Pfizer and BioNTech are filing for emergency authorization in the US of their Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, November 20.
The FDA will decide if the vaccine is safe to roll out.
It is not clear how long the FDA will take to study the data. However, the US government expects to approve the vaccine in the first half of December.
Data from an advanced trial showed the vaccine protects 94% of adults over 65.
Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s trial involved 41,000 people worldwide. Half were given the vaccine, and half a placebo.
If FDA authorization does come in the first half of next month, Pfizer and BioNTech will “be ready to distribute the vaccine candidate within hours”, the two companies said.
This would be remarkably quick for vaccine development – within 10 months of detailing the genetic code. The average wait for approval in the US is nearer eight years.
On November 19, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that the filing for emergency use was a “milestone in our journey to deliver a Covid-19 vaccine to the world”.
Initial doses would be scarce, though, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) will decide who is first in line.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU could move quickly too – by the end of the year.
Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
More data released from their ongoing phase three trial suggests the vaccine works equally well in people of all ages, races and ethnicities.
The companies say they will now apply for authorization for emergency use of the jab in the US.
The findings are based on two doses given to more than 41,000 people around the world.
Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech published preliminary data showing the vaccine offered 90% protection against Covid-19 and there were no safety concerns.
This was followed by impressive data on another vaccine, made by US company Moderna, suggesting nearly 95% protection.
November 18 data from Pfizer and BioNTech, which builds on last week’s data, suggests the vaccine is 95% effective based on 170 cases Covid-19 developing in volunteers.
Just eight were in the group given the vaccine, suggesting it offers good protection. The rest of the cases were in the placebo group given a dummy jab.
Scientists said the data was further encouraging news.
Although the full trial data has yet to be published, the companies say there have been no serious safety concerns.
However, they did notice headaches and fatigue in about 2% of volunteers given the vaccine, although older people seemed to experience minimal side effects.
There is also evidence that the vaccine protects against severe Covid – but this is based on only 10 cases.
It’s still unclear how long protection from the vaccine lasts and if it stops people transmitting the virus.
In the trial, 42% of all participants are from diverse ethnic backgrounds and 41% are aged between 56 and 85 years old.
The trial, which is testing people at 150 sites in the US, Germany, Turkey, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina, will collect data on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine for another two years.
Pfizer and BioNTech expect to produce up to 50 million doses of the vaccine this year and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.
There are hundreds of vaccines in development around the world, and about a dozen in the final stages of testing, known as phase three.
The first two to show any results – made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna – both use an experimental approach, called mRNA, which involves injecting part of the virus’s genetic code into the body to train the immune system.
Antibodies and T-cells are then made by the body to fight the coronavirus.
Russia’s Sputnik vaccine has also released early data from phase three based on a smaller number of volunteers and Covid cases.
There are some logistical challenges with mRNA vaccines, namely the need to store them at cold temperatures.
The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at around minus 80C, although it can be kept in a fridge for five days.
Moderna’s vaccine needs to be stored at minus 20C for up to six months and kept in a standard fridge for up to a month.
A new coronavirus vaccine made by Moderna showed nearly 95% protection against Covid-19.
Early data results come hot on the heels of similar results from Pfizer, and add to growing confidence that vaccines can help end the pandemic.
Pfizer and Moderna used a highly innovative and experimental approach to designing their vaccines.
Moderna says it is a “great day” and they plan to apply for approval to use the vaccine in the next few weeks.
However, this is still early data and key questions remain unanswered.
The trial involved 30,000 people in the US with half being given two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart. The rest had dummy injections.
The analysis was based on the first 95 to develop Covid-19 symptoms.
Only five of the Covid cases were in people given the vaccine, 90 were in those given the dummy treatment. The company says the vaccine is protecting 94.5% of people.
The data also shows there were 11 cases of severe Covid in the trial, but none happened in people who were immunized.
Moderna says it will apply to regulators in the US in the coming weeks. It expects to have 20 million doses available in the country.
The company hopes to have up to one billion doses available for use around the world next year and is planning to seek approval in other countries too.
We still do not know how long immunity will last as volunteers will have to be followed for much longer before that can be answered.
There are hints it offers some protection in older age groups, who are most at risk of dying from Covid, but there is not full data.
It is not known whether the vaccine just stops people becoming severely ill, or if it stops them spreading the virus too.
All these questions will affect how a coronavirus vaccine is used.
No significant safety concerns have been reported, but nothing, including paracetamol, is 100% safe.
Short lived fatigue, headache and pain were reported after the injection in some patients.
Both vaccines use the same approach of injecting part of the virus’s genetic code in order to provoke an immune response.
The preliminary data we have seen so far is very similar – around 90% protection for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and around 95% for Moderna’s.
However, both trials are still taking place and the final numbers could change.
Moderna’s vaccine appears to be easier to store as it remains stable at minus 20C for up to six months and can be kept in a standard fridge for up to a month.
Pfizer’s vaccine needs ultra-cold storage at around minus 75C, but it can be kept in the fridge for five days.
The Sputnik V vaccine, developed in Russia, has also released very early data which suggests it is 92% effective.
New restrictions aimed at curbing coronavirus have been introduced in New York City after Mayor Bill de Blasio warned it was the city’s “last chance” to stop a second wave.
Bars, restaurants and gyms must close by 22:00 and people can only meet in groups of 10 or less.
On November 11, the US is seeing a surge in coronavirus with a record 65,368 Americans being in hospital.
The Covid Tracking Project also reported a record 144,270 new cases.
An average of over 900 people a day are now dying with the disease.
More than a million new cases in November pushed the total confirmed cases to over 10 million nationally, with 233,080 deaths so far.
The US has been seeing more than 100,000 new cases per day over the last eight days in what experts say may be a worse outbreak than those seen in the spring and summer.
According to experts, hospitals across the country could soon be overwhelmed.
On November 11, Dr. Michael Osterhol, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 advisory panel, said a four to six week lockdown could bring the pandemic under control.
Dr. Osterholm said that the government could borrow enough money to cover lost income for businesses during a shutdown.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also said: “We’re seeing a national and global Covid surge, and New York is a ship on the Covid tide.”
New measures come into effect on November 13 affecting hospitality after Governor Cuomo said contact tracing identified late-night gatherings as key virus spreaders in the state.
If the rate of spread of infection continued to rise, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the New York City’s public school system would close and children would begin online classes.
The mayor tweeted: “This is our last chance to stop a second wave. We can do it, but we have to act now.”
According to NYC’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the city was badly hit by the virus earlier this year when nearly 18,000 people died with Covid-19 in March, April and May.
