The View from the Hermitage, Day 408

Global covid cases have now been rising for nine consecutive weeks. The situation in India continues to be dire, a "perfect storm" of mass gatherings, low vaccination rates, and more contagious variants. The positivity rate in Delhi is over 35 percent, which is better than the almost 50 percent found in Kolkata. So far, India has reported 17.6 million cases; however, the real number could be 30 times higher. The director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in New Delhi says that the estimate last year was that only one in about 30 infections was being captured and counted. National surveys using serology tests estimate that the number of cases was 20 to 30 times higher, meaning that there could be 529 million cases in India. Even in normal times in India, some 14 percent of deaths go unreported, and only 22 percent of the reported deaths have an official cause. As of Tuesday, there had been almost 198,000 covid deaths reported, and that number could be under-reported by a factor between two and five. In other words, the real death toll could be close to 990,000. Right now, experts say that the death toll could peak at 13,000 per day, over four times the current daily number. 

The CDC now says that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors except in crowded situations. I think I'll keep mine on for now. Dr. Fauci was asked recently about going to sporting events. He said that he would go to an outdoor event but would wear a mask. He recommended checking attendance guidance on the venue's website, taking hand sanitizer and extra masks, eating before you go to minimize having to remove your mask, and avoiding lines such as at restrooms at halftime. 

Almost 150 faith leaders from around the world are calling for an end to vaccine nationalism. They say there is a "moral obligation" to distribute enough vaccines to immunize the entire global population, that mass immunization is "a global common good."

At the same time, some 1,250 clergy from Christian denominations across the UK have released a statement that says the "introduction of vaccine passports would constitute an unethical form of coercion and violation of the principle of informed consent." Covid status certificates would be "divisive, discriminatory, and destructive." Further, "This scheme has the potential to bring about the end of liberal democracy as we know it and to create a surveillance state in which the government uses technology to control certain aspects of citizens' lives. As such, this constitutes one of the most dangerous policy proposals ever to be made in the history of British politics." They also considered a situation in which a passport would be required for entry into churches, saying, "For the church of Jesus Christ to shut out those deemed by the state to be social undesirables would be anathema to us and a denial of the truth of the gospel." There's a lot there worth thinking about, but I still have a question: How the heck did they get 1,250 people to agree on the statement? I've done group writing, and even a small group can be too many authors. I'm just askin'.

The free speech war being seen on social media is moving to print media. Several book publishers have been presented with petitions asking that they not publish books written by associates of XPot. While social media has an obligation to host anyone's speech, print publishers are free to choose some authors over others. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

Somewhat related is what is happening to the "Op-Ed" page in The New York Times. Things published there will now be called "Guest Essays." If you were like me (and you probably don't want to be), you've always thought "Op-Ed" referred to "Opinions-Editorials." Well, it doesn't or didn't. The term refers to outside contributions running on the page "opposite" the official newspaper "editorial." 

Finally, a German bomb squad was called in when a jogger found a bag containing what appeared to be a grenade. This evidently happens a lot given the amount of un-exploded ordinance there. The bomb squad first determined that the grenade was a rubber grenade replica. The fact that the bag also contained condoms and lubricants led to an Internet search that revealed the rubber grenade was a sex toy.

No, I did not make any of this up.