Good Thursday morning.
We’re taking a little bit of a departure from the regular fare today to mark a significant milestone.
I don’t know if anyone told you – you would really have to be not paying attention to have somehow failed to pick it up by now – but the Covid-19 health emergency is officially over – both according to the Biden administration (as of the end of the day today) AND the World Health Organization (as of four days ago).
To be clear, the virus is very much still with us. People are still contracting it, and some are still dying. Millions are struggling with t lingering and very debilitating symptoms of long Covid.
In fact, its latest subvariant – Arcturus or XBB.1.16 – was first found in India this past January and has been declared a variant of interest by the WHO.
It has reached the United States, and is now causing most of the new Covid infections here. It’s about 1.2 times more infectious/transmissible than its predecessors, which does NOT mean that it’s more deadly or able to produce more severe illness, but rather that it’s very easily spread.
For the record, a new symptom that comes along with this particular virus version is pink eye – or something that looks a lot like it. So if you or your child develops something that looks like pink eye, it’s a good idea to get tested for Covid-19.
Whether or not Arcturus becomes a big problem here in the US depends in part on how much herd immunity exists among the population. About 70 percent of Americans are considered fully vaccinated, but we also know – as per recent studies – that the immunity these vaccines affords doesn’t last all that terribly long.
So, long story short, Covid-19 is going to be with us for a long time – maybe forever. And we’ve sort of accepted that from an official standpoint, basically saying that we don’t need all these restrictions and rules in place anymore, because this is the new normal.
Which is kind of crazy when you think about it. Was all of that terror and isolation and anxiety and economic impact a big fever dream? Sometimes, I can only dimly recall what the shutdown was like.
I even find myself growing nostalgic for a time when there simply wasn’t anywhere to go, or anything to do – other than online or outside – and life slowed to a near crawl. Minus the abject fear of death, which was very real, it was almost a relief to be let off the hook for all the in-person responsibilities non-Covid life requires.
I spent a lot of quality time walking empty golf courses with my husband and my dog (at that time, we only had the one). I also ran many, MANY miles outside, regardless of what the weather brought, because I was so desperate to get a workout in. I ate a lot of takeout. And I worried. A lot.
To be clear, I don’t actively miss lockdown. I don’t miss the days when going to the grocery store was a dangerous undertaking. And I don’t miss the daily death tally, or the not seeing my aging parents out of fear of infecting them, or taking seemingly endless Covid tests, or – worst yet – getting sick. Again, and again, and again.
So it feels pretty surreal to me, given how we were on such high alert for so long, how this is sort of petering out on a low note. Whomp, whomp. I’m not wearing a mask on airplanes anymore, and I’m flying a LOT. Maybe I should? Maybe it’s just good health hygiene? It’s hard to know.
There are some tangible – and quite troubling – impacts of the end of the Covid emergency, most notably in the areas of healthcare and immigration. It remains to be seen what the long-term fallout will be from this, but undoubtedly there will be pain – and likely it will impact those who were already disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Woof. That was a little bit on the heavy side. Sorry. In case you need a pick-me-up before you go about your day: It’s going to be mostly sunny and close to 80 degrees today!
In the headlines…
A day after meeting with top congressional leaders, President Joe Biden headed to the Hudson Valley to make the case for a clean debt limit increase on the home turf of one of the 18 Republicans representing districts the Democratic president carried in 2020.
“We’re bringing jobs back all across America. This is no time to put all this at risk, to threaten a recession, to put at risk millions of jobs, to undermine America’s standing in the world,” Biden said at Westchester Community College in Valhalla.
As he spoke, negotiators from the White House and Congress met for two hours privately at the Capitol to discuss a path forward.
Appearing in a competitive suburb with a vulnerable House Republican – Rep. Mike Lawler – in his sights, Biden accused the House speaker of pursuing a radical strategy at the behest of the “extreme” wing of his party loyal to former President Donald Trump.
“Mike’s on the other team, but you know what? Mike is the kind of guy that, when I was in the Congress, they were the kind of Republican I was used to dealing with,” Biden said.
Lawler said he accepted the White House’s invitation to attend yesterday’s event “maybe to their surprise,” adding “he’s coming to my district specifically to talk about the most pressing issue.”
Lawler is No. 5 on CQ Roll Call’s most recent list of the 10 most vulnerable House incumbents.
After four months of investigation, House Republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by Biden acknowledged that they had yet to uncover incriminating material about him.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer laid out new details to support allegations that members of Biden’s family including his son Hunter received millions in payments from foreign entities in China and Romania including when Biden was vice president.
The FBI rejected a request from Comer to provide access to sensitive law enforcement materials that some congressional Republicans insist will reveal criminal activity involving Biden from when he was vice president.
Comer had demanded that the FBI produce what are known as FD-1023 forms — records of interactions with confidential sources — created or modified in June 2020 including the word “Biden,” along with any accompanying attachments or other documents.
FBI Director Christopher Wray declined during his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee to confirm whether the document exists.
CNN’s decision to give Trump a platform to repeat debunked lies about elections and other falsehoods is being widely criticized by political commentators.
