Please stay safe. Please get vaccinated. Please wear a mask when you’re inside with a bunch of people. Much love.

UPDATES

New York Times: Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded. Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’. “At least two hospitals in Houston have been so overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this week that officials erected overflow tents outside. In Austin, hospitals were nearly out of beds in their intensive care units. And in San Antonio, a spike in virus cases reached alarming levels not seen in months, with children as young as 2 months old tethered to supplemental oxygen.”

Nola: COVID deaths surge, cases continue to rise in Louisiana as leaders fear ‘catastrophic situation’. “Hospitalizations, a harbinger of deaths to come, have hit new highs almost daily since Aug. 2, and the state now counts 2,835 inpatients with the coronavirus. Of those, 338 are on ventilators, the most serious level of care, a count not seen since the earliest weeks of the pandemic. The level is especially concerning given that doctors are now turning to ventilator use as a last resort, in contrast to the pandemic’s early days.”

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Broward County hospital admissions lead US, as Florida COVID cases hit another daily high at 24,753. “For the 11th straight day, Florida hospitals set records for the number of COVID patients they are treating, and on Wednesday the state set a new high for daily cases. On Wednesday, Florida hospitals had 15,449 patients a significant jump from just two days earlier when admissions surpassed 14,000 to set a record. The high count reached Wednesday occurred with only 230 of 261 hospitals reporting their COVID patients to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”

Deadline: Los Angeles Experiencing “Alarming Increase” In Covid Hospitalizations, With 8% Of Everyone Infected Now Requiring Admission. “With the bulk of new Covid-19 infections occurring among the unvaccinated, the pace of Los Angeles County residents being hospitalized due to the virus has begun rising at an equivalent rate of new cases, while the rate of people dying is also creeping higher, according to figures released today.”

MISINFORMATION / FACT-CHECKING

Vice News: This Woman Secretly Runs One of the World’s Biggest Anti-Vax Websites From Her House. “OpenVAERS, a site set up in early 2021 to spread vaccine misinformation by misusing federal data, is being operated by Liz Willner, 55, who lives in the wealthy enclave of Piedmont, a community completely surrounded by Oakland, California, according to new research conducted by AI-powered misinformation tracking group Logically, and shared exclusively with VICE News.”

Yahoo News: Yes, Florida hospitals did request hundreds of ventilators for COVID surge. “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Wednesday that it was sending 200 ventilators and 100 nasal breathing machines to Florida, where more than 10,000 people are hospitalized with coronavirus-related illnesses. Asked about the shipment on Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that it had not taken place.”

SOCIETAL IMPACT

BBC: Weight Watchers shares dive as people put diets on hold. “Shares in WW International, formerly known as Weight Watchers, have dived 25% after the firm said people were putting diets on hold after lockdown. The weight loss firm, which is backed by talk show host Oprah Winfrey, had 4.9 million subscribers at the end of June, down from 5 million last year.”

University of Utah: How society’s inequalities showed up in COVID outcomes. “Racial minorities comprise around a quarter of Utah’s population but represent a third of COVID-19 cases in the state. A similar story has played out across the country. Why have racial minorities been unequally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Researchers are still working out the answer to this question, but a new study from University of Utah researchers including Daniel Mendoza and Tabitha Benney explores the hypothesis that variation in income and occupational status, on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood scale, may be the reason.”

ACTIVISM / PROTESTS

NBC News: As vaccine mandates spread, protests follow — some spurred by nurses. “A few hundred protesters lined the sidewalk Monday outside Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego to rally against California’s impending vaccination mandates for health care workers. And to the disappointment of many medical professionals, some of the protesters were nurses wearing hospital scrubs. It was the kind of protest that was common earlier in the pandemic but lost steam this year as restrictions eased. But a resurgent coronavirus and sluggish vaccine uptake have led to a push for vaccination mandates and masking rules — and renewed protests.”

