How do you say “No Olympics” in Japanese?
The Summer Games are slated to begin on July 23 in Tokyo, and the host country is not having it. Polls show that 60%-70% of the Japanese public wants the event canceled. The world should listen and call off the Games, sports columnist Dylan Hernández writes.
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In normal times, Japan embraces Olympics-mania. But not this year. Less than 3% of the population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the country remains under
extended emergency measures because of the spread of new and more contagious coronavirus variants.
Against that backdrop, the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee has made some requests that Hernández says show why canceling ought to be a no-brainer. For instance, the Japanese Nursing Assn. was asked to dispatch 500 nurses for the Games, while 30 hospitals were asked to admit infected athletes ahead of other patients.
In the state and L.A. County, face coverings are not required outdoors for fully vaccinated people except at crowded events, and – for unvaccinated people when physical distancing cannot be maintained.
As COVID-19 recedes, California workers are being called back to the office. The office? Who remembers that place? And what will the return look like?
The workplace safety proposal is far stricter than the recent guidance issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which offered the recommendation last week that vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks in almost all indoor or outdoor settings, with officials expressing confidence in the extraordinary effectiveness of the vaccines to protect against illness and infection.
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Some infectious diseases experts suggested the proposed relaxation in California’s workplaces could be loosened further.
SAN FRANCISCO
California is considering dropping mask and physical distancing rules for employees at work sites if everyone there is fully vaccinated, another major step in moving back to normal as COVID-19 cases continue to plummet.
The discussions come as employers are considering plans to bring employees back into workplaces, especially those that went to remote work during the pandemic. It also underscores the growing optimism that the vaccine could bring major changes fairly soon.
“For the first time in a long time, I feel optimistic,” Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County health officer and public health director, and a key architect of the nation’s first regional stay-at-home order, told reporters. “For a while, it seemed uncertain to me whether the vaccines or the variants would win. And I think that Team Vaccine is in the lead, holding the lead and will win.”
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Two-thirds of adult Californians are now at least partially vaccinated for COVID-19 a hopeful milestone as the state trudges toward the level of widespread community protection officials and experts believe is necessary to end the pandemic once and for all.
To date, 67.3% of residents age 18 and older have gotten a vaccine dose, according to figures the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted Wednesday morning.
After a slow start, California now ranks 11th
out of all states and is well above the national figure of 60.2%, federal data show. By comparison, the states with the highest levels of partial coverage for adults are Vermont, 78.6%; Hawaii, 77.1%; and Massachusetts, 75.9%.