# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [January 1, 2021, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428 "2021-01-01T08:03:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 116

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2342 "2021-08-30T19:20:36Z")

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> [@JaneDoe42](#):
>
> That or have opt-out schools. The opt-out schools will be staffed by teachers and admin folks who are un-vaccinated and don’t want to mask, the kids won’t need to mask or practice social distancing and the opt-in schools will follow all those pesky guidelines. Everyone will be happy, right? -

That’s mighty selfish of you not to let herd immunity do it’s thing. /s

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2343 "2021-08-30T19:28:05Z")

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> [@JaneDoe42](#):
>
> And we need to shut down the goddamned schools until the idiot parents figure out that their kids can die along with other peoples’ kids.

Does someone have stats on child mortality? Now that schools are back.

(well, school-aged mortality. Child mortality usually means under 6yo).

ETA:

[American Academy of Pediatrics: Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report](https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/)

## Summary of Findings (data available as of 8/26/21) :

### Cumulative Number of Child COVID-19 Cases\*

- 4,797,683 total child COVID-19 cases reported, and children represented 14.8% (4,797,683/32,417,814) of all cases
- Overall rate: 6,374 cases per 100,000 children in the population

### Change in Child COVID-19 Cases\*

- 203,962 child COVID-19 cases were reported the past week from 8/19/21-8/26/21 (4,593,721 to 4,797,683) and children represented 22.4% (203,962/910,826) of the weekly reported cases
- Over two weeks, 8/12/21-8/26/21, there was a 9% increase in the cumulated number of child COVID-19 cases (384,137 cases added (4,413,547 to 4,797,683))

### Testing (11 states reported)\*^

- Among states reporting, children made up between 10.9%-20.8% of total cumulated state tests, and between 4.8%-17.6% of children tested were tested positive

### Hospitalizations (24 states and NYC reported)\*

- Among states reporting, children made up between 10.9%-20.8% of total cumulated state tests, and between 4.8%-17.6% of children tested were tested positive

### Mortality (45 states, NYC, PR and GU reported)\*

- Among states reporting, children were 0.00%-0.24% of all COVID-19 deaths, and 7 states reported zero child deaths
- ​In states reporting, 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death

\* Note: The numbers in this summary represent cumulative counts since states began reporting. In this summary and full report, the data are based on how public agencies collect, categorize and post information. All data reported by state/local health departments are preliminary and subject to change and reporting may change over time. Notably, in the summer of 2021, some states have revised cases counts previously reported, begun reporting less frequently, or dropped metrics previously reported. For example, due to several changes on their dashboards and the data currently available, AL and NE data in this report are not current (cumulative data through 7/29/21 and 6/24/21 respectively). Readers should consider these factors - see Report for full details. States may have additional information on their web sites.

 

_^ On 7/15/21, IA stopped updating child testing data; IA cumulative tests through 7/8/21._

~Max

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2344 "2021-08-30T19:36:24Z")

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> [@Max\_S](#):
>
> Does someone have stats on child mortality? Now that schools are back.
> 
> (well, school-aged mortality. Child mortality usually means under 6yo).

It’s not just the risk to the kids. A friend caught covid, and the most likely source was her kids. then in daycare. She and her husband were sick – he had a cold and she had a very serious cold. They all got tested, and the kids were positive for covid, too, and she had almost no other likely sources of infection. She was treated with monoclonal antibodies and while she never had to be hospitalized, she was very ill. Her husband never did get more than a bad cold, and her kids were completely asymptomatic.

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2345 "2021-08-30T19:39:25Z")

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Right, but I haven’t personally heard of _children_ dying. (I hear of the deaths at our local hospitals, for example seven inpatients expired last Saturday alone.)

~Max

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**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2346 "2021-08-30T20:06:38Z")

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My unscientific estimate would be that about twice as many children 0-11 are hospitalized with Delta COVID than with OG COVID. It appears that Delta COVID hospitalizes unvaccinated at about twice the rate of OG COVID, and all of the 0-11 cohort are unvaccinated, so their numbers rise with the rest of the general unvaccinated population.

Anything with COVID and kids is going to be heavily clickbaited, but that’s what I have gleaned from what I have read and your numbers. No clue on any changes in mortality.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2347 "2021-08-30T20:09:15Z")

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Regarding the closure of schools, that ship has probably already left port. But schools can be doing more to enforce masking and improving ventilation.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2348 "2021-08-30T20:10:34Z")

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Children are indeed dying. Not at the rate of adults but they are getting more seriously ill and dying.

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**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2349 "2021-08-30T20:15:20Z")

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I just spent an hour looking for stats instead of random news reports and can’t find them. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there, it just means I couldn’t find them.

