NO MORE FIRING WORKERS,DIAPER SLAVE FACE MASKS OFF.

 NO MORE FIRING WORKERS,DIAPER SLAVE FACE MASKS OFF.

Ontario to lift most COVID-19 mask mandates on March 21, top doctor says-phil Tsekouras-CTV News Toronto Multi-Platform Writer-Updated March 9, 2022 12:45 p.m. EST

COVID-19 mask requirements in Ontario will lift in most indoor settings later this month, the province’s top doctor has confirmed.Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore made the announcement at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.“We are now learning to live with and manage COVID-19 for the long term,” Moore said in his last regularly scheduled COVID-19 update. “This necessitates a shift to a more balanced response to the pandemic.”starting March 21, masks will no longer be required in schools, restaurants and bars, gyms and movie theatres across the province.The government said individuals can continue to wear a mask after that date if they choose to do so.On March 14, mandatory vaccination policies for employees at schools, child-care settings, hospitals and long-term care homes will also come to an end.Masks and face coverings will still be required in places like public transit, long-term care homes, health-care settings and shelters until April 27 -- after which the requirement will end in those settings as well.As provinces lift mandates, federal officials say mask-wearing a 'personal choice' Additionally, the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA), which allows the government to issue public health directives at the provincial level, will expire on March 28. A final extension of all the emergency orders in place under the ROA will be in effect for 30 days after that date.At a separate news conference Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford said that the choice to wear a mask beyond March 21 will be a personal one.“It's going to be up to the people of Ontario, if you want to keep the mask on, keep it on,” Ford said. “If you want to take it off, take it off. But we have to move forward from this, people are exhausted and the poor kids in those classrooms too. Like we got to move on.”Wednesday’s announcement comes after the province ended its mandatory proof of vaccination requirement to enter most non-essential businesses on March 1. Capacity limits and physical distancing requirements were also lifted at that time.The number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions related to COVID-19 in Ontario has been dropping since mid-January and the province has said that the peak of the Omicron variant is “behind us,” thanks to time-limited public health measures and high vaccination rates.As well, the presence of COVID-19 in wastewater sites, which health officials use to collect data on the transmission of the novel coronavirus, has started to decrease.ISOLATION RULES FOR THOSE EXPOSED TO COVID-19 ALSO CHANGING-There will soon be no isolation requirement for any individual who is exposed to the virus outside of their own home.Instead, for the 10 days following exposure, individuals will be asked to self-monitor for symptoms, wear a mask and avoid activities where mask removal would be necessary. They should not visit anyone who is at higher risk of illness and should not attend work at, or visit, a high-risk setting like a hospital or long-term care home unless they have tested positive in the past 90 days.The previous guidance stipulated that all unvaccinated and immunocompromised individuals exposed to COVID-19 outside of their homes had to isolate for 10 days.Similarly, those who are exposed to COVID-19 within their own household -- who have tested positive in the past 90 days, who are above the age of 18 and have received a booster dose of vaccine, or who are under the age of 18 and are fully vaccinated with two doses -- do not need to self-isolate, but should follow the recommendations above. Individuals who do not meet these requirements, such as those who are unvaccinated, must self-isolate following exposure.Previously, any individual exposed to COVID-19 in their own home, regardless of vaccination status, was required to isolate.

BACK IN 2005  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WROTE A STORY ABOUT THE US BIO LABS IN THE UKRAINE. ITS TRUE NOT FALSE.

US-Funded Bio Labs in Ukraine Conducted Research Into Bat Coronavirus, Russian MoD Says-By Sputnik News Published: Mar 10, 2022 05:13 PM

