By Sniffles
Gosh! It was only last year that New York was the COVID capital of America. Remember the empty streets, the mobile refrigerated morgues, and the banging of pots and pans every night to salute hardworking healthcare workers? Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Jared Kushner were conspiring to cast the coronavirus as a "blue state problem." Hmm!
How things have changed (see above). Three weeks ago, Florida passed New York State in total COVID cases — averaging 30,000 a day. Today, Florida has the current highest number of daily average COVID deaths than any state in the union, at 169.9. (New York's daily average is 19.1.) Texas lags behind Florida with an average of 162.3 COVID deaths per day. And anti-mask Republican Governor Greg Abbott just tested positive for the virus.
Abbott will surely be fine. He's vaccinated — although he must be scared, because he's gotten monoclonal antibody therapy even though he has no symptoms. But what about all the Texas children he's forcing into schools with no protection? And what about Republican Ron DeSantis in Florida, who refuses to declare a state of emergency, even though counties like Palm Beach have? (Fun fact: Mar-A-Lago is in Palm Beach County.)
It's such madness. What's going on in states like Texas and Florida really hits you when you're in a non-COVID-hotspot like our stomping grounds in upstate New York or Montreal. Masks are required on the Montreal Metro, and today we saw no one who was noncompliant. Vaccine passports are coming to Quebec on September 1. There have been a few protests — but since everybody in the world has a smartphone, how tough is it going to be for Montrealers to flash their vaxx status to enter a restaurant, bar, sporting venue or gym?
During the last great pandemic in 1918, we didn't have phones or apps or miracle vaccines. Heck, we didn't even understand viruses. Now, we have the science and the technology we need to protect us. Why in the world wouldn't we use it? We cats HISS.
No comments:
Post a Comment