t ,d ecember congress agrees on covid-19 relief bill€¦ · covid-19 relief bill after months of...
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Volume 79 Edition 177 ©SS 2020 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas
stripes.com
MILITARY
New armoredvehicles get testdrive in JapanPage 3
FACES
Boseman heldnothing back infinal movie rolePage 18
SPORTS
Black Knightslooking for abowl opponentPage 24
McDonald’s in China offers sandwich with Spam, Oreos ›› World, Page 13
them.
The agreement, announced by
congressional leaders, would es-
tablish a temporary $300 per week
supplemental jobless benefit and a
$600 direct stimulus payment to
most Americans, along with a new
round of subsidies for hard-hit
businesses and money for schools,
health care providers and renters
WASHINGTON — Top Capitol
Hill negotiators sealed a deal Sun-
day on an almost $1 trillion CO-
VID-19 economic relief package,
finally delivering long-overdue
help to businesses and individuals
and providing money to deliver
vaccines to a nation eager for
facing eviction.
It came after months of battling
and posturing, but the negotiating
dynamic changed in Republicans’
favor after the election and as the
end of the congressional session
neared. President-elect Joe Biden
was eager for a deal to deliver
Congress agrees onCOVID-19 relief billAfter months of debate, help for businesses, individuals on the way
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press
JOSE LUIS MAGANA/AP
The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree is seen at the after negotiators sealeda deal for COVID-19 relief Sunday night in Washington. SEE RELIEF ON PAGE 6
Police and port staff turn away vehicles from the Port ofDover in Kent, England, which has been closed after
the French government banned all travel from theUnited Kingdom for 48 hours from midnight Sunday.
STEVE PARSONS/AP
Cause for concern?LONDON — Trucks waiting to
get out of Britain backed up for
miles and people were left
stranded at airports Monday as
countries around the world im-
posed stringent travel restric-
tions on the U.K. because of a
new and seemingly more conta-
gious strain of the coronavirus in
England.
A growing number of countries
halted air travel from Britain,
while France banned British
trucks for 48 hours while the new
variant is assessed.
New strain of coronavirusprompts strict restrictionson travel to and from UK
BY PAN PYLAS
Associated Press
INSIDE
Rush of holidaytravelers in US hastop health officialsurging cautionPage 6
SEE CONCERN ON PAGE 9
-
PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, December 22, 2020
BUSINESS/WEATHER
It was meant to be one of the
greatest transformations in the
history of oil and shipping. In-
stead, a sweeping regulatory
change to clean up the maritime
industry’s fuel passed successful-
ly and with little fanfare, rendered
a historical footnote by COVID-19.
Vessel owners and oil refiners
were expected to face major up-
heaval because of rules that took
effect Jan. 1 to help improve hu-
man health and combat environ-
mental concerns by slashing the
amount of sulfur in ship fuel. The
two industries did, indeed, under-
go unprecedented turmoil — but
the cause was a pandemic that up-
ended economies and trashed oil
demand.
Known as IMO 2020, the regu-
lation forced shippers to stop
burning an old, dirty product
they’d relied on for decades. Fears
about the supply of low-sulfur al-
ternatives proved largely un-
founded: in short the rule change
was a success. Vessels switched,
the clean product was available
and worked, and the industry
eliminated a substantial part of its
sulfur-dioxide emissions.
“The fears of IMO have not been
realized,” said Mark Williams, a
senior oil analyst at Wood Mack-
enzie Ltd. “COVID’s blown most
of it out of the water.”
It’s still too early to quantify just
how beneficial the switch to low-
er-sulfur fuel has been for human
health, according to James Cor-
bett, a professor at the University
of Delaware’s School of Marine
Science and Policy.
Shipping sheds its dirty problemBloomberg
Bahrain72/65
Baghdad66/43
Doha77/65
Kuwait City68/52
Riyadh69/45
Kandahar64/34
Kabul50/29
Djibouti84/76
TUESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mildenhall/Lakenheath
48/40
Ramstein55/50
Stuttgart55/50
Lajes,Azores64/59
Rota65/57
Morón60/53 Sigonella
57/48
Naples56/37
Aviano/Vicenza43/35
Pápa43/36
Souda Bay64/52
Brussels47/38
Zagan54/43
DrawskoPomorskie 49/35
TUESDAY IN EUROPE
Misawa45/30
Guam85/79
Tokyo48/28
Okinawa64/60
Sasebo54/43
Iwakuni50/34
Seoul48/28
Osan50/31
Busan45/30
The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,
2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
WEDNESDAY IN THE PACIFIC
WEATHER OUTLOOK
TODAYIN STRIPES
American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 18Opinion ........................ 14Sports .................... 19-24
Military rates
Euro costs (Dec. 22) $1.19Dollar buys (Dec. 22) 0.799British pound (Dec. 22) $1.30Japanese yen (Dec. 22) 101.00South Korean won (Dec. 22) 1,073.00
Commercial rates
Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3770Britain (Pound) 0.7520Canada (Dollar) 1.2865China (Yuan) 6.5496Denmark (Krone) 6.0930Egypt (Pound) 15.6680Euro 0.8190Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7530Hungary (Forint) 295.51Israel (Shekel) 3.2504Japan (Yen) 103.59Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3047
Norway (Krone) 8.6713
Philippines (Peso) 48.31Poland (Zloty) 3.68Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7514Singapore (Dollar) 1.3355
So. Korea (Won) 1,108.65Switzerlnd (Franc) 0.8879Thailand (Baht) 30.08Turkey (NewLira) 7.6742
(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., purchasing British pounds in Germany), check withyour local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for referencewhen buying currency. All figures are foreigncurrencies to one dollar, except for the Britishpound, which is represented in dollarstopound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.)
INTEREST RATES
Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount rate 0.25Federal funds market rate 0.093month bill 0.0830year bond 1.70
EXCHANGE RATES
-
Tuesday, December 22, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3
MILITARY
cle commander to watch for haz-
ards, said Flores, who also main-
tains Joint Light Tactical Vehi-
cles.
Blind spots were one of the
number of problems identified in
a report to Congress on the vehi-
cles last January. Also flagged
were maintenance issues, noise
and doors that didn’t open proper-
ly.
Oshkosh Defense LLC, of Wis-
consin, is the vehicle maker. The
Army placed an order for another
2,738 vehicles on Dec. 1 at a cost of
$911 million, according to the
news site Breaking Defense on
Dec. 2.
Marines stationed in Japan are
curious about the new trucks,
Flores said.
“The Marines will come and
knock on the armor,” he said. “It’s
a lot different to what they’re used
to.”
The new light vehicle is the only
truck Flores has worked on with
the Marines. He enlisted two
years ago, not long before his bat-
talion received its new vehicles.
Flores, who drives a Buick back
in the States, said the truck has
many sensors and electric compo-
nents.
“There is a monitor inside the
cab that gives you things like the
air pressure in the tires,” he said.
Drivers can switch the vehicle
from road to cross-country mode
and raise the suspension using hy-
draulics, he said.
The 22,000-pound truck has no
issues going up steep grades in the
backcountry, Flores said.
Forest Light is the first time the
new trucks were used in an exer-
cise or operational fashion on the
main islands of Japan, although
they have been used on Okinawa
for utility duties for a year, Royer
CAMP SOUMAGAHARA, Ja-
pan — The Marine Corps’ succes-
sor to the Humvee — the Joint
Light Tactical Vehicle — got its
first workout in Japan during this
month’s Exercise Forest Light.
Twenty of the armored trucks
deployed to Japan with 3rd Battal-
ion, 8th Marine Regiment, out of
Camp Lejeune, N.C., which put
them through their paces in the
mountainous Gunma prefecture,
west of Tokyo, during training that
concluded Thursday.
The battalion was the first in the
Marine Corps to replace its Hum-
vees with the new vehicles, Capt.
Nicholas Royer, a 3rd Marine Di-
vision spokesman, said in an email
Tuesday.
“The Joint Light Tactical Vehi-
cle is the successor to the Humvee
(HMMWV), and the Marine
Corps has been leading the charge
on adopting them,” he said.
The Army, Marines and Air
Force plan to acquire more than
58,000 of the off-road armored ve-
hicles.
Three of the new vehicles com-
bined to form a mobile command
post where an air assault involving
some of the 1,000 Marines and Ja-
panese soldiers participating in
Forest Light was coordinated Dec.
15.
“It’s is pretty easy to drive,” Ma-
rine Cpl. Juan Flores, 20, of Fort
Wayne, Ind., said that day of the
truck he’s been driving through
the mountains of Gunma. “You
just have to watch out because of
the blind spots.”
