Tag: COVID-19

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U.S. Records Highest Number Of New COVID Cases In The World (Again)

New cases of COVID-19 spiked on July 17, 2021, as the Delta variant continues to spread in the U.S.
(screen capture via Johns Hopkins University)
Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 data tracking shows the United States had a massive spike of 79,310 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. On July 4, the number of new cases being reported had dropped to 3,491. From The Daily Beast:

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.

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Las Vegas: Face Masks Recommended For All In Public Spaces

Las Vegas health officials have recommended everyone (vaccinated or not) go back to wearing face masks when indoors.

Las Vegas health officials have recommended everyone (vaccinated or not) go back to wearing face masks when indoors. 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.

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News Round-Up: July 16, 2021

Voters stand in line waiting to vote

Voters stand in line waiting to vote
Investigation by AP found few potential cases of voting irregularities in Arizona
Some news items you might have missed: • LGBTQ Nation: It seems Caitlyn Jenner is filming her ‘campaign’ for governor of California – any guesses why the reality TV celeb might be doing that? • OUT: Two gay men vacationing on the French island of Corsica were brutally attacked by group of up to 20 men while a large crowd gathered and watched but did nothing to stop the brutal assault. • It Gets Better: Regular readers of TRR know I’m not only a huge supporter of the Olympic Games but especially the Paralympic Games. Check out the journey of out lesbian Courtney journey who will be competing in wheelchair basketball for Team USA at this year’s Games.

• Instinct Magazine: Michael Henderson, the popular head coach of Murrieta Valley High School’s cheer and student program in southern California, was abruptly fired from his job last month. Henderson says he was fired for being gay and has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit alleging that the process leading to his dismissal was “flawed.” • Kenneth-in-the-212: Check out Kenneth’s round-up of the what’s what in LGBTQ publications including out swimmer Michael Gunning covering the latest from Attitude Magazine.

(image via Attitude Magazine)
• 4WWL: Alan Scott Lanoix tested positive for COVID-19 and spent 17 days in the hospital with several on a ventilator. His wife and 3 sons all tested positive too. Lanoix died June 9 at 54 years old. According to his sister, “He thought the vaccine was poison.” • AP: Investigation by the Associated Press finds fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud identified by Arizona’s local election officials out of 3.4 million ballots cast in last year’s presidential election.

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News Round-Up: July 13, 2021

Logo for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo

Logo for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo Some news items you might have missed: • Instinct Magazine: A record 121 out athletes are set to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, more than doubling the number from the last Olympics in Rio. • Nevada Independent: As of Friday, Nevada (my state) had the fourth highest case rate in the nation per capita over the last seven days; for many days last week, it was first. The Delta variant was responsible for 54% of cases in June in Clark County (where I live) but only 38% are vaccinated. #ugh • OUT: A shirtless man, appropriately wearing a pink shirt wrapped around his head as a pitiful disguise, attempted to rip down a Pride flag, but the homeowners had anticipated such hateful actions and secured the flag with carabiners and screwing posts.

@leftovergainskid tries and fails to steal my pride flag#fail #pride #rainbow #getoffmylawn #ohnowyouwannawearamask♬ original sound – leftovergains

• PopCulture: Actor Jerry O’Connell is reportedly close to closing a deal to become the first-ever full-time male host of The Talk. O’Connell, who is a frequent guest host, would take over Sharon Osbourne’s seat, who left the show earlier this year amid scandal. • Tennessean: The average number of new cases per day in Tennessee has more than doubled in the past two weeks. But the state Department of Health has halted all vaccine outreach to kids – not just for COVID-19, but all diseases – amid pressure from GOP. • Out Music: Singer-songwriter Allison Ponthier recently shared her new single, “Hell Is A Crowded Room,” featuring crystal-clear vocals skimming along a gentle guitar. The  delicate track explores the social anxiety felt by introverts (like me) and learning to push through those challenges.

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Anti-Vax ER Nurse Dies Of COVID-19

A Louisiana nurse who railed against vaccinations for the coronavirus died on Saturday from COVID-19 complications

A Louisiana nurse who railed against vaccinations for the coronavirus died on Saturday from COVID-19 complications 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%.

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News Round-Up: July 9, 2021

(screen capture via NBC News)
Some news items you might have missed: • NBC News: Hospitalized unvaccinated patients are “shocked” that Covid-19 truly exists and that it can make people very sick and even kill them. “A comment they make all the time is that they wish that they knew they were going to end up in the hospital this sick and they would have made a different choice and got the vaccine.” • NJ.com: José Tobias Carranza Serrano, 18, confessed to assaulting and robbing a 37-year-old intellectually disabled man on June 23 because he believed the man to be gay. The assault has left the victim still clinging to life where he is still intubated. In his confession, Serrano reportedly showed no remorse. • ABC News: The Michigan elections bureau has determined that organizers of a ballot drive to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people failed to collect  the roughly 340,000 needed. But Fair and Equal Michigan, which spent $2.9 million on the effort, says the Bureau of Elections threw out thousands of signatures that are valid. The group plans to file a lawsuit.

