DoVille
Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes will play football later today in front 25,000 fans which will be the largest crowd at an NFL game this year. This, in of itself, is bad enough given that I'm pretty sure that the fans in the stands of a half-full stadium will not be spaced six feet apart for the duration.
But here's the really scary bit about the big event away from the ballpark, according to Cindy Boren writing in the Washington Post:
Although the United States continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, Super Bowl parties will still be a destination for a significant segment of the population.
One-fourth of Americans in a recent Seton Hall Sports Poll indicated that they intend to gather with people from outside their households for Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Feb. 7...
Why does this matter right now, more than ever?
Well, as Eric Topol of the Scripps Institute points out, the UK SARS-Cov-2 variant, which is approximately 50% more infectious than the 'original' form of virus, is now in pretty much every state in the U.S.
Which means that asymptomatic variant carriers will likely be getting together, in close proximity for hours, both in the stands in Tampa and in homes and gathering places all over North America.
So.
What's the big deal?
Well, that increase in transmissibility likely means an exponential growth in infections to come without stringent public health restrictions.
And I'm almost certain that is the kind of thing that is now keeping public health officers everywhere, including ours here in British Columbia, up at night as they keep on clamping down while they simultaneously hope and pray that the vaccine approvals and shipments start to ramp up in earnest.
OK?
_______
Purposeful Typo in the Header courtesy sister publication the Oak Bay Gazette (which is a fun follow) on the Twittmachine.
Well, as Eric Topol of the Scripps Institute points out, the UK SARS-Cov-2 variant, which is approximately 50% more infectious than the 'original' form of virus, is now in pretty much every state in the U.S.
Which means that asymptomatic variant carriers will likely be getting together, in close proximity for hours, both in the stands in Tampa and in homes and gathering places all over North America.
So.
What's the big deal?
Well, that increase in transmissibility likely means an exponential growth in infections to come without stringent public health restrictions.
And I'm almost certain that is the kind of thing that is now keeping public health officers everywhere, including ours here in British Columbia, up at night as they keep on clamping down while they simultaneously hope and pray that the vaccine approvals and shipments start to ramp up in earnest.
OK?
_______
Purposeful Typo in the Header courtesy sister publication the Oak Bay Gazette (which is a fun follow) on the Twittmachine.
Thompson was notorious for not actually showing up to the big games he was 'assigned' to in the early '70's.
.
4 comments:
Plus how many have had their first shot of vaccine but not the second? Is this the time where a new variant is formed because of the super bowl?
Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, where millions of Americans travelled, gathered and made merry, the Superb Owl will show its ugly effects in the next two to four weeks. But really the event is no worse or better than the half measures that have stalled any real progress across North America over the past year. Even here in BC we've become acclimated into thinking the 500 new cases per day and 20 some odd deaths is great progress. The talk about schools is really no different than the big football game- mealy mask mandates, hundreds of thousands of kids in close quarters talking loudly, coughing and the like. At the bare minimum, I go back to my 24-7 arm poking- not much else is having any real impact. The variants are the real scary part of all of this. BC Waterboy
I hope to watch this game, I have no preference for a winner just would like a good game. It has many of the ingredients that would suggest that is possible. I will be watching alone, which,if one really wants to watch the game, is what one must do. I hope it’s not over by halftime.
That does sound like a lot of people in the stands. Seeing that kinda thing makes me feel a little queasy, looking at those folks and the mind wanders to who and if.
Good luck with the cells and figuring how they get in their constricted Vancouver condos.
What game? In other news the geniuses had a party in Kelowna outdoors complete with generator and DJ.
The human being continues to amaze.
Post a Comment