Other states have broken new case records this week with Texas becoming the first state to hit one million total cases on November 10. If Texas were a separate country, it would rank 11th in the world for most cases.
Other states, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California and Florida, have also seen numbers rise. CBS News reports 15 states saw the numbers of patients in hospital due to the virus double in the last month.
Some hospitals, such as in Idaho and Missouri, have had to turn patients away because they ran out of room.
Germany will impose a new lockdown in November, but schools and shops will stay open, Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced.
She also called for a “major national effort” to fight coronavirus.
Social contacts will be limited to two households, and bars, catering and leisure facilities will shut.
France is also expected to announce new lockdown measures in the coming hours.
Covid daily deaths have risen above 500 there and officials say everything must be done so it “does not overwhelm us”.
EU special adviser Prof. Peter Piot has warned that some 1,000 Europeans are now dying every day from the virus.
Night curfews are in force in several countries, including for 46 million people in France. However, one minister has complained that they have failed to halt social interactions.
“[The curfew] has simply shifted them – instead of getting together at 21:00, people meet up at six,” the unnamed minister was quoted as saying.
The German government is keen to enable families and friends to meet at Christmas, but daily infections have soared to a new high of 14,964, with 85 more deaths reported in the latest 24-hour period.
A broad but limited German lockdown will now start on Monday, November 2, under terms agreed during a video conference involving Chancellor Merkel and the 16 state premiers:
Schools and kindergartens will remain open
Social contacts will be limited to two households with a maximum of 10 people and tourism will be halted
Bars will close and restaurants will be limited to takeaways
Tattoo and massage parlors will shut
Smaller companies badly hit by the lockdown will be reimbursed with up to 75% of their November 2019 takings
Chancellor Merkel and the state premiers are expected to reconvene on November 11 to reassess the situation
“We have to act now,” she explained, to avoid a national emergency.
In France, the defense council and cabinet were deciding the extent of the planned four-week lockdown on October 28, but reports suggest schools will stay open and online study will be encouraged for older children and universities.
The changes could kick in from October 30.
France recorded 523 deaths on October 27, including 235 in residential homes, and the hospital federation has appealed for as broad a lockdown as possible.
During the COVID-19 pandemic there are less people on the roads across Europe. With less cars and traffic, drivers tend to drive more recklessly. There has been an increase in accidents on the continent. In response to this, cities around Europe are taking steps to improve safety when the roads are emptier and people are driving faster. While each city has their own problem with road safety, all of them are creating their own solutions. A universal issue that is contributing to accidents and making more dangerous roads is speeding. Below are some of the stats about speeding and how various European cities are dealing with it.
Empty Roads & Speeding
Whenever roads empty, the speeding increases for those still driving. Furthermore, according to the personal injury claims law firm McGinley Solicitors, speeds have gone up during the COVID-19 pandemic. While speeds have increased, the number of accidents have gone up. This goes for accidents with cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and more. Speeding isn’t the only problem, people are also drinking and driving and getting on the roads during inclement weather. Driving under the influence also increases the speed of drivers and the likelihood that an accident will occur. The problems are multi-faceted, but so are the solutions. Each country and city has their own way of dealing with speeding, driving under the influence, accidents, and deaths in their own way.
Berlin
Berlin is already known for being a forward-thinking and progressive city. It is a city of constant change and flux. It has been destroyed and rebuilt, evolving into a modern and accessible place to live. The city has responded to the increase in speed and accidents by temporarily widening the cycle lanes, allowing wider distance for cars and social distancing. The response is to create new space for pedestrians and bicyclists, but with so many vehicles in Germany some are not happy about the new roads.
40 percent less people are on the roads. The extra space and less traffic has provided safer situations for people who want to walk and cycle, but cars are also now having to avoid more pedestrians. Currently there aren’t really reliable numbers on how this will effect accidents between cars and pedestrians, but it seems clear cars are having to be more careful when they are driving these widened roads. It is a significant change, and not everyone likes change, but they are necessary in this ever-evolving pandemic.
Brussels
Brussels is another progressive city that has responded quickly to the changing roads during the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has decided to lower the speed limit inside their main drag, the inner ring road. The speed limit will be lowered to 20 kmh. Brussel’s center is shaped like a pentagon, which makes it ideal for pedestrians. This means that pedestrians have space to move around, and bicycles can more easily maneuver. Again this creates more foot-traffic for drivers to navigate, but with so few cars on the road it makes for a socially distanced and traversable intersection. There are also concerns about the center becoming a meeting place. With social distancing, Brussels is learning how best to use their city.
Milan
Milan is also taking measures to open up traffic to pedestrians while making the roads safer for drivers. They are doing their best to open up the center for walking, closing 35km streets to cars. Like other Italian cities, Milan is changing its environmental regulations to make cities livable and social-distanced. While many city centers like Milan are closing to car traffic and opening up for pedestrians, there are still less cars on the highways and people are speeding, causing an increase in accidents.
Paris
Many large cities around Europe have begun rolling out cycling lanes that give cars and pedestrians more room. The city aims to create 650 kilometers of lockdown cycle lanes. This will not only provide space for social distancing, it will help commuters and others who are taking a ride for exercise. With fewer cars on the streets of the French capital, it provides a more regulated system of streets where drivers have to be careful with pedestrians around. This system, while it is becoming common, is especially suited to French society.
European cities around the continent are adapting to the new streets that have less cars and more pedestrians on them. Everyone is adapting to social distancing with less people on the roads and more people trying to get out of the house and other closed spaces. We all can learn how to adapt our cities like the ones above.
President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden clashed over Covid-19 and race while trading corruption charges, in their final live TV debate which took place on Thursday night in Nashville, Tennessee.
The first debate was a chaotic, insult-filled exchange between the two candidates. But on October 22, the personal attacks were (mostly) out – instead audiences got the chance to hear some of what Biden and Trump had to offer to Americans.
The muted mics probably helped to cool temperatures and the moderator, Kristen Welker, has been celebrated for encouraging a higher standard of debate.
With arguments on coronavirus, race, climate change and corruption, both candidates made it clear how different their visions for the US were.
On the pandemic, Joe Biden would not rule out more lockdowns, while President Trump insisted it was time to reopen the US.
Donald Trump cited unsubstantiated claims Joe Biden personally profited from his son’s business dealings. The Democrat brought up President Trump’s opaque taxes.
Joe Biden has a solid lead with 11 days to go until the presidential election.
However, winning the most votes does not always win the election, and the margin is narrower in a handful of states that could decide the race either way.
More than 47 million people have already cast their ballots in a voting surge driven by the pandemic.
