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Nicki Minaj isn’t anti-vax, exactly. That’s why her vaccine resistance is so concerning.

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For many people, Nicki Minaj’s scene-stealing tweets about why she chose not to attend the Met Gala Monday night were peak comedy. <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2021/09/nicki-minaj-didnt-want-to-get-vaccinated-for-2021-met-gala.html">Minaj told several people</a> on social media she’d chosen not to attend the haute couture event because of its <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/met-gala-2021-vaccine-mask-1207059/">requirement</a> that attendees be vaccinated against Covid-19. After she explained her hesitancy in a baffling, <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437532566945341441">instantly viral tweet</a> involving swollen testicles and a canceled wedding, some ignored the more concerning parts of Minaj’s argument in favor of laughing.
While it’s tempting to just focus on the absurdist meme potential of Minaj’s tweets, Minaj’s approach to the vaccine is deeply concerning, both because it reflects a strain of distrust in public policy, health, and science experts and because it presents a cautionary mindset regarding vaccines as a sort of reasonable “middle ground” in the fight between science and anti-vax ideology.
So far, about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html">three-quarters of US adults</a> are at least partially vaccinated against Covid-19, but many of the rest remain reluctant. As vaccinations become <a href="https://www.vox.com/22599791/covid-vaccine-mandate-legal-joe-biden-supreme-court-jacobson-massachusetts-boss-employer">mandatory</a> in many workplaces and schools, and people who are reluctant start discussing their anxieties, Minaj’s cautionary, individualistic approach to getting vaccinated might seem relatable and even reasonable. But this is still a highly dangerous approach rooted in misinformation and a concerning distrust of science.
We might think of it as the mainstreaming of “vaccine caution,” and it’s arguably just as dangerous as outright vaccine science denial.
On Monday afternoon, Minaj responded to a tweet from a fan lamenting her lack of recent public appearances by <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437509201228492800">noting</a> she didn’t want to risk her infant’s health during the pandemic. A few interactions later — including one in which she <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437525002123808772">claimed Drake</a> told her he contracted Covid-19 despite having gotten the vaccine — she <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437526877808128000">tweeted</a>, “They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t [be] for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now.”
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They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one ♥️
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437526877808128000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Since it’s combined with the invocation to wear a mask — advice given by experts who’ve endorsed vaccines — Minaj’s wary approach to the vaccine is a bit confusing. However, it’s nothing compared to what she followed it up with. Apparently, a big part of her reluctance to get vaccinated was based in part on the fate of her Trinidadian cousin’s friend’s nuptials:
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My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437532566945341441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Just to spell it out, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22158238/covid-19-vaccine-side-effects-explained">known side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine</a> do not include testicle swelling (although unfounded concerns about <a href="https://www.vox.com/22639366/covid-19-vaccine-fertility-pregnancy-myths">the vaccine and female fertility</a> have circulated). Without more context about Minaj’s cousin’s friend’s illness, it’s impossible to know more — but it seems highly unlikely his situation had anything to do with Covid-19.
Naturally, this kind of left-field reasoning was widely ridiculed across social media, and Minaj quickly made headlines for peddling coronavirus conspiracies. Yet even as people were lining up to make <a href="https://twitter.com/crissles/status/1437534026324221958">STD references</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ShrillockHolmes/status/1437547522491363332">Met Gala memes</a>, many of Minaj’s fans were responding supportively — especially to her statement about “doing the research.”
