staff sick because of the fast-spreading virus spike again. Active cases of the coronavirus at VA, which varied between about 3,800 to just under 4,000 on Thursday and Friday, had been trending down for weeks in late August and in September. But, in late September, a definite trend in more active cases began, and now VA has about 49% more active cases than it did this time last month. The increase doesn't appear as dramatic as the spike this summer, beginning in late June through July and into August which would become VA's deadliest month for patients sick from the virus. Since Oct. 1, VA has recorded a nearly 24% increase in active COVID-19 cases. "Trends in new cases generally reflect what is going on in the country and local communities," VA Press Secretary Christina Noel said.In August, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said what Veterans Health Administration leaders had been saying for months, the department was preparing for a potential second wave, or "boomerang" of the virus this fall and winter, stocking supplies and preparing for some patients who may have long recovery times.The VA Healthcare systems with the most active cases as of Friday included Milwaukee, Wisconsin (110); Nebraska-Western Iowa (91); Columbia, Missouri (86); North Chicago (82); Minneapolis (74); Orlando, Florida (72), Atlanta (69); Columbia, South Carolina (69); and Gainesville, Florid (69).The department has recorded nearly 65,000 total cases of the virus among its patients and staff since the pandemic began, adding nearly 3,700 cases so far in October, a 6% increase.About 57,300 of those total cases are considered convalescent, which means the patients either recovered or it's been at least 14 days since they tested positive. VA's rate of recovery for patients and staff is about 89%. VA recorded an additional 149 deaths in the first nine days of October, a more than 4% increase. VA officials have recorded a total of 3,585 patient deaths during the pandemic -- a mortality rate of about 5.5%, down slightly from previous months but still well above the overall 2.8% mortality rate among all Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The VA Healthcare systems with the most deaths as of Friday remained primarily those hit hardest in the early stages of the pandemic, such as New Jersey (121), New York Harbor (116), Boston (97), Texas Valley Coastal Bend (94), Bronx (93), Phoenix (78), San Antonio (77), Cleveland (75) and New Orleans (70). But while VA inches toward more grim milestones during the pandemic, a hopeful trend continues -- hospitalization rates continue to fall. "The best measure of how COVID-19 is affecting VA patients is the rate of hospitalizations, which are decreasing and at their lowest point of the pandemic," VA Press Secretary Christina Noel told Connecting Vets this week.In March, 38% of VA COVID-19 patients required hospitalization. The hospitalization rate has continued to fall steadily through the summer into fall, reaching 15% in September and 13% as of Oct. 5. The number of cases among VA staff is also increasing, reaching nearly 5,700 cumulative cases as of Friday and, for the first time since Sept. 16, VA recorded two more staff deaths, for a total of 58 during the pandemic so far. VA continues to administer thousands of COVID-19 tests to patients and staff, reaching more than 771,000 tests administered nationwide as of Friday, an about 20% increase from this time last month. That total number of tests does not reflect how many individual people have been tested at VA, but rather how many tests have been administered -- some people may receive multiple tests. In September, VA averaged about 4,790 COVID-19 tests per day. VA serves more than 9 million veterans and has hundreds of thousands of staff members across the department. Results of a VA study of more than a quarter of a million veterans released late last month showed that Black and Hispanic veterans are twice as likely as white veterans to test positive for the coronavirus at VA, indicating an "urgent need to proactively tailor strategies to contain and prevent further outbreaks in racial and ethnic minority communities," researchers said. Department data provided to Connecting Vets in July showed that Black and Hispanic veterans made up nearly half of all VA patients who had tested positive for the coronavirus, though they only comprise about 23% of all VA patients. —Black, Hispanic veterans twice as likely as white vets to test positive for COVID-19, VA study finds Veterans Affairs hospitals preparing for 'boomerang' of COVID-19 this fall, Secretary says VA prepares for second COVID-19 wave, long coronavirus patient recovery timesYears later, VA still hasn't set maximum wait times for community care referralsVeterans Affairs has approved 22,500 – 34% – of all Blue Water Navy claims filed after 14 monthsReach Abbie Bennett: abbie@connectingvets.com or @AbbieRBennett.Sign up for the Connecting Vets weekly newsletter to get more stories like this delivered to your inbox.

