Sarah Gilbert, a professor at Oxford University and co-developer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has a Barbie doll modeled after her https://t.co/fMICB59BlR pic.twitter.com/D3QRnYSeK9
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
The United States hit a six-month high for new COVID-19 cases with over 100,000 infections reported, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant ravages areas where people did not get vaccinated https://t.co/43wuZadJbX pic.twitter.com/JMInV3111b
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
The US had +104,758 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, the highest number since February 11, bringing the total to over 36.0 million. The 7-day moving average rose to 91,026 new cases per day. pic.twitter.com/OuUOel24bo
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 4, 2021
#BREAKING: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expected to announce Friday that the COVID vaccine will be required for all military personnel.
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) August 4, 2021
Do you need an extra dose of the vaccine?
If you're immunocompromised, maybe. If you're older than 65, maybe but not yet. If you're under 65, probably not for the foreseeable future.The vaccines work well, and will continue to do so for quite a while.https://t.co/8c8dqqdm8F
— Apoorva Mandavilli (@apoorva_nyc) August 4, 2021
Over half of US states (27) had over 1,000 new cases yesterday. Florida led the pack with just over 17,000 new cases, followed by Texas with over 14,000. pic.twitter.com/A2PudVZ0ki
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 4, 2021
this is a fantastic idea, imo, but I wonder if there will be exceptions for kids under 12, who cannot (yet?) get vaccinated https://t.co/hr3uanWEkA
— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) August 4, 2021
======
The known global coronavirus caseload has surpassed 200M infections. That daunting figure is from the Center for Systems Science & Engineering at Johns Hopkins Univ. As staggering as the figure seems, it fails to capture Covid's worldwide impact https://t.co/P3sOCv2OBh
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 5, 2021
Health economist Chen Xi: “I don’t think ‘zero tolerance’ can be sustained…Even if you can lock down all the regions in China, people might still die, and more might die due to hunger or loss of jobs.”@huizhong_wuhttps://t.co/IGKwKLW8IJ
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) August 5, 2021
Taking due notice of the source…
HKU virologist Jin Dongyan says it may take China "forever to reopen the border. They have no self-confidence and they don’t trust others. They know that their vaccines are not doing a good job in preventing infection." https://t.co/tdIIGe15BJ
— Sui-Lee Wee 黄瑞黎 (@suilee) August 5, 2021
India reports 42,982 new coronavirus cases in last 24 hours https://t.co/SoqIE14qqw pic.twitter.com/gacJYe5UtG
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
Japan was set to expand emergency restrictions to eight more prefectures to fight a surge in COVID-19 cases, as worries deepen about strains on the nation's medical system in Olympics host Tokyo and around the country https://t.co/AOcKGulnJs pic.twitter.com/FNwRiNB6uR
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
BREAKING: Tokyo logs 5,042 new daily coronavirus cases, an all-time high as infections surge in the capital hosting the Games. https://t.co/dcNHh0tnE5
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 5, 2021
Organisers report 31 new Games-related COVID-19 cases https://t.co/JsJfdRbtPq pic.twitter.com/MNZTtooLc6
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
S.Korea pledges nearly $2 bln to become major COVID-19 vaccine producer https://t.co/XgTDEpUiUR pic.twitter.com/l6D3BY86tu
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
Thailand reports record 20,920 coronavirus cases in a day https://t.co/XC9cCaRzYZ pic.twitter.com/kIkBjuqyDu
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
Expats wait anxiously as Singapore weighs COVID-19 reopening https://t.co/nl5vTkKdqZ pic.twitter.com/Kav7np4ABe
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
… The pandemic has disrupted global mobility on a scale that hasn’t been seen since World War Two. Governments in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, China, Thailand and Hong Kong, have maintained quarantine and entry requirements.
Singapore – long known as a global financial hub for highly mobile foreign professionals – has had especially strict border controls, quarantine and contact tracing. It has been one of the most successful countries in curbing COVID-19, with only 39 deaths.
