#coronavirus doubling rate

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive (Daily updates!)

By Tamino Dreisam

An autumn coronavirus wave has been developing in Germany for several weeks, as is shown by all indicators. The German government’s infection radar, which analyses the viral load in wastewater based on data from over 100 sewage treatment plants, shows that the incidence of infection had only fallen minimally compared to the summer wave. In recent weeks, the numbers have risen again significantly.

At the peak of the summer wave in July, the viral load was 118,000 gene copies per litre of wastewater. At the beginning of August, it fell to 103,000 and is currently at 163,000 gene copies. Overall, the viral load was therefore more than twice as high throughout the summer as the previous year.

According to estimates by GrippeWeb, a portal of the Robert Koch Institute public health body, the current COVID-19 incidence rate in the population is around 1,400 per 100,000 inhabitants. This means that 1.4 percent of the German population is infected with the virus every week. The increase is steep. The previous week the incidence was 1,200, at the beginning of August it was 600.

In Bavaria, wastewater monitoring shows an even more significant increase. In Munich, for example, the viral load in wastewater has more than doubled compared to the previous week and is thus higher than it has been since the beginning of the year. The Oktoberfest, which, with its 6.7 million visitors, served as a two-week-long superspreader event, bears central responsibility for this. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the State Investigation Office reported a 78 percent increase in the number of cases compared to the previous week.

Various other indicators from the federal government’s infection radar also show a sharp rise in the number of infections. For example, the number of visits to the doctor due to acute respiratory illnesses with COVID-19 is two to three times higher than in the summer, at 89 per 100,000 inhabitants per week.

The number of hospitalisations due to severe respiratory illness with COVID-19 stands at a seven-day incidence of 2.2, which is three times higher than at the beginning of July. The number of deaths, which currently stands at 80 per week, has also tripled compared to the beginning of July.

Virologist and specialist in microbiology and infection epidemiology Timo Ulrichs told Focus Online: “An autumn wave could well be imminent, and the new fitness of the sub-variant KP.3.1.1 could also contribute to this.”

KP.3.1.1, a successor to the JN.1 lineage, is already dominant in several countries and does, indeed, play a central role in the current autumn wave in Germany.

A new study by Japanese scientists published in the medical journal The Lancet states: “KP.3.1.1 has a significantly higher reproduction number than its predecessors KP.2, KP.2.3 and KP.3.” The predecessor variants KP.2 and KP.3 had already led to an increase in infections in the summer months, although the weather conditions are less favourable for the spread of the disease in summer than in winter.

In Germany, KP.3.1.1 currently accounts for 43 percent of infections and is therefore predominant. At the same time, the recombinant subline XEC has a share of 28 percent—and the trend is rising. XEC was first discovered in Germany in June and has spread from there to 27 countries. Virologists estimate that it has around twice the growth advantage of KP.3.1.1 and will be the dominant variant in winter.

Above all, the emergence of new variants disproves the lie that the pandemic is over. In fact, the pandemic is not over, and it is only a matter of time before an even deadlier variant emerges. Contrary to the claims made by politicians and the media, COVID-19 is therefore in no way comparable to influenza.

The State Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg recently published figures investigating precisely this. It concluded that a total of 186 people died from influenza in Baden-Württemberg in 2023. At the same time, 3,343 deaths from coronavirus were recorded, i.e. almost 18 times as many. And this in the year in which all protective measures were ended with the argument that the pandemic was over.

In the summer months, the difference in the number of deaths was even more pronounced. While five people died of the flu in Baden-Württemberg from June to August 2023, there were 128 coronavirus deaths, 25 times as many.

Currently, around 12 percent of all people who have to be treated in hospital for a respiratory illness are there because of a coronavirus infection.

The director of virology at the Technical University of Munich, Ulrike Protzer, said: “Coronavirus is not a cold, and it won’t become one. Just like RSV and influenza, the virus penetrates particularly deep into the lungs, attacks the respiratory tract more strongly and can also affect other organs in the body.”

Unlike RSV and influenza, coronavirus also carries a high risk of long-term effects that can impact almost any organ and can also have a devastating impact on basic abilities such as moving, seeing or working. The probability of acquiring Long COVID is around 10 percent with the first infection and increases with each subsequent infection.

Exposing the population to the coronavirus forever and allowing the people to be infected again and again can therefore only mean degrading and destroying the health and lives of millions of people in the long term.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Gina Florio

Published: Apr 5, 2023

Mental illness has been steadily on the rise for a number of years now. Teenagers especially are suffering from depression and anxiety in ways that generations before have never experienced. And it started long before the coronavirus pandemic. Recent data showed that one in every three American high school girls contemplated suicide in 2021, and between 2009 and 2015, the number of girls between 10 and 14 who were admitted to the emergency room for self-harm tripled. By the time 2016 rolled around, 90% of all teen girls used social media every single day while simultaneously seeing their friends in person less and less. But the mental health crisis certainly doesn't end with teenagers. More people than ever are taking psychiatric drugs. As of January 2021, there are 76,940,157 people taking some kind of antidepressant, antipsychotic, sleeping pills, tranquilizers, or lithium. But there's something in particular happening with the demographic of young liberal women.

Liberals are known to be much more involved with what's happening politically than conservatives. In fact, for many liberals, political activism is an entire personality that has made them hyperaware and even pessimistic about our society. Data has also shown that liberal people are less likely to prioritize activities that bring them personal fulfillment, such as a faith community, marriage, and family. Only 37% of liberals are married, while 56% of conservatives are married. Marriage has long been associated with better health, increased happiness, and even longer life expectancy.

It's also worth noting that more than 60% of liberals are under the age of 50, and almost one in every three liberals are under the age of 30. Comparatively, four in 10 conservatives are under the age of 50. Perhaps the levels of unhappiness may be correlated with age, as people 50 and above tend to report higher levels of happiness and fulfillment in their life compared to their younger counterparts.

A recent Gallup poll shows that women are increasingly unhappier with the way they are treated in society. In 2016, 61% of women said they were satisfied with the way women were treated in our country, compared to the 44% of women today who claim that they are happy with the way women are treated. Between 2001 and 2016, women's satisfaction with how they were treated seemed to stay about the same, but something happened in 2017 that changed everything. And the difference really shows up in liberal women. About 70% of conservative women feel they are treated fairly by society, but only 44% of liberal women say the same.

38% of liberal women between the ages of 18 and 29 identify as LGBT, and the number of Gen Z individuals who identify as LGBT almost doubled in the last few years. Much data has shown that LGBT individuals struggle with mental illness much more than other demographics, so it would only make sense that so many liberals (many of whom identify as LGBT) have higher rates of mental illness.

A 2020 survey showed that 56% of white liberal women between ages 18 and 29 were diagnosed with a mental health condition, compared to 27% of conservative women in the same age bracket. 40% of liberal women between 30 and 49 reported having a mental health condition, compared to 26% of conservative women of the same age.

[ Link: https://x.com/i/status/1382818208084848653 ]

While all of these numbers may point to correlations rather than causalities, they certainly raise some questions worth asking. What, in particular, is happening with liberal women that makes them more inclined to report higher levels of unhappiness and mental illness? Are mentally ill people simply more drawn to liberal politics, or is the liberal ideology opening the door to a lack of fulfillment?

[dragonwolf1979-blog]

Keeping it real... if you want more facts let me know..

America gained 7 million new jobs – more than three times government experts’ projections.

Middle-Class family income increased nearly $6,000 – more than five times the gains during the entire previous administration.

The unemployment rate reached 3.5 percent, the lowest in a half-century.

Achieved 40 months in a row with more job openings than job-hirings.

More Americans reported being employed than ever before – nearly 160 million.

Jobless claims hit a nearly 50-year low.

The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population hit its lowest on record.

Incomes rose in every single metro area in the United States for the first time in nearly 3 decades.

Delivered a future of greater promise and opportunity for citizens of all backgrounds.

Unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma all reached record lows.

Unemployment for women hit its lowest rate in nearly 70 years.

Lifted nearly 7 million people off of food stamps.

Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans reached record lows.

Income inequality fell for two straight years, and by the largest amount in over a decade.

The bottom 50 percent of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth.

Wages rose fastest for low-income and blue collar workers – a 16 percent pay increase.

African American homeownership increased from 41.7 percent to 46.4 percent.

Brought jobs, factories, and industries back to the USA.

Created more than 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs.

Put in place policies to bring back supply chains from overseas.

Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018.

Hit record stock market numbers and record 401ks.

The DOW closed above 20,000 for the first time in 2017 and topped 30,000 in 2020.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ have repeatedly notched record highs.

Rebuilding and investing in rural America.

Signed an Executive Order on Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products, which is bringing innovative new technologies to market in American farming and agriculture.

Strengthened America’s rural economy by investing over $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to rural America.

Achieved a record-setting economic comeback by rejecting blanket lockdowns.

An October 2020 Gallup survey found 56 percent of Americans said they were better off during a pandemic than four years prior.

During the third quarter of 2020, the economy grew at a rate of 33.1 percent – the most rapid GDP growth ever recorded.

Since coronavirus lockdowns ended, the economy has added back over 12 million jobs, more than half the jobs lost.

Jobs have been recovered 23 times faster than the previous administration’s recovery.

Unemployment fell to 6.7 percent in December, from a pandemic peak of 14.7 percent in April – beating expectations of well over 10 percent unemployment through the end of 2020.