CBS Eye on Veterans | WH outbreak, Ms. Veteran America contest and crucial veteran issues

On this episode:From Air Force to a force for the homeless Amanda Siddons is an Air Force veteran who is competing for Ms. Veteran America. But her story is really about a woman who has become a powerful force in the lives of other women veterans. The competition this weekend supports Final Salute Inc. an organization founded by a veteran whose experience being homeless made her vow to never let it happen to any of her fellow female vets.For more information and to support the mission of Final Salute Inc click here White House, Hot Zone This week we saw President Donald Trump return to the White House just days after being treated for COVID-19 at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. We asked Army veteran and a leading infectious disease expert Dr. Mark Kortepeter if this puts the entire White House staff in danger. See Dr.Kortepeter's recent article on the White House outbreak in Forbes magazine. Fighting for "the Warfighters bill" in Congress Veterans are suffering and dying from a wide variety of medical issues related to being stationed near toxic burn pits. We talked with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, about her fight to get them the benefits and treatment they deserve. Gillibrand fiercely explained the current situation for veterans, "About 80% of claims have been dismissed because the VA says there is no evidence of a clear medical connection ... which we all know is BS!"See more about "The Presumptive Benefits for Warfighters exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act of 2020" here DAV's election season demands Veteran service organization Disabled American Veterans released its “Vision for Veterans,” a list of issues they are demanding Congress address during this election season. Communications Director Ashleigh Byrnes outlines their demands. For more information on DAV's veteran resources click here. For more episodes of CBS Eye on Veterans click here.Follow Host Phil Briggs @philbriggsVet or @mrphilbiriggs on the IG. Send your hot takes and spicy memes to phil@connectingvets.com

DoD leaders ‘underestimated’ impact of COVID-19 isolation on troops

The suicide rates among U.S. soldiers have been increasing since April -- and now hey are significantly higher than where they were this same time last year. Army leadership has pointed to COVID-19 as one of the contributing factors. And while the Department of Defense has declined to definitively link the two, they have conceded that they “underestimated” the impact of isolation.“The isolation is a really difficult aspect of this,” Dr. Elise Van Winkle, executive director of the Office of Force Resiliency said in a discussion with Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Joseph Martin last week. “One of the things we always knew was important was connection, but we really underestimated how important it is.”During the “Hot Topics & Coffee w/ the Vice” talk, Martin described the “state of isolation” that COVID-19 has created within the force. Depending on infection rates at any given installation, leaders are seeing their soldiers less and less. And the lack of day-to-day contact is cause for concern, Martin explained. “Leaders can understand, can feel, can smell the state of the resilience of their soldiers,” Martin said. “Without that contact time, I ask myself the question -- who are those soldiers in contact with, and what’s the impact on the soldier’s resiliency?”Van Winkle agreed -- the lack of connection is something the DoD is “extremely concerned about.”“Connections protect you, and it’s very difficult to have connections these days,” Van Winkle said. “Virtual connections can help, but what we hear is it’s just not the same. It’s not the same as seeing somebody face-to-face. But we have to balance safety and that’s a difficult balance to strike.”In her discussion with Martin, Van Winkle was far more willing to discuss the mental health impacts of COVID-19 than the department has been during other briefings. In a briefing last week, Director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office Dr. Karin Orvis repeated again and again that the DoD would not truly know if COVID-19 had impacted the increase in suicides until 2022. “Risk factors became exaggerated,” Van Winkle said. “If you started off with something where you struggle with anxiety or depression it’s getting worse during COVID-19.”The DoD has been seemingly selective with what CDC guidance it adheres to. "Mission essential" operations have continued largely unhindered despite the risks of training during a pandemic. Meanwhile, troop morale, mental health and military families have taken the brunt of the impact of prevention measures. Martin argued that if the Army can figure out how to safely train, it can figure out how to safely allow leaders to spend time with their troops. “We’ve figured out how to do many things,” Martin said. “If its safe enough to go grocery shopping, it should be safe enough for leaders to check on their soldiers and spend time with their soldiers.”And while the DoD last week declined to link travel restrictions and quarantine measures to the increase in troops suicides, Van Winkle again emphasized the importance of connections and the dire effect of isolation. “In the military, the cohesiveness of the unit, those face-to-face personal interactions are really important,” Van Winkle said. “You're able to see if somebody's a little off, if they’re acting a little differently if they seem a little bit more stressed. You can’t always tell that on the phone, you can’t always tell that even virtually. Sometimes you just get that feeling.”The solution, Van Winkle explained, is complicated. But leaders can help by making a “deliberate” effort in reaching out. “Call on a regular basis. Check-in with them. Have touchpoints with them. Be more deliberate with those interactions so that you can potentially find out if someone is struggling more than you had anticipated during this time.”--Reach Elizabeth Howe: @ECBHowe.Sign up for the Connecting Vets weekly newsletter to get more stories like this delivered to your inbox.

