Curiously most posts about Governor Wolf mandating masks in Public Schools leaves out the threats to local school boards part.

 “Steve Lynch, the Republican candidate for Northampton County executive, told a crowd at a Harrisburg political rally he would confront pro-mask school board members with “20 strong men” and deliver them an ultimatum — get out or get removed.

A brief video of Lynch’s speech circulating online shows Lynch wearing one of his campaign buttons and railing against the mask mandates some schools districts have issued in light of the ongoing pandemic. In the video, Lynch calls on men to step up — “Make men men again!” he said — and take matters into their own hands.

“I’m going in with 20 strong men, and I’m going to speak to the school board, and I’m going to give them an option. They can leave or they can be removed. And then after that, we’re going to replace them with nine parents and we’re going to vote down the mask mandates that evening — that evening. This is how you get stuff done. Forget writing your legislator. Forget it! They’re not listening,” Lynch said before saying people would have to take his life before he allowed “criminals” to enforce the mask mandate.”

MORE AT:

Trump-supporting GOP candidate in Northampton County says he’ll bring ‘strong men’ to confront pro-mask school board

Tom Shortell

The Morning Call |

Aug 30, 2021 at 5:21 PM

“With a focus on protecting students and keeping them in classrooms, Governor Tom Wolf joined the departments of Health, Human Services and Education today to discuss the current state of COVID-19 and a new Secretary of Health order requiring masks to be worn inside K-12 school buildings, early learning programs and child care providers. The order takes effect 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. 

 

“My office has received an outpouring of messages from parents asking the administration to protect all children by requiring masks in schools,” said Gov. Wolf. “The science is clear. The Delta variant is highly transmissible and dangerous to the unvaccinated, many of whom are children too young to receive the vaccine. Requiring masks in schools will keep our students safer and in the classroom, where we all want them to be. 

“I preferred for local school boards to make this decision. Unfortunately, an aggressive nationwide campaign is spreading misinformation about mask-wearing and pressuring and intimidating school districts to reject mask policies that will keep kids safe and in school. As we see cases among children increase in Pennsylvania and throughout the country, this is especially dangerous and challenging as we seek to keep kids in school and maintain a safe and healthy learning environment.” 

MORE AT:

GOVERNOR TOM WOLF

Wolf Administration Requires Masking in Schools, Early Learning and Child Care Settings to Keep Students Safely in Classrooms and Delta Variant Out

August 31, 2021

Republicans like Steve Lynch in Northampton County PA are switching from raiding Capitals to public schools. I believe we will have a bloody school year.

 STEVE LYNCH SPEAKS AT 3:06

"August 29 2021 Harrisburg, PA - National Freedom Rally against masks and Mandates was held today at Harrisburg Capitol in Pennsylvania.

"I'm going in there with 20 strong men, I'm going to speak to the school board and I'm going to give them an option. They can leave or they can be removed " said Steve Lynch who is running for PA Governor, "Make men men again", he said during Freedom Rally today. Speakers included Steve Lynch who is running for governor and Ian Smith of Atilis Gym Video by Oliya Scootercaster (FNTV Freedomnews.tv)"

If you think anti-masks & anti-vaccine is like anti-bussing you are correct. Racist fear drives U.S. elections. But Ron DeSantis of 2021 is not a George Wallace 1976 remake. George Wallace had compassion. Compassion is forbidden in the 2021 QAnon/GOP.

 “Outsiders frequently think of Boston in terms of its student population, its lively downtown and the Yankee traditions of Beacon Hill, but it is in reality a city of working‐class neighborhoods, many of them closeknit ethnic Irish or Italian enclaves where Mr. Wallace did exceedingly well.”

FROM:

New York Times

Large Wallace Vote Reflects Depth of Antibusing Sentiment in Boston's Working‐Class Neighborhoods

March 8, 1976

"Wallace announced that he became a born-again Christian and moderated his views on race, renouncing his past support for segregation."

