Covid-19 Lock Down Experiment

Oh come on, the populations of South Dakota and Wyoming are so small they can easily be influenced. You need to take a statistics course and learn about small sample size and the erroneous conclusions they can lead to. 

As for higher vaccination rates for Florida, I thought one of your ongoing arguments were red states, such as Florida, always have lower vaccination rates because they are chock full of Trump supporters. Are you rethinking that argument?

I did read an interesting article about a week ago about humidity and Covid-19 increases. Can't seem to find it right now, but the basic premise was low humidity levels correlated with Covid-19 outbreaks. Something about wetter conditions in the nasal cavities, associated with higher humidity, made it more difficult for the virus to infect the potential victim. 

Not saying I believe the article, but if true could explain what is happening in Europe currently and as such would have little to do with vaccination rates, wearing a mask, or if you are a Republican or Democrat. 

Putting cases in terms of per 100,000 is a good way to quantify things. 

Germany definitely has a problem in spite of your attempt a few days ago to misdirect by pointing out an even larger problem in Eastern Europe.

"On Friday in Germany, the weekly incidence of Covid-19 infections hit yet another new peak of 438 infections per 100,000 people, while the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported a record-breaking 76,000 new infections within a day. In the worst-hit region of Saxony, the 7-day incidence recently topped 1,000 per 100,000 people."

I'm assuming that 438 is for 7 days, or in other words approximately 63 cases per 100,000 per day.

I however get a lessor number for the USA. For the week of November 15th, 2021 the World Health Organization's website reports 673,672 Covid-19 cases in the USA, or 96,239 per day. 96,239/330,000,000 (population of the US) x 100,000 = 29.2 cases per day. Which is less than half of your report of 64 cases per 100,000.

Did you just make a math error, or intentionally report the wrong number in hopes I wouldn't actually check?

Regardless, Germany is now experiencing Covid-19 rates more that twice the US; 63 cases per 100,000 in Germany vs. 29 cases per 100,000 in the USA.

"Calling the current situation in Germany a ‘national emergency’,  German Health Minister Jens Spahn claimed that the incoming government was doing too little, too late to try and stem the tide. “We must stop this wave now,” he warned."

If I recall, I warned you over 12 months ago not to be too enamored with Germany's performance. That the limited number of total infections for Germany really meant they hadn't really experienced Covid-19. By locking down their society they had only delayed their day of reckoning. It appears I was correct, not that you will ever admit it. 

OK, then explain Sweden today. The week of November 15th (last week for which a full data set is available) Sweden had 6,668 Covid-19 cases for their population of 10.35 million, or 9 cases per 100,000. Directly north of Germany, same general climate, pretty much apples to apples yet doing much better than Germany at 63 cases per 100,000.
 
Sweden did it right. No lockdowns of their society. No crushing of their economy. Developed herd immunity supplemented by vaccination (which is a component of herd immunity) when that came available. What the USA should have done if Trump hadn't listened to the advice of that idiot Fauci. 

I do have a question and I haven't seen it answered anywhere. What percentage of cases currently are unvaccinated vs breakthroughs of folks vaccinated? Just judging from high profile people such as professional athletes (other than Aaron Rodgers) who keep testing positive but claim they are vaccinated, the percentage of breakthroughs must be relatively high.  

Numerous studies show those with boosters or recent vax have many fewer infections.

But delta is different, more transmissable. Those previously vaccinated OR infected are now more at risk than expected. Meaning we probably need boosters AND more mitigation over the next 6-8 weeks.

While we are cherry picking articles to support our stance:

www.dw.com/en/opinion-sweden-continues-to-stand-out-on-covid-19-strategy/a-59353963

Highlights of the article linked above:

"There were no lockdowns or steep fines for violations, as in other countries, since that just didn't fit the Swedish model of leaving it to citizens to take responsibility for themselves." 

This mirrors the US Red States stance on personal freedom as opposed to edicts from a unelected Washington Bureaucrats. 

"At first, Sweden's scientists reassured the population that it was unlikely that the pandemic would spread in the sparsely populated country. Restaurants, schools and shops remained open. But the virus did not stop at Sweden's borders. It spread, as it had all over the world, especially in nursing homes where older residents were vulnerable. The infection and death rates were many times higher than in neighboring Nordic countries."

Two parallels here to the US. Red States for the most part kept their restaurants, schools, and shops open while their infection rates did indeed track higher than neighboring Blue States. Blue States such as New York, New Jersey, and Michigan forced infected older nursing home residents back into nursing homes that weren't prepared to handle them greatly increasing their fatalities. 

"But, what was surprising was that this failure did not undermine the authority of Sweden's experts. Instead, they questioned and still continue to doubt the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) that wearing a masks that covers the nose and mouth protects against the coronavirus."

Again notice the parallel to those in the US Red States not wanting to fall inline with edicts of unelected Washington Bureaucrats.

"Now the Swedes, like the Danes and the Norwegians, are lifting almost all coronavirus restrictions. The experts justify it by pointing to the high vaccination rate, especially among the older population. In recent months, anyone who wanted to be vaccinated could do so easily. Those who still held didn't get the shot were considered responsible for their own fate."

The last sentence: "those who still held didn't get the shot were considered responsible for their own fate", mirrors the attitude of the Conservatives and Libertarians that dominate the Legislatures of Red States.