Thick armor means it’s harder
for drivers to see what’s happen-
ing outside the new vehicles than
it would be if they were in a civil-
ian truck, so they work with a vehi-
said.
“The JLTV is, in pretty much
every respect, a sturdier, more ca-
pable vehicle in line with the Ma-
rine Corps’ mandate for faster,
more flexible and more surviva-
ble operations,” he said.
The vehicles can be used for ev-
erything from command and con-
trol posts to general utility trans-
port and combat use, he said.
They can attack other armored
vehicles and carry targeting and
sensor equipment, as well as ev-
ery crew-served weapon in the
Marine Corps inventory, he said.
“Marines in JLTVs can identify
targets, communicate the location
and move on quickly, allowing an-
other unit much further away to
fire at the land or sea target they
spotted,” he said.
Compared to the Humvee, the
Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is sig-
nificantly more capable of taking a
hit from direct-fire weapons, indi-
rect fire and explosives, to include
[improvised roadside bombs] and
conventional mines, and all this at
a comparable speed (about 70
mph) to the Humvee it replaces,”
Royer said.
The light vehicle’s suspension is
significantly more advanced, and
each wheel can raise and lower in-
dependently, he said.
“This allows it to reduce its pro-
file to, for example, fit in an en-
trenched position easier, then
raise up to clear obstacles and rap-
idly displace to another position,”
he said.
The vehicle can be carried by
CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters
and by a number of other air and
sea platforms operated by the Ma-
rines, he said.
robson.seth@stripes.comTwitter: @SethRobson1
SETH ROBSON/Stars and Stripes
From left, Marine Cpl. Juan Flores, 20, of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Cpl. Devin Gates, 26, of Panama City,Fla., with a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle during training in Gunma prefecture, Japan, on Dec. 15.
Marines test-drive new armoredvehicles in Japanese Alps region
BY SETH ROBSONStars and Stripes
BAGHDAD — Eight rockets
targeted the U.S. Embassy in
Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green
Zone late Sunday, Iraq’s military
and Iraqi officials said, sparking
fears of renewed unrest as next
month’s anniversary of the U.S.
slaying of an Iranian general
draws near.
An Iraqi military statement said
an “an outlawed group” launched
eight rockets targeting the Green
Zone, injuring one Iraqi security
person manning a checkpoint and
causing material damage to a resi-
dential complex and some cars.
The residential complex is usually
empty.
The U.S. Embassy’s C-RAM de-
fense system, which is used to de-
stroy missiles in midair, was acti-
vated to deflect the attack, the em-
bassy said in a statement.
“The U.S. Embassy confirms
rockets targeting the International
Zone (Green Zone) resulted in the
engagement of embassy defensive
systems,” the statement said. It
said there was some minor dam-
age to the embassy compound.
“We call on all Iraqi political and
governmental leaders to take steps
to prevent such attacks and hold
accountable those responsible.”
The thundering sound of the de-
fense system could be heard by As-
sociated Press reporters who were
located on the other side of the Ti-
gris River.
Iraqi army: Rocketstarget US Embassyin Baghdad Sunday
Associated Press
The Army wants to field more
upgraded M1 Abrams tanks and
will spend $4.6 billion to get the
most modernized version of them
to troops over the next eight
years.
The service announced that
General Dynamics Land Systems
has been awarded the contract
for the improved tank, which en-
tered service in its first variant
four decades ago.
The Abrams M1A2 SEPV3, de-
scribed as the most reliable of
the Abrams family, is a version of
the current SEPV2 production
model with significant improve-
ments in the areas of survivabil-
ity, maintainability and network
capability, General Dynamics
said.
Since 2017, the company has
already delivered several batch-
es of tanks upgraded to the new
standard. In July, the 3rd Ar-
mored Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division out of Fort
Hood, Texas, was the first unit to
field them.
Putting the battle tank into op-
eration served as a milestone for
the Army as it moves to counter
potential adversaries such as
Russia and China.
“This is the first time we have
fielded a new tank in about 16
years,” Lt. Col. Nicholas C. Sin-
clair, a 3rd Brigade battalion
commander, said in an Army
statement in July after his unit
received the new tank. “We will
be the first ones trained on this,
so it’s really special to us to make
sure we’re doing it right.”
The M1A2 SEPV3 boasts addi-
tional armor in the turret and
hull to better defend against mul-
tiple threats, including impro-
vised explosive devices. An un-
derbelly IED kit includes floor
stiffeners and stronger internal
support structures to prevent in-
jury to the crewmembers’ limbs,
General Dynamics said.
A major new feature is the im-
proved 120 mm smoothbore can-
non ammunition, whose detona-
tion mode can be set by the gun-
ner before a round is fired.
Its three settings — detonate
on impact, with a delay, or with
an airburst — mean that a single
round can replace those different
types of munitions, thus easing
the burden on Army logistics.
Other upgrades include a new
communications system, which
can be fully integrated into the
unit’s command and control net-
work, as well as a new auxiliary
power unit to improve fuel effi-
ciency.
Only a single bid for the fixed-
price-incentive contract was re-
ceived, the Defense Department
said Friday in a contract announ-
cement. It cited June 17, 2028, as
the completion date for the order,
but did not specify how many
new tanks would be delivered.
General Dynamics given$4.6 billion from Army fornew M1A2 Abrams tanks
news@stripes.com
Stars and Stripes
-
PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, December 22, 2020
MILITARY
STUTTGART, Germany — The
Army will allow reservists to serve
two-year overseas assignments
and ship their household belong-
ings, in hopes of easing the finan-
cial burden on soldiers who in
some cases have been reprimand-
ed, indebted and forced into litiga-
tion over benefit disputes with the
service.
“This significant policy adjust-
ment eliminates the military entit-
lements inequity between unac-
companied active component and
(reserve component) Soldiers by
authorizing full household goods
and shipment of privately owned
vehicle,” the Army said in a memo
outlining the shift.
Extending tour lengths up to 24
months, rather than the typical
one-year assignment, “ensures
equity, provides greater entitle-
ments to RC Soldiers, provides
predictability for Soldiers, reduc-
es administrative burden for com-
manders and efficiently utilizes
Army resources,” the memo
stated.
Previously, permanent change
of station entitlements weren’t of-
fered to unaccompanied reserv-
ists “due to many factors, one be-
ing the traditional tour length of
one year or less,” U.S. Army Eu-
rope and Africa said in a statement
Friday.
The Nov. 9 Army memo, recent-
ly provided to Stars and Stripes,
came in response to a request from
USAREUR-AF Gen. Christopher
Cavoli that the Army expand hous-
ing allowance benefits for reserv-
ists.
Cavoli asked the Army to con-
sider providing reservists with an
allowance for their residence in
the United States and an overseas
allowance when housing is un-
available on post.
The issue has been a major point
of contention for many reservists,
who have tried to keep up with
mortgage payments at home while
away from their civilian jobs, and
also paying rent near their as-
signed duty stations.
The Army said it was unable to
meet Cavoli’s specific request for
the dual housing allowance, but
did not offer a clear answer why in
its memorandum.
One factor could be an ongoing
federal lawsuit, in which a group of
Army reservists said they were
wrongly denied housing allowanc-
es and faced improper criminal in-
vestigations when the Army sud-
denly cut off their overseas hous-
ing allowances.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S.
Court of Federal Claims in 2018,
accuses the Army of “gross negli-
gence” by denying benefits it
should have paid.
Patrick Hughes of Patriots Law
Group, based in the Washington,
D.C., area, said the Army’s deci-
sion to now extend PCS benefits
for reservists on two-year tours
doesn’t solve the underlying hous-
ing benefit question.
The policy change, however,
does amount to a concession by the
Army that it has been “imposing
upon its RC soldiers a financial
hardship for these several years,”
Hughes said.
“Rather than addressing that is-
sue head-on, possibly because the
Army faces our litigation on the
matter, they created this work-
around to extend RC soldiers’
tours, thereby allowing similar en-
titlements to those in the Active
component … I believe this memo
creates strong additional support
for our lawsuit,” Hughes said.
For several years, reservists de-
ployed to Europe on unaccompa-
nied tours received both allowanc-
es to make up for not being able to
work in civilian jobs that pay their
rents and mortgages. But in 2016,
the dual allowance payments end-
ed abruptly without explanation.
Scores of soldiers were snared
in subsequent probes and were ac-
cused of fraudulently receiving
payments.
The Army in Europe said grant-
ing PCS benefits to reservists on
24-month tours “significantly re-
duces the financial burden” for
soldiers who, in some cases, won’t
need to maintain two households
or place their belongings in stor-
age.