MORE AT:

George Wallace

From POLITICO:

“The multi-front Covid-19 battle is becoming inextricably linked to DeSantis’ 2022 re-election bid, and more broadly his future White House aspirations. The governor remains popular with conservatives across the country and in Florida, but his steadfast refusal to implement Covid-related restrictions amid hundreds of virus-related deaths in the state and rising infection numbers has the potential to threaten his electability.

“There’s no question it’s impacting him politically,” said a Republican consultant who has previously worked with DeSantis and requested anonymity to speak freely. “You can tout all the freedom and anti-lockdown that you want. There’s no political strategy for sick kids and tired parents.” 

I would change that last sentence to:

There’s no political strategy for sick kids and DEAD parents

More from POLITICO:

“His fight with schools over masking children, however has also escalated. Already, 10 school districts have bucked the governor over his order banning schools from implementing mask mandates, including Sarasota County and Indian River County school districts, which are in conservative-leaning regions of the state.

But Cooper, the judge who ruled against DeSantis Friday, opened the door for more local defiance. Cooper not only ruled against the administration, but said that previous legislation DeSantis-championed known as the “Parents Bill of Rights” actually allows districts to craft their own mask policies.

“A school district, adopting a policy, such as a mask mandate, is acting within its discretion it has been given by the Florida Legislature in the Parents Bill of Rights,” Cooper said. “"The doctrine of separation of powers requires that the discretionary power exercised by the school board, cannot be interfered by the judiciary, or by the executive branch of government.”

DeSantis communications director Taryn Fenske said they would appeal.

“It’s not surprising that Judge Cooper would rule against parent’s rights and their ability to make the best educational and medical decisions for their family, but instead rule in favor of elected politicians,” she said. “This ruling was made with incoherent justifications, not based on science and facts.”

Infection rates for kids under 12, who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, last week increased to 23 percent, up from an average of 15 percent since March 1. Nearly 17,000 Covid-19 patients are in hospitals, far above the 2020 peak. And Florida’s nearly 1,500 deaths reported last week was by far the biggest single seven-day increase since the state started reporting Covid-19 data.

DeSantis' losses over Covid-19 policy have not been confined to land.

Disney, one of Florida’s largest Republican donors, this week joined Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean in requiring vaccines for passengers older than 12. The wave of cruise operators requiring vaccines was, in part, prompted by vaccination requirements for cruise passengers put in place by the government of the Bahamas, which is the first stop for most major cruise ships. It’s a direct violation of DeSantis-pressed legislation that bars vaccine passports as well as guidance from the federal government over cruise ship safety.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Miami blocked Florida from enforcing the law against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, a ruling that gave cover for other industry operators — like Disney — to go against DeSantis’ wishes on vaccine passports. Attorneys for DeSantis plan to appeal the decision.

DeSantis has continued to use the pandemic to help what has been a well-oiled political fundraising machine. Most recently, the governor’s political committee sent a fundraising email based on a feud he had with the Associated Press, which published a story implying DeSantis was boosting monoclonal antibody treatments to help a political donor.

That story was met with a blistering response from DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw, whose attack on the reporter who wrote the story landed her a 12 hour Twitter suspension and prompted the wire service to send a letter to DeSantis asking his office to stop “bullying” reporters.

The governor’s political rivals are also keying in on the pandemic, with Rep. Charlie Crist and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, DeSantis’ top 2022 Democratic rivals, turning their focus to the administration’s response.

“Governor DeSantis has made it clear that he wants to put politics over keeping schools open and keeping our economy strong,” Crist’s campaign said in an email. “But today’s ruling makes clear that he’s overstepped his authority.”

MORE AT:

POLITICO

Florida starts turning on DeSantis

MATT DIXON

08/27/2021 04:10 PM EDT

***

PATCH-West Chester PA:

Chesco COVID Transmission Level 'High' As Schools Mandate Masks

Chesco Health Department's report on COVID-19 metrics in school districts shows high incidence rates as most require masks indoors.

