Category: Public Health

Sydney Scraps Famous NYE’s Family Fireworks Display Despite Upcoming Plans to Reopen

Sydney has scrapped its New Year’s Eve (NYE) family fireworks show for the second year in a row, despite being weeks away from reopening, with authorities saying the move is needed for the event to be managed in the “most COVID-safe way” possible. There will be a fireworks display from the Sydney Harbour Bridge at…


Public Health Officials Conceal Hospital Infection Outbreaks

Commentary Public health officials struggle with telling the truth. They seem to think people don’t deserve to know. At the beginning of COVID-19, they told us we didn’t need masks instead of admitting there was a mask shortage. Last week, health officials announced outbreaks of a hospital infection that’s highly contagious and untreatable by any…


California’s Mask Mandate Remains in Place

California will continue its mask mandate until the economy fully reopens in June, the state’s health and human services secretary says. The announcement May 17 by Dr. Mark Ghaly came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 13 released new guidelines for the fully vaccinated. The CDC said masks and social distancing are no…


Orange County Parents Hold ‘Mask Off’ Rally

COSTA MESA, Calif.—About 350 parents and children gathered in front of the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) May 17 to protest schools mandating students to wear masks in classrooms. Kids bustled and played, splashing in puddles, while their parents held signs saying “Unmask our children,” and “just say no to masks.” One child could held a cardboard sign that read…


Science Says If You’re Vaccinated, Enjoy Life Again

Commentary For 14 months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended draconian restrictions on Americans’ daily lives to combat COVID-19. The CDC made light of the hardships and economic losses the restrictions inflicted. Call the agency the “Centers for Doubletalk and Confusion.” Now, evidence is emerging that the restrictions were based on flimsy…


Are Democrats Dangerous to Your Health?

Commentary Rep. Jack Kemp used to say that minority voters “don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” Democrats have cleaned up with black and Hispanic voters (although a little less so with each passing election) by professing how much they care. Ah, but it is also a truism that actions speak…


Withered Public Health Agency Forced to Scramble on COVID 19, Auditor General Finds

OTTAWA—A withered Public Health Agency of Canada dithered on pandemic preparedness, the federal auditor general has concluded, leaving officials no choice but to scramble to respond to COVID-19. And if such a scramble is to be avoided in the future, auditor general Karen Hogan found, it’s time for an independent review of the eternal Canadian…


St. Patrick’s Day Revellers Urged to Follow Public Health Guidelines

TORONTO—Public health officials are urging St. Patrick’s Day revellers to follow physical distancing and other anti-pandemic guidelines today. The main concern is that gatherings and celebrations could turn into COVID-19 super-spreader events. Some provinces and cities have put new restrictions in place; others will rely on existing measures. The Irish embassy in Ottawa is holding…


The Biggest COVID-19 Vaccine Skeptics? Frontline Health Care Workers

Commentary What do frontline health care workers and first responders know about COVID-19 vaccines that politicians and their public health advisers don’t? According to a January analysis by Gallup, 51 percent of health care workers and first responders polled in December were unconvinced of the merits of getting vaccinated, even if the vaccine “was free,…


Biden’s Appointees: Diversity But Not Much Else

Commentary Dr. Rachel Levine’s nomination to be assistant secretary of Health and Human Services is being hailed as “historic” by Democrats and the media, solely because Levine is transgender. That’s crazy. Her own sexual identity should be irrelevant. What’s needed, especially during the pandemic, is competence. Levine lacks it. As Pennsylvania health secretary, Levine was…