I think we are seeing the Thanksgiving bounce. There will be another one for Christmas and I shudder to see what happens in mid-January.
The problems with medical workers is exacerbated not only by them getting sick with the virus, but also breaking down from overwork and even retiring. And a few were fired early on for wearing masks.
Incidentally, I have a vague memory that the NYT has left corona virus news outside its firewall, but I have no ready way of checking that.
Or not.
What makes you say that? If anything, the rate of increase seems to have slowed a bit compared to where it was before Thanksgiving, even though the absolute numbers are still going up. No clue if this is for real or if some of the backlogged cases from Thanksgiving weekend still haven’t been posted, but at any rate, nothing seems to be happening that was dramatically different from before (except in California, but there’s no obvious reason why California would get more of a Thanksgiving bounce than the rest of the country).
That’s my memory too. They also have a good deal going on for a for more days, full digital subscription is a dollar a week for a year. I snapped that up early on in the pandemic and I am so glad I did. I live in a news desert, my local paper is a former shadow of itself and not worth reading but the NYT gives me several hours a day of good contact with and about the outside world.
I took their free subscription probably two years ago (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t) and the email address I used for that has been getting that same dollar-a-week offer every week or two. So there’s probably no rush.
(I can’t afford everybody. I’m supporting two local papers at full subscription price, and currently the Washington Post at their special $29/year rate. When that runs out I won’t be able to renew.)
Also, every other significant bounce has taken more than 2 weeks. In Texas, we’ve had two full rounds of restrictions/cases fall/ease restrictions/cases jump and it’s been about 5 weeks both times. If we get a Thanksgiving bounce, it won’t be “people who caught COVID at Thanksgiving dinner”, it will be “people who caught COVID from people who caught COVID at Thanksgiving dinner”. The first ripple or two look like noise.
Good to know. My local paper isn’t worth subscribing to (sadly we used to have two excellent independent papers, which I read both of front to back daily), it’s digital rate is outrageous so I spend all of my budget on the Times now. I was considering the Post, also a good paper, but I was used to the Times, it seems like it ventures out a little more in arts, culture, etc. The $29 Post yearly would be worth considering if my budget has the room after the new year-Biden’s first year in office is going to be interesting.
Trump has ordered the head of the FDA to approve the Pfizer vaccine today or resign.
Basically exactly the thing that will undermine confidence in the vaccine.
Will look for non-paywalled version, but this is where I got it.
Fox says the FDA head denies it, and their “sources said the idea that Meadows warned Hahn to approve the vaccine by Friday or resign was ‘not entirely true.’”
“Not entirely true” is nowhere near “entirely not true” when it comes to denials.
“What they actually told me was, approve the vaccine or you’re fired.”
I don’t know whether it’s a standard new-subsciber offer, or a Covid special, or a recurring option. Their standard rate is a good bit higher. If I forget to cancel this it’ll charge me automatically for standard rate for the following year (which is why there’s a note in my lists about it for the relevant month.)
That’s for sure.
As near as I can tell, they were about to approve it anyway; it’s a little like ordering a cat to get off the chair when it’s already in mid-leap. I can only think of two things that this accomplishes: one, that Trump can present it to his base and the inside of his own head as ‘see, I told them what to do!’ and two, that it’ll discourage people from getting vaccinated.
EXACTLY RIGHT! You just know full well Tan the Conman wants more people to die on a daily basis come January 20 so he can point out how much better he controlled the pandemic than President Biden. Yes, you read that correctly. Trump wants Americans to die to stoke his ego.
Yeah, that’s my guess. Even: “Approve it right now or you’re fired.” Sound like a nonsubstantive difference.
You can cancel any time and it will just end when your present subscription is paid through. Mine ends in February, I think, and I cancelled even though I really like the Post, because I don’t want to pay the non-promotional rate. I’ll probably take the NYT promotional rate for a year, then see if I can get a discount on the Post again. Although, I really do want to support them, the full rate is a lot.
I’m mildly surprised that “only” 17% have closed so far.
The New York Times daily COVID newsletter observed:
The decision had not been expected until Saturday, after an expert panel gave its approval on Thursday. It was accelerated after President Trump attacked the agency’s commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, for not approving a vaccine more quickly, and the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, threatened to fire him, according to a senior administration official.
The agency has tried to fast-track vaccine approval without undercutting public confidence in the process. The timing of the announcement appears unlikely to speed up the shipment of the initial doses of the vaccine.
My bold.
Right.
Ontario, Canada has five different colour-coded phases, ranging from no restrictions to lockdown (except essential trips and services). Our region will shortly enter the second highest zone, essentially limiting many areas and businesses to an occupancy of ten people. Hopefully we avoid another shutdown, but this ain’t much better.
My local cancer center has cancelled routine follow-up appointments.
Nah; yeah.