Updated Fri, Aug 27, 2021 at 2:45 pm ET

PA Republicans Reject Gov. Wolf's Call For School Mask Mandate

"The impact is not equal everywhere." Republican leadership in the state legislature denied Gov. Wolf's request to return to Harrisburg.

Posted Fri, Aug 27, 2021 at 12:00 pm ET

Media turns a blind eye while Republicans fight a war to the death of democracy. "The Democrats don't understand the seriousness of the threat. They are playing by rules in a rulebook that the Republicans lit on fire.” Interview with Mary Trump

SPIEGEL International

Interview with Mary Trump:

DER SPIEGEL: Do you think he welcomed what he saw on Jan. 6?

Trump: Oh, my gosh, yeah. It was probably one of the best days of his life. The worse it got, the happier he was. It wasn't an accident when he told the mob that if he wasn't granted the victory, it was Mike Pence's fault. So, should we be surprised that people were running around with nooses wanting to string Mike Pence up? It would have been perfectly fine with him. Absolutely. The only thing he probably regrets about that is that there wasn't more violence...

Trump: The Democrats don't understand the seriousness of the threat. They are playing by rules in a rulebook that the Republicans lit on fire. There are no rules anymore. They need to start fighting like their lives depend on it. But they're just not willing to do that. There is an unwillingness – also in the U.S. media – to use the kind of language that is accurate and necessary to get people to understand the seriousness of the threat.

DER SPIEGEL: How serious is it?

Trump: Donald is a fascist, and the Republicans are an autocratic, anti-democratic, counter-majoritarian party that would be perfectly happy to establish some kind of apartheid in this country. They are actively trying to destroy our democracy. If they win back the House in 2022, it would be fatal to the American experiment. I wouldn't be surprised if they make Donald, two years before the presidential election, speaker of the house. And then there will never be another Democrat allowed to win an election.

DER SPIEGEL: Do you really believe that?

Trump: We see it happening already. Last year, there were 155 million presidential votes cast in this country. There have been maybe 36 cases of voter fraud, which is a vanishingly small number. And yet, we've got hundreds of voter suppression laws in place or being pushed by the Republicans. If the Democrats lose the House and/or the Senate in the 2022 midterms, it's over. It is over."

MORE AT:

Interview with Mary Trump

Mary Trump: "Donald Is a Fascist and the Republicans Are Trying To Destroy Our Democracy"

Interview Conducted By Marc Pitzke

25.08.2021, 12.03 Uhr

QAnon took control of the GOP base. In Pennsylvania the Republican Party is jammed between needing QAnon voters to win primaries & “normies” to win generals. AND Will PA be swept up in the House Investigation of efforts to overturn 2020 election results?

QAnon might have died off if Trump and the Republican Party did not embrace it. Now people are knowingly or unknowingly following the online messages of QAnon.  QAnon has seized control of the Republican Party voter base. 

I think Pennsylvania Republican Party officials will be swept up in the massive House Committee Investigation of the January 6th Insurrection. SEE Below: Investigators focused on efforts to overturn 2020 election results.

“As Mastriano was pushed out of the spotlight, he roared about Corman caging him.

In an interview on One America News Network, a pro-Trump news outlet, he said a room reservation for his Senate committee to meet to vote on subpoenas was canceled, and Corman threatened to fire his staff and remove him as chair of the committee if he proceeded, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Corman’s spokesman told the Inquirer that Mastriano’s Capitol staff “has been temporarily reassigned since Mastriano is more concerned with grandstanding than actually getting things done.”

Believe who you want to believe. I don’t think it matters. The circus is a waste of time and resources, regardless of who is leading the acts.

As I lamented in June, Pennsylvania lawmakers should be focused on trying to make life better for Pennsylvania residents.