Army extends aid to reserves on overseas toursBY JOHN VANDIVER
Stars and Stripes
KAREN IWAMOTO/U.S. Army
A soldier supervises the delivery of her household items in 2017.
vandiver.john@stripes.comTwitter: @john_vandiver
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE,
Japan — The guided-missile de-
stroyer USS John S. McCain last
week practiced anti-submarine
warfare with a French submarine
and Japanese carrier in the Phi-
lippine Sea, according to a Navy
statement Friday.
France’s nuclear-powered sub-
marine FS Emeraude and support
and assistance vessel FS Seine,
along with Japan’s helicopter de-
stroyer JS Hyuga, practiced anti-
submarine warfare tactics with
the McCain, “strengthening coop-
erative efforts to support mari-
time security in the Indo-Pacific,”
according to the Navy.
While the Navy frequently
trains with the Japan Maritime
Self-Defense Force, “it is a rare
opportunity for U.S. Navy mari-
time forces to conduct operations
with their French Navy counter-
parts in the 7th Fleet area of oper-
ations,” according to the state-
ment.
The exercise further demon-
strated “the breadth, depth and
value of our network of allies and
partners,” McCain skipper Cmdr.
Ryan T. Easterday said in the
statement.
The sub and its tender paid a
port call at Guam Naval Base in
late November, according the Na-
val News website. The 241-foot-
long Emeraude, commissioned in
1988, has a crew of 70, according
to the Seaforces-online.org web-
site.
McCain weapons officer Lt.
Ryan Mati in the statement said
the opportunity to work with a
partner nation’s submarine en-
hanced the crew’s “tactical mind-
set” and allowed them to “execute
some of the best training in this
warfare area.”
Anti-submarine warfare is a
cornerstone in surface Navy oper-
ations, Mati said in the statement.
“This exercise not only allow
(ed) us to continue strengthening
our warfighting readiness with a
long-standing ally, it’ll also impart
a unique experience for the
crew,” Mati said.
It was the first time Japanese
naval forces had exercised with
the Emeraude, the Escort Divi-
sion 3 commander, Capt. Hama-
saki Shingo, said in the statement.
“Agile and advanced anti-sub-
marine capabilities utilizing ship-
board aircraft are an essential
part of our maritime operations,”
Shingo said in the statement.
“This trilateral exercise with the
United States Navy and the
French Navy not only develops
tactical skills, but also contributes
to a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’
based on the rule of law and free-
dom of navigation.”
Shingo added that the Japanese
naval forces would “continue to
pursue the opportunities to con-
duct an exercise with our partner
navies.”
The three nations plan further
exercises on land and at sea in
May, according to Reuters news
service on Dec. 6.
According to Reuters, Adm.
Pierre Vandier, chief of staff of
the French navy, told the Sankei
newspaper that France shares
U.S. and Japanese concerns over
Chinese ambitions in the South
and East China seas.
“This is a message aimed at
China,” Vandier was quoted as
saying about the May exercises.
“This is a message about multi-
lateral partnerships and the free-
dom of passage.”
USS John S. McCain trains with French, Japanese naviesBY CAITLIN DOORNBOS
Stars and Stripes
doornbos.caitlin@stripes.comTwitter: @CaitlinDoornbos
MARKUS CASTANEDA/U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy Lt. Christopher Baier, from Cheboygan, Mich., logs antisubmarine warfare reports while standing watch aboard the destroyerUSS John S. McCain in the Philippine Sea last week.
BETHESDA, Md. — Lockheed
Martin is buying rocket engine
manufacturer Aerojet Rocket-
dyne Holdings for $4.4 billion in a
deal that brings together compa-
nies that had already been working
together in the aeronautics indus-
try.
The acquisition announced late
Sunday is part of Lockheed Mar-
tin’s attempt to gird for competi-
tion from recent industry entrants,
Space X and Blue Origin, which are
backed by two of the world’s rich-
est men, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
“Acquiring Aerojet Rocketdyne
will preserve and strengthen an es-
sential component of the domestic
defense industrial base and reduce
costs for our customers and the
American taxpayer,” Lockheed
Martin CEO James Taiclet said in a
statement.
Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed
is paying $56 per share, 33% above
the Friday closing price of Aerojet
Rocketdyne’s stock. The final
price will be reduced to $51 per
share after accounting for a special
dividend of $5 per share that will be
paid just before the deal closes.
The companies are aiming to have
the deal wrapped up during the
second half of next year.
Lockheed Martin strikes $4.4 billion deal to buy Aerojet RocketdyneAssociated Press
-
Tuesday, December 22, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5
VIRUS OUTBREAK
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan —
Service members and civilian em-
ployees at six U.S. military bases
will be among the first to receive
the coronavirus vaccine under a
Defense Department pilot pro-
gram, U.S. Forces Japan an-
nounced Sunday.
Kadena Air Base and Camp Fos-
ter on Okinawa, Yokota Air Base in
Tokyo, Yokosuka Naval Base and
Camp Zama in Kanagawa prefec-
ture and Misawa Air Base in north-
east Japan are among sites that
DOD has selected, according to the
statement.
“Moderna’s vaccine is the one
initially scheduled for distribution
to the USFJ population,” the state-
ment said.
U.S. Army Japan expects vac-
cine supplies within two weeks,
Col. Tanya Peacock, commander
of the U.S. Army Medical Depart-
ment Activity Japan, said Monday
during a Facebook Live video.
The U.S. Food and Drug Admin-
istration on Friday approved the
Moderna vaccine for emergency
use. The approval came a week af-
ter the FDA authorized the first use
of another vaccine developed by
Pfizer and German company
BioNTech.
Subjects must volunteer for the
inoculation under the emergency-
use designation, Peacock said dur-
ing the livestream.
Both vaccines must be kept cold
but the Moderna vaccine can be
stored in most standard medical re-
frigerators. Pfizer’s requires ultra-
cold storage.
The vaccine will be adminis-
tered in a two-shot series, said Col.
Marshall Mendenhall, deputy
commander for clinical services
for U.S. Army Japan, during the
Facebook livestream.
Some predictable side effects of
the vaccine include headache,
muscle ache, fatigue and soreness
at the injection site, according to
the U.S. Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention.
The military’s pilot program will
validate vaccine distribution, ad-
ministration and reporting proc-
esses and help determine addition-
al distribution sites, USFJ said in its
statement.
“Kadena Medical Facility … will
receive a very limited amount of
vaccinations for pilot-process ad-
ministration within the coming
days,” the statement said.
The other five pilot sites in Japan
will receive initial vaccine ship-
ments “at the same time or shortly
after Kadena,” the statement said.
The Defense Department has a
coordinated strategy for prioritiz-
ing, distributing and administering
the COVID-19 vaccine, the state-
ment said. COVID-19 is the disease
caused by the coronavirus.
USFJ will use a phased approach
to vaccinate all active duty and re-
serve troops, Tricare Prime and
Tricare Select beneficiaries and
select DOD civilians and contract
personnel authorized to receive
immunizations from the depart-
ment, USFJ said in its statement.
“The timeline for the large-scale
distribution of vaccine doses has
not been solidified yet,” the state-
ment said.
Medical-care and emergency-
service providers have priority for
immediate inoculation, including
medical personnel, firefighters
and public health and safety per-
sonnel, USFJ said in its statement.
During this first round, Peacock
said, the Army will contact its peo-
ple via email for their turn for inoc-
ulations.
USFJ has made no change to its
health protection level and re-
mains under a public health emer-
gency, the statement said.
“All USFJ personnel must con-
tinue to wear appropriate masks,
practice physical distancing, wash
hands, and follow restrictions of
movement to protect the health and
safety of our community on and off
our installations,” the statement
said.
IMANI N. DANIELS/U.S. Navy
Navy Hospitalman Roman Silvestri administers a coronavirus vaccine to Cmdr. Joseph Kotora at NavalMedical Center Portsmouth, N.H., on Dec. 15. Vaccines are coming soon to six installations in Japan, U.S.Forces Japan announced Sunday.
Vaccines expected soonfor some at 6 Japan bases
BY SETH ROBSONAND ERICA EARL
Stars and Stripes
robson.seth@stripes.comTwitter: @SethRobson1earl.erica@stripes.comTwitter: @ThisEarlGirl
SEOUL, South Korea — Gather-
ings of more than five people will
be banned in South Korea’s capi-
tal region as an elevated step to
suppress what authorities call an
“explosive” surge in coronavirus
infections.
The Seoul region is home to half
of South Korea’s 51 million people
and has been at the center of a re-
cent viral resurgence. The coun-
try averaged about 960 new virus
cases each day in the past week,
more than 70% of them in the Se-
oul metropolitan area.
