Archive - Oct 19, 2014 - Story

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In a tumultuous week for Ebola updates (which are only set to get worse with flu season about to unfold, and where every sneeze and fever will be interpreted as an early symptom of the deadly disease, likely choking hospitals and ERs around the nation), Friday brought us one of the more disturbing updates when it was revealed that an Ebola-handling healthcare worker had decided to break the "self-watch" protocol and had gone on a Caranival cruise in the Caribbean. Fast forward to this morning, when after what one assumes was a negative blood test, the Carnival Magic ship carrying the suspect, was cleared to return to port in Galveston, TX this morning. As AP reports, "The unidentified woman who is being monitored disembarked the Carnival Magic with her husband shortly after the ship returned to Galveston, Texas, about 6 a.m. EDT, said Vicky Rey, vice president of guest care for Carnival Cruise Lines. Rey said the couple drove themselves home, but offered no further details.

Some 30,000 participants were wondering if the organizers of today's 34th Beijing International Marathon would cancel the event after "a toxic fog enveloped the Chinese capital and smog levels soared to “hazardous” levels." Adding to the confusion, and concerns, even the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece newspaper, cautioned athletes against taking part in the 26.2-mile race, reporting that Beijing’s air was “not suitable for outdoor activities”.  As the Telegraph reports, "Beijing authorities admitted their city’s air was "severely polluted” on Sunday while the US embassy, which also monitors smog levels, described the situation as "hazardous". The Marathon organizers' answer, however, was that the Marathon would proceed as scheduled. The end result was a surreal photo album of the "airpocalypse" marathon, perhaps the best harbinger of the globalized future, as of thousands of people jogged across downtown Beijing in gasmasks.