Under the previous administration, it took 49 months for the unemployment rate to fall from 10 percent to under 7 percent compared to just 3 months for the Trump Administration.

Since April, the Hispanic unemployment rate has fallen by 9.6 percent, Asian-American unemployment by 8.6 percent, and Black American unemployment by 6.8 percent.

80 percent of small businesses are now open, up from just 53 percent in April.

Small business confidence hit a new high.

Homebuilder confidence reached an all-time high, and home sales hit their highest reading since December 2006.

Manufacturing optimism nearly doubled.

Household net worth rose $7.4 trillion in Q2 2020 to $112 trillion, an all-time high.

Home prices hit an all-time record high.

The United States rejected crippling lockdowns that crush the economy and inflict countless public health harms and instead safely reopened its economy.

Business confidence is higher in America than in any other G7 or European Union country.

Stabilized America’s financial markets with the establishment of a number of Treasury Department supported facilities at the Federal Reserve.

Tax Relief for the Middle Class

Passed $3.2 trillion in historic tax relief and reformed the tax code.

Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – the largest tax reform package in history.

More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.

A typical family of four earning $75,000 received an income tax cut of more than $2,000 – slashing their tax bill in half.

Doubled the standard deduction – making the first $24,000 earned by a married couple completely tax-free.

Doubled the child tax credit.

Virtually eliminated the unfair Estate Tax, or Death Tax.

Cut the business tax rate from 35 percent – the highest in the developed world – all the way down to 21 percent.

Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.

Businesses can now deduct 100 percent of the cost of their capital investments in the year the investment is made.

Since the passage of tax cuts, the share of total wealth held by the bottom half of households has increased, while the share held by the top 1 percent has decreased.

Over 400 companies have announced bonuses, wage increases, new hires, or new investments in the United States.

Over $1.5 trillion was repatriated into the United States from overseas.

Lower investment cost and higher capital returns led to faster growth in the middle class, real wages, and international competitiveness.

Jobs and investments are pouring into Opportunity Zones.

Created nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones where capital gains on long-term investments are taxed at zero.

Opportunity Zone designations have increased property values within them by 1.1 percent, creating an estimated $11 billion in wealth for the nearly half of Opportunity Zone residents who own their own home.

Opportunity Zones have attracted $75 billion in funds and driven $52 billion of new investment in economically distressed communities, creating at least 500,000 new jobs.

Approximately 1 million Americans will be lifted from poverty as a result of these new investments.

Private equity investments into businesses in Opportunity Zones were nearly 30 percent higher than investments into businesses in similar areas that were not designated Opportunity Zones.

Massive Deregulation

Ended the regulatory assault on American Businesses and Workers.

Instead of 2-for-1, we eliminated 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted.

Provided the average American household an extra $3,100 every year.

Reduced the direct cost of regulatory compliance by $50 billion, and will reduce costs by an additional $50 billion in FY 2020 alone.

Removed nearly 25,000 pages from the Federal Register – more than any other president. The previous administration added over 16,000 pages.

Established the Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to reduce outdated regulations at the state, local, and tribal levels.

Signed an executive order to make it easier for businesses to offer retirement plans.

Signed two executive orders to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans and their small businesses from administrative abuse.

Modernized the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in over 40 years.

Reduced approval times for major infrastructure projects from 10 or more years down to 2 years or less.

Helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.

Established the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing to bring down housing costs.

Removed regulations that threatened the development of a strong and stable internet.

Eased and simplified restrictions on rocket launches, helping to spur commercial investment in space projects.

Published a whole-of-government strategy focused on ensuring American leadership in automated vehicle technology.

Streamlined energy efficiency regulations for American families and businesses, including preserving affordable lightbulbs, enhancing the utility of showerheads, and enabling greater time savings with dishwashers.

Removed unnecessary regulations that restrict the seafood industry and impede job creation.

Modernized the Department of Agriculture’s biotechnology regulations to put America in the lead to develop new technologies.

Took action to suspend regulations that would have slowed our response to COVID-19, including lifting restrictions on manufacturers to more quickly produce ventilators.

Successfully rolled back burdensome regulatory overreach.

Rescinded the previous administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which would have abolished zoning for single-family housing to build low-income, federally subsidized apartments.

Issued a final rule on the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard.

Eliminated the Waters of the United States Rule and replaced it with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, providing relief and certainty for farmers and property owners.

Repealed the previous administration’s costly fuel economy regulations by finalizing the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, which will make cars more affordable, and lower the price of new vehicles by an estimated $2,200.

Americans now have more money in their pockets.

Deregulation had an especially beneficial impact on low-income Americans who pay a much higher share of their incomes for overregulation.

Cut red tape in the healthcare industry, providing Americans with more affordable healthcare and saving Americans nearly 10 percent on prescription drugs.

Deregulatory efforts yielded savings to the medical community an estimated $6.6 billion – with a reduction of 42 million hours of regulatory compliance work through 2021.

Removed government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.

Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Trump Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.

Signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that will result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes.

Fair and Reciprocal Trade

Secured historic trade deals to defend American workers.

Immediately withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Ended the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and replaced it with the brand new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The USMCA contains powerful new protections for American manufacturers, auto-makers, farmers, dairy producers, and workers.

The USMCA is expected to generate over $68 billion in economic activity and potentially create over 550,000 new jobs over ten years.

Signed an executive order making it government policy to Buy American and Hire American, and took action to stop the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

Negotiated with Japan to slash tariffs and open its market to $7 billion in American agricultural products and ended its ban on potatoes and lamb.

Over 90 percent of American agricultural exports to Japan now receive preferential treatment, and most are duty-free.

Negotiated another deal with Japan to boost $40 billion worth of digital trade.

Renegotiated the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, doubling the cap on imports of American vehicles and extending the American light truck tariff.

Reached a written, fully-enforceable Phase One trade agreement with China on confronting pirated and counterfeit goods, and the protection of American ideas, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks.

China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of United States exports and opened market access for over 4,000 American facilities to exports while all tariffs remained in effect.

Achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union (EU) that addresses unfair trade practices and increases duty-free exports by 180 percent to $420 million.

Secured a pledge from the EU to eliminate tariffs on American lobster – the first United States-European Union negotiated tariff reduction in over 20 years.

Scored a historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union, whose outdated policies were undermining American workers and interests.

Engaged extensively with trade partners like the EU and Japan to advance reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Issued a first-ever comprehensive report on the WTO Appellate Body’s failures to comply with WTO rules and interpret WTO agreements as written.

Blocked nominees to the WTO’s Appellate Body until WTO Members recognize and address longstanding issues with Appellate Body activism.

Submitted 5 papers to the WTO Committee on Agriculture to improve Members’ understanding of how trade policies are implemented, highlight areas for improved transparency, and encourage members to maintain up-to-date notifications on market access and domestic support.

Took strong actions to confront unfair trade practices and put America First.

Imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods to protect American jobs and stop China’s abuses under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Directed an all-of-government effort to halt and punish efforts by the Communist Party of China to steal and profit from American innovations and intellectual property.

Imposed tariffs on foreign aluminum and foreign steel to protect our vital industries and support our national security.

Approved tariffs on $1.8 billion in imports of washing machines and $8.5 billion in imports of solar panels.

Blocked illegal timber imports from Peru.

Took action against France for its digital services tax that unfairly targets American technology companies.

Launched investigations into digital services taxes that have been proposed or adopted by 10 other countries.

Historic support for American farmers.

Successfully negotiated more than 50 agreements with countries around the world to increase foreign market access and boost exports of American agriculture products, supporting more than 1 million American jobs.

Authorized $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices – fully funded by the tariffs paid by China.

China lifted its ban on poultry, opened its market to beef, and agreed to purchase at least $80 billion of American agricultural products in the next two years.

The European Union agreed to increase beef imports by 180 percent and opened up its market to more imports of soybeans.

South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs, and agreed to provide market access for record exports of American rice.

Argentina lifted its ban on American pork.

Brazil agreed to increase wheat imports by $180 million a year and raised its quotas for purchases of United States ethanol.

Guatemala and Tunisia opened up their markets to American eggs.

Won tariff exemptions in Ecuador for wheat and soybeans.

Suspended $817 million in trade preferences for Thailand under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program due to its failure to adequately provide reasonable market access for American pork products.

The amount of food stamps redeemed at farmers markets increased from $1.4 million in May 2020 to $1.75 million in September 2020 – a 50 percent increase over last year.

Rapidly deployed the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which provided $30 billion in support to farmers and ranchers facing decreased prices and market disruption when COVID-19 impacted the food supply chain.

Authorized more than $6 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box program, which delivered over 128 million boxes of locally sourced, produce, meat, and dairy products to charity and faith-based organizations nationwide.

Delegated authorities via the Defense Production Act to protect breaks in the American food supply chain as a result of COVID-19.

American Energy Independence

Unleashed America’s oil and natural gas potential.

For the first time in nearly 70 years, the United States has become a net energy exporter.

The United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world.

Natural gas production reached a record-high of 34.9 quads in 2019, following record high production in 2018 and in 2017.

The United States has been a net natural gas exporter for three consecutive years and has an export capacity of nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day.

Withdrew from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Agreement.

Canceled the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, and replaced it with the new Affordable Clean Energy rule.

Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

Opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas leasing.

Repealed the last administration’s Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium, which prohibited coal leasing on Federal lands.

Reformed permitting rules to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed approval for mines.

Fixed the New Source Review permitting program, which punished companies for upgrading or repairing coal power plants.

Fixed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) steam electric and coal ash rules.

The average American family saved $2,500 a year in lower electric bills and lower prices at the gas pump.

Signed legislation repealing the harmful Stream Protection Rule.

Reduced the time to approve drilling permits on public lands by half, increasing permit applications to drill on public lands by 300 percent.

Expedited approval of the NuStar’s New Burgos pipeline to export American gasoline to Mexico.

Streamlined Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal permitting and allowed long-term LNG export authorizations to be extended through 2050.

The United States is now among the top three LNG exporters in the world.

Increased LNG exports five-fold since January 2017, reaching an all-time high in January 2020.

LNG exports are expected to reduce the American trade deficit by over $10 billion.

Granted more than 20 new long-term approvals for LNG exports to non-free trade agreement countries.

The development of natural gas and LNG infrastructure in the United States is providing tens of thousands of jobs, and has led to the investment of tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure.

There are now 6 LNG export facilities operating in the United States, with 2 additional export projects under construction.

The amount of nuclear energy production in 2019 was the highest on record, through a combination of increased capacity from power plant upgrades and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles.

Prevented Russian energy coercion across Europe through various lines of effort, including the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation, civil nuclear deals with Romania and Poland, and opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Issued the Presidential Permit for the A2A railroad between Canada and Alaska, providing energy resources to emerging markets.

Increased access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to achieve energy independence.

Renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2019.

Enacted policies that helped double the amount of electricity generated by solar and helped increase the amount of wind generation by 32 percent from 2016 through 2019.

Accelerated construction of energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.

Cut red tape holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure.

Authorized ethanol producers to sell E15 year-round and allowed higher-ethanol gasoline to be distributed from existing pumps at filling stations.

Ensured greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

Negotiated leasing capacity in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Australia, providing American taxpayers a return on this infrastructure investment.

To name a few....

[rohitpalan]

Forecasting Exponential Growth: The Global Cloud Communication Platforms Market 2020-2030

The global cloud communication platform market will experience a double-digit CAGR over the forecast period, 2020-2030. Upsurge in investments in IT infrastructure for cloud service providers (CSPs), internet service providers (ISPs), and hyperscalers have been critical in driving market growth. Further, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has compelled several organizations to turn to work from home (WFH) model, thereby, resulting in increasing deployment of cloud communication platform solutions.

Digital collaboration tool providers, including Zoom, and Microsoft, are witnessing a remarkable upswing in usage across continents due to lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. Given the shortage of on-site IT personnel, companies are utilizing cloud-based solutions to maintain and monitor their storage, and server installations in data centers. Enterprises are leveraging full potential of cloud to establish resilient and disaster-immune models to satiate the remote workforce, as well as ensure data security and enterprise application integrity.

Request a Sample of this Report: https://www.fmisamplereport.com/sample/rep-gb-3349

“While the COVID-19 pandemic is having a detrimental impact on the global economic order, it is having a mildly positive impact on cloud communication platform market. Although the pandemic is troubling cloud service providers, in uncertain times, the public cloud infrastructure is delivering flexibility and safe house for organizations striving to maintain normal operations” says the FMI study.

Cloud Communication Platform Market – Key Takeaways

The healthcare industry would remain key revenue generator, given rising trend of bring your own device (BYOD), and increasing need for mobility in the industry.

Benefits such as low costs, and greater functionality are bolstering the adoption of Unified communications as a service (UCaaS).

Large enterprises would remain the primary customer of cloud communication platform services.

Market in North America continues its positive trend, backed by increasing adoption of UCaaS and IVR solutions.

Cloud Communication Platform Market – Key Driving Factors

Rising preference for online backup and database solutions has boded well for market.

Increasing shift towards cloud-based unified communication services to push adoption rate.

Swelling demand for high-speed data transfer mediums in developing regions to offer growth potential to market players.

Cloud Communication Platform Market – Key Constraints

Security and privacy risks associated with shared communication networks are restricting widespread adoption.

Redesigning the network for cloud requires high initial cost.

Anticipated Market Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has hampered the revenue growth of almost every industry, including the cloud communication platform market. Alerted by the situation, several private, and government organizations have transitioned to remote working, thus, translating into swelling adoption of cloud communication platform solutions. In addition, customers are significantly banking on video streaming services as they strictly following self-isolating regulations. Such evolving trends are auguring well for the cloud communication platform market. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market expanded by nearly 1.4X in 2019 and will see a surge in demand amidst the COVID-19 crisis, as remote working becomes the new normal.

Competition Landscape

Key players in the cloud communication platform market are Cisco Systems Inc., IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Avaya Inc., Ozonetel Systems Pvt. Ltd., and Dialogic Inc. Players are focusing on collaborations and new service launches in order to expand their presence further during the COVID-19 recession and extend their customer base.

[ismaelfarmer]

The status quo of the drug problem in the US

1. Drug abuse has become a chronic disease in American society For example, the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics includes the following eight drug types: alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, fentanyl, opiates (mainly controlled psychotropic drugs), prescription stimulants, methamphetamine, and heroin. About 46 percent of them used marijuana and prescription doping, about 36 percent used opiates and methamphetamine, and 31 percent, 15 percent and 10 percent used prescription doping, heroin and cocaine, respectively. In 2021, the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics showed that about 19.4% of the population used illicit drugs at least once; among about 280 million Americans aged 12 or older, 31.9 million currently use drugs, 11.7 percent used illicit drugs and 19.4 percent used illicit drugs or abused prescription drugs in the past year. If alcohol and tobacco use are also included, about 165 million people in the United States currently experience drug abuse. As many as 48.2 million Americans over age 18 have used marijuana at least once in the past 12 months. Cannabis use has increased by 15.9% from 2018 to 2019. Marijuana is illegal under US federal law, but 15 states have legalized its recreational use. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the US marijuana industry bucked the trend. In March 2020, with many businesses shut down due to COVID-19, marijuana pharmacies in eight legalized states maintained their "basic business", allowing continued sales of marijuana during home quarantine. Legal marijuana sales in the United States hit a record $17.5 billion in 2020, up 46 percent from 2019, according to the BDSA, a data platform for marijuana sales. In the past 12 months, 10.1 million Americans have taken opium at least once. According to the CDC, opiates are to blame for the surge in drug deaths. From April 2020 to April 2021, the number of deaths from excessive opium use in the United States reached 75,000, accounting for more than 75% of the total US population killed by overdose, an increase of 50% from the same period of the previous year. American deaths from alcohol abuse are 95,000 a year. During the new coronavirus pandemic, more than 60 percent of Americans have increased their alcohol use. According to the latest survey data, 25.8 percent of people aged 18 and over have drunk alcohol in the past month, with an average of 261 Americans dying every day, and 80 percent are adults over 35. In this group, the highest drug use rate was observed at 18 to 25 years, at 39% and 34% at 26 to 29 years. Before the age of 13, the number of users who tried illegal drugs reached 70%, and there was a clear trend of younger age of drugs. About 1,150 adolescents aged 14 died from overdoses between January 2021 and June 2021 between 14 to 18, up 20 percent from 2020 and more than double the number of deaths in 2019, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.this

[ao3feed-scorbus]

[Podfic] Scorpius Malfoy Orchestrates a Double Date

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/xNcsbLr by sweaters_in_the_summer Draco and Harry have been rivals since childhood, and now they teach paleontology at the same university. Scorpius talks Draco into bringing him to the movies, but neglects to mention that they're watching Jurassic Park. Or that they're meeting Harry and Albus. Very AU: Muggle, American, modern—but a good modern, where Jurassic Park comes out in a coronavirus-free 2020, instead of 1993. Words: 14, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Severus Potter Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Professor Harry Potter, Professor Draco Malfoy, Single Parent Draco Malfoy, Single Parent Harry Potter, Co-workers, Enemies, Complicated Relationships, Secret Relationship, Scorpius Malfoy & Albus Severus Potter Friendship, Pining Scorpius Malfoy, First Crush, Double Dating, Father-Son Relationship, Movie: Jurassic Park (1993), POV Scorpius Malfoy, POV First Person, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Podfic, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Download, Audio Format: Streaming read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/55906783

[dragonwolf1979-blog]

America gained 7 million new jobs – more than three times government experts’ projections.

Middle-Class family income increased nearly $6,000 – more than five times the gains during the entire previous administration.

The unemployment rate reached 3.5 percent, the lowest in a half-century.

Achieved 40 months in a row with more job openings than job-hirings.

More Americans reported being employed than ever before – nearly 160 million.

Jobless claims hit a nearly 50-year low.

The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population hit its lowest on record.

Incomes rose in every single metro area in the United States for the first time in nearly 3 decades.

Delivered a future of greater promise and opportunity for citizens of all backgrounds.

Unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma all reached record lows.

Unemployment for women hit its lowest rate in nearly 70 years.

Lifted nearly 7 million people off of food stamps.

Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans reached record lows.

Income inequality fell for two straight years, and by the largest amount in over a decade.

The bottom 50 percent of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth.

Wages rose fastest for low-income and blue collar workers – a 16 percent pay increase.