This is already more than voted before polling day in the 2016 election. There are about 230 million eligible voters in total.
In snap polls – from CNN, Data Progress and US Politics – most respondents said Joe Biden had won the debate by a margin of more than 50% to about 40%.
The final debate was a less acrimonious and more substantive affair than the pair’s previous showdown on September 29, which devolved into insults and name-calling.
Following that political brawl, debate organizers this time muted microphones during the candidates’ opening statements on each topic to minimize disruption.
However, the 90-minute debate, moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker, was the scene of plenty of personal attacks between the opponents, whose mutual dislike was palpable.
In individual closing argument to voters, they offered starkly different visions for the nation on everything from shutting down the US to tackle coronavirus, to shutting down the fossil fuel industry to confront climate change.
Nowhere was the distinction between the two candidates more apparent than in their approach to the pandemic.
Asked about his support for more lockdowns if the scientists recommended it, Joe Biden, a Democrat, did not rule it out.
Donald Trump, a Republican, said it was wrong to inflict further damage on the economy because of an infection from which most people recover.
“This is a massive country with a massive economy,” said the president.
“People are losing their jobs, they’re committing suicide. There’s depression, alcohol, drugs at a level nobody’s ever seen before.”
Donald Trump, 74, declared that the virus was “going away” and that a vaccine would be ready by the end of the year, while Joe Biden, 77, warned the nation was heading towards “a dark winter”.
President Trump said: “We’re learning to live with it.”
Joe Biden countered: “Come on. We’re dying with it.”
He laid blame for the 220,000-plus American deaths as a consequence of the pandemic at President Trump’s door.
“Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,” he said.
During a back-and-forth on race relations, President Trump said: “I am the least racist person in this room.”
He brought up the 1994 crime bill that Joe Biden helped draft and which Black Lives Matter blames for the mass incarceration of African Americans.
However, Joe Biden said Donald Trump was “one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire”.
He added: “This guy is a [racial] dog whistle about as big as a fog horn.”
President Trump brought up purported leaked emails from Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, about his business dealings in China.
However, Joe Biden denied the president’s unfounded insinuation that the former US vice-president somehow had a stake in the ventures.
“I think you owe an explanation to the American people,” said President Trump.
Joe Biden said: “I have not taken a single penny from any country whatsoever. Ever.”
He referred to the New York Times recently reporting that President Trump had a bank account in China and paid $188,561 in taxes from 2013-15 to the country, compared with $750 in US federal taxes that the newspaper said he had paid in 2016-2017 when he became president.
President Trump said: “I have many bank accounts and they’re all listed and they’re all over the place.
Joe Biden has criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of Covid-19, while courting elderly voters in the key battleground state of Florida.
The Democratic presidential nominee told them that the president saw seniors, who have been more at risk in the pandemic, as “expendable”.
There are sharp policy differences between the two candidates on Covid-19.
In Pennsylvania, President Trump told thousands of supporters he felt like “Superman” after his Covid treatment.
He tested positive for the virus on October 1, spent three nights in hospital and was cleared by doctors to return to the campaign trail at the weekend, holding his first rally in Florida on October 12.
Battleground states like Florida and Pennsylvania are crucial for gathering the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidential election, which is not determined by a simple count of votes nationwide.
Opinion polls suggest Joe Biden has a 10-point advantage over Donald Trump nationally, but his lead in some key states is narrower. In Florida, the Democrat is 3.7 percentage points ahead, according to an average of polls collated by Real Clear Politics.
President Trump narrowly won Florida in 2016 in a result buoyed by senior voters. But the latest polls suggest a shift away from the Republican among them this time around.
Joe Biden spoke to a group of people at a community centre for seniors in southern Florida, with social distancing measures in place.
The event was in stark contrast to the president’s mass rally on Monday in Florida.
The Democratic candidate accused the president of dismissing the threat that coronavirus posed to senior citizens.
He said: “You’re expendable, you’re forgettable, you’re virtually nobody. That’s how he sees seniors. That’s how he sees you.”
The “only senior Donald Trump seems to care about” is himself, he added.
Joe Biden also criticized President Trump for holding “super-spreader parties with Republicans hugging each other without concern of the consequences”, while senior citizens couldn’t see their grandchildren. A recent White House event for the Supreme Court nominee led to several attendees testing positive for Covid.
Introducing Joe Biden at the Florida event, congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said it was voters aged 65 or over who would “swing elections in the Sunshine State”.
Joe Biden, 77, and Donald Trump, 74, are the two oldest candidates to contest a US presidential election.
However, President Trump has regularly mocked Joe Biden as a senior citizen who lacks energy and is “sleepy”. On October 13, the president tweeted a doctored image of Joe Biden as a wheelchair-user and the words “Biden for Resident”, implying a nursing home.
President Donald Trump’s decision to greet supporters in a drive-past outside the hospital where he is being treated for Covid-19 has been widely questioned by medical experts.
There are concerns the president, who wore a mask, may have endangered Secret Service staff inside the car.
However, White House spokesperson Judd Deere said the trip on October 4 had been “cleared by the medical team as safe”.
Questions remain over the seriousness of President Trump’s illness after conflicting statements over the weekend.
Donald Trump has been in hospital since October 2, after he announced hours earlier he had tested positive for the virus.
Covid-19 has infected n
Nearly 7.4 million have been infected in the US and nearly 210,000 people died across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
President Trump’s diagnosis has upended his election campaign, as he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden on November 3.
A growing number of people around the president, including First Lady Melania Trump, senior aides and Republican senators, have tested positive with the virus.
President Trump waved to well-wishers from behind the glass of a sealed car after tweeting that he would leave Walter Reed hospital, near Washington, to pay a “surprise visit” to “patriots” outside. Inside the car, at least two people could be seen wearing protective gear in the front seats, with President Trump sat in the back.
Experts say Donald Trump’s short car trip broke public health advice to quarantine when seeking treatment for the virus, and may have put Secret Service agents inside the vehicle at risk of infection.
“That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of Covid-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures,” tweeted Dr James Philips, a doctor at the same hospital where the president is being treated.
Those inside the president’s car would now need to quarantine for 14 days, he said.
Democrats have also criticized the trip, with House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries tweeting: “We need leadership. Not photo ops.”
However, the White House’s Judd Deere defended the move, saying “appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the president and all those supporting it, including PPE [personal protective equipment]”. Meanwhile, NBC News reports that the first lady, who has remained at the White House with mild symptoms, decided against visiting her husband in hospital because of the risks to staff.
“She has Covid,” an unnamed official told NBC on October 3.
