God help us all:
"In Texas beach city, out-of-towners drove in an outbreak" by J. David Goodman New York Times, July 11, 2020
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As recently as early June, days went by with hardly anyone testing positive for the coronavirus. A single case one day. Three the next. Then zero. Zero. Zero.
Word spread that Corpus Christi, always a popular beachfront vacation spot for Texans from around the state, was a safe place to go. They didn’t even require masks indoors. It was an oasis from the virus.
It turned out that no place was safe.
Now the city of 325,000 has one of the fastest-growing outbreaks in Texas, a state where records for positive cases were set for four straight days last week, with nearly 11,000 recorded Thursday. Corpus Christi has seen more cases per capita than Houston and a rapidly mounting death toll: Of the 38 deaths recorded from the pandemic, 30 have come in July, including a baby less than 6 months old.
Local officials have been left scrambling to get ahead of an outbreak that went into overdrive without warning. The city’s two dozen contact tracers are so overwhelmed that they are no longer able to seek detailed information about each new infection. Hospital beds have filled at an alarming rate, prompting pleas for additional staffing.
Maybe the health $y$tems shouldn't have shed millions of jobs during the pandemic(?).
The surge in cases forced local leaders, businesses, and residents to grapple with the uncomfortable reality that the same out-of-towners who help the city thrive economically may have caused the outbreak. The feeling is less one of resentment than of frustration at a seemingly impossible dilemma.
The speed of the spread is what struck researchers. Other vacation destinations have seen a rising number of cases, but the increase in Corpus Christi outstripped even much larger major urban centers, said Dr. Christopher Bird, a professor at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“The part that’s different here is just how fast we rose in the number of cases and how fast it spread,” said Bird, who has been modeling the outbreak for officials.
I'm not even buying this crap anymore as the race riots have been memory holed.
I then checked the byline. The lead liars of the U.S. pre$$.
The reason for the rapid spread in Corpus Christi is not certain. Data gathered from cellphones indicated that movement around the city returned to pre-pandemic levels by early June, especially at restaurants.
“When I saw that, I knew it wasn’t a good sign,” Bird said.
Fly away, you f**k!
The county attorney tested positive, as did many city workers. At one point, 10 percent of the firefighters in the city were out sick or quarantining because of possible exposure. At City Hall, staffers who were back in the office after months of working from home in the spring were told to return to remote work. Officials instituted a beach curfew and barred cars from the sands over the July Fourth holiday.
Why hasn't government been shutdown with the accompanying layoffs?
Aren't we all in this together?
The contrast with even a few weeks ago could not be more stark.
Yeah!
At first, city officials had been able to jump on and contain what few small outbreaks there were: at a meat processing plant, or a halfway house. Officials tested aggressively and got those who were exposed to isolate. They felt confident in their approach.
Like Baker and Walsh.
Corpus Christi is a politically split and culturally mixed town, with a Democratic county leader, a conservative mayor and a population that is majority Hispanic.
“It’s not even purple. It’s more like lavender,” said Barbara Canales, the top executive for Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi. “We’re much more interested in our own backyard than in the national scene.”
Last month, the city stood out as an example of a place that had suffered economically from pandemic-related shutdowns — with unemployment at nearly 16 percent in early June — without actually experiencing much of a viral outbreak at all. Few residents knew anyone who had gotten sick.
Like most communities, meaning something bigger is going on!
Not only was tourism devastated, but another major industry in the city — its massive port for oil and gas exports — suffered from declining demand and plunging oil prices.
Then, as Texas reopened beginning May 1, Texans began flocking to Corpus. It started on Memorial Day weekend and did not stop for weeks.
“The entire city was completely sold out. Every hotel. Every short-term rental,” said Brett Oetting, the head of the Corpus Christi tourism bureau. “What happened during the entire month of June: Every weekend was a Memorial Day weekend.”
Hotels, restaurants, and bars that had been starved for life surged back, but some business owners grew wary of the number of people suddenly flooding into town.
