New Cases: 501,264 (⬆︎ .49%)
New Deaths: 12,683 (⬆︎ .57%)
USA
New Cases: 140,867 (⬆︎ .53%)
New Deaths: 2,892 (⬆︎ .65%)
Vaccination Scorecard
Total Vaccinations: 24.4 million
Total Priority Population: 21.5%
Total Population: 7.3%
We hear some encouraging news once in a while about how the numbers of new cases are decreasing gradually, but then we hear about spot shortages in morgue space, and how some hospitals (particularly in rural and already-under-served counties), and of course, the resurgence of The Great American Stoopid.
It's a Monday morning and the Sunrise Family Diner is full. Retirees in jeans and plaid sit by the window, chatting over coffee and the local newspaper. A sign posted at the entrance urges customers to wear masks, but some don't. They get seated anyway, within arm's length of strangers in other booths.
Michigan is under shutdown, but inside Sunrise Family Diner, you might assume there is no pandemic.
This is the other rebellion. While armed extremists gathered outside the statehouse in Lansing a week after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in support of President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, dozens of restaurateurs across Michigan held their own protests against reality.
The restaurants are operating in open defiance of the state’s polarizing governor and the restrictions she ordered in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The businesses say the science on which the rules are based — pushed by the state health department, World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — is politicized and untrustworthy.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as they’re saying it is,” diner owner David Koloski said. “The whole thing with the coronavirus is political. I think Democrats are dug in and unwilling to move on this.”
Their protests have thrived for weeks thanks to law enforcement officers who support their cause and state residents willing to travel hours in some cases to patronize businesses where they can flaunt their distaste for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and her rules. So far, cease-and-desist orders and fines have done little to dissuade the businesses, and state officials have declined to discuss what recourse they have for dealing with the revolt.
But the consequences are clear, some health professionals say: Even as Michigan’s coronavirus rates have declined, many of the state’s hospitals remain at capacity because of covid-19 patients.
Less than 40 miles away from Sunrise Family Diner, Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital has exceeded 90 percent capacity since April, even with multiple ICU expansions. Since last winter, more than 100 hospital caregivers have tested positive for the coronavirus and two have died. The hospital has lost more than 160 patients to covid since the pandemic began.
Sparrow president Alan Vierling describes driving past open restaurants and bars — and even more often the obvious house party or big family gathering — and how angry it makes him.
“You see that and you know that there’s a percentage of these folks, once they get covid, some of them will die. And it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Vierling, a registered nurse. “This isn’t like getting leukemia, where you can do everything right and get leukemia and die. With this, you have a choice.”
It goes on, and I promise right now that I get the point here - these folks are clinging to the dream - a business that probably wasn't all that great to begin with, but was doing OK with hopes for better. Then along comes reality in the form of The Rona, and people ignore it because "conservatives" give them a fantasy that reinforces their belief in the mythology of the rugged individualist - the plucky survivor - man against the wilderness - armed only with his trusty spatula and a 5½ % federally guaranteed loan that he got through the SBA.
And The Stoopid keeps on a-rollin'.
AP (via Star-Tribune):
Anti-vaccine protesters temporarily shut down vaccine site
One of the largest vaccination sites in the country temporarily shut down Saturday because dozens of protesters blocked the entrance, stalling hundreds of motorists who had been waiting in line for hours, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Los Angeles Fire Department shut the entrance to the vaccination center at Dodger Stadium about 2 p.m. as a precaution, officials told the newspaper.
The protesters had members of anti-vaccine and far-right groups, the Times reported. Some of them carried signs decrying the COVID-19 vaccine and shouting for people not to get the shots.
There were no incidents of violence, the Times said.
"This is completely wrong," said German Jaquez, who drove from his home in La Verne and had been waiting for an hour for his vaccination when the stadium's gates were closed. He said some of the protesters were telling people in line that the coronavirus is not real and that the vaccination is dangerous.
The vaccination site reopened shortly before 3 p.m., the Times reported. The site is usually open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
After it reopened, Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted: "We will not be deterred or threatened. Dodger Stadium is back up and running."
The Great American Stoopid is a raging fever that's at least as rampant, and as dangerous, as The Rona.
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