The number currently probably is fairly low. The number of adult caregivers dying is going up though.

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2350 "2021-08-30T20:42:51Z")

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Well, I could find _some_ information from my state of Florida.

We report total deaths stratified by age group on a [weekly basis](http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/covid19-data/). Here are the two younger groups from [the 8/27 report](http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/covid19-data/covid19_data_latest.pdf#page=8),

| Age group | Deaths | Cases | Case fatality rate | Mortality per 100,000 population |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Under 16 | 12 | 381,573 | 0.0% | 0.3 |
| 16-29 | 244 | 737,042 | 0.0% | 6.5 |

From [8/20](http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/covid19-data/covid19_data_20210820.pdf#page=8),

| Age group | Deaths | Cases | Case fatality rate | Mortality per 100,000 population |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Under 16 | 11 | 342,378 | 0.0% | 0.3 |
| 16-29 | 207 | 708,358 | 0.0% | 5.6 |

From [08/13](http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/covid19-data/covid19_data_20210813.pdf#page=8),

| Age group | Deaths | Cases | Case fatality rate | Mortality per 100,000 population |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Under 16 | 10 | 312,934 | 0.0% | 0.3 |
| 16-29 | 179 | 677,531 | 0.0% | 4.8 |

From [08/06](http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/covid19-data/covid19_data_20210806.pdf#page=8),

| Age group | Deaths | Cases | Case fatality rate | Mortality per 100,000 population |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Under 16 | 8 | 289,419 | 0.0% | 0.2 |
| 16-29 | 166 | 643,876 | 0.0% | 4.5 |

And then for the entirety of June and July the number of deaths in the under 16 group is seven.

ETA: I noticed the same webserver has a folder titled “[pediatric reports](http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/pediatric-reports/)” which gives detailed info on pediatric cases from June '20 to June '21. The aforementioned weekly reports only go back to June '21.

The June '21 pediatric report:  
Data through Jun 1, 2021 verified as of Jun 2, 2021 at 09:25 AM  
Data in this report are provisional and subject to change.

| Age group | Cases | | Hospitalizations | | Deaths | &nbsp; |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| \<1 year | 10,404 | 4% | 335 | 18% | 1 | 8% |
| 1-4 years | 39,184 | 14% | 330 | 18% | 1 | 8% |
| 5-10 years | 79,894 | 28% | 302 | 17% | 2 | 17% |
| 11-13 years | 53,647 | 19% | 244 | 13% | 3 | 25% |
| 14-17 years | 98,352 | 35% | 606 | 33% | 5 | 42% |
| Total | 281,481 | | 1,817 | | 12 | |

Hospitalization counts include anyone who was hospitalized at some point during their illness. It does not reflect the number of people currently hospitalized.

~Max

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**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2351 "2021-08-30T21:20:30Z")

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I know the numbers should be there, stats are certainly being collected. I also know that folks like yourself who are better at online searching will have more success than me 🙂

I agree that kids need to be in school and that online learning isn’t as successful as could be hoped. The kid across the street went to online kindergarten last year, how in the world could anyone think that online kindergarten would work?

The way we are reopening the schools is all wrong, we are basically creating daily superspreader events. The victims will include children, but there are a whole bunch of adults involved.

My idea of opt-out schools isn’t really as stupid as it sounds. The parents who won’t mask their kids certainly aren’t masking themselves unless forced. There are plenty of anti-vax and anti-mask teachers and admin staff who could work at those schools who won’t mind being around other “right-thinking” people. It will make them all happy and have the bonus of not taking social distancing precautions so they can have more children in each classroom, thus saving the school districts money.

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**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2352 "2021-08-30T21:52:19Z")

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> [@Max\_S](#):
>
> Does someone have stats on child mortality? Now that schools are back.

I don’t know about mortality but hospitals are seeing record-breaking numbers of kids.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2353 "2021-08-30T23:15:59Z")

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> …  
> Dr. Ijlal Babar, the director of pulmonary critical care for the Singing River Health System in coastal Mississippi, said the influx of mostly unvaccinated, **younger Covid-19 patients** was hampering care across the system’s hospitals.
> 
> **“Because a lot of these patients are lingering on, the ventilators are occupied, the beds are occupied,” he said.**
> 
> Mississippi was uniquely unprepared to handle what is now [the worst coronavirus outbreak in the nation](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/mississippi-covid-cases.html). There are 2,000 fewer nurses in Mississippi today than there were at the beginning of the year, according to the state hospital association. The state has fewer active physicians per capita than any other.
> 
> **The state rejected a proposal to expand Medicaid** , the federally subsidized health insurance program for low-income residents, a decision that critics say has deprived Mississippi of a much-needed infusion of federal money. What Mississippi has been left with, after years of infighting over health care policy, is a system believed to be the weakest in the nation.  
> …

My bold.

