‘Do Nothing’ Doug Ducey And Our Covid-Denying GQP Legislature Are Willing To Sacrifice Your Child’s Health – Even Their Life – On The Altar Of Their Trump Death Cult Ignorance

On Saturday, Arizona reported over 2K additional virus cases, 22 deaths:

Arizona on Saturday reported over 2,000 additional confirmed COVID-19 infections for the first time in nearly five months amid a continuing increase in the state’s rolling average of new cases and more virus-related hospitalizations.

The additional 2,066 cases and 22 deaths increased Arizona’s pandemic totals to 927,235 cases and 18,246 deaths. Arizona on March 5 reported 2,276 additional cases.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, Arizona’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases rose over the past two weeks from 898 to 1,577 while the daily deaths average declined from 13 to 11.4.

The number of virus patients occupying hospital beds topped 1,000 for the third straight day, with 1,106 as of Friday, double the number one month earlier on June 30 and the most since March 2.

Public health officials in Arizona and elsewhere attribute the worsening spread to the very contagious delta variant and low vaccination rates.

“Unlike last summer when we were headed into school w/ declining rates, the match has been lit and the kindling is aflame this time,″ Dr. Joe K. Gerald, a University of Arizona researcher who tracks COVID-19 data, said on Twitter.

The New York Times reported, C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox:

The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

The immediate next step for the agency is to “acknowledge the war has changed,” the document said.

Holy crap! I don’t know about you, but back in the day, when I was in the third grade, we had a chicken pox outbreak in our school. Within two weeks virtually every student in our school had chicken pox, including me and my siblings. Some students had mild cases and were back in school in a short time. But I had a severe case of chicken pox, and missed almost an entire month of school. And yes, I have now had my Shingrex vaccine shot because I never want to experience anything like that again.

Forbes reports, Hospitals In Southern U.S. Report Record Numbers Of Children Hospitalized Amid Delta Surge—Though Deaths Still Extremely Rare:

While it is still extremely rare for children to become seriously ill or die from Covid-19, hospitals primarily based in the southern U.S. are reporting a sharp uptick in the number of children they are seeing admitted, with some hitting new pandemic records, as the delta variant continues to drive a concerning surge in cases and hospitalizations nationwide.

Major children’s hospitals in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida—states that have been battling a broader increase in hospitalizations—all said this week they have more children in their care than at any other point in the pandemic.

Coronavirus-linked hospitalizations are up 50% from their previous peak at the Arkansas Children’s hospitals in Little Rock and Springdale, the hospitals’ chief clinical officer told CNN, deeming the 24 total pediatric patients housed at their facilities as of Wednesday (which includes seven in intensive care and two on ventilators) the “worst we’ve ever seen it for kids.”

Louisiana has also seen child hospitalizations surge in multiple cities, with the number of patients at Children’s Hospital New Orleans jumping from six at the start of the week to a record 17 on Thursday morning; the facility has paused surgeries to redeploy staff to critical care units.

In Florida, the trend has been reported in Palm Beach, St. Petersburg, and in Jacksonville, where a top pediatric infectious disease specialist counted a record 20 children currently hospitalized across the city.

While other states are largely seeing records at individual hospitals, Alabama has hit a new peak state-wide, according to Alabama Hospital Association President Don Williamson, who told The Alabama Reporter that the 32 children currently hospitalized with Covid-19 outpaces the numbers seen even when the state was at its peak in terms of hospitalizations in January.

KEY BACKGROUND

Experts have floated numerous explanations for why child hospitalizations appear to be on the rise. Many cite data which shows younger people are making up a larger proportion of new cases, which are predominantly the more infectious delta variant. For example, Florida earlier this month saw an 87% increase in coronavirus cases in children under 12 years old. In Louisiana, school-aged children had the third-highest number of coronavirus infections when the data was last reported by the state Department of Health. Children below 12 are also unable to get the coronavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, inoculations are severely lagging among teenagers and young adults.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

Dr. Rick Barr, the chief clinical officer at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, told CNN the parents of hospitalized children are “shocked” because the “messaging out there has been that kids don’t really get sick with Covid, and we didn’t see serious illnesses, except for rare instances, with the previous variant.” Seeing what is happening in his hospitals has led many parents to “understand the value of vaccines,” Barr said. “In fact, they’re encouraging other parents to get their kids vaccinated.”

Ah, but not here in Arizona. Our “Wimpy Kid” governor, “Do Nothing” Doug Ducey, and our Covid-denying MAGA/QAnon cult GQP anti-science, anti-vaxxer state legislators are willing to sacrifice your child’s health – even their life – on the altar of their Trump death cult ignorance.

The Republic’s Laurie Roberts writes, In Arizona, it’s a hard no on masks. It’s the price Ducey was willing to pay to cut taxes:

As expected, Gov. Doug Ducey was a hard no on Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that we once again break out the masks:

“Arizona does not allow mask mandates, vaccine mandates, vaccine passports or discrimination in schools based on who is and isn’t vaccinated,” he said. “We’ve passed all of this into law, and it will not change.”

We certainly know that it will not change.

Sacrificing public health and bowing to anti-vaxxers was the price of Ducey’s tax cuts.

