I’ve updated this post with new data below about the infection data in Florida as well as the US overall.
My wife and I have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 for many months now. We got our second jab on February 17th. Since two weeks after that date we have felt quite safe, even though as a moderately elderly asthmatic I am the apparent target market for the Covid-19 virus.
Over time after February we gradually wore our masks less and less as the number of new infections in LA County gradually came down from their dark heights. More recently we began to become adventurous and go to the store without masks at all.
Fast forward a few months and we now find ourselves in Florida. Our house in the San Fernando Valley is going on the market and we’re setting up new residence in the Tampa Bay area.
The rule of thumb for Covid restrictions has been pretty much no restrictions. The governor here has been on a campaign to open up for sometime and has been largely cheered by the folks that still consider the pandemic to be some sort of a scam or world wide conspiracy focused on them and their friends. (Someday I’ll have to figure out how invisible evil men can pick individual people and say, “Let’s get ’em. This’ll be fun.”)
But now what we already knew, the Florida of late has the highest rate of new infections of any state in the country, has become even more apparent. Of course, Ron DeSantis’s response was to stop reporting daily numbers. If this sounds suspiciously like a certain former Oval Office occupant who early on did not want to count Americans infected on a cruise ship because the numbers made him look bad, the comparison is purely coincidental.
Before Florida stopped reporting daily new infections those numbers truly did look bad:
- July 21: 8,988
- July 22: 12,647
- July 23: 13,256
- July 24: 14,528
- July 25: 12,773
- July 26: 12,773 (odd that it is the same as the 25th)
- July 27: 12,775
- July 28: 16,038
- July 29: 17,589
Since no actions have been taken by the Florida state government to address this, one can only assume that the numbers will continue to climb. Thus, the CDC’s new guidance is the best rule of thumb.
The massive increase in infections is not just Florida, though we have the highest daily rates in the US by far. Overall, the US again leads the world in new infections by huge numbers. Yesterday the count was over 92,000, up from over 80,000 the prior day. This is sobering information and puts the chest beating of anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers in a more sinister light. Irresponsible is not quite the right term. Death cult comes to mind.
My wife and I had errands to run today and for the first time in many months we masked up before entering a store. We all have responsibilities to our fellow occupants on this rock. The chances of my wife and I getting seriously ill now, even in the face of the Delta variant, are slim. But if there’s a chance I can pass this to someone else, that comes under the heading of, “No f’ing way.”
Wearing a mask is not my idea of a good time. As I mentioned earlier, I’m asthmatic, so this is a physical issue for me as well. But my responsibility is clear. I’ll wear the mask. And if I can, so can you.