HEALTH CARE / HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

The Atlantic: Vaccine Refusers Risk Compassion Fatigue. “Unlike during the pre-vaccine phase of the pandemic, the current upsurge of suffering isn’t one that humanity has to go through. People are choosing it. And intent matters. Intent is the difference between a child who goes hungry because their parent can’t afford dinner and the one who goes hungry because their parent won’t buy them dinner. Having the ability to provide relief but not do so is cruel. To many medical providers working today, the rejection of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines feels like a giant ‘Fuck you’ from 29 percent of American adults. We will keep providing the best care possible, but they are making our job much harder.”

ABC News: As US battles delta variant, tens of thousands of vaccine doses are set to expire. “As the delta variant continues to drive the nation’s latest coronavirus surge, tens of thousands of vaccines are set to expire in the coming weeks — with several states already reporting thousands of ‘wasted’ doses.”

Texas Tribune: Texas children and children’s hospitals are under siege from two viruses: RSV and COVID-19. “More children are being treated in Texas hospitals for COVID-19 than ever before. But there’s a second factor that is putting pediatric hospitals on the path to being overwhelmed: an unseasonable outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, a highly contagious virus that can require hospitalization mostly among children five years and younger and especially infants.”

NBCDFW: No Pediatric ICU Beds Available in North Texas as COVID-19 Cases Surge. “On Thursday, the DFW Hospital Council announced that there are no available pediatric ICU beds in North Texas. There are currently 73 confirmed COVID-19 pediatric patients hospitalized in the trauma service area E. That is the highest level of pediatric COVID-19 patients ever treated.”

CNN: Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging again, but they’re different this time. “Florida and Louisiana are now reporting a record number of Covid-19 hospital admissions, and other states are close. In Mississippi and Arkansas, daily admissions are at more than 87% of their earlier peak, and in Oregon, Alabama and Washington, daily admissions are at more than 75% of their peak. But patients hospitalized with Covid-19 this summer tend to be younger than in earlier surges. And with vaccines widely available, they’re mostly preventable, too.”

INSTITUTIONS

Variety: Gulf Coast Jam, Florida Country Fest Set for Labor Day, Canceled Due to Massive COVID Spikes. “In what many in the music industry fear is a harbinger of things to come, Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, a major country music festival set to go down Labor Day weekend in Florida, has been called off for this year due to record-breaking COVID spikes in the state.”

ABC 7: Coachella, Stagecoach festivals to require fans to show proof of vaccination in order to attend. “The Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals will require fans to show proof of vaccination in order to attend, festival organizers announced Thursday. AEG Presents said it will be requiring proof of vaccination for entry into its owned and operated clubs, theatres and festivals nationwide no later than Oct. 1 — including the Coachella Music & Arts Festival and the country-themed Stagecoach Festival in Indio.”

BUSINESS / CORPORATIONS

Washington Post: 27 people test positive for coronavirus on Carnival cruise ship. “A Carnival Cruise Line ship that left from Galveston, Tex., has 27 coronavirus-positive people on board, according to the Belize Tourism Board. The outbreak is among the highest number of publicly reported cases on a ship sailing from the United States since cruises restarted this summer. According to the statement from Belize tourism officials, 26 of the infected people are crew members and one is a guest. All are vaccinated, and most have either mild or no symptoms.”

ABC News: Demand for air travel flatlines amid delta variant surge. “The first signs are emerging that the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is dampening demand for air travel: cancelations are rising, while passenger loads and air fare are on the decline. On Tuesday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 1.7 million people nationwide — the lowest number of passengers in nearly two months.”

WORLD / FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

CNN: HHS will require health care workforce to be vaccinated against Covid-19. “Covid-19 vaccinations will be required for the more than 25,000 health care staff and volunteers working at the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Xavier Becerra announced Thursday.”

NBC News: FDA poised to OK 3rd vaccine dose for immunocompromised people. “The Food and Drug Administration is poised to amend the emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and the Moderna Covid-19 vaccines Thursday to allow people with compromised immune systems to get a third dose, according to two sources familiar with the plans.”