But for its legions of foreign workers – who make up one-fifth of the 5.7 million population – the restrictions have been a nightmare, with many stranded abroad despite having jobs and visas, and others afraid to leave for fear of not being allowed to return.
The government recently said it was considering quarantine-free travel for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 starting in September, when 80% of the population should be inoculated. It also plans to review some virus restrictions in early August, when two-thirds are on track to be inoculated…
Sydney reported its worst day of the COVID-19 pandemic with five deaths and a record rise in locally acquired infections as a weeks-long hard lockdown is struggling to contain the highly contagious Delta strain of the coronavirus https://t.co/yV9HqC9jMB pic.twitter.com/AgeAGlhzZ2
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
Fifth of England Covid hospital admissions aged 18-34 https://t.co/mnAI8Rydth
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 5, 2021
Brazil COVID cases top 20 million, death toll at 559,607 https://t.co/EHR1hjnBaM pic.twitter.com/flXb3x1ZmR
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
======
Delta variant accounts for most breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 cases https://t.co/G8zNqvXU5k via @medical_xpress
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 4, 2021
More mental health support is needed for frontline workers tackling Covid, according to a new study that found high levels of depression, PTSD, anxiety and burn-out among medical personnel handling Covid cases https://t.co/tkdZgVo17l pic.twitter.com/WGAcfChP6M
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 4, 2021
CPAPs:
Pressured oxygen reduces ventilator need for Covid patients https://t.co/kNv48kz2tx
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 5, 2021
Is #DeltaVariant making younger adults ‘sicker, quicker’? Many doctors on the front lines say unvaccinated patients in their 20s & 30s are becoming more severely ill, & more quickly. But comprehensive data is lacking https://t.co/HzXWrTuT82
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 4, 2021
=====
To the surprise of no one…
Unvaccinated adults are far less likely to wear masks and avoid crowds, survey finds. https://t.co/MquPzrreA3
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 4, 2021
The pandemic in Florida is about as bad as it has ever been. Despite DeSantis's shrugging about seasonality, the same isn't true of other states hit hard last summer. https://t.co/Ykjm3QAhrD pic.twitter.com/DAJxIjRxk2
— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 5, 2021
"There are two main groups within Texas’ unvaccinated population: white conservatives in rural areas, and Hispanic and Black people in big cities." https://t.co/H4lLBXvTfU
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 4, 2021
COVID in Louisiana shows consequences of Delta variant, low vaccination rate https://t.co/9W3sAKqOpU pic.twitter.com/B6bhKNZvVI
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 5, 2021
Crowds of bikers are making their way towards South Dakota’s Black Hills this week, raising fears that COVID-19 infections will be unleashed among the 700,000 people expected to show up at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.https://t.co/UR9aGFlVmZ
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 4, 2021
Spreading these lies and delusions is a *deliberate choice* by fraudsters wanting $ and politicians wanting chaos. Biological civil war. Except it is blowing back on their own people, as biowar always does. https://t.co/nD5WXdL9t9
— John Sickels ??? (@MinorLeagueBall) August 4, 2021
Baud
Let’s put all our resources into the later group. Whatever their issues are, I doubt owning the libs is one of them. They should be solvable.
YY_Sima Qian
On 8/4 China reported 62 new domestic confirmed & 32 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (2 mild & 1 moderate, 2 Burmese & 1 Chinese nationals), all at Ruili in Dehong Prefecture. 3 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 57 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases there. Given that sporadic cases continue to show up, Ruili will conduct another 3 rounds of mass screening from 8/4. 1 community at Ruili remains at High Risk. 1 village at Ruili & 1 village at Longchuan County remain at Medium Risk.
Jiangsu Province
Anhui Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, both traced to the outbreak in Nanjing.
Liaoning Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 5 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, all traced to the outbreak in Nanjing.
Guangdong Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 1 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, both traced to the outbreak in Nanjing.
Hunan Province
Sichuan Province did not reported at new domestic positive cases. There currently are 8 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province, all traced to the outbreaks in Nanjing & Zhangjiajie.