African American homeownership increased from 41.7 percent to 46.4 percent.

Brought jobs, factories, and industries back to the USA.

Created more than 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs.

Put in place policies to bring back supply chains from overseas.

Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018.

Hit record stock market numbers and record 401ks.

The DOW closed above 20,000 for the first time in 2017 and topped 30,000 in 2020.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ have repeatedly notched record highs.

Rebuilding and investing in rural America.

Signed an Executive Order on Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products, which is bringing innovative new technologies to market in American farming and agriculture.

Strengthened America’s rural economy by investing over $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to rural America.

Achieved a record-setting economic comeback by rejecting blanket lockdowns.

An October 2020 Gallup survey found 56 percent of Americans said they were better off during a pandemic than four years prior.

During the third quarter of 2020, the economy grew at a rate of 33.1 percent – the most rapid GDP growth ever recorded.

Since coronavirus lockdowns ended, the economy has added back over 12 million jobs, more than half the jobs lost.

Jobs have been recovered 23 times faster than the previous administration’s recovery.

Unemployment fell to 6.7 percent in December, from a pandemic peak of 14.7 percent in April – beating expectations of well over 10 percent unemployment through the end of 2020.

Under the previous administration, it took 49 months for the unemployment rate to fall from 10 percent to under 7 percent compared to just 3 months for the Trump Administration.

Since April, the Hispanic unemployment rate has fallen by 9.6 percent, Asian-American unemployment by 8.6 percent, and Black American unemployment by 6.8 percent.

80 percent of small businesses are now open, up from just 53 percent in April.

Small business confidence hit a new high.

Homebuilder confidence reached an all-time high, and home sales hit their highest reading since December 2006.

Manufacturing optimism nearly doubled.

Household net worth rose $7.4 trillion in Q2 2020 to $112 trillion, an all-time high.

Home prices hit an all-time record high.

The United States rejected crippling lockdowns that crush the economy and inflict countless public health harms and instead safely reopened its economy.

Business confidence is higher in America than in any other G7 or European Union country.

Stabilized America’s financial markets with the establishment of a number of Treasury Department supported facilities at the Federal Reserve.

Tax Relief for the Middle Class

Passed $3.2 trillion in historic tax relief and reformed the tax code.

Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – the largest tax reform package in history.

More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.

A typical family of four earning $75,000 received an income tax cut of more than $2,000 – slashing their tax bill in half.

Doubled the standard deduction – making the first $24,000 earned by a married couple completely tax-free.

Doubled the child tax credit.

Virtually eliminated the unfair Estate Tax, or Death Tax.

Cut the business tax rate from 35 percent – the highest in the developed world – all the way down to 21 percent.

Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.

Businesses can now deduct 100 percent of the cost of their capital investments in the year the investment is made.

Since the passage of tax cuts, the share of total wealth held by the bottom half of households has increased, while the share held by the top 1 percent has decreased.

Over 400 companies have announced bonuses, wage increases, new hires, or new investments in the United States.

Over $1.5 trillion was repatriated into the United States from overseas.

Lower investment cost and higher capital returns led to faster growth in the middle class, real wages, and international competitiveness.

Jobs and investments are pouring into Opportunity Zones.

Created nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones where capital gains on long-term investments are taxed at zero.

Opportunity Zone designations have increased property values within them by 1.1 percent, creating an estimated $11 billion in wealth for the nearly half of Opportunity Zone residents who own their own home.

Opportunity Zones have attracted $75 billion in funds and driven $52 billion of new investment in economically distressed communities, creating at least 500,000 new jobs.

Approximately 1 million Americans will be lifted from poverty as a result of these new investments.

Private equity investments into businesses in Opportunity Zones were nearly 30 percent higher than investments into businesses in similar areas that were not designated Opportunity Zones.

Massive Deregulation

Ended the regulatory assault on American Businesses and Workers.

Instead of 2-for-1, we eliminated 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted.

Provided the average American household an extra $3,100 every year.

Reduced the direct cost of regulatory compliance by $50 billion, and will reduce costs by an additional $50 billion in FY 2020 alone.

Removed nearly 25,000 pages from the Federal Register – more than any other president. The previous administration added over 16,000 pages.

Established the Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to reduce outdated regulations at the state, local, and tribal levels.

Signed an executive order to make it easier for businesses to offer retirement plans.

Signed two executive orders to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans and their small businesses from administrative abuse.

Modernized the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in over 40 years.

Reduced approval times for major infrastructure projects from 10 or more years down to 2 years or less.

Helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.

Established the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing to bring down housing costs.

Removed regulations that threatened the development of a strong and stable internet.

Eased and simplified restrictions on rocket launches, helping to spur commercial investment in space projects.

Published a whole-of-government strategy focused on ensuring American leadership in automated vehicle technology.

Streamlined energy efficiency regulations for American families and businesses, including preserving affordable lightbulbs, enhancing the utility of showerheads, and enabling greater time savings with dishwashers.

Removed unnecessary regulations that restrict the seafood industry and impede job creation.

Modernized the Department of Agriculture’s biotechnology regulations to put America in the lead to develop new technologies.

Took action to suspend regulations that would have slowed our response to COVID-19, including lifting restrictions on manufacturers to more quickly produce ventilators.

Successfully rolled back burdensome regulatory overreach.

Rescinded the previous administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which would have abolished zoning for single-family housing to build low-income, federally subsidized apartments.

Issued a final rule on the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard.

Eliminated the Waters of the United States Rule and replaced it with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, providing relief and certainty for farmers and property owners.

Repealed the previous administration’s costly fuel economy regulations by finalizing the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, which will make cars more affordable, and lower the price of new vehicles by an estimated $2,200.

Americans now have more money in their pockets.

Deregulation had an especially beneficial impact on low-income Americans who pay a much higher share of their incomes for overregulation.

Cut red tape in the healthcare industry, providing Americans with more affordable healthcare and saving Americans nearly 10 percent on prescription drugs.

Deregulatory efforts yielded savings to the medical community an estimated $6.6 billion – with a reduction of 42 million hours of regulatory compliance work through 2021.

Removed government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.

Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Trump Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.

Signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that will result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes.

Fair and Reciprocal Trade

Secured historic trade deals to defend American workers.

Immediately withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Ended the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and replaced it with the brand new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The USMCA contains powerful new protections for American manufacturers, auto-makers, farmers, dairy producers, and workers.

The USMCA is expected to generate over $68 billion in economic activity and potentially create over 550,000 new jobs over ten years.

Signed an executive order making it government policy to Buy American and Hire American, and took action to stop the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

Negotiated with Japan to slash tariffs and open its market to $7 billion in American agricultural products and ended its ban on potatoes and lamb.

Over 90 percent of American agricultural exports to Japan now receive preferential treatment, and most are duty-free.

Negotiated another deal with Japan to boost $40 billion worth of digital trade.

Renegotiated the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, doubling the cap on imports of American vehicles and extending the American light truck tariff.

Reached a written, fully-enforceable Phase One trade agreement with China on confronting pirated and counterfeit goods, and the protection of American ideas, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks.

China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of United States exports and opened market access for over 4,000 American facilities to exports while all tariffs remained in effect.

Achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union (EU) that addresses unfair trade practices and increases duty-free exports by 180 percent to $420 million.

Secured a pledge from the EU to eliminate tariffs on American lobster – the first United States-European Union negotiated tariff reduction in over 20 years.

Scored a historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union, whose outdated policies were undermining American workers and interests.

Engaged extensively with trade partners like the EU and Japan to advance reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Issued a first-ever comprehensive report on the WTO Appellate Body’s failures to comply with WTO rules and interpret WTO agreements as written.

Blocked nominees to the WTO’s Appellate Body until WTO Members recognize and address longstanding issues with Appellate Body activism.

Submitted 5 papers to the WTO Committee on Agriculture to improve Members’ understanding of how trade policies are implemented, highlight areas for improved transparency, and encourage members to maintain up-to-date notifications on market access and domestic support.

Took strong actions to confront unfair trade practices and put America First.

Imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods to protect American jobs and stop China’s abuses under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Directed an all-of-government effort to halt and punish efforts by the Communist Party of China to steal and profit from American innovations and intellectual property.

Imposed tariffs on foreign aluminum and foreign steel to protect our vital industries and support our national security.

Approved tariffs on $1.8 billion in imports of washing machines and $8.5 billion in imports of solar panels.

Blocked illegal timber imports from Peru.

Took action against France for its digital services tax that unfairly targets American technology companies.

Launched investigations into digital services taxes that have been proposed or adopted by 10 other countries.

Historic support for American farmers.

Successfully negotiated more than 50 agreements with countries around the world to increase foreign market access and boost exports of American agriculture products, supporting more than 1 million American jobs.

Authorized $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices – fully funded by the tariffs paid by China.

China lifted its ban on poultry, opened its market to beef, and agreed to purchase at least $80 billion of American agricultural products in the next two years.

The European Union agreed to increase beef imports by 180 percent and opened up its market to more imports of soybeans.

South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs, and agreed to provide market access for record exports of American rice.

Argentina lifted its ban on American pork.

Brazil agreed to increase wheat imports by $180 million a year and raised its quotas for purchases of United States ethanol.

Guatemala and Tunisia opened up their markets to American eggs.

