Dentists Are Staying During Pandemic, Despite Having One of the Most Dangerous Jobs

By Emily Drooby

Dentist Joseph Izzo starts his morning by gearing up.

“We are wearing gowns, we are wearing face shields, we are wearing masks, we are protecting our eyes,” Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Specialist Currents News.

Everything is being done to limit the spread of germs. Plastic coats surface he might touch, warning signs greet guests in the lobby, and a special air filtration system sits in the corner of the office.

“When you’re dealing with aerosols and you’re dealing with airborne pathogens, the problem is tremendously more difficult to properly address,” he explained.

The dental field is flagged as high-risk because of the pandemic, consistently topping most dangerous jobs lists.

People across the country have been left thinking: is it safe to go to the dentist? Some offices across the country are citing drops in patients. A study by the American Dental Association estimates that dental care spending could have dropped by 38 percent in 2020.

Despite these fears, dentists have been able to stay pretty safe. A study by the American Dental Association found the average monthly rate of dentists with COVID-19 is under one percent, a lower number compared to other health professions.

Dentists credit years of perfecting ways to stop the spread of infections. Enhanced protections started ramping up in the mid-eighties.

“We in dentistry have been on the forefront of infection control, it goes back to the early days of AIDS,” explained Dr. Izzo.

Working inside someone’s mouth forces you to learn how to keep everyone safe.

“Dentistry went through a tremendous transformation in terms of infection control,” Dr. Izzo said. “While we were always aware of what we needed to do, the level that we brought it up to was pretty amazing. I think that because of that, we were prepared for this.”

It’s a good thing they were prepared. While telemedicine did provide some relief for patients, they needed to get people back into the office as quickly as possible.

“We have to find a way to do it so that the people who are in need get proper attention and can be taken care of, and that’s what we have done,” said Dr. Izzo.

House Votes to Impeach President Trump a Second Time

Currents News Staff

After a day of intense debate, the House of Representatives impeached President Donald J. Trump. In a historic first, Trump has become the first president in history to be impeached twice.

“Is the president’s war on democracy in keeping with the constitution?” asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan also asked, “Democrats are going to impeach the president for a second time. One week, one week before he leaves office. Why?”

The vote comes just a week after a violent mob took over the capitol, passing 232 to 197 with 10 Republicans voting against the president.

One week after protesters stormed the Capitol, the House debated impeaching President Trump on one count inciting an insurrection.

“We are debating this historic measure at an actual crime scene,” said Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, “and we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the President of the United States.”

“The President of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion inside our common country. He must go,” said Speaker Pelosi. “He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”

California Rep. Tom McClintock said, “I cannot think of a more petty, vindictive, or gratuitous act, than to impeach an already defeated president a week before he is to leave office.”

President Trump denied responsibility for the riot. Rep. Jordan read the president’s statement.

“Statement from the President: ‘I urge that there must be no violence, no lawbreaking and no vandalism of any kind,” said Rep. Jordan. “That is not what I stand for.'”

Most House Republicans argue that impeachment will ultimately do more harm than good.

“The President bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters,” said House Republican Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy. “A vote to impeach would further divide this nation. A vote to impeach would further fan the flames of partisan division.”

Although the House has the power to impeach, it’s the Senate that holds a trial and can ultimately remove Trump from the presidency and potentially bar him from ever seeking office again.

Pope Francis Among the First Vatican Residents to be Given Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

By Jessica Easthope and Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Both Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI have received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 after the Vatican started vaccinating its employees and residents Jan. 13.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office, confirmed the news Jan. 14.

While it was reported widely that Pope Francis received the vaccine Jan. 13, the retired pope’s secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, told Vatican News that Pope Benedict received his shot the morning of Jan. 14.

The archbishop had told the German Catholic news agency KNA Jan. 11 that the 93-year-old pope, who lives in a converted monastery in the Vatican Gardens, and his entire household staff wanted to be vaccinated as soon as the vaccine was available in Vatican City State.

He told Vatican News that the retired pope has been following the news “on television, and he shares our concerns about the pandemic, about what is happening in the world, about the many people who have lost their life because of the virus.”

“There have been people he knows who have died because of COVID-19,” he added.

Archbishop Ganswein said the retired pope is still very sharp mentally but that his voice and physical strength have weakened. “He is very frail and only can walk a little with a walker.”

He rests more, “but we still go out every afternoon, despite the cold, in the Vatican Gardens,” he added.

The Vatican’s vaccination program was voluntary. The Vatican health service was giving priority to its health care workers, security personnel, employees who deal with the public and older residents, employees and retirees.

In early December, Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, director of the Vatican health service, said they would begin with the Pfizer vaccine, which was developed in conjunction with BioNTech.

Pope Francis had said in a television interview broadcast Jan. 10 that he too would be vaccinated against the coronavirus as soon as it was available.

He said that he believed that from an ethical point of view, everyone should take the vaccine because those who did not would not only put their own lives at risk, but also the lives of others.