The American authorities previously admitted that Ukraine hosts "biological research facilities", expressing concerns they could come under the control of Russian forces.The Russian Defence Ministry on Thursday announced that the US-funded biological labs located in Ukraine were conducting experiments with bat coronavirus samples."According to the documents, the American side planned to conduct work on pathogens of birds, bats, and reptiles in Ukraine in 2022, with a further transition to studying the possibility of carrying African swine fever and anthrax", chief spokesman for the Ministry of Defence Major General Igor Konashenkov said.In addition, the facilities were studying the possible spread of pathogens via wild birds, migrating between Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the region."The purpose of this - and other Pentagon-funded biological research in Ukraine, was to create a mechanism for the covert spread of deadly pathogens", he added.Screengrab of Russian Defence Ministry briefing showing US-sponsored biolabs on Ukraininan territory. Photo : Russian Ministry of Defence-Screengrab of Russian Defence Ministry briefing showing US-sponsored biolabs on Ukraininan territory. Photo : Russian Ministry of DefenceThe Russian Defence Ministry will soon publish the documents received from staff at the Ukrainian biolaboratories, as well as the results of their examination, Konashenkov said.On 7 March, the Russian armed forces discovered 30 biological compounds in Ukraine, which were possibly involved in the production of bio weapons, according to the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defence of the Russian armed forces Igor Kirillov.The Russian MoD noted the United States spent more than $200 million on the work of biological laboratories in Ukraine - the laboratories of the central sanitary and epidemiological directorate of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry participated in the US military biological programme.While the US initially slammed information about its bio warfare labs in Ukraine as "fake", on Tuesday, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland admitted the existence of US-funded "biological research facilities" in the country.Moscow has spent years expressing concerns about the activities of US-funded biolabs in Ukraine and other post-Soviet republics, including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Georgia.

 U.S. storing ‘dangerous pathogens’ at biolabs in Ukraine, China says-The remark mirrors the tactics China's diplomats used last year when questioned about the origins of Covid-19:Bloomberg News-Mar 08, 2022

China accused the U.S. military of operating “dangerous” biolabs in Ukraine, echoing a Russian conspiracy theory that Western officials warned could be part of an effort to retroactively justify President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.U.S. storing ‘dangerous pathogens’ at biolabs in Ukraine, China says“U.S. biolabs in Ukraine have indeed attracted much attention recently,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Tuesday in response to a question from a local reporter, adding that “all dangerous pathogens in Ukraine must be stored in these labs and all research activities are led by the U.S. side.”He called on “relevant sides to ensure the safety of these labs” and said “the U.S., as the party that knows the labs the best, should disclose specific information as soon as possible, including which viruses are stored and what research has been conducted.”The comments mirror the diversion tactics China’s diplomats used last year when questioned about the origins of Covid-19. Back then they frequently pointed to Fort Detrick, a U.S. military facility in Maryland that the Soviet Union falsely claimed in the 1980s was the source of the virus causing Aids and that Zhao again referenced Tuesday.Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a Tweet on Tuesday that it had noticed an up-tick in allegations by Russia that Ukraine is working on biological or nuclear weapons. “These narratives are long standing but are currently likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” it added.Since 1991, a unit of the Department of Defense has cooperated with former satellites of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, to secure and take apart weapons of mass destruction that have been left behind.The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program is intended to “support defense and military cooperation with the objective of preventing proliferation,” according to U.S. non-profit organization the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.China has walked a fine diplomatic line since Russia attacked Ukraine. It has in recent years been making the case that as a richer, more powerful nation it deserves a bigger say on the world stage. Yet it also wants the benefits of closer ties with Moscow, largely to offset what it sees as Washington’s undue influence.Zhao repeated at the press briefing that China’s position on Ukraine remains “consistent and clear cut,” signaling that the Asian nation is still trying to avoid picking a side on the issue.When asked whether China was ready to say that Russia had “invaded” its Eastern European neighbor, Zhao said: “I don’t think the question is of any point.”

Threat Reduction Program Extends Reach to Ukrainian Biological Facilities-Arms Control Today-William Huntington

