This is your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday April 13th, 2021.
Pastor Toby is first and foremost a pastor, so I am filling in for him today. Yes sorry, you get me, and not the great Pastor Toby news brief you generally get on Tuesday.
Folks- we have 16 days until our Fight Laugh Feast Rally in Rapid City, SD. Still time to sign up and see us on the ground at the conference. Get signed up, go to FLFNetwork.com/Rally to find out about the hotels we get a discount to, agenda details, and more. We can’t wait to see everyone at the end of April. Now if you can’t make it to the conference, but still want to catch the talks, well only club members will get access to all the talks as they are streamed live, and following the conference. So if you are not a club member, and can’t attend the conference, well don’t worry, sign up as a club member and you will still get access to all the great talks from the conference. Go to FightLaughFeast.com to sign up!
News
Fauci ‘not sure’ why Texas doesn’t have COVID uptick after nixing masks
https://nypost.com/2021/04/10/fauci-not-sure-why-texas-doesnt-have-covid-uptick-after-nixing-masks/
It’s been some five weeks since Texas lifted its mask mandate, and there has yet to be an explosion of COVID-19 cases.
It’s something Dr. Anthony Fauci can’t quite explain.
“I’m not really quite sure,” he told MSNBC this week. “It could be they’re doing things outdoors.”
Daily cases in Texas hovered above 7,000 in early March, when Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the state’s mask rules, leaving it up to individuals and organizations to make their own decisions.
Now, according to the Centers for Disease Control, new cases of COVID-19 are under 4,000.
Fauci noted there can be a delay in how and when cases manifest.
“Often you have to wait a few weeks before you see the effect of what you’re doing right now,” he said.
“I hope they continue to tick down. If they do, that would be great but there’s always the concern when you pull back on methods — particularly on things like indoor dining and bars that are crowded — you could see a delay and then all of a sudden tick right back up,” he said.
“We’ve been fooled before by situations where people begin to open back up. Nothing happens and then all of a sudden several weeks later things explode on you, so we’ve got to be careful we don’t prematurely judge that,” he added.
President Biden had slammed the decision to ease the state’s mask mandate as “neanderthal thinking.”
Lets have some more fun with this, and compare Texas to Michigan and Minnesota:
Texas Has Fewer COVID Cases Than Michigan—Despite Nearly 20M More People and No Restrictions
https://fee.org/articles/texas-has-fewer-covid-cases-than-michigan-despite-nearly-20m-more-people-and-no-restrictions/
First Minnesota: According to Freedom for Economic Education:
“On March 2, former US Senator Al Franken mocked Texas for lifting all its remaining COVID-19 restrictions.
“Gee, we here in Texas haven’t screwed up royally in a whole two weeks!” Franken tweeted. “I know! Let’s lift the mask mandate!”
“Governor Tim Walz’s “Stay Safe Plan” remains in force. The order limits indoor social gatherings to 15 people (outdoor gatherings to 50). Social distancing “must be maintained” when people from different households gather. Many businesses, such as restaurants, operate under capacity limits (both indoors and outdoors). Masks are required virtually everywhere indoors.
Despite these restrictions, Minnesota is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases. On March 2, the day Texas announced it was lifting all pandemic restrictions, Minnesota’s daily case count was at 425. A month later, on April 2, that number had swelled to more than 2,500.”
Now Michigan:
In Michigan, CNN reports that state statics show its case count hit 9,350 on Saturday, the highest since December 7. Its 3-day rolling average on April 4 was 6,995.
In Texas, it was 1,646.
In ot