The Inauguration Was The Vaccine
Is the inauguration of a new president changing the narrative on COVID here in the United States?
COVID-19 is real. It is a disease that has killed hundreds of thousands all over the world. The reaction to it in the United States has been overblown and disastrous.
In my October 19, Think Things Through newsletter, I wrote about how I thought The Election Is The Vaccine. I was wrong. It appears the inauguration of Joe Biden was the pivot point. Since Joe Biden was certified the winner of the 2020 presidential election, there have been many changes with media coverage and government responses to COVID-19. America is starting to hear things are heading in the right direction for some strange reason. A coincidence, perhaps, but it's interesting to see these types of events occurring in the past week.
Maybe, people in the media realize lockdowns aren't as politically useful as they used to be now that there is a change of leadership here in the United States.
Here is one blatant example:
NPR published dramatically different narratives on Covid-19 the day before and then the day after the election:
Other interesting developments:
On January 21, Gov. Larry Hogan and State Superintendent Karen Salmon called for immediate efforts to return students to classrooms, at least part-time, no later than March 1. The state leaders cited health metrics that have begun to show improvement. Research shows that schools are not virus "superspreaders."
In Michigan, indoor dining at restaurants and bars in Michigan will resume on Feb. 1, 75 days after it was suspended amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the reopening, the latest signal that health officials believe the state is moving past a second wave of the virus that struck in the fall.
The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced on January 19 the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver will be decommissioned as an alternative care site for COVID-19 patients. The Convention Center never housed any patients and was prepared to accommodate up to 2,200 patients if hospitals could not handle the demand. The conversion into a makeshift hospital was made in April 2020. Maybe they can use it as a mass vaccination site instead.
As of Friday, January 22, customers can return to Washington, D.C. dining rooms for the first time since the holidays. The reopening of indoor dining — at 25 percent capacity — comes as Washington, D.C. has recorded its highest rate of new COVID-19 cases yet: 45.9 per 100,000 people, per DCist.
According to Boston.com, starting Monday, January 25th, the 9:30 p.m. curfew for table service at Massachusetts restaurants and other businesses will be lifted. Governor Charlie Baker said, "Vaccines are reaching residents, positive case rates have stabilized. Those trends are moving in the right direction." Even though COVID-19 numbers are still significantly higher in Massachusetts than when the stay-at-home advisory was instituted in the late fall, the governor said, "As a result, we believe it's ok, and it's time to start gradually easing on the restrictions we put in place."
Barring a sudden reversal in improving coronavirus infection rates, The Illinois Department of Public Health announced that customers would be allowed back inside restaurants and many bars in Chicago and suburban Cook County beginning Saturday, January 23. Mayor Lori Lightfoot — who publicly urged Gov. JB Pritzker to allow indoor service to resume earlier this month — celebrated the news. "We have long pushed for the careful resumption of limited indoor dining, and I am thrilled that we have made enough progress in the fight against COVID-19 to reopen our businesses and bring workers back," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement Saturday. "As we enter this next phase, I again call on all businesses and residents to make sure we continue moving forward by following the guidelines for safe indoor dining and committing to the safety precautions that helped us flatten the curve a second time."
Chicago is now punishing union teachers for not returning to work in-person. The Washington Post reported that Chicago opened public school classrooms this week for the first time since the spring. Eighteen percent of teachers and staffers required to return Monday did not do so. The Chicago Public Schools notified 145 employees that they were considered absent without leave and that their pay would be docked.
If you don't already know, PCR tests can detect dead virus as well as viable virus. That means people can test positive for weeks after the point they are actually infectious or capable of passing the virus on to others. As a result, only a subset of people testing positive with PCR tests is actively contagious. The WHO knew that PCR testing (both sensitivity thresholds and focus on the asymptomatic) was wrong and needed to be changed.
"WHO guidance Diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 states that careful interpretation of weak positive results is needed (1). The cycle threshold (Ct) needed to detect virus is inversely proportional to the patient's viral load. Where test results do not correspond with the clinical presentation, a new specimen should be taken and retested using the same or different NAT technology." In other words, in the absence of symptoms, a high Ct value means you're unlikely to get sick or make anyone else ill without very recent exposure to an infected person.
One of the most disastrously ineffective governors in the United States, New York governor Andrew Cuomo, is sounding the alarm or opening up businesses. In a recent tweet, Cuomo declared, "We simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass. The cost is too high. We will have nothing left to open." I’ve suggested reopening everything for months. Cuomo stated New York would heavily rely on testing to get businesses open again but didn't explain how that would be any different from what the state has been doing for months. Cuomo also said the lockdowns he imposed on businesses created a budget shortfall of a record $15 billion. Now he’s pleading for aid from the federal government to bail him out.
I'm curious what other countries are going to do in the next few weeks. Our last president didn't govern them. The notion that COVID-19 responses are all his fault is erroneous. Although, there are changes. Reports like this from HSJ in the U.K. are intriguing:
The sharp increase in covid positive hospital patients in the southwest appears to be coming to a rapid end.
The seven-day running total of admissions has fallen six percent from a high of 2108 on January 15 to 1988 on January 20, the latest data available.
By the way, why hasn’t most of Africa been devastated by COVID?
Check out this clip from the Joe Rogan Podcast. I've been following Alex Berenson for months. I think he's great. His books are informative. I've read them all. When you finish any of them, you'll start to question every news story you read in the media.
Thought-Provoking Articles:
“Screens can’t replace schools” – Schools are closed again and, writing for the Conservative Woman, UsForThem’s Christine Brett thinks that the focus on screens and free school meals misses the point. Children learn through personal and social interaction and they need to be in school.
Florida puts New York to shame in rational pandemic policies - This is 100% true!!! I’ve seen this with my own eyes. I recently visited Austin, TX and Fort Myers, FL. We are doing things completely wrong in the Northeast.
$1 billion Mega Millions winning ticket sold in Michigan - I’ve been trying to win this sucker. Oh well. I’m gonna win next time, you’ll see!
“I’m glad to be living in India at this time” – Writing in the Deccan Herald, Sharrell Cook says she is glad to be living in India. Why? Because the country has defied the “dire predictions of death, despite lifting the lockdown”, it has pioneered early treatment protocols, including ivermectin, and it has not closed itself off to the world.
“How to get a free bag of marijuana with the COVID-19 vaccine” – The New York Post reports on a new incentive commemorate what is hopefully the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic and as advocacy for both reefer and getting vaccinated.
“Joe Biden challenges Americans to ‘mask up’ for first 100 days – video” – Masks will be a key part of President Joe Biden’s first 100 days, reports the Guardian.
“Americans are fleeing lockdowns when they can afford it” – Writing on the AIER blog, Jeffrey A. Tucker notes that Americans are forsaking locked-down cities like New York, San Diego, and Chicago and heading for the freedom of cities such as Phoenix, Dallas, and Denver.
Something Interesting :
I just finished season one of The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s 100 times better than the book. I read the book first and was bored to death. The TV series is great. I’m curious as to what happens in seasons two and three. What are your thoughts on this show?
Clayton Craddock is an independent thinker, father of two beautiful children in New York City. He is the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain't Too Proud. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University's School of Business and is a 29 year veteran of the fast-paced New York City music scene. He has played drums in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including "Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, and Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill. Also, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Spongebob Squarepants, The Musical, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.