Behaving as the Republicans’ de facto nominee, Trump dug in on his 2020 lies and dodged on abortion. The G.O.P. audience cheered, but so did Democrats seeking 2024 fodder.
Trump again denied allegations he’d raped E. Jean Carroll amid a string of personal attacks against her during the forum, a day after a jury in Manhattan found him liable of sexual abuse and defamation against her.
Biden used Trump’s town hall as an avenue to tout his own 2024 reelection campaign.
Biden will host India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, for an official state visit on 22 June, the White House has announced, as the US works to deepen ties with the world’s largest democracy.
A day before a pandemic-era rule that was used to swiftly expel migrants at the southern border is set to expire, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, warned migrants against crossing illegally into the United States.
Mexico has let tens of thousands of people cross its territory on their way to the American border since early April – a major uptick before the expiration of the immigration measure that kept most migrants from being able to claim asylum in the United States.
Biden’s reelection campaign has dropped New York City Mayor Eric Adams as a national surrogate following his public criticism of the White House’s approach to the migrant crisis.
Federal prosecutors charged Long Island Republican Rep. George Santos with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms, and took him into custody.
Appearing before a judge and scores of assembled reporters in a federal courthouse in Central Islip, Santos pleaded not guilty on all charges.
After entering his plea and being released on $500,000 bond, Santos said he wouldn’t drop his reelection bid and defied calls to resign. “This is the beginning of the ability for me to address and defend myself,” a cheerfully combative he told reporters.
The House of Representatives took the official photo for the 118th Congress while Santos was in federal court, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he will not support Santos for reelection.
McCarthy has signaled that the New York congressman will be allowed to continue to serve even after being indicted on several federal charges.
Even as Santos surrendered in federal court on Long Island yesterday, another criminal case immediately loomed: Brazilian law enforcement authorities will conduct a hearing today on an allegation of check fraud.
Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a summit at John Jay College to look for ways to fight the growing rise in hate crimes.
“When you attack one of us, you’re picking a fight with 20 million New Yorkers and that is not the fight you want to pick,” said Hochul. “That is the idea behind the hate and bias prevention unit and the purpose of today’s summit.”
“It’s the first time in our State’s history that we brought together elected leaders, survivors, community and faith leaders with one purpose. And that is to stand unified against hate,” she added.
Hochul announced an additional $25 million will be made available to organizations at risk of hate crimes and vandalism.
Hochul, making her first appearance with Biden after being selected as one of his reelection campaign surrogates, said Wednesday that the GOP needs to “stop playing games” with the U.S. debt limit.
The Coalition to Replace Jay Jacobs is renewing calls for Hochul to give the state Democratic party chairman the boot, saying he’s to blame for Democrats’ poor performance in last year’s vital midterm elections.
As the legislative session begins to wind down, lawmakers want to change state law to close ethical gaps in Albany after lobbyists spent an unprecedented amount of money this winter to influence the confirmation of the person to lead the state’s highest court.
New York City is temporarily suspending some of the rules related to its longstanding guarantee of shelter to anyone who needs it as officials struggle to find housing for migrants arriving from the southern border.
Under an executive order, the city is suspending rules that require families to be placed in private rooms with bathrooms and kitchens, not in group settings, and that set a nightly deadline for newly arriving families to be placed in shelters.
The suspension of portions of the landmark decree that paved the way for New York City’s modern shelter system takes effect immediately. It remains in effect for five days, unless the city renews it.
A state judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking a Rockland County hotel from accepting asylum-seekers from New York City, even as the Adams’ administration said it would move forward with its plan to relocate hundreds of migrants to the suburbs.
New York City paused its plan to send about 60 migrants to an Orange County hotel late yesterday amid fierce opposition from local Republican officials.
The City Council excoriated Adams’ response to the city’s ongoing migrant crisis amid mounting concerns over the growing number of arrivals.
More than a week after the killing of a mentally ill man on a city subway, Adams gave his most forceful comments about the death, saying it “never should have happened,” in a speech in which he also called for renewed investment in mental health services.
“One of our own is dead, a Black man, Black like me, a man named Jordan, a name I gave my son,” Adams said. “One thing we know for sure, Jordan Neely did not deserve to die.”
Adams said Neely’s death only reinforces the importance of his divisive push to send people who aren’t aware they need treatment to hospitals against their will.
A developer seeking a casino license in Midtown wants to bring Vegas-style attractions to a vacant strip on the East River. First, he will plant a field of lights.
In dramatic testimony in the limo crash trial of Nauman Hussain, a former manager for Mavis Discount Tire in Saratoga Springs said Hussain paid for brake parts and service on the stretch Ford Excursion five months before the crash — work that wasn’t done.
The state attorney general’s office has issued two more subpoenas and has expanded the scope of its civil rights investigation into the city police’s treatment of Black Lives Matter activists.
Two different men allegedly tried to bring a firearm onto a plane at Albany International Airport this week.
The case against a Colonie man charged with the murder of his 97-year-old mother during an armed standoff March 27 at Albany Medical Center Hospital includes voice recordings he made and a note he wrote that was provided to police.
Long a landmark on Wolf Road, Denny’s restaurant on the corner of Computer Drive is closed.
