Notices by Augie Ray (augieray@mastodon.social)

The US SCOTUS just overruled a lower court and is allowing Virginia to purge voters immediately before an election, despite the 90-day quiet rule. All three liberal justices dissented. This is another right-wing attack on democracy, this time coming from the biased Supreme Court.

If we don't elect Democrats in Congress and the White House, we'll never restore integrity to the Supreme Court.

#VoteBlue!

One of the annoying things about the “just the flu” crowd is that, even if #COVID19 were just the flu (and it is not), IT WOULD STILL BE A SERIOUS CONCERN since we get COVID 12-18x more often than the flu. And influenza is also a very real cause for worry.

More evidence links flu infection to heart attack risk

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/more-evidence-links-flu-infection-to-heart-attack-risk

"I don't know anyone with Long #COVID19" is something I hear a lot.

Yes, you do. One of every 18 US adults reported symptoms of #LongCOVID in July. People don't always talk about it, however. Also, rates of Long COVID vary.

Are you a guy with lots of male friends? Women suffer Long COVID 77% more often than men.

Are your friends highly educated? Those with a bachelor's degree suffer from Long COVID less than those with a high school diploma or associate's degree.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm

One of the health experts I follow is Dr. Sean Mullen. He is an Associate Professor within the Kinesiology & Community Health Department at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. He has a frightening but thoughtful #COVID19 message worth reading today on Twitter:

The CDC says you can go back to normal life a day after your symptoms improve. The White House knows you're still infectious and doesn't want you to visit for ten days.

Protect those around you from #COVID19 as if they're just as important as someone who works in the White House.

Yesterday, I posted a study that found university students had around a 1% risk of #COVID19 infection per 45-minute class. Here's a new STUDY that found something similar:

▫️ The probability of transmission increased linearly with duration of exposure (1.1% per hour)
▫️ Most exposures were short (median 0.7 h), but transmissions typically resulted from exposures lasting between 1 h and several days.
▫️ Households accounted for about 6% of contacts but 40% of transmissions.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06952-2

My favorite analogy for election is this: It isn't marriage. You're not picking someone to love and cherish. Elections are like cancer treatment--you make a choice among unpleasant options based on what will do the most good.

Biden's been disappointing on COVID, but he'll be better for Long COVID and vaccine research than any Republican (not to mention women's reproductive freedom, social security, worker protection, fair taxation, equitable policing, and LGBTQ rights.) #VoteBlue

If you follow me, you know I take #COVID19 seriously. People tell me they cannot vote for Biden because of his COVID policies. Although I agree with the sentiment, I vehemently disagree with the decision. Even if you set aside Trump's evident desire to be above the law and ignore the Constitution (and you shouldn't), if you want vaccine research, Long COVID action and safe air laws in the future, help Democrats win. The anti-vax, COVID-denying, anti-science GOP would only cause more death. (1/2)

In case you know someone who thinks #COVID19 vaccinations are riskier than COVID: STUDY found that nations that vaccinated more quickly had MUCH lower excess deaths. "The average excess mortality in the “slower” countries was nearly 5 times higher than in the “faster” countries. Slower booster rates were associated with significantly higher mortality during periods dominated by Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, with an OR of 2.6 (CI 95%. 2.1 to 3.3)." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10357837/

I dedicate this post to everyone who keeps saying, “COVID is just the flu now.”

In the most recent complete report weeks:

#COVID19 hospitalizations: 15,756
#Flu hospitalizations: 1,607

COVID deaths: 1,262
Flu deaths: 14

Most COVID deaths in a week THIS YEAR: 3,866

Most flu deaths in a week SINCE 2019: 1,048

Yep, exactly the same!

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklyhospitaladmissions_select_00

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

Myth: “Kids are safe from #COVID19.”

Reality: “A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science has found that, between 2021 and 2022, COVID-19 was a leading cause of death in children and young people in the United States, ranking eighth overall.”

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-01-31-covid-19-leading-cause-death-children-and-young-people-us

#Ireland #COVID19 update: Now is a good time to take a little more care and put the mask back on in crowds. (No one will, but good advice is good advice, whether someone acts on it or not.)

The positive rate of testing is higher than it's been since January. It's risen from 4.6% to 14% in one month.

Hospitalizations, which is a lagging indicator, are also up from 58 to 285 COVID patients in a month.

Trends point to more increases ahead! Be careful.

https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu--testing

Fun fact for people who think #COVID19 is “just the flu”:

According to the CDC, in the four weeks of July 2023 (the weeks of 7/1, 7/8, 7/15/ and 7/22, which was during what many consider a “low” or “safe” period):

1,990 people died of COVID
86 people died of flu

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/index.htm

Available on Etsy... 😄

2016: Locker her up!

2023: Locking up your political opponents for felonies is unAmerican!

2016: The Left loves cancel culture!

2023: Boycott Target, Garth Brooks, Cracker Barrel, Bud Light, and Disney.

2016: Every life is precious.

2023: Kids have to live normal lives, even if it means they get repeated infected with a virus that can damage hearts, brains and immune systems.

2016: We love the Constitution.

2023: Ban books, drag shows, and teaching lessons on slavery & racism.

Two things occurred the past week:

1. Illinois released a report detailing that 451 clergy sexually abused 1,997 children since 1950. The number of victims is more than 4x higher than the church previously acknowledged.

2. Target added some Pride merchandise in stores.

Guess how much time Fox News gave each story?

If the GOP cared about kids, they'd do something about school shootings and fund lunch programs, not scream at Target employees, ban drag shows, and loosen child labor laws.

Business leaders: We can't find enough workers!

Workers: You could pay more.

Business: Nope.

Workers: Better benefits?

Business: No.

Workers: More flexible hours?

Business: No way.

Workers: Treat your current employees better to build your employer brand?

Business: Never.

Workers: Well, what's left?!

Business: Child labor!

https://apnews.com/article/iowa-governor-child-labor-laws-e8cb29e2a45b956489c4a192b7ddeba5

Fun facts about masks:
They're inexpensive compared to getting sick.
They're a minor inconvenience.
They protect you from #COVID19 PLUS other viruses.
If you're ill and don't know, your mask protects people around you.
If more people wore them, we'd not only prevent death and disability, we'd also limit the mutation of COVID.
If you're worried about your privacy, masks also make it more difficult for facial recognition software to track your movement.
#WearAMask - It's a win-win-win-win-win.

Every time I post objective info about #COVID19, some idiot responds with a variation of “What do you expect us to do, isolate forever?” or “Do you expect society to shut down?”

Black-or-white strawmen arguments drive me crazy. There is a world of things we can do between “pretend COVID doesn't exist” and “lock ourselves away forever.” In fact, if we did those things--safe air in public places, masks & behavior changes when COVID surges--we could control COVID & save the health of millions.

Watch out, a car's going to hit you!
“I don't believe it.”
Look, it's right there.
“You're exaggerating.”
No, you should move.
“I am free to stand where I want!”
But you'll be hit.
“I've been hit by cars before.”
Please move!
“Stop living in fear.”
I am afraid--that you'll be killed.
“We can't eliminate car crashes. We must learn to live with them.”
I beg... oops, too late.
“Please get me to a hospital.”
I can't--they're overcrowded with others who wouldn't step out of the way of cars.
#COVID19