“That would expose the agents who would drive her there and the medical staff who would walk her up to him.”
Over the weekend it emerged President Trump’s condition was more serious than previously reported when he went to hospital on October 2.
The White House had said the president was experiencing “mild symptoms” of Covid-19, but then it was confirmed that he had received extra oxygen after his levels dipped twice in two days.
He was also given the steroid dexamethasone, which is normally reserved for serious cases, according to experts.
On October 4, White House Physician Dr. Sean Conley addressed widespread confusion over the state of President Trump’s health, after conflicting accounts from him and the president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Dr. Sean Conley had offered an upbeat prognosis on October 3, which was later contradicted by Mark Meadows who said the president’s vital signs the previous 24 hours had been “very concerning”.
Dr. Conley told reporters on October 4: “I was trying to reflect an upbeat attitude of the team and the president about the course his illness has had.
“I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction.”
There is skepticism over the prospect – raised by doctors earlier – that President Trump could leave hospital as early as October 5.
Starting with October 6, Paris will shut all bars completely as the French government raises the city’s coronavirus alert to maximum following a sustained period of high infection rates.
The restrictions will last two weeks, with full details to be announced on October 5, PM Jean Castex’s office announced.
On October 4, France reported 12,565 cases of Covid-19.
The southern city of Marseille closed bars and restaurants last week.
France’s maximum alert level comes into force when the infection rate in a locality exceeds 250 per 100,000 people and at least 30% of intensive care beds are reserved for Covid-19 patients.
The prime minister’s office explained in a statement: “These measures, indispensable in the fight to curb the virus’ spread, will apply to Paris and the three departments immediately surrounding it, for a duration of two weeks.”
Paris restaurants will have to put in place new sanitary arrangements in order to stay open and university lecture halls must be no more than half-full.
Restaurants and bistros that serve food as well as alcohol can stay open, as long as they register contact details from customers and shut their doors at 22:00.
Working from home must be prioritized “now more than ever”, the statement said.
On September 26, Marseille, France’s second city, closed all bars, restaurants and gyms for two weeks. Public venues including theatres, museums and cinemas have also had to close unless they could introduce strict anti-viral measures.
The measure prompted anger from local officials who said they were not consulted.
On October 4, France reported nearly 17,000 infections, its highest rate since the country started widespread testing.
The French government says it doesn’t want to order another nationwide lockdown, but will enforce tougher measures in those cities where the virus is concentrated.
Elsewhere in Europe, a state of emergency has been introduced in the Czech Republic as the government struggles to control a resurgence in coronavirus. From Monday new measures will be in place for two weeks, including closing secondary schools and limiting restaurants and bars to six customers per table. Primary schools will remain open. Over the past two weeks the Czechs had the second highest number of new cases per 100,000 in Europe after Spain, and the fourth highest number of deaths.
President Donald Trump has been flown to Walter Reed Military Hospital for treatment after testing positive for coronavirus.
The president tweeted after his arrival: “Going well, I think!”
According to recent reports, his symptoms include a low-grade fever.
President Trump has so far been treated with an experimental drug cocktail injection and the antiviral medication remdesivir after both he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for Covid-19.
In exactly one month, President Trump faces Joe Biden in the presidential election.
His diagnosis has upended his campaign and also cast doubt on his attempt to get a new Supreme Court judge confirmed before polling day.
The latest update from President Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, in a memorandum late on October 2, read: “I am happy to report the president is doing very well.”
He said the president was not in need of supplemental oxygen.
President Trump was taken to hospital “out of an abundance of caution” with “mild symptoms” and would be there for the “next few days”, the White House said.
The list of other people to have tested positive around the president include close aide Hope Hicks – believed to be the first to show symptoms – campaign manager Bill Stepien and former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway. Republican Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis have also tested positive.
President Donald Trump remains in charge. VP Mike Pence, to whom under the constitution the president would transfer power temporarily should he become too ill to carry out his duties, tested negative.
Wearing a mask and suit, President Trump walked out across the White House lawn on October 2 at 18:15 to his helicopter, Marine One, for the short flight to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center close to Washington DC.
He waved and gave a thumbs-up to reporters but said nothing before boarding the aircraft.
In an 18-second video posted to Twitter, President Trump said: “I think I’m doing very well. But we’re going to make sure that things work out. The first lady is doing very well. So thank you very much.”
Ivanka and Eric Trump re-tweeted his post, praising him as a “warrior”. Ivanka Trump added: “I love you dad.”
Donald Trump Jr. said his father was “obviously taking it very seriously”.
The president was admitted to the presidential suite at Walter Reed, which is where US presidents usually have their annual check-up.
Shortly before midnight, he tweeted again: “Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!”
Dr. Sean Conley, said the president was “not requiring any supplemental oxygen, but in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate remdesivir therapy. He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably”.
Tests have shown remdesivir, originally developed as an Ebola treatment, disrupts the new coronavirus’s ability to duplicate and can cut the duration of symptoms.
On October 2, Dr. Conley said President Trump had “as a precautionary measure received an 8g dose of Regeneron’s antibody cocktail” at the White House.
Over the course of six months of quarantine, Americans have been desperate for things to do. To cure some of the boredom, many have taken up new hobbies, learned new languages and started new home improvement projects. But with more free time than ever, many have turned to exercise, seeking to shed a few pounds during quarantine, explore some new trails, or achieve some fitness milestones.
But when it comes to personal fitness, exercise is but one side of the coin. A proper diet is just as integral to maintaining personal fitness as any run or weightlifting routine. But eating properly is easier said than done. Beyond merely counting calories, those seeking to eat healthily should find ways to incorporate fruits, vegetables, and other key nutrients into their diets.
Since even before the onset of COVID, plenty of innovative startups have been hard at work devising new restaurants and products that offer tasteful, healthy food while catering to the unique preferences of young consumers.
We sat down with Amit Raizada—an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and CEO of Spectrum Business Ventures to talk about how the startup and VC sectors are helping to develop new products that can help fitness enthusiasts enjoy healthy, low-calorie meals that complement their workout routines.
“One of these companies is Tu Me Water, which Spectrum Business Ventures is proud to support,” said Raizada. “Tu Me is an excellent post-workout choice, as it offers flavored water injected with turmeric.”
Raizada explained that turmeric is a critical, yet often under-consumed, nutrient that helps aid muscle recovery. Turmeric is often used to reduce inflammation, which Raizada said comes in handy after a difficult weightlifting routine or a strenuous run.
“Tu Me really got it right when it came to turmeric,” Raizada said. “The nutrient has long been celebrated for the ways it reduces inflammation in the body. Tu Me combined this with water—which we all drink after our workouts—and unique flavoring to create a healthy, enticing product.”