“I read up on all the research for MONTHS before I chose to get it,” one reader <a href="https://twitter.com/manda_leigh2010/status/1437536157781434378">responded</a>, referring to the vaccine. “Everyone has the right to read the information given by the FDA and doctors before they take the shot right?”
This belief underlies Minaj’s argument, and it seems to be one that’s held by many other people with similar levels of mistrust in vaccine science.
The problem with “doing one’s own research” is that, as Minaj’s tweets reveal, many people — who haven’t spent years researching viruses and vaccines — don’t have the scientific knowledge needed to evaluate vaccine efficacy without the help of experts. A huge part of the effort to curb Covid-related misinformation has been about trying to get people to understand that vaccination “research” isn’t something many people can just sit down and do on their own. Trying to do so may lead the researcher to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/2/11/18094230/vaccines-facts-measles-autism-dangers">pockets of misinformation</a> that result in a citizen being more poorly informed, not better informed, about the actual health risks of vaccines.
In fact, <a href="https://skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=5142">this kind of thinking</a> can be a direct route to begin interacting with and possibly believing in a wide range of <a href="https://www.vox.com/21558524/conspiracy-theories-2020-qanon-covid-conspiracies-why">conspiracy theories</a>, mainly because there is so much misinformation and disinformation about highly complex subjects, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/6/22521289/fauci-gate-email-covid-19-trump">including Covid-19</a>.
It doesn’t help that some of that disinformation has come from <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/7/26/21338174/covid-19-conspiracy-theories-fauci-sinclair-plandemic">trusted public institutions</a> — including, during the Trump administration, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/10/26/21534380/trump-coronavirus-cases-spike-testing">directly from the US president</a>.
What Minaj’s opinions represent, then, isn’t just her individual lack of knowledge giving rise to wariness over the vaccine. Her fear has been bolstered by <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/2/12/8023611/history-anti-vaccine">years of anti-vax campaigns</a>, as well as general <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/5/22419281/covid-19-vaccines-herd-immunity-hesitancy-anti-vaxxers">public lethargy</a> about actually getting vaccinated.
Minaj’s pushback against pro-vaccine rhetoric isn’t unique to her by any means. Black communities have endured <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/18/17254234/j-marion-sims-experiments-slaves-women-gynecology-statue-removal">centuries</a> of being ruthlessly <a href="https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2018/5/24/17389742/american-health-care-racism">exploited</a>, lied to, and sometimes used in <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/2/18/21134644/black-history-month-2020-myths">unethical medical experiments</a> without their knowledge or consent. They’ve been subjected to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22528334/race-norming-medical-racism">blatantly racist medical practices</a>, all while continually <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.459">bearing some of the worst effects</a> of health epidemics, including Covid-19.
With systemic factors leading to <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/2020/10/2/21496884/us-covid-19-deaths-by-race-black-white-americans">a hugely unequal Covid-19 death toll</a> among Black people last year, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22639366/covid-19-vaccine-fertility-pregnancy-myths">false claims</a> about Covid-19 vaccines continuing to spread, there is substantial mistrust of Covid-19 science among some Black Americans. If Nicki Minaj is in that group, can she really be blamed for it?
Well, yes and no — because Minaj’s tweets arguably have a powerful influence over the way her 22 million Twitter followers approach the subject of vaccination. If Minaj’s faith in science and health officials has been undermined and she’s subsequently encouraging followers to trust their intuition over that of health experts, she’s promoting a distrust of science in general that could have seriously damaging repercussions.
What Minaj seems to be arguing for, however, isn’t outright vaccine rejection. She even <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437534182117306368">went on to say</a>, “I’m sure I’ll [be] vaccinated as well cuz I have to go on tour.” Her cautionary, individualistic approach to getting vaccinated, however, might still do damage.
