Good News/Bad News-- But You Figure Out Which Is Good And Which Is Bad

"Please don't be too nice" to suspects

I hope you're not in Idaho-- or have relatives there-- because that's the bad news. Pandemic-wise Idaho is a mess. The state didn't report any stats yesterday but the last time they did they had had a total of 225,544 cases-- 126,209 cases per million residents, above the national average of 123,461/million. Idaho has been seriously spiking up since late July, in terms of cases, deaths and hospitalizations. The New York Times has Idaho tied with 3 other states filled with right-wing morons-- Alabama, Mississippi and Wyoming-- for the least percentage of fully vaccinated people: 39%. And 39% is almost heavenly compared to some of the reddest and most Trump-infested counties:

• Owyhee Co.- 24% fully vaccinated (Trump 80.5%)

• Idaho Co.- 24% fully vaccinated (Trump 81.4%)

• Payette Co.- 24% fully vaccinated (Trump 78.5%)

• Cassia Co.- 26% fully vaccinated (Trump 82.1%)

• Boundary Co.- 27% fully vaccinated (Trump 78.1%)

• Jefferson Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (Trump 85.3%)

• Caribou Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (Trump 85.1%)

• Lincoln Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (Trump 75.7%)

• Mimidoka Co.- 29% fully vaccinated (Trump 78.4%)

Only 3 Idaho counties voted for Biden last year-- they're all more vaccinated than Idaho in general, especially Blaine County, which is more like America than anyplace else in Idaho:

• Blaine Co.- 65% fully vaccinated (Trump 30.3%)

• Teton Co.- 49% fully vaccinated (Trump 44.9%)

• Latah Co.- 46% fully vaccinated (Trump 46.0%)

The fewer Trump voters in a county, the more vaccinated people in that county. Double morons-- Trump voters, vaccine refusers. Feeling a lot of freedom... until they get to the hospital. Now they may not even be able to get to the hospital, AP confirming that Idaho has enacted death panels. "Idaho public health leaders," wrote Rebecca Boone, "activated 'crisis standards of care' for the state’s northern hospitals because there are more coronavirus patients than the institutions can handle. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare quietly enacted the move Monday and publicly announced it in a statement Tuesday morning-- warning residents that they may not get the care they would normally expect if they need to be hospitalized. It came as the state’s confirmed coronavirus cases skyrocketed in recent weeks. Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S." Try... but freedom! Boundary is the northernmost county in Idaho and cases are up 600% in the last two weeks, the worst of any county in the state. They're followed by Lincoln County, another unvaccinated Trumpist cesspool, up 500%.

The agency cited “a severe shortage of staffing and available beds in the northern area of the state caused by a massive increase in patients with COVID-19 who require hospitalization.”

The designation includes 10 hospitals and healthcare systems in the Idaho panhandle and in north-central Idaho. The agency said its goal is to extend care to as many patients as possible and to save as many lives as possible.

The move allows hospitals to allot scarce resources like intensive care unit rooms to patients most likely to survive.

I wish they would announce that someone who voted for Trump and refused to get vaccinated is too stupid to survive so they' just let them slip quietly into that great state of freedom in the sky. But good news for those pathetic souls: "Other patients will still receive care, but they may be placed in hospital classrooms or conference rooms rather than traditional hospital rooms or go without some life-saving medical equipment... More than 500 people were hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 on Sept. 1-- the most recent data available on the Department of Health and Welfare’s website-- and more than a third of them were in intensive care unit beds. Idaho’s hospitals have struggled to fill empty nursing, housekeeping and other health care positions, in part because some staffers have left because they are burned out by the strain of the pandemic and because others have been quarantined because they were exposed to COVID-19.

And the good news I promised in the headline? 75% of Americans have now had at least one vaccination.

And take this for what it's worth: cops-- who tended to vote for Trump and are generally morons with the most reactionary unions in the country-- are getting COVID and dying. AP reported that In the first half of 2021, 71 law enforcement officials in the U.S. died from the virus-- a small decrease compared to the 76 who died in the same time period in 2020, per data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Last year, the total figure was 241-- making the virus the leading cause of law enforcement line-of-duty deaths. Despite the deaths, police officers and other first responders are among those most hesitant to get the vaccine and their cases continue to grow. No national statistics show the vaccination rate for America’s entire population of first responders but individual police and fire departments across the country report figures far below the national rate of 74% of adults who have had at least one dose. Frustrated city leaders are enacting mandates for their municipal employees-- including police officers and firefighters-- as the delta variant surges. The mandates’ consequences range from weekly testing to suspension to termination. It’s a stark contrast from the beginning of the vaccine rollout when first responders were prioritized for shots."

In Los Angeles, over 3,000 employees in the police department have been infected by the virus and the numbers continue to climb. Ten LAPD workers have died, as well as three spouses.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, has proposed required weekly testing for cops-- like the New York City Police Department-- in lieu of the mandate signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti on Aug. 20 that makes vaccinations part of city workers’ job conditions.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore said 51% of the department has been vaccinated as of Aug. 31 and more than 100 personnel got their shots in the last week and a half.

In California’s state prisons, a federal judge could order all correctional employees and inmate firefighters to be vaccinated under a class-action lawsuit. In mid-July, 41% of correctional officers statewide had at least one dose of a vaccine, compared to 75% of inmates.