Tag: COVID-19
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Good for Kamras
by James A. Bacon Yes, you read that headline correctly. And, yes, that’s Jason Kamras, superintendent of the Richmond Public Schools we’re talking about. Bacon’s Rebellion has been highly critical of Kamras in the past, but we have to support his recent statement that he has no intention to close city schools, even in the…
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Looks Like Omicron Cases Are Surging in Virginia
by James A. Bacon It has been nearly three weeks since the Omicron variant of COVID-19 reached Virginia. Nationally, Omicron now accounts for almost three out of four new COVID cases. So, how’s Virginia doing? Here is the number of cases reported on the Virginia Department of Health COVID dashboard around noon today. The red…
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Remembering
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Jeff Shapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a nice column today remembering people in Virginia politics and government whose deaths in 2021 may have gone largely unnoticed. For those interested in recent political history, you may want to check it out. During my time around Capitol Square, I knew and have fond…
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Countdown to Freedom: 32 Days
by Kerry Dougherty Oh look. California’s dopey governor is following New York’s crazy executive. They’re both re-instituting what didn’t work the last time that COVID cases began to rise: Sweeping mask mandates and more restrictions. There, but for the wisdom of the electorate, goes Virginia. Oh, I suppose lame duck Ralph Northam — in an…
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A Sociological Mystery: Why Are Black Women Dropping Out of the Workforce?
by James A. Bacon Ever-alert to unexplained sociological phenomena, Bacon’s Rebellion has taken note of a just-published Brookings Institution article based on the November 2021 jobs report. Unemployment is declining for most major demographic groups — Whites, Asians and Hispanics, both men and women, and even for Black men. But the unemployment rate increased in November…
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Who Is the “Irrational Majority” Here?
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has declined to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for school employees and students on the grounds that it lacked the “clear statutory authority” to do so, reports The Virginia Mercury. Federal agencies have yet to add the vaccine to its childhood immunization schedule. “While recommended, it’s not…
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Brace Yourself for Omicron… and Omicron Hysteria
by James A. Bacon The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has set foot (perhaps I should say set its little viral spikes) in California, and it is only a matter of days (perhaps hours) before it arrives in Virginia. How worried should we be? Some will dismiss the virus as nothing special, nothing to…
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Omicron: It’s Here!
by Kerry Dougherty He could barely contain his glee. He was positively giddy. I’m talking about White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci who held a press conference yesterday to declare that the long-awaited moment had arrived: We had our first confirmed case of the Covid omicron variant. Hallelujah! Now the government has an excuse —…
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New COVID Data Displays
The Virginia Department of Health is now publishing a graph that compares the COVID-19 infection rate by vaccination status. The graph above, based on 2021 data, shows that unvaccinated people have confirmed COVID-19 infections at a rate 4.6 times that of fully vaccinated people and 2.2 times that of partially vaccinated people.
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Omigod, Omicron Is Coming!
by Kerry Dougherty I’ve seen this movie before. And I’m not buying a ticket this time. I’m talking about the latest remake in the theater of the absurd: “A New COVID Variant Is Coming! We’re All Going To Die!” Fear hustlers managed to spook the stock markets on Friday with panic porn about a variant…
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When Schools Get Long-Haul COVID
by James A. Bacon “Long haul” COVID is the term used to describe COVID symptoms that persist far beyond the normal four weeks of infection. It seems that Virginia schools are experiencing long-haul COVID, too: maladies that have arisen long after the impact of the original illness — the shutdown of in-person learning — has…
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More Proof: Virginia Schools’ COVID Policies Were a Disaster
by James A. Bacon Here is more proof, as if it were needed, that Virginia’s public school system suffered one of the greatest COVID-induced collapses in standardized test scores of the 50 states. A paper by Clare Halloran, a Brown University professor, and three colleagues recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research drew…
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Hallelujah! Greenbrier Christian Academy Defies Virginia’s Mask Mandate
by Kerry Dougherty In a bold move, Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake announced this week that when students return from Thanksgiving break they can be mask-free. Unless their parents want them in masks, in which case the school will make sure parental wishes are carried out. In a video sent to Greenbrier parents, Superintendent Ron…
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Update on the Richmond School Enrollment Meltdown
by James A. Bacon Yesterday I presented Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) statistics indicating that student enrollment in the City of Richmond public school system dropped 25% this year. The drop was especially pronounced among Asian and White students — more than 60% for both categories — suggesting a massive flight from Richmond city schools.…
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The End of One-Man-Rule in Richmond
by Kerry Dougherty I can’t believe this needs to be said, but Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin, in announcing that he will abolish state-wide mask and vaccine mandates but allow private schools and school boards to decide if they want to continue with masking, is KEEPING promises. Not breaking them. Let me remind the sore-loser Democrats and…