“It was horrible — it was so busy,” said Brigitte Kazenmayer, 59, the owner of the popular breakfast spot JB’s German Bakery & Cafe. “People didn’t wear masks. They didn’t understand the 6 feet.”
Kazenmayer, who immigrated from Germany and fell in love with Corpus Christi, said that in June the lines would snake out the door and across the parking lot.
“They came from Houston, Austin, San Antonio — and I think, why are you here? You bring it here!” she said of the virus.
Then why did she even bother being open?
Time to sell, lady!
The Bait Bucket, a cinder-block box of a store painted bright yellow, saw so many customers in June that they had to add a second salesperson to deal with the crowds, said Miriam Longoria, 21, who worked behind the counter.
The store attracts both locals and tourists, and people kept coming, she said, even after the governor ordered bars to close in late June and other places in town began slowing down, but dealing with the outbreak has strained medical resources in a city where officials said nearly 1 in 5 residents does not have health insurance. Hospitals have stopped performing elective surgeries and are paying overtime to keep up.....
COVID has made them NEGLECT US, and HOW MANY will be SACRIFICED on the ALTAR of the LIE from treatable conditions?
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I smell a $tink:
"“The Most Magical Place on Earth” has reopened after nearly four months with new rules in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom reopened Saturday, while Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will follow four days later. “It’s the chance to come back and be in the magic,” said Diane Watkins, a preschool teacher from Helena, Ala., who visits the park about eight times a year. “Hot or not, mask or not, we’re just happy to be here. I feel like everybody here is in the same frame of mind. Everybody is just so excited to be here.” Watkins said that when she and her 16-year-old daughter walked into the Magic Kingdom on Saturday morning, then saw all the cast members lined up and clapping on Main Street, she cried. “It was very emotional,” she said. The reopening comes as a huge surge of Floridians have tested positive for the new coronavirus in recent weeks. On Saturday, there were about 10,000 new cases reported, according to state statistics. Many cities and counties around the state have recently reinstated restrictions that had been lifted in May, when cases seemed to drop. Disney’s new rules include mandatory masks and social distancing. Visitors will need reservations to enter a park, and they won’t be allowed to hop between parks. Both visitors and employees will receive temperature checks when they enter. Fireworks shows and parades have been suspended to prevent drawing too many people together. Park-goers say that nearly everyone in sight wore masks on Saturday morning....."
Including the President of the United States:
"President Trump wore a face mask during a visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a rare instance of doing so publicly as coronavirus cases continue to pile up. Trump on Saturday was photographed walking with about a dozen officials in the halls of the hospital, wearing a Navy blue mask adorned with a gold presidential seal. The president was to meet combat-wounded service members and their families, as well as health care workers who’ve been on the front lines of the pandemic. The event was the first public photo opportunity in which Trump has appeared wearing a mask since the beginning of the outbreak. Trump spent about an hour at the hospital in Bethesda, Md. An image of a masked Trump surfaced during his visit to a Ford Motor Co. factory in Michigan in May. The president didn’t wear the mask during the public portion of the visit to the plant, which was making ventilators, masks, and other medical supplies, saying he didn’t “want to give the press the pleasure of seeing” him in the face covering. Despite repeated calls to do so, including from members of his own party, Trump has stubbornly refused to wear a mask, defying official guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and behavior modeled by members of the White House coronavirus task force, including Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx....."
I'm told the mask is a symbol of love and provides the gift on anonymity (antifa cheer goes up), and by his actions, the mask-wearing is no longer a topic of partisan debate, as noted by his submission (on a separate note, I like a lot of the music over there), and the biggest effect will be on his campaign:
"The president, who planned to run on the strong economy, no longer can, because of the coronavirus economic fallout. With the pandemic surging in much of the country and his own approval rating sagging below 40 percent, his reelection could very well hinge on persuading Americans not to like or trust Biden....."
Was the only thing he had going for him.
"The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with the coronavirus fell to the lowest point in nearly four months, state officials said Saturday, but Governor Andrew Cuomo is predicting a new increase in cases amid outbreaks in other states. “The only question is how far up our rate goes,” Cuomo said in an interview with WAMC radio on Friday. “You can’t have it all across the country and not come back.’’ The governor acknowledged the limitations in enforcing quarantine rules for travelers returning from states with rising rates of transmission. “How do you catch somebody driving in, right? I mean, it’s very very difficult, it’s trying to catch water in a screen,” Cuomo said, “and there’s a certain inevitability to it. It was in China, got on a plane, went to Europe, people in Europe got on a plane, came here. Then it went down south, down west, and it’s going to come back.” The state on Saturday reported 799 COVID-19 hospitalizations — the lowest number since March 18. Six people in the state died of the coronavirus on Friday, but state officials said the three-day average death toll had fallen to its lowest since March 16."
Going to start putting sick people into the nursing homes again, murderer?
Whatever you do, don't get stuck in the city:
"The Bronx Zoo and New York City’s aquarium are set to reopen this month, but New York City is canceling street fairs, outdoor concerts, parades, and other big events through September as local officials try to keep city blocks open for restaurants and the public. Large outdoor gatherings have been officially banned in New York since the spring, though thousands have taken to city streets to protest against police brutality. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that the city’s ban will exempt “demonstrations, religious events and press conferences.” “Look this is always an area of real sensitivity here,” de Blasio said in a CNN appearance, in response to a question about whether protests would be allowed. “You’re talking about health, we would always say, ‘Hey folks stay home if you can,’ but we understand this moment in history, people are talking about the need for historic change.”
Hypocritical agenda-pushing always is!
Don't you dare defend yourself from the mob, either:
"Home of gun-toting couple searched" by St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 11, 2020
ST. LOUIS — Authorities executed a search warrant at the St. Louis mansion of a white couple whose armed defense of their home during a recent racial injustice protest drew widespread attention, their attorney confirmed Saturday.
They are coming to disarm you, Whitey!
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who are personal injury lawyers, were caught on video brandishing guns as demonstrators walked past their Renaissance palazzo-style home on June 28 while headed to protest outside of the mayor’s home nearby. The video showed Mark McCloskey, 61, wielding a long-barreled gun and Patricia McCloskey, 63 standing next to him waving a handgun.
The video also caught the threats the mob was making!
Joel Schwartz, the couple’s lawyer, said a search warrant was served Friday evening and that the gun Mark McCloskey was holding in the video was seized. Schwartz told the Associated Press that arrangements have been made to turn over to authorities on Saturday the gun that Patricia McCloskey had been holding.
Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, St. Louis’ top prosecutor, issued a statement after the June 28 incident in which she said she was “alarmed” by what happened and that “any attempt to chill (the right to peacefully protest) through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated.”
Must be another $oro$-in$talled society destroyer.
Schwartz said that under Missouri law, people who are in reasonable apprehension or fear have the right to take steps to defend themselves.
There is no more law.
It's all fiat ju$tu$ -- otherwise known as tyranny.
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At least no one had to go to the hospital:
"COVID-19 heroes must jump through hoops for workers’ comp" by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Associated Press, July 11, 2020
WASHINGTON — Lauded for their service and hailed as everyday heroes, essential workers who get the coronavirus on the job have no guarantee in most states they’ll qualify for workers’ compensation to cover lost wages and medical care.
That's how AmeriKa treats its heroes. Like shit. Vets have known that a long time. Goes back to Shays's day, and 90 years ago it was the WWI vets who protested over failed promises of pay. Now we have Vietnam vets and the VA.
Fewer than one-third of the states have enacted policies that shift the burden of proof for coverage of job-related COVID-19 so workers including first responders and nurses don’t have to show they got sick by reporting for a risky assignment.
