Philadelphia meteorologist Adam Joseph
Philly Weatherman Shares Delta Variant Diagnosis Despite Vaccination
U.S. Records Highest Number Of New COVID Cases In The World (Again)
(screen capture via Johns Hopkins University)
The number is the highest in the world, exceeding recorded totals from Indonesia (54,000), the United Kingdom (51,949), and Brazil (45,591), and doubling that of India (38,079).
The spiking case number matches the level hit in October 2020, a record at the time, though it would not remain so for long.
Despite the effectiveness of multiple vaccines against the virus, vaccine hesitancy is fueling “a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” according to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
The vast majority of all patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, according to the CDC.
Arkansas Leads Nation In New COVID Cases As Vaccinations Decline
Y’all…please get vaccinated. I’m just saying. From USA Today:
Cases of COVID-19 have doubled in the U.S. in the past two weeks, and Arkansas is becoming a case study in how low vaccination rates can fuel the spread of the virus.
Arkansas continues to be the nation’s top state for new cases per capita, and only 35% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus appears to be largely sparing vaccinated people from the most severe illness.
“Of all of our critically ill COVID positive patients at Baptist Health facilities, none have been fully vaccinated,” said Stephanie Whitaker, chief nursing executive for Baptist Health, a major healthcare provider in the state.
The state’s Department of Health said there are 240 COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICUs and 118 on ventilators. Only 4% of the state’s intensive care unit beds are available.
Cases of COVID-19 rose in all 50 states this week.
"Of all of our critically ill COVID positive patients at Baptist Health facilities, none have been fully vaccinated.” https://t.co/xZFOgDGPTD
— Andy Slavitt 🇺🇸💉 (@ASlavitt) July 17, 2021
So heartbreaking.
An unvaccinated 13yo Arkansas girl is on a ventilator after getting COVID.
Her mom said she “decided against vaccinations for both herself and Caia due to misinformation.”
Now she pleads: “Everybody just needs to get the shot.”https://t.co/eHEkLy29ZV
— Ian Sams (@IanSams) July 16, 2021
“I don’t think there’s a thing in the world we could do to get them to get vaccinated.”
While much of the U.S. tiptoes toward normalcy, the coronavirus is swamping hospitals in Arkansas, where vaccine hesitancy and refusal run high. https://t.co/96zWnq0lMi
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 17, 2021
"It is heart-wrenching to see unvaccinated individuals come into the hospital with regret," the doctor said. https://t.co/6GnxwTVl4H
— The Hill (@thehill) July 17, 2021
Las Vegas: Face Masks Recommended For All In Public Spaces
And, we’re back to wearing face masks here in my town of Las Vegas, Nevada, thanks to rising cases and slowing vaccination rates. From the Review-Journal:
The Southern Nevada Health District on Friday recommended that everyone — including those vaccinated against COVID-19 —again wear face masks in crowded indoor public settings such as grocery stores, malls and casinos.
The health district’s recommendation comes as COVID-19 test positivity rates, case counts and hospitalizations continue to increase in Southern Nevada, which has been designated as a “sustained hotspot” for the disease by the federal government.
In mid-May, Gov. Steve Sisolak dropped the mask mandate for those who were vaccinated, following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mask requirement remained for unvaccinated people in most public indoor settings, but was largely unenforced and often ignored.
It’s worth noting the change is only a ‘recommendation’ at this time and not a mandate. Los Angeles County reinstated its mask mandate beginning last night.
Anti-Vax ER Nurse Dies Of COVID-19
A Louisiana nurse who had railed against vaccinations on her social media has reportedly died from COVID-19 complications. From The Acadiana Advocate:
Olivia Guidry, a registered nurse in the emergency department, died Saturday after battling the virus for days in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Friends, who had been pleading for prayers for the young woman, expressed grief as the news of her death spread Saturday afternoon.
Guidry was diagnosed with COVID in early July, according to a social media post from her sister, Brittany Smith. She spiked a high fever and had a seizure, Smith wrote. She was placed in a medically induced coma on Thursday.
Louisiana has a vaccination rate of about 36%, below the national vaccination rate of nearly 50%.
Friends, colleagues grieve after young Lafayette ER nurse dies from COVID complications https://t.co/K1CYm4Fwqv via @theadvocateaca please take the Damn Shot
— Russel L. Honore’ (@ltgrusselhonore) July 12, 2021
All I can say is how many more people have to die because of the idiotic, right-wing conspiracy theorists, their demagogic political leaders, and media disinformation organs? How many more? https://t.co/qbGxnd3kMg
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 12, 2021
Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 4 Million Worldwide
(graphic via NY Times)The coronavirus death toll has now surpassed over 4 million world wide even as the more contagious Delta variant continues to spread.
