Tag: COVID-19
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Incautious Messaging and Cautious Optimism
This is the third column in a four-part series about COVID-19 at James Madison University. by Joe Fitzgerald Except for the occasional late-night Facebook message, James Madison University has rarely responded to anything I’ve written. And those messages are like drunk dials from an ex; I appreciate the attention, but I wish they still loved…
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Everybody’s Next One
This is the second column in a four-part series about COVID-19 at James Madison University. by Joe Fitzgerald JMU was a first choice for many of its students, but has a perennial reputation as Virginia’s safety school. The joke is that JMU stands for “Just Missed UVA.” The acceptance rate has been rising since the…
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The Franchise and the Rat in the Cream
This is the first essay in a four-part series about the COVID epidemic at James Madison University. by Joe Fitzgerald The franchise. When the next friendly history of JMU is written, the booster writing it may include a chapter about the two visits by ESPN’s “Game Day” and how they helped introduce to a new…
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Shhh! Don’t Ask! COVID-19 Equity Analysis Is for Governor’s Eyes Only
by Carol J. Bova The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) blog posted March 16 that the department and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) would open community vaccination centers in Danville, Portsmouth, Petersburg and Prince William. “The sites were selected after the Virginia Department of Emergency Management conducted an equity analysis to determine the…
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Why Haven’t More Asians Been Vaccinated?
by James A. Bacon Asians comprise 7% of Virginia’s population, but according to the latest Virginia Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard, they account for only 3.6% of confirmed COVID cases, 4.5% of hospitalizations, and 1.5% of deaths. That would seem to be good news for Asians and Asian-Americans. But never fear, the intrepid social-justice reporters…
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Look in the Mirror, Fairfax School Board
by James A. Bacon After months of condemning Asian students for dominating the merit-based testing process for admission into the Thomas Jefferson (TJ) High School for Science and Technology, the Fairfax County School Board has issued a statement condemning anti-Asian racism… which it blames on others. Stated the resolution: The Fairfax County School Board condemns…
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Roving Bands of Whites Steal COVID Shots?
by Steve Haner Call out the militia! Roving bands of white people are rushing to Danville to steal COVID vaccines from more deserving blacks and Latinos! That’s the big news according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, although it lacks the courage to write that headline directly. The story dominates the print front page and the on-line…
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VEC Gets the Booby Prize
By Dick Hall-Sizemore There has been considerable discussion on this blog as to which agency has been the biggest failure in the face of the pandemic. Many have placed the heaviest blame on the Department of Health. I would award the prize for the being the biggest failure to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). The…
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A Foretoken of Virginia’s K-12 Catastrophe
The Biden administration surveyed the 50 states (plus D.C., and Puerto Rico) in February and March to determine the number of students offered in-person learning, hybrid-learning and online learning experiences in public schools. Among the 31 states that provided meaningful data, 42.4% of students were offered in-person teaching in classrooms — widely considered to be…
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America Needs a Diet, Not Doughnuts
by Kerry Dougherty Everyone loves Krispy Kreme. But let’s be honest, doughnuts are the last thing America needs right now. We were fat before the pandemic. We’re fatter now. And being fat puts you at a much higher risk for becoming seriously ill from from COVID. At first I was skeptical about a report in The…
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Do Something “Transformational” with $6.8 Billion in COVID Relief
by James A. Bacon The $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill just passed by Congress will shower billions of dollars upon Virginia citizens, businesses and government. State Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne expects Virginia state government to receive about $3.8 billion and local governments to get about $3 billion, for a total of $6.8 billion. The crazy…
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More Unintended Consequences: Shutdowns, Alcohol, and Domestic Violence
by James A. Bacon As the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Virginia passes the two million mark, new COVID-19 cases in Virginia are falling off rapidly. We can look forward to the day when fear of the virus will be a distant memory. But the damage wrought by the virus — or, to be…
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VDH Cleans Up COVID Deaths Stats
by Carol J. Bova Anecdotes and social media comments have insisted that the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has counted deaths from suicide, gunshot or motor vehicle accidents as COVID-19 deaths. On March 19, VDH announced on its COVID-19 Dashboard that it had reviewed more than 10,000 reported COVID-19 deaths using the Virginia Case Definition…
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We Pay For All the COVID Funerals, Too?
by Steve Haner Per the Centers for Disease Control’s tracking, more than 4 million death certificates have been recorded in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 520,000 of them (those recorded so far) listed COVID as primary or contributing cause of death. The survivors of those individuals are eligible for 100% compensation for funeral…
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The Resistance Gathers: UVa Edition
This letter to University of Virginia alumni and parents appears in a change.org petition. As of 11:00 p.m., March 18, it had racked up 1,769 signatures. — JAB As students at the University of Virginia during a time of crisis, we are reaching out for alumni and parent support. Unfortunately, we are writing this letter…