Henan Province
Hubei Province
Chongqing Municipality reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Fengjie County a person who had traveled to Chongqing on 7/30, from the construction site w/ the cluster at Wuhan in Hubei Province. The case left the construction site in the afternoon of 7/28, while the index case of the cluster showed early in the afternoon of 7/28, so they only had a few hours of overlap. 2 environmental samples at the case’s dwelling at Chongqing have tested positive. There are currently 2 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, 2 had traveled to Xi’an in Shaanxi Province & 1 connected to the construction site cluster at Wuhan.
Beijing Municipality, reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases, 2 are close contacts of the party that had traveled to Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province & 1 was on the same flight as the party. There currently are 8 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all connected to the outbreak at Zhangjiajie in late Jul. 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
Yantai in Shandong Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (2 mild & 1 moderate) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all are employees of the beautician training company or their close contacts. There currently are 11 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all likely traced to the outbreak in Nanjing. 1 area & 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
At Yinchuan in Ningxia “Autonomous” Region there currently is 1 domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who had traveled from Changde in Hunan Province on 7/28, & a traced close contact w/ the boat cruise super-spreading event there.
At Haikou in Hainan Province there currently is 1 domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who had crossed paths w/ the party from Huai’an in Jiangsu Province on company outing at Jingzhou high speed rail station. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.
At Xiamen in Fujian Province there currently are 4 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all of whom are close contacts of the imported confirmed case (cargo flight crew) reported on 7/30. 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
At Shanghai Municipality there currently is 1 domestic asymptomatic case, an airport ground staff & unlikely to be connected to other domestic outbreaks. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.
Imported Cases
On 8/4, China reported 23 new imported confirmed cases, 22 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:
Overall in China, 40 confirmed cases recovered, 11 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 1 was reclassified as confirmed case, and 1,172 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,285 active confirmed cases in the country (705 imported), 26 in serious condition (11 imported), 527 asymptomatic cases (377 imported), 2 suspect case (both imported). 37,990 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 8/4, 1,726.223M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 17.867M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 8/4, Macau did not report any new domestic positive cases.
On 8/5, Hong Kong reported 6 new positive cases, 5 imported & 1 domestic (source of infection not yet identified).
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
108 new cases on 8/4, 2.8% test positivity.
Holy crap! We’re in triple digits again for daily case count!
Betty Cracker
Does anyone know what the federal governments powers are in the public health sphere? I’ve assumed the feds can’t override state and/or local edicts because they haven’t done so.
OzarkHillbilly
‘The Pied Piper leading us off a cliff’: Florida governor condemned as Covid surges
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
May as well have kazoos playing funeral dirges at every funeral of every mask-averse, antivax GOPer Floridian. Give it the proper somber tone it deserves.
Mary G
OC reported 1900+ cases Monday, presumably for the whole weekend, then 800+ Tuesday, and only 92 today, because there was some problem with the CA reporting system and they only logged 18 hours instead of 24.
Adjusted Daily Case Rate per 100,000
12.7
Test Positivity Rate
6.9%
The colored risk tiers have been disappeared down the memory hole, except the web programming was not all changed and the top number is in red and the bottom in orange, which isn’t good.
Soprano2
It’s so stupid to say mask mandates hurt businesses, or that they don’t work when they clearly do. These attitudes have become like a religious belief on the right. I’ve seen them call masks “magic masks”, as if they don’t have any effect. I bet these people don’t insist that their surgical team goes maskless. Dumbasses.
JPL
GA ICU units are filling up. This is where Raven is
Emmyelle
I’m getting that Barbie doll for myself.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Via LGM, DeSantis is even worse than that.
Ryan
@OzarkHillbilly: wwg1wga?
