BBC: China pneumonia outbreak: COVID-19 Global Pandemic

[China]

 

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by China

[goskins10]

At least one school district has found a way around Abbotts's stupid anti-mask mandate. Turns out there is nothing in the EO that removes the school districts authority to change the dress code. My guess is he will change the EO but at least they are ding what they can. So they are adding masks. It's sad they have to resort to these things just to save lives. 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-school-district-finds-unique-021927722.html

 

“The Texas Governor does not have the authority to usurp the Board of Trustees’ exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district,” Paris ISD said in a release posted on its website. “Nothing in the Governor’s Executive Order 38 states he has suspended Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code, and therefore the Board has elected to amend its dress code consistent with its statutory authority.”

[TradeTheBeal!]

I had made plans in June to drive down to Palm Beach today for some pool time.  Glad I canceled those plans.

 

 

[skinsmarydu]

Local news just now in ATL, per WSB-TV:

 

We're NEGATIVE  11 intensive care unit beds. 

I repeat...negative. 

 

[China]

Florida COVID update: 21,669 new cases, 870 more COVID patients in hospitals

 

Florida reported 21,669 new COVID-19 cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, and seven new deaths

 

Florida — which makes up about 6.5% of the U.S. population — accounted for 19% of the country’s new cases on Monday based on data the state is reporting to the CDC. As of Aug. 16, the state’s seven-day moving average of new cases was 21,786, up from a moving average of 7,039 on July 16. That number represents roughly a 209.5% increase, stemming from the highly contagious delta variant.

 

On Tuesday, the state also reported seven new deaths the day before.

 

In all, Florida has recorded at least 2,955,098 confirmed COVID cases statewide and 41,141 deaths, according to the CDC.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Jabbyrwock]

3 hours ago, skinsmarydu said:

Local news just now in ATL, per WSB-TV:

 

We're NEGATIVE  11 intensive care unit beds. 

I repeat...negative. 

 

They should skip the middleman and just start treating anti vaxers in the morgue.

[purbeast]

7 hours ago, TryTheBeal! said:

I had made plans in June to drive down to Palm Beach today for some pool time.  Glad I canceled those plans.

 

 

Yeah I was planning on booking a trip to the Keys for our anniversary in September.  But nope.  Not now I am not.  Florida is not a place I want to be.

[JCB]

Yeah, I don't think my November conference in San Antonio is gonna happen. I certainly have no desire to give Texas any of my $.

[TradeTheBeal!]

34 minutes ago, purbeast said:

Yeah I was planning on booking a trip to the Keys for our anniversary in September.  But nope.  Not now I am not.  Florida is not a place I want to be.

I feel like Florida comes off it’s peak, I get my booster in December and I get down there in Jan/Feb.  Which is a vastly superior course of action at this point.

 

Even if it means 6 more months of mortgage payments and exorbitant taxes & fees on a property I inherited last October and haven’t stepped foot in since 2019.

Edited August 18, 2021 by TryTheBeal!

[China]

Man shot 6 times waits more than a week for surgery after hospital is overwhelmed by covid

 

Joel Valdez isn't in the hospital for covid-19, but he's feeling its effect.

 

For 10 days, Valdez has been in a hospital bed at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston awaiting surgery after he was shot six times outside a grocery store as an unlucky bystander to a domestic dispute.

 

"Having broken bones and bullets in me for over a week now, it's a little frustrating," Valdez told KRIV over the weekend.

 

He tallied his injuries, which include a neck wound and three gunshot wounds to a left shoulder that's in need of surgery: "Everybody is really surprised I'm still in this bed a week later."

 

Valdez confirmed Monday afternoon he was still awaiting surgery when contacted by The Washington Post, but declined to be interviewed on the record.

 

At Ben Taub Hospital where Valdez is awaiting surgery, the intensive care unit was at 103% capacity as of Monday morning, with 33% of those cases related to covid-19, a spokesperson for Harris Health System told The Post. Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, the other public hospital in the Harris Health System, remains similarly stretched at 94% ICU capacity, with 54% of those cases covid-related.

 

Amanda Callaway, a spokesperson for the health system, said via email that in response to the influx of coronavirus cases, Harris Health System doctors must triage a patient's condition and review the surgical cases throughout the day.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

14 children with disabilities file first federal lawsuit against Gov. Abbott over mask mandate ban

 

Fourteen child plaintiffs and their families — including three from central Texas — have filed the first federal lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath, advocacy group Disability Rights Texas said Wednesday.

