As of 48 hours ago, the United States recorded 100,000 plus new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since February.
Only six weeks ago, this country was down to around 11,000 new cases a day. This was very near the threshold of 10,000 cases or fewer which Dr. Fauci advised. Instead we have a classic case of one step forward, four steps back.
Yes, we have vaccines but a significant portion of the population won't take them. Nearly half the infections in recent weeks have come from seven states with low vaccination rates - Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and Missouri. Republican Governors like Florida's Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott of Texas prefer to blame migrant crossings on the southern border without evidence rather than their irresponsible policies for the COVID surge. Both DeSantis and Abbott have prohibited municipalities and school boards from implementing mask and other preventative measures. At least Atlanta has been able to reissue its indoor mask mandate without Governor Kemp from suing Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms as he did last summer. Georgia is no longer at the bottom of the rung in terms of fully vaccinated percentages but 45th out of 50th hardly inspires confidence.
Massachusetts, on the other hand, is 2nd in the nation behind only Vermont. While Governor Baker hasn't reintroduced a statewide mask mandate nor have there been local mask mandates reintroduced in Boston or Cambridge I can tell you there is a very high rate of mask wearing in this area. In that sense, I am glad I am back here. That isn't a guarantee I won't get COVID because it is increasing in all 50 states. But some jurisdictions are clearly behaving more responsibly than others.
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