Infections spike, so should inoculations

On Thursday, the state reported that there were 3,549 new cases of covid-19 infection, the fourth-highest one-day increase since the start of the pandemic. On Friday, the number was still a staggering 2,407. Thirty-three people died on Thursday, and the number of people on ventilators rose by 12 to 343, setting a record for a second consecutive day.

The state Health Department reported that the number of active cases of public school students and employees increased by 450 to 1,797 during the first week of school. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said it was too early for there to be an infection spike resulting from the start of school and that if that was going to happen, it wouldn’t be for a few more days.

Did you happen to catch the piece on CNN when a commentator was talking to a man who was hospitalized for covid and was laid up in a Baton Rouge hospital? The man hadn’t been vaccinated and had an apparatus on to help him breathe.

The commentator, Don Lemon, asked the man, who was from Louisiana, if he regretted not getting a shot.

“Yes,” said the man, who had been in the hospital alongside his brother but was now alone after his brother got better and was released to go home. The man explained that he wasn’t an anti-vaxxer but just hadn’t had time to get the shot.

“Do you regret that decision?” Lemon asked him.

“Yes,” he responded, saying if he had had the shot, his condition wouldn’t be as bad.

Lemon then asked him if he had anything he wanted to tell others. “Open your eyes,” the man said with a seriousness in his voice. “Take heed of this. It’s nothing to play with.”

Lemon also talked to a hospital administrator who said 90% of the hospital’s beds and resources were taken up by covid patients, with the person saying he’d never seen a time when one illness took over almost the whole hospital operation.

That was in mid-August. In a broadcast last week, Lemon got word that the man, who was in his early 50s, had died.

Lemon then talked to the man’s brother. There were quite a few tears. On a lighter note, there was a story in Saturday’s paper about the cheer squads at UAPB being 100% vaccinated.

The coach, Karen Blunt, said she couldn’t and didn’t demand that the women get the vaccine. She just pointed out the pros and cons of being vaccinated, and they stepped up. Good for them.

Congratulations, Coach Blunt and cheer squads. Spread the word. Perhaps other groups — both on and off the campus — will be equally enthusiastic.