In order to get the votes to pass a budget and rescue the state’s wealthiest residents from a big tax hike approved by voters, Ducey agreed to bar all levels of government from requiring vaccines and to bar bar business owners from requiring proof of vaccination from customers. He also barred universities from requiring vaccinations and testing and school boards from requiring masks.

Heaven forbid, we allow locally elected school boards to decide what is best, based upon the spread of the virus.

Or that we allow businesses to run their operations as they see fit.

Or that we listen to the public health experts or follow the science[.]

[To] hear Ducey tell it, the CDC’s revised recommendations “will unfortunately only diminish confidence in the vaccine.”

Sorry, sir, but I think you’re confusing the CDC with far-right Republican Party leaders who see vaccinations as some sort of government plot.

If we are being dragged right back to the bad old days of the pandemic, governor, look no further than Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs and the Republican-run Arizona Legislature and, well, yourself.

Look no further than all of the Republican leaders who are so quick to worry about the “freedom” of the unvaccinated and to heck with the freedom of the rest of us, doing the responsible thing in order to get back to living normal lives.

But just proclaiming that happy days are here again doesn’t make it so.

The Delta variant is here and it is making people sick and even Ducey’s own state health director, Dr. Cara Christ, recommended this past week that we follow the revised CDC guidelines.

“Do Nothing” Doug Ducey was effusive in his praise for his departing heath director whose recommendations he is ignoring.

“Through any and every challenge, Dr. Christ put the health and safety of Arizonans first,” he said.

As opposed to, say, a governor who has closed his eyes, dug in his heels and is now touting his own spotty record in handling COVID-19.

“Do Nothing” Doug Ducey is now picking a political fight with Phoenix Union School District because school administrators are concerned about protecting the health and the lives of their students (and staff) from the highly infectious delta variant of Covid-19. Despite Arizona ban, Phoenix Union High School District announces indoor masks mandate:

Phoenix Union High School District will require masks to be worn indoors when students head back to school next week — following the recommendation of departing state health director, Dr. Cara Christ — despite an Arizona law that bans mask mandates.

Citing the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus and updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, the district said students, staff and visitors must wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

In a statement, Gov. Doug Ducey’s office said Phoenix Union’s policy is not allowed under Arizona law, calling the district’s move “unenforceable.”

“Arizona is not anti-mask, we’re anti-mask mandate,” the statement said. “As the governor has often said, mask usage is up to parents. If a parent wants their child to wear a mask at school, they are free to do so.”

At a news conference on Friday, Phoenix Union Superintendent Chad Gestson … said he has been in talks with his legal team about the mandate but reiterated that his job was about the health and safety of schools.

The Governor’s Office said decisions about masks are about personal responsibility and parental choice.

Moron.

“School administrators should be doing everything they can to encourage eligible students and staff to get vaccinated, not break state law,” the statement said.

But Gestson said mask and vaccines are not an “either-or debate.”

“This is not a debate of should you get the vaccine and should you wear your mask,” he said. “What science tells us is that we should get our vaccine and at the same time, especially in the presence of a fast-growing, dangerous delta variant, that we should wear masks.”

Gestson, who spoke Friday from Alhambra High School, where a vaccination event was taking place, said student or staff refusal to wear masks will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

The QAnon Queen of the Arizona legislature, “Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said lawmakers acted to prohibit mask policies like Phoenix Union’s and said she has asked the Legislative Council and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to determine the effective date of the law banning local mask mandates.”

“”It is clear we still have an issue with rogue school boards when it comes to forcing masks,” she said.”

Another Republican lawmaker, the GQP Queen of Voter Suppression, Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, said on Twitter that the ban takes effect Sept. 29, adding, “”I predict many lawsuits from angry [MAGA/QAnon cult] parents” if Phoenix Union’s mandate remains in place then.

Phoenix Union policy comes after new CDC recommendations

In its announcement earlier Friday, Phoenix Union said the district believed it was “imperative” to follow guidance from the CDC and other health agencies.

“Recently, we have heard from our staff, students, and families that they want us to realign our mitigation practices with the guidelines and recommendations of national and local health agencies,” the district said in a statement.

Gestson said in a video explaining the decision to require masks that the district teaches and trusts science and that this was a time when science had to supersede law, mandates and executive orders.

“For me personally, for us as a school system, this has been a very challenging decision on one hand,” Gestson said. “On the other hand, we have said from day one that we will always prioritize the health and safety of our community even if that means we must stand in the face of some controversy.”

In the statement on its mask policy, Phoenix Union said the district will discuss COVID-19 mitigation plans, including masks, at its Aug. 5 Governing Board meeting and will consider continuing the mask mandate until the CDC or other health agencies change their recommendations.

Phoenix Union High School District’s 22 schools have nearly 30,000 students and more than 4,000 employees.

Classes start Monday, Aug. 2.

The appropriate response to our Trump death cult Republican state leaders is to paraphrase John Wayne in Big Jake:

“And now you understand. Anything goes wrong, anything at all… your fault, my fault, nobody’s fault… it won’t matter – you’re going to held accountable. No matter what else happens, no matter how many children die, I’m going to hold you accountable.”

Not one of these dangerously insane lunatics should be serving in public office, and not one of them should ever be allowed to hold a public office, ever again.