WELCOME TO TEXAS: DON’T COME! WE ARE IN TROUBLE AGAIN
From the NYT TODAY:
1. Texas hospitals are overloaded with virus cases.
”…The sudden increase of infections has refocused national attention on the efficacy of masks and comes as Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas remains firm in his refusal to enact any statewide mandates….Dr. David Persse, Houston’s chief medical officer, blamed state officials for giving inadequate attention to the importance of vaccinations to stem the surge. Mr. Abbott’s framing of vaccinations as an issue of individual rights is “the wrong approach,” Dr. Persse said. The unvaccinated, he said, “are endangering themselves and their families.”
(J. Harris: Politicians should stick to politics and doctors to doctoring. Of course, Abbott’s timing is again wrong, wrong, wrong and Texas is in trouble—again.
2. F.D.A. to Authorize Third Vaccine Dose for People With Weak Immune Systems
HOPKINS CITATIONS:
1. Local Officials in Texas Can Temporarily Require Masks, Two Judges Rule (New York Times) Two court rulings on Tuesday cleared the way for local leaders who oppose a ban by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on mask mandates to at least temporarily require face coverings to help curb a rise in cases. The first ruling came in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio. Masks can now be required in public schools and other public buildings there.
2. The CDC Said The Delta Variant Is As Contagious As Chickenpox. That’s Not Accurate (NPR) In a leaked report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a surprising claim about the delta variant of the coronavirus: It “is as transmissible as: – Chicken Pox,” the agency wrote in a slideshow presentation leaked to The Washington Post on July 26. Chickenpox is one of the most contagious viruses known. Each individual can spread the virus to as many as “90% of the people close to that person,” the CDC reports. Is the delta variant that contagious as well? The short answer is no, says evolutionary biologist and biostatistician Tom Wenseleers at the University of Leuven in Belgium.
(J. Harris: Chickenpox is so contagious that you can almost catch it if you even think about it. Were Delta that contagious, we’d be in almost unimaginable trouble.)
VACCINE VIDEO QUESTIONS FROM JAMA (14 MIN)
(J. Harris: I did not watch this.)
(J. Harris: An excellent and readable pediatric Covid summary)
”…What’s happening in the South might be a preview for the rest of the country…Although Delta is a more cantankerous version of the virus than its predecessors, researchers don’t yet have evidence that it is specifically worse for children, who are still getting seriously sick only a small fraction of the time. Less than 2 percent of known pediatric COVID-19 cases, for instance, result in hospitalization, sometimes far less…More kids are falling ill because more children are being infected; more children are being infected because this virus has seeped so thoroughly into the communities most vulnerable to it…To protect kids, the AAP has championed the same layered approach that protects adults: combining masks, good ventilation, hygiene, physical distancing, access to testing, and vaccines for everyone who’s eligible…This tag-team tactic will be especially important as kids head back to school in droves this month and next… The timing of Delta’s pediatric spike couldn’t have been worse. Many hospitals have for months been cracking under pressure from an unseasonal surge of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and parainfluenza—two other airway pathogens that can cause serious illnesses in the very young…the CDC has recommended universal masking in schools for everyone older than 2…the AAP … has led the organization to to strongly recommend that children return to in-person learning. But that evidence was amassed…with careful precautions in place,” including masking..
From Beckers:
1.1 million people got unauthorized COVID-19 booster shot, CDC estimates
QUICK DELTA BREAKTHROUGH SNIPPETS
LAST BUT NOT LEASED: (TERRIBLE 5 MIN FILM TOMORROW IF A CERTAIN NORWEGIAN WILL LET ME SHOW IT — IT CONTAINS PROFANITY)
For today we have a new supply of signs from a prominent local lawyer:
And an Invitation:
AUTOPSY CLUB PARTY HERE THIS SATURDAY OPEN MIKE NIGHT
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