Coronavirus
First Americans vaccinated as U.S. death toll passes 300,000
An intensive care unit nurse became the first person in the United States to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, calling it a sign that “healing is coming,” as the U.S. coronavirus death toll crossed a staggering 300,000 lives lost. Sandra Lindsay, who has treated some of the sickest COVID-19 patients for months, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the New York City borough of Queens, an early epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, receiving applause on a livestream with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said. “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. “I want to instil...
Ticketmaster’s Arbitration Policy Again Enforced in Dispute Over Pandemic Refunds
Ticketmaster filed a motion to compel arbitration. It argued that Hansen, like anyone else who buys concert tickets through its site, agreed to its terms of use which contains an arbitration agreement. In September, both Ticketmaster and StubHub prevailed on similar motions in disputes brought by baseball fans. There, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer found that the click-through agreements users interact with while signing into the site and buying tickets are sufficient to provide notice of the policy and constitute mutual assent to an arbitration agreement. That’s one of the arguments Hansen made here; he didn’t read the terms of use and was unaware it included an arbitration provision and therefore he couldn’t have assented. U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen isn’...
All the Musicians Who Have Spoken Out About Having Coronavirus
Here are the artists who have opened up about having the coronavirus. Ashanti Just hours before her Dec. 12 Verzuz battle against Keyshia Cole, Ashanti revealed that she had contracted the virus. “Hey y’all I can’t believe I’m saying this but I tested positive for COVID-19. I’m ok and not in any pain,” she shared on Instagram. In a video she posted to the social media platform later, Ashanti said, “Never in a millions years did I think I would get COVID.” The music event was eventually canceled. Gloria Estefan In December, the Cuban-American legend took to social media to share her experience with COVID-19 after testing positive on Nov. 8. “In the past few weeks I have been one of the victims of COVID,” she shared. “Oct...
Lagos governor responding to treatment – commissioner
Lagos State Health Commissioner, Akin Abayomi, says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is responding well to home-based care and treatment for COVID-19. “Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is responding well to COVID-19 home-based care and treatment. He is in high spirit and very appreciative of all your prayers and well wishes. “I will be keeping the public informed regularly of Mr Governor’s recovery and wellbeing,” Abayomi stated in a two-part-tweet update on Sunday night. The commissioner had announced last night that the governor tested positive for coronavirus and has been in isolation since on Friday following contact with persons infected with the virus. Lagos is a major entry point in Nigeria with over 60% of incoming passenger traffic going through the Murtala Muhammed International...
Saturday Night Live Has Officially Moved on from the Election to the Pandemic
Since taking several post-election weeks off, following a record-setting six live shows in a row, Saturday Night Live has been in a period of relative calm. Things seem back to normal even: They’re two shows into their usual three-show December lineup; the set was decorated for the holidays this week; and next weekend sees another alum-hosted episode — an unofficial pre-Christmas tradition. What’s more, Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin, and Maya Rudolph have been MIA for two weeks in a row, and those labored debate sketches are a thing of the past. In a sense, SNL has felt almost like comfort food. In lieu of room-temperature political takes, the show has re-shifted its focus over the last two episodes to the ensuing pandemic. It’s an understandable pivot, seeing how December has seen some of the ...
CMAs Deny Indoor Awards Ceremony Responsible for Charley Pride’s Death
Country music legend Charley Pride died Saturday of COVID-19 complications, a month and a day after accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Country Music Association Awards. Now, the CMA has issued a statement denying that their decision to host a gigantic indoor party during a pandemic could have contributed to the icon’s death. The 2020 awards were a total shit show before they even began, with the Association warning artists to stay away from politics, and several nominees and winners bowing out after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Now, after Pride’s death, the CMA has come under a fresh barrage of criticism. In a since-deleted tweet, superstar Maren Morris wrote that while she didn’t want to “jump to conclusions,” before the family released a statement, “if this was ...