Minaj immediately began attempting to soften her harsher statements about the vaccine. She <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437539494664626177">asked</a> her followers which vaccine they’d recommend, and commented that taking the vaccine with no side effects is “<a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437535078867816451">the norm</a>.” She also went on to say she “<a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437534182117306368">def recommend[s]</a>” that people whose jobs or countries mandate vaccination do so, and admitted she’d probably get the vaccine herself. She also <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437577084268802048">reiterated</a> that her main reason for skipping out on the Met Gala was to protect her 1-year-old son.
She then <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437576473691389954">pointed</a> to a couple of her own tweets to argue that she had never expressed opposition to the vaccine. Minaj’s support clearly seems to be aimed at preventing job loss in circumstances where the vaccine is mandatory. The subtext seems to be a reluctant acceptance that workers can’t always be able to choose to go unvaccinated, rather than Minaj enthusiastically supporting vaccination itself.
Minaj’s overall attitude seems to be a kind of wary caution and a “DIY” approach to science. That might reflect a new “wave” of vaccine rhetoric adopted by many people who don’t strictly identify as anti-vax but who are still <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/5/22419281/covid-19-vaccines-herd-immunity-hesitancy-anti-vaxxers">reluctant</a> to actually get their shot.
Surveys have found that <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/353081/one-five-americans-remain-vaccine-resistant.aspx">most unvaccinated adults</a> say they are unlikely to change their minds and get the vaccine. Others who have not gotten the shot may be “<a href="https://www.webmd.com/special-reports/covid-vaccine-hesitancy/20210901/covid-19-vaccine-in-betweeners-who-they-are-why-theyre-hesitant">in-betweeners</a>” — people who aren’t anti-vax but who are still in a kind of wait-and-see holding pattern.
These holdouts could make a substantial difference in how effective the Covid-19 vaccines can be. The higher the vaccinated population, the more the vaccines can <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22291959/covid-vaccines-transmission-protect-spread-virus-moderna-pfizer">reduce transmission</a> of the disease. Fully vaccinated people can resume living their lives somewhat normally, and their confidence and health may likely help sway even those who’ve firmly decided against the vaccine.
Instead, Minaj’s “middle-of-the-road” approach might become a new avenue for expressing distrust in science while still acquiescing to the necessity of vaccination.
The problem with this is that the efficacy of vaccines never has been, and shouldn’t be, a matter of public debate. With the exception of the original scientific study that began the modern anti-vax movement, which used <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/2/27/17057990/andrew-wakefield-vaccines-autism-study">false and fraudulent research</a> to create fear, vaccines have always been part of scientifically established medical practice. They are safe, effective, and necessary for combating the spread of countless viral diseases.
The “do your research and decide what’s right for you” approach that celebrities like Minaj seem to be endorsing is a disingenuous view. It undermines centuries of epidemiology and important work to fight diseases by suggesting that vaccine safety boils down to how you, personally, feel about vaccines. But the question of whether vaccines are safe isn’t up for debate. The answer is simple: yes.
Minaj’s reluctance to say yes is unfortunate — but it’s important to note she’s far from the only celebrity who’s <a href="https://ew.com/celebrity/joe-rogan-clarifies-controversial-vaccine-comments-im-not-anti-vax/">waffled</a> about vaccine efficacy, <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/morgansloss1/celebrities-anti-vax-statements">spread misinformation</a>, or <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/celebrities-who-have-gotten-the-vaccine">outright rejected</a> the vaccine. Minaj’s tweets are particularly significant, however, because they weren’t totally anti-vax — and because they came at a moment when all eyes were on her because of her absence from the Met Gala. Thus, many, many people saw Minaj presenting personal ambivalence as an alternative to promoting and trusting science and being responsible about getting vaccinated.
We may be making “My cousin in Trinidad” jokes for a long while to come. The unfortunate influence of Minaj’s vaccine resistance could last even longer.
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vox Nicki Minaj isn’t anti-vax, exactly. That’s why her vaccine resistance is so concerning.

For many people, Nicki Minaj’s scene-stealing tweets about why she chose not to attend the Met Gala Monday night were peak comedy. Minaj to...

Californians Vote To Keep Democratic Governor: US Media Projections

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Californians Vote To Keep Democratic Governor: US Media Projections" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/a4c509ek_gavin-newsom_625x300_15_September_21.jpg" title="Californians Vote To Keep Democratic Governor: US Media Projections" /></div>
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a campaign rally. (File)
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Los Angeles:
Californians voted overwhelmingly to keep their Democratic governor Tuesday, roundly rejecting a Republican attempt to unseat him in a special recall vote spurred by mask mandates and Covid lockdowns.
Gavin Newsom handily survived an effective confidence vote that could have seen him replaced by a Republican with only minority support in one of the most liberal parts of the United States.
With more than 60 percent of the votes tallied, NBC, CNN and Fox News said that Newsom was set to prevail, with two thirds voting against the effort.
"'No' is not the only thing that was expressed tonight," Newsom said in Sacramento moments after the race was called.
"I want to focus on what we said yes to, as a state. We said yes to science, we said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic."
Newsom acted quickly as the pandemic took hold of California, ordering people to stay home and shuttering schools, in moves praised by scientists.
But entrepreneurs blamed him for suffocating their businesses with his rules, and parents chaffed at keeping their children home.
The vote had been eagerly watched by politicians across the deeply-divided country as a possible indicator of how incumbents who listened to doctors -- instead of angry constituents -- would fare at the ballot box.
Newsom's main opponent was Larry Elder, 69, a right-wing talk radio star who has spoken proudly of his support for ex-president Donald Trump.
Before polls even closed, Elder took a page out of Trump's 2020 election playbook, launching a website alleging voter fraud and demanding state officials "investigate and ameliorate the twisted results" of the election.
At what he had previously billed as a "Victory Party", Elder's supporters continued that theme as the results came in.
"We don't believe those polls right?" asked Kelly Ernby of a crowd sprinkled with "Make America Great Again" red hats.
The ballot was a two part referendum, with the first asking if 53-year-old Newsom should stay in office.
The second, which only came into play if a majority wanted him out, asked which of 46 candidates should take his place.
Traditional politicians vied with a YouTube star, a "Billboard Queen" and Kardashian clan member Caitlyn Jenner for the spoils.
'Get rid'
The recall initiative, which has cost the state some $280 million, is one of 55 such efforts to depose a governor in state history.
Mostly they have gone nowhere, but pandemic measures Newsom imposed gave this attempt legs.
The petition to remove him gathered pace after he was snapped having dinner at a swanky restaurant, seemingly in breach of his own Covid-19 rules, fueling a perception he was an out-of-touch hypocrite.
Mary Beth, a 63-year-old business owner who cast her ballot Tuesday in Los Angeles, said she voted to "get rid of Newsom" because "the virus created chaos in our economy but he made it even worse with his lockdowns."
"There were other ways to handle that and he should have made businesses the priority," she said.
Another pro-recall voter told AFP he wanted someone who would not impose vaccine mandates -- a hot button issue throughout the divided United States.
"I feel very strongly that we need to get rid of our governor because I think he's just a corrupt Democrat, like the people we have in the federal government and we need them out," said Farid Efraim.
"We need somebody who really represents the people."
Democrats complain the Republican-led recall was an attempt to hijack the state's government: seizing power in extraordinary circumstances when they could never do it in a regular ballot.
A poll by Spectrum News and IPSOS published before results were announced found two-thirds of registered voters viewed the recall as a political power grab.
'Ridiculous'
California's electoral rules set the recall bar low.
Malcontents need only gather signatures equivalent to 12 percent of the number of people who voted in the last election -- in this case, 1.5 million.
California's population is around 40 million.
"This whole recall is ridiculous," said Jake, a 38-year-old tech industry worker, who preferred not to give his last name.
"I did the math and even if every registered voter turns out, it would cost more than $12 per vote," he said.
"A lot of people could have had a breakfast with that this morning."
The only successful California recall brought bodybuilder-turned-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to office in 2003.
"The Governator," who ended up running the state for more than seven years, was California's last Republican chief executive.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/californians-vote-to-keep-democratic-governor-us-media-projections-2541270">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/californians-vote-to-keep-democratic-governor-us-media-projections-2541270</a>

news world Californians Vote To Keep Democratic Governor: US Media Projections

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a campaign rally. (File) Los Angeles: Californians voted overwhelmingly to keep their De...