 

The suit alleges the state’s executive order, which prohibits school districts from enforcing mask mandates, puts children with disabilities “at significant risk, is discriminatory, and violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act.”

 

According to the lawsuit, the order discriminates against students with disabilities and their rights to public education programs. Several of the plaintiffs, which have varying degrees of disabilities, could be at an increased risk of medical complications and death due to their underlying medical conditions, the lawsuit states.

 

The lawsuit seeks a federal temporary restraining order which would cease enforcement of the executive order and allow school districts and local public health authorities the ability to freely require masks.

 

There are 14 anonymous child plaintiffs ranging from seven to 11 years old. Three plaintiffs are from central Texas, including Travis, Hays and Williamson counties.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[China]

Texas faces tipping point as COVID-19 spreads

 

Texas is facing a tipping point in the state’s battle with COVID-19.

 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who is fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 this week as deaths in his state from the coronavirus have more than doubled in the last two weeks and hospitals have reached capacity.

 

While Abbott suffered a relatively rare breakthrough infection, less than half the state’s total population is fully vaccinated against the virus, putting them at heavy risk of getting COVID-19.

 

The massive spike in cases could also easily climb more, with unvaccinated students across the state returning to school this week amid a battle with Abbott over mask mandates in classes to protect children aged 12 and under, who do not yet have the option to be vaccinated. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

4 minutes ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

 

Gonna have to start treating these morons like little kids.  TIme to break these out:

 

[Aristarchus]

The history of the Covid-19 outbreak contained in this thread is really interesting.
i started reading from the first post forward recently (I've reached March2020) and
it really shows the evolution of discourse surrounding the pandemic. It should almost
be required reading and/or archived for future historians as to how "we" reacted
and how the pandemic "messaging" evolved and changed over time. 

It really is a fascinating read. Some of it is encouraging while other parts are scary.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Aristarchus

[Jumbo]

kind of tying to ari's post above, here's an interesting slice of some current evolving and devolving 

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gulf-coasts-beloved-redneck-riviera-051601860.html

 

Gulf Coast's beloved 'Redneck Riviera' now a virus hotspot

Quote

 

GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — Tourists and servers alike dance atop tables and in the aisles at one restaurant on the “Redneck Riviera,” a beloved stretch of towns along the northern Gulf Coast where beaches, bars and stores are packed. Yet just a few miles away, a hospital is running out of critical care beds, its rooms full of unvaccinated people fighting for their lives.

 

On maps that show virus “hot spots” in red, this part of the U.S. coast is glowing like a bad sunburn. And a summer of booming tourism that followed the lockdowns and travel restrictions of 2020 is making the turn toward fall with only a few signs of slowing down.

 

Health officials believe the spike is due to a combination of some of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates, unabated tourism, a disregard for basic health precautions and the region’s carefree lifestyle, all combining at a time when the mutated virus is more contagious than ever and conservative states are balking at new health restrictions.

 

On a recent afternoon, one shopper after another walked through the mouth of a giant, fake shark into a Gulf Shores souvenir shop. Mini-golf courses, bars, go-kart tracks, hotels and condominium towers were full. The National Shrimp Festival, which draws as many as 250,000 people to the Alabama coast, is set for October despite the COVID-19 explosion.

 

Inside The Hangout restaurant, where dancing on tables is encouraged, “Cotton Eye Joe” received a raucous reception from the largely unmasked customers. “Where did you come from, where did you go? / Where did you come from, Cotton Eye Joe?” the speakers blared. The revelry came as just 12 miles (19 kilometers) to the north, South Baldwin Regional Medical Center was treating more than three dozen COVID-19 patients, nearly 90% of whom weren’t vaccinated, said spokesperson Taylor Lewis.

 

“After Memorial Day it was, ‘Everything is back to normal, go to the beach, take off your mask,’” said Dr. Bert Eichold, the chief public health official of Mobile County, just west of Gulf Shores. Mobile County's COVID-19 positivity rate has skyrocketed to nearly 30%, and the county has the most new cases in the state.

 

Lisa Hastings, a Louisiana native and nurse visiting the Alabama coast with her two sisters, looked at the situation in two ways. She was a little unsettled by the wide-open scene from a professional standpoint, but she also doesn’t hold it against anyone who wants to get out and have fun, vaccinated or not.

 

“I think people are kind of over being afraid and so they’ve got to live their lives,” said Hastings, who is vaccinated. Nearby, a tourist from Illinois railed that the pandemic is fake and vaccinations are just another method of government control.

