Q&A of the Day – COVID Cases Are Lower, but the Hype is Louder...What’s Up?
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
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Today’s Entry: @brianmuddradio You said it. Covid cases are lower but the hype is louder. Please do an analysis. Also is this all about setting up a 2020 election repeat?
Bottom Line: Today’s Q&A is on the back of my top takeaway from yesterday where I pointed out that COVID-19 cases are lower in Florida today than in any of the prior four Septembers. Specifically, as I pointed out... Consider that in Florida right now there are a total of 3,422 known active cases. How does that compare? On this date a year ago there were over 6,100 cases. Two years ago, there were nearly 19,000 cases and three years ago today there were over 3,700 cases. In our fourth September of COVID, cases are about half of what they were a year ago and we never had fewer active cases on this date. So that’s Florida’s story. But of course, the COVID hype and concerns over forced masking aren’t Florida stories, as Florida’s passed laws preventing forced masking and COVID immunizations. So, what’s going on nationally and is this part of a bigger plot to bring back the 2020 COVID/election playbook?
It’s not just Florida that’s experiencing fewer COVID-19 cases compared to any previous September in the era of the ‘vid. That’s the trend across the entire country. As of the start of September, the 7-day weekly average for new daily COVID-19 cases across the country was 15,469. If that doesn’t sound like a lot, that’s because it isn’t. Here’s the comparable average on the same date by year:
- 2020: 43,059
- 2021: 170,173
- 2022: 86,230
We currently have only a small fraction of the number of new daily COVID-19 cases compared to the same date in previous years. And last year, when we had greater than 5.5 times as many cases, there didn’t seem to be the same kind of talk of forced masking and schools canceling classes out of fear of the virus (although officials were hyping COVID boosters along with flu shots and masking recommendations by certain health officials were still being made). So, there’s your base analysis. We, by far, have the fewest COVID-19 cases that we’ve had in September yet. Does that mean that there's more to the story? Is this part of a potential conspiracy to bring back pandemic era policies in time for next year’s presidential election cycle – including the need for mass mailout ballots?
In the grand scheme of what we’ve seen in recent cycles, from the Trump-Russia collusion hoax of 2016, to the Hunter and Joe Biden laptop coverup of 2020, anything’s possible. I have no doubt some of the similar actors are willing to attempt a reenactment. I also have little doubt similar efforts would be equally successful. The key is in what I also mentioned in my takeaways yesterday. Noncompliance. In answer to Sinclair’s national poll, Will you comply with new mask mandates if they’re implemented? 73% of Americans said no. In the grand scheme of ill-conceived COVID-19 mandates, mask mandates are the least intrusive. If nearly three quarters of Americans say they won’t comply with an order to mask up, there’s not going to be a tolerance for efforts to try to scare us into any type of a similar place as this country was backed into in 2020. Only the most liberal enclaves are likely to have any kind of success in pushing those types of agendas. Notably, in the context of attempting a political repeat. A total of 21 states have improved election integrity since the 2020 cycle with 42 laws passed within those 21 states addressing election integrity measures. Included in those states are two key swing states in Arizona and Georgia, where 2020-era ballot policies are no longer allowed.
The combination of a general lack of will by the American people to allow a repeat of 2020 policy to happen, in addition to laws that prevent a repeat of 2020 from happening in many states, means that efforts may be made by those in power