Germany to close most shops from December 16-January 10 – draft proposal
Germany is planning to close most shops from Wednesday until Jan. 10 as it tightens coronavirus restrictions and tries to rein in the spread of the disease, according to a draft government proposal seen by Reuters on Sunday. The draft was prepared head of a meeting later in the day between Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders. She has favoured stricter pan-German measures but was previously unable to get agreement from the nation’s 16 states. However, some states have since clamped down on their own, and momentum supporting stricter harmonized measures has been building. The draft proposal would allow only essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as banks, to remain open. Schools will also be basically closed during the period, and employers will be asked to close...
Defying Pandemic Woes, Live Entertainment Giant OVG Showed New Growth in 2020
One company, however, has not only avoided layoffs completely but actually hired more than 50 executives in the last two months to assist with a growing portfolio of venues and development initiatives. The Oak View Group, founded by former AEG chief executive Tim Leiweke, has been a quiet but persistent force for prosperity and economic development during the pandemic. Launched in 2015 along with Leiweke’s partner Irving Azoff, OVG is overseeing $4.5 billion in arena development projects across the world, including in Austin, Texas. There, the company made its most recent high profile hire, announcing that Casey Sparks, who previously managed the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma for ASM Global for six years, was joining the company. Sparks will serve as vp of OVG Austin and assista...
Rick Rubin Charged with Breaking Hawaii’s COVID-19 Quarantine Protocols
Famed producer Rick Rubin has been charged with violating Hawaii’s COVID-19 quarantine protocols, according to the local Kauai newspaper The Garden Island. His next court date is February 9th, 2021. Kauai County and the state of Hawaii require off-island visitors to quarantine for 14 days. But on September 2nd, Rubin was spotted walking along Anini Beach near his resort before his two-week isolation had ended. The beach was empty, and Rubin was alone except for a member of the paparazzi that had reportedly been following him since his arrival on the island. A passerby took a cell phone video and reported Rubin to the authorities. The infraction carries a maximum fine of $5,000 and potential jail time. Since Rubin was strolling on a deserted beach, and not hosting superspreader parties...
FDA: Independent committee recommends authorization of coronavirus vaccine
An independent committee of experts recommended Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration authorize the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 16. Now, the FDA will decide whether to follow that recommendation. The agency could announce a decision within days. If they do authorize the vaccine, health care workers could begin receiving the shots almost immediately. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met all day to review data on the vaccine, discuss plans for distribution, and outline plans for continued research. FDA scientists published a report about the vaccine on Tuesday, which analyzed data from the pharmaceutical companies and found that the vaccine was safe and 95 percent at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. Data fro...
NCDC: Many health workers still doubt existence of coronavirus
Oladipo Ogunbode, assistant director, department of prevention programmes and management, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says it is surprising that health workers still doubt the existence of COVID-19. According to newsmen, Ogunbode stated this on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at a conference to mark the 2020 health week, themed: “Outbreak of Disease in Nigeria: Are We Ready?” Ogunbode said it is hard to understand how health workers who had come in contact with victims of COVID-19 in the line of duty, still doubted the existence of the virus. “Health workers should create awareness on COVID-19, but many of them still doubt its existence. We must work hard to remove such doubt,” he said. “It’s amazing and inexplicable for medics to doubt the fact that the pandemic was a real...
Live Nation President Says Concerts Will Resume in Summer 2021
Following the cancellation of almost all large-scale shows in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, live music fans have been hoping for some sign of good news as to when they can return to attending concerts. Though answers on when that will happen have varied, Live Nation President Joe Berchtold is feeling pretty optimistic. In a chat on CNBC’s Squawk Alley on Monday, Berchtold said that he expects live tours to resume in summer 2021. He cited the news of a vaccine that is nearly ready to be distributed as the cause for his optimism. “We start to see with much greater clarity what the path to return to live is, and certainly a lot of confidence about that return to live,” he said. Berchtold pointed to shows coming back in Asia and New Zealand as signs of progress. Berchtol...
