US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tested positive for Covid-19 and “is experiencing symptoms and recovering at home”, her office said in a statement on Sunday. AP
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tested positive for Covid-19 and “is experiencing symptoms and recovering at home”, her office said in a statement on Sunday. AP
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tested positive for Covid-19 and “is experiencing symptoms and recovering at home”, her office said in a statement on Sunday. AP
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tested positive for Covid-19 and “is experiencing symptoms and recovering at home”, her office said in a statement on Sunday. AP

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tests positive for Covid-19


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US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement from her office.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who is vaccinated and received her booster shot, is "experiencing symptoms and recovering at home", her office said on Sunday. The Democratic congresswoman added that she encourages everyone to receive their booster shot and follow guidance from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

With the nation dealing with another surge of the virus since the emergence of the highly contagious omicron variant, numerous members of Congress have reported breakthrough cases despite being fully vaccinated and boosted.

The seven-day average positivity rate in the US Capitol has risen from 1 per cent to 13 per cent, according to a memo sent to US lawmakers last week from Capitol physician Brian Monahan. Mr Monahan warned that positive cases can rise significantly in the next few weeks.

The breakthrough in cases has prompted Congress to ramp up its Covid-19 protocols with the Senate returning to session on Monday.

Mr Monahan has encouraged congressional offices to work from home and limit the amount of in-person meetings. Those inside Capitol Hill have also been urged to wear N95 or KN95 masks rather than cloth or surgical masks.

The House of Representatives had already reinstated its mask mandate regardless of vaccination status back in the summer, when the Delta variant was raging through the US.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

How Voiss turns words to speech

The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen

The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser

This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen

A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB

The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free

Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards

Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser

Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages

At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness

More than 90 per cent live in developing countries

The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device

Updated: January 10, 2022, 5:18 PM`