Instead, they’re still bickering over who was elected in the 2020 election to live on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Trump lost. Get over it. The White House wasn’t stolen from him through voter fraud.

But the show must go on, to please Trump.

Dush will begin holding hearings this week, Corman said Monday on the conservative Wendy Bell Radio program streamed online, according to The Associated Press.

Corman said on the show that he has communicated with Trump, and “I think he’s comfortable with where we’re heading and so we’re going to continue that work.”

Sounds like Trump is the real ringmaster. Everyone else is just a puppet.

MORE AT:

There’s a new ringmaster in Pennsylvania GOP circus to audit the 2020 election for Trump

Paul Muschick

The Morning Call |

Aug 24, 2021 at 8:00 AM

 

“Since the November election, Trump has found new dog whistles. The phrase “Stop the Steal,” for instance, has special resonance for his followers because for years Trump has stoked the idea that racial minorities are “stealing” from “decent” (white) Americans; that immigrants are pouring in to plunder the nation; that African Americans are garnering jobs and other privileges from “reverse racism,” and so forth.

He’s persuaded his base they have been “stolen from” for a long time, stoking what sociologist Michael Kimmel calls a sense of “aggrieved entitlement.” Now, Trump had a high-stakes election to attach this grievance to, and it is no coincidence that the votes he has questioned are disproportionately those of minority voters. “Stop the Steal” has special power because it emerges from the broader narrative that unentitled minorities have been “stealing” from what is supposedly rightfully that of Trump’s base.

FROM:

FUTURITY

JANUARY 14TH, 2021

POSTED BY JARRET BENCKS-BRANDEIS

Expert decodes Trump talk, Q codes, and road to insurrection 

From page 170 - THE STORM IS UPON US -  Chapter 10  Change of Batter Coming? QAnon and the 2020 Election:

FROM: The Storm Is Upon Us:
How QAnon Became a Movement,
Cult, and Conspiracy
Theory of Everything By Mike Rothschild 

Investigators focused on efforts to overturn 2020 election results

"As part of the sweeping records request, the committee has asked the Department of Justice for documents and communications involving discussions about challenging the validity of the election between Trump and former top DOJ officials, such as Jeffrey Rosen, Richard Donoghue, Patrick Hovakimian, Byung J."BJay" Pak, Bobby Christine and Jeffrey Clark.

The committee also requested communications between Trump or his allies and "any DOJ official" in the days before and after January 6. As part of that request, the committee asked for any documentation related to discussion of the 25th Amendment from November 3, 2020, to January 20, 2021.

CNN previously reported that Clark, a Trump-appointed environment law chief for DOJ, was at the center of the former President's efforts to overturn the election, received a high-level intelligence briefing around New Year's 2021 that did little to stop his efforts to prove foreign interference had cost Trump reelection.

He has emerged as a major figure in the narrative being written in documents and testimony from former Justice Department officials who were forced to fight off his efforts to orchestrate a coup of leadership at the Justice Department and use it to help the former President.

Clark isn't scheduled yet for an interview with the House Select Committee. A source familiar with Clark's thinking told CNN earlier this month he is awaiting access to documents the committee has and to see whether a fight over the secrecy of presidential discussions materializes.

In addition, the committee requested all documents and communications from individuals that could show DOJ intervention in litigation filed by the Trump campaign -- or states seeking to challenge the election.

On that list are Meadows as well as Trump lawyers and advisers, including Giuliani, Kurt Olsen, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Joseph diGenova, and Victoria Toensing.

The committee also asked the Justice Department to provide documents that pertain to the certification of the election, including the role that Pence played in presiding over the Senate the day election results were certified.

And the committee asked about any senior personnel changes at the Justice Department, including with presidential appointees, between November 3, 2020, and January 20, 2021.

The committee specifically requested all documentation pertaining to Clark, a former Trump appointee at the DOJ who has emerged as central to Trump's efforts to overturn the election. The committee also requested communication between then-Attorney General William Barr and attorneys investigating allegations of voter fraud.