Mary G
@Baud: I can’t find it, but someone put up a map on Twitter with California to Texas’s southern boundaries circled and marked “border” and Louisiana-Florida’s southern boundaries circled and marked “water, not border, you idiot DeSantis” or something like that.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
For everyone’s amusement:
Conversation
Rod Dreher
@roddreher
·
15h
@TuckerCarlson
giving an inspirational talk at dinner at the Prime Minister’s office, talking about why #Hungary is a great place
Cermet
As for the border, all such immigrants are checked for Covid and their positive rate is only about 1%; better still, all such people are getting the J&J vaccine. This means that these people are lower risk (the unvaccinated ones) than anyone in Tex-as(s) and after processing are our best vaccinated segment of the population.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mary G:
Well then, who needs a Coast Guard?
germy
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 20,576 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, breaking the 20,000 mark, for a cumulative reported total of 1,203,706 cases. He also reports a record 164 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 10,019 deaths — 0.83% of the cumulative reported total, 1.02% of resolved cases.
As of yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt was at 1.07.
There are currently 217,061 active and contagious cases; 1,078 are in ICU, 549 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 13,893 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 976,626 patients recovered – 81.13% of the cumulative reported total.
33 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 3,829 clusters. 1,177 clusters are currently active; 2,652 clusters are now inactive.
20,562 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 8,549 cases:. Kuala Lumpur reports 2,163 cases.
Kedah reports 1,446 cases. Johor reports 1,300 cases. Sabah reports 1,062 cases. Penang reports 1,022 cases.
Negeri Sembilan reports 989 cases. Perak reports 916 cases.
Kelantan reports 772 cases. Sarawak reports 759 cases.
Melaka reports 622 cases.
Terengganu reports 501 cases.
Pahang reports 426 cases.
Putrajaya reports 50 cases. Perlis reports four cases. Labuan reports 15 cases.
34 new cases today are imported: 13 in Johor, 11 in Kuala Lumpur, five in Selangor, four in Sarawak, and one in Perak.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 494,214 doses of vaccine on 4th August: 230,053 first doses and 264,161 second doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 22,646,581 doses administered: 14,941,585 first doses and 7,704,996 second doses. 23.6% of the population are now fully vaccinated.
New Deal democrat
@Betty Cracker: Aside from government employees, including the military, the Federal government does not have any compulsory power in the public health sphere, with one exception: interstate commerce. The Constitution allows federal legislation to regulate interstate commerce. That means the US government could probably shut down most interstate travel for public health reasons, including by those leaving high risk areas or the unvaccinated.
There is a US govt publication I read on this last year (sorry, don’t remember the link) which envisions these types of measures being done in coordination with the States.
To be blunt: Biden could probably shut down, e.g., Florida at its air and sea borders if he really wanted to.
Emmyelle
I live in MA and my general assumption is that everyone over 12 wearing a mask is a highly educated, fully vaccinated Democrat. Like me.
tom
DeSantis is starting to give off a Queeg-like vibe.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
In case there hasn’t been a recent vote of thanks for these COVID update threads, thank you! The note about booster shots was relevant to my interests. Because of bureaucracy, even though I got my Pfizer shots in New York I’m still eligible in Greece, and probably listed here as unvaccinated; granted, my job accepted my CDC card as proof of vaccination, and the airport accepted it readily when I came back in May.
As for the COVID situation here in Greece, Worldometer cites 2855 new cases yesterday, August 4. The fourth wave seems to have plateaued, with the seven-day-daily-average line going completely flat. I’d prefer it to be dropping, but at least it’s not skyrocketing any more; we’re not dealing with exponential spread, and reports are that the wastewater viral load in Thessaloniki is dropping, a good sign for the near future.
Honestly, COVID’s been pushed out of the headlines by a couple of other issues: the worst heatwave in recorded Greek history, and a bunch of wildfires in various parts of the country, including the surroundings around Athens. Smoke has actually lessened the intensity of the heat wave by filtering the sunlight, and now there are recommendations that people wear masks outside not so much for COVID, but to filter out the smoke.
Kay
@germy:
She’s going to Iowa so I hope she’s running for President. That would be good for us. The real high dollar grift on the Right is at the Presidential level. Ambitious!
Geminid
@Baud: I sense some panic in DeSantis’ outburst.
MomSense
@germy:
WTF
debbie
@Baud:
I heard that statement this morning. Like one really has much to do with the other. He needs to up his projection game.
MomSense
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
My cousin posted a photo of smoke and fire close to her home in Kifisia. It looked bad. I’ve been mentally visiting places and wondering if they have survived.
Mousebumples
@Baud: my guess (not living in Texas, I’ll admit), from my Healthcare experience, is that it’s some combination of –
I’m not sure how to fix them, but I’d hope Biden’s team is working on this since I doubt Texas will bother. ?
Kay
@Baud:
Biden’s single lowest polling number is on immigration/border security, which they all know. It could be Left/Right dissatisfaction, because it cuts into even his approval among Democrats.
Gvg
@New Deal democrat: Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard to integrate schools. I think the President might have some ability to mandate certain health and safety measures in schools. Also he could probably demand the state national guards people get vaccinated, as the feds pay for more than they used to.
I also think the feds have more control of ports and completely control airports.
i don’t know how it is useful but the feds have a lot of control of highway money.
Baud
@Kay:
I think Dems just want to make the issue go away and there’s no quick fix.
Baud
If true, that makes Medicare for All dead in the water, doesn’t it?
Kay
@Baud:
Ugh, Liz Cheney harps on it constantly. So gross. In order to get back into the graces of the far Right she’s decided to beat up on immigrants. They’ve hurt him a little with it though- his approval on it has dropped quite a bit so I’m not suprised DeSantis reaches for it in a moment of panic.
MomSense
@Kay:
They love their greatest hits. Teachers unions, immigrants, big government – it’s all so predictable.
Baud
@Kay:
What can you do? The progressive position on immigration isn’t the popular one.
charon
It is an article of faith on conservative media that travelers and border crossers coming in are causing the surge in COVID, Florida Republicans likely believe DeSantis’ BS about the border.
Kay
Middle son (the electrician) now wants younger son to go to Duluth for the rest of the summer because the job site he’s on is desperate for “helpers” (the lowest job on the site) and he gets a bonus if he recruits one.
IMO there really isn’t enough reporting on the lack of employees. All of media were thrilled to jump on it when it meant they could portray working people as featherbedding on unemployment benefits but when that turned out to be bullshit they dropped it as a topic.
Wages are going up because people are desperate for workers. This is an amazing thing happening- it’s the beautiful real world example of what happens when workers get some leverage. I feel like they don’t want it discussed because they told us for years “nothing could be done” about wages and people just had to accept stagnant wages forever. “Cannot afford even a dollar an hour more!” Turns out they can.
MomSense
@Kay:
I’ve been saying for months that the expanded UI benefit has created collective bargaining for the labor force.
Baud
@Kay:
See my comment in the morning thread about this.
Cermet
@Kay: Capitalism has never valued labor, only money (I know, its the fucking name.) Yet w/o labor, nothing happens; still, you can bet once labor comes back, and the pressure abates, wages will stagnant and that old siren song will be sung over and over. Even the media will join in the chores.
dr. bloor
Next week they’re going to roll out a Dr. Ken Junior Colleague doll. When you pull the cord on his back, every phrase starts with “Actually….”
Kay
@Cermet:
I just love how we had 10 years of claiming there was a “skills gap” to explain unemployment/low wages and now the “skills gap” has magically disappeared and they’re willing to train an 18 year old on the job site because they can’t find anyone else. They couldn’t train people while paying them before?
They will not reach for an answer that isn’t “it’s the fault of working people”. They loved “the skills gap” because it said that all US economic issues were the fault of working people- if they weren’t so lazy and dumb they’d be making 25 an hour. It’s just gross. Why is it so narrow and why are they such lemmings?
prostratedragon
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: For years I’ve had a half-baked idea of a movie scene involving an unfortunately rushed funeral at a cemetery involved in a phony land option scheme, using this as the dirge:
JPL
@germy: That was covered locally, both on the tv news and in the paper. The district that she represents, loved the statement also.