• Washington Blade: A federal judge today blocked a new law in Tennessee that required businesses and other entities that allow transgender people to use the public restroom that matches their gender to post a government-prescribed warning sign. • Washington Post: President Biden on Friday fired Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul, a holdover from the Trump administration who had alienated crucial Democratic constituencies with policies designed to clamp down benefits and an uncompromising anti-union stance. • Next Shark: Out Filipino American influencer Bretman Rock (People’s Choice Awards Beauty Influencer of the Year in 2019) graced the cover of Teen Vogue’s July issue. The social media star has over 17 million followers on Instagram, 12.1 million followers on TikTok and 8.71 million subscribers on YouTube. https://www.instagram.com/p/CRCVsqRlSHQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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News Round-Up: July 8, 2021

Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud (image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Instinct Magazine: Swedish couple Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud (above) will be representing the Netherlands at the Olympics in dressage – a type of horse riding that tests the teamwork and power of a rider with their horse. Together they won a team bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships, and each have an Olympic medal: silver for Minderhoud in 2008 and bronze for Gal in 2012. • The Gaily Grind: Caitlyn Jenner, whose net worth is estimated to be roughly $100 million, wants to deal with California’s population of more than 60,000 homeless people by moving them to “big open fields.” • The Guardian: Organizers of the Miss Mexico 2021 pageant pushed ahead in spite of a Covid-19 outbreak that infected almost half the contestants. At least 15 of the 32 contestants in the pageant tested positive for coronavirus as well as a pageant staff member.

• Washington Post: Michael Avenatti — who made headlines representing an adult-film actress who claimed an affair with Donald Trump before he was president — was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Thursday, after being convicted for trying to extort Nike Inc. He faced up to 11 years in jail. • Pink News: A New Jersey appeal court has upheld a massive $3.5 million fine against a conversion therapy practice, which was shut down after former patients alleged widespread abuse. • CNN: Researchers estimate that there would have been about 279,000 additional deaths due to Covid-19 — about 46% more than there were — and as many as 1.25 million additional hospitalizations if there had been no vaccinations. • ABC News: Pfizer will seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine. Data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose.

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Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 4 Million Worldwide

The coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 4 million
(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:

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Fauci: 99% Of Recent COVID Deaths Involved Unvaccinated People

Dr. Anthony Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci (screen capture)
During an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press, Dr. Anthony Fauci said about 99.2% of recent COVID-19 deaths in the United States involved unvaccinated people. “It’s really sad and tragic that most all of these are avoidable and preventable,” he added. Fauci shared that it is frustrating when “you have a formidable enemy” in the coronavirus and “yet we do have a countermeasure that’s highly, highly effective. And that’s the reason why it’s all the more sad and all the more tragic why it isn’t being completely implemented in this country.” The United States has registered over 605,000 deaths in the pandemic, the highest national toll in the world. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 157 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, representing 47.4% of the country’s total population. But vaccination rates remain low in many parts of the South and Midwest.

(source)

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Happy 4th Of July 2021!

Wishing everyone a fun and frolicsome 4th of July as the country recognizes the birth of our nation. We’ve come a ways from last July 4th, when travel was way down and gatherings were – at least supposed to be – kept within our pandemic bubbles. This year, thanks to COVID vaccines, holiday celebrations can be safer and larger. Here’s some stats on how far we’ve come: • According to the CDC, 67% of U.S. adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose. Among Americans 12 and older, 64% have gotten at least one shot. • According to the results of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index a year ago versus today in regard to how folks feel about returning to pre-coronavirus lives:

June 26-29, 2020: Large to moderate risk – 70%, Small to no risk – 29%

June 25-28, 2021: Large to moderate risk – 28%, Small to no risk – 72%

• AAA projected holiday travel this weekend will be almost back to pre-pandemic levels —  just 2.5% lower than in 2019. • An expected 43.6 million Americans will drive to their destinations, the highest on record for this holiday and 5% more than the previous record set in 2019. • And air travel is definitely bouncing back – TSA reports it screened more people on July 1 and 2 than it did on those dates in 2019! Have an awesome holiday and make sure you tune in for PBS’ A Capitol Fourth tonight!

I’ll be holding down the fort at my backyard today 🙂