A recipe for a resurgence

[struggle4progress]

By Frances Weller
Published: Nov. 12, 2021 at 7:59 PM EST|Updated: 2 hours ago

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The decision by the New Hanover County Health and Human Services Board to lift the mask mandate wasn’t made quickly. There was much debate before the board took a vote. One of the top epidemiologist in the region, however, believes the call was made too soon.

“It’s just premature,” says Dr. Paul Kamitsuka. “In this community, there are still many people who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19. And in addition there are still many people who have yet to get their booster shots. We are living in a moment where, yes, locally the numbers are down, but this week the numbers are up compared to the previous week in 29 of 50 states across the United States.”

Dr. Kamitsuka is the chief epidemiologist at NHRMC/Novant Health and a lead infectious disease physician at Wilmington Health. He believes ditching the masks right before the holidays is what he calls a recipe for a resurgence ...

https://www.wect.com/2021/11/13/its-recipe-resurgence-occur-top-epidemiologist-says-mask-mandate-lifted-too-soon/

[struggle4progress]

1. Proud Boys pressure campaign

Zoe Richards
Breaking News Reporter
Published Nov. 12, 2021 8:14PM ET

Health officials in one of North Carolina’s most populous counties abruptly lifted an indoor mask mandate on Friday after members of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys showed up for a vote on the matter, just days after vowing to “ramp up pressure” on authorities there.

The group—whose members identified themselves as the “Cape Fear Proud Boys”—showed up clad in their trademark black-and-yellow outfits for a contentious Friday morning vote by the New Hanover County Health and Human Services board on a local mask mandate. Local health officials had been bracing for potential unrest as they considered whether or not to extend the indoor mask mandate through at least the end of the year into January ...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-hanover-county-health-officials-strike-down-mask-mandate-after-proud-boys-pressure-campaign

[dchill]

2. Proud Boys are incredibly bad for everyone...

Including Proud Boys.

[LastDemocratInSC]

4. They are a society-level infection on their own.

[BigmanPigman]

3. Anyone who thinks this is almost over is a fool.

There are many fools out there... be careful.

[struggle4progress]

5. US COVID cases stall at high level: ERs packed

PUBLISHED WED, NOV 10 202110:34 AM EST
UPDATED THU, NOV 11 20214:02 PM EST
Nate Rattner
Robert Towey

... the decline in infections has stalled out.

New infections have dropped to .. 74,000 per day over the past week, a 57% fall from the delta wave’s peak level of 172,500 new cases .. on Sept. 13 ...

The daily death toll .. remains elevated, with more than 1,200 fatalities per day reported over the past week ...

... cooler fall and winter temperatures in the typically tropic climate make it easier for Floridians to spend time outside, where the virus does not spread as easily as it does indoors ...

Rasmussen, the University of Florida doctor, also mentioned low vaccination rates as reasons to believe that Florida and nearby states like Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama are still at risk for future outbreaks ...

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/after-weeks-of-declines-us-covid-cases-have-leveled-off-at-a-high-level-the-ers-are-packed.html

[BigmanPigman]

6. Too many people all over the world won't get

a vaccine even though they are available. I am afraid that a new variant, even worse than Delta, will develop while we wait for the unvaxxed.