Acting Seoul Mayor Seo Jung-
hyup said Monday the ban will ap-
ply to any type of meetings includ-
ing year-end parties, office din-
ners, birthday parties and picnics.
Only weddings and funerals can
follow the current rule of not more
than 50 people.
He says the new restrictions
will take effect Wednesday and
last until Jan. 3 in Seoul, Gyeonggi
province that surrounds Seoul and
Incheon city, just west of Seoul.
Seo says he knows the ban is
“harsh” but stresses the current
viral spread cannot be slowed
without preventing transmissions
among relatives and company col-
leagues. He says Seoul could face
a lockdown if the current “explo-
sive” surge isn’t contained.
Earlier Monday, South Korea
reported 24 more virus-related
deaths in the country’s highest
daily fatalities since the pandemic
began. The government added a
total of 926 new cases, taking the
country’s total to 50,591 including
698 deaths.
In other developments in the
Asia-Pacific region:
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has
asked all residents to celebrate
Christmas and New Year’s at
home just with their families. Dai-
ly coronavirus cases have been
steadily on the rise across Japan,
with Tokyo hitting a new daily
high at 822 on Friday. On Monday,
the capital reported 392 new cases
for a prefectural total of 51,838.
Koike said organizers of Tokyo’s
Christmas illumination events
have agreed to close at 8 p.m. ev-
ery night, and subway companies
will not operate overnight trains
on New Year’s Eve to discourage
people from gathering for annual
countdown events. City-operated
parks and zoos will also be closed
until Jan. 11.
Thailand’s total number of
confirmed coronavirus cases
surged past 5,000 on Monday as
hundreds of migrant workers test-
ed positive, posing a major chal-
lenge for the authorities. Thailand
has been one of several Southeast
Asian countries that were faring
relatively unscathed by the pan-
demic. But on Saturday, health of-
ficials reported a daily record of
548 new cases, almost all of them
among migrant workers in the
seafood industry in Samut Sakhon
province.
An Australian state govern-
ment leader apologized for a bun-
gled hotel quarantine program
that led to most of the nation’s CO-
VID-19 deaths. A retired judge
who investigated Victoria state’s
quarantine program for returned
travelers criticized the use of pri-
vate security guards to enforce
isolation in Melbourne hotels in
May and June. Victoria Premier
Dan Andrews explained the quar-
antine system had been imple-
mented quickly and without a pan-
demic rulebook. The lax infection
controls at two Melbourne quar-
antine hotels set off a wave of in-
fections in Australia’s second-
largest city while the rest of the
country had been largely virus-
free. Police now provide security
at Melbourne quarantine hotels.
LEE JINMAN /AP
A medical worker prepares to take a sample in subzero temperaturesat a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday.
Seoul area limitspublic gatheringsto groups of 5
Associated Press
-
PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, December 22, 2020
VIRUS OUTBREAK
SAN RAMON, Calif. — More
than 1 million people have passed
through U.S. airport security
checkpoints in each of the past
two days in a sign that public
health pleas to avoid holiday
travel are being ignored, despite
an alarming surge in COVID-19
cases.
It marks the first time U.S. air-
ports have screened more than 1
million passengers since Nov. 29.
That came at the end of a
Thanksgiving weekend that saw
far more travel around the coun-
try than had been hoped as the
weather turned colder and CO-
VID-19 cases were already spik-
ing again.
Now, hospitals in many areas
are being overwhelmed amid the
largest outbreak of the coronavi-
rus in the United States since
March, when most Americans
were ordered to stay home and
avoid interactions with other
households.
The seven-day rolling average
of newly reported infections in
the U.S. has risen from about
176,000 a day just before Thanks-
giving to more than 215,000 a
day. It’s too early to calculate
how much of that increase is due
to travel and gatherings over
Thanksgiving, but experts be-
lieve they are a factor.
Although lockdowns are no
longer in effect in many parts of
the country, stay-at-home orders
have returned in some areas in
effort to contain the virus. Nearly
99% of California’s population of
roughly 40 million people, for in-
stance, has been told to remain at
home except for essential work,
shopping and exercise.
The Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention has issued an
advisory declaring “postponing
travel and staying home is the
best way to protect yourself and
others from COVID-19.”
Nevertheless, about 1.07 mil-
lion people passed through the
security checkpoints at U.S. air-
ports on Friday and again on Sat-
urday, according to the Trans-
portation Security Administra-
tion. Saturday’s volume was
down 57% from the same time
last year, the smallest year-over-
year decline in daily traffic at
U.S. airports since Nov. 22 as
people began their Thanksgiving
getaways.
If that early trend continues,
U.S. public health officials fear it
will lead to more superspreader
events as people unwittingly
transmit the virus to family and
friends while gathering indoors
for holiday celebrations. Health
officials noted that the upcoming
holiday period from Christmas to
New Year’s Day covers a longer
timespan than the Thanksgiving
break did.
Even more travel is expected
as Christmas draws closer. AAA
projected that about 85 million
people will travel between Dec.
23 and Jan. 3, most of them by
car. That would be a drop of
nearly one-third from a year ago,
but still a massive movement of
people in the middle of a pan-
demic.
US airport traffic up despite travel warnings
CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP
Air travelers arriving at Midway Airport in Chicago are reminded of the city's COVID19 travel orders.
BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE
Associated Press
long-awaited help to those still suf-
fering and a boost to the economy,
even though it was less than half
the size that Democrats wanted
this fall.
House leaders informed law-
makers that they would vote on the
legislation on Monday, and the
Senate was likely to vote on Mon-
day, too. Lawmakers were eager to
leave Washington and close out a
tumultuous year.
“There will be another major
rescue package for the American
people,” Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in
announcing the agreement for a
relief bill that would total almost
$900 billion. “It is packed with tar-
geted policies to help struggling
Americans who have already wait-
ed too long.”
A fight over Federal Reserve
emergency powers was resolved
Saturday night by the Senate’s top
Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New
York, and conservative Republi-
can Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
That breakthrough led to a final
round of negotiations Sunday.
Still, delays in finalizing the
agreement prompted the House to
take up a one-day stopgap spend-
ing bill to prevent a government
shutdown at midnight Sunday.
The Senate was likely to pass the
measure Sunday night as well.
The final agreement would be
the largest spending measure yet.
It combined COVID-19 relief with
a $1.4 trillion government-wide
funding plan and plenty of other
unrelated measures on taxes,
health, infrastructure and educa-
tion. The government-wide fund-
ing would keep the government
open through September.
Passage neared as coronavirus
cases and deaths spiked and evi-
dence piled up that the economy
was struggling. The legislation had
been held up by months of dys-
function, posturing and bad faith.
But talks turned serious in recent
days as lawmakers on both sides fi-
nally faced the deadline of acting
before leaving Washington for
Christmas.
The $300 per week bonus jobless
benefit was half of the supplemen-
tal federal unemployment benefit
provided under the CARES Act in
March and would be limited to 11
weeks instead of 16 weeks. The di-
rect $600 stimulus payment to
most people would also be half the
March payment, subject to the
same income limits in which an in-
dividual’s payment began to phase
out after $75,000.
President Donald Trump was
supportive of the effort, particu-
larly of the push for providing
more direct payments. “GET IT
DONE,” he said in a tweet late Sat-
urday.
Lawmakers had hoped to pass
the bill this weekend and avoid the
need for a stopgap spending bill,
but progress slowed Saturday as
Toomey pressed for the inclusion
of a provision to close down the
Fed’s lending facilities. Demo-
crats and the White House said it
was too broadly worded and would
have tied the hands of the incom-
ing Biden administration, but Re-
publicans rallied to his position.
After the announcement,
Schumer and House Speaker Nan-
cy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced ad-
ditional details, including $82 bil-
lion for local schools, colleges and
universities, $15 billion for thea-
ters and other live venues, $25 bil-
lion in rental assistance and $10
billion for child care.
Still, Democrats wanted more.
Pelosi, in a letter to colleagues,
called the package an initial step.
“In 31 days, when Joe Biden en-
ters the White House, more help
will be on the way,” Pelosi said.
The governmentwide appropri-
ations bill would fund agencies
through next September. That
measure was likely to provide a
last $1.4 billion installment for
Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall
as a condition of winning his signa-
ture.
The bill was an engine to carry
much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished
business, including an almost 400-
page water resources bill that tar-
gets $10 billion for 46 Army Corps
of Engineers flood control, envi-
ronmental and coastal protection
projects. Another addition would
extend a batch of soon-to-expire
tax breaks, including one for craft
brewers, wineries and distillers.
The end-of-session rush also
promised relief for victims of
shockingly steep surprise medical
bills, a phenomenon that often oc-
curs when providers drop out of in-
surance company networks.
Relief: Late breakthroughs, compromises lead to agreement on new aidFROM PAGE 1
-
Tuesday, December 22, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7
VIRUS OUTBREAK
TOKYO — The U.S. military in
Japan and South Korea counted 39
new coronavirus cases over the
weekend and Monday.
U.S. Forces Korea reported the
bulk of those, 22 new patients, all
but one new arrivals to the Korean
Peninsula since Nov. 29.
In the capital city, the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government added
another 392 newly infected people
to its pandemic total, according to
public broadcaster NHK. The city
on Saturday reported 736 people
tested positive, its second highest
daily measure just two days after
the record, 822, according to met-
ro government data.
Monday counts are typically
low in the city because most test-
ing centers are closed on week-
ends, nevertheless Japanese
media reported Monday’s total is
the most ever counted on that day
in Tokyo.
U.S. commands in Japan report-
ed 17 newly infected patients be-
tween Friday night and 6 p.m.
Monday.
Naval Air Facility Atsugi, 27
miles southwest of central Tokyo,
reported eight people tested posi-
tive for the coronavirus on Friday,
base spokesman Sam Samuelson
said Monday. All eight were iden-
tified as close contacts of a previ-
ously infected individual, he said.
Also Friday, U.S. Army Japan,
headquartered at Camp Zama, 28
miles southwest of Tokyo, report-
ed three individuals tested posi-
tive last week. Two were already
in isolation as new arrivals to Ja-
pan; the third was tested Thursday
upon arrival by Japanese health
authorities, according to an Army
news release.
One of the two fell ill Friday with
symptoms of COVID-19, the dis-
ease caused by the coronavirus;
the second was tested Wednesday
as part of the U.S. Forces Japan re-
quirement that individuals must
be free of the virus before leaving
isolation, according to the release.
Marine Corps Air Station Iwa-
kuni on Sunday reported one new
coronavirus patient, an individual
already in isolation as a close con-
tact of another infected person, ac-
cording to a base Facebook post.
The Marines on Okinawa over
the weekend also reported five
new infected individuals, three at
Camp Hansen, two at Marine
Corps Air Station Futenma and
one at Camp Foster.
USFK updateAt Camp Humphreys, USFK
headquarters south of Seoul, a
South Korean contractor who de-
veloped COVID-19 symptoms
tested positive for the virus Fri-
day, according to a USFK news re-
lease. The contractor, who was
tested at the Pyeongtaek Public
Health Center, last visited Hum-
phreys on Wednesday, according
to the release.
USFK broke down its recent 21
cases this way: Five service mem-
bers arrived at Osan Air Base on
the Patriot Express, a govern-
ment-chartered passenger air ser-
vice, on Dec. 2, 9, 14 and Wednes-
day; 10 service members, five de-
pendents and a retiree arrived on
commercial flights to Incheon In-
ternational Airport on Nov. 29,
Dec. 3, 6, 15 and Wednesday, Fri-
day and Saturday.
Fourteen individuals tested pos-
itive upon arrival; seven tested
positive on the test required be-
fore leaving quarantine. All 21 are
quarantined at either Humphreys
or Osan, according to USFK.
39 new cases among Japan, S. Korea bases
AKIFUMI ISHIKAWA/Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, a city of 13.5 million, within two days during the week of Dec. 13 hit its highest and second highestdaily totals for new coronavirus patients. U.S. commands in Japan reported 17 newly infected patientsbetween Friday night and 6 p.m. Monday.
BY JOSEPH DITZLER
Stars and Stripes
ditzler.joseph@stripes.comTwitter: @JosephDitzler
-
PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, December 22, 2020
WASHINGTON — Grocery
store employees, teachers, emer-
gency workers and other people
on the front lines of America’s
workforce should be next to get
the coronavirus vaccine, along
with adults ages 75 and older, a
federal advisory panel said Sun-
day.
The recommendations, which
came two days after regulators au-
thorized a second coronavirus
vaccine, will guide state author-
ities in deciding who should have
priority to receive limited doses of
shots made by Pfizer-BioNTech
and Moderna. Nearly 2.9 million
doses of the Pfizer vaccine have
been distributed, and 556,208 of
those shots were given as of Sun-
day afternoon, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
The groups designated Sunday
include about 49 million people,
some of whom could begin getting
shots early in the new year. The
priorities represent a compromise
between the desire to shield peo-
ple most likely to catch and trans-
mit the virus, because they cannot
socially distance or work from
home, and the effort to protect
people who are most prone to seri-
ous complications and death.
An estimated 30 million front-
line essential workers labor in
meat plants, grocery stores, pris-
ons, public transit and other key
areas, and cannot work remotely.
They are a priority because they
play a critical role in keeping so-
ciety functioning, and they live or
work in high-risk, high-transmis-
sion communities.
Adults 75 and older — about 19
million people — were also includ-
ed in this priority group because
they account for 25% of hospital-
izations and a significant share of
deaths linked to COVID-19, the ill-
ness caused by the coronavirus.
The committee’s vote also ad-
dressed an even larger group of
people poised to gain access in the
third phase. That larger group of
129 million people is made up of a
second tier of essential workers,
adults 65 to 74 and adults 16 to 64
with high risk medical conditions.
MichiganDETROIT — Families of men
incarcerated at Michigan’s Kin-
ross Correctional Facility be-
lieved its remote location would
spare it from a deadly COVID-19
outbreak. For a while, they
seemed to be right.
Kinross, built on the grounds of
a former Air Force base in the Up-
per Peninsula, is closer to Canada
than it is to Detroit. Unlike most
prisons in Michigan, Kinross had
remained almost unscathed by the
novel coronavirus with only one
case between March and October.
But on Oct. 28, corrections offi-
cials transferred nine prisoners to
Kinross from Marquette Branch
Prison, several hours west, where
COVID-19 was running rampant.
There were 837 confirmed cases
by late October, 350 of which were
still active when the men were
transferred.
Roughly three weeks later, Kin-
ross had its first major outbreak,
corrections department data
showed. Though agency officials
say it’s not because of the trans-
fers, more than 1,100 prisoners
have now been infected, at least
seven have died and more than
100 guards have fallen ill. The
prisoners who came to Kinross
had been transferred twice, sent
first to Marquette after a riot
where they were held, and then
had tested positive for COVID-19
there before leaving for Kinross,
officials said.
CaliforniaSACRAMENTO — California
Gov. Gavin Newsom will quaran-
tine for 10 days after one of his
staffers tested positive for CO-
VID-19, according to a spokesper-
son for the governor’s office.
The staffer tested positive Sun-
day afternoon, the spokesperson
stated. Newsom was then tested
and his result came back negative.
The staffer also had contact
with other staff members, who
were also tested. Their results
came back negative.
Newsom’s 10-day quarantine is
out of “an abundance of caution,”
the statement said. The governor
and other staffers were expected
to be tested again in the next few
days.
MinnesotaWHITE BEAR LAKE — When-
ever Sheila Stuart gets a message
on her phone that a donor is on the
way she dons a light jacket, gloves
and a mask and makes her way
down from the second floor of her
apartment building to the lobby.
Since March, residents around
the Mahtomedi area have been
dropping off food and supplies for
seniors at her low-income build-
ing, East Shore Place.
Fostered by a Nextdoor group
called the White Bear Lake Mah-
tomedi Angels, which now has
over 100 members, they drop off
bags of groceries, toilet paper,
homemade bread and handwrit-
ten notes to seniors who are often
unable to afford or navigate groce-
ry shopping in a pandemic.
“They are my angels,” said Ar-
dith Pearl, a 71-year-old widow
who lives in East Shore Place and
helps Stuart collect and lay out the
donations.
“That means to me that we have
a lot of caring people in our com-
munity. A lot of people who are
concerned and caring about some-
body not going hungry,” Pearl
said.
North DakotaMINOT — The impact of the
coronavirus pandemic couldn’t be
more evident than it is for Minot’s
hotels. Business has plummeted.
People haven’t been traveling.
The Canadian border has been
closed for months. Social distanc-
ing has put an end to hosting
events like banquets, wedding re-
ceptions and Christmas parties.
While hotels are certainly not
the only businesses impacted by
COVID-19, their empty parking
lots and lobbies are vivid remind-
ers of the ongoing economic ef-
fects of the pandemic.