CNBC: Sydney seeks to tighten Covid-19 curbs while Australian capital Canberra prepares to lockdown. “Extra Australian military personnel may be called in to ensure compliance with lockdown rules in Sydney, the New South Wales state government said on Thursday, as the highly infectious delta coronavirus variant spreads into regional areas. The move comes as Australia’s capital, Canberra, 260 km (160 miles) southwest of Sydney, announced a snap one-week lockdown from Thursday evening after reporting its first locally acquired case of Covid-19 in more than a year.”

Politico: Round one of child tax credit payments slashed hunger rates, U.S. data shows. “The percentage of American families with kids who report not having enough to eat fell dramatically after the first child tax credit payments were distributed last month, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The government’s finding shows that the monthly payments are having a major and immediate impact on millions of households, potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s push to extend the tax credit past the end of this year, when it is set to expire.”

STATE GOVERNMENT

AP: Tennessee House GOP urges session to curb local COVID powers. “All 73 Tennessee House Republicans signaled their support on Wednesday for a special session to limit the authority of local officials to make rules aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, as lawmakers fumed over mask requirements in a handful of school districts.”

Washington Post: Ron DeSantis’s dumb attempt at smart sanctions. “Ordinarily the hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts tries to focus on U.S. foreign policy and international relations. The politics of federalism are beyond my area of expertise. However, when governors and their press secretaries start talking like foreign policy wonks, it means we have arrived at my punditry comfort zone.”

Texas Tribune: Texas warns Austin restaurants that their liquor licenses could be revoked for requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. “The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has warned two Austin restaurants that they could lose their liquor licenses for requiring their customers to provide proof of at least a first round of COVID-19 vaccinations before they would be served. The two restaurants, Launderette and Fresa’s, were first alerted by the TABC on Wednesday that they were in violation of Senate Bill 968, which passed during this year’s regular legislative session.”

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

New York Times: In Texas, a Quarantine Camp for Migrants With Covid-19. “Amid a ferocious resurgence of coronavirus infections in many parts of the country, some conservative politicians, including the governors of Texas and Florida, have blamed the Biden administration’s failure to halt the influx of migrants for the soaring case numbers. In fact, the massive operation in McAllen and others like it make that extremely unlikely, and public health officials and elected leaders here note that the region was facing rising case numbers even before the recent increase in border crossings.”

Nola: New Orleans to require COVID vaccines or negative tests for bars, Superdome, other venues. “The citywide vaccine mandate, one of the first in the United States, will take effect Monday and enforcement will begin Aug. 23. It comes amid a Louisiana surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations driven by the highly transmissible delta variant and the state’s low vaccination rate.”

INDIVIDUALS / BANDS / GROUPS

Washington Post: Rand Paul discloses 16 months late that his wife bought stock in company behind covid treatment. “Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday that his wife bought stock in Gilead Sciences — which makes an antiviral drug used to treat covid-19 — on Feb. 26, 2020, before the threat from the coronavirus was fully understood by the public and before it was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The disclosure, in a filing with the Senate, came 16 months after the 45-day reporting deadline set forth in the Stock Act, which is designed to combat insider trading.”

CNBC: Rand Paul’s wife bought shares in Covid treatment maker Gilead in early days of virus, the couple’s only individual stock purchase in years. “Republican Sen. Rand Paul and his wife had not bought or sold stock in an individual company in at least 10 years when Kelley Paul purchased shares of the drug company Gilead Sciences in early 2020. The purchase came early in the novel coronavirus’ initial wave through the United States — and one day after the first U.S. clinical trial began for Gilead’s remdesivir as a treatment for Covid-19, according to records reviewed by CNBC.”

WDSU: ‘I made peace with dying’: New Orleans father tests positive before getting vaccinated, urges others to get a shot. “A New Orleans father tested positive before getting vaccinated and encourages people not to wait to get a shot. Al Grandoit, 47, broke down into tears when he thought about his 10-year-old daughter growing up without her father. The New Orleans resident said for a few weeks, he thought it was going to be a reality after he tested positive for COVID-19.”

SPORTS

For the Win: The Cubs released Jake Arrieta after he told a reporter to take his mask off during press conference. “Arrieta had already opened the season with irresponsible anti-vaccine comments, so it wasn’t exactly surprising to see his thoughts on masks fall into the same realm. But when Arrieta chose to mock a reporter over wearing a mask after allowing 8 runs in four innings on Wednesday, it appeared to be the final straw for the Cubs.”

K-12 EDUCATION

National Education Association: NEA announces support for educator vaccine and testing requirement. “National Education Association President Becky Pringle issued the following statement today announcing NEA’s support for requirements that all educators receive a COVID-19 vaccination or submit to regular COVID-19 testing.”

ABC News: Schools fight back against GOP governors, defy bans on masks. “With the highly contagious delta variant fueling a surge in coronavirus cases just as students return to classrooms, major school districts in Arizona, Florida, Texas and beyond are increasingly defying Republican leaders who banned school mask mandates in several states.”

ProPublica: My Kids’ School Won’t Reinstate Masks Despite a Recent Surge in COVID Cases. Here’s What I Chose to Do.. “Georgia’s Cobb County School District had parents choose between virtual and in-person learning, then lifted its mask mandate. Many families are frantically figuring out how to navigate this reality. ProPublica reporter Nicole Carr is one of them.”

CBS News: 12-year-old writes viral letter asking Florida school board to require masks. “A 12-year-old girl is advocating for other children, urging her Florida school district implement masks in schools. Lila Hartley wrote a letter to the Duval County school board and superintendent last week, saying she is vaccinated, but she is concerned about her 10-year-old brother, who is ineligible at his age.”

The 19th: ‘We need every tool in our toolbox’: COVID-19 Delta surge threatens to overwhelm school nurses. “School nurses spent the past year mitigating in-school coronavirus spread and helping vaccinate staff and students. This year, many say they are burned out – just as COVID-19 cases surge once again.”

Axios: Over 800 physicians call on DeSantis to repeal anti-mask order in schools. “More than 800 physicians signed a letter on Thursday calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to repeal an executive order that prohibits local officials from requiring masks in school. Driving the news: DeSantis is threatening to withhold pay from superintendents and school board members who mandate face masks in schools, even as Florida experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations driven by the Delta variant.”

CNN: A parent sent their child to school after a positive Covid-19 test. More than 80 students may have been exposed, officials say. “More than 80 students were potentially exposed to Covid-19 on the first day of class in Reno, Nevada, on Monday after a parent sent their child to Marce Herz Middle School, despite both the parent and child receiving a positive Covid-19 test just two days earlier, Washoe County Health District officials said.”

Mississippi Free Press: Pearl River High School Quarantines 40% Of Students In First Week, District Going Virtual. “An entire Mississippi school district is going virtual after Pearl River Central High School ordered 40% of its student body to quarantine after just one week of school. Classes began at the Carriere, Miss., school on Aug. 5 with no mask mandates. Since then, the high school has quarantined 394 members of its roughly 1,000-member student body.”

CBS Miami: Four Broward County Educators Lose Battle With COVID-19 In Less Than 24 Hours. “When it comes to picking its victims, COVID-19 does not discriminate. The vicious virus, in less than one day this week, between Tuesday and Wednesday, claimed the lives of three Broward County school teachers and one of its assistant teachers.”

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: 440 students in Palm Beach County in quarantine two days into school year. “Most of the 440 have not tested positive for COVID, but they presumably were exposed to someone with the virus. The school district on Thursday reported only 51 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the school system — 37 students and 14 employees. Still, the widespread quarantine disturbs parents and disrupts students’ education at a time when teachers say they need to be in class to make up the ground they lost during remote learning in the last school year. Test scores dropped dramatically when students were allowed to learn at home.”

WBTV: 200 children in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 in Gaston County. ” Gaston County officials say there are about 200 children in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 in the last 10 days. Officials say this increase in cases among children is proportional to the increase of total cases. Last August, county officials say about 16 percent of their cases were in children and this August the county is at 17 percent.”

