Pirate's Cove

Remember when so many states wanted to follow the California model? How the media said California, a state run lock, stock, and barrel by Democrats, was Doing It Right when it came to bat soup virus? All the lockdowns, restrictions, police arresting people out and about who weren’t anywhere near another human being? You know the hit parade. Now?

Once a model, California now struggles to tame COVID-19

Ambulances waited hours for openings to offload coronavirus patients. Overflow patients were moved to hospital hallways and gift shops, even a cafeteria. Refrigerated trucks were on standby, ready to store the dead.

For months, California did many of the right things to avoid a catastrophic surge from the pandemic. But by the time Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Dec. 15 that 5,000 body bags were being distributed, it was clear that the nation’s most populous state had entered a new phase of the COVID-19 crisis.

Now infections have been racing out of control for weeks, and California has routinely set new records for infections and deaths. It remains at or near the top of the list of states with the most new cases per capita.

Experts say a variety of factors combined to wipe out the past efforts, which for much of the year held the virus to manageable levels. Cramped housing, travel and Thanksgiving gatherings contributed to the spread, along with the public’s fatigue amid regulations that closed many schools and businesses and encouraged — or required — an isolated lifestyle.

Perhaps all those liberals in California are just not wearing their masks, right? Right! California is basically looking like Italy in March/April.

Another factor could be a more contagious variant of the virus detected in Southern California, although it’s not clear yet how widespread that may be.

Seems as if that’s just an excuse to shift the blame from Gov Gavin Newsome and other politicians.

California’s woes have helped fuel the year-end U.S. infection spike and added urgency to the attempts to beat back the scourge that has killed more than 340,000 Americans. Even with vaccines becoming available, cases are almost certain to continue growing, and yet another surge is expected in the weeks after Christmas and New Year’s.

The article does attempt to offer reasons, such as very dense housing, but, there are plenty of areas in the nation, and the world, where they have dense housing and not this big of a problem.

In March, during the early days of the pandemic, Newsom was hailed for issuing the nation’s first state stay-home order.

The Democrat eased business restrictions in May, and when a broader restart led to another surge, imposed more rules. In early December, with cases out of control, he issued a looser stay-home order. He also closed businesses such as barbershops and salons, halted restaurant dining and limited capacity in retail stores. The latest restrictions apply everywhere except in rural Northern California.

But Dr. Lee Riley, an infectious diseases professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said that while the state managed to flatten the curve of rising cases, it never effectively bent the curve downward to the point infections would die out.

Thing is, it was never going to stop it, just delay the inevitable. Yes, things were very much in flux early on. We know slightly more now. But, really, we knew enough to not have to deal with the authoritarian lockdowns, and the whole world which pulled these dictatorial craziness are dealing with a massive resurgence.

Masks? How’s that working out? Now it’s just time to wait for the vaccine, which is coming

It really is incredible watching the same members of the press that claimed there was almost no chance we would get a vaccine this year now complain we’ve only vaccinated 3-4 million people so far in a few weeks. pic.twitter.com/BnzZgKL2F2

— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 31, 2020