# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News **URL:** \ **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:** 64
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1291 "2021-05-01T13:47:20Z")
I disagree, you **can** lay the blame for Brazil’s performance absolutely squarely upon Bolsonaro. Just as you can lay the blame for the relatively poor performance of Sweden compared to its neighbours squarely upon Tegnell. We can go further, the US performance can be squarely laid upon Trump. Whilst folk might say that one person is not a government and lots of enablers have also contributed to these failures I would argue that if you remove those individuals from the original onset of the pandemic and left in place all the others then the responses would be magnitudes less serious. In the case of Bolsonaro in particular, he has gone through many ministers who have either resigned in protest, or he has dismissed them for failing to follow his incompetent lead - the Brazilians have argued many times that Brazil faces two pandemics - Bolsonarism, and Covid and they are not selecting either as the worst one. As for India, too much attention is given by most pundits using numbers as scary headlines so generate more mouse clicks, but the fact is that when you compare like with like, India’s relative numbers compared to it’s population size are way better than the vast majority of nations - look at the Worldmeters data and you’ll see that their death rates and infection rates per million are magnitudes less than most of the world - even if you allow for serious under reporting India is still faring far better than the vast majority of the world. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1292 "2021-05-01T14:11:04Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > We can go further, the US performance can be squarely laid upon Trump. > > Whilst folk might say that one person is not a government and lots of enablers have also contributed to these failures I would argue that if you remove those individuals from the original onset of the pandemic and left in place all the others then the responses would be magnitudes less serious.- Absolutely correct. In a crisis, it’s called LEADERSHIP, and it makes all the difference in the outcome. The buck stops at the top. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1293 "2021-05-01T14:22:26Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > In a crisis, it’s called LEADERSHIP, and it makes all the difference in the outcome. The buck stops at the top. - The only buck Trump refused to touch. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1294 "2021-05-01T16:46:13Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > So in practical terms, it _is_ a bit more like a lightswitch, at least according to the graphs. Not what I would expect… The “lightswitch” effect that you’re seeing is because it takes a certain amount of time for new lymphocytes specific to the virus to develop and mature. It’s not a “narrow & fast” production line where new antigen-specific cells start appear soon but take a while to accumulate. It’s a “wide and slow” production line, where nothing appears for a while, but then a large number of cells mature around the same time and all get to work. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1295 "2021-05-01T16:49:24Z")
Thank you. I have been curious about this for a while, but too ignorant in this area to know how to find the information. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1296 "2021-05-01T17:16:02Z")
**Moderator Note** Reminder: This is a breaking news thread. Do not bring politics into breaking news threads. Most of the recent posts, starting with @mandala’s post about India and continuing forward from there, are bringing political issues into this thread. We allow some discussion of issues in breaking news threads, otherwise it would just be posts of news articles, but let’s try to avoid politics as much as possible, please. You can discuss those issues here on the SDMB, just not in breaking news threads. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1297 "2021-05-02T04:02:37Z")
152,817,436 total cases 3,206,613 dead 130,091,071 recovered In the US: 33,146,008 total cases 590,704 dead 25,777,927 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 152,045,622 total cases > 3,194,601 dead > 129,344,842 recovered > > In the US: > > 33,103,974 total cases > 590,055 dead > 25,710,142 recovered ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1298 "2021-05-02T04:06:06Z")
Republic, Washington: > **[The Latest: 10% of Washington town positive for COVID-19](https://apnews.com/article/canada-europe-india-coronavirus-coronavirus-vaccine-15a9dcc029f2c95d71b7541fadfe5973)** > > About 10% of the population of Republic, a small city in north-central Washington, has tested positive for COVID-19 in an outbreak traced to large indoor events last month at the local Fraternal Order of Eagles hall > [@](#): > > About 10% of the population of Republic, a small city in north-central Washington, has tested positive for COVID-19 in an outbreak traced to large indoor events last month at the local Fraternal Order of Eagles hall. > > Ferry County Memorial Hospital officials have confirmed more than 100 cases, with one reported death, since the April 9-11 events, including a membership drive that featured dinner, live music and a 1980s-themed karaoke night. > > Some patients have had to be transferred to Wenatchee and Yakima because of a lack of capacity. Less than one-quarter of the county’s residents have received a vaccine, according to the health district, but officials said the outbreak has increased interest in it. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1299 "2021-05-02T05:02:18Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > There are numerous such prejudices within India which is an extremely diverse society. But one learns to let go such prejudices and live in harmony with other cultures. But apparently the Thais have been holding on to theirs with determination “for millennia”. This is so sad. Along with everyone else in East and Southeast Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1300 "2021-05-02T05:08:28Z")