“Before COVID we were meet-
ing all of our goals and revenue
was looking good,” said Chris
Baze, Clarion Hotel and Conven-
tion Center of Minot. “Now we’re
down to about 10% of revenue. It’s
sad. It really is. Fortunately, own-
ership has been very good through
this and keeps our business go-
ing.”
The Clarion, located near the
State Fairgrounds, boasts the
largest convention center of any
hotel in the state. But the conven-
tion business went away quickly
as coronavirus spread, leaving the
spacious center dark and quiet.
If business were normal, said
Baze, the Clarion would have 150
or so rooms occupied daily. Dur-
ing the pandemic there have been
days with no overnight rooms oc-
cupied. There’s little difference at
most other hotels in Minot where
rooms that would turn over sever-
al times a week are seldom used,
the Minot Daily News reported.
MississippiPEARL — Mississippi’s top
emergency manager is hospital-
ized because of COVID-19 compli-
cations.
The Mississippi Emergency
Management Agency said in a
statement Sunday that Director
Greg Michel has been admitted to
a hospital with pneumonia, a com-
plication from his infection with
COVID-19.
Michel tested positive for the
coronavirus Dec. 9.
Spokesperson Malary White
said the agency continues to “op-
erate as usual while taking every
precaution necessary to protect
our staff.”
White described Michel as re-
maining “in good spirits.”
TennesseeNASHVILLE — Tennessee
Gov. Bill Lee has announced new
social gathering restrictions while
still refusing to implement a mask
mandate despite pleas from front-
line health care workers in a state
experiencing the highest new
cases per capita in the country.
Instead of a mask mandate, the
Republican on Sunday signed an
executive order limiting public
gatherings to 10 people. However,
places of worship, weddings and
funerals are exempt from the or-
der.
He called the state “ground ze-
ro” in the COVID-19 battle and
urged Tennesseans not to gather
with people outside their immedi-
ate households during the upcom-
ing holidays. His message comes
just a day after Lee confirmed that
his wife Maria had tested positive
for COVID-19. Lee says he has
tested negative but will remain in
quarantine at the governor’s resi-
dence.
Tennessee is one of a dozen
states without a mask mandate.
Instead, local counties have the
option of implementing their own
mask restrictions.
TexasAUSTIN — The number of peo-
ple hospitalized with COVID-19 in
Texas continues to increase, as
more doses of the vaccine are ex-
pected this week for front-line
health care workers and residents
of long-term care facilities.
The Texas Department of State
Health Services reported Sunday
that 9,856 people with COVID-19
were hospitalized across the state.
This month Texas surpassed 9,000
hospitalized coronavirus patients
for the first time since a deadly
summer outbreak.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins
University say that over the past
two weeks, the rolling average
number of daily new cases in Tex-
as has remained mostly constant
around 15,908 per day. One in ev-
ery 258 people in Texas tested
positive in the past week.
Johns Hopkins is reporting over
25,700 COVID-19 related deaths
in Texas, the second highest in the
country overall.
WisconsinMILWAUKEE — Wisconsin
health officials Sunday confirmed
more than 1,800 positive CO-
VID-19 tests in the last day and 18
new deaths due to complications
from the coronavirus.
The update increased the total
number of cases to 457,177 since
the start of the pandemic.
There were more than 907 new
cases per 100,000 people in Wis-
consin over the past two weeks,
which ranks 26th in the country
for new cases per capita, accord-
ing to The COVID Tracking Pro-
ject. One in every 235 people in
Wisconsin tested positive in the
past week.
Officials said there were 1,330
people hospitalized as of Friday,
including 290 in intensive care
units. That’s a decrease of 887 pa-
tients from a month ago.
CDC: Front-line workers,
those over 75 shouldbe next to get vaccine
From wire reports
ANDREW NELLES, THE TENNESSEAN/ AP
Nurse practitioner Franklin Grauzer receives a highfive from his daughter, Emerson, 5, after he received aCOVID19 vaccine in Nashville, Tenn., last week. On Sunday, Gov. Bill Lee announced new social gatheringrestrictions.
VIRUS OUTBREAK ROUNDUP
-
Tuesday, December 22, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9
VIRUS OUTBREAK
A flurry of European travel restrictions
announced Sunday over worries about a
fast-spreading new variant of the coronavi-
rus have spurred curiosity and concern
that the mutation could infect Americans.
After officials in the United Kingdom
said Saturday that the variant first identi-
fied there was spreading 70% faster than
others, Google searches about the muta-
tion have spiked. American public health
experts and federal officials say that al-
though it appears that the variant may be
more contagious, it is not any more dan-
gerous than others already detected in the
United States.
“I don’t think there should be any reason
for alarm right now,” Adm. Brett Giroir,
who has been in charge of U.S. testing, told
George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This
Week.”
Variations to the virus are nothing new,
and experts say the coronavirus does not
mutate as much as influenza, meaning it is
less likely that a vaccine would need to be
developed every year to keep up with the
new strains.
Still, much about this variant remains
unknown, such as whether it is a new
strain — a functionally different version of
the virus.
“The take-home message for right now
is that we need to get more information,”
said Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious-dis-
eases specialist at the Medical University
of South Carolina. “In the meantime, we all
need to really double down on our public
health measures — wearing masks, re-
maining physically distanced, avoiding
crowds of people.”
Where has the variant been detect-
ed?
In September, U.K. researchers discov-
ered the variant’s prevalence when they
collected samples from infected people in
southeastern England. It seemed to spread
quickly.
“This lineage came up quite rapidly,”
Nick Loman, one of the researchers and a
professor of microbial genomics at the
University of Birmingham, told The Wash-
ington Post.
Since then, Australia, Denmark and the
Netherlands have identified cases of the
variant in their countries, the World
Health Organization told the BBC. On Sun-
day, Italian officials announced that a pa-
tient returning from Britain “in the last
few days” was in isolation after scientists
detected the mutation.
In South Africa, health officials said Sun-
day that a version of the virus similar to the
U.K. variant has been found in 80% to 90%
of samples analyzed since mid-November.
Is the variant already in the United
States?
The virus has not been detected in the
United States, but officials are watching
for developments in Britain, Giroir told
Stephanopoulos.
Although guidance from federal agen-
cies discourages traveling to Britain, the
United States has not banned travel from
there.
“I really don’t believe we need to do that
yet,” Giroir said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Dem-
ocrat, pointed out Sunday that it would
take only one flight to the United States to
spread the mutation; he urged federal offi-
cials to restrict travel.
“Right now, this variant in the U.K. is
getting on a plane and flying to JFK,” Cuo-
mo said on a conference call with report-
ers.
Kuppalli warned that little is known
about the effectiveness of a ban, referring
to instances in which people rushed to air-
ports and congregated in long lines trying
to travel before restrictions were put into
effect earlier in the pandemic.
“It seems like this new strain is more
contagious,” Scott Gottlieb, a former head
of the Food and Drug Administration, said
on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “It doesn’t
seem to be any more virulent, any more
dangerous than run-of-the-mill COVID.
The next question is: Will it obviate our
natural immunity?”
Will the authorized vaccines still be
effective against this variant of the virus?
Experts say there has been no indication
that the variant is resistant to the Pfizer
and Moderna vaccines authorized by the
FDA.
“There is no reason to believe that the
vaccines that have been developed will not
be effective against this virus as well,” Vi-
vek Murthy, President-elect Joe Biden’s
nominee for surgeon general, told host
Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The bottom line is if you’re at home and
hearing this news, it does not change what
we do in terms of precautions.”
Although the vaccine remains out of re-
ach for most Americans, following guid-
ance such as social distancing and wearing
masks remains the most practical way to
prevent transmission.
What to know about England’s virus mutationBY MERYL KORNFIELD
The Washington Post
British Health Secretary Matt
Hancock said the strain is "out of
control" around London and
southeastern England, though ex-
perts have said it is not clear
whether it is more lethal, and
they expressed confidence that
the vaccines now being rolled out
would still be effective against it.
There were rising hopes that
France would soon allow traffic
to flow again, if truck drivers took
coronavirus tests on arrival.
Meanwhile, the European
Union's drug regulatory agency
recommended use of Pfizer-
BioNTech's vaccine, setting the
stage for the first COVID-19 shots
across the 27-nation bloc. The
vaccine is already being dis-
pensed in Britain and the U.S.
The EU was expected to give
final approval to the recommen-
dation within hours. Authorities
in Germany and several other
European countries said they
hope to begin vaccinating people
on Dec. 27.
While the French ban does not
prevent trucks from heading for
Britain, the move stoked worries
about shortages at a time of year
when Britain produces very little
of its food and relies heavily on
produce delivered from Europe
by truck. In a sign of the govern-
ment's concern, Prime Minister
Boris Johnson called a meeting of
the government's emergency
committee.