“Tocaya Organica offers clean, fast-casual Mexican cuisine in an upbeat setting,” said Raizada. “Tocaya’s food is vegan-base, meaning that all meals conform to vegan standards. Customers can add additional, non-vegan ingredients as they wish, but no matter how you build your meal, Tocaya is delicious, healthy, and low calorie.”
Both companies, Raizada said, created innovative models that align with many of Spectrum Business Ventures’ guiding investment philosophies.
“I always seek out ventures that have identified a demand popular among younger consumers and have devised a solution to fulfill it,” Raizada said. “That was the case with both ventures, which saw the ways in which personal fitness and healthful living had become major markets, and developed innovative, health foods that quickly took hold.”
Raizada said that, often, successful ventures need not reinvent an established market to make a sizeable splash.
“Younger generations are particularly health- conscious, and during quarantine, this has become even more mainstream,” said Raizada. “Companies like Equinox, for example, have come up with trailblazing ways to cater to this increasingly well-established trend. By tailoring their cuisines to meet the appetites of an increasingly health-conscious clientele, Tu Me Water and Tocaya Organica became hits.”
Trials of Astra Zeneca’s and Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine will resume after being paused due to a reported side effect in a patient in the UK.
On September 8, AstraZeneca said the studies were being paused while it investigated whether the adverse reaction was linked with the vaccine.
However, on September 12, Oxford University said it had been deemed safe to continue.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the news that the trials would resume.
He said: “This pause shows we will always put safety first. We will back our scientists to deliver an effective vaccine as soon as safely possible.”
Oxford University said in a statement that it was “expected” that “some participants will become unwell” in large trials such as this one.
The university added that the studies could now resume following the recommendations of an independent safety review committee and the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
It would not disclose information about the patient’s illness for confidentiality reasons.
However, the New York Times reported that a volunteer in the UK trial had been diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammatory syndrome that affects the spinal cord and can be caused by viral infections.
The WHO says nearly 180 vaccine candidates are being tested around the world but none has yet completed clinical trials.
Hopes have been high that the vaccine might be one of the first to come on the market, following successful Phase 1 and 2 testing.
The move to Phase 3 testing in recent weeks has involved some 30,000 participants in the US as well as in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Phase 3 trials in vaccines often involve thousands of participants and can last several years.
According to official figures released on September 12, a further 3,497 people have tested positive with the virus in the UK. It is the second day in a row that number of daily reported cases has exceeded 3,000.
It brings the overall number of confirmed cases so far to 365,174. Meanwhile, the government figures revealed that a further nine people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, bring the UK death toll to 41,623.
According to a new book, President Donald Trump knew Covid-19 was deadlier than the flu before it hit the US but wanted to play down the crisis.
Bob Woodward, who broke the Watergate scandal and is one of the nation’s most respected journalists, interviewed President Trump 18 times from December to July.
President Trump is quoted as telling Bob Woodward the virus was “deadly stuff” before the first US death was confirmed.
Responding, Donald Trump said he had wanted to avoid causing public panic.
Some 190,000 Americans have been recorded as dying with Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
On September 9, some media released parts of the interviews between the president and the journalist, revealing his reported remarks on the outbreak as well as race and other issues.
Here are some of the key quotes so far from Rage, which will be released on September 15.
President Trump indicated that he knew more about the severity of the illness than he had said publicly.
According to a tape of the call, President Trump told Bob Woodward in February that the coronavirus was deadlier than the flu.
“It goes through the air,” President Trump told the author on February 7.
“That’s always tougher than the touch. You don’t have to touch things. Right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed.
“And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
Later that month, President Trump promised the virus was “very much under control”, and that the case count would soon be close to zero. He also publicly implied the flu was more dangerous than Covid-19.
Speaking on Capitol Hill on March 10, President Trump said: “Just stay calm. It will go away.”
Nine days later, days after the White House declared the pandemic a national emergency, the president told Bob Woodward: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
Speaking from the White House on September 9, President Trump told reporters: “I don’t want people to be frightened, I don’t want to create panic, as you say, and certainly I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy.
“We want to show confidence, we want to show strength.”
President Trump – who is running for re-election in November – said the Bob Woodward book was “a political hit job”.
Responding to reporters’ questions on the book, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said: “The president never downplayed the virus, once again. The president expressed calm. The president was serious about this.”
In a tweet, Joe Biden said that “while a deadly disease ripped through our nation, [President Trump] failed to do his job – on purpose. It was a life or death betrayal of the American people”.
2020 has become a year of radical change, shifts in perspective, and the sobering reminder that all of us are mortal, prone to disease and ailments that can, and sometimes will end our lives. From wildfires engulfing en entire continent to political scandals, a biblical plague, and everything in between, the term “dumpster fire” doesn’t even begin to cover the year 2020.
Most of us take a few major events per year in stride. That’s just how it goes, right? Things happen, people die, and the world keeps turning. So, why are you feeling extra emotional this year? Could it be that there’s more to it? Perhaps these new changes are more traumatic than we might have thought. Why am I so emotional? Let’s look closer at some of the reasons you might be feeling more emotional than usual.
1. Can You Say…COVID?
COVID-19 came sweeping out of the east with a fury no one saw coming (except everyone did, just not the US). If you’re in the United States, you’re probably still feeling terrified of the virus, which has claimed more than 160,000 peoples’ lives and continues to spread, despite areas of the world being in recovery.
With five million confirmed cases and counting, the end of the COVID crisis is nowhere in sight for the United States, and experts are suggesting that we may experience a resurgence as winter approaches. How can one not feel emotional under these circumstances? We feel neglected by our leaders, uncertain of the future, and afraid to even visit a grocery store for fear of catching the virus.
The hierarchy of needs comes into play here. Maslow suggests that all people have a hierarchy of needs, and until the basic needs are met, you can’t be creative, happy, or fulfilled. These basic needs are physiological needs (food, air, water, etc.), safety needs (personal security, employment, resources, health), and then love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.
Notice how safety and things like food and air come before everything else. If your most basic needs aren’t met, it’s incredibly difficult to feel safe or satisfied; and lets’ be honest, none of us are feeling very safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Social Media
The unfortunate truth about our favorite way to connect with friends, family, and our favorite brands is that it may not be a healthy habit to engage in. Studies have shown that people who spend a lot of time on social media tend to suffer from lower self-esteem, a sense of sadness or even depression, and increased social withdrawal. That’s a bit alarming, no doubt, but there’s a good chance your social media usage has increased during quarantine.