They join the rest of the USA. Right now [Worldometer](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/) has the US case rate at 9.65% of the population. Actual cases would be some proportion higher than that. That means, at absolute minimum, one-tenth of the US population at least is currently suffering or has had covid. I hope the year of misery and heartache that has accompanied attaining that mark may finally close down any remaining suggestion that naturally acquired herd immunity, which would be something like 7x that level, is in any way a suitable strategy for getting through this pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1301 "2021-05-02T05:17:04Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > They join the rest of the USA There’s a major difference between 10% of the population having had COVID since the pandemic began, and 10% of them having it RIGHT NOW. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1302 "2021-05-02T11:34:05Z")
Yes, its different, depending on what you’re looking at. If there was a choice between the two options, Republic is not the one I’d pick because it sounds like any health care they have will implode soon enough. But a 10% national figure is a composite of a whole lot of little Republics [and big cities] each having had their moment of chaos in the past 14 months. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2021, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1303 "2021-05-03T07:50:52Z")
153,507,160 total cases 3,216,711 dead 130,848,502 recovered In the US: 33,180,441 total cases 591,062 dead 25,823,800 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 152,817,436 total cases > 3,206,613 dead > 130,091,071 recovered > > In the US: > > 33,146,008 total cases > 590,704 dead > 25,777,927 recovered ---
**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:** [May 3, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1304 "2021-05-03T16:41:34Z")
> **[Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe...](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/health/covid-herd-immunity-vaccine.html)** > > Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy. > Early in the pandemic, when vaccines for the coronavirus were still just a glimmer on the horizon, the term “herd immunity” came to signify the endgame: the point when enough Americans would be protected from the virus so we could be rid of the pathogen and reclaim our lives. > > Now, more than half of adults in the United States have been inoculated with at least one dose of a vaccine. But daily vaccination rates are slipping, and there is widespread consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable — at least not in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not ever. > > Instead, they are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers. > … Another shift in expectations WRT our future with this virus. Learning to live with and among it-- looks like that’s where we’re headed. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1305 "2021-05-03T18:21:08Z")
This article made me really mad with the oh-so-polite phrase “vaccine hesitancy.” Is there some reason we’re respecting people’s fears and false beliefs as if they were rational? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1306 "2021-05-03T18:28:15Z")
Probably because insulting people doesn’t make them more likely to do something. Since society is hoping that people will actually do something (get the vaccine), it’s not in its best interest to insult them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1307 "2021-05-03T18:45:38Z")
There’s a middle ground between an insult and a euphemism. Even just describing people as “unwilling to vaccinate”—accurate, but not insulting, and without the gentle connotations of "hesistant."d ---
**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:** [May 3, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1308 "2021-05-03T19:35:18Z")
This is the breaking news thread. I think this discussion belongs elsewhere. Oops, and i see you linked to that! Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1309 "2021-05-03T21:02:34Z")
This is sure to overcome that vaccine hesitancy: > **[New Jersey to give free beer to Covid vaccine recipients](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/03/new-jersey-to-give-free-beer-to-covid-vaccine-recipients.html)** > > New Jersey residents who get their first Covid vaccination in May will be eligible for a free beer at select breweries, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. But if they really wanted to be sure, they should be giving the shots in brewpubs. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1310 "2021-05-04T02:04:46Z")
Florida is open, whether it wants to be or not: > **[Florida governor signs law preempting local COVID edicts](https://apnews.com/article/florida-coronavirus-laws-health-083b2c00304c9569a78040ca741aeba1)** > > TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to suspend all remaining COVID-19 restrictions imposed by communities across his state, signing into law on Monday freshly passed legislation giving him sweeping powers to invalidate local... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=63) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=65)