North Korea Fires 2 Ballistic Missiles: South Korean Military

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="North Korea Fires 2 Ballistic Missiles: South Korean Military" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2019-06/1d5dqf78_missile-generic-rocket-generic_625x300_05_June_19.jpg" title="North Korea Fires 2 Ballistic Missiles: South Korean Military" /></div>
North Korea fired an unidentified projecticle, South Korea's military said. (Representational)
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Seoul:
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, according to the South's military, as China's foreign minister visited Seoul -- Pyongyang's second launch in less than a week.
Analysts said the timing was an unmistakable signal to Beijing, the North's key diplomatic ally and main partner for trade and aid -- although at times their relationship has been deeply strained.
Pyongyang is under a self-imposed blockade after closing its borders early last year to protect itself against the coronavirus pandemic.
The nuclear-armed North fired "two unidentified ballistic missiles" from its central inland area into the sea off its east coast, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
"South Korean and US intelligence agencies are conducting detailed analysis," they added, without immediately giving details of the missiles' range.
The launch came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Seoul for talks with his South Korean counterpart.
Speaking before the news emerged, Wang hoped that all countries would help "peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula", Yonhap news agency reported.
"For example, not only the North, but also other countries are engaging in military activities," he added.
"Having said this, we all have to work together toward the resumption of dialogue."
North Korea is under international sanctions for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which it says it needs to defend itself against a US invasion.
Talks with the United States have been stalled since the collapse of a 2019 summit in Hanoi between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-president Donald Trump over sanctions relief -- and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.
Kim did not visit China for more than six years after inheriting power from his father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, and tensions mounted in the allies' relationship.
But subsequently, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping met several times, and Beijing sees the North as very much part of its sphere of influence.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Wednesday's launch "looks like North Korea's indirect message and even request to Beijing for the Korean peninsula to be addressed as a central agenda issue for China".
"At the same time, Pyongyang seems to be claiming and stressing that North Korea is taking the lead in the Korean peninsula issue," he added.
Cruise missiles
Wednesday's launches came days after the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that it had test-fired a new "long-range cruise missile" over the weekend, calling it a "strategic weapon of great significance".
Pictures in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Monday showed a missile exiting one of five tubes on a launch vehicle in a ball of flame, and a missile in horizontal flight.
Such a weapon would represent a marked advance in North Korea's weapons technology, analysts said, better able to avoid defence systems to deliver a warhead across the South or Japan -- both of them US allies.
The missiles fired at the weekend travelled 1,500-kilometres (about 930 miles), on two-hour flight paths -- including figure-of-eight patterns -- above North Korea and its territorial waters to hit their targets, according to KCNA.
Pyongyang is not banned from developing cruise missiles, which it has tested previously.
The North's weapons programmes have made rapid progress under Kim, but it has not carried out a nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile launch since 2017.
The US, Japanese and South Korean envoys on the North met in Tokyo earlier this week when Washington's representative Sung Kim re-iterated: "We hope that the DPRK will respond positively to our multiple offers to meet without preconditions."
The US was willing to "address areas of humanitarian concerns regardless of progress on denuclearisation", in keeping with international standards for access and monitoring, he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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news world North Korea Fires 2 Ballistic Missiles: South Korean Military

North Korea fired an unidentified projecticle, South Korea's military said. (Representational) Seoul: North Korea fired two ballist...

