The director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention suggested testing people for the coronavirus before US domestic flights could help to reduce transmission.
Requiring travellers to receive a negative coronavirus test before boarding domestic flights could be “another mitigation measure”, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said on Monday.
Dr Walensky did not say whether the CDC would move forward with the policy, which the Biden administration is actively considering.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Axios the discussion is continuing and the decision would be “guided by data, by science, by medicine and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out”.
Federal health officials have been watching for more evidence that a variant of the coronavirus now widespread in the UK will become the dominant strain in the US.
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that could happen by the end of March.
So far, 699 variant cases have been identified, 690 of which are the strain discovered in Britain.
Dr Walensky said the US expected to at least triple its sequencing in the next weeks, giving it a better snapshot of how widely the variants might have already spread in the US.
“Once we have more sequencing that’s happening, we’ll have a better idea as to how many variants there are and what proportion are out there,” she said.
Dr Walensky advised state and local officials against loosening restrictions despite a decline in Covid cases.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds at the weekend lifted the law making masks mandatory and other guidelines implemented amid a surge of cases in the autumn.
“I’m asking everyone to please keep your guard up," Dr Walensky said. "The continued proliferation of variants remains a great concern."
The administration plans to release guidance on reopening schools in coming days, she said.
Officials also urged patience as Covid-19 vaccines are distributed.
More than 17 million vaccine doses have been administered to people 65 and older, said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the Biden administration’s coronavirus response team.
A federal initiative to vaccinate residents and employees of long-term care homes has delivered 4.8 million doses to 3.7 million people so far, Mr Slavitt said.
Dozens of states are redistributing doses that were meant for the programme and are going unused. Mr Slavitt did not say how many total doses were set aside for it.
Dr Fauci opposed the idea of administering only one of two required vaccine doses to expand capacity.
Trial data indicates the immune response is far greater after someone receives both doses, and cutting it to one could inadvertently create new mutant strains, he said.
Scores in brief:
Boost Defenders 205-5 in 20 overs
(Colin Ingram 84 not out, Cameron Delport 36, William Somerville 2-28)
bt Auckland Aces 170 for 5 in 20 overs
(Rob O’Donnell 67 not out, Kyle Abbott 3-21).
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Quick%20facts
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EStorstockholms%20Lokaltrafik%20(SL)%20offers%20free%20guided%20tours%20of%20art%20in%20the%20metro%20and%20at%20the%20stations%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EThe%20tours%20are%20free%20of%20charge%3B%20all%20you%20need%20is%20a%20valid%20SL%20ticket%2C%20for%20which%20a%20single%20journey%20(valid%20for%2075%20minutes)%20costs%2039%20Swedish%20krone%20(%243.75)%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ETravel%20cards%20for%20unlimited%20journeys%20are%20priced%20at%20165%20Swedish%20krone%20for%2024%20hours%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAvoid%20rush%20hour%20%E2%80%93%20between%209.30%20am%20and%204.30%20pm%20%E2%80%93%20to%20explore%20the%20artwork%20at%20leisure%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT
Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000
Engine: 6.4-litre V8
Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
My Country: A Syrian Memoir
Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
