Tag Archives: Delta variant

Lying With Statistics

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Yesterday Townhall posted an article about the recent media hysteria about the coronavirus. The virus is serious, and we need to use common sense in dealing with it, but unwarranted hysteria is not common sense.

The article reports:

There was a COVID death spike last week. Run for your lives! Put your masks back on—and be afraid. That was the narrative the liberal media peddled last week because without Trump around no one watches anything they report. We’ve reached peak hysteria over the Delta variant, which isn’t more lethal, nor does it make you sicker. The reports from an internal CDC memo that suggests otherwise should be ignored; it was rejected by peer review.

The article reports some background information on the death spike as reported  by The New York Post:

A massive 300 percent hike in nationwide COVID-19 deaths recorded Friday by Johns Hopkins University was skewed by states dumping data – that in one case dated back as far as last spring, according to a report.

The university, which has been a trusted source of coronavirus information since the start of the pandemic, reported that US deaths surged from 321 on Thursday to 891 on Friday, as the Delta variant quickly spreads throughout much of the country.

Florida was responsible for a huge chunk of the increase, with 409 of Friday’s death toll coming from that state, according to The Daily Mail. However, Florida only releases weekly data on Friday, making the day-to-day totals reported by the university unclear and overblown, the outlet said.

Figures released by Delaware also added to the surging daily increase, as that state announced 130 new deaths Friday, the tabloid reported. The dramatic figure was misleading because those deaths actually occurred between mid-May 2020 and late last month, and were added after The First State reviewed death certificates, according to the article.

Data from Michigan, which only releases statistics biweekly, also reportedly added to the distorted total.

The true day-to-day increase of nationwide COVID-19 deaths was actually only 2.5 percent, according to the outlet.

Somehow I don’t expect the mainstream media fact-checkers to bother to fact-check the original claim of a 300 percent increase in deaths. Any increase in deaths is not a good thing, but being truthful would help. All of us need to learn to be our own fact-checkers.

When Tyrants Gain Power

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Just for the record, Dr. Anthony Fauci is not an elected official. He does not have the power to make laws. Americans need to remember this when he speaks. However, Americans also need to remember that there are those in Washington with the power to make laws who believe everything Dr. Fauci says.

Yesterday The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about a recent statement by Dr. Fauci.

The article reports:

I’m more worried about what is happening behind the scenes in the non-COVID universe while everyone is distracted by the purposeful weaponization of the healthcare institutions.  It’s the other thing, the unseen activity, that is most troublesome when the leftists are this entrenched on a singular narrative.

In this clip from Anthony Fauci on ABC This Week Sunday [Rumble Link], the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, claims that individual rights no longer exist during the era of COVID-19.  When you consider the mindset of the far-left, his opinion on communal rights -vs- individual rights is right in line with the collectivist perspective.  These people are dangerous.

This is what Dr. Fauci said:

“The fact is, if you get infected, even if you are without symptoms, you very well may infect another person who may be vulnerable … So in essence, you are encroaching on their individual rights.”

The article notes:

It appears from the visible evidence, the Delta variant of COVID-19 may well be more transmissible; perhaps even more transmissible due to increased shedding from people who are vaccinated carriers of the virus. However, the death rate is lower than the traditional flu.

Unfortunately a lot of the reactions to the coronavirus have turned our Constitutional freedoms upside down. There is nothing in the U. S. Constitution that allows the government to shut down a private business or control the mask-wearing of the patrons who enter that business. These matters cannot even be decided by local governments unless there is a visible public nuisance. The rights of American citizens and business owners are theoretically protected by the U.S. Constitution. Unless we begin to elect representatives at all levels of government who understand that principle, we are in danger of losing those rights.

Something That Just Doesn’t Add Up

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Yesterday PJ Media posted an article titled, “If New COVID-19 Variants Need to Be Taken Very Seriously, Why Isn’t Biden Closing the Border?” That is a very good question.

The article notes:

Last week, it was all about the Delta variant of COVID-19. Health experts tell us this variant is more transmissible than other variants, but vaccines still appear to prevent severe disease and death effectively. It also does not appear to be causing severe illness in children any more than the other variants have, which is excellent news. Researchers earlier in the pandemic felt exposure to COVID-19 in childhood could help build long-term immune responses, making the virus far less virulent over time.

Currently, the Delta variant is raging in the UK. Yet Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that all COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted in the country on July 19, including masks, social distancing, and smartphone apps. The government will make the final decision on July 12, but Johnson said the country needs to move to a philosophy of personal responsibility and learn to live with the virus. It seems even he is not held captive by rising case numbers anymore in the absence of significant severe illness.

New information from Israel could be why. Israel, which has been dealing with the Delta variant for a while, indicates that the new COVID-19 variant is not making people seriously ill as often as previous waves…

The article continues:

And a new variant, lambda, is on the horizon. We seem to have skipped quite a few Greek letters here, but this is another COVID-19 “variant of interest.” Jairo Mendez-Rico, a WHO virologist, told the German outlet Deutsche Welle the following about the new variant:

“So far we have seen no indication that the lambda variant is more aggressive,” the WHO virologist Jairo Mendez-Rico told DW. “It is possible that it may exhibit higher infection rates, but we don’t yet have enough reliable data to compare it to gamma or delta.”

“Although it is possible, currently there is no indication that variants are more dangerous and lead to increased mortality,” Mendez-Rico said. “It is likely that SARS-CoV-2 will become more transmissible throughout the course of its evolution but not necessarily more damaging to the host.”

Lambda originated in Peru and now accounts for 82% of cases in the country. It is present as far north as Mexico.

Meanwhile our southern border is wide open.

The article concludes:

However, they can’t have it both ways. Because of a more contagious virus that appears to be less virulent, according to Israeli data, Los Angeles residents are required to mask again. Dr. Fauci is telling vaccinated people to mask again because of the Delta variant of COVID-19. All the while, illegal immigrants from Latin America pour over our southern border, potentially bringing new variants with them. The administration is giving some wildly mixed messages on how seriously we should take variants with the lax border policies. It is no small wonder many Americans are no longer listening.