The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 213 (713)

The new mask guidance from the CDC uses three factors to assess risk. First, how many new covid hospitalizations were there over the past week? Second, what percent of hospital beds are occupied by covid patients? Finally, how many new covid cases per 100,000 people have there been over the previous week? Under these guidelines, the county in which I live remains at high risk meaning people should wear masks in public indoor spaces. Should I feel special that fewer then 30 percent of Americans live in high-risk areas? 

The CDC also offered guidance on school mask mandates, saying that they were needed only in high-risk areas. School mandates are, at the state level, expressly banned in South Carolina and still exist in only Washington, Oregon, California, New York Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Maryland just gave school districts control over masks, ending a state mandate. I don't know if the parental control over masking going into effect in Virginia Tuesday is equivalent to a state ban; if so, South Carolina won't be lonely any longer. 

From school mask mandates to vaccination data, the New York City Department of Education has released school-level vaccination data. Over half of the city's public school students are fully vaccinated; 59 percent have gotten at least one dose. Those rates vary greatly depending on what part of the city one lives. In District 2, which covers some of the wealthiest parts of Manhattan, at least 80 percent of students have gotten at least one dose. In District 23, one of the poorest districts in the city,only 38 percent of students have gotten at least one dose. The disparity offers a real challenge in rolling back any mask mandate. Nationally, 26 percent of children ages five through 11 are fully vaccinated, as are 57 percent of students ages 12 through 17. 

And that's it on the covid front. The ongoing Russian invasion of Kuwait dominates new coverage, as well it should. The Ukranians remind me of the Viet Cong. People defending their homeland are not easily  defeated. Sort of like covid, eh?