Targeting efforts to overturn the election results from within the White House, the committee is seeking records from the National Archives including all communication between White House officials and state government officials from hotly contested states such as Arizona, Georgia, Texas and Michigan.

The officials include Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, chief investigator for Georgia Secretary of State Frances Watson, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, former Michigan Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield, and Wayne County Board of Canvassers Chairwoman Monica Palmer.

The panel is also demanding all communication related to Dominion Voting Systems Corp., which was the system used that became a primary target of voter fraud falsehoods."

MORE AT:

US House committee seeks documents from agencies on January 6 Capitol attack, signaling massive investigative effort

By Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles, Annie Grayer and Whitney Wild, CNN

Updated 3:24 PM ET, Wed August 25, 2021

Joe Galloway told the truth. The New York Times apologized for lying about the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. Will the Bush family or Obama or Trump or Biden ever apologize for waging 20 years of war based on lies?

 

“In 2002, Knight Ridder asked Galloway to return to reporting after a stint as an adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell to bolster its Washington bureau’s skeptical coverage of the Bush administration’s case for ousting Hussein.

Galloway did that by contributing, often anonymously, to his colleagues’ stories and by writing a column that often was critical of Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and their aides who were bent on invading Iraq.

John Walcott, Galloway’s longtime editor and friend, recounted how an exasperated Rumsfeld finally asked Joe to meet with him alone in his office. When Joe arrived, he was greeted by Rumsfeld — and a group of other high-ranking Pentagon officials.

“Good,” Galloway reported when he returned to the Knight Ridder office. “I had ’em surrounded.”

Galloway then described how after Rumsfeld accused him of relying on retired officers and officials, he had told the group that most of his sources were on active duty, and that some of them “might even be in this room.”

Asked by his colleagues if that was true, Galloway replied, “No, but it was fun watching ’em sweat like whores in church.”

Galloway’s contributions to Knight Ridder’s critical coverage of the Bush administration’s case for invading Iraq was later portrayed in another movie, Rob Reiner’s “Shock and Awe,” in which fellow Texan Tommy Lee Jones played Galloway.

“The thing about Joe is that there wasn’t a dishonest bone in his body,” director Reiner told the AP by phone. “He spoke truth to power. … We will miss him, there’s very few people who hold his level of integrity.”

Clark Hoyt, former Washington editor for Knight Ridder, said it was a privilege to work with Galloway, who he called one of the great war correspondents of all time.

“He earned the trust and respect of those he was covering but never lost his ear for false notes, as shown by his contributions to Knight Ridder’s skeptical reporting on the run up to the Iraq war,” Hoyt said.

Walcott said he was an exemplar of what journalism should be. From the People’s Army of Vietnam to Rumsfeld, no one ever intimidated Galloway other than his wife Gracie, Walcott said.

“He never went to college, but he was one of, if not the, most gifted writers in our profession, in which his death will leave an enormous hole at a time when our country desperately needs more like him,” Walcott said. “He never sought fame nor tried to make himself the star of his stories. As sources, he valued sergeants more than brand name generals and political appointees.”

MORE AT:

Journalist Joe Galloway, chronicler of Vietnam War, dies

By MICHAEL BIESECKER  August 18, 2021

“The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter, but many shared a common feature. They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on ''regime change'' in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under increasing public debate in recent weeks. (The most prominent of the anti-Saddam campaigners, Ahmad Chalabi, has been named as an occasional source in Times articles since at least 1991, and has introduced reporters to other exiles. He became a favorite of hard-liners within the Bush administration and a paid broker of information from Iraqi exiles, until his payments were cut off last week.) Complicating matters for journalists, the accounts of these exiles were often eagerly confirmed by United States officials convinced of the need to intervene in Iraq. Administration officials now acknowledge that they sometimes fell for misinformation from these exile sources. So did many news organizations -- in particular, this one.”

