With the advent and administration of three different vaccines for Covid-19, is our situation beginning to improve by leaps and bounds? Not really.
A party-ending curfew imposed after fights, gunfire, property destruction and dangerous stampedes broke out among huge crowds of people could extend through the end of Spring Break in Miami Beach.
Miami Beach commissioners voted unanimously Sunday to empower the city manager to extend the curfew in the South Beach entertainment district until at least April 12, effectively shutting down a spring break hot spot in one of the few states fully open during the pandemic. …
Very few people in the crowds were covering their faces with masks, as is required by a Miami Beach ordinance imposed in hopes of containing the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 33,000 people in Florida so far.
Look for a surge to start in the next couple of weeks. But, more importantly, the entire idea that the premature ending of the mask mandate in Florida should result in a riot speaks to the immaturity and foolishness of all those participating in that riot. [The Baltimore Sun]
And then, on the other end of the United States both figuratively and literally, is Idaho:
The Idaho Legislature voted Friday to shut down for several weeks due to an outbreak of Covid-19.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate made the move to recess until April 6 with significant unfinished business, including setting budgets and pushing through a huge income tax cut.
At least six of the 70 House members tested positive for the illness in the last week, and there are fears a highly contagious variant of Covid-19 is in the Statehouse.
“The House has had several positive tests, so it is probably prudent that the House take a step back for a couple weeks until things calm down and it’s not hot around here for Covid,” House Majority Leader Mike Moyle said before the votes. [NBC News]
No, there was no mask mandate in the Idaho Statehouse. And …
“I think maybe when they come back, maybe it will be different,” [Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke] said. “But I have no regrets on the safety protocols here to this point.”
I sincerely hope he doesn’t have to regret the death of a member or two.
This all really speaks to the difficulties of getting rid of Covid-19 ahead of us. The public health advice has been clear and uncontestable. The longer we don’t get it under control, the greater the likelihood of a mutation developing which would permit it to evade the vaccine.
Or even make it far more deadly.
Meanwhile, here’s Kevin Drum’s latest set of Covid-19 charts for your viewing pleasure:
