Harvard study found that vaccinations alone aren’t enough to fight COVID-19 - PolitiFact

… The study's conclusion was not that vaccinations don't impact infection, but that steps such as masking and social distancing should be used along with vaccination to fight the pandemic...

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/19/youtube-videos/harvard-study-found-vaccinations-alone-arent-enoug/

What you can and can’t do after getting a COVID-19 vaccine | Popular Science

...In a White House briefing earlier this week, Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said that those fully vaccinated (meaning that if the vaccine requires two shots, they would need both) can meet indoors, unmasked, with other fully vaccinated people only. Aside from that one small scenario, it's important for fully vaccinated people to still follow proper public health measures, especially wearing masks and social distancing, until the country reaches herd immunity...

https://www.popsci.com/story/health/covid-19-vaccine-efficacy/

Hotel Fined Nearly $11,000 After Hosting 'Evangelicals for Trump' Event Against Social Distancing Regulations

A hotel close to the Las Vegas Strip has been fined almost $11,000 after it hosted an "Evangelicals for Trump" event and a beauty pageant in early August in violation of Nevada's social distancing regulations.
https://www.newsweek.com/hotel-fined-nearly-11000-after-hosting-evangelicals-trump-event-against-social-distancing-1528890

Trump hosted press conference filled with falsehoods at NJ golf club - Business Insider

President Donald Trump hosted a press conference at his golf club in New Jersey — filled with a number of falsehoods delivered to dozens in a non-socially-distanced crowd. Trump addressed reporters and patrons in the ballroom of the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Friday in a wide-ranging press conference that touched upon the US coronavirus response. ....
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-press-conference-falsehoods-new-jersey-golf-club-2020-8

‘An international example of bad judgment’: Local officials stunned by raucous Memorial Day festivities - The Washington Post

MAGA!!!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/26/memorial-day-weekend-crowds-coronavirus/

Social distancing a week earlier could have saved 36,000 US lives, study finds

Had the US begun social distancing just one week earlier, the country would have prevented 36,000 deaths through early May, according to researchers at Columbia University.  Had action been taken two weeks earlier, by 1 March, 54,000 fewer Americans would have died of the virus, the researchers determined.....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/21/us-social-distancing-lives-lost-coronavirus-lockdown-study

Stay-at-home orders saved hundreds of thousands, report finds | TheHill

A new analysis says nearly 250,000 people in the nation's 30 largest cities are alive today because of strict stay-at-home orders issued by local and state governments. The report, from the Urban Health Collaborative at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University, found the stay-at-home orders likely reduced the number of coronavirus deaths by 232,878 and prevented 2.1 million people from requiring hospitalization.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/498303-stay-at-home-orders-saved-hundreds-of-thousands-report-finds

The partisan revolt against efforts to fight the virus isn’t as big as you might think - The Washington Post

When President Trump was first asked whether he might wear a mask as part of the push to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, he shrugged. “I’m choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it and that’s okay,” Trump said during a briefing in early April. He explained further a bit later: “As I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens … I don’t see it for myself. … I just don’t.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/05/13/partisan-revolt-against-efforts-fight-virus-isnt-big-you-might-think/

The Risks - Know Them - Avoid Them

It seems many people are breathing some relief, and I’m not sure why. An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope can also be predicted. We have robust data from the outbreaks in China and Italy, that shows the backside of the mortality curve declines slowly, with deaths persisting for months. Assuming we have just crested in deaths at 70k, it is possible that we lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. That's what's going to happen with a lockdown.....
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

Right-wingers fantasize about assassinating Michigan’s governor over stay-at-home orders – Raw Story

Members of private Facebook groups are calling for the assassination of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her stay-at-home orders to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Four private social media groups with a combined 400,000 members were deluged with posts and comments encouraging violence and ignoring Whitmer’s social-distancing orders, reported Metro Times, which gained access to the Facebook pages and provided screenshots. ....
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/right-wingers-fantasize-about-assassinating-michigans-governor-over-stay-at-home-orders/

Massachusetts shop says employee quit after reopening over lack of social distancing, harassment | TheHill