HIGHER EDUCATION

Arkansas Tech University: ATU Implementing Mandatory Face Coverings Indoors. “Face coverings will be mandatory inside all Arkansas Tech University buildings effective Thursday, Aug. 12, and continuing until further notice. ATU students, faculty, staff and guests will be required to wear face coverings regardless of their vaccination status when indoors in a congregational setting, including classrooms, meeting rooms, building lobbies and hallways. Faculty and staff members who are alone in their offices and students who are in their residence hall rooms and on-campus apartments will not be required to wear face coverings.”

NBC News: Supreme Court rejects challenge to Indiana University’s vaccination requirement. “The Supreme Court refused Thursday to block Indiana University’s requirement that students be vaccinated against Covid-19 to attend classes in the fall semester. It was the first legal test of a Covid vaccination mandate to come before the justices. A challenge to the policy was directed to Amy Coney Barrett, the justice in charge of that region of the country, who denied it. There were no noted dissents from other justices.”

HEALTH

ABC News: Front-line workers warn of significant increase in pediatric COVID patients. “Since the onset of the pandemic, nearly 4.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, with infection rates growing exponentially in recent weeks. In the last week, 94,000 new pediatric COVID-19 cases were reported, representing 15% of all reported new infections. Similarly, pediatric COVID-19-related hospital admissions are at their highest level since the onset of the pandemic.”

Newswise: Youth, the Pandemic and a Global Mental Health Crisis. “An alarming percentage of children and adolescents are experiencing a global-wide mental crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to a new University of Calgary study published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. The UCalgary study is a meta-analysis, pooling together data from 29 separate studies from around the world, including 80,879 youth globally. The new findings show that depression and anxiety symptoms have doubled in children and adolescents when compared to pre-pandemic times.”

Washington Post: A majority of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in covid hot spots, Post analysis finds. “Two-thirds of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in coronavirus hot spots, according to an analysis by The Washington Post, as outbreaks of the highly transmissible delta variant — once concentrated in poorly vaccinated pockets — ignite in more populated and immunized areas still short of herd immunity. The Post analysis illustrates how rapidly the state of the pandemic changed in July from a problem for the unvaccinated to a nationwide concern.”

Los Angeles Times: Despite obstacles, Native Americans have the nation’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rate. “It’s not just the Fort Belknap reservation that has managed to protect itself. Experts say Native Americans have a higher vaccination rate than any other major racial or ethnic group. Those rates are difficult to determine, because many vaccine recipients do not provide their race or ethnicity when they get shots. But more than 100 million have done so. That data — collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — suggest that Native Americans are 24% more likely than whites to be fully vaccinated, 31% more likely than Latinos, 64% more likely than African Americans and 11% more likely than Asian Americans.”

ABC News: CDC strengthens recommendation that pregnant women get vaccinated. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday announced new evidence that it said strengthens its recommendation that pregnant people get vaccinated.”

NBC News: Higher vaccination rates in Texas and Florida could’ve saved 4,700 lives, study finds. “The study from the Commonwealth Fund, a private health care endowment, was conducted by an international team of epidemiologists and data scientists. The analysis compared the Covid hospitalization and death rates of a group of states like Vermont and Connecticut, which had fully vaccinated roughly 3 in 4 adults on average, with those of Florida and Texas, where roughly 1 in 2 adults are fully vaccinated.”

AP: Extra COVID vaccine OK’d for those with weak immune systems. “U.S. regulators on Thursday said transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to better protect them as the delta variant continues to surge.”

New York Times: Are Delta Symptoms Different?. “Early in the pandemic, we learned about the hallmark signs of infection, which can include loss of taste and smell, fever, cough, shortness of breath and fatigue. But what about now, more than a year later? Have symptoms changed given that the Delta variant is currently the most common form of the virus in the United States? There is little data on this question and much left to untangle.”

