New York to Lift Statewide School Mask Mandate by March 2

ALBANY, N.Y. — 
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Sunday that the statewide masking requirement in schools will be lifted by March 2.

In a briefing held in Albany, the Democrat cited declining COVID-19 cases and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

She said counties and cities could keep their own mandates in place, and parents could still choose to send their kids to school in masks.

The new rules effective Wednesday apply to children 2 years and older in childcare facilities. New York State has 2.7 million schoolchildren, including about 1 million in New York City.

Earlier this month, Hochul let a broad mask mandate for most indoor settings expire, but said the schools’ requirement would remain in place. She had promised to revisit the schools question by the first week of March.

The broad mask mandate was implemented during a COVID-19 surge fueled by the omicron variant of the coronavirus in December.

Masks are still required in some places, including public transit.

man uses his mouth to lift a ladder with a girl

A video showing a man using his mouth to lift a ladder with a sitting girl has gained enormous popularity on social media.

The images were captured in Dong Thap province, in what appears to be a festival or a social gathering, where the man can be seen performing the feat.

In the video, the subject, who is apparently a street balancing circus artist, can be seen using his mouth to lift this huge object and maintain his balance for a few seconds.

The subject is accompanied by some people, who help him hold the ladder and a small one, while he prepares to perform the incredible trick.

When the man is ready to perform the act, his companions leave so that he can perform the circus feat, which lasts a few seconds.

The man held a ladder with his mouth

The curious event occurred in a province of Vietnam. Photo: Newsflare

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The man was applauded by those attending the event, in which a band can be heard playing festive music.

Over time, social networks have become the perfect setting to show some curious traditions or customs from other cultures or countries.

Many people have even become famous by displaying their curious abilities and talents with some part of their body.

However, it is not advisable to try to perform these types of feats at home; since it could cause an unexpected event or an injury to the fan.

To enjoy the video of the man on the ladder, we invite you to play the clip that is posted at the beginning of the note.

The man held a ladder with his mouth. Photo: Newsflare

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La Guajira: agreements to lift the departmental strike - Other Cities - Colombia

After several hours of consultation, it was permanently lifted the departmental civic strike of La Guajira, after the signing of new commitments that will allow the National Government to comply with the agreements signed in 2019.

(Also read: Unemployment committee in La Guajira lifts blockade and leads technical table)

Through the strike, which lasted almost two days, an increase of 150,000 gallons in the quota of subsidized gasoline was achieved, the injection of resources for the improvement of the Río Pereira – Cuestecitas road, the revision of the works and the strengthening of the public force.

For the signing of the agreements, three work tables: transport; health, education, security and migration and the table of mines and hydrocarbons.

The deputy ministers of Energy, Miguel Lotero; Transportation, Olga Lucía Ramírez; of the Interior, María Paola Suárez; and the National Deputy Director of Invías, Ricardo Baez, among other officials.

The governor of La Guajira, Nemesio Roys, the mayors, the Police and the Army were also present as guarantors.

The agreed commitments

Regarding the improvement of the Río Pereira – Cuestecitas road section, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of the Ministry of Transport and the National Institute of Roads (Invías) announced that it has progressed in the execution of the 68 percent.

To date, 70,100 million pesos have been invested and in 2022 it is expected that an additional 32,400 million will be executed, to reach an investment of 102,500 million, according to official figures.

At this point, it was agreed to hold a work table on february 9 to review the studies and designs of the national pass through Fonseca.

Likewise, the deputy minister, together with members of Invías and the committee, will carry out on February 15 a road technical review to look at the repairs that have been made, with the purpose of correcting and correcting what is in poor condition under review.

Invías announced the availability of 550 million pesos within the framework of the execution of the contract, to invest in at least one institution of the municipality in the area of ​​influence of the road corridor.

The subsidized gasoline quota

We put a proposal to increase the quota by an additional 150,000 gallons, coming from a reassignment that was made of all the quotas at the national level.

With regard to the subsidized gasoline quota, an agreement was reached with the deputy minister of energy to optimize the allocation of quotas for seven municipalities in the south of La Guajira, which will represent an increase of 150,000 gallons in the aggregate for the seven territorial entities.

“We put a proposal to increase the quota by an additional 150,000 gallons, coming from a reassignment that was made of all the quotas at the national level,” said the Vice Minister of Energy.

Additionally, it was agreed to hold a meeting with the 15 mayors to review the possibility of a redistribution of quotas that allows the transfer of fuel volume by these territorial entities to the seven municipalities of the south and the case of Dibulla.

(You may be interested in: La Guajira and Cesar are incommunicado due to an indefinite civic strike)

They will analyze the increase in the foot of force

In terms of security, the Ministry of the Interior will inform the Ministry of Defence and to the General Commander of the Armed Forces the request of the community to increase the foot of force.

Coordinated joint work will be carried out at the head of the municipal authorities with the participation of the Security and Citizen Coexistence Oversight Office at the national level, focusing on the points of greatest insecurity in each local jurisdiction.

The security cameras of the municipalities of Fonseca, Maicao and Villanueva will also be evaluated and the prison and penitentiary situation will be analyzed.

Likewise, it is expected that meetings will be held this month with the Ministries of Education, Health and Housing.

Eliana Mejia Ospino
Special for WEATHER
Riohacha

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strike in La Guajira: they lift the blockade and hold a technical table - Other Cities - Colombia

La Guajira remained incommunicado for nearly two days. with the department of Cesar, due to the multiple blockades registered on the road, in protest of the breach of the agreements reached with the National Government in the civic strike carried out in 2019.

The Departmental Civic Strike committee decided to accept the proposal of the governor of La Guajira, Nemesio Roys, to lift the blockades while the technical tables for reviewing the agreements are carried out, which will be installed this Friday with the arrival of several vice ministers.

(Also: Alejandro Char began tours of the Colombian Caribbean)

“The purpose is to see the breaches, to have the commitment in the different activities that were not carried out,” said the governor.

They claim poor road conditions and insecurity

We hope that the talks with the National Government will be fruitful and that agreements will be reached

Likewise, he pointed out that the rise in mobility will depend on the agreements and the fulfillment of the commitments by the officials who arrive from the National Government.

He also stressed that with the temporary suspension of the strike, the members of the committee are demonstrating civility and support for all citizens of La Guajiro.

(Also: ‘Cultural comparison’ to curb road accidents in Valledupar)

“We hope that the conversations with the National Government are fruitful and that agreements are reached,” said Roys.

Among the issues they claim are: the poor state of the Cuestecitas – La Jagua del Pilar road, insecurity, the reopening of the Ranchería River dam, the proposed redistribution of subsidized fuel quotas and the construction of the La Florida road – Cuestecitas that is still undefined.

The increase of 2,300,000 gallons
in the share of subsidized gasoline

Although the Cuestecitas – La Jagua del Pilar road is undergoing maintenance, it has not been as Invías proposed at the time, the commitment was to change most of the asphalt layer and not repair it, to which is added that they began to be damaged some sections that had been improved.

The issue of subsidized gasoline is another critical point, because La Guajira went from a quota of 2,500,000 to 4,800,000 gallons, and still does not meet the needs of the department.

(You may be interested: This is the image of Mayor Daniel Quintero in Medellín)

The increase of 2,300,000 gallons in the quota of subsidized gasoline, equivalent to 92 percent, generated disagreement about its distribution, they consider that there is no equity, since some municipalities tripled consumption, while others did not receive even a gallon.

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Special for Weather
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Premature that some countries plan to lift all measures

The World Health Organization (WHO) has drawn attention to the increase in deaths from covid that has been registered globally in the last four weeks and has warned that the omicron variant has not yet reached its peak, so He has considered it premature for some countries to plan to lift all prevention measures at the same time.

People without masks shopping at a market in Copenhagen (Denmark). EFE/EPA/LISELOTTE SABROE

Several countries in Europe plan to rescind several or all of the measures recommended by the WHO to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus in the near future, but experts have asked not to fall into overconfidence since although omicron tends to cause a less serious disease, its contagion capacity is much higher than the previous variants.

This is the case of Denmark that since this Tuesday it has eliminated all the restrictions imposed during its fourth wave, considering that the omicron variant does not imply a “danger” for its health or its inhabitants and despite the high levels of incidence, 5,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Thus, it is no longer an obligation to wear masks indoors, restrictions on restaurants, cultural and social life have disappeared, clubs and large events reopen.

Denmark thus becomes the first country in the European Union (EU) to lift all measures against the pandemic, as happened last September, although a few months later it began to reintroduce them as a result of the spread of the omicron variant.

WHO calls for caution

In the last ten weeks, coinciding with the start of the spread of omicron, 90 million new confirmed cases of covid-19 have been registered, more than in all of 2020, and this trend has begun to be reflected in deaths.

“We ask for caution because many countries have not reached the omicron peak yet: Several still have low levels of vaccination, with very vulnerable individuals within their population, so this is not the time to lift all measures at once, but to do it progressively, little by little,” said the head of the technical team to fight the pandemic at the WHO, María Van Kerkhove.

“This virus is very dynamic and although we know a lot about it, we still don’t know everything,” he told a news conference from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

The director of health emergencies, Mike Ryan, seconded his colleague, pointing out that not all countries are in the same position in the face of the pandemic, as some have high vaccination coverage and strong health systems, while other countries are in the opposite situation.

“A country cannot blindly follow what the neighboring country is doing. Each case is different and you should not give in to political pressure either,” said Ryan, who considered that the current phase could be considered “transitional.”

Reduce excess optimism

WHO Director-General Tedros A.Dhanom Ghebreyesus, said that “more infections necessarily mean more deaths”, so he asked not to fall into the narrative that vaccination combined with a less serious variant (ómicron) makes prevention measures unnecessary, such as the use of a mask or the quarantine of contacts of confirmed cases.

He asked everyone to remember that the virus continues to evolve “in front of our eyes” and that the same will have to happen with vaccines because the variants that have appeared and the next ones that will emerge could evade the immunity generated by vaccines made from previous variants.

Tedros noted that the who is in ongoing consultation with the immunization scientific community to assess the need for a vaccine that is effective against a broader spectrum of coronavirus variants.

What is known about subvariant BA.2?

Van Kerkhove said that the evolution of the BA.2 subvariant, which arose from ómicron and belongs to “the same family”, is being closely followed, since it is not the only one, but it is the one that has attracted the most attention recently because its incidence has accelerated in several countries.

“There is not much information available on this sub-variant yet (…) but there is preliminary information indicating that it could have a slightly higher transmission capacity than the BA.1,” he said, referring to the first omicron sub-variant known.

“People need to be aware that this virus continues to circulate and evolve, so it is important that we continue to take steps to reduce our exposure to any variant,” she said.