The Delta variant is so contagious, the unvaccinated are likely to get it: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/18/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html . Flashing red lights don’t get much brighter.
The Disinformation Dozen: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/just-12-people-are-responsible-for-the-majority-of-covid-19-conspiracy-theories-online-study-finds-jfks-anti-vaxxer-nephew-is-one-of-the-disinformation-dozen/ar-AAMhJ0E?li=BBnbfcL . Falsely and intentionally encouraging people to not get vaccinated amounts to biological warfare on the population. Reducing herd resistance results in more transmission, illness and death, and prolongs the pandemic.
Poll: I’m unvaccinated, stupid, and proud of it: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/over-half-of-unvaccinated-americans-say-theyre-not-concerned-about-delta-variant-poll/ar-AAMiqLp?li=BBnb7Kz . The vaccinated are more concerned about the Delta variant than are the unvaccinated. And the least educated among us do not trust the science behind the vaccines? Is anyone missing how dangerous social media is? Amy gets it: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/563624-klobuchar-urges-limits-on-protections-for-big-tech .
US COVID fourth wave is here: what to expect: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/07/16/covid-19-fourth-wave-pandemic-surge-deaths-hospitalizations/7976034002/ . No, it’s not too soon to tell. Cases here will rise rapidly, especially in areas with low vaccination rates. The good news is that we’ve done a decent job of vaccinating older Americans, so that the case rate likely will not translate into as bad a mortality wave as before. However, the Delta variant is more dangerous to younger people. We have already seen hospital pressure in Missouri. And long COVID is also a worry for the young. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/unvaccinated-covid-19-hospitalizations-11626528110 .
Pfizer looks to full FDA vaccine approval by January 2022: https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2021/07/coronavirus-heres-when-pfizer-vaccine-could-get-full-fda-approval.html . And when this happens, the vaccine should be mandatory for school attendance in the age groups covered by the approval.
LA accepts restoration of mask mandate: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/wary-and-weary-la-largely-accepts-restored-mask-mandate/ (link replaced 10/31/21). But don’t forget, two nuts were just arrested in a plot to blow up the state Democratic headquarters in Sacramento.
Understanding lethal heat: the wet bulb temperature: https://www.salon.com/2021/07/18/wet-bulb-temperature-climate-change/ . This is a part of it. But in Portland we recently reached the unheard-of record high of 116. This equaled the all-time record in Las Vegas. Here, people died indoors because most older homes do not have air conditioning. Since these conditions are unknown here, people did not know to evacuate to cooling centers.
Brian Stelter: True, but wrong: https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2021/07/18/facebook-misinformation-vaccines-stelter-rs-vpx.cnn . It is just not a defense to the problem of social media’s propagation of misinformation to say these platforms have much bigger problems. The logical extension of that defense is to just shut the platforms down entirely. Even though this newsletter is distributed via the Internet, I’m not so sure that the shutdown of social media is a bad solution. After all, kicking Orange Julius off of Twitter has had an incredibly positive effect on American life. I personally would not miss Twitter anyway. Ditto for Facebook.
US appeals court blocks ruling against CDC cruise ship rules: https://news.yahoo.com/u-appeals-court-blocks-ruling-220159213.html . For the time being, sanity and science have triumphed over DeMentis. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdcs-covid-19-cruise-guidelines-to-stay-in-place-for-now-11626632775 .
Another high-profile COVID case: Coco Gauff withdraws from Olympics: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2021/07/18/coco-gauff-withdraws-tokyo-olympics-after-positive-covid-19-test/8008554002/ .
More problems in the Olympic Village: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-athlete-infections-rise-in-tokyo-olympic-village/a-58304544 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/first-covid-19-infections-among-athletes-in-olympic-village-are-confirmed-11626581622 .
Once again, politicians ignore the warning signs and re-open too early: https://news.yahoo.com/as-the-u-ks-covid-lockdowns-are-set-to-end-one-resident-sees-complications-ahead-190957456.html . Yes, England is highly vaccinated. But the vaccine administered is almost exclusively AstraZeneca. My sense of the current situation is that while vaccines are highly effective at reducing hospitalizations and deaths from COVID, this is less true for infection and transmission. Again, vaccine efficacy is a complex topic. We will see what happens in England, but it appears the COVID train is on the tracks. More: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210718-england-lifts-covid-curbs-as-scientists-warn-of-surge-in-cases . The Brit dimwit plows ahead, even as he is in isolation because his health minister has come down with COVID. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-s-boris-johnson-will-self-isolate-for-10-days-11626626679 .
Dr. Lockdown projects doom for England: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/neil-ferguson-england-imperial-college-london-sage-scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-b946356.html . So 100,000cases daily are certain, and 200,000 possible.
COVID surges in France: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-07-18/france-reports-over-10-000-new-coronavirus-cases-for-third-day .
COVID surge in Israel postpones entry of vaccinated: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/coronavirus-in-israel-430-new-cases-147-percent-of-tests-positive-674215 .
And COVID surge overwhelms Myanmar: https://news.yahoo.com/dead-body-carrier-covid-surge-022613913.html .
South Korean warship has massive outbreak: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/19/crew-evacuated-after-major-covid-outbreak-on-korean-warship . South Korea had not vaccinated the crew before it left on this deployment. They should have sent vaccines to the ship. This seems like a huge blunder.
Brazil’s president released from hospital: https://www.wsj.com/articles/brazils-bolsonaro-released-from-hospital-after-treatment-for-intestinal-blockage-11626624635 .
The Texas Democrats’ superspreader: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/563620-number-of-texas-state-democrats-to-test-positive-for-covid-19-rises-to-5 . Not all publicity is good publicity. Meanwhile, cases are surging at home (on the range): https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/18/texas-positivity-rate-delta-variant-second-wave/ .
Texas Democrats’ strategy: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-government-and-politics-texas-voting-rights-election-2020-bf59435fcd66dcf3d702aec990c59733 . They are fighting what appeared to be a losing battle. But it now appears they can bring the Texas legislature to a halt. That would be a phenomenal victory.
WSJ: Red-hot US economy expected to start cooling: https://www.wsj.com/articles/red-hot-u-s-economy-expected-to-cool-from-here-11626600602 . There are shortcomings in year-over-year measures after a crash.
WSJ: Nitty-gritty time on the infrastructure package: https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-infrastructure-bill-drops-irs-funding-raising-pressure-for-new-revenue-11626627260 .
Sigh. A 2006 film of a US dystopia, “Idiocracy”, is now considered a documentary of America in 2021: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jul/19/idiocracy-a-disturbingly-prophetic-look-at-the-future-of-america-and-our-era-of-stupidity . Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy .
We’ve only just begun … to fry: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/18/us/western-us-wildfires-heatwave-sunday/index.html . This is completely unprecedented, and it’s only mid-July. The West is likely to be on fire until October!