MORE AT:

FROM THE EDITORS; The Times and Iraq

May 26, 2004

Doing a “find and replace” “individual freedom” and replace with “white privilege” would make it easier to understand the anti-mask anti-vaccination people. Paul Krugman explains:

 Noble Prize winning economist Paul Krugman has the most easy to understand explanation of how refusing to be vaccinated is an expression of “freedom:”

“So let’s talk about what the right means when it talks about “freedom.” Since the pandemic began, many conservatives have insisted that actions to limit the death toll — social distancing, wearing a mask and now getting vaccinated — should be matters of personal choice. Does that position make any sense?”

“My answer is that when people on the right talk about “freedom” what they actually mean is closer to “defense of privilege” — specifically the right of certain people (generally white male Christians) to do whatever they want.

Not incidentally, if you go back to the roots of modern conservatism, you find people like Barry Goldwater defending the right of businesses to discriminate against Black Americans. In the name of freedom, of course. A lot, though not all, of the recent panic about “cancel culture” is about protecting the right of powerful men to mistreat women. And so on.

Once you understand that the rhetoric of freedom is actually about privilege, things that look on the surface like gross inconsistency and hypocrisy start to make sense.

Why, for example, are conservatives so insistent on the right of businesses to make their own decisions, free from regulation — but quick to stop them from denying service to customers who refuse to wear masks or show proof of vaccination? Why is the autonomy of local school districts a fundamental principle — unless they want to require masks or teach America’s racial history? It’s all about whose privilege is being protected.”

MORE AT:

New York Times - OPINION- PAUL KRUGMAN

‘Freedom,’ Florida and the Delta Variant Disaster

Aug. 2, 2021

Because COVID-19 will continue to mutate and the forest fires will continue to burn I think mask wearing is a permanent part of living on earth for the foreseeable future

 I put Chesco PA in the safer but be sure to wear a mask category. 

I think we need to go back to wearing a mask around our grandchildren again. And of course our grandchildren will continue to wear masks in public. But since all of us grandparents are fully vaccinated at least we should be able to go inside my daughter & son in law’s home. 

I wear a mask outdoors doing yard work because of allergies, ozone pollution and fine particle pollution from fires. Forest fires many square miles across are now normal almost all year long. Because COVID-19 will continue to mutate and the fires will continue to burn I think mask wearing is a permanent part of living for the foreseeable future.

What are the Harmful Effects of PM?

Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. Some particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter can get deep into your lungs and some may even get into your bloodstream. Of these, particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, also known as fine particles or PM_2.5, pose the greatest risk to health.

Fine particles are also the main cause of reduced visibility (haze) in parts of the United States, including many of our treasured national parks and wilderness areas.

MORE AT:

EPA

Particulate Matter (PM) Basics

“The federal Centers for Disease Control reports 86.4 of Chester County's total population is vaccinated” August 8, 2021 SEE: Patch Malvern, PA Chesco’s COVID-19 Metrics Show Steady Climb over 4 weeks.

Between the three of us at the Pitcherella household we have about 200 masks left. We’re using the flat masks now. 

The 3M N-95 3M masks prices are high. The KN-95 masks are much more affordable. 

“In short, N95 masks are the US standards for respirator masks; KN95 masks are the Chinese standards for masks.”

N-95s and KN-95 masks fit the contours of the human face better with less leakage. 

Both the N-95 and KN-95 masks are more effective at filtering small particles like the COVID-19 virus. 

My son & I ordinarily wear various masks for woodworking and using volatile materials.

I ordered KN-95 masks today.

SEE ARTICLE:

1. To be certified as a KN95 mask, the Chinese government requires the manufacturer to run a special mask fit test on real humans with ≤ 8% leakage. The N95 mask standard does not require manufacturers to run fit tests.

