Delta variant spread causing PTSD in healthcare workers: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/delta-variant-spreads-so-does-ptsd-health-care-workers-120019112.html .
COVID data games in Florida, chapter 600: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-changed-how-it-reports-covid-19-statistics-the-result-the-pandemic-appears-to-look-less-severe-with-fewer-recent-deaths/ar-AANis1X?li=BBnb7Kz . Really, how does all this obfuscation help anyone but Governor DeMentis? More crap from Ron: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/desantis-blames-floridas-surge-on-covid-season-thats-misleading-experts-say/ar-AANi9Ve?li=BBnb7Kz . We now have substantial evidence than Ron’s output is higher than the average dairy herd – not milk, but methane gas and cow pies.
Ron’s now calling the shots on COVID treatment options: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/08/13/1027370861/florida-gov-desantis-monoclonal-antibody-treatments-covid-19-spike . These treatments are expensive, which is one reason they are not in broad use. Meanwhile, vaccinations are free and a high-quality mask is under $10. Ron’s not too good on economics, either.
Meanwhile, Florida continues to set new daily COVID case records: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/health/florida-covid-numbers-update/index.html . Note that their test positivity rate is now 19.3%.
Teacher deaths rattle Florida school district: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-school-district-rattled-3-covid-related-teacher-deaths-days-n1276779 . Even assuming the infections did not happen at school, this does not bode well for Florida’s school reopening two days ago: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/florida-schools-reopen-amid-covid-surge-and-debate-over-mask-use/ .
COVID is spiking in children: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/08/10/1026375608/nearly-94-000-kids-got-covid-19-last-week-they-were-15-of-all-new-infections . Great. Care to predict how school re-openings will affect these numbers? The relatively low rate of serious illness in children is not the proper focus. These kids go home from school, visit Grandma, and so on. WSJ: We already have data on school re-openings. It’s not good: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-cases-surge-as-students-return-to-schools-11628897822 .
8 states now account for half of US COVID cases: https://bestlifeonline.com/covid-hospitalizations-news/ . These states have only 23% of the US population. Guess where the 8 states are. Yes, of course, Florida and Texas – that is the result of the governors’ official policy (mask mandate bans). Those two account for 40% of US COVID hospitalizations: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/13/texas-florida-covid-coronavirus-us-hospitalizations . Of the other 6 states, 5 are in the South, plus Nevada.
Scott Gottlieb predicts pandemic will become endemic illness in highly vaccinated countries: https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/567817-top-health-expert-predicts-coronavirus-will-change-from-pandemic . This is undoubtedly true, provided a variant does not emerge which evades the current vaccines.
Delta variant is crushing the Republic of Georgia: https://eurasianet.org/coronavirus-in-georgia-five-times-worse-than-india .
WSJ: COVID hammers Iran: https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-hit-by-worst-covid-19-wave-yet-as-vaccine-rollout-flounders-11628859038 .
Delta variant spread attacks corporate earnings: https://news.yahoo.com/fast-spreading-covid-19-delta-variant-is-starting-to-hit-corporate-america-123154263.html . This is another aspect of the lunacy of politicians attempting too-early reopening. They argue that they are trying to balance safety against economic activity. Every time, the result is prolonging the pandemic and reducing economic activity. We’ve been at this for 20 months now. I am increasingly sympathetic to the frustration expressed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, who places blame on the unvaccinated (versus the “regular folks”): https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/23/politics/alabama-governor-kay-ivey-unvaccinated-covid/index.html . Unfortunately, Ivey is an outlier in the GOP: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/covid-vaccine-refusers-immoral-gop.html .
WSJ: We’re Boeing, where we can’t do one damn thing right: https://www.wsj.com/articles/boeing-says-it-will-remove-starliner-spacecraft-from-rocket-11628873905 . Can you name another company that has had this many major screw-ups in the past 5 years?
Marjorie Taylor Greene downplays COVID surge: “We can’t live forever”: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/marjorie-taylor-greene-downplayed-reports-that-hospitals-were-packed-with-covid-19-patients-saying-we-cant-live-forever/ar-AANh3Lw?li=BBnb7Kz . See prior paragraph. If you can find any logic in this, congratulations.
Another “genius” idea from the GOP: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2021-08-13/coronavirus-vaccine-mandate-military-green-resolution-honorable-discharges-2545144.html . So, you’re suddenly not happy with your assignment/tour of duty/re-enlistment/whatever. Just refuse the vaccine and get an honorable discharge. What is this clown doing in Congress? Meanwhile, he is a physician and chose to be vaccinated.
Supreme Court Justice Barrett rejects request to block Indiana University vaccine mandate: https://apnews.com/article/health-courts-coronavirus-pandemic-us-supreme-court-c10f02b467c86e2b61c6743aedd4fc69 . This is an easy case, which is why the appeal was rejected out of hand. Barrett is not only from Indiana, but taught at Notre Dame’s law school before her appointment to the bench.
As expected, federal judge leaves CDC eviction ban in place: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-courts-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-cdd59fad2e6b4859e33e628bfe7f8bad . The real fight comes on the expected appeal.
Japanese Olympic gold medal to be replaced due to COVID: https://sports.yahoo.com/japan-gold-medalist-softball-miu-goto-nagoya-mayor-replacement-022855574.html . Cultural differences are on display here. Do the Japanese know about the Stanley Cup?
Presidential assassination investigation set back as judge steps down: https://www.wsj.com/articles/haiti-legal-clerk-investigating-presidents-murder-is-killed-11628868830 . If you were thinking democracy is not fragile, please reconsider.
Last month was the hottest month on record: https://www.noaa.gov/news/its-official-july-2021-was-earths-hottest-month-on-record . That’s no surprise here in Portland, where the 116 degrees recorded on June 28 not only broke our prior record by 9 degrees but tied the all-time high in Las Vegas! And we’re currently in another string of triple-digit highs. Today’s temperature was held below 100 only because wildfire smoke created enough of a haze to lower the temperature. Swell. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/pacific-northwest-faces-another-extreme-heat-wave-as-much-of-u-s-bakes-11628847001 .