Mask wearing becoming common again – Mandates may be impending – State governments scale back on COVID reporting – Slight increase in pace of vaccinations – Pressure from employers and government agencies for employees to submit to vaccination – France goes one step further – Evening statistics
I came to a resolve during the weekend to resume wearing masks again in indoor public places. Clearly a number of people will not receive the vaccine no matter how often they are reminded that the latest hospitalizations consist almost exclusively of the unvaccinated. The number is large enough not only to enable the delta variant to spread rapidly but also to provide a breeding ground for other variants, against which it is by no means certain that the vaccines will supply full protection. When I went shopping for groceries today, it was obvious that many others have arrived independently at the same conclusion. Nearly everyone in the store wore a mask, including all of the cashiers, even though the official policy is that masks are optional for the vaccinated. The scene was a curious mixture of the old and the new: the store featured a salad bar and a bar for hot foods, both of which would have been unthinkable last year at this time; but from the behavior of people almost uniformly wearing masks and taking care to ensure that they were at least six feet apart from one another, one could have imagined that we were in the days of the pandemic at its height.
It would appear to be a matter of time before mask mandates are officially in place again. Both Anthony Fauci and Jerome Adams (the former U.S. Surgeon General) are in agreement that the CDC is reconsidering its recent abeyance of measures such as mask-wearing, closures of certain businesses such as bars and restaurants, and teaching school students virtually. COVID cases have increased 171% nationally and the death rate has increased 19% from last week due to the Delta variant.
The surge in new infections has undoubtedly caused some people to be discouraged. The state governments of Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota have such tender hearts that they wish to spare their residents from the effects of depressing news – so they have scaled back reporting of COVID-19 statistics this month, thereby depriving the public of real-time information on outbreaks, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in their communities. Nebraska actually stopped reporting on the virus altogether for two weeks after Governor Pete Ricketts declared an end to the official virus emergency. News reporters were forced to file public records requests or turn to national websites that track state data to learn about COVID statistics. Florida changed the frequency of its virus reporting in early June from daily to weekly, its officials arguing that such a change was appropriate in light of the fact that the number of cases was decreasing and the number of people being vaccinated was increasing. Shortly afterwards, cases began to soar. Earlier this week one-fifth of the country’s new coronavirus infections came from Florida. As a result, Florida’s releases – typically done on Friday afternoons – have consequences on a national level for understanding the current summer surge, with no statewide COVID statistics coming out of the virus hotspot for six days a week. The notion that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they feel frightened or threatened turns out to be a myth; but among certain humans, unfortunately, such behavior is only too common.
A slightly hopeful note is being sounded in some areas, at least, where the spiraling rates of COVID infections and the sight of relatives succumbing to the virus are causing people to reconsider whether shunning the vaccines is such a good idea. The country has averaged 699 first doses per 100,000 residents in the past seven days, whereas in the previous seven-day period the average was only 590 per 100,000.
Then, too, certain agencies are putting pressure upon their employees to accept the vaccine. The Department of Veterans Affairs has required Title 38 VA healthcare personnel (including physicians, dentists, and registered nurses, among others) to become fully vaccinated within eight weeks. New York City municipal workers have a choice between getting vaccinated and undergoing weekly COVID testing. In California, beginning on Aug. 9th, state employees and health care workers must show proof of vaccination or get tested regularly.
France, which has only 44% of its population vaccinated, has decided to put more pressure on those who are shunning the vaccines. A bill has been approved that will mandate “health passes” for anyone traveling within the country or attending restaurants and other public places. These passes will be used as proof that the owner is either vaccinated, has acquired immunity as a result of recent recovery from the virus, or has shown a negative result for a recent COVID test. Anyone working in health care must get vaccinated by September 15th; those who fail to do so shall be suspended.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 195,318,875; # of deaths worldwide: 4,182,144; # of cases U.S.: 35,275,530; # of deaths; U.S.: 626,998. We no longer lead the world in the number of critical cases; India now surpasses us and Brazil is catching up as well. In all probability the numbers in those two countries are considerably greater than the figures officially given. Despite the recent surge in cases, we now rank 16th on the list of nations rated by virus infections rates (ours is now about 10.6%).