Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain – The anti-anti-vaxxer sentiment – The delta variant increases steadily – Evening statistics
Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow and conspiracy theorist extraordinaire, began a 72-hour cyber-symposium in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Wednesday in an attempt to obtain support for his theories about the election being stolen and other dire plots of that nature. Lindell has offered $5 million to anyone who can disprove his theory, on condition that such a challenger attends the symposium in person. This event is not open to the public; invitees included various politicians, cyber experts, and media personnel. It was, however, streamed on his website with the declared objective of obtaining 1 billion viewers. He reserved 800 rooms for the event. Since, for some inexplicable reason, the majority of those invited did not even bother to respond, let alone attend, most of these rooms were not exactly crammed to the rafters with participants when the streaming began, and they became emptier still by the second day. There is reason to suppose, also, that the actual number of viewers has been rather below his expectations, considering that the first presidential debate received the comparatively modest total of 73 million viewers and even the sacrosanct Superbowl itself received a paltry 114 million viewers. It is a pity in a way. Those who tuned in could have the pleasure of observing his reaction when news reached him that his motion to dismiss Dominion Voting System’s $1.3 billion lawsuit against him was denied and that it consequently will proceed in full. He abruptly quitted his seat, rushed from the stage, and disappeared behind a dark curtain. Here he differs somewhat from the Wizard of Oz, who took these precautions before Dorothy and her three companions entered the room.
As more and more people are falling ill with the delta variant, and more children in particular, popular sentiment against those who refuse to receive the vaccination is intensifying. Muriel Muric, a mother of a 9-year old daughter stricken with COVID, lashed out against the anti-vaxxers and the facemask opponents on her Facebook page. “LOOK AT MY CHILD. THIS is why people are afraid. THIS is why people beg for you to wear a mask. Who are you hurting by wearing one? What freaking rights are you losing?!” The comment accompanies a picture of her daughter Blair on a ventilator. She is off of the ventilator now and shows signs of recovering, but a 14-day struggle with the disease that inhibits something as vital as breathing, a horrifying experience under any circumstances, must have been especially so for a young child. Her situation is hardly unique. COVID cases among the youth of Tennessee, the state in which the Murics reside, account for 27% of the new increase, while more than 1,400 children under the age of 13 nationwide have been hospitalized during the recent surge. North Texas has run out of beds for pediatric intensive care units. There are 73 confirmed pediatric patients hospitalized in the region, the highest level of pediatric COVID patients to date.
Several states, including Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Mississippi, are now averaging more daily cases than at any other point in the pandemic. This past 24 hours has seen an increase of over 130,000 cases nationwide, the highest increase since January. About 40% of the new hospitalizations occurred in Florida and Texas. Nearly 9,700 patients are being admitted to hospitals each day, up by 31.3% in the last week and marking the highest number of patients seeking care since February. Americans between the ages of 18 and 49 now account for about 40% of the hospitalizations. It is hardly surprising; at this point more than 90% of all seniors have received at least one dose.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 206,155,894; # of deaths worldwide: 4,346,672; # of cases U.S.: 37,182,117; # of deaths; U.S.: 635,937. No longer are we accounting for less than our due proportion of cases and deaths globally. Today’s increase in cases today comprised over 17% of the world’s total and our increase in deaths was nearly 6.5% of the world’s total.