U.S. cooperation with Ukraine under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program was expanded Aug. 29 with an agreement to use U.S. CTR funds to improve security for pathogens stored at biological research and health facilities in the former Soviet republic.Under the agreement, CTR funds will for the first time flow directly to projects aimed at securing pathogen strains and sensitive biological knowledge within Ukraine. The United States also will work to improve Ukrainian capabilities to detect, diagnose, and treat outbreaks of infectious diseases, as well as determine whether outbreaks are natural or the result of bioterrorism.The agreement was signed during the visit to Kiev of a high-level U.S. delegation led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.).Among the facilities in Ukraine intended to receive security upgrades are those once linked to the Soviet-era anti-plague network, which continue to store libraries of naturally occuring pathogens for the purposes of research and public health. Andy Fisher, spokesperson for Lugar, told Arms Control Today on Sept. 15 the anti-plague facilities “were threats and they are threats,” given the risk that poor security could allow terrorists access to pathogens. Fisher also cited the possibility that outdated operating procedures and equipment could result in the unintentional leakage of pathogens from these facilities, endangering the public health of the region.Cooperation under the new agreement will not be limited to physical security over pathogens. Funds also will be available for the peaceful employment of scientists whose skills and financial insecurity could render them potential targets for states or independent groups looking to acquire bioweapons capabilities. In addition, the agreement includes provisions for cooperation between U.S. and Ukrainian epidemiological laboratories in diagnosing disease outbreaks. Toward that end, pathogens from Ukrainian health and research facilities will be shared with U.S. partner laboratories. Under a CTR agreement with Azerbaijan, the United States last month also received a transfer of pathogens from similar facilities in that former Soviet republic.As a first step toward implementation of the agreement, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) will conduct an assessment of biological facilities in Ukraine to determine what sites will receive assistance. Funds within the current DTRA budget will cover the assessment phase; additional implementation funds could be appropriated in fiscal year 2007 and beyond. As the Aug. 29 agreement falls under the established CTR framework, neither Congress nor the Ukrainian Rada will need to provide further authorization before implementation begins.Negotiations on the Aug. 29 agreement spanned more than a year. One administration official who requested anonymity told Arms Control Today that inter-Ukrainian political and bureaucratic hurdles were surmounted by a combination of strong U.S.-Ukrainian relations and the presence of the high-level U.S. delegation. A press release from Lugar’s office specifically credited then-Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko with breaking a “log jam within Ukrainian government bureaucracy.”

Deconstructing ESG scores: how to invest with your own criteria-BIS Working Papers  |  No 1008  |  09 March 2022-by  Torsten Ehlers, Ulrike Elsenhuber, Anandakumar Jegarasasingam and Eric Jondeau
https://www.bis.org/publ/work1008.pdf

Focus-Environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores are becoming an increasingly important tool for asset managers to design and implement ESG investment strategies. However, there are drawbacks in using headline ESG scores that limit their usefulness. ESG scores amalgamate a broad range of fundamentally different factors, which creates ambiguity. Weak scores in one pillar can offset strong scores in another pillar.-Contribution-We demonstrate an investment strategy based on deconstructing ESG scores. The strategy focuses on specific underlying ESG categories such as emissions reduction and human rights. To implement our investment strategy, we exclude firms with the lowest scores in certain ESG categories of interest and implement a best-in-class investment strategy.This approach helps investors overcome the "aggregated confusion" inherent in ESG scores. Moreover, it enables investors to better track the sustainability performance trajectory of their portfolio against their stated sustainable investment objectives.Findings-We find that simple exclusions enable substantial improvements to the headline ESG score of the portfolio. Here, the portfolio's financial performance only suffers a marginal impact relative to a broad stock market benchmark. However, the exclusion results in regional and sectoral biases compared to the benchmark.To counter this, we adopt a best-in-class strategy that excludes firms with the lowest category scores and reinvests the proceeds in firms with the highest scores. This approach helps reduce the tracking error of the portfolio, and slightly improve its risk adjusted performance while still yielding a large gain in the headline ESG score.-Abstract-Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores are becoming an increasingly important tool for asset managers to design and implement ESG investment strategies. They amalgamate a broad range of fundamentally different factors, creating ambiguity for investors as to the signals of higher or lower ESG scores. We explore the feasibility and performance of more targeted investment strategies based on specific categories by deconstructing ESG scores into their granular components. First, we investigate the characteristics of the various categories underlying ESG scores. Not all types of ESG categories lend themselves to more targeted strategies, which is related to both limits to ESG data disclosure and the fundamental challenge of translating qualitative characteristics into quantitative measures. Second, we consider an investment scheme based on the exclusion of firms with the lowest scores in each category of interest. In most cases, this targeted strategy still allows investors to substantially improve the portfolio headline ESG score, with only a marginal impact on financial performance relative to a broad stock market benchmark. The exclusion results in regional and sectoral biases relative to the benchmark, which may be undesirable for some investors. We then implement a "best-in-class" strategy, based on excluding firms with the lowest category scores and reinvesting the proceeds in firms with the highest scores maintaining the same regional and sectoral composition. This approach reduces the tracking error of the portfolio and slightly improves its risk-adjusted performance while still yielding a large gain in the headline ESG score.JEL classification: G11, G24, M14, Q01.