In a press release Jan. 2, the Vatican’s health services department said it purchased an “ultra-low temperature refrigerator” for storing the vaccines and said it expected to receive enough doses to cover “the needs of the Holy See and Vatican City State.”

The Vatican reported its first known case of infection in early March, and since then there have been another 25 reported cases — including 11 Swiss guards in October.

Pope Francis’ personal doctor died Jan. 9 of complications caused by COVID-19. Fabrizio Soccorsi, 78, had been admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital Dec. 26 because of cancer, according to the Italian Catholic agency SIR, Jan. 9.

However, he died because of “pulmonary complications” caused by COVID-19, the agency said, without providing further details.

For Ash Wednesday, Vatican Asks Priests to ‘Sprinkle’ Ashes on Heads

Currents News Staff

ROME (CNS) — The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments asked priests to take special anti-COVID-19 precautions this year when distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, including sprinkling ashes on the top of people’s heads rather than using them to make a cross on people’s foreheads.

The congregation’s note on the “distribution of ashes in time of pandemic” was published on the congregation’s website Jan. 12 and directs priests to say “the prayer for blessing the ashes” and then sprinkle “the ashes with holy water, without saying anything.”

“Then he addresses all those present and only once says the formula as it appears in the Roman Missal, applying it to all in general: ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel’ or ‘Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.’”

“The priest then cleanses his hands, puts on a face mask and distributes the ashes to those who come to him or, if appropriate, he goes to those who are standing in their places,” it said. “The priest takes the ashes and sprinkles them on the head of each one without saying anything.”

The usual practice would be to repeat the formula — “Repent and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” — to each person as the ashes are sprinkled on the top of their head or rubbed onto their forehead.

Sprinkling ashes on the top of people’s heads, rather than marking foreheads with ashes, is the customary practice at the Vatican and in Italy. Given the spread of the coronavirus, the practice has the advantage of not requiring the priest to touch multiple people.

The Latin, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese versions of the note also specify that the mask should cover the priests’ “nose and mouth.”

Currents News full broadcast for Tues, 1/12/21 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Major changes to the vaccine rollout after weeks of intense criticism over the sluggish process.

President Trump calling for calm – speaking publicly for the first time since the chaos at the Capitol erupted.

There’s a major push to ramp up vaccinations around the country – as Moderna announces that their vaccine will protect you for up to a year.

The Easter season is fast approaching, the Holy See putting out some needed guidance on how to safely observe Ash Wednesday.

Brooklyn Diocese Catholic School Teachers Begin Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine

By Emily Drooby

On Jan. 12, a steady stream of people headed into a Queens, New York, COVID vaccine hub located at Hillcrest High School. The list of who could get the shot dramatically expanded this week.

People over 65 were added on Tuesday, which bumped the list up to seven million people. That list also includes police officers, firefighters and teachers.

Initially, Catholic school teachers feared they wouldn’t be included. The superintendents of schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Archdiocese of New York wrote a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza on Jan. 5, to request they be included.

They were — and many have already taken advantage.

Ashley Lantz showed Currents News the portal she used to sign up for her COVID vaccine. She is a teacher at St. Kevin Catholic Academy. She received her first shot on Monday, and is already signed up for her second.

“I went right online to the vaccine hub, found my appointment and said, ‘You know what, the sooner the better,'” she explained.

For her, the process was easy because she signed up right away. But now that word has spread, and others haven’t been as lucky. She knows teachers who are waiting months for their slot.

New York City has a portal for finding vaccination sites. Just add a zip code and local spots will pop up. The trick? Getting an appointment. Many locations are booked up. The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, is urging patience as they open up more vaccination sites.

“At the end of the day you only have 300,000 dosages for a population of 7 million on the other side. I said in the State of the State, ‘patience.’ We need patience at an impatient time in history,” he said during his State of the State address.

John Santamaria, a teacher at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy in Glen Oaks booked an appointment in Queens after hitting a dead end closer to home.

“The sites out in Long Island haven’t really been as friendly as the city ones, so I took what I was able to get, making sure I was able to do it immediately,” he told Currents News.

Now, he’s having trouble booking a Long Island appointment for his mother. He’s not the only one.

“In Long Island, I was not able to find anything,” said Janet Campo, a teacher at St. Kevin Catholic Academy.

She also booked a Queens appointment after running into trouble on the island. She signed her grandparents up too.

However, that doesn’t mean in-person teachers get the vaccine first. Right now, there’s no system in place to make them a priority over teachers who are remote. It’s just the honor system. Many say it’s unfair.

Janet, who is an in-person teacher said, “People who are teaching remotely should not be getting the vaccine before people who are putting their lives on the line every day to come in and teach the kids.”

The strain on that system is only going to get more intense, as New York State will soon add immunocompromised people to the list of those eligible to get the shot, as soon as they get more of a guideline on who is considered to be in that group.

The governor further raised concern that even with all of these people eligible, they’re still only getting 300,000 doses a week from the federal government.

Catholic Social Issues and What’s to Come Next in the White House

Currents News Staff

A new administration is on the horizon and President-Elect Joe Biden is inheriting a divided country. All this after last week’s riots at the U.S. Capitol and talks of impeaching President Trump again.