From the New York Times:
The world’s known coronavirus death toll passed four million on Thursday, a loss roughly equivalent to the population of Los Angeles, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
It took nine months for the virus to claim one million lives, and the pace has quickened since then. The second million were lost in three and a half months, the third in three months, and the fourth in about two and a half months. The number of daily reported deaths has declined recently.
Those are officially reported figures, which are widely believed to undercount pandemic-related deaths.
Read the full report here. As the Delta variant continues to spread, vaccinations in the U.S. are seeing a clear decline. Health officials say 99% of the recent coronavirus death toll involves unvaccinated people. More from CBS News:
4 million people worldwide have now died from COVID-19 as of Wednesday — and health experts say more needs to be done to fight the rapidly spreading Delta variant. @ElisePrestonTV reports: https://t.co/Dbx8mfUWMq pic.twitter.com/OpmnLDKAxr
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 7, 2021
QAnon Rep Goes Back To Nazi-Era Terms Regarding COVID
QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday used a Nazi-era comparison in opposing the Biden administration’s push to encourage all Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, calling the individuals leading those efforts “medical brown shirts.”
Members of the paramilitary organization that helped Hitler and the Nazi Party rise to power were known as “brownshirts.”
“Biden pushing a vaccine that is NOT FDA approved shows covid is a political tool used to control people,” Greene tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations. You can’t force people to be part of the human experiment.”
Biden pushing a vaccine that is NOT FDA approved shows covid is a political tool used to control people.
People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations.
You can’t force people to be part of the human experiment. https://t.co/S8qlstuSqL
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) July 6, 2021
I see that trip to the Holocaust museum really did the trick.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) July 7, 2021
I keep thinking that America can't possibly take these dummies seriously.
Then I remember that Donald Trump used to be president.
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) July 7, 2021
It *is* FDA approved on an emergency basis, and the Pfizer vaccine is being reviewed for full approval – which their insurance carrier would not permit if they thought there was the slightest chance it was dangerous.
*YOU* are politicizing a pandemic to cover up for incompetence
— Pat Flynn (@grayblob) July 6, 2021
Fauci: 99% Of Recent COVID Deaths Involved Unvaccinated People
Dr. Anthony Fauci (screen capture)
On this week's #MTP Compressed:
– Vaccine hesitancy threatens progress
– COVAX works to vaccinate world
– Americans face a “summer of reset” pic.twitter.com/TVOZ5IGYj3
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 5, 2021
Nevada: COVID-19 Cases Slowly Rising Due To Low Vaccination Rates
My home state of Nevada is not doing great in the COVID vaccination department. From Jennifer Solis at the Nevada Current:
Nevada has continued to report a slow rise in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks as the positivity rate — or percentage of tests that came back positive — increased to 4.0%, from 3.9%.
The Department of Health and Human Services reported 447 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday — the highest daily number of cases in over a month.
Confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalization cases rose to 281 on Wednesday, after falling as low as 178 on June 12.
Vaccination rates for Clark County are at about 42% — lower than the national average of 45% and significantly lower than Washoe County’s 54% vaccination rate.
By comparison, Los Angeles County in California, with a population five times as large as Clark County, boasts a 7-day average positivity rate of 0.8% and reported only 260 new cases and 230 hospitalizations on Wednesday. Los Angeles County also has a significantly higher vaccination rate of 58%, according to California data.
The state, meanwhile, is offering financial motivation to encourage people to get vaccinated. Nevada will distribute $5 million in cash prizes to residents who have been vaccinated at least once.
Read the full report here.
COVID Cases On The Rise As Delta Variant Spreads To All 50 States
The Delta variant of the coronavirus now makes up 25% of all new cases in the U.S. Via NBC News:
The number of Covid-19 cases in the United States rose 10 percent this week as the highly contagious delta variant gained further ground, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The country’s lagging vaccination rate coupled with the “hyper-transmissible delta variant” could account for the increase, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing.
The variant, which was first detected in India, now accounts for a quarter of all new cases, and has been detected in all 50 states. Its rapid spread is sure to make it the dominant U.S. strain within the coming weeks, she said.
Read the full report here. According to the CDC, 57.4 percent of U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated as of today.
The Delta variant is now responsible for about one in every four coronavirus infections in the U.S., according to CDC estimates. Here’s what scientists know (and what you should, too). https://t.co/CyfJUN507c pic.twitter.com/5j68aEqOZ9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 1, 2021