Younger patients don’t die as fast as older people, so they’re keeping beds and ventilators occupied…

A guy in my church choir is a respiratory therapist, and he said as soon as it’s clear the patient isn’t going to make it, they remove the ventilator so someone else can use it. It’s taking a severe toll on medical personnel who are dealing with this day after day.

It didn’t have to get this bad.  
😢

Source – the NYTimes daily Covid newsletter:

> **[Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today (Published 2021)](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/us/covid-hospitalizations-hurricane-ida.html?surface=most-popular&fellback=false&req_id=661501630&algo=bandit-all-surfaces-variants-uh-last-12h&variant=2_bandit-all-surfaces-variants-uh-last-12h&pool=pool%2F91fcf81c-4fb0-49ff-bd57-a24647c85ea1&imp_id=45069521)**
>
> Hurricane Ida makes landfall in a Covid hotspot.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2354 "2021-08-30T23:22:08Z")

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> [@Tfletch1](#):
>
> I don’t know about mortality but hospitals are seeing record-breaking numbers of kids.

Per data from [COVID.net](http://COVID.net):

Their data is from about 10% of all hospitals.

Peak week of hospitalizations was first week of 2021.  
By age group:  
65+ 3,467  
50-64 1,756  
18-49 1,390  
5-17 68  
0-4 38

Current:  
65+ 858  
50-64 713  
18-49 895  
5-17 57  
0-4 35

So on a percentage basis, yes there are more children hospitalized. Raw numbers, in this group of hospitals, no, it’s about the same as January.

What changed since January? Vaccination. About 80% of the 65+ group is fully vaccinated. This declines to about 72% (50-64), 50% (18-49), 20% (5-17), and 0% (0-4.) First indications are that any rise in hospitalization of children is a combination of a rise in overall infections and little to no vaccination in these cohorts, due to no approved vaccine for half of the 5-17 group and all of the 0-4 group.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2355 "2021-08-30T23:31:43Z")

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Southern politicians use assistance funding as a racial dog whistle. Medicaid is associated with the state’s black population, so white conservatives go out of their way to whip them like slaves on the plantation when it comes to this issue. I grew up in Louisiana, which regularly competes with Mississippi to see which state can be the most racist.

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**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2356 "2021-08-30T23:37:56Z")

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I should clarify. In places where there are serious Delta surges.

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**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2357 "2021-08-31T01:39:09Z")

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Some of those places are setting weekly records, more than January. And all US states have at least some people vaccinated, even the laggard states have some. Yet Delta Covid is still setting records despite not infecting some because of vaccination.

So given the data I pulled, where the 0-17 group has increased percentage wise (so has 18-49, 65+ is way down), if you’re setting records for infections, you’re pretty much guaranteed to set records for 0-17 hospitalizations. It’s just a numbers game.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2358 "2021-08-31T04:21:59Z")

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217,919,804 total cases  
4,523,998 dead  
194,795,977 recovered

In the US:

39,946,708 total cases  
656,393 dead  
30,944,465 recovered

Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:

> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> 217,217,358 total cases  
> 4,515,093 dead  
> 194,123,341 recovered
> 
> In the US:
> 
> 39,665,515 total cases  
> 654,689 dead  
> 30,826,478 recovered

By this time tomorrow the US will have recorded more than 40,000,000 cases of Covid-19.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2359 "2021-08-31T05:07:34Z")

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I was going to post a brief-but-scathing commentary to introduce this article, but I prolly don’t really need to:

> **[Even as COVID cases rise, US Open, other events welcome fans](https://apnews.com/article/college-football-sports-lifestyle-nfl-football-e319c2f0293903490397ad589bf26a49)**
>
> NEW YORK (AP) — Full-throated shouts and hearty applause returned to the U.S. Open tennis tournament Monday, bursts of sound that offered some form of reaction to nearly each and every action. Also back: lengthy lines to get through the gates and to...

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2360 "2021-08-31T15:34:48Z")

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[Starting September 13 and lasting two months, there is a long list of businesses on the island of Oahu that will be required to see proof of vaccination or a negative test before allowing in a customer:](https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/08/30/live-honolulus-mayor-unveil-new-vaccine-pass-program-oahu-businesses/)

```
Restaurants and bars (takeout is exempt)
Gyms and fitness facilities, including dance studios
Bowling alleys, arcades and billiards halls
Movie theaters
Museums
Indoor portions of botanical gardens, zoos or other attractions

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2361 "2021-08-31T16:50:56Z")

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As well, restaurants and bars will have to stop alcohol sales at 10pm.

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