Days after anti-vax doctors met in Florida, seven of them came down with COVID-19. The fringe medicos met on November 6th at Ocala’s World Equestrian Center, so naturally they pushed ivermectin horse de-wormer as a coronavirus cure. As the Daily Beast points out, the Equestrian Center requires all participating ponies to be vaccinated against Equine Herpes Virus and Equine Influenza. Florida law prevents vaccine mandates for two-legged participants.
“Florida Summit on Covid” participants listened to the 9 panel “experts” and lunched together, and $250 VIP admission tickets included a private reception and photo opportunity, a likely virus incubator.
More:
“Seven doctors contract Covid after attending Florida anti-vaccine summit,” Maya Yang, The Guardian
Florence Nightingale, masked, after H. M. Bonham-Carter
A global research study published in BMJ shows that wearing facemasks is the most effective non-pharmaceutical measure reducing COVID-19 incidence and fatalities:
“Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, reducing incidence by 53%, the first global study of its kind shows.
Vaccines … do not confer 100% protection, most countries have not vaccinated everyone, and it is not yet known if jabs will prevent future transmission of emerging coronavirus variants.”
“Results from more than 30 studies from around the world were analysed in detail, showing a statistically significant 53% reduction in the incidence of Covid with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing.”
— “Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study,” Andrew Gregory, The Guardian
Related:
“As GOP Fights Mask and Vaccine Mandates, Florida Takes the Lead,” Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, via Yahoo News
“Mixed feelings as D.C. lifts mask mandate,” Chelsea Cirruzzo, Paige Hopkins, Cuneyt Dil, Axios
Image (“Florence Nightingale masked, after a lithograph by H. M. Bonham-Carter”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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North Dakota Republican State Representative Jeff Hoverson organized an anti-vaccine mandate rally in Bismarck, but couldn’t attend it. He’s got COVID. He’s treating it with horse de-wormer. Of course.
Ten Republican state attorneys general are suing to overturn Biden administration COVID vaccine mandates for federal contractors. GOP AGs from Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah have also sued to prevent the administration’s OSHA-enforced vaccine-or-test mandate for large companies. They claim that getting a deadly infection on the job isn’t a work-related injury. A 5th Circut federal court has issued a stay in the last matter.
More Republican AGs are suing to block the OSHA madate in the 11th Circuit and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying it’s a states’ rights issue, and GOP governors are jumping on board. Claiming “states’ rights” in order to deprive citizens of human rights — or in this case, human life — is cruel, cynical, and politically-motivated.
Florida’s pro-virus governor Ron DeSantis has invited vaccination-resisting cops fleeing vaccine mandates in other states to come and infect his state’s surviving citizens. He’s offered to pay unvacinated officers a $5,000 signing bonus. 58,933 Floridians have died of COVID while Ron DeSantis has been in office. So far.
This year, the number one cause of police deaths is COVID-19, not firearms.
“As some police fight vaccine rules, DeSantis says Florida will pay them $5,000 to relocate: ‘We’ll treat you better,’” Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post
“Ron DeSantis Goes All In on Vaccine Skepticism,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine
“Covid has killed more active-duty police officers than 9/11 did,” Phillip Bump, Washington Post
Florida Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s pro-life beliefs don’t extend to his constiuients. He’s killed off 50,000 of them so far, forbidding the vaccine mandates and mask requirements that would keep them from dying of COVID-19.
Hospitals in the state are overwhelmed and 300+ people are dying each day, but the governor’s declaring victory, since even greater numbers were sick and dying a few weeks ago. 44% of Floridians still surviving are not fully vaccinated, so any lull in cases will be brief.
Dr. Ladapo, who has no public health administrative experience, will also lead the Florida Department of Health. He’s being paid $250,000 a year, 72 percent more than his predecessor.
More:
“Florida’s new surgeon general skeptical of vaccines, opposes masks,” Ruth mole, Ars Technica
“DeSantis places a ‘COVID crank’ in charge of its response,” Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times
“Florida’s new surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, has ties to fringe group pushing bogus COVID cures,” Brett Bachman and Trish Rooney, Salon
“How a doctor who questioned vaccine safety became DeSantis’ surgeon general pick,” Arek Sarkissian, Politico
It’s Back-to-School time in America, but this year that doesn’t just mean pencil cases, it aslo means cases of Pediatric COVID-19, 250,000 in the last week. Kids in low-vaccination states are getting infected at greater rates. Emergency Room visits and hospital admissions in the states with the lowest vaccination coverage were 3.4 and 3.7 times higher than in states with the highest vaccination rates. Children’s hospitals are at or near capacity and asking for federal assistance. For the most recent reporting period, infections among children account for 22.4 percent of reported COVID-19 cases. That’s 204,000 infected kids in a week.
Even though most parents favor mask-wearing in schools, nine states prohibit school districts from setting mask requirements: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. Over 1,000 schools have closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks since late July.
Last August, 460,000 bikers from all over the country headed to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota’s Black Hills. Many carried Covid-19 back home. Contact tracing was nearly impossible, but at least 649 Covid-19 cases were linked directly to the Sturgis rally, and they passed the virus around to friends and family. One estimate put cumulative infections from the event at 250,000 nationwide, generating public health costs of $12.2 billion.
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