Social media can be a stressful place. Not only are you seeing doctored versions of everyone else’s lives (that always seem to look “better”), but you’re also getting a ton of misinformation on things like COVID restrictions. How can anyone feel good getting bombarded with conflicting information, political opinions, and Jane’s constant posting about how amazing her life is?
Cutting down on social media might actually help improve your mental health and help you through this year without having a major breakdown. We all miss our friends and family, but there are plenty of other ways to stay connected until we can meet in-person once more.
3. Life Brought Into Perspective
Major traumatic events often have the effect of bringing life into sharp focus. When mortality comes knocking, and the threat of illness and potential death lingers in the air like a foul stench, we tend to look back on our lives and take measure of what we’ve done; and everything we haven’t. For some, this means facing mistakes or decisions that have potentially led to happiness or unfulfillment. For others, this means getting their act together and finally deciding to get that degree, ask that girl out, or just do better for themselves.
There’s no guarantee that we’ll have a future. Even tomorrow isn’t something we can be sure of, but if COVID has taught us anything, it’s that life is short. Too short to waste on petty quarrels, pointless scrolling online, and other trifles. If reflecting on your life has caused you to feel sad, unfulfilled, or generally unhappy with where you’re at, now’s the time to make some important choices to ensure the rest of your life is exactly what you want.
4. The News
Fear-based media; what is it? To properly explain it, we’d need an entire article. Luckily, this article explains the concept in-depth. The basic premise is that fear sells papers, column inches, and keeps people coming back for more. If you’ve ever watched the news, you’ll notice it’s riddled with fear-based headlines, commentary, and a general focus on the negative. Why? Because it preys on the anxieties we all have.
This year has been a treasure trove of fear for the mainstream media. If you’ve been watching the news consistently, you’re probably starting to feel the effects of this fear-mongering, to the detriment of your mental health. Yes, you should still keep yourself informed, but where you get your information is just as important as the information itself.
The City of Houston wants to keep critical safety information about the coronavirus pandemic a secret. Wait till you find out one of the reasons why.
Dolcefino Consulting asked for records on any events or locations where contract tracers found community spread. It was part of our investigation into any real evidence Houston bars had been linked to coronavirus outbreaks. We didn’t ask for patient information, just locations, like the huge protest rallies downtown and other large gatherings.
The City of Houston Legal Department and the City Attorney are now refusing to tell you where coronavirus outbreaks have happened. Why? One reason, according to the City, is Homeland Security.
“The release of this information could alert a criminal or terrorist to potential vulnerabilities in the Cities emergency response plan to COVID-19,” said City Attorney Rebekah Wendt. Wendt went on to claim that the release of certain information could “allow a criminal or terrorist to have intimate details concerning the City’s evolving plans to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and allow them to exacerbate COVID-19 and future disasters.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is also keeping the contact tracing results a secret, even though the taxpayers are the people footing the bill. In the span of just two hours, the County Health Department claimed they had no records of congregate settings related to the coronavirus. An hour and a half later, the County Health Department did admit that they had records but claimed that they were too busy with the spread of the coronavirus to tell us where the coronavirus was spreading.
“On one hand we have a statewide order and a local order telling us that we have to wear masks to wear masks to control the spread of the coronavirus and we are spending millions of dollars to try to keep people safe but meanwhile our local government won’t tell us which places we need to avoid,” says Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Consulting.
“The public has every right to evaluate how the government is handling this pandemic and the City of Houston and Harris County Health Department should be ashamed of themselves.”
New lockdown measures have been imposed in the Australian state of Victoria after a surge in coronavirus infections.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the restrictions would come into effect on August 2 at 18:00.
Under the new rules, residents of the state capital Melbourne will be subject to a night-time curfew.
Melbourne’s stay-at-home order will be enhanced, giving residents fewer exemptions for leaving home.
Residents will not be allowed to travel further than 3 miles from their home, exercise will be restricted to once a day, and one person will be able to go shopping for essentials at a time.
After early success in suppressing the new coronavirus, Australia has had fewer cases than many other countries, recording about 17,000 infections and 200 deaths.
However, cases are rising rapidly in Victoria, accounting for many of Australia’s new infections in recent weeks, promoting the return of lockdown restrictions in early July.
On August 2, Victoria reported 671 new Covid-19 cases and seven deaths. Those increases brought the totals to 11,557 infections and 123 deaths.
PM Andrews said the lockdown measures introduced in Victoria – Australia’s second most populous state – were working but too slowly.
“We must do more. We must go harder. It’s the only way we’ll get to the other side of this,” he said at a news conference.
He said the changes to lockdown rules announced on August 2 will remain in place until at least September 13.
PM Andrews said Melbourne will move into stage-four restrictions on August 2, placing further limits on the movement of people.
That will include a night-time curfew, which will be implemented across Melbourne from 20:00 to 05:00 from August 2.
The only reasons for leaving home during these hours will be work, medical care or care-giving.
Melbourne residents will only be allowed to shop and exercise within 3 miles of their home. Exercise outside of the home will only be allowed for one hour at a time.
Demonstrators held up banners featuring such slogans as “Corona, false alarm” and “We are being forced to wear a muzzle”.
Some participants were from the far right and some were conspiracy theorists who do not believe Covid-19 exists, but others were ordinary people who simply object to the government’s approach to the pandemic.
Police ordered demonstrators to disperse at the end of the afternoon. They said they had launched legal action against organizers for not respecting coronavirus hygiene rules.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn criticized people for failing to adhere to regulations, including the 1.5m (5ft) social distancing requirement.
“Yes, demonstrations should be allowed even amid the pandemic. But not like this,” he wrote on Twitter.
Social distancing rules and hygiene requirements apply throughout Germany, and people must wear face-coverings in shops and on public transport. Mandatory testing has been introduced for holidaymakers returning from high-risk areas.
Germany has had more than 210,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 9,000 related deaths since the pandemic began.
Russia is preparing to start a mass vaccination campaign against coronavirus in October, the health minister has said.
Health minister Mikhail Murashko said that doctors and teachers would be the first to receive the vaccine, local media reported.
Russia’s first potential vaccine would be approved by regulators this month, Reuters reports, citing anonymous sources.
However, some experts are concerned at Russia’s fast-track approach.
On July 31, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he hoped that Russia – and China – were “actually testing the vaccine” before administering them to anyone.
The leading infectious disease expert in the US has said that America should have a “safe and effective” vaccine by the end of this year.
“I do not believe that there will be vaccines so far ahead of us that we will have to depend on other countries to get us vaccines,” Anthony Fauci told US lawmakers.
