1. MoCo Students’ Well-being
Montgomery County released an announcement today concerning students. The County’s website announced the launch of “The Reimagining School Safety and Students’ Well-Being Initiative” (RSSSW) – an interagency partnership to address school safety and student well-being. “Addressing the mental health of students has been on our agenda since day one – but the last 13 months have clarified the urgency of the need. We must improve the educational environments and provide as much support for our students as quickly as possible,” said County Executive Elrich. “Reimagining School Safety and Students’ Well-Being is a collaboration between my office, the County Council, Board of Education, and Montgomery County Public Schools. This initiative will help us rethink and reshape public safety in our schools and provide the best social and mental health support for our students.”
2. Covid-19 Funds Recovered
It was disheartening to hear that the relief money was being swindled last year. CNN reports that Federal officials from the US Secret Service have helped recover around $2 billion in fraudulently obtained Covid-19 relief funds and seized more than $640 million from accused fraudsters, the agency said Wednesday. “The amount of unemployment insurance benefits provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in the history of the nation’s unemployment insurance system,” said Larry Turner, the acting inspector general for the Labor Department. “Unfortunately, the significant increase in benefits made the program a target for those seeking to defraud government programs.”
3. Egypt
With a population of over 100 million, Egypt has finally received relief to combat the COVID-19 virus. Reuters reports that The country received its first COVAX delivery of 854,000 AstraZeneca doses at the start of April, then 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccine through the COVAX initiative and a separate shipment of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses from China, the health ministry said on Thursday.