Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.
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Question: Paragraph: The nation saw one of the worst flu outbreaks in nearly a decade during the 2017-2018 season, with more than 900,000 cases of hospitalizations and over 80,000 deaths, the CDC estimates here  Between Oct. 1, 2018 and Jan. 5, 2019, about 6 million to 7 million people were reported to have contracted the flu, according to data collected by the health agency. Health regulators have been trying to combat flu outbreaks in the United States and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first new flu medication in nearly two decades last year. The CDC last month signaled the start of the flu season (click here), saying that 24 states and Guam were reporting widespread cases, with the H1N1 virus being the predominant strain. The dominant flu strain during the last season, H3N2, has been linked with severe disease and death, particularly among children and the elderly. The agency continues to recommend vaccination as the best way to reduce the risk of flu and advised people who are at high risk category to approach hospital for treatment with a flu antiviral drug. Claim: Up to 84,000 Americans hospitalized with flu in past three months: CDC.

Answer: An estimated 69,000 to 84,000 Americans were hospitalized due to the flu in the last three months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday.


Question: Paragraph: The power crisis is affecting health and sanitation - because sewage treatment plants can’t run, raw sewage is pouring into the Mediterranean - and now the elderly and sick are desperately trying to handle the heat. Plastic trays and scraps of cardboard are doubling as hand-held fans. Precious piped water is hosed over children and work animals. Those trying to sleep have abandoned clammy mattresses, preferring the relative cool of bare tiled floors. Hoping to pressure the Islamist Hamas group to relinquish control of Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reduced his administration’s payments to Israel for the electricity it supplies to Gaza. That has left the 2 million Palestinians there with only a few hours of power a day. Hospitals and other emergency facilities have made do with back-up generators. Few ordinary Palestinians have that option. A family excursion to the beach that might elsewhere have been a delight was, for Sabah Joudah, a forced decision, especially when having to put up with the sewage problems. “We came here to entertain the children, even though the sea is polluted,” she told Reuters as the dirty surf lapped close by. “It is summer and there is no electricity; no water and no fans are working in our homes. It is very tough, very tough.”   Environment officials say disruptions at sewage treatment facilities have meant more than 100,000 liters of untreated wastewater is discharged along the coast daily. Around 75 percent of the seawater is polluted. Swimming there frequently leaves children with skin inflammations and abdominal complaints, parents say. In the southern town of Khan Younis, a woman bathed her children in a bucket in the street, while a man doused his horse with water. One Khan Younis couple, the Abu Mehsens, both suffer from high blood pressure and said they were so beleaguered by the heat that simply fanning themselves could be too much effort. “When we get tired we rest for a bit before we start fanning again,” Jihan Abu Mehsen said. “We do so all day long.”    The situation has hurt Gaza’s meager retail sector, with vendors saying that sales of electrical appliances have tanked. One exception has been cheap rechargeable fans, which can be stored, with full batteries, in anticipation of the power cuts. “People have turned to alternative power, using batteries,” said appliance salesman Mahmoud Abu Hamda. “Sometimes they use trays and sometimes even the covers of kettles instead of electric fans. This has impacted us very much.” Claim: As temperatures soar, desperate Gazans try any means to beat heat.

Answer: As Middle East summer temperatures soar above 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), Gazans are struggling to stay cool amid a power crisis, with less than four hours of electricity a day and little chance to run fans and air-conditioners.


