Crowded Georgia School Now A Veritable Coronafest
Who could have seen this coming?
Last week, North Paulding High School in Georgia made the news after several pictures of its crowded hallways went viral. The first thing the school district did in response was to immediately suspend Hannah Watters, the concerned student who posted them. Surely, they imagined that a grateful nation would breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that justice was done and that this whole matter was handled properly, but that is not what happened. Rather, suspending Watters garnered them even more negative attention and they ended up having to un-suspend her to save face.
And that would have been the end of that, had Watters not been absolutely correct about the fact that a bunch of maskless teens in a crowded hallway being an extremely bad idea! Since the picture was posted, nine people at the school have tested positive for COVID-19. Whoops!
Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
"At this time, we know there were six students and three staff members who were in school for at least some time last week who have since reported to us that they have tested positive," says a letter from North Paulding High School Principal Gabe Carmona to parents Saturday. A spokesman for the Paulding County School District gave a copy of the letter to the AJC.[...]
The letter to parents does not include information on whether any other students or staff who were exposed have to quarantine or whether any classrooms will be closed. "Our custodial staff continues to thoroughly clean and disinfect the school building daily, and especially affected areas," the letter says.
Angie Franks said both her nephews who attend the school have tested positive for COVID-19. One came home from school Monday unable to smell, she said in an interview with the AJC. His mother took him for testing and the results the next day showed him positive, Franks said. By then, his brother was exhibiting symptoms and was also tested. His positive results were returned Wednesday.
The students are quarantining at home, but both went to school Monday. Franks said the boys' father notified the school on Tuesday and Wednesday after getting their test results.
Wow, it almost seems like this is not working out very well.
"They sat in class all day long with no masks and not social distancing," Franks said. "And I have no idea how many kids they came into contact with."
She said the boys didn't grasp the gravity of the virus and weren't encouraged to wear masks in classrooms or hallways by the school. Paulding County's school system is not mandating masks for students and staff, though it is supplying them for teachers.
So it's probably not gonna be just nine people testing positive. Good to know!
It's understandable to feel like we've gotta send younger kids to school. Parents have to work and childcare is expensive. But high school age kids? We have the technology to allow for remote learning, and it seems like a shame to risk lives by not using it.
Then again, it seems like a whole lot of people are just determined to return to "normal" even if it kills them. Thus the 250,000 people going to Sturgis, South Dakota for a motorcycle convention. Thankfully, you should all be relieved to know that both Willie Nelson and ZZ Top canceled their planned performances there. ZZ Top was replaced by a ZZ Top cover band, and Willie Nelson was replaced by no one because no one can replace Willie Nelson.
Via TMZ:
A ZZ Top tribute band, called ZZ3, took the stage at the Full Throttle Saloon and filled the room with Texas blues-rock. The rally, which will draw an estimated 250,000 people, always draws big-named performers, so it's no surprise hundreds of folks showed up.
Willie Nelsonand Lynyrd Skynard were also scheduled to perform at the 9-day event but canceled because of the pandemic. Other artists who performed Saturday include Molly Hatchet and the Guess Who ... Night Ranger, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, .38 Special, Quiet Riot, Smash Mouth and others are expected to perform in the coming days.
The bar was packed and there was almost no social distancing, and lots of medical folks are worried this will become a super-spreading event. That clearly was not on the minds of the saloon audience.
Admittedly, I decided to include this little excerpt mainly because I refuse to be the only one singing "YOU'RE CORONA-IN!" all day. And with that, this is now your open thread!
[ Atlanta Journal-Constitution ]
Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons .
"Anybody who suggests that Reagan was one of the worst presidents in American history by destroying the wall of separation between Church and State so that he could exploit the Southern vote and blame the Carter Depression on lazy blacks and illegal Latinos can always expect to be attacked by fellow Dems and demonized as "not understanding" basic economics"
I gave this guy benefit of the doubt up to this point, where he devolved into full-blown nonsense. I only skimmed the rest to confirm that he's decided Democrats are in league with the Republicans. For example:
"Obama mostly ran as a Progressive on social issues but governed as a conservative when it came to economic issues, even to the point of not prosecuting the corporations that caused the largest economic collapse since the Great Depression"
... which corporations, what crimes, and what evidence of actual crimes? Or does none of that matter when you're in a mood for tumbrels? The problem with the Great Recession was, the events that led to it were for the most part perfectly legal due to the magic of deregulation.
And as for the DoJ that Obama had inherited, which would do the actual work of prosecuting ... okay, you see what Trump is doing to his departments, stocking them with cronies and getting rid of people with experience? That's what Dubya had left Obama, a lot of dysfunctional bureaucracy that Obama had to rebuild. All the institutional memory and expertise was gone, and Obama had to build from scratch. So even if there were Wall Street CEOs somewhere who left a clear paper trail of deliberately breaking the law and thus causing the Great Recession (and please take a minute to contemplate how unlikely that is), Obama didn't have a DoJ in any condition to do anything about it.
Oh, and by the way, this guy keeps accusing the Republicans of "tax and spend" economics. "Tax and spend" was the Republicans' epithet for the Democrats, with the clear implication that they "tax" you and "spend" on the other guy. It was a white resentment and grievance thing; the last thing Republicans would do is claim to be "tax and spend" types.
"Who could have seen this coming?"
Anyone with two functioning brain cells to rub together.