Won tariff exemptions in Ecuador for wheat and soybeans.

Suspended $817 million in trade preferences for Thailand under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program due to its failure to adequately provide reasonable market access for American pork products.

The amount of food stamps redeemed at farmers markets increased from $1.4 million in May 2020 to $1.75 million in September 2020 – a 50 percent increase over last year.

Rapidly deployed the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which provided $30 billion in support to farmers and ranchers facing decreased prices and market disruption when COVID-19 impacted the food supply chain.

Authorized more than $6 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box program, which delivered over 128 million boxes of locally sourced, produce, meat, and dairy products to charity and faith-based organizations nationwide.

Delegated authorities via the Defense Production Act to protect breaks in the American food supply chain as a result of COVID-19.

American Energy Independence

Unleashed America’s oil and natural gas potential.

For the first time in nearly 70 years, the United States has become a net energy exporter.

The United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world.

Natural gas production reached a record-high of 34.9 quads in 2019, following record high production in 2018 and in 2017.

The United States has been a net natural gas exporter for three consecutive years and has an export capacity of nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day.

Withdrew from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Agreement.

Canceled the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, and replaced it with the new Affordable Clean Energy rule.

Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

Opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas leasing.

Repealed the last administration’s Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium, which prohibited coal leasing on Federal lands.

Reformed permitting rules to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed approval for mines.

Fixed the New Source Review permitting program, which punished companies for upgrading or repairing coal power plants.

Fixed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) steam electric and coal ash rules.

The average American family saved $2,500 a year in lower electric bills and lower prices at the gas pump.

Signed legislation repealing the harmful Stream Protection Rule.

Reduced the time to approve drilling permits on public lands by half, increasing permit applications to drill on public lands by 300 percent.

Expedited approval of the NuStar’s New Burgos pipeline to export American gasoline to Mexico.

Streamlined Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal permitting and allowed long-term LNG export authorizations to be extended through 2050.

The United States is now among the top three LNG exporters in the world.

Increased LNG exports five-fold since January 2017, reaching an all-time high in January 2020.

LNG exports are expected to reduce the American trade deficit by over $10 billion.

Granted more than 20 new long-term approvals for LNG exports to non-free trade agreement countries.

The development of natural gas and LNG infrastructure in the United States is providing tens of thousands of jobs, and has led to the investment of tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure.

There are now 6 LNG export facilities operating in the United States, with 2 additional export projects under construction.

The amount of nuclear energy production in 2019 was the highest on record, through a combination of increased capacity from power plant upgrades and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles.

Prevented Russian energy coercion across Europe through various lines of effort, including the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation, civil nuclear deals with Romania and Poland, and opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Issued the Presidential Permit for the A2A railroad between Canada and Alaska, providing energy resources to emerging markets.

Increased access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to achieve energy independence.

Renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2019.

Enacted policies that helped double the amount of electricity generated by solar and helped increase the amount of wind generation by 32 percent from 2016 through 2019.

Accelerated construction of energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.

Cut red tape holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure.

Authorized ethanol producers to sell E15 year-round and allowed higher-ethanol gasoline to be distributed from existing pumps at filling stations.

Ensured greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

Negotiated leasing capacity in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Australia, providing American taxpayers a return on this infrastructure investment.

[acleanpressurecleaning]

Cleaning Services Brisbane – Why External House Washes Are Important

Whether you’re preparing your home for sale, or a body corporate looking for regular pressure cleaning services, a professional external house wash can add significant value to your property. Brisbane House washing professionals are Soft Wash Australia accredited and use a low-pressure cleaning method to safely clean surfaces.

This includes the roof and gutters, windows and doors, as well as patios and rock gardens.

Roof and Gutters

One of the most Cleaning Services Brisbane jobs in any home is keeping gutters clear. Brisbane’s subtropical climate brings heavy rainfall and diverse flora that shed leaves yearround, making it easy for gutters to become clogged.

Blocked gutters prevent rainwater from flowing down into the stormwater system and out to drainpipes. Instead, water flows under the tiles and into the building’s ceiling, where it can cause water damage to the ceiling, light fittings and walls.

Regular gutter cleaning is a cheap way to protect your roof and save money on expensive repairs. Qualified gutter cleaners use a high-powered vacuum cleaner to suck out debris and flush away stubborn dirt. They also check that downspouts are unblocked and work to ensure the guttering slant is properly maintained. This prevents soil erosion and minimises the risk of mosquitoes, termites and other pests taking up residence in your house. They are also trained to take the right precautions when working at heights.

Windows and Doors

Clean windows and doors are a big part of the exterior of your home. Whether you have double-paned windows or sliders, it’s important to remove window coverings and wipe down all surfaces. It’s best to start with the frames and then move onto the windows themselves. This helps to avoid dripping dirty water all over your newly cleaned panes.

It’s also a good idea to schedule your cleaning on a cloudy day. This way, the heat from the sun won’t dry your cleaning solution before you can wipe it away.

Professional cleaners have a wealth of experience, skills, and technical equipment that they can utilise to tackle even the most stubborn grime. They’re also well trained in specific techniques and methods to get the job done right. You can find top-rated cleaners near you by searching on Oneflare, which recommends businesses based on your location and the type of cleaning job you need. You can then book a service directly from their profile or via instant message.

Decks and Patios

Whether you’re looking for a way to enjoy the view of your backyard or add to the appeal of your home, a deck and patio are both excellent choices. However, keeping them clean can be a bit of a chore. This is why it’s a good idea to schedule cleaning services Brisbane for your deck and patio twice per year.

The best time for cleaning is during spring or autumn, as these are when the weather is mildest. Before you start, clear the area of containers and furniture, trim back plants that are overhanging or touching the deck and hose down the surface to remove dirt and debris.

Wooden decks are usually constructed of timber, composite or PVC decking boards and may be raised up off the ground with stairs or built low to the ground. Similarly, patios are made of paving stones and may be set on a concrete slab or low-to-theground frame.

Hard Surfaces

There is a high pressure cleaning misconception that hard surfaces, such as tabletops, countertops, kitchen appliances and doorknobs, are not susceptible to germs because they are non-porous. However, these surfaces are actually microbial breeding grounds for bacteria and viruses. It is especially important to pay attention to cleaning and disinfecting hard surfaces during this coronavirus outbreak.

During a professional deep clean, hard surfaces like tile flooring and counters are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected to remove embedded dirt and bacteria. This helps to improve indoor air quality and reduce symptoms of allergies or respiratory issues.

Experienced cleaners also have advanced tools and equipment for tackling tough cleaning jobs. They may even include insurance in their service offerings to provide additional peace of mind. You can find a reliable affordable cleaner Brisbane with the help of the easy-to-navigate Oneflare platform. It lists only top-rated and trusted cleaners in your area. Ask friends and family for recommendations or use the search tool to find a suitable cleaner near you.

[newstfionline]

Monday, March 11, 2024

Has San Francisco Lost Its Liberal Soul? (NYT) Have San Francisco voters lost the bleeding hearts they have been known for—or are they just frustrated? City voters resoundingly passed two ballot measures this week that probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day a few years ago. One measure gives more power to the police, and the other requires welfare recipients who are thought to have a drug addiction to enter treatment as a condition of continuing to receive benefits. Critics of the measures said that residents had veered to the right and that billionaires had bought the city by throwing money at campaigns for the measures. But Mayor London Breed, who faces a tough race for re-election in November and who placed the two measures on the ballot, brushed off claims that the city had lost its liberal soul. San Francisco’s reputation has plummeted—unfairly, many residents say—since the start of the pandemic, because of open-air drug use, property crime and the sharp drop in office occupancy downtown. Breed, a political moderate by San Francisco standards, has responded by tacking to the right, and this week voters backed her priorities.

With Haiti in Chaos, a Humanitarian Crisis Is Rapidly Unfolding (NYT) Dr. Ronald V. LaRoche has not been able to cross into dangerous territory to inspect the hospital he runs in Haiti’s Delmas 18 neighborhood since it was ransacked by gangs last week, but a TikTok video he saw offered clues to its current condition: It was on fire. He learned from neighbors and others who dared venture into gang territory that Jude-Anne Hospital had been looted and cleared of anything of value. It was the second hospital he has had to close. “They took everything—the operating rooms, the X-rays, everything from the labs and the pharmacies,” Dr. LaRoche said. “Imagine! They are taking windows from hospitals! Doors!” Haiti is in the throes of an uprising not seen in decades. As politicians around the region scramble to hash out a diplomatic solution to a political crisis that has the prime minister, Ariel Henry, stranded in Puerto Rico and gangs attacking police stations, a humanitarian disaster is quickly escalating. The food supply is threatened, and access to water and health care has been severely curtailed. (AP) The U.S. military said Sunday that it had flown in forces to beef up security at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and allow nonessential personnel to leave. Caribbean leaders have called for an emergency meeting Monday in Jamaica on what they called Haiti’s “dire” situation. They have invited the United States, France, Canada, the United Nations and Brazil to the meeting.