This does not mean that fit tests aren’t helpful. Many hospitals and companies require their workers to be fit-tested. However, those are requirements of companies themselves, not for the US NIOSH certification on the mask.

2. N95 masks have slightly stricter requirements for pressure drop while inhaling. That means they’re required to be slightly more breathable than KN95 masks.

Don’t worry, despite it sometimes feeling difficult to breathe through masks, dying from oxygen starvation is very unlikely when wearing a mask.

3. N95s also have slightly stricter requirements for pressure drop while exhaling, which should help with breathability.

“Bottom Line: Difference Between N95 vs. KN95 Masks

N95s and KN95s are both rated to capture 95% of particles. Among the minor differences, only KN95 masks are required to pass fit tests, while N95 masks have slightly stronger breathability standards.”

MORE AT:

What’s the Difference Between N95 and KN95 Masks?

2021-07-14 by Thomas Talhelm

On July 27, 2021, CDC released updated guidance on the need for urgently increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage and a recommendation for everyone in areas of substantial or high transmission to wear a mask in public indoor places, even if they are fully vaccinated. CDC issued this new guidance due to several concerning developments and newly emerging data signals.  First is a reversal in the downward trajectory of cases. In the days leading up to our guidance update, CDC saw a rapid and alarming rise in the COVID case and hospitalization rates around the country.

• In late June, our 7-day moving average of reported cases was around 12,000. On July 27, the 7-day moving average of cases reached over 60,000. This case rate looked more like the rate of cases we had seen before the vaccine was widely available.

Second, new data began to emerge that the Delta variant was more infectious and was leading to increased transmissibility when compared to other variants, even in vaccinated individuals. This includes recently published data from CDC and our public health partners, unpublished surveillance data that will be publicly available in the coming weeks, information included in CDC’s updated Science Brief on COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination, and ongoing outbreak investigations linked to the Delta variant

MORE AT:

Delta Variant: What We Know About the Science

1. How contagious is the Delta variant?

Scientifically accurate atomic model of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

Source: Alexey Solodovnikov (Idea, Producer, CG, Editor)

Data indicate that Delta is 40-60% more transmissible than Alpha and almost twice as transmissible as the original Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, significantly more viral particles have been found in the airways of patients infected with the Delta variant. A Chinese study reported that viral loads in Delta infections were ~1,000 times higher than those in infections caused by other variants. In response this information, the World Health Organization (WHO) regards Delta as “the fastest and fittest” variant so far.  

2. Is the Delta variant more dangerous than other variants of concern?

According to surveys conducted in the U.K., where Delta accounts for ~90% of current COVID-19 cases, symptoms of Delta tend to be a little different than other strains, but that does not necessarily mean the associated symptoms are more severe. Fever, headache, sore throat and runny nose are common, while cough and loss of smell are not. Other reports link Delta to more serious symptoms, including hearing impairment, severe gastrointestinal issues and blood clots leading to tissue death and gangrene. Research is ongoing to determine if Delta infection is associated with increased hospitalization and death. One early study assessing the risk of hospital admission in Scotland reported that hospitalization is twice as likely in unvaccinated individuals with Delta than in unvaccinated individuals with Alpha.  

Case numbers and hospitalizations are once again on the rise in the U.S., especially in states where vaccination percentages are low and the Delta variant is surging. On July 16, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a 7-day average increase in new COVID-19 cases of 69.3% and a 35% increase in hospitalizations. Still, it is difficult to determine whether Delta is actually making people sicker than previous forms of the virus or if it is simply circulating amongst more vulnerable populations where case numbers are high, vaccination rates are low and increased stress on hospital systems is impacting patient care and disease outcomes.  

What is clear is that the majority of hospitalizations and COVID-19-associated deaths in the U.S. are occurring in unvaccinated people, leading to a chilling warning from CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky that “this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” 

MORE AT:

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

How Dangerous Is the Delta Variant (B.1.617.2)?