COVID hits 3 Senators in one day: https://news.yahoo.com/senators-king-wicker-hickenlooper-covid-positive-thursday-200007731.html . Must have been that toga party at Susan Collins’ place. The virus picked off a Republican, a Democrat and an Independent. COVID is quite the kidder. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/three-vaccinated-senators-have-tested-positive-for-covid-19-11629409574 .
US hospitalization rates explode for children and adults under 50: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/19/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/delta-variant-low-covid-19-vaccination-rates-push-u-s-hospitalizations-higher-11629318796 . This was easy to predict. And most states have not reopened schools yet. More: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/19/us-covid-coronavirus-hospitalizations-un-general-assembly . Still more: https://apnews.com/article/business-health-education-coronavirus-pandemic-71e1690faa4f260edfd29451b1ccf4a5 . And: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/568601-coronavirus-hospitalizations-among-those-under-50-hits .
COVID ravages Mississippi: https://news.yahoo.com/mississippi-covid-surge-hospitals-thomas-dobbs-tate-reeves-masks-vaccines-214112289.html . More: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/inside-mississippi-s-4th-covid-wave-younger-patients-crying-nurses-n1277178 . Didn’t think there could be dumber governors than Abbott and DeMentis? Kristi Noem qualifies, of course, but then there’s Mississippi. Tate Reeves claims mask usage has nothing to do with rational science. And his authority for this is … Tate Reeves? How do you get a name like Tate, anyway? Was his older brother Bubba?
Quality of COVID care drops in Texas as ICU beds run low: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/19/us/texas-covid-icu-beds-mask-mandate/index.html . We should be looking at field hospitals again. However, stupidity knows no bounds.
Alabama has -29 ICU beds: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/alabama-has-no-more-icu-beds-amid-rising-covid-cases-low-vaccination-rates/ar-AANvGZM?li=BBnbfcL . Meanwhile, COVID settles in at the Redneck Riviera: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-health-coronavirus-pandemic-c341a0e0ab5e9ecc3b3eedc855f33513 .
Lack of data hinders pandemic management: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/delta-variant-response-hindered-covid-test-limitations-lack-data-rcna1692 . Good grief! Duh! But regardless of the lack of data, the pandemic must be managed. We have governors like Abbott and DeMentis refusing to follow CDC guidelines. The results demonstrate that the governors are dead wrong, as in dead citizens.
DeMentis takes a pounding on Yahoo: https://news.yahoo.com/as-delta-surges-in-florida-gov-ron-de-santis-is-focused-on-battling-biden-090028999.html . The COVID facts in the story are an indictment of DeMentis. You should note that “only Louisiana and … Botswana … have higher coronavirus infection rates”.
Jacksonville hit hard by COVID: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-health-religion-florida-coronavirus-pandemic-2017cf4ba966eee13208d24896d62052 .
To be fair, here in Oregon we are also experiencing a COVID surge: https://www.opb.org/article/2021/08/19/oregon-hospitals-near-breaking-point-as-covid-19-surges/ . However, the statistics are somewhat misleading. Portland has a low number of ICU beds right now, but it is common for severely ill patients from around the state to come to Portland for treatment. Here’s how things are going in southern Oregon: https://www.ijpr.org/health-and-medicine/2021-08-18/despite-coronavirus-surge-josephine-county-leaders-wont-promote-masking-vaccines .
WSJ: Colleges struggle to address COVID: https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-grapple-with-costs-for-covid-19-tests-unvaccinated-students-11629365401 .
WSJ: Pharmacy chains looking for revenue bump from COVID boosters: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cvs-walgreens-look-for-sales-bump-from-covid-19-boosters-11629387466 .
The pandemic in England: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/19/health/uk-coronavirus-month-since-freedom-day-intl-gbr-cmd/index.html . The plus is that England is more highly vaccinated than we are. But the minus is that it’s predominantly AstraZeneca, which is less effective against the Delta variant.
Germany enters fourth COVID wave: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-enters-4th-coronavirus-wave/a-58914201 .
WSJ: Jobless claims continue decline: https://www.wsj.com/articles/weekly-jobless-claims-08-19-2021-11629325938 . My sense is that these numbers are increasingly distorted. Generally, you must have covered earnings in the prior year to claim benefits. As we have significant long-term unemployed, many of those folks no longer qualify for benefits. And federal supplemental unemployment benefits end in a few weeks. So these numbers could drop back to pre-pandemic levels at that time. However, huge numbers of restaurant and hotel workers have still not returned to the workforce.