Brazil’s staggering dengue fever crisis (Washington Post) Patients lying motionless in the waiting room, moaning for help. Desperate hunts for an open hospital bed. Emergency room arguments over medication. Not since the darkest days of the covid-19 pandemic, when hospital systems all over this country ruptured under the weight of the disease, has Brazil witnessed such scenes. But this time, it’s not the coronavirus that has led states all over the country to declare a state of emergency and even spurred the construction of a field hospital in the nation’s capital of Brasília. It’s dengue fever. The disease is ripping through much of South America, where scientists say rising temperatures due to climate change have both extended the territorial range of the mosquito that carries dengue and increased its proliferation. In the first two months of this year, Paraguay registered nearly 100,000 suspected cases—more than five times the typical rate. Peru, wracked by its own outbreak, has declared an emergency in much of the country. Argentina, too, has seen an explosion of cases. But the disease has surged with particular virulence in Brazil, where epidemiologists expect the number of dengue cases to reach into the millions—more than doubling the previous record—and potentially kill thousands of people.

Russia’s new guided bomb (CNN) Russia has begun using a powerful aerial bomb that has decimated Ukrainian defenses and tilted the balance on the front lines. It has done so by converting a basic Soviet-era weapon into a gliding bomb that can cause a crater fifteen meters wide. The bomb is the FAB-1500, essentially a 1.5-tonne weapon of which nearly half comprises high explosives. It is delivered from above by fighter jets from a distance of some 60-70 kilometers, out of range of many Ukrainian air defenses. The FAB-1500 is directed towards its target by a guidance system and pop-out wings that allow it to glide towards its target. The FAB-1500 is the most powerful in a family of Soviet-era ‘dumb bombs’ now being converted at a plant near Moscow into a cheap but potent version of a missile, andit costs pennies in comparison with a missile.

Pope says Ukraine should have ‘courage of the white flag’ of negotiations (Reuters) Pope Francis has said in an interview that Ukraine should have what he called the courage of the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia that followed Moscow’s full-scale invasion two years ago and that has killed tens of thousands. Francis made his comments in an interview recorded last month with Swiss broadcaster RSI, well before Friday’s latest offer by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to host a summit between Ukraine and Russia to end the war. In the interview Francis was asked for his position on a debate between those who say Ukraine should give up as it has not been able to repel Russian forces, and those who say doing so would legitimise actions by the strongest party. The interviewer used the term “white flag” in the question. “It is one interpretation, that is true,” Francis said. “But I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates,” Francis said, adding that talks should take place with the help of international powers. “The word negotiate is a courageous word. When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate,” Francis said.

How China’s Family Planning Propaganda Has Changed (NYT) For decades, China harshly restricted the number of children couples could have, arguing that everyone would be better off with fewer mouths to feed. The government’s one-child policy was woven into the fabric of everyday life, through slogans on street banners and in popular culture and public art. Now, faced with a shrinking and aging population, China is using many of the same propaganda channels to send the opposite message: Have more babies. The government has also been offering financial incentives for couples to have two or three children. But the efforts have not been successful. The birthrate in China has fallen steeply, and last year was the lowest since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Instead of enforcing birth limits, the government has shifted gears to promote a “pro-birth culture,” organizing beauty pageants for pregnant women and producing rap videos about the advantages of having children. In recent years, the state broadcaster’s annual spring festival gala, one of the country’s most-watched TV events, has prominently featured public service ads promoting families with two or three children.

Indonesia floods, landslide kill 19, with seven missing (Reuters) Days of torrential rain have brought floods and landslides in Indonesia’s province of West Sumatra, forcing the evacuation of more than 70,000 people, while killing at least 19, with seven going missing, authorities said on Sunday. The havoc since last Thursday in the provincial capital of Padang and eight other areas has damaged nearly 700 homes, scores of bridges and schools and 113 hectares (280 acres) of farmland.

UNRWA report says Israel coerced some agency employees to falsely admit Hamas links (Reuters) The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that the agency has Hamas links and that staff took part in the Oct. 7 attacks. The assertions are contained in a report by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reviewed by Reuters and dated February 2024 which detailed allegations of mistreatment in Israeli detention made by unidentified Palestinians, including several working for UNRWA. The document said several UNRWA Palestinian staffers had been detained by the Israeli army, and added that the ill-treatment and abuse they said they had experienced included severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats of harm to family members.

As U.S. Rushes to Build Gaza Port, Major Challenges Loom (NYT) As the United States military rushes to assemble a temporary port on the Gaza coast, daunting practical challenges to the seaborne humanitarian effort to stave off famine in the territory are becoming increasingly apparent. The obstacles include logistics, cost and security issues, diplomats and aid officials say. But the desperate conditions in Gaza, depicted in images of starving children, make the American-led international plan a necessity, they say, especially given the tight security imposed by Israel that is slowing land shipments of food, water and medicine. Even if it can overcome the hurdles, the international initiative is likely to take several weeks, if not months, to reach its goal of delivering two million meals a day to the people of Gaza.

Biden says an Israeli assault on Rafah would cross a 'red line.' (WSJ) The Biden administration is warning Israel of the risks of attacking the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians displaced by fighting have taken refuge. The looming operation is a potential showdown between the White House and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which sees the assault as vital for the defeat of Hamas. President Biden this weekend left open the possibility that the U.S. might withhold some types of military assistance to Israel if a Rafah operation caused extensive civilian casualties, though he said a complete cutoff of weapons shipments wasn’t an option. Israel has warned that unless a deal is reached by Ramadan—which begins with the new-moon sighting expected Monday or Tuesday—to release hostages and pause the fighting, its military will push ahead with an offensive in Rafah.

Mass kidnappings of Nigerian students leave parents in shock and despair (AP) Rashidat Hamza is in despair. All but one of her six children are among the nearly 300 students abducted from their school in Nigeria’s conflict-battered northwest. “We have never seen this kind of thing where our children were abducted from their school,” she told an Associated Press team that arrived in the Kaduna State town to report on Thursday’s attack. “We don’t know what to do, but we believe in God.” The kidnapping in Kuriga was only one of three mass kidnappings in northern Nigeria since late last week, a reminder of the security crisis plaguing Africa’s most populous country. A group of gunmen abducted 15 children from a school in another northwestern state, Sokoto, before dawn Saturday, and a few days earlier 200 people were kidnapped in northeastern Borno State.

[beardedmrbean]

Turun Sanomat reports that as of the close of polling stations on Thursday evening, more than half a million Finns had cast advance votes in the first round of the presidential election.

The paper gave the exact figure as 507,050, according to the results service of the Ministry of Justice. For the first two days of early voting, the national turnout stood at 11.8 percent.

In the paper's main coverage area, Southwest Finland, 45,428 votes had been cast, which corresponds to 11.9 percent of eligible voters. The highest rate in the region, 14.3 percent, was seen in Naantali.

Meanwhile, across the country in North Karelia, Joensuu's Karjalainen is another paper carrying a feature on the growing popularity of voting at home.

Voters can cast a ballot in advance from home, if their physical ability to function is so limited that they cannot get to a polling station without unreasonable difficulties. Caregivers of such individuals living in the same household can also vote at the same time, under certain conditions.

The paper reports that the popularity of voting at home is clearly higher in this month's presidential election, compared to the previous presidential election in 2018. In a survey by the Uutissuomalainen news group of the 20 largest cities, eight reported that the number of home voters has at least doubled.

In Kouvola, there are now about 3.5 times more people registered for home voting than in 2018, and in Mikkeli and Jyväskylä about 2.5 times more. In Kuopio, the number of people who registered to vote at home has more than doubled. In Espoo, Turku and Rovaniemi it has roughly doubled, and in Oulu it has nearly doubled.

Out of the country's 20 largest cities, all but Vantaa responded to the survey.

Five other cities also reported a significant increase of at least 60 percent in the increase of voting at home. These cities are Tampere, Hämeenlinna, Joensuu, Lahti and Porvoo.

The deadline for registering to vote at home passed on Tuesday afternoon.

Election officials list several reasons for the growing popularity of home voting. Those include the increasing number of elderly voters, and the fact that the public became more aware of the opportunity of voting at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

It is reported from Espoo that the number of local home voters in this presidential elections has "exploded".

"The increase is due, for example, to voting enthusiasm and the winter weather," Heidi Rosenberg, administrative secretary of the City of Espoo told the paper.

According to Rosenberg, the demand for home voting services has also been boosted by the fact that elderly people are increasingly living at home longer.

Left vs right

A poll published Thursday morning by rural-centric paper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus showed the National Coalition Party candidiate Alexander Stubb taking the top spot, followed by Pekka Haavisto, who is backed by a voters' association and the Green Party.

In a follow-up to that voter survey, the paper writes it will be a miracle if another candidate breaks into the top two spots.

It points out that every time there has been a second round in a direct national election for the president in Finland, there has been a right-wing and a left-wing candidate.

Since 2012, the position of the left's top candidate went to Haavisto. That also seems to be the case now.

The reason for Stubb's strong showing, it says, is the strong support of his own party. Based on the background material collected for the MT poll, three out of four backers of the National Coalition Party plan to vote for Stubb.

In addition, he is the favorite of Swedish People's Party voters, and is likely to receive some support in the first round from Centre Party and SDP voters.

Haavisto is largely relying on Green voters. As the the paper points out, their numbers are relatively small, but he is also picking up a lot of support from Social Democrats, a third of whom say he will get their votes in the first round.

More strikes threaten

Helsingin Sanomat reports that according to its sources, Finland will see more strikes in coming weeks than previously announced.

On Thursday, the Industrial Union announced new political strikes in early February that will see some 60,000 workers across 700 locations walk out for two days starting on 1 February.

