Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

Not counting the World Series?

 

As I've said before, of the 29 American teams in MLB, there are maybe 15 where a non-diehard would even want to go to a game before school gets out and the weather turns? I saw today that the forecast for Thursday in Detroit is mid-30s with possible snow flurries (closely mirroring a disastrous 2002 opener I attended in which the Tigers started the season 0-10 and fired Phil Garner as manager).

 

I'm not too concerned about this bump growing out of control. Hospitalizations are still flat (not as fun as dropping) and vaccinations continue at an ever-growing pace. This is what a lot of the models spit out with regards to the B117 variant: A plateau/small bump in late March and April, then continued declines.

If you're in the Upper Great Plains, Northeast, or Florida, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pause reopening for a few weeks or be more careful on the individual level.

 

Where are you tracking hospitalizations now?

 

The New York Times page has this information updated every morning.

 

The World Series wasn't open to the public at full capacity, as the stadium was for the exhibition game against Milwaukee.

 

An acquaintance's dad died last night in Brazil.

Bolsonaro's dictatorial tendencies aren't going over well with the Brazilian military: Brazil: Political crisis and Covid surge rock Bolsonaro

And yeah, he also doesn't care about COVID. I wonder if a coup is on the way.

 

I suspect this latest news will delay any potential loosening of indoor restrictions in Virginia until at least May 1, and I'm fine with that. Our governor has backed science from the start and my city in particular has done a fine job handling this, so let's hang on for one more month before considering anything different.

 

Dovetails with the new Post-U. Maryland survey.

As Major League Baseball opens its new season under a lingering coronavirus cloud and NBA and NHL teams begin making a final push for the playoffs, less than half of Americans say they would feel comfortable attending a live sporting event , according to a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

Baseball’s Opening Day is Thursday, and stadiums across the country will open their gates and welcome back fans with a range of restrictions and protocols in place, including mask mandates and caps on attendance. While 42 percent of Americans are comfortable attending a live, ticketed sporting event in general — compared with 40 percent who are not and 18 percent who are unsure — people say their own comfort levels vary widely based on conditions.

About two-thirds say they would feel comfortable attending an outdoor event such as baseball (66 percent), but less than half as many (32 percent) feel comfortable attending an indoor event such as basketball. Nearly 2 in 3 people (64 percent) say they would feel comfortable if all attendees were required to wear masks, compared with 22 percent who would feel comfortable if there was no mask requirement.

In the poll, 63 percent of Americans say it is a large or moderate risk to attend a sporting event right now, including 26 percent who say it’s a large risk. That marks a sharp decline in risk over the past year: In a May 2020 Axios-Ipsos poll, 84 percent said attending a sporting event was a large or moderate risk, including 65 percent who said it was a “large risk.”​

Post-U-Md. poll: Less than half of Americans feel comfortable attending sports in person — The Washington Post

 

I'll feel comfortable once I'm fully vaccinated.

 

I’ll be fully vaccinated Sunday, since it’ll be two weeks after my second shot.