Monday, December 28, 2020
Sunday, December 27, 2020
US requires tests for UK air travelers over concerns about COVID-19 variant “two completely independent lineages”
A new virus variant that was detected in the U.K. has a mutation occurring at a site common with the South African strain, known as 501.V2, but they are “two completely independent lineages”, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement late Thursday.
The U.S. will require passengers flying from the U.K. to show proof of a negative test for coronavirus, amid rising concerns over a more-contagious COVID-19 strain that is spreading after first emerging in England.
Travelers arriving from the U.K. need to get a negative polymerase chain reaction or antigen test no more than 72 hours before leaving, according to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said the order will be signed by President Donald Trump on Friday and come into effect Dec. 28.
Regions from Hong Kong to Canada have temporarily suspended travel from the U.K. as the new coronavirus variant alarmed scientists and governments around the world. Early analysis suggests it may be as much as 70% more transmissible than other circulating strains.
Passengers from the U.K. must provide written documentation of their test to their airline, according to the CDC statement. Carriers must confirm the negative result for all passengers boarding, and deny entry to those who don’t take a test. The CDC said earlier this week that the new variant described in the U.K. could already be circulating in the U.S. undetected.
Governments around the world are also taking action as a fast-spreading variant sweeps through South Africa, with the U.K. banning flights from that country. Hong Kong banned all recent travelers from South Africa and extended a mandatory quarantine for most other visitors in an attempt to prevent a spread of COVID-19 cases in the city.
South Africa, meanwhile, has pushed back against the U.K., rejecting allegations that a new COVID variant was contributing to a second wave of U.K. infections.
Central and Southern California hospitals are overrun Have 0 Percent I.C.U. Capacity
The situation is now out of control, officials and health care workers have warned. At Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles, resources are so stretched that gurneys have been placed in the gift shop and the lobby is being used to treat patients. And keeping health care facilities sufficiently staffed has been yet another hurdle.
California, the wealthiest and most populous state of the world’s wealthiest country, has long had a dearth of hospital beds — just 1.8 beds per 1,000 people, according to 2018 data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Now a record-shattering slew of coronavirus cases has wiped out intensive care unit capacity in a large swath of the state.
Southern California, its most populous region, and San Joaquin Valley, a central region, have 0 percent I.C.U. capacity, keeping them under a stay-at-home order until at least Dec. 28, the California Department of Public Health said on Saturday.
Intensive care units in the Bay Area region are at 11.3 percent capacity and the Greater Sacramento Region has 16.9 percent capacity. Both will likely remain under the order at least into the new year.
Before the pandemic, California’s ratio of hospital beds per person was only slightly higher than Washington State and Oregon, both of which ranked last in the nation. Many of the state’s hospitals kept their number of beds low in part to limit costs.
I.C.U. beds have been limited as well: California only had 2.1 beds per 10,000 people, more plentiful than just 10 other states, according to KFF’s 2018 data.
California is the first U.S. state to report more than 2 million coronavirus cases so far. On Friday, the weekly average of new cases per day in the state was 36,418, according to a New York Times database. That is a 21 percent increase from two weeks prior.
Saturday, December 26, 2020
The King Cake Tradition, Explained along with the 12 days of Christmas, 12-25/1-5
Americans usher in the new year with diets and lifestyle resolutions galore, but many people across the globe — particularly those from predominantly Catholic countries — celebrate the calendar change with a sweet pastry known as king cake. It first appears in bakery cases at the beginning of each year and can be found at the center of celebrations through early spring. Some associate it with Mardi Gras, others with a celebration known as Epiphany.
King cake is eaten on January 6 in honor of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, which historically marks the arrival of the three wise men/kings in Bethlehem who delivered gifts to the baby Jesus. (The plastic baby hidden inside king cakes today is a nod to this story.) King cake also appears on tables throughout the Carnival season, which runs from Epiphany to Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent), at which point practitioners typically abstain from such indulgences as cake.
The pastry goes by different names around the world, and comes in varying shapes and styles. Here now, an exploration of the history of this baked good, the traditions surrounding it, and a brief look at king cakes across the globe
These two links go to different branches of the same family, Mr. Sal Randazzo Patriarch and Baker fed me so many petit fours, and king cakes from the very same recipe at his Hilan Bakery in violet Louisiana, Next door was Jerrys "Camilia" club, named after Mr. Jerrys wife, and Mr. Sals Daughter Daughter Camille, I try my best to never eat anything but a Randazzos King Cake.
The choice is yours to order and have shipped, either one will satisfy your sweet tooth.
Manny Randazzos Randazzos Camelia City
What is king cake?
A sweet, circular pastry, cake, or bread that is the centerpiece of a historically Catholic celebration known as Epiphany, which falls on January 6. Today it takes on many different forms and is found at a variety of similar celebrations with religious origins. Most Americans are likely familiar with Louisiana-style king cakes that consist of a cake-y bread dough twisted into a ring and decorated with colored icing and sprinkles. Variants can be made from cake batter or bread dough or pastry, but almost all versions are shaped into a circle or oval to mimic the appearance of a king’s crown.
Every king cake contains a trinket — often a small figurine in the shape of a baby — which plays a crucial part in the celebration of the holiday that inspired this pastry. Whomever finds the trinket in their slice of cake gets to be the “king” for a day.
Where did it originate?
King cake is said to have originated in Old World France and Spain and came to be associated with Epiphany during the Middle Ages. When it was brought to the New World (along with Catholicism and Christianity), the tradition evolved further.
In New Orleans, king cake and Mardi Gras go hand in hand: The cakes can be found starting in early January and are available up until Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. The symbolic bean or baby baked (or embedded) into the king cake is important to Mardi Gras celebrations because the person who gets the piece containing the baby must host the next year’s celebration.
How is it made?
To make it, sweet dough is twisted into a round and sometimes adorned with colored sugar doughs before being baked. Some versions are split and then filled with cream or fruit; others are topped with candied fruit, icing, and colored sugar. Louisiana-style king cake is almost always decorated in the colors associated with Mardi Gras: green, gold, and purple (representing faith, power, and justice).
Why is there a plastic baby inside my king cake?
While there’s a long history of hiding trinkets inside king cakes, the modern tradition of a small plastic baby started in New Orleans. A commercial bakery called McKenzie's popularized the baby trinket that was baked into cakes back in the 1950s; they were originally made of porcelain but later swapped out for an easier-to-find plastic version. These days the plastic baby figurine is typically sold along with the already-baked cake and hidden by the purchaser, rather than coming baked inside (due to concerns about eating something that’s been baked around a piece of plastic). The baby represents the Christ child, ad whoever finds the baby in their slice, has to buy the next King cake according to Tradition