HS writes that according to several of its sources, the Paperworkers' Union will be making an announcement next Tuesday that it will shut down several forest industry factories on 1 February.

According to HS, the Transport Workers' Union AKT will be discussing industrial actions during a leadership meeting Friday. If it so desires, the union can in practice halt the nation's imports and exports.

In addition, HS writes that a number of unions included in the white-collar Akava confederation plan to participate in political demonstrations against the government's labour market policies.

Among others, Akava memnbers include teachers engineers, economists, military officers, psychologists, lawyers and doctors.

PM's electricity bill

With many, if not most, people dreading their next electricity utility bill, Iltalehti gives readers a look at what the cost is like for Kesäranta, the official residence of the prime minister in the Meilahti district of Helsinki.

According to the company which manages state real estate, the electricity bills for Kesäranta, for the years 2022-2023 totalled approximately 31,500 euros — or an average of just over 1,300 euros per month.

The previous PM, Sanna Marin (SDP) lived with her family at Kesäranta in 2022. The following year Petteri Orpo (NCP) lived at the residence on weekdays, and known to spend weekends with his family in Turku.

So far, during Orpo's term bills have averaged well over 1,100 euros per month. During Sanna Marin's premiership, they were just under 1,300.

[ricisidro]

#DOH reports 502 new cases on January 8 bringing the total nationwide caseload to 4,140,383 cases. ⬆️

#COVID19 #Philippines #DOH

NCR accounted for 31% (154) of the country's cases while 348 (69%) of the day's cases are in the provinces.

In the NCR, six LGUs had double-digit cases: Quezon City 39, Pasig 20, Manila 13, Caloocan 12, Makati and Taguig with 11 each. Ten LGUs had low single digits cases while only LGU had ZERO COVID: Pateros.

Outside the NCR, 12 provinces had double-digit cases: Bataan 28, Isabela 28 (City of Santiago 5), Iloilo 26 (Iloilo City 6), Cebu 19 (Cebu City 6), Cavite 17, Nueva Vizcaya 15, Bulacan 14, Rizal 13, Pampanga 10, Negros Occidental 10 (Bacolod City 5), Cagayan 10, Benguet 10 (all in Baguio City). All other provinces had low single digit cases or ZERO COVID.

8 deaths due to COVID-19 reported on this day. The total number of coronavirus fatalities increased to 66,864. ⬆️

The active cases increased to 6,138 from last week's 5,822 active cases. ⬆️ The active cases of more than 6,000 mark breached for the first time since July 2023.

The national positivity rate decreased to 17.4% from last week's positivity rate of 19.7%. ⬇️

The healthcare utilization rate remains at low risk.

You CAN protect yourself from infection and severe disease. Mask up correctly, ventilate, test, treat, vaccinate: boost every 6-12 months depending on your risk group. If you have symptoms - test and stay home.

Happy Tuesday ! Stay safe !

DOH site: https://doh.gov.ph/covid19tracker

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jun Isidro (@rcisidro)

[screenshots123]

📆 04 Dec 2023 📰 Massive new wave of coronavirus infections in Germany

According to official figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 23,264 cases of infection were reported in the last calendar week. Just six weeks earlier, there were only around 13,000, meaning that the number of infections has almost doubled in a short space of time...

While the official reporting figures confirm the sharp rise in the coronavirus wave, they can tell us little about the actual scale of the pandemic, as testing and reporting requirements have largely been abolished.

However, sites such as SentiSurv—a project run by the Mainz University Medical Centre, which collects data from 14,000 people who regularly test themselves and make their data available—are able to determine incidence rates on this basis.

SentiSurv data indicates an incidence rate that would equate to 1 in 50 inhabitants being newly infected every week. [Germany population: 83.2 mln]

[metamoonshots]

[ad_1] U.S. residence patrons face a tricky real-estate market, with the 30-year mortgage close to 8%. Precisely how powerful is it to purchase a home nowadays? MarketWatch labored with Redfin to learn how a lot a house purchaser must earn to purchase a median-priced home in September 2023 with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 8%. It’s not a reasonably image. Mortgage charges have greater than doubled for the reason that pandemic, when the U.S. Federal Reserve saved rates of interest low to advertise financial exercise amid mass closures to forestall the unfold of the coronavirus.  The Fed’s aggressive and fast mountaineering of charges since then has made it far more costly to purchase a home, significantly with a mortgage. Greater charges have additionally spooked householders who might need been contemplating a transfer, which in flip has resulted in very low stock and pushed up residence costs. Even all-cash patrons can not catch a break on this atmosphere, as a result of there are few listings. A median-priced residence, which means a home proper in the course of the value ladder, was roughly $412,000 in September 2023, in line with real-estate brokerage Redfin RDFN, -0.39%. The 30-year fee diversified between 7.63% in line with Freddie Mac and eight.03% in line with Mortgage News Daily. “It’s necessary to notice that reported fee numbers are averages at finest and don’t apply throughout the board,” Andy Walden, vice chairman of enterprise analysis at Intercontinental Change, mentioned. “Precise choices will range by lender and are depending on the mortgage sort and creditworthiness of the person borrower,” he added. With that in thoughts, right here’s a take a look at precisely how numerous mortgage charges have an effect on your month-to-month housing cost.Shopping for a median-priced residence at 8% charges Mortgage Information Day by day on October 19 famous that some lenders have been quoting a fee of 8.03%. That signifies that if a house purchaser is paying for a median-priced $412,000 residence with a 30-year mortgage at 8% after placing 20% down, they must pay roughly $3,019 per 30 days, which incorporates not simply their principal and curiosity, however taxes and insurance coverage as effectively, in line with Redfin. To afford that on a month-to-month foundation, a potential purchaser would wish to make $120,773. Redfin considers a month-to-month cost as “inexpensive” if the client is spending not more than 30% of their revenue on housing.Shopping for a median-priced residence at 7% charges In October, Fannie Mae mentioned that it expected the 30-year mortgage to fall to 7.1% within the first quarter of 2024, and go decrease after that, ending the yr at 6.7%. If a house purchaser is paying for the $412,000 residence with a 30-year mortgage at 7% after placing 20% down, they must pay roughly $2,794 per 30 days, which incorporates not simply their principal and curiosity, however taxes and insurance coverage as effectively, Redfin mentioned. To afford that on a month-to-month foundation, a potential purchaser would wish to make a minimum of $111,747 a yr. Shopping for a median-priced residence at 6% charges The Mortgage Bankers Affiliation, an trade group, expects the 30-year to fall to 6.1% by the end of 2024. If a house purchaser is paying for the $412,000 residence with a 30-year mortgage at 6% after placing 20% down, they must pay roughly $2,577 per 30 days, which incorporates not simply their principal, curiosity, taxes, and insurance coverage, Redfin mentioned. To afford that on a month-to-month foundation, a potential purchaser would wish to make a minimum of $103,078 a yr. Actual-estate is far more costly right now than earlier than the pandemic Rising charges have made shopping for a house a way more costly course of than earlier than the coronavirus pandemic. A house purchaser shopping for a median-priced residence right now has to earn 50% greater than they'd have

in the event that they wished to purchase a median-priced residence firstly of the pandemic, Redfin said in a blog post. “Patrons — significantly first-timers — who're dedicated to moving into a house now ought to suppose outdoors the field,” Chen Zhao, economics analysis lead at Redfin, mentioned within the publish.  “Take into account a condominium or townhouse, that are cheaper than a single-family residence, and/or take into account shifting to a extra inexpensive a part of the nation, or a extra inexpensive suburb,” she added. [ad_2]

[c19library]

COVID-19 Interventions

Last Updated September 8, 2023

Masking

Summary: Masking in crowded indoor and outdoor areas is an effective way to protect yourself and others from being infected with COVID-19 because it is airborne and spreads through aerosols.

It is important to point out the distinctions between different kinds of masks/respirators and what they are capable of.

Cloth Masks are no longer recommended unless you are using them to double mask over a surgical mask.

Surgical Masks are somewhat effective at reducing aerosol transmission from you to other people, but are less effective at protecting you from other people. That being said, surgical masks are most effective in situations where most or all people involved are utilizing them properly.

KN95, N95, and respirators above these ratings are more effective than surgical masks at protecting others from you and are capable of protecting you from others regardless of their own masking status. However, one-way masking does not provide as much protection as when all people involved are utilizing respirators.

Published Research

Airborne transmission of COVID-19 and the role of face mask to prevent it: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed (nih.gov) Tabatabaeizadeh, S. (2021).

Face masks to prevent transmission of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed (nih.gov) Li, Y., Liang, M., Gao, L., Ahmed, M. A., Uy, J. P., Cheng, C., Zhou, Q., & Sun, C. (2021).

Articles & Reports

Masks and Respirators (cdc.gov) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, May 11)

Face Masks and COVID-19 | NIH News in Health News in Health. (2021, November). National Institutes of Health.

Mask Types

NIOSH Approved Respirators (N95 and higher)

Approved Particulate Filtering Facepiece Respirators | NPPTL | NIOSH | CDC

KN95

KN95 Masks: When, Where, Why, and How to Wear Them Properly (healthline.com)

Elastomeric Respirators (Reusable)

Elastomeric Respirator Resources | NIOSH | CDC

Ventilation

Summary: Proper ventilation of indoor areas reduces the concentration of COVID-19 in the air and lowers your risk of being infected.