Debate over workers’ comp in the states is part of a much larger national discussion about liability for virus exposure, with Republicans in Congress seeking a broad shield for businesses in the next coronavirus relief bill, and for most employees going back to job sites as the economy reopens, they have even less protection than essential workers. In nearly all states, they have to prove they got the virus on the job to qualify for workers’ comp.
Bu$ine$$ immunity will be the final stage of the corporate-fa$ci$t takeover of these United States, and it is something they could never have done with the cover of COVID!
Nurse Dori Harrington of Manchester, Conn., said she got COVID-19 caring for infected patients at a nursing home, with limited protective gear. Harrington was severely ill and missed five weeks of work, yet her workers’ comp claim was initially denied on grounds that her disease was “not distinctively associated with, nor peculiar” to her job.
“It’s great to be appreciated, but we need to be taken care of, too,” said Harrington, who eventually won her claim with union help. “Nobody should have to fight to be taken care of when they were simply doing their job taking care of other people. It’s obnoxious to me.”
Maybe you and yours should take it up with the mass-murdering governor.
Workers’ compensation is not health insurance, or an unemployment benefit. The $56 billion, state-level insurance system is one of the nation’s oldest forms of a social contract. In exchange for coverage, workers give up the right to sue their employers for job-related harms. Employers pay premiums to support the system. Complex rules differ from state to state.
Those alleged contracts have been fraying for decades and have now dissolved in the wake of COVID.
Dealing with job-related injuries is fairly straightforward, but diseases have always been trickier for workers’ comp, and COVID-19 seems to be in a class of its own.
“You don’t know per se where you inhaled that breath whereby you became infected,” said Bill Smith, president of the Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group, or WILG, a professional association of lawyers representing workers.
You can still reach a logical conclusion, says University of Wyoming labor law professor Michael Duff.
“When you are talking about certain kinds of front-line workers, out in the trenches, day in and day out, that person starts to look like the coal miner who is routinely exposed to a hazardous health condition because of their work,” he explained.
The NEW ARMY!
Think hospital and nursing home clinical staff, first responders, and meat packing workers, among others.
Acknowledging such realities, more than a dozen states have enacted policies known as “presumptions” that relieve essential workers like Harrington, the nurse from Connecticut, of having to prove they actually got COVID-19 on the job.
Like all the "presumed" cases?
The list includes liberal states such as California and conservative states such as Kentucky, according to WILG, the lawyers’ group. California’s policy stands out because it protects all workers, not just those in front-line roles.
Duff predicts most states will be reluctant to expand protections.
The issue involves significant costs and hard lobbying. It pits workers, labor groups, lawyers, and social welfare advocates against employers, insurers, and even local and state governments that employ front-line workers.....
Looks like the 99% against the rest, regardless of color!
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Of course, the Globe's top story is the fact that the worst-case scenarios that predicted Mass. hospitals would be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients didn’t happen, and they allegedly tell you why (we already know why. Simulated crisis and drill so far).
Somerville delays Phase 3 reopening another week
The torture continues as "the city’s ongoing measures appeared to have little effect Saturday on many residents’ enthusiasm for being out and about in Davis Square. The spot overflowed with children eating J.P Licks ice cream, people sitting outside cafes and eateries, shoppers bustling in and out of the CVS, and dog walkers taking advantage of the hot, sunny weather."
That is why they need a second lockdown!
The day will come where Freedom and Liberty will exist only in a museum:
"When the Boston Children’s Museum reopens later this month, the institution will roll out new practices, including twice-daily deep cleanings, that are meant to provide enhanced health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said in a statement Saturday. Those changes mean that museum capacity will be limited, visitors will have to reserve tickets in advance, and the museum will close its doors in the middle of the day to do a deep cleaning, according to the statement. Museum hours will be set to allow for deep cleaning during the day. High-traffic exhibits and public spaces will receive an electrostatic cleaning, and high-touch surfaces like table and countertops, doorknobs, light switches, along with restrooms, will be cleaned and disinfected, the statement said. Admission will only be allowed by advance registration. All visitors, including members, must reserve tickets online through the museum’s website. Staff and visitors over the age of 2 will be required to wear masks over their noses and mouths, the statement said. More details were available on the institution’s website, the statement said. Sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer will be available throughout the museum. Visitors are being encouraged to bring their own as well, and clean their hands often....."