Brian Browne, political science professor at St. John’s University joins Currents News to continue the conversation surrounding the transition of power in the White House and calls for unity in the country.

Pope Francis’ Trip to Iraq Will Be a Show of Christian Solidarity

Currents News Staff

When the start of the Iraq War began in 2003, most countries withdrew their ambassadors from Baghdad. But even though the Vatican opposed the war on moral grounds, the nuncio at the time remained in the country as bombs rained down on the capital.

“Having lived this experience with them has helped them see that we don’t leave because there is a war, we don’t abandon them,” said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. “The Church always offers solidarity.”

In March, Pope Francis will travel to Iraq in a show of solidarity. He’ll visit Mosul, the city that was under ISIS control for more than a year. It’s a possible challenge to the safety of the pontiff’s visit.

“If we are talking about risks, we should not go there,” Cardinal Filoni said. “The authorities will do everything possible to make it a safe trip. I believe that, as has happened on other occasions, it will be the citizens themselves who will guarantee safety. It is something that goes beyond police deployment or political strategy.”

To those who think it would have been preferable to wait for a moment of greater stability in the country, Cardinal Filoni has a clear answer.

“We should not consider traveling to this country that, little by little, tries to find its path, only when the road is quiet, without obstacles,” he said. “It is contrary to all logic, especially the logic of the Christian Church. We are with the people. If the people suffer, we share the suffering with them.”

Mistake in Public School Roster Sends Child Abuse Investigators to Catholic School Family’s Doorstep

By Emily Drooby

“This is his real report card,” said Margaret Greene-Tomasi as she flipped through a folder that also contained two fake report cards which had set off a child abuse investigation.

“This was the letter from ACS that it was suspected child abuse or maltreatment,” she told Currents News, speaking of the letter which was also in that same folder.

It started when the Administration for Children’s Services, or ACS, showed up at their door.

Margaret described the interaction to Currents News:

“’I said ACS?’ And she said, ‘Yes. Yhere is an investigation open for John Tomasi.’ I said, ‘For what?’ She said, ‘Well he’s not attending Cobble Hill High School.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s crazy, because he attends Xaverian High School.”

John had been attending the Bay Ridge Catholic high school all year. The former Catholic Academy student had never been to public school.

However, for some reason, John was on the roster at Cobble Hill School of American Studies in Brooklyn. They never got the message he wasn’t coming. He was marked absent for months, prompting the abuse investigation.

John’s mom says the visit was terrifying and included interviews, a search of their home and even physically checking John for signs of abuse.

“Somebody knocked on your door and they can potentially take your child from your home,” she explained. “Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen, that didn’t happen. But for the first time in my life that could happen, and there are no words.”

And that wasn’t all: around the same time, a public-school report card came for John. It was filled out, he had grades and even comments.

Margaret could not get in touch with the school so that they could clear up their mistake. Finally, someone from the Department of Education said they would take John off the list. At the same time, the ACS investigation came back as unfounded.

“And I thought, okay, this is over,” said Margaret. But then a second report card showed up.

“When I got that second report card I was afraid. I thought, ‘Can they reopen another investigation on me, he’s still in that system?'”

Only after her story spread did the deputy superintendent for Brooklyn North Schools finally assured her it was a mistake.

But Margaret still isn’t 100 percent sure that it is over. Further, the trauma is long-lasting — so is the ACS record.

“And it doesn’t get expunged for another ten years, so it’s closed, but I don’t know what that means, how closed is it? That’s very frightening to me,” said Margaret.

She says they only had one warning from the school back in October, when she received John’s schedule in the mail. After multiple calls and emails to the school, she figured it was just a mistake, a decision she greatly regrets. Still, she’s confused as to how it got this far.

“How do you admit someone? They have no transcripts, they have no immunization records, he’s never been to public school, so where did this child come from,” she asked.

One of the reasons Margaret is speaking out about this situation is to warn other parents to stay vigilant and to never give up.

Currents News reached out to the school but we haven’t heard back.

The Department of Education sent a statement reading, “This should not have happened, and this matter has been referred for investigation. We will take follow up action as appropriate,” elaborating that the specifically it was referred to the Special Commissioner of Investigation.

For Margaret, the pandemic was a factor in trying to get this situation fixed. With a lot of people working from home at both the school and the DOE, Margaret had to rely on phone calls and emails, which weren’t always answered.

Currents News full broadcast for Mon, 1/11/21 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

A true nightmare for one Catholic school family – their child wrongly listed as attending a public school – a mistake that lead to a child abuse investigation.

House Democrats announce they’ll try to impeach President Trump for a second time.

New York City opens up two 24-7 vaccination sites – hoping to ramp up the number of people vaccinated after a dismal start.

The Vatican rolls out their vaccines – Pope Francis saying he’ll get the shot and that its everyone’s ethical obligation to do the same.

A new documentary honoring the memory of Brooklyn born Bishop Francis Xavier Ford.