TECHNOLOGY

CNET: Delta variant meets ‘my fall plans’: The saddest, most relatable meme. “The coronavirus delta variant is serious stuff. It’s more contagious, causes more hospitalizations, and as of late July, it accounts for about 80% of COVID cases in the US Unsurprisingly, it’s also found its way into memes and jokes, as many people’s best-laid fall plans suddenly take a jolting turn. The variant isn’t funny, but some of these memes sure are.”

RESEARCH

Los Angeles Times: Column: Major study of Ivermectin, the anti-vaccine crowd’s latest COVID drug, finds ‘no effect whatsoever’. “Ivermectin, the latest supposed treatment for COVID-19 being touted by anti-vaccination groups, had ‘no effect whatsoever’ on the disease, according to a large patient study. That’s the conclusion of the Together Trial, which has subjected several purported nonvaccine treatments for COVID-19 to carefully designed clinical testing. The trial is supervised by McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and conducted in Brazil.”

Haaretz: U.S. Jews Are Most Pro-vaccine Religious Group in America, Poll Finds. “The poll, conducted in June 2021, found that 85 percent of Jewish Americans are likely to be vaccine acceptors. However, while all other religious groups surveyed saw at least a 10-point growth in likelihood of acceptance rates since March, the rate among Jews has generally stayed the same.”

Phys .org: Large number of Americans reported financial anxiety and stress even before the pandemic. “A substantial number of adults in the United States between the ages of 21 and 62 felt anxiety and stress about their personal finances well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published today. Researchers found that financial stress and anxiety are highly linked to low levels of financial literacy, problematic financial behaviors and decreased financial security.”

OUTBREAKS

KDVR: 12 COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths in outbreak at Nissan of Durango. “At least 12 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at Nissan of Durango, including three people who died. San Juan Basin Public Health said a fourth person died after contracting COVID-19, but the case did not meet the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s case definition to be added to the outbreak list. All four people who died were unvaccinated and ranged in age from 40s to 60s.”

CRIME / SECURITY / LEGAL

Newswise: Crowding in Prisons Increases Inmates’ Risk for COVID-19 Infections. “Crowding in prisons dramatically increases the risk for COVID-19 infections among inmates, according to a new study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The authors of the study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, argue that policy changes are necessary to protect the vulnerable population of incarcerated men and women.”

NBC News: Prison suicides have been rising for years. Experts fear the pandemic has made it worse.. “Nationwide, prison suicides have been increasing for years, and some experts worry worsening conditions and staff shortages brought on by the pandemic may accelerate that rise. Delays in data reporting, though, make it difficult to tell: The most recent national figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed an 85 perccent increase in state and federal prison suicides from 2001 to 2018, but 2020 data won’t come out until next year.”

Los Angeles Times: LAPD officers are supposed to wear masks. They keep getting caught without them. “With coronavirus cases once again rising across Los Angeles and within the ranks of the city’s police, LAPD officers have been ordered to wear face masks ‘whenever in public or in the workplace.’ More than a few cops, however, are ignoring the directive — and getting caught.”

KSAT: Judge delivers blow to Texas Gov. Abbott’s ban on mandates, allows San Antonio to require masks in schools. “San Antonio leaders scored a victory in court against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday in the ongoing fight over mask mandates. A Bexar County Civil District Court Judge granted the city and Bexar County’s request for a temporary restraining order against Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates in schools.”

NBC News: Parent attacks teacher after mask dispute on first day of school in California district, official says. “A parent attacked a teacher following a mask dispute on the first day of school, a California superintendent said. The incident occurred about an hour after the first day ended at Sutter Creek Elementary School in Amador County, NBC affiliate KCRA of Sacramento reported.”

POLITICS

CNN: A tale of two Kentuckians: Paul and McConnell diverge as Covid cases rise. “Sen. Rand Paul just got temporarily kicked off YouTube for an inaccurate tirade against masks. Sen. Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, has been airing ads that urge people to go out and get the vaccine. The two Kentucky Republicans now perfectly exemplify the national divide over how to handle a deadly virus that is still ravaging the country — and they couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.”

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