The ban caused chaos in Kent,
the southeastern English county
that is home to many of Britain's
English Channel ports. The gov-
ernment urged against travel to
the county, but trucks snaked
along the shoulders of the main
highways to the ports anyway.
Around 10,000 trucks pass
through Britain's port of Dover
every day, accounting for about
20% of the country's trade in
goods. British Transport Secreta-
ry Grant Shapps said France's
ban was "slightly surprising" but
insisted that the public won't no-
tice any shortages "for the most
part."
France's Minister of Transport
Jean-Baptiste Djebbari indicated
that a solution was coming. In a
tweet, he said that "in the coming
hours, at a European level, we
will put a solid health protocol in
place so that the flow from the
United Kingdom can resume."
And a croaky-voiced French
President Emmanuel Macron,
who is working from the Elysee
Palace as he recovers from CO-
VID-19, told a Cabinet meeting by
video: "We are looking at system-
atic testing upon arrival."
Canada, India, France, Germa-
ny, Italy, Spain and Poland were
among the countries that halted
flights from Britain. In the U.S.,
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
said he wanted a ban on flights
from Britain to New York City.
Eurotunnel, the rail operator that
carries passengers and freight
between Britain mainland Eu-
rope, also suspended service out
of the U.K.
At Germany's Berlin and
Frankfurt airports, passengers
arriving from Britain had to
spend Sunday night in the termi-
nals as they awaited test results.
Sophie Taxil, a Frenchwoman
who lives in London, caught a
train back home from Paris and
urged everyone in Britain to fol-
low the rules.
"I live there and I need to go
back there; my family is there,"
she said. "I think that phlegmatic
British nature suits these COVID
times: Stay calm and carry on,
fair play. Regarding this new
strain, we don't know. We will
see."
The moves come in the wake of
Johnson's announcement on Sat-
urday that he was placing London
and the southeast of England in a
newly created tier of restrictions
after scientific advisers warned
that they had detected a new
strain of the virus that may be
more contagious.
Johnson said early indications
are that the variant is 70% more
transmissible and is driving the
rapid spread of infections in the
capital and surrounding areas.
As a result, he scrapped a
planned relaxation of rules over
Christmastime for millions of
people and imposed other tough
new restrictions in the affected
zone. No indoor mixing of house-
holds will be allowed, and only es-
sential travel will be permitted.
Stores selling nonessential goods
were ordered closed, putting a
crimp in Christmas shopping.
The European Centre for Dis-
ease Prevention and Control said
that while preliminary analysis
suggests the new variant is "sig-
nificantly more transmissible,"
there is no indication that infec-
tions are more severe. Experts,
however, have stressed that even
if the new strain is not more le-
thal, it is inevitable that more in-
fections will lead to more hospi-
talizations and deaths.
The Stockholm-based agency
said a few cases of the variant
have been reported by Iceland,
Denmark and the Netherlands. It
also cited news reports of cases in
Belgium and Italy.
The chaos at the border comes
at a time of huge uncertainty for
Britain, less than two weeks be-
fore the final stage of the coun-
try's exit from the EU.
Though Britain left the bloc on
Jan. 31, it is in a transition period
during which it effectively abides
by EU rules until the end of this
year. Talks on a post-Brexit trade
relationship were deadlocked but
set to resume on Monday.
Retailers played down fears of
food shortages in the short term
but warned that there could be
problems if the travel bans last
for a while and if Britain and the
EU fail to reach a trade deal.
"Retailers have stocked up on
goods ahead of Christmas, which
should prevent immediate prob-
lems," said Andrew Opie, director
of food and sustainability at the
British Retail Consortium. "How-
ever, any prolonged closure of the
French border would be a prob-
lem as the U.K. enters the final
weeks before the transition ends."
Concern: French ban stokes worries about UK food shortagesFROM PAGE 1
STEVE PARSONS /AP
Lorries are parked on the M20 near Folkestone, England, as part ofOperation Stack after the Port of Dover was closed and access to theEurotunnel terminal suspended following France's announcement onMonday. France banned all travel from the U.K. for 48 hours frommidnight Sunday, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnelunder the English Channel or from the Port of Dover.
-
PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, December 22, 2020
NATION
WASHINGTON — Once in of-
fice, President-elect Joe Biden
will punish Russia for its suspect-
ed cyberespionage operation
against the United States with fi-
nancial sanctions and measures to
hobble the Kremlin’s ability to
launch future hacks, his chief of
staff said Sunday, as a GOP sen-
ator criticized President Donald
Trump for having a “blind spot”
when it comes to Moscow.
“Those who are responsible are
going to face consequences for it,”
said Biden chief of staff Ron Klain.
“It’s not just sanctions. It’s also
steps and things we could do to de-
grade the capacity of foreign ac-
tors to repeat this sort of attack or,
worse still, engage in even more
dangerous attacks.”
The head of the cybersecurity
firm FireEye, which disclosed
that it had been targeted by the
spying attempt, said it was clear
the foreign intrusions were not
“one and done” and suggested
there was little time to spare be-
fore the next one.
“These attacks will continue to
escalate, and get worse if we do
nothing,” said CEO Kevin Man-
dia.
Cybersecurity experts and U.S.
officials such as Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo have been clear
over the past week that they be-
lieve Russia was behind the mas-
sive hack that infiltrated over 40
federal agencies, including the de-
partments of Treasury, Energy
and Commerce, as well as govern-
ment contractors.
But Trump over the weekend
cast doubt on that assessment,
suggesting without evidence that
China may be behind the cyber in-
trusions and minimizing the im-
pact. “The Cyber Hack is far grea-
ter in the Fake News Media than in
actuality. I have been fully briefed
and everything is well under con-
trol,” Trump tweeted, contradict-
ing his own cybersecurity agency,
which described the hacks as a
“grave” threat.
On Sunday, Sen. Mitt Romney,
R-Utah, blasted Trump for putting
the U.S. at continuing risk.
“Russia acted with impunity,”
he said. “They didn’t fear what we
would be able to do from a cyber-
capacity. They didn’t think that
our defense systems were partic-
ularly adequate. And they appar-
ently didn’t think that we would
respond in a very aggressive
way.”
“I think we’ve come to recog-
nize that the president has a blind
spot when it comes to Russia,”
Romney added, urging an imme-
diate response and calling cyber-
space the “warfare of the future.”
While Trump downplayed the
impact of the hacks, the Cyberse-
curity and Infrastructure Security
Agency has said it compromised
federal agencies as well as “criti-
cal infrastructure.” Homeland Se-
curity, the agency’s parent depart-
ment, defines such infrastructure
as any “vital” assets to the U.S. or
its economy, a broad category that
could include power plants and fi-
nancial institutions.
It’s not clear exactly what the
hackers were seeking, but experts
say it could include nuclear se-
crets, blueprints for advanced
weaponry, COVID-19 vaccine-re-
lated research and information for
dossiers on government and in-
dustry leaders.
Still, it may take months to kick
elite hackers out of the U.S. gov-
ernment networks they have been
quietly rifling through since as far
back as March. Christopher
Krebs, former director of CISA,
highlighted the challenges ahead
as Trump dismisses the threat and
Biden prepares for his Jan. 20 in-
auguration.
“The federal civilian agencies,
the 101 civilian agencies, are not
really optimized for defense right
now,” Krebs said. “And what that
means is, there’s a lot of old anti-
quated, legacy IT systems that are
hard to defend. Plus, the author-
ities are not in place for teams like
CISA to really get out there and
aggressively root out adversar-
ies.”
Throughout his presidency,
Trump has refused to blame Rus-
sia for well-documented hostili-
ties, including its interference in
the 2016 election to help him get
elected. He blamed his predeces-
sor, Barack Obama, for Russia’s
annexation of Crimea, has en-
dorsed allowing Russia to return
to the G-7 group of nations and has
never taken the country to task for
allegedly putting bounties on U.S.
soldiers in Afghanistan.
Klain said the incoming admin-
istration was still learning infor-
mation about the purpose, nature
and extent of the hacks and fault-
ed the confused messaging from
the Trump administration on
who’s to blame.
Klain and Mandia spoke on
CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Krebs
was on CNN’s “State of the
Union,” and Romney was on CNN
and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
AP
Presidentelect Joe Biden — shown in 2014 with Ebola ResponseCoordinator Ron Klain, left — will punish Russia for its suspectedcyberespionage operation against the United States once in office,Klain said Sunday. Klain is preparing to serve as Biden’s chief of staff.
