New York's ridiculous quarantine regulation is reinstated

While you weren't watching . . .

New York has reinstated one of the biggest power grabs I can remember. It was struck down last year, and has now been reinstated on a technicality, like "standing." The way it's worded, "highly contagious communicable disease" can mean the state could take over a citizen's health care and quarantine her because of a cold or the flu, both of which fit all the definitions in this regulation. It's a HUGE attack on civil liberties. And what NY does [like California], other states will follow. Hochul has an even bigger power lust that Cuomo. It was struck down in July 2022 as unenforceable. Now it's been unstruck down, if that's a word.

 
"Rule 2.13 was first enacted on Feb. 22, 2022 and has been extended by successive 90-day periods through July 20, 2022. Rule 2.13 states in pertinent part: “whenever appropriate to control the spread of a highly contagious communicable disease," the state health commissioner may issue and/or direct local health officials "to issue isolation and/or quarantine orders, consistent with due process of law, to all such persons as the State Commissioner of Health shall determine appropriate.” The rule allows the state health department to coordinate with local health authorities to mandate isolation and quarantine for individuals exposed to communicable diseases, even in locations outside of their own homes." The word "appropriate" is another squishy term for the power hungry to chew on.

Senator Walczyk Denounces Court Decision To Reinstate Quarantine Regulations | NYSenate.gov

Quarantine isolation law reinstated, reversing prior GOP win (timesunion.com)

Judge Declares New York’s COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Regulation Unenforceable | Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC - JDSupra

Keep your eyes open, not for "news" but for the lack of it.

1) Biden's racist comments about his pick for secretary of defense. Apparently wants to "pay him back" (the implication that it's his race and "him" being all blacks), but he was the guy who helped Biden and Obama and the gun running scheme during their administration. So if a black general orders bombs on a white population in the Middle East it's OK?  Biden makes pitch for retired general to be Pentagon chief (fox23.com)

2) Schumer claiming that with a flick of the pen Biden can and will forgive trillions in student loan debt. I thought the House controlled the purse. Media were calling Trump a Nazi and traitor for even exercising the rights given a president. At least the wall had been voted on and approved (2006 Secure Fence Act). It was just Trump they didn't like when he tried to act on it. And it was Obama who was chief deporter and cage builder, not Trump.

3) The media are giving Biden the soft shoe dance routine, ignoring the things they screamed about when they were trying to undo the 2016 election. Like a civilian run military and how long a general needs to be retired before joining the cabinet.

4) Disagreements on who gets the vaccine, and federal mandate to wear masks--most of the population is at a very low risk. Forcing 100 days of mask wearing (during the same time the vaccine is reducing risk, so he can get the credit) . My generation is at risk, middle age and below, not so much--they are at greater risk for flu. I'm not an anti-vaxxer, but children don't need this until we know the long term affects.

5) If we give the federal government this kind of power (over the states), what will happen when something like MERS with a 50% mortality rate reappears? Covid19 has a mortality rate of .3% overall and about 5% in my age group with co-morbidities.

6) I've heard that at least one of the "unbiased fact checkers" used by Google and Facebook is China owned, Communist controlled, and it has been used to shut down freedom of speech and thought in China. I haven't checked his, but perhaps others have 

 7) Quarantining an entire population and locking down the economy has never been used as a public health measure by any nation, and now practically the whole world (except China) is doing it. On the other hand, we have libraries full of published, peer-reviewed research on what happens to lower income children in one parent families when they fall behind early in education. They NEVER catch up. Why are Democrats/liberals/socialists imposing this on the poor? Because they can.

Wash your hands with soap to kill both bacteria and viruses

Toilet paper seems to have returned to Marc's, and now chicken is disappearing. Bleach seems to be in short supply. Still don't see a lot of antiseptic hand cleaner. I wonder how many people who buy that know that soap and water is still the best for both viruses and bacteria.  Maybe some of those Happy Talk commercials on what fun it is to stay locked down could be replaced by videos of proper hand washing?

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/antibacterial-soap-you-can-skip-it-use-plain-soap-and-water

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/say-goodbye-antibacterial-soaps-fda-banning-household-item/

Coronavirus is novel, but the old fashioned is bad, too

While coronaviruses aren’t new, this particular one (known as 2019-nCoV) is. “We’ve seen coronavirus before, but this is a new version,” Gonsenhauser says. “So any time there’s something new people automatically go to Ebola and the zombie apocalypse, thinking that it’s untreatable and deadly. That’s not what we’re seeing. It’s certainly spreading more rapidly than SARS did, but it’s not more dangerous than other viral strains.”

As U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar stated in a Jan. 28 press briefing: "This is a very fast moving, constantly changing situation,” adding, “but, at this point, Americans should not worry for their own safety."

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/the-flu-has-killed-10000-americans-as-the-world-worries-over-coronavirus-221101770.html

We’ve been sitting in a hospital for 5 days and observing a lot of sick people with relatives and friends coming and going.  Face masks, tissues, gloves, hand sanitizers and signs in Chinese seem to be everywhere.  Still, I see a lot of medical personnel ungloved, perhaps an allergy to the latex?

I’ve been out of the news loop for some time, but I think I heard on a radio news show that 750,000,000 Chinese have been quarantined.  I can’t even imagine that—twice the population of the USA and they are restricted in movement?  I keep wondering—who gets out to repair things that break down?  Who is stocking the stores? Who is doing the transport?

This account, assembling stories from various sources, sounds quite draconian.  Even stories of people be welded inside their apartments. Have no idea if it is authoritative of just click bait. https://www.theorganicprepper.com/quarantine-in-china/

Coronavirus news in my mail today

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Saturday approved Department of Defense (DoD) housing at four military bases for 1,000 people who may have to be quarantined as a result of the coronavirus, following the appearance of the eighth confirmed case of the disease in the U.S. Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Jonathan Rath Hoffman made the announcement and said the program is designed for those returning from overseas. Military installations in Colorado, California and Texas were selected to house the evacuees and will help to assist the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with the operation, if needed. They are the 168th Regiment Regional Training Institute in Fort Carson, Colo.; Travis Air Force Base in California; Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3048518/coronavirus-case-load-and-death-toll-china-rise-epicentre-hubei-province

“As many as 75,815 people in Wuhan may have been infected with the new coronavirus , according to a study by University of Hong Kong scientists.

The research, published in The Lancet on Saturday, is based on the assumption that each infected person could have passed the virus on to 2.68 others. The estimated total was as of Tuesday, it said.”

A group of Brazilians stuck in the Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak has sent President Jair Bolsonaro a video aired Sunday pleading for help to return home.

Reading from a letter dated January 30 from the sprawling eastern city of Wuhan, they told him they were willing to be quarantined when they get back.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048639/coronavirus-brazilians-wuhan-ask-help-fleeing-wuhan-video

Wuhan has 11,000,000 people and most of us had never heard of it before this virus made it famous.  I looked through trip advisor, and it looks like a gorgeous place with interesting sites.  Who will go there now and how many in the tourism business are out of work?

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g297437-Activities-Wuhan_Hubei.html