As if we didn’t know it already, things are not going well on the coronavirus front. Dr. Fauci is telling us that we are “going in the wrong direction” and “it’s not going to be good.” Experts are warning people who are unvaccinated not to go to bars or restaurants. I really don’t think that’s going to make a difference unless a person is unvaccinated for faith or medical reasons. Worst-case models predict 4,000 deaths daily. Right now, 49 percent of the total US population is fully vaccinated; that rises to 57 percent for all eligible people ages 12 and over.
Vaccination rates are stagnant in at least 14 states. Continuing at the current pace, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota will not hit the notable 70 percent goal until summer or fall of 2022. While many people, especially in conservative states, remain deeply skeptical of the vaccine, former governor of New Jersey Chris Christie says that some of that skepticism may be the result of how vaccinations have been presented to the public. He says that those who are unvaccinated don’t want to be indoctrinated. Leaders need to explain rather than order.
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm, current or recent number one in the world and 2021 US Open champion, had to pull out of the Olympics due to a positive covid test. In the spring, Rahm was pulled out of a PGA tournament, while leading, due to having been in close contact with someone who tested positive. At the time, Rahm had not been vaccinated, though he was after his quarantine. Let’s hear it for breakthrough infections.
While I’m touching on the Olympics, cases in Japan are up 105 percent in the past two weeks. I’m wondering what is going to happen world-wide when the thousands of people gathered in Tokyo go home. I also wonder if there is a plan to cancel or postpone the Paralympics should the current Olympics go to hell before the closing ceremony.
College applications for fall are down five percent. Applications for financial aid are also down. Many students are working to support their families. Others are taking advantage of the labor shortage’s making more well-paying hourly jobs available. The thing is, though, that people who don’t start college right after high school are not very likely to start later.
Internationally, children are dying at alarming rates in Indonesia. Over 100 have died each week of this month; over 150 died during the week of July 12. Children currently make up 12.5 percent of confirmed cases. Indonesia remains the covid epicenter: There were 50,000 new cases on Friday and 1,566 deaths. Only six percent of Indonesians are fully vaccinated; 16 percent have gotten one dose. Malaysia has passed one million cases and has the highest infection rate in Southeast Asia. Sixteen percent of Malaysians are fully vaccinated. As of August 1, unvaccinated Pakistanis will be barred from domestic air travel. Partially vaccinated people and those not vaccinated for medical reasons as well as foreign nationals are exempt from the requirement. There were 76 new cases in China Monday, the highest one-day total since January. I have to say, though, that 76 is miniscule compared to some of the other numbers I’ve noted here.
Finally, in the just-plain-wrong category, Kraft macaroni and cheese ice cream is evidently a hit. Just. Plain. Wrong. And, if murder hornets and plague of locusts didn’t worry you, there are now acid-shooting whip scorpions in Texas.
No comments:
Post a Comment