Mississippi has quarantined 20,000 students since the start of the school year

20,000 MS students have been quarantined. TX voting rights standoff ends after Dems return. Afghanistan: Biden commits to bringing home Americans and Afghan allies.

NATIONAL NEWS

About 4500 children have been sickened with COVID since the start of the school year. As a result, over 800 Mississippi schools have quarantined 20,000 students who had exposure to other children. That’s about 5% of all students in Mississippi schools.

State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers called the numbers of children now in quarantine as “dramatic” and said it exceeded the previous peak in terms of its impact on schools. Mississippi’s only pediatric hospital has converted parts of its garage into a field hospital to cope with the rise in admissions.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, throughout the course of the pandemic in the US, fewer than 2% of COVID-19 cases in children have required hospitalization and no more than 0.03% have been fatal.

But this data includes data related to the alpha variant, which rarely affected children. Data is still coming in on the delta variant which, at least anecdotally, seems much more aggressive among children and any unvaccinated group.

Pediatricians across the country have noted recent alarming increases in child hospitalizations with COVID. They also say they’ve noted more severe symptoms among children than was the case with the alpha variant.

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TX voting rights standoff ends as Democrats return to the statehouse

Just a handful of the 50+ Democratic Texas legislator who fled the state last month to block a restrictive elections bill have returned. But this handful is just enough to allow Republican legislators a quorum to pass the bill. Many of the other Democrats who left have also returned to Texas, but not to the statehouse. A small number remain in Washington, lobbying Congress to pass a sweeping nationwide voting rights bill, though their efforts have met with little success.

Now, there is nothing standing in the way of passing the bill. Republicans have already scheduled a hearing for the bill on Saturday. Governor Greg Abbot could have the bill on his desk within a matter of days.

The bill would, among other things, ban drive thru voting and 24-hour polling places. The large and diverse city of Houston introduced these two voting options during the pandemic, which some credit for allowing greater participation by the city’s black and Latino voters. Democrats consider these bans to be a direct attempt by Republicans to restrict voting access for people of color.

Another point of contention for Democrats is a provision to allow partisan poll watchers to have greater access within polling places. Democrats say this provision invites voter intimidation.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Biden commits to evacuate all Americans, Afghan allies from Afghanistan

In his second address this week on the situation in Afghanistan, Biden updated Americans on the efforts to evacuate Americans and Afghan civilians that aided the US war effort. For the moment, the Kabul airport remains the last foothold of US military supremacy in the country, and the sole viable evacuation point. Biden described it as the “largest and most difficult airlift in history”, and detailed the various US military efforts he has dispatched there to assist.

US forces have airlifted about 13,000 people since August 14, when the Taliban seized control of Kabul, and thousands more on charter flights. These include both US citizens and Afghans who assisted in the US war effort.

Biden has received much criticism for the withdrawal itself from both Republicans and Democrats. Despite having little or no political support, Biden has defended his decision to move ahead with the withdrawal, considering the alternative of escalating to meet a resurgent Taliban threat unthinkable.

Afghan allies

Even those who support the withdrawal have criticized the apparent neglect by the US State Department in issuing Special Immigrant Visas to Afghan allies in a timely manner. The delays and disruption have caused confusion among many eligible recipients, many of whom are now unable to make it safely to the airport. Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI), among others in Congress, urged Biden to “move heaven and earth” to expedite the heavily bureaucratic process.

Biden today committed to make every effort to get every Afghan ally they can out of the country. He also expanded this commitment to Afghan women leaders and journalists. But he offered the caveat that the operation is not without risks. Their ability to continue to operate safely largely depends on informal agreements and arrangements with the Taliban, who now control all access roads to the airport.

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Mississippi has quarantined 20,000 students since the start of the school year – National & International News – FRI 20Aug2021

NATIONAL NEWS