Biden team vowsaction on hack asthreats persist
BY HOPE YEN
Associated Press
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Alfred
Thomas Farrar, a former Tuske-
gee Airman, died on Thursday in
Virginia only days before a cere-
mony planned to honor his ser-
vice in the program that famously
trained Black military pilots dur-
ing World War II. He was 99.
Farrar’s son, Roy, told The As-
sociated Press on Sunday that his
father died at his Lynchburg
home. Alfred Farrar would have
turned 100 years old on Dec. 26.
Farrar left his Lynchburg
hometown for Tuskegee, Ala., af-
ter graduating from high school
to began his aviation training in
1941.
“It was the next best thing to
do,” Farrar had told The News &
Advance in a story that ran last
week.
Farrar learned to be a pilot dur-
ing his time in the U.S. Army Air
Corps program but didn’t fly any
combat missions overseas, ac-
cording to his son.
Roy Farrar said he was proud
of his father’s service but doesn’t
remember him having much to
say about his time as a Tuskegee
Airman.
“It was just something that he
did at the time, that was needed at
the time,” Roy Farrar said.
After his discharge in 1943,
Alfred Farrar studied to be an
aerospace engineer and worked
as an engineer with the Federal
Aviation Administration for four
decades.
WFXR-TV reported that the
Lynchburg Area Veterans Coun-
cil plans to honor Farrar and his
service during the council’s
“troop rally” on Christmas Day.
“In spite of tremendous dis-
crimination, these young Ameri-
can men and women served their
nation with distinction and
opened the door of opportunity
for many other Americans,” the
council said in a statement.
Roy Farrar said several planes
are expected to fly over a sepa-
rate memorial ceremony for his
father on his birthday this week.
Ex-Tuskegee Airman Farrar dies at 99
KENDALL WARNER, THE (LYNCHBURG, VA.) NEWS & ADVANCE/AP
Alfred Thomas Farrar, a Tuskegee Airman, poses for a portrait in thedoorway of his home in Lynchburg, Va., on Dec. 9. Farrar diedThursday at 99, days before a ceremony planned to honor his service.
Associated Press “It was the nextbest thing to do”
Alfred Thomas Farrar
former Tuskegee Airman
WASHINGTON — Breaking
with President Donald Trump,
outgoing Attorney General Wil-
liam Barr said Monday he saw no
reason to appoint a special counsel
to look into the president’s claims
of election fraud or the tax investi-
gation into the son of President-
elect Joe Biden.
In his final press conference,
Barr also undercut Trump as he re-
inforced the belief of federal offi-
cials that Russia was behind the cy-
berespionage operation targeting
the U.S. government. Trump had
suggested without evidence that
China could be responsible.
Barr said the investigation into
Hunter Biden’s financial dealings
was “being handled responsibly
and professionally.”
“I have not seen a reason to ap-
point a special counsel and I have
no plan to do so before I leave,” he
said. Barr also told The Associated
Press in a previous interview that
he had seen no evidence of wide-
spread voting fraud, despite
Trump’s claims to the contrary.
Trump — angry that Barr didn’t
announce there was a 2-year-old
investigation into Hunter Biden —
has consulted on special counsels
with allies, according to several
Trump administration officials
and Republicans close to the White
House who spoke to The Associat-
ed Press on condition of anonymi-
ty.
Naming a special counsel would
make it harder for Joe Biden to
shut down investigations. But it’s
not clear how it could be done with-
out buy-in from Justice officials.
Barr said the hack of U.S. gov-
ernment agencies “certainly ap-
pears to be the Russians.”
Barr breakswith Trumpon election,Biden’s son
Associated Press
-
Tuesday, December 22, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11
AMERICAN ROUNDUP
New program offers freecollege to prisoners
SC ORANGEBURG —Some prisoners inSouth Carolina will soon be able to
attend college for free.
The South Carolina Depart-
ment of Corrections says it is part-
nering with Claflin University, a
historically Black private school
in Orangeburg, to offer bachelor’s
degrees to people incarcerated in
state prisons. The program is slat-
ed to start in 2021, according to an
agency news release on Thursday.
Claflin will offer the students
degrees in criminal justice, psy-
chology and organizational man-
agement, as well as minors and
certificates.
The program is part of a federal
initiative to help prisoners earn
university credentials. School and
prison officials said the partner-
ship will help give prisoners skills
to return to society successfully.
45 cold-stunned seaturtles being treated
MS GULFPORT — Sev-enty-five endangeredsea turtles are being treated in
Mississippi and Louisiana after
being rescued from New England
beaches where they washed up,
injured and sick from the cold.
They’re Kemp’s ridley sea tur-
tles, the world’s smallest and most
endangered sea turtles.
Twenty-five are being treated at
the Mississippi Aquarium and 20
at the Institute for Marine Mam-
mal Studies, which are about 5.5
miles apart in Gulfport.
Another 30 are being treated at
the Audubon Nature Institute in
New Orleans.
More than 800 turtles have been
stranded in New England so far
this year, according to a news re-
lease from the aquarium. That’s
about the number found during
the entire winter of 2018-2019. A
paper published in 2019 predicted
that by 2031, more than 2,300
Kemp’s ridleys a year could be
stranded as warming temper-
atures attract more and more to
the Gulf of Maine.
Helicopter-dropped treatsgiven to good schoolkids
LA CARENCRO — Girlsand boys at one school inLouisiana were so good that Mrs.
Claus visited early, showering the
basketball court with treats drop-
ped from a helicopter.
Teachers at Carencro Catholic
School kept masked students in
tacky sweaters and flannel paja-
mas at a safe distance until all of
the candy, toys, beads and rein-
deer headbands had landed, the
Lafayette Daily Advertiser re-
ported.
Then students rushed for good-
ies donated by a school sponsor
and tossed from a chopper piloted
by a student’s father.
Principal Devin Soeseno, who
played Mrs. Claus, had promised a
helicopter drop last spring if stu-
dents earned 5,000 reward tickets
for good behavior.
Grant will help restorehome at historic camp
IN CHESTERFIELD —Boosters of a historiccentral Indiana camp once famed
for its spiritual mediums have
won a grant to partially restore a
home where it’s believed the foun-
der of Alcoholics Anonymous
once lived.
The $11,500 grant from the Indi-
ana Department of Natural Re-
sources’ historic preservation di-
vision will allow for the work on
the Lizzie Koch home at Camp
Chesterfield.
The Friends of Camp Chester-
field, which received the grant,
raised $11,500 in matching funds
for the project, which will go to-
ward removing the two-story cot-
tage’s asphalt siding and shoring
up its foundation.
The restoration work on the
home, which will be painted in his-
toric colors, is expected to be com-
pleted next year, said Normandi
Ellis with the Friends of Camp
Chesterfield.
Prosecutor: 5 accused in58 break-ins in total
GA MACON — A Georgiaprosecutor said a bur-glary ring hit 49 businesses a total
of 58 times over four months, and
five people are accused.
Targets included gas stations,
dollar stores and popular restau-
rants in Macon, and burglaries oc-
curred from Dec. 23, 2019, into
April, said Bibb County District
Attorney David Cooke.
He said Wednesday that four
men and a woman were charged
on Tuesday with racketeering,
and the men were also indicted on
numerous burglary charges, The
Telegraph reported.
The indictment said three of
them were jailed April 28 after in-
vestigators learned they had re-
ceived stolen property, including
electronics and a slow cooker
from a grocery store.
Officer rescues man anddog who fell through ice
CT EASTON — An Eastonpolice officer is beingcredited with rescuing a man and
his dog who both wound up falling
through the ice at a local pond.
Easton Police Chief Richard
Doye said Officer Anthony Tele-
sco, 32, a two-year veteran on the
force, was on routine patrol Fri-
day night when he was flagged
down by a man who said his dog
had fallen through the ice at Kell-
er Pond.
Telesco, who called the Easton
Fire Department to perform an
ice rescue, wound up having to en-
ter the frigid water after the dog’s
owner climbed onto the ice and at-
tempted to rescue the animal him-
self before the fire department ar-
rived. The man had fallen through
the ice, onto his dog.
Doye, who posted a written
statement Saturday on the depart-
ment’s Facebook page, said Tele-
sco was in water up to his chest
and experienced “minor distress”
as he was existing the water. The
officer was transported to Bridge-
port Hospital for cold-water expo-
sure and later released in good
condition. The dog’s owner, whose
name was not released, was treat-
ed at the scene and reunited with
his pet, which is doing fine, the
chief said.
Civil War battlefield beingpreserved with $300K
AL SPANISH FORT — Asouth Alabama battle-field where thousands of Black
top related