Here's one for the mask nazis- You know who you are!
Despite concerns about lifting mask mandates, Texas and Mississippi haven't seen massive spikes in coronavirus cases, and both states reported new case numbers not seen since last year.
Texas and Mississippi lifted their mask mandates on March 2,much to the dismay of federal public health officials and President Joe Biden, who said they worried it would counteract the progress of vaccination efforts. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, still isn't sold on Texas' success, but a month after restrictions lifted, cases have remained under control.
Mask mandates have been lifted for more then a month now
Dr. Thomas Dobbs, a Mississippi state health officer, tweeted that the state was seeing "phenomenal progress" in its battle against the virus and was reporting the lowest case numbers since last May.
Liz Sharlot, communications director for the Mississippi State Department of Health, told Newsweek vaccinations are a key reason for why they've kept cases down. A "great deal" of the population that is over 50 has been vaccinated, including 54 percent of those 75 and older who have received both doses.
It isn't the vaccine. I don't know what a "great deal" means but, clearly 46 percent of those 75 and older have not been fully vaccinated.
Fauci plays down the stats
"Texas is also reporting a decline in cases and is reporting new cases at levels that haven't been seen since May, according to the state Department of Health. On Monday, the state reported only three COVID-related fatalities, the second-lowest number in more than a year, according to Governor Greg Abbott, and hospitalizations were down to an almost 10-month low.
Given the nature of the virus, it takes at least two weeks to analyze the impact a reopening move has on the outbreak, and even longer to determine if it contributed to increased hospitalizations and deaths. Fauci warned against seeing Texas' positive trends as a final blow against the virus, because you can see a "lag" and a "delay" in reopening and the impact.
"You have to see in the long range," he told MSNBC's Morning Joe on Tuesday. "I hope they continue to tick down. If they do, that would be great but...we've been fooled before by situations where people begin to open up and nothing happens and then all of a sudden several weeks later things start exploding on you."
It's been more then 4 weeks Fauci - March 04 through to April 6 is almost 5 weeks.
Fauci added that people need to be cautious and not to "prematurely" judge Texas' reopening.
From earlier: