The concept of herd immunity just took another hit. As you know, my view is that herd immunity should come only by vaccination, not uncontrolled spread. The new strain, which has quickly become the dominant strain in England, is now considered 50% more infectious than prior strains: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-12-21/who-says-new-coronavirus-strain-appears-more-infectious-but-experts-expect-vaccines-to-work (yes, 1.5/1.1 = 1.36; other sources estimate 50%). This means that the 70% estimated for herd immunity must be raised for the new strain.
Update: Boris Johnson says new strain is up to 70% more transmissible: https://time.com/5923758/new-covid-strain-uk/ . Until transmissibility analysis is complete, I would assume the new strain will become dominant in some countries, and there the herd immunity level is around 85%. We are going to need to aggressively go after vaccine skepticism.
And children have similar infection risk as adults: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-variant-children/uk-coronavirus-variant-may-be-more-able-to-infect-children-scientists-idUKKBN28V2EV . So in-person schooling will need to be rethought – again. The year 2020 really does suck.
More than 40 countries ban UK travelers: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55391289 . So far, not the US. I guess that’s because they’re (mostly) white people who speak English (sort of). In any event, with the level of travel between the two countries and people fleeing England, you can pretty much assume the mutated virus is already here. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-lockdowns-prompt-travel-bans-to-block-new-covid-19-strain-11608469676 . Admiral Giroir’s comments in this article demonstrate to me that he really does not grasp the issues here.
WSJ: COVID pushes down US life expectancy: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-deaths-to-reverse-u-s-life-expectancy-gains-11608613261 . The guess here is a drop of 2 to 3 years for 2020 in comparison to 2019. That’s a ton by any measure.
WSJ: Long-term change in long-term care: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-spurs-families-to-shun-nursing-homes-a-shift-that-appears-long-lasting-11608565170 . As stated repeatedly here, this industry needs a full overhaul.
Travel restrictions in one place: https://covidcontrols.co/ . This neat little map tells you what you need to know about traveling anywhere. This was fun to explore. I even learned of a place I’ve never heard of – Wallis and Futuna (no kidding). The common languages here are Wallisian and Futunan, although the official language is French.
WSJ: Up with minks: https://www.wsj.com/articles/denmark-to-dig-up-millions-of-dead-mink-after-botched-covid-19-cull-11608558671 . The Danes have really screwed this up. It’s not the White House, but pretty bad.
Mnuchin says stimulus checks could arrive next Monday: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mnuchin-stimulus-checks-could-arrive-next-week-144313195.html . Maybe. Mnuchin has a terrible record with timeline pronouncements. But Treasury already distributed these checks this year, albeit under slight different rules.
More on relief bill contents: https://www.radio.com/alt1037dfw/news/what-is-in-the-newly-passed-usd900-billion-stimulus-package . The bill is 5500 pages long, and it is a Christmas tree loaded with pork. I’ll keep looking for a comprehensive description of all the goodies. There is apparently major expansion of Pell grants and new climate change legislation, among many other things. More on the pork: https://apnews.com/article/congress-900-billion-coronavirus-bill-75389549d3eaf2f3828b16d45c9706e6 . Here we find more money for the border wall, food stamp expansion, a tax break for craft breweries, and so on. WSJ: A little more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-aid-package-set-for-final-votes-in-house-senate-11608566895 .
Bill contains $3.36 billion for global inoculations advocated by Bill Gates: https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/coronavirus-stimulus-deal-funding-gavi-bill-gates-132249063.html .
Education funds cut from final bill: https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-12-21/educators-students-and-schools-come-up-short-in-coronavirus-relief-package . Since the price tag didn’t change and there are some new winners, there are also casualties.
Trump’s COVID casualties: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/12/trump-covid-scandal-continues.html . This is really sickening, even for this White House.
Treasury hacked by the Russians: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/treasury-also-hacked-suspected-russian-campaign-mnuchin-says-n1251938 . Donnie has completely given up on governance; he’s focused on other theft right now.
Any BS in the name of stealing money from Trump supporters: https://apnews.com/article/trump-supreme-court-election-results-151f9a6ca176bd92bb67e4494fecc3c7 . Somehow the uneducated confuse filing a lawsuit with a just claim. All of this has nothing to do with the law. It has to do with getting Trumpsters to contribute money to a slush fund that Trump can use with few limits. The total already exceeds $200 million.
Money from this fund can be spent, for example, to hold events at Trump properties which the properties will be paid for. Those events could presumably be used to raise more for the slush fund. What else do you need to know?: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/11/donald-trump-legal-defense-slush-fund . Does anyone feel any duty to save the contributing rubes from being ripped off by Donnie? Perhaps we’ll see some activity in this regard once this pathetic jackass is out of the White House.
Truthiness spreads from Fox to Newsmax: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-technology-elections-826071eb5b52ec8aea6b0028da78c61c . And is there any motivation to protect the viewing rubes from the “real” fake news? Fox and Newsmax and their ilk are the biggest threats to democracy out there. Seriously.
Voter fraud discovered! But they’re all Trump voters: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-technology-elections-826071eb5b52ec8aea6b0028da78c61c . Ain’t no limits to stupid.
Kansas City Star apologizes for decades of biased coverage: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/22/949271163/the-kc-star-apologies-for-past-racist-coverage-wants-others-to-get-the-poison-ou (link replaced 3/7/21). This is an important development if other newsrooms take this seriously.
WSJ: Women losing work to COVID-19: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-is-pushing-women-out-of-work-just-look-at-italy-11608548721 . Italy is a bit of an exceptional case, but this information is still interesting.
Kilauea erupts: https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2020/12/20/hawaii-news/hvnp-reports-new-eruption-inside-kilaueas-halemaumau/ . Why not? I’ve been letting off steam since the election, too.
WSJ: Football’s Final Four: https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-footballs-playoff-alabama-clemson-ohio-state-notre-dameand-no-surprises-11608562715 . Notre Dame doesn’t belong, and Alabama will prove that by more than 19.5 points. Texas A&M should have been given a chance. And, full disclosure: when Notre Dame plays USC, I root for USC.