Yes, be sure to perform the rituals before entering, even if they are not needed.
Related:
$70m Boston City Hall Plaza project underway
A two-year, $70 million renovation project for Boston’s City Hall Plaza is intended to make the space more accessible and welcoming to people -- as if COVID doesn't exist!
At least they will be cleaning it up:
"The state Department of Public Health Friday lifted a statewide ban on the use of reusable bags at grocery stores — ending an order imposed early in the coronavirus pandemic as a public health measure. Dr. Monica Bharel, the state commissioner of public health, rescinded that ban on July 10, according to a copy of her decision posted to the state website. She also rescinded a separate order from April that included occupancy limitations for grocery stores. On March 25, the state health department ordered retailers to ban reusable bags as part of efforts to slow the coronavirus’s spread, after several communities, including Cambridge, made the move. The state measure was imposed out of concern that reusable bags could help move the virus around and increase the chance of new infections."
I still want paper, sorry.
Also see:
Senate delays action on police reform bill
Man charged with OUI in fatal pedestrian crash
Ex-Alabama cop arrested on fugitive charge
Century-old store finds a buyer
They had to negotiate a delicate deals with the stakes so high:
"Every day another bucket of cold water is tossed on our heads. A person who works for the Astros believes he or she was “potentially” exposed to a positive individual so everything shuts down. What we once thought of as virtually nothing is now enough to stop everything. Meanwhile, the coronavirus is raging through the South and the West, and a seemingly harmless workout at Minute Maid Park is canceled because a staff member was “potentially” exposed to a COVID-19-positive person. Umpire Joe West is 67, but he plans to work the shortened baseball season. West needs 66 games to pass Bill Klem’s record of 5,375 regular-season games worked by a big league umpire. Cowboy Joe gave multiple interviews this past week and came just shy of calling the whole COVID-19 thing a hoax. It got so bad that the umpires’ union Thursday put out a statement peppered with disclaimers such as “regardless of any umpire’s personal views . . . we will conduct ourselves as professionals.” Do a lot of you really think this is going to work?"
Not with cardboard fans in the stands, and “like many other industries, football’s resistance to change is based on the belief that the best way to run things is the way we’ve always run things, and that pervasive thought process will stop this season in its tracks.”
Looks like Brady will never play a game as a Buccaneer.
See:
"The restrictions are outlined in the game-day protocols finalized by the league and NFL Players Association on Wednesday. The 11-page document sent to each club and obtained by The Associated Press includes several changes for the upcoming season:
■ Players and coaches are not required to wear masks, but everyone else on the sideline is.
?????
That's like the golf I watched yesterday where there was neither social distancing or make.
America, you have been had!
■ Everyone with access to the bench area is prohibited from sharing any personal items, including cups, food, towels and clothing.
■ Anyone who records a temperature at or above 100.4 degrees on game day will not be permitted to enter the stadium.
At this point, who would want to attend football game?
■ Inactive players must either be in the designated bench area or must remain in the locker room, an empty suite or some other designated isolated location in the stadium during pregame and throughout the game to avoid interactions with any non-team personnel.
■ On-field fan seating is prohibited.
■ Cheerleaders, mascots, flag runners and other entertainers must be approved by the NFL in advance and, if approved, must meet physical distancing and screening and testing requirements.
■ Media is banned from the locker room.
The league and the players’ union still haven’t agreed on testing and screening protocols ... The Cleveland Browns sent a letter to their fans that outlined some new policies due to the pandemic. Anyone attending a game at FirstEnergy Stadium will have to follow physical-distancing guidelines and wear “mandated facial coverings.”
It's not a mask, it's a symbol of love!
