The View from the Hermitage, Day 489

The Tokyo Olympics are, for better or worse, still on, with about 15,000 athletes and staff having arrived. One person staying in the Olympic Village has already tested positive. The president of the International Olympic Committee has again attempted to calm the anti-Games crowd, saying that the "risk for the other residents of Olympic Village and risk for the Japanese people is zero." He noted that these will be "the most restrictive sports event ever in the world." A Ugandan weight lifter who was in Tokyo is missing after not having shown up for a coronavirus test. In June, two people traveling with the Ugandan Olympic delegation tested positive on arrival in Tokyo. It is not clear if the missing weight lifter was one of the two. 

The US just had more than 41,000 new cases in one day, the largest number since early May. Cases are now rising in all 50 states as the Delta variant spreads. Right now, the variant may be winning the race with vaccines. 

I read the interesting tale of three unvaccinated women in Arkansas. The first figured that she would stay safe as long as she never left her house without a mask. The second had a chronic pulmonary disease and was worried that the vaccine could give her covid. The third was of the "I never get sick" school of thought. Do you see what is coming? All three got covid. The first spent 10 days on supplemental oxygen via a nasal cannula. All three did recover, after which none of them changed their mind and got vaccinated. The National Guard colonel running the state's vaccination effort figures that one third of the population will not be vaccinated period full stop. They just won't. That third will include some health care workers; 40 percent have yet to be vaccinated. Delta patients appear to need a higher level of care than patients with the original virus did. A larger share of those now becoming infected need hospitalization than in the fall, even though those patients are, on average, younger. The average age of a current covid patient in Arkansas is 54, down from 63, but some are in their 20s and 30s.

Britain says that people coming from France will still need to quarantine due to the prevalence of the Beta variant. The current vaccines offer less protection against Beta. The UK health secretary is self-isolating after a positive test he took because he was feeling "a bit groggy" Friday. He had had both vaccine doses, which may be why his symptoms are mild. The surge in Thailand is apparently fueled by both the Alpha and the Delta variants. There is now a nationwide ban on public gatherings after a record number of cases (10,082) and deaths (141) on Saturday. The maximum penalty for violating the ban is two years in jail and/or a fine of $1,220. Vietnam continues to face its worst surge so far. Three quarters of the cases are in the south especially around Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam has gotten nine million doses of vaccine with another three million coming from the US via Covax. Unfortunately, Vietnam has a population of 98 million, meaning that those 12 million doses will not go very far. 

Did you notice that the last paragraph mentioned three different variants--Alpha, Beta, and Delta? Delta may be becoming the dominant variant, but we can't let that distract us from what the other variants can do. 

Windsor, Ontario sits across the Detroit River from, what else, Detroit, Michigan. It seems that Detroit had doses of vaccine on the verge of expiring. Windsor needed vaccines. Canadian officials will not allow US vaccines into the country, so Windsor's mayor proposed painting a white line down the tunnel connecting the two cities. American pharmacists could stand to the right, in the US, and inject vaccine into the arms of Canadians standing to the left, in Canada. Unfortunately, the Canada Border Services Agency said that the effort could disrupt trace and have "significant security implications." In other words, Detroit will have expired vaccines and Windsor will still need vaccines.It was a good idea in theory, and I'm sorry it could not be done for real.