Scores of possible coronavirus vaccines are being developed around the world and more than 20 are currently in clinical trials.
Mikhail Murashko, quoted by Interfax news agency, said that the Gamaleya Institute, a research facility in Moscow, had finished clinical trials of a vaccine and that paperwork was being prepared to register it.
“We plan wider vaccinations for October,” he said, adding that teachers and doctors would be the first to receive it.
Last month, Russian scientists said that early-stage trials of an adenovirus-based vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Institute had been completed and that the results were a success.
Last month the US, UK and Canada security services said a Russian hacking group had targeted various organizations involved in Covid-19 vaccine development, with the likely intention of stealing information.
Republican Herman Cain, who ran for president in 2012, has died after contracting Covid-19.
The 74-year-old was hospitalized after being diagnosed with the disease earlier this month.
A message posted on his official website said: “Herman Cain – our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us – has passed away.”
Herman Cain, who in 2006 survived late-stage colon cancer, is one of the best-known US victims of Covid-19.
His social media accounts had been providing regular updates on his condition. On July 7, a post from his Twitter account said “doctors are trying to make sure his oxygen levels are right”.
“This is a tough virus,” it said.
“Please continue praying.”
Herman Cain appeared without a mask at a rally held by President Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20.
He was admitted to hospital with coronavirus on July 1, though it is unclear when or where he caught the infection.
President Trump paid tribute to Herman Cain on July 30 at the White House, saying: “He was a very special person… and unfortunately he passed away from a thing called the China virus.”
Herman Cain was born in Tennessee to a father who worked three jobs as a janitor, chauffeur and barber, and a mother who worked as a servant. He went on to study for a degree in maths and a master’s in computing.
He worked variously as a Baptist minister, a radio talk show host and as a businessman.
Herman Cain was an advocate of a flat tax system – his 9-9-9 plan – and ran for office after a stint as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.
During his run, he told reporters he would not stand for any “gotcha questions”.
“And when they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, I’m going to say you know, I don’t know. Do you know?”
Herman Cain initially proved popular, but later found himself at the centre of a number of harassment allegations.
Although he denied the accusations against him, his popularity soon suffered and he suspended his campaign. Mitt Romney later became the Republican candidate in an unsuccessful race against President Barack Obama’s bid for a second term in office. In 2019, President Trump sounded Herman Cain out to sit on the Federal Reserve Board, but he withdrew his nomination after several Republican senators refused to back his appointment.
The Department of Justice has accused China of sponsoring hackers who are targeting labs developing Covid-19 vaccines.
US officials have charged two Chinese men who allegedly spied on American companies doing coronavirus research and got help from state agents for other thefts.
The indictment comes amid a US crackdown on Chinese cyber espionage.
The US, UK and Canada last week accused Russia of seeking to steal research related to Covid-19.
The accusations against former electrical engineering students Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi released on July 21 include charges of trade secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy.
Prosecutors said the two men spied on a Massachusetts biotech company in January which was known to be researching possible cures for Covid-19. They also hacked a Maryland company less than a week after it said it was researching Covid-19.
Officials called the Chinese men private hackers who occasionally received support from Chinese intelligence agents, including an officer from the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).
Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi previously stole “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of trade secrets, intellectual property, and other valuable business information” beginning in 2009, prosecutors alleged.
The indictment unsealed in Washington state said Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi – who reside in China – recently “researched vulnerabilities in the networks of biotech and other firms publicly known for work on Covid-19 vaccines, treatments, and testing technology”.
Countries where companies were targeted include Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
According to the indictment, the hackers were able to infiltrate a British artificial intelligence firm, a Spanish defense contractor, and a Australian solar energy company.
Prosecutors said the men at times acted in their own self-interest – including one occasion when they demanded a ransom from a company in exchange for not releasing its private information – but at other times “were stealing information of obvious interest” to the Chinese government.
According to the indictment, the hackers “worked with, were assisted by, and operated with the acquiescence of” the MSS.
Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi allegedly stole military data and provided the Chinese government with the passwords of a democracy activist in Hong Kong and a former Tiananmen Square protester.
Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter Aaradhya have been taken to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week.
Aishwarya Rai, a former Miss World and one of Bollywood’s most famous faces, is being treated at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital, ANI agency reports.
Aishwarya’s husband Abhishek and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, both also famous actors, have been in hospital since July 18 with the virus.
On July 12, 77-year-old Amitabh Bachchan – a Bollywood superstar who has achieved global fame during his long and illustrious career so far – tweeted that he had tested positive for the virus.
Another series of tweets from Abhishek Bachchan, also a famous actor, confirmed that he, his 46-year-old wife Aishwarya and 8-year-old daughter Aaradhya had also tested positive.
Jaya Bachchan, also a famous actress and Amitabh Bachchan’s wife, tested negative.
Until now Aishwarya Rai and Aaradhya have been isolating at home.
News that the family, often described as Bollywood royalty, had been affected by the coronavirus sent shockwaves across India. This week, thousands of fans have held prayers for the family’s recovery.
On July 17, India recorded a record 35,000 new cases of coronavirus cases in 24 hours, surpassing the one million mark.
India now has the third-highest number of cases in the world, after the US and Brazil. The current death toll is 25,602.
The western state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located, is still the biggest hotspot with the highest case count – more than 280,000 – of all the states.
Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, has begun a second lockdown in response to a spike in new coronavirus infections.
The five million Melbourne’s residents will be barred from leaving home for six weeks, except for essential reasons.
Police say they are setting up a “ring of steel” around the city, with “checkpoints anytime and anywhere” to enforce the measures.
Borders between Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, and neighboring states closed on July 7.
PM Scott Morrison paid tribute to Melbournians’ resilience on July 8.
“The rest of the country knows that the sacrifice that you’re going through right now is not just for you and your own family, but it’s for the broader Australian community,” the prime minister said during a news conference.
Scott Morrison also said he was proposing measures to slow the return of Australian nationals from overseas.
Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews announced the Melbourne lockdown on July 7 after the state saw 191 new infections, its highest daily number since the pandemic began.
The July 8 figure was down to 134, but still much higher than numbers in the rest of the country.
Australia has recorded almost 9,000 cases and 106 deaths from the virus.
Meanwhile, Australian media reported that passengers on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney disembarked on July 7 without being screened.
New South Wales state has banned travel from the greater Melbourne area except under exceptional circumstances, and the passengers should have been required to self-isolate for two weeks.
People will be kept to their homes and will only be able to leave for essential reasons, such as for work, exercise and shopping for food and other necessities.
Schools will largely return to distance learning and restaurants will, once again, only be permitted to serve takeaway food.