 

Some have decided against both getting vaccinated and wearing face masks, choosing instead to party without precautions at places like the Flora-Bama, a massive beachfront bar on the Alabama-Florida line. There, bands play to big crowds fueled by alcoholic drinks including the sugary Bushwacker, a coastal favorite.

 

Lulu’s, a popular Gulf Shores restaurant owned by Lucy Buffett, the sister of singer Jimmy Buffett, is among those that recently had to shut down for a week because the virus was racing through workers. At The Dock, a beachfront restaurant that serves cold beer and seafood beside the public beach in Pensacola Beach, Florida, manager Justin Smith said the tourist season has been busy and his staff has managed to stay healthy, at least so far. While more vaccinations could help, Smith said he’d never require his staff to get inoculated. “I’ve been here 18 years. It ain’t gonna happen,” he said.

 

Outbreaks caused by the coronavirus are threatening to overwhelm the region’s health care system and traditions. Panama City Beach, Florida, cited the pandemic in canceling an annual country music festival set for early September, and New Orleans has clamped down on mask-wearing and called off multiple events. While urging people to get vaccinated, state leaders including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey have resisted imposing new restrictions, even as hospital beds fill up. On Monday, officials said 1,560 patients needed intensive care treatment in Alabama, where hospitals have just 1,562 ICU beds.

 

Hospital executives joined together in Pensacola last week to plead for more vaccinations while also knocking down false rumors about vaccines and masks. In an area dominated by Christian conservatives, Mayor Grover C. Robinson IV made a direct appeal for churchgoers to get shots.

 

“Two of our hospitals are Christian affiliated,” he said. “One of the first things it says all throughout the Bible is, ‘Do not be afraid.’”

 

More people are getting initial vaccine doses than a few weeks ago, but it hasn’t been enough so far to stop the spread of COVID-19. Of 11 coastal counties in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, Okaloosa County in Florida has the region’s highest share of fully vaccinated residents at 41.3%, statistics show. Many are around one-third, and all are below the national average of nearly 51%.

 

Natalie Fox, a nursing executive with USA Health in Mobile, said medical workers are tired after more than a year of fighting the pandemic. Still, people sick with COVID-19 — the vast majority of them unvaccinated — keep arriving. “We’re kind of getting patients from all over because everybody’s dealing with this increased strain,” she said.

 

It didn’t take a mandate for Rhonda Landrum, a 50-year-old health care worker from near Mobile, to get a shot recently after watching all three of her unvaccinated daughters contract COVID-19. People aren’t taking the pandemic seriously, she said, and it’s just not safe to be out in public without the vaccine. “I won’t travel nowhere,” she said. “I stay home.”

 

[skinsmarydu]

I swear, I'm more worried about a sunburn.  My legs are so white, they're almost translucent. 

I don't go anywhere I don't absolutely have to.  Ask my yard. 

[TheDoyler23]

2 hours ago, Aristarchus said:

The history of the Covid-19 outbreak contained in this thread is really interesting.
i started reading from the first post forward recently (I've reached March2020) and...

 

Yea, I vividly remember seeing the initial thread and brushing it off. I thought, "Oh this will probably be like SARS or Swine Flu" and it'll burn itself out and we'll be making bad jokes about it soon. Oof. The first few months is truly a fascinating read. 

 

20 months later, now I'm going to put my mask on to check in with my boss at my 90% empty workplace! 

[TheGreatBuzz]

57 minutes ago, Jumbo said:

kind of tying to ari's post above, here's an interesting slice of some current evolving and devolving 

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gulf-coasts-beloved-redneck-riviera-051601860.html

 

Gulf Coast's beloved 'Redneck Riviera' now a virus hotspot

That was a great place to live though.  I know, and have been drunk at, every place listed.

[Larry]

21 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

That was a great place to live though.  I know, and have been drunk at, every place listed.

They all spoke very highly of you. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

Jacksonville is going through some things.

 

 

[CobraCommander]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.greenvilleonline.com/amp/5503881001

Greenville County GOP leader Pressley Stutts dies from COVID-19

 

Stutts and his wife were rushed to the hospital Aug. 1 after his oxygen levels dropped. "The COVID has created double pneumonia in my lungs," he said in a Facebook post at the time. 
 

In June, when U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Greenville to encourage more vaccination in the state, Stutts stood outside with a group of more than 100 people and protested amid scores of waving American flags and posters.

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

^^^ Ironically enough: