More kids were hit by upper airway infections during COVID omicron surge, studies show
During the winter omicron surge, hospitalized coronavirus-positive children were more likely to be hit with COVID-related upper airway infections than at other times of the pandemic, putting them at greater risk of severe disease, new data suggest.
One study found that the rate of upper airway infections — such as a type of bronchitis known as croup — among hospitalized coronavirus-infected children nearly tripled during the omicron era.
“Young children are especially vulnerable to (upper airway infection), given their small and relatively collapsible airways,” according to the study, published recently in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
More than 1 in 5 coronavirus-positive children hospitalized with an upper airway infection developed severe disease, the report said.
“Children with severe (upper airway infection) are at risk of cardiac arrest from rapid-onset upper airway obstruction,” and may require treatment in an intensive care unit, such as sedation and the insertion of a breathing tube.
—Los Angeles Times
Trump administration's $700 million loan to Kansas trucking company under fire in Congress
WASHINGTON — Federal officials Wednesday were asked to investigate whether an Overland Park, Kansas, trucking company broke federal law when securing a $700 million loan through a federal pandemic aid program — a sum that accounted for 95% of the money allocated to the program.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn — who heads a U.S. House of Representatives Committee tasked with investigating waste, fraud and abuse in federal pandemic relief programs — sent a letter to the Treasury Department’s inspector general asking it to investigate whether Yellow Corp., formerly known as YRC, made false claims and statements about its company when requesting the loan from the government, in potential violation of the Federal False Claims Act.
The company called the claims “unsubstantiated” and “demonstrably false.”
Clyburn’s letter comes on the heels of a report by the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis that found the administration of former President Donald Trump ignored the advice of Defense Department experts by granting the company a loan through a program to help firms considered critical to the country’s national security continue to operate through the pandemic.
—The Kansas City Star
Disney targeted by QAnon believers using meme-stock tactics
For weeks now, followers of the fringe conspiracy group QAnon have been spinning theories and falsehoods about Walt Disney Co. online, whipping up a frenzy of negative sentiment against one of America’s best-known corporations.
Posts on Facebook, Twitter and several other platforms have falsely claimed the company has lost $636 million in theme-park reservations and that 350,000 people have canceled their subscriptions to the company’s Disney+ streaming service. Some have even linked to a fake article stating that Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek was arrested for human trafficking and child pornography.
While many of the posts have been taken down and debunked by websites such as Politifact and FactCheck.org, that hasn’t slowed the vitriol against the company on the forums and Telegram channels where believers in QAnon operate. Some of the commentators have even taken a page from the meme stock movement, sharing half-baked strategies to tank Disney’s shares.
“It’s all nonsense, but Q believers love this kind of thing, because it gives them something to fight against,” said Mike Rothschild, author of “The Storm Is Upon Us,” a book about QAnon.
—Bloomberg News
Macron, after dodging tomatoes, has reelection officially confirmed
PARIS — The Constitutional Council in Paris on Wednesday officially confirmed Emmanuel Macron's reelection to a second term as president of France.
Certification of the victory came a short time after he managed to dodge tomatoes thrown in his direction during his first public appearance since Sunday's vote.
Macron was walking through a market in Cergy, a working-class new town northwest of Paris, when a bag of tomatoes was launched at him. They missed and hit another man.
Security personnel protectively raised their hands over the president's head and opened an umbrella. Videos also showed Macron being booed by some people at the market, although others were happy to meet and greet him.
According to the final result of the second-round election, centrist Macron received 58.55% of the votes while his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, garnered 41.45%.
—dpa