Published Research

Indoor Air and COVID-19 Key References and Publications | US EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2023, July 10).

Articles & Reports

Italian study shows ventilation can cut school COVID cases by 82% | Reuters Reuters. (2022, March 22).

Ventilation and Coronavirus (COVID-19) | US EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2023, June 7).

Improving Ventilation in Your Home | CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, April 13).

Ventilation in Buildings | CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, May 12).

Indoor Air Filters

Summary: HEPA air purifiers and MERV-13 boxes are capable of filtering COVID-19 virus out of the air. On their own, HEPA air filters can reduce exposure to the virus by up to 65%. In combination with masking, exposure to the virus is reduced by 90%.

Published Research

Effectiveness of HEPA Filters at Removing Infectious SARS-CoV-2 from the Air - PubMed (nih.gov) Ueki, H., Ujie, M., Komori, Y., Kato, T., Imai, M., & Kawaoka, Y. (2022).

Efficacy of Portable Air Cleaners and Masking for Reducing Indoor Exposure to Simulated Exhaled SARS-CoV-2 Aerosols — United States, 2021 | MMWR (cdc.gov) Lindsley, W. G., Derk, R. C., Coyle, J. P., Martin, S. B., Mead, K. R., Blachere, F. M., Beezhold, D. H., Brooks, J. T., Boots, T., & Noti, J. D. (2021).

Articles & Reports

Air Cleaners, HVAC Filters, and Coronavirus (COVID-19) | US EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2023, April 25).

Do HEPA Filters Really Catch Coronavirus Particles? | Columbia News Martineau, K. (2021, November 11).

Paxlovid

Summary: Treatment with Paxlovid beginning during the early acute phase of a COVID-19 infection may lower your risk of developing health complications or Long COVID. Currently, there are trials to determine whether or not Paxlovid can also alleviate Long COVID symptoms after the acute phase has passed.

Published Research

Association of Treatment With Nirmatrelvir and the Risk of Post–COVID-19 Condition | Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology | JAMA Internal Medicine | JAMA Network Xie, Y., Choi, T., & Al-Aly, Z. (2023, March 23).

Articles & Reports

Paxlovid reduces risk of Long COVID - VA News Veterans Affairs. (2022, November 6).

Should You Take an Antiviral to Prevent Long COVID? | Time Ducharme, J. (2023, March 23).

The antiviral drug Paxlovid reduces the risk of getting long COVID (sciencenews.org) Saey, T. H. (2023, March 31).

Vaccination

Summary: Vaccination is an essential part of protecting yourself against COVID-19. They have been shown to effectively reduce rates of hospitalization and death. However, this does NOT mean the virus is now harmless to the body or similar to a cold. It may reduce the severity of acute symptoms, but this is not indicative of long-term damage. Additionally, vaccinated people can still spread the virus to others when infected - whether or not they experience symptoms. Therefore, vaccination is only the baseline of implementing COVID-19 interventions, not the end.

The first two doses of the initial inoculation are not enough to protect you from newer strains. You will need boosters created to fight against the latest mutations. It is recommended that you get boosters as often and as soon as possible when you are eligible for an update.

Published Research

Acute and postacute sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection | Nature Medicine Bowe, B., Xie, Y., & Al-Aly, Z. (2022).

Dynamics of inflammatory responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection by vaccination status in the USA: a prospective cohort study - The Lancet Microbe Zhu, X., Geob, K. A., Abraham, A. G., Habtehyimer, F., Patel, E. U., Laeyendecker, O., Gniadek, T. J., Fernandez, R. E., Baker, O. R., Ram, M., ... Tobian, A. A. R. (2023).

[rohitpalan]

Metrology Software Market Set to Double in Value by 2033, Growing at 7.3% CAGR

The global Metrology Software Market reached an impressive valuation of approximately $921.3 million in 2022, as per a report by Future Market Insights (FMI). The market is poised for significant growth, with sales projected to exceed the $1,976.1 million mark by 2033, marking a substantial compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 7.3% from 2023 to 2033.

“A significant growth with increasing demand for budget-friendly yet efficient management solutions in the healthcare and ship building sector will be noticed to automatize the orders based on the percentage of usage, quality and services,” says the FMI Analyst.

Metrology Software – Important Highlights

Metrology software market will hit a CAGR of 6.2% through 2017-2027.

North America is the most lucrative region of this market, reason being advanced equipment and rising awareness of healthcare devices.

There has been an increase in demand and supply for portable measuring devices, this data is only going to rise in the future.

Automotive segment has gained significant momentum among industry verticals and will present a Y-o-Y growth.

Metrology Software – Driving Factors

Rising demands for metrology software in ship building and healthcare verticals to maintain accuracy and consistency, dominates the market scenario.

Engineering and automotive segment will witness opportunities due to need for precise scales, 3D data analysis, and roughness measurements etc.

Adoption of services into development opportunities in industrial, automotive and electronics sector is propelling growth.

Engineering precision tools manufactured in North America requires a great deal of metrology software and demand is high in this region.

Metrology Software – Key Restraints

Budget management is a challenge because high-quality software is usually not affordable.

Adopting metrology software in ship building is a major challenge and it might hinder growth.

Anticipated Market Impact by Coronavirus Outbreak

It’s crystal clear that the pandemic has taken a toll on the market system. Social distancing measures and strict lockdowns have adversely affected the productions and disrupted operations of the end-use companies across the universe. Though the healthcare industry is experiencing an increasing demand for metrology software yet automation and product/service development work is at halt due to lockdown. This has definitely accounted for a decline in revenue of the metrology software. Though the market will experience comfort as the lockdown releases yet the losses can continue to hamper production.

Elevate Your Business Strategy! Purchase the Report for Market-Driven Insights

Competition Landscape

Key players in the market include Rudolph Technologies Inc., FARO Technologies Inc. etc. The companies are focussing on investment plans to improve the development of new products with better features. Apart from unique innovations, leaders are also working on acquisition of regional companies to strengthen global presence.

Taking into consideration, key companies are planning to expand the portfolio of portable measuring devices. New players might find it difficult to make decisions due to limited resources but they can witness steady growth.

Read More@https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/metrology-software-market

[timbranyan]

What Are The Impacts Of Inflation On Businesses Globally?

Just when I thought we had seen it all, locked down in our homes, waiting for the plague to strike. Then came the Russian-Ukraine war, and now, with the impacts of INFLATION on businesses, no doubt, Hades awaits.

Inflation is when prices rise, but the amount of money people have does not rise to match; when the cost of goods exceeds paychecks.

In the face of inflation – the matter of the moment – manufacturers increase their prices, banks double interest rates, fortune 500 companies empower massive layoffs, etc. Clearly, inflation hurts businesses. But at its apex, some businesses are more vulnerable than others. Here’s a detailed overview of the impacts of inflation on businesses, plus insightful strategies to help you scale.

How Does Inflation Impact Businesses Globally?

Inflation impacts businesses differently. How inflation affects your business depends on its unique economic circumstances. Consider factors like:

What industry is my business in?

How are costs rising (or falling)?

What’s the productivity level of my workforce?

What about the nature of my supply chain; are my manufacturers still in play?

Is my business in debt?

Grocery stores, healthcare providers, childcare and other businesses providing essential goods and services tend to be recession-proof even when inflation hits an all-time high.

On the other hand, restaurants, hotels, housing, tourism, fashion and many other discretionary businesses suffer great losses.

Major Impacts Of Inflation On Businesses Globally

1. Devalues Unit of Currency

In the face of inflation, the value of your trading currency declines. This doesn’t mean that a rupee becomes a little less than 100 paise or that dollar drops to cents. Instead, the purchasing power of your currency decreases relative to other currencies.

For instance, a barrel of oil which, in an economy with low inflation, costs around $70, goes up; you might have to spend a few extra dollars, maybe $5, $10 or even $20, depending on the impact of inflation on your business.

Sadly, once inflation hits, exchange rates going downhill is almost inevitable.

2. Decreases Consumers’ Shopping Habit

Inflation occurs when prices and paychecks go out of balance – rising prices; low salaries. When stuff like this happens, consumers run for cover, looking for ways to buy more with less.

That’s why the higher inflation gets, the lesser consumers spend.

As a business owner, expect consumers’ shopping habits to go down. Some consumers might slash discretionary offerings, such as buying electronics off their budget; others might look for cheaper payment alternatives or switch to lower-priced options.

3. Shortages of Raw Materials

Industries worldwide are facing inflation due to the repercussions of global events – from the coronavirus pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine war. So it’s no news that raw material prices are surging across markets.

For instance, copper & CRGO are facing a never before seen price escalation of 55%, and steel & oil prices are constantly rising.

This high market volatility is undoubtedly testing the resilience and reliability of the global supply chain, making raw materials limited and somewhat more expensive.

4. Increased Interest Rates

Policymakers try to keep inflation in check by monitoring and curbing consumers’ spending habits. That’s why the moment inflation hits, interest rates go up. The idea is to dampen consumers’ animal spirit to risk appetite and spend on only the most essential commodities.

As a business owner, this can impact you in two ways. First, you won’t be able to get any low-interest loans; second, consumers will frown and might even walk away the moment you raise your prices.

Read more...