However, shops and hairdressers will remain open.
The lockdown covers only Melbourne and an area to the north called the Mitchell Shire, but the state as a whole has been sealed off from the neighboring states of New South Wales and South Australia.
Police and troops have been stationed at border crossings and patrol the vast borders with drones and other aircraft.
As of July 9, they will also be doing random checks on vehicles in and around the city.
For months Australia had felt optimistic about containing Covid-19 then came the resurgence of the virus in Melbourne.
Life in the age of COVID-19 means that each day is more difficult to predict than the next. Whether students and educators will return to the classroom this fall still remains uncertain. Those already planning to return should expect a different classroom setting than they left behind. Many schools are even considering staggered learning schedules, all while navigating each student’s anticipated social and emotional adjustments to a classroom environment.
Michael Horn is the founder of the Christensen Institute, a non-profit partisan think tank that promotes “disruptive innovation” for understanding society’s most pressing issues, including education. Horn recently sat down with Joel Rose, co-founder of Teach to One: Math. Rose advocates for educational reform and presents Teach to One as a logical, data-driven approach to individualized math education. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on what K-12 schools might look like this fall, Rose argues that now is the time to transition away from the factory model classroom and toward the techniques implemented by Teach to One.
What does a Teach to One: Math classroom look like?
Horn opened the interview with a question about what Teach to One: Math looks like in action. Rose describes a TTO classroom as a large open space with several stations. Each station will tackle an instructional modality. Some modalities facilitate group learning, while some facilitate one-on-one lessons. Each student is placed, according to Rose, based on “where they are and where they need to be.”
Teach to One: Math is administered by a nonprofit called New Classrooms, which is located in New York City. Every day, each student exits the classroom after completing a daily assessment. These assessments are then sent to the organization to inform the design of the next day’s personalized lessons. Since each student’s curriculum is designed on the basis of their individual strengths and weaknesses, TTO’s tactics pivot students toward mastery.
What are Teach to One: Math’s policy limitations?
Since Teach to One disrupts the norms of traditional classroom learning, its implementation faces large policy barriers. Rose discusses these policy barriers in an essay titled “The Iceberg Problem.” The essay includes a case study of a seventh grader who enters their first day of math class without remembering any skills from both fourth- and fifth-grade math. How did these skill gaps go unnoticed by previous math educators? Rose argues that state testing requires schools to prioritize assessment preparation. Test preparation means that teachers do not have time to go back and review more than a year’s worth of material. The resulting “maximum exposure to grade-level content,” Rose finds, perpetuates gaps in math education.
Rose also points out that educators tend to interpret student growth in a restrictive manner. Educators typically assess a student’s growth by comparing how said student performs on the seventh-grade standardized test compared to the eighth-grade standardized test. This, Rose believes, is “too granular.” As a result, teachers continue to teach skills that their students either do not truly know, are not ready to learn, or already know. By failing to evaluate mathematical growth adequately, students continue to fall behind.
Where does Teach to One: Math fit into an educator’s post-quarantine concerns?
It is common sense for teachers to expect wider educational gaps heading into the 2020-2021 school year than in ordinary years. Rose is hopeful that this will catalyze thinking “about learning loss much more holistically.” For schools that were already using TTO prior to stay-at-home orders, teaching math at a distance was not a difficult concept to grasp. “Their delivery model was already evolved,” Rose concludes, which created space to promote the personalization that students required to stay on track.
A student’s mathematical mastery will be harder to assess this year. “We’re not gonna know how kids did after this year,” says Rose, pointing out that many schools were not able to carry out their math curriculum as planned. In response, Rose says that timing is everything. Diagnostics will not be effective if they are implemented before students feel safe and connected at school. This might mean waiting for one, two, three, or even more weeks before beginning the math curriculum. However, waiting is necessary if students are not yet adjusted.
How did Teach to One: Math come about?
In 2011, Rose founded New Classrooms Innovation Partners, a New York-based nonprofit. New Classrooms: Innovation Partners administers Teach to One: Math (TTO) as a school-based approach that integrates multiple learning modalities. The organization assists with the implementation of algorithms and classroom-specific information to organize a daily math curriculum for 10,000 students per day. The outcome is teacher-led mathematical learning experiences catered to each student’s individualized progress.
Gaps in math education pose serious threats to college preparedness and long-term educational success. Fortunately, Teach to One was designed with these gaps in mind. At the end of every lesson, a student completes an exit slip. The student’s performance on that exit slip determines whether the student will proceed to the next lesson. This approach demonstrates the flexibility to go back and spend time filling gaps without sacrificing state-level assessment preparation.
Novak Djokovic has become the latest tennis player to test positive for the new coronavirus.
Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all revealed they have tested positive for Covid-19 after playing at Djokovic’s Adria Tour competition.
The 33-year-old world’s No 1 played fellow Serb Troicki in the first event in Belgrade.
In a post on Twitter, Novak Djokovic said it had been “too soon” to stage the tournament.
“I am so deeply sorry our tournament has caused harm,” he said.
He said the tournament had been organized with “a pure heart”, “good intentions” and a belief that they had “met all health protocols”.
“We were wrong and it was too soon,” he said.
The remaining Adria Tour events in Banja Luka and Sarajevo have now been canceled Novak Djokovic’s brother Djordje, who is a director of the tournament, has confirmed.
“Unfortunately, due to all the events that happened in the last few days, we have decided that the most important thing right now is to stabilize the epidemiological situation, as well as for everyone to recover,” he said.
A statement on Novak Djokovic’s website said: “Immediately upon his arrival in Belgrade [after the second event] Novak was tested along with all members of the family and the team with whom he was in Belgrade and Zadar. He is not showing any symptoms.”
There have been no ATP Tour events since February because of the global pandemic and the Adria Tour, which is not an ATP Tour event, was one of the first competitions to be staged since then.
The first leg in Serbia attracted 4,000 fans, and players were later pictured dancing close together in a Belgrade nightclub.
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov played Croatia’s Borna Coric on June 20 in the second leg in Zadar, Croatia.
With Croatia easing lockdown measures, players were not obliged to observe social distancing rules and were seen embracing at the net at the end of their matches.
Pictures on the tournament’s social media site from June 19 showed Grigor Dimitrov playing basketball with Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic, while he also put his arm around Borna Coric before their match.
Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic and Andrey Rublev, who also played in the Adria Tour, have tested negative, but suggested they will all now self-isolate for up to 14 days.
The ATP Tour season is set to restart on August 14 and the US Open will be held without fans from August 31 to September 13, despite some players voicing concerns about travelling to New York.
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