Question: Paragraph: Since the state prosecutor’s office began a criminal investigation into Pugh at the Maryland governor’s request earlier this week, there’s been a growing tide of examinations spurred by revelations that she was paid $700,000 over roughly eight years for her self-published paperback series about the fictional “Healthy Holly.” By Wednesday afternoon, the total grew to $800,000 after a businessman divulged that his financial firm gave Pugh $100,000 after she clinched the 2016 Democratic primary. The first-term mayor went on an indefinite leave of absence amid the accelerating scandal involving the lucrative sales of her obscure children’s books to a $4 billion hospital network she once helped oversee and a major health plan that does business with the city. Al Redmer, Maryland’s insurance commissioner, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his regulatory agency is now looking at Kaiser Permanente, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, and a state car insurance fund for possible wrongdoing. “To the extent that any insurance carrier would divert funds away from that mission is something that could be concerning based on the facts,” Redmer said in an interview. “Our role is to make sure that entities that we regulate have in no way violated the law or regulations.” Pressure on Pugh ratcheted up dramatically after the Kaiser Permanente disclosed Monday that it paid her limited liability company about $114,000 between 2015 and 2018 for roughly 20,000 copies of her illustrated books. The company said it “purchased Healthy Holly books because we believe residents would be inspired by a book about health and wellness authored by a member of the Baltimore community.” Another city health provider, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, said it made contributions to Associated Black Charities, a nonprofit that manages the city’s taxpayer-funded Children and Youth Fund, to purchase and distribute books. CareFirst declined to comment, while Kaiser said it would cooperate fully with any investigation. Pugh’s attorney has said she looks forward to cooperating with the state prosecutor’s probe and will provide “as much information as possible to put this matter to rest.” Also Wednesday, Acting Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young, who has taken over Pugh’s day-to-day responsibilities since she went on leave, told reporters he’s directed Baltimore’s law department to pull dozens of the most recently authorized city contracts for review. In a closed-door meeting, Baltimore’s ethics board voted to open a probe into Pugh’s book deals. Johns Hopkins Health System disclosed that Pugh, during her days in the state senate, once approached a senior employee to buy her illustrated books. The employee declined. Hopkins spokeswoman Kim Hoppe said they’ve found no evidence of any Healthy Holly purchases or donations to Pugh’s company. J.P. Grant, the Maryland businessman who revealed his firm’s $100,000 payment Wednesday in an interview with The Baltimore Sun, said Pugh told him his company’s check would help distribute Healthy Holly books to schoolkids. Citing deteriorating health from pneumonia, Pugh abruptly retreated to her home Monday amid multiple calls for investigations of her highly lucrative book deals, including a $500,000 arrangement with the University of Maryland Medical System. There was no contract behind the deal and the hospital network described some of the purchases as “grants” in federal filings. Pugh, who sat on a state Senate committee that funded the regional health network before becoming mayor, began serving on the system’s board in 2001. She stepped down from the volunteer board last month and returned her most recent payment of $100,000. The nonprofit Associated Black Charities said five organizations donated $87,180 to pay for “Healthy Holly” books, of which the charitable group kept $9,552 to use as “general support.” One of those groups was apparently the quasi-public Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund. Its former executive director, M. Kent Krabbe, authorized a $7,500 donation in 2012, shortly before Pugh — then a state senator — successfully sponsored legislation supported by the company. That donation was first reported by the Baltimore Business Journal. Krabbe left his leadership role at the car insurance fund in 2015, eventually becoming a director of Pugh’s inaugural committee in 2016 and then joining the Baltimore Department of Transportation as operations manager for special events, a newly created position that came with a $107,100 salary. He could not be reached for comment. Mark McCurdy, the current director of the state’s car insurer of last resort, said there was nothing in their records to say why Krabbe had the auto insurance carrier write a check to Pugh’s Healthy Holly company for its outreach program with Associated Black Charities. “On the surface, it’s not the kind of donation that fits our philosophy,” said McCurdy, stressing that the car insurance fund never received or distributed any Healthy Holly books. Meanwhile, the University of Maryland Medical System’s acting CEO has announced that the former state Sen. Francis X. Kelly and two of his sons would also take voluntary leaves from boards of six affiliated organizations. Kelly & Associates Insurance Group has done millions of dollars in business with the hospitals. About one-third of UMMS board members received compensation through the medical system’s arrangements with their businesses. Legislation is pending in Maryland’s capital focusing on board governance. ___ Follow McFadden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmcfadd Claim: ‘Healthy Holly’, once lucrative, now bane of Baltimore mayor.

Answer:
“Healthy Holly” is a polite African American girl with devoted parents and a little brother. She loves exercise. She craves fresh fruit and vegetables. And she’s now the bane of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh’s existence.