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The U.S. Naval Academy is dropping spring break, but extending the winter holiday as part of its plan to keep staff and midshipmen safe during the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Thursday.A news release from the academy says spring semester classes will begin Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, after taking Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, The Capital Gazette reported. Fall semester classes will end on Dec. 3, with the last final exam on Dec. 11.The academy has not yet announced when students will be sent home for winter break. While the academy won’t give its midshipmen a spring break, it is providing an additional three-day weekend, with April 5 now off.Midshipmen’s return will be phased, beginning in early January, to help accommodate for travel and restriction of movement requirements, according to the release. More details will be provided later.Spring classes will end on May 5, with commissioning week planned to immediately follow final exams instead of having a customary break for upperclassmen. Commissioning and graduation will be May 28.--Copyright Associated Press 2020

VA suspended copays for some vets during the pandemic. Those bills are due in January.

腾讯网游加速器适配《绝地求生》暂未透露收费计划 - Youth.cn:2021-11-14 · SteamCN蒸汽动力今日发微博称，有坛友挖出了正在内测中的腾讯加速器，目前支持《绝地求生》和《全球攻势》两款游戏外服 ...

Trump suggests Gold Star families may have given him COVID-19

President Donald Trump suggested in an interview Thursday morning that he may have contracted COVID-19 from Gold Star family members he met with at a White House event.Trump told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo he “didn’t want to cancel” a planned event with Gold Star families at the White House even though he knew there would “be a chance I would catch it.”The event on Sept. 27, Gold Star Mother’s and Families' Day, recognized the families of 20 fallen service members, according to the Washington Post. Dozens were in attendance. Photos of the event showed few people wearing masks and little evidence of social distancing. The Gold Star family members shared stories of their loved ones killed in America’s wars and while Trump said those stories were “really amazing, actually beautiful” he also said the family members were often too close. “I can’t say, 'Back up ten feet.' I just can’t do it. I went through 35 people and everyone had a different story,” Trump said. “I can’t say, 'Give me room, give me 12 feet, stay 12 feet away.'”The family members often wanted to hug and kiss the president, he said. “Then they do. And, frankly, I’m not telling them to back up. I’m not doing it.”Trump was transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center by helicopter last Friday after testing positive for COVID-19. He only ever experienced mily symptoms according to White House press. The hospital stay was “out of an abundance of caution” and Trump was in “good spirits,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.Trump was discharged from Walter Reed Monday night and arrived ten minutes later at the White House via Marine One.“It's obviously dangerous,” Trump said of his meeting with Gold Star families. “It's a dangerous thing, I guess if you go by the COVID thing.”--Reach Elizabeth Howe: @ECBHowe.Sign up for the Connecting Vets weekly newsletter to get more stories like this delivered to your inbox.

