Over 650 positive in Lane today. I do wonder is some of that is schools and employers requiring more frequent tests and catching more asymptomatic infections. I am surprised that Lane is higher than Multnomah (where Portland is).
Yes, I saw that, too. I wonder if Multnomah is reporting 3 days’ worth, as Lane is. Lane doesn’t report on weekends. We’re averaging about 218/day.
Yes. I was sad when reporting became lumpy. Meanwhile, I walked by several local vax sites that were doing a brisk business last week.
That is good news!!
I also saw that the state fair will have a vax service. University of Oregon is requiring proof of vax for athletic and other events.
CoCS has ‘religious’ policies of obeying laws and being part of the community. It’s their religious position. So although members (that I know) don’t like vaccination, there are rules, and the rules say that you have to get vaccinated if there is a government mandate or if your employer requires it.
213,338,535 total cases
4,454,049 dead
190,903,841 recovered
In the US:
38,814,596 total cases
646,667 dead
30,570,229 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
So Trump was right all along! Too much testing = more positive cases. Less testing = fewer cases. How slow we have been to learn!
If you just looked at the Johns Hopkins site, you wouldn’t think Oregon was in dire shape. It hit its peak seven-day-averaged daily reported cases on August 20 at 2114 cases, and has since retreated. But the news stories tell a different story. Here’s the most heartbreaking:
Overall, we are not that bad compared to the rest of the country, although we are in bad shape compared to where we were last year.
But it is highly regional. The Portland area is doing relatively well. Outside areas, and southern Oregon in particular, are truly in dire shape no matter how you look at it.
Hawaii is recording hundreds and hundreds of new cases each day. The governor is saying another lockdown is very possible if this does not change. Our hospitals are so loaded with (unvaccinated) Covid cases that other types of emergencies are in danger of being seriously neglected.
He’s also asking tourists not to come to Hawaii at this time. Yeah, right, good luck with that. We’re being inundated with tourists, and every day I see a lot of visiting jackasses acting like jackasses. They’ve had to increase police patrols on the North Shore to keep tourists from harassing endangered species for photo ops. A handful of tourists have even been shot after getting into disputes with the locals. While I would not shoot any myself, I could well see holding down a few I’ve seen while someone else takes a shot.
Attendees had to have a negative test or proof of vaccination. There have been similar large festivals and concerts in the US, but outbreaks like this haven’t been reported. I’m not sure if that means people aren’t catching it or because there is little contact tracing to figure out the connection.
I’m sure there’s more positives for Lollapalooza than we know of so far. US contact tracing is extremely underfunded. On the other hand the Cornwall festival is several days way off in Cornwall with onsite camping that looks like this 
This hospital in Oregon has set up a dinner plate smashing booth to help personnel relieve the stress of continuing to deal with covid deaths.
“We’ve been dealing with the second wave when we thought — I guess we hoped — it wouldn’t come. And it’s come. And it’s harder and worse, way worse, than before,” she said. Hours earlier, a COVID-19 patient died in the ICU.
As she spoke, a patient’s heart monitor beeped. A mechanical ventilator occasionally added a higher-pitched tone. Fifteen of the COVID-19 patients were on ventilators. The hospital’s wellness department, which normally recommends yoga and deep breathing for relaxation, recently set up a booth and filled it with dinner plates for a different kind of stress relief.
“We put on safety glasses,” Lisa said. “And we took plates and we shattered them. And I kept going back. I kept going back, and they told me I had enough turns.”
214,006,837 total cases
4,465,549 dead
191,498,682 recovered
In the US:
38,968,925 total cases
648,161 dead
30,618,644 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
Finally some news about a future J&J booster shot!
Idaho hospitals are over capacity and don’t have enough workers. The good news is vaccinations are on the rise and up to a whopping 43.5% of eligible residents have a least one shot in my neck of the woods. I’m going to be a little more conservative on my bike riding and other riskier activities to try to avoid needing emergency care.
Just saw on the TV news that Delta Airlines – oh, the irony – will now levy a $200-a-month insurance surcharge on employees who choose not to get vaccinated. They say this is not a punitive measure but rather something necessary to cover extra medical expenses.
It’s the first time during the pandemic that temporary or portable morgues have been situated in anticipation of a rising death toll, [Alabama Department of Public Health spokesman Ryan Easterling] said.