A Massachusetts ice cream shop said it was forced to shutter a day after it reopened after customers used profanity with workers over social distancing guidelines. Polar Ice Cream Parlour owner Mark Lawrence told CNN affiliate WFXT that one worker quit her job at the Mashpee business on the first day of reopening. "One of my best workers quit yesterday at the end of her shift. She stuck it through her shift," Lawrence said. "But the words she was called and the language, you wouldn't even say in a men's locker room. And to say it to a 17-year-old kid, they should be ashamed of themselves." ....
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/497108-massachusetts-shop-says-employee-quit-after-reopening-over-lack

Morning Joe blows up ‘laughable’ GOP claims to be the ‘party of life’ – Raw Story

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough blew up Republican claims to be the “party of life” after President Donald Trump surrendered the lives of American seniors to the coronavirus. The president has tossed aside his administration’s own guidelines on easing social distancing measures in hopes of restarting the wrecked economy, and the “Morning Joe” host said the move was premature, misguided and irresponsible. https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/morning-joe-blows-up-laughable-gop-claims-to-be-the-party-of-life/

Fox News and Trump are sowing doubts about coronavirus death counts — which could make the outbreak even worse – Raw Story

President Donald Trump’s allies are openly questioning the coronavirus death toll, although most evidence suggests the real number is much higher. Fox News has mainstreamed a conspiracy theory that medical experts were manipulating the numbers to hurt the president’s re-election chances, and doctors fear those suspicions will make the outbreak even worse because Trump’s supporters will stop following social distancing measures, reported Politico.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/fox-news-and-trump-are-sowing-doubts-about-coronavirus-death-counts-which-could-make-the-outbreak-even-worse/

Trump Recklessly Urges A "Return To Work" At Town Hall, Gambling With Lives to Boost his Re-elect

Ignoring his administration's own models showing the coronavirus crisis worsening in June, President Trump used his Lincoln Memorial Town Hall to encourage Americans to hit the beach and get back to work.
https://youtu.be/K_8Cms364Sg

A tale of two cities: how New York police enforce social distancing by the color of your skin

Outrage after juxtaposed images show officers handing out masks to white sunbathers, while video shows officer punching a person of color https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/04/coronavirus-new-york-police-enforce-social-distancing

Startling new COVID-19 death projections highlight challenges of reopening | TheHill

New internal projections from the Trump administration suggest U.S. deaths will grow on a daily basis to 3,000 by the beginning of June, weeks after states have begun reopening their economies. The startling figures from models produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) come as more and more states take steps to remove social distancing measures meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/496063-startling-new-covid-19-death-projections-point-to-difficult

'ICE has failed in its duty to protect': Judge orders detainees' release from Florida facilities

A federal judge has ordered federal immigration officials to free hundreds of people detained at three Florida facilities, ruling “there is record evidence demonstrating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has failed in its duty to protect the safety and general well-being of the petitioners,” and that social distancing while in detention “is not only practically impossible, the conditions are becoming worse every day,” Miami Herald reports. https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/5/1/1941914/--ICE-has-failed-in-its-duty-to-protect-Judge-orders-detainees-release-from-Florida-facilities

Trump Jr., GOP senator lash out at Facebook for taking down protest pages on stay-at-home orders | TheHill

Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), two frequent critics of Silicon Valley, hit Facebook on Monday for taking down the event pages of some demonstrations organized against coronavirus stay-at-home orders. A spokesperson for the social media giant told The Hill on Monday that it removed pages for protests in California, New Jersey and Nebraska after confirming with state governments that they would break social distancing rules. ....
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/493751-trump-jr-gop-senator-lash-out-at-facebook-for-taking-down-stay-at-home

‘Social distancing = Communism’: These are the stupidest protest signs from rallies to reopen – Raw Story

While family members of the elderly and ill are working hard to protect them from coming near COVID-19, supporters of President Donald Trump and Fox News viewers are protesting around the country demanding everything reopen so they can go back to their local bars or golf with their friends. A large crowd of people who were not socially distancing gathered outside of the Colorado capitol in Denver Sunday:
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/social-distancing-communism-these-are-the-stupidest-protest-signs-from-rallies-to-reopen/

Operation reopen America: are we about to witness a second historic failure of leadership from Trump?

Without mass testing, contact tracing, and protective equipment for health workers – all in critically short supply – the president’s plan could be disastrous
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/18/operation-reopen-america-are-we-about-to-witness-a-second-historic-failure-of-leadership-from-trump