Marine general has COVID after Pentagon meeting

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — The assistant commandant of the Marine Corps has tested positive for the coronavirus, days after he and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were in a Pentagon meeting with a Coast Guard leader who was infected with the virus.The Marine Corps said Wednesday that Gen. Gary L. Thomas tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the latest to be infected by a virus that has afflicted President Donald Trump and an array of top staff at the White House. Thomas attended a meeting of the Joint Chiefs on Friday, and so far U.S. officials said none of the other top military leaders in the meeting — including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — have tested positive.Still, Thomas' positive test raises worrying questions about the health of the others at the meeting, including the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and National Guard. Pentagon officials have been quick to stress that military preparedness has not been affected and that the nation's armed services stand ready to defend the country.Thomas and the others have been in self-quarantine since Tuesday when they found out that Adm. Charles W. Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard who was at the Friday meeting, had tested positive."At this time we have no additional senior leader positive test results to report," said the Pentagon's chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. “We will continue to follow CDC guidance for self-quarantining and contact tracing.”The Marine Corps said Thomas “is experiencing mild symptoms, but otherwise is feeling well.” The Corps said Thomas will continue to quarantine at home, officials are doing contact tracing and any personnel who had been in close contact with him will also isolate.Ray attended the Joint Chiefs meeting Friday in the so-called Tank — the classified meeting room in the Pentagon. Officials said that is where most of the military leaders were exposed to him, but he also had other meetings with officials.The Marine Corps, in a statement, said the service has been following CDC guidelines “for temperature testing, social distancing to the greatest extent possible, and the wearing of masks when social distancing is not possible. The Marine Corps remains operationally ready to answer the Nation’s call.”The news of the positive tests has stunned officials at the Pentagon. Top leaders there have largely remained free of the virus, although there have been a number of outbreaks across the active-duty force and the reserves around the nation and overseas. Overall, more than 47,000 service members have tested positive for the virus, as of Monday; 625 have been hospitalized and eight have died.It is not known how Ray contracted the virus. He attended an event for Gold Star military families at the White House on Sept. 27 that was hosted by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.Several senior military leaders, including Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Army Gen. James McConville and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, also attended the Gold Star event, which honored the families of service members who have died. A number of the military officials who were there got COVID-19 tests late last week after Trump and his wife both tested positive for the virus. According to officials, the military leaders were negative at that time, and they will continue to be tested in the coming days.--Copyright Associated Press 2020

US surgeon general cited for being in closed Hawaii park

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated PressHONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. surgeon general was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court.A Honolulu police officer cited Jerome Adams after seeing him with two men “looking at the view taking pictures” at Kualoa Regional Park on Oahu's northeastern coast, the citation said. The park in a rural area offers a picturesque view of Mokolii island, known as Chinaman’s Hat for its cone shape.Adams told the officer he was visiting Hawaii to work with the governor for COVID-19 and didn't know parks were closed.At the time, Oahu parks were closed by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell in an attempt to prevent crowds from gathering.A phone number Adams gave the officer is the same number Adams listed on an email to state officials seeking an exemption for Hawaii's quarantine on arriving travelers.The email to Adams confirming his exemption included links to rules that were in effect in each of Hawaii's counties, including the order closing Oahu parks.“We do not have a comment at this time,” said Kate Migliaccio-Grabill, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Surgeon General said.Later Tuesday, Honolulu attorney Lex Smith issued a statement: “During his visit to Oahu, the surgeon general was cited for accidentally violating the mayor’s emergency order, due to his misunderstanding of the law. He has not asked for, nor has he received, any special treatment in connection with this citation, and will respond to it appropriately.”Court records show a remote hearing is scheduled for Oct. 21. Violating any of the mayor’s emergency orders is punishable as a misdemeanor, with fines of up to $5,000, up to a year in jail, or both.Caldwell won't be commenting, the mayor's office said. Hawaii Gov. David Ige's office said he wasn't immediately aware the Surgeon General was cited while he was here. A spokesman for Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors said she wasn't aware he had been cited.Court records show that Dennis Anderson-Villaluz was also cited. Adams listed him as his aide in his exemption request. Reached by phone Tuesday, Anderson-Villaluz declined to comment.A few days after the citation, Adams appeared with Caldwell at a news conference announcing a partnership between the city and federal government for surge testing.“I’m proud of you, Hawaii. I’m proud of every single one of you who has sacrificed over the past several months," he said, standing in a white military uniform. “And to the people who are lapsing a little bit, I want you to understand that a little bit of fun right now can result in shutdowns further on down the road. It’s important that we all do the right things right now, even if we don’t feel we are personally at risk.”According to the complaint, Adams put a mask on. He wore a mask at news conferences with the mayor.“Seriously people — STOP BUYING MASKS!” Adams tweeted on Feb. 29. Officials later recommended that people wear face coverings in public and around people who don’t live in their household, based on a review of the latest evidence.--Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.--Copyright Associated Press 2020

Guard members recognized for assisting lab with COVID-19 testing

By Army Sgt. Jeff LacountAlaska National GuardFrom early June, to mid-August, Air Force Capt. Roger Tran and Army Capt. Jamie Bowden, Alaska National Guardsmen assigned to the 103rd Civil Support Team, augmented the Alaska State Public Health laboratory by processing COVID-19 samples for testing. Over the course of approximately 21 days of testing, totaling more than 148-man hours, the two officers tested 11,426 samples. "I feel honored, for our unit to have been considered for this important task," said Bowden, who specializes in medical operations for the 103rd CST. "This mission is right in our wheelhouse, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to work alongside, and in support of the community." Military members may get medal for COVID-19 serviceAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lab testing is a specialized skill. To be done effectively, it requires people with the extensive training and supervision, along with requisite knowledge and skills pertinent to the lab environment. Guardsmen in CST units have a specialized capability of responding to a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident. Bowden and Tran come with a wealth of expertise they've acquired throughout their careers. Both service members have completed the Army's Analytical Lab Course, which re-enforces specific skill sets and techniques they've employed in the testing effort, like polymerase chain reactions.Senior Defense leaders quarantine after Coast Guard commandant’s positive COVID-19 test Tran and Bowden were both recognized by the Rasmuson Foundation as "unsung heroes" for their work during the pandemic. Air Force Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, the commissioner and adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, gave high praise to both service members for their dedication to excellence. "While we are proud of the whole team at Military and Veterans Affairs, these two individuals stand out for selfless service, innovative approaches and going above and beyond," Saxe said. Army Capt. Jamie Bowden/Alaska National Guard In addition to supporting the Analytical Laboratory System operator request by the state that was coordinated through the State Emergency Operation Center, Bowden and Tran recently participated in their unit's Terminal Proficiency Evaluation, which served as a validation for the unit on Aug. 4, 2020. This type of validation is done once every 18 to 24 months. The training, evaluated by an outside civil support team, replicated a scenario where an unknown biological hazard was present, with a request for assistance from the FBI. "Our team executed this validation with speed and precision," said Tran, who works as the nuclear medical science officer for the 103rd CST. "It's a testament to the collective attitude and work ethic of our unit as a whole." Want to get more connected to the great stories and resources Connecting Vets has to offer? Click here to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and other senior defense leaders are in quarantine following the Coast Guard vice commandant's positive COVID-19 test. First reported by CNN's Barbara Starr, Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard Adm. Charles Ray tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting with several senior defense officials last week at the Pentagon. Ray was tested same-day after feeling mild symptoms over the weekend, according to a Coast Guard press release. Ray is now quarantining at home.In accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, the Pentagon said others who were recently in close contact with Ray will also quaratine -- including Milley, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown, and the head of the Space Force, Gen. John Raymond. "We are conducting additional contact tracing and taking appropriate precautions to protect the force and the mission," a statement from Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman read. "Out of an abundance of caution, all potential close contacts from these meetings are self-quarantining and have been tested this morning. No Pentagon contacts have exhibited symptoms and we have no additional positive tests to report at this time."Ray's positive test comes less than a day after President Donald Trump tweeted that he would be returning to the White House after a weekend stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with his own case of COVID-19. "Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life," Trump tweeted before leaving Walter Reed. "We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!"Trump also suggested he might be "immune."While the Department of Defense has boasted lower fatality rates than the general population, service members certainly are not immune as has been proven by 47,117 coronavirus-positive troops as of Monday. After being in close contact with the COVID-positive president last week, both Milley and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper were tested for COVID-19 -- both tested negative. "There is no change to the operational readiness or mission capability of the U.S. Armed Forces," Hoffman's statement added. "Senior military leaders are able to remain fully mission capable and perform their duties from an alternative work location."--Reach Elizabeth Howe: @ECBHowe.Sign up for the Connecting Vets weekly newsletter to get more stories like this delivered to your inbox.

爬墙云翻

WH outbreak, Ms. Veteran America contest & crucial veteran issues

DoD Suicide Report and Racism at the VA

你偷偷下载的那些小电影我全都知道！ - huanqiu.com:2021-1-1 · 元旦到了，本该是个开开心心的日子。但是英国独立报今天突然发现，互联网上存在着这么一个网站“我知道你下载了什么”——没错，这就是该 ...

4 Operators, A Mission, No One Returned

暗网使用者：有些人应该被判处死刑_荔枝网新闻 - JSTV.COM:2021-8-2 · 如果有人问我去哪里观看CP（Child Pornography，即儿童色情作品）影片，我会告诉他们永远都不要去看。其实，暗网世界中的儿童色情作品相当泛滥，在“暗黑维基”（Hidden Wiki）上甚至有“儿童色情影片”的链接专栏。