$7,000 All-In-One Kits, Remote Work Goes Luxury, But Many May Be Left Out

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="$7,000 All-In-One Kits, Remote Work Goes Luxury, But Many May Be Left Out" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/d63sl3m4_wfh-650_625x300_15_September_21.jpg" title="$7,000 All-In-One Kits, Remote Work Goes Luxury, But Many May Be Left Out" /></div>
Facebook has unveiled online "workrooms" for users of its Oculus virtual reality gear
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Washington:
Virtual reality meetings, $7,000 all-in-one kits and digital hot desking: Big Tech is rolling out premium tools as the work-from-home era looks set to last well beyond the pandemic.
But experts warn that while top-of-the-line features may benefit privileged Americans, millions of others can barely access remote work tools already available.
Facebook has unveiled online "workrooms" for users of its Oculus virtual reality gear, and Google showed off interactive conferencing displays, declaring the "hybrid" mix of in-person and remote work is here to stay.
Yet outside of Silicon Valley and other urban centers, basics like a fast internet connection and proficiency in remote tech is beyond the reach of tens of millions in the United States.
"For many people, being able to work from home is still a luxury," said Michelle Burris, a senior policy associate at progressive think tank The Century Foundation.
One reason is access to high-speed connections, with advocacy group BroadbandNow saying in a May report that 42 million Americans -- about 13 percent of the population -- cannot get broadband internet.
Another problem is equipment as many workers have to buy their own.
Take the example of Patricia McGee in Texas -- a 39-year-old mother of four who switched from an Amazon warehouse job to remote customer service work for another company when pandemic lockdowns hit about 18 months ago.
She had to plunk down $2,000 to get a computer, not to mention the price of internet and the process of installing software and updates.
"Not everybody can afford a computer. So it's taking jobs from people that can't (buy one) or actually don't have the skills (to use one)," she told AFP.
Her machine broke a few days ago and because she had exhausted her paid time off, McGee can't work or make money until her computer is back online.
Risk of being left out
The digital divisions exposed by the pandemic are well-documented with striking examples like families using the wireless internet at fast food restaurants so their children could attend school online.
As schools and workplaces have, in many areas, moved gradually back toward in-person activity, some inequalities have been eased.
But a percentage of workers have come to appreciate the flexibility and utility of a "hybrid" mix where they can work from home sometimes.
"It's one of these innocuous seeming things that looks like it's convenience but it can be -- unless we really address and acknowledge it -- another tool for increasing inequality," said Monica Sanders, a Georgetown University professor.
Sanders noted that this is different than other technological developments, like the latest smartphone or even having a videocassette player when the machines revolutionized home entertainment.
They didn't "impact your earning power or where you live or how you work," she said.
The change in how people work has not gone unnoticed for employers, with digital skills for zoom presentation or remote management tools working their way into job ads.
Author and remote work expert Rhiannon Payne said virtual reality will become as normal a part of how people do their jobs as cell phones and laptops.
She agreed the risks of excluding people cannot be ignored, but also that high tech tools can make life better.
"Companies are trying to find ways to make remote work genuinely easier and to help us increase connections with our colleagues," she told AFP.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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Thousands Of Covid-Like Infections Show Risk Of Next Pandemic

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Thousands Of Covid-Like Infections Show Risk Of Next Pandemic" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/rqid1ldo_risk-of-next-pandemic-bloomberg-_625x300_15_September_21.jpg" title="Thousands Of Covid-Like Infections Show Risk Of Next Pandemic" /></div>
No evidence supporting the coronavirus lab-leak theory has emerged.
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Hundreds of thousands of people may be infected annually by animals carrying coronaviruses related to the one that causes Covid-19 each year in China and Southeast Asia, according to a study emphasizing the ongoing pandemic threat from spillover events.
An average of 400,000 such infections occur annually, most going unrecognized because they cause mild or no symptoms and aren't easily transmitted between people, researchers with the EcoHealth Alliance and Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School said in a study released Thursday before peer review and publication. Still, each spillover represents an opportunity for viral adaptation that could lead to a Covid-like outbreak
The question of where and how the virus that causes Covid emerged has become particularly contentious, with some leaders blaming a hypothetical leak from a lab in Wuhan, China that studies the pathogens. The research, supported by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, builds on evidence that bats are the main host-animals for viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and that people living near their roosts are especially vulnerable.
"This is probably the first attempt to estimate how often people are infected with SARS-related coronaviruses from bats," said Edward Holmes, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Sydney who wasn't involved in the research. Humans are continually exposed to bat coronaviruses, he said. "Given the right set of circumstances, one of these could eventually lead to a disease outbreak."
Almost two dozen bat species that can be infected by coronaviruses dwell in an area of Asia more than six times the size of Texas, with southern China and parts of Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia deemed the riskiest for spillovers. Peter Daszak and colleagues at the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance used bat distribution modeling and ecological and epidemiological data to estimate the risk of exposure to SARS-related coronaviruses, and the rate of unreported bat-to-human infections in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The approach provides proof of concept for a systematic risk assessment of wildlife-to-human spillover events and a strategy to identify key geographic areas that can be prioritized for targeted surveillance of wildlife, livestock, and humans, the researchers said.
"Given the challenges of identifying the origins of Covid-19 and pathways by which SARS-CoV-2 spilled over to people, this approach may also aid efforts to identify the geographic sites where spillover first occurred," they said in the study.
Competing Theories
Almost two years since Covid began infecting people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, scientists are yet to determine the pandemic's genesis. Daszak, who supports the theory of wildlife source, has been criticized for collaborating on National Institutes of Health-funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology on lab studies that some scientists say may have led to the creation of a progenitor virus.
No evidence supporting the lab-leak theory has emerged. Last month, the U.S. intelligence community ruled out the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 was developed by China as a biological weapon, but no consensus was reached on its origin.
Daszak's study estimated a median of 50,000 bat-to-human spillover events occur in Southeast Asia annually and said the number could run into the millions.
Animal Intermediaries
That makes the risk of exposure to animal viruses in nature "far, far greater than any possible exposure in a lab," Holmes said. "And this is just bats. The risk of exposure is even higher when you factor in all the possible 'intermediate' animal species."
These include mink, civets, raccoon dogs, and other mammals commonly farmed and traded for food and fur in Asia, according to the research. It said 14 million people were employed in wildlife farming in China alone in 2016 -- an industry worth $77 billion annually.
In Asia, about 478 million people live in an area inhabited by coronavirus-carrying bats, covering most of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, Bhutan, peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, southeast China, and the western islands of Indonesia, the study said.
 
 
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No evidence supporting the coronavirus lab-leak theory has emerged. Hundreds of thousands of people may be infected annually by animals ...

After 3-Month Covid Lockdown, Sydney Lifts Curbs As New Cases Stabilise

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="After 3-Month Covid Lockdown, Sydney Lifts Curbs As New Cases Stabilise" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/av1p60so_sydney-reuters-650_625x300_23_August_21.jpg" title="After 3-Month Covid Lockdown, Sydney Lifts Curbs As New Cases Stabilise" /></div>
Coronavirus: Sydney had been under a lockdown for almost six months amid delta variant surge.
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Sydney:
Sydney authorities moved to lift curfews for coronavirus hotpots Wednesday, as infection numbers stabilised and vaccination rates surged.
Almost three months after activity in Australia's largest city was frozen by lockdown orders, state authorities announced easing restrictions for the worst-hit areas.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the 9 pm to 5 am curfew for virus hotspots would be lifted from Wednesday, in what Sydneysiders hope signals the beginning of the end of a long lockdown.
Infection rates appear to have plateaued at around 1,300 a day and 80 percent of people in Australia's most populous state have received at least one vaccine dose.
"We've seen a stabilisation in the last few days," said state premier Berejiklian, while urging residents to continue to be vigilant and respect stay-at-home orders.
"We don't want to see that trend go the wrong way."
Most Sydney residents can only leave home to buy food, exercise outdoors or seek medical treatment.
Schools, bars, restaurants and offices have been closed since late June and residents are not allowed more than five kilometres (three miles) from their homes.
Berejiklian has said many restrictions will lift when 70 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, sometime in October.
"We know it's been a struggle but there are only a few weeks left before we get to 70 percent double dose," she said.
An 18-month-old ban on Australians leaving the country is set to expire in mid-December, raising the prospect that international travel could also resume.
Researchers at the Burnet Institute said this week that it appears that restrictions on hotspots introduced in late August have "worked to halt the rise in cases".
But they warned restrictions would still be needed to stem outbreaks.
Authorities have said reopening will only apply to those who are fully vaccinated.
"It's black and white. If you're not vaccinated, you can't go to a restaurant. You can't go to a cafe," Berejiklian said.
During much of the pandemic, Australia saw some of the world's lowest infection rates as it pursued a policy of "zero Covid" -- suppressing the spread of the virus with aggressive contact tracing, testing and quarantine.
The fast-spreading Delta variant forced that strategy to be abandoned in favour of stepping up once-glacial vaccination rates.
Berejiklian warned that with 20 percent of people still completely unvaccinated, hospitalisations and deaths are likely to spike even as Sydney reopens.
"The next couple of months will be the most pleasing in terms of getting out of the lockdown but also the most challenging," she said.
"We will have to balance every day, the risks between putting pressure on the hospital system, but also allowing people to live freely and allowing businesses to start up again."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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news world After 3-Month Covid Lockdown, Sydney Lifts Curbs As New Cases Stabilise

Coronavirus: Sydney had been under a lockdown for almost six months amid delta variant surge. Sydney: Sydney authorities moved to lift ...