JMG
Rode NYC subway in Brooklyn last evening. There’s a mask mandate for it and on my pretty full but hardly pre-pandemic rush hour crowded car I saw only one person without a mask. He had fallen asleep and his mask had fallen down to his chin. At least a third of folks I saw above ground were wearing masks and just about everybody had one around their necks even if they weren’t wearing it at the time.
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — 1,281 new cases of COVID-19 reported with 11 new reported deaths of someone who had tested positive. Test positivity rate is 4.9%. Hospitalisations and ICU bed occupancy numbers again fell noticeably but it’s entirely possible the reduction in occupancy of ICU beds is mostly due to the deaths of the ICU patients. There’s no detailed information provided for that part of the statistics.
The general trend of COVID-19 infections here in Scotland is that the third wave, powered by the Delta variant has mostly subsided after peaking at about 3,900 new cases a day at the end of June. The numbers of people ill enough to require hospitalisation is also subsiding although it lags the drop in new case numbers somewhat. The number of deaths remains high though and this will probably continue for the next few weeks as more and more chronically ill COVID-19 sufferers succumb during treatment. The hospitals were not pushed to capacity during this wave though which is a good thing.
Just over 21,000 vaccinations were administered in Scotland yesterday (Wednesday) with about 10% of those vaccinations being first doses. 73.4% of the adult population are now fully vaccinated with another 16.5% having received their first dose of vaccine.
After yesterday’s announcement by the JCVI opening up first-dose vaccination to 16 and 17-year-olds here in the UK the Scottish government is expected to start offering vaccination appointments to these young folks beginning tomorrow. There’s no official information whether they can use the various drop-in vaccination centres rather than wait for an appointment. Note that in the UK 16-year-olds are presumed to be able to give informed consent to medical treatments, including vaccination, regardless of what their parents wish. This may be part of the reason the JCVI decision was limited to 16-year-olds and up.
The NHS is pushing hard for younger adults to come forward and get vaccinated. About 20% of those currently hospitalised for COVID-19 are aged between 18 and 34 according to the NHS’s new chief executive. During the surge in infections over the winter that number was about 5.5% although that was at a time when the total number of beds being used was six times what it is today. Back then though hardly anyone was vaccinated, old or young but now virtually everyone aged over 40 is fully vaccinated.
senyordave
@OzarkHillbilly: “Our hospitals are open for business.
WTF? And apparently DeSantis wants to make sure that they have plenty of customers.
WaterGirl
@germy: Un-fucking-believable. Except that it’s not. Appalling that a sitting member of congress would say that.
Geminid
@debbie: I noticed that when the CBS radio news reported on DeSantis’ outburst, the reporter noted that he made his assertion blaming border crossers for Florida’s covid problem “without any evidence.”
StringOnAStick
@Mousebumples: I wonder too if we need to include disinformation from Spanish language radio/media on your list. I’ve read too many places about Spanish speakers quoting utter disinformation they heard from the media they use. We know the very same sources had an impact on the Rio Grande Valley in 2020 and in 2016. MaryG quoted some of this from her housemates and where they got the misinformation from.
Betsy
@Betty Cracker: Relatively little. The “police power” (which is the power to regulate for the general health, safety and welfare) is reserved to the states. Any exercise of health safety and welfare regulation at the federal level has to be tied to some specific grants of power to the federal level in the constitution. For example interstate commerce could be affected and that could be the tie-in that enables the federal level to exercise power.
In short there are ways that the feds can act to protect the general welfare and public health, but only if tied very closely to some specific or implied grant of federal power in the constitution.
Wiggle room there, but I hope that’s somewhat informative.
rikyrah
@New Deal democrat:
ICAM
rikyrah
@Kay:
Is he going?
J R in WV
@germy:
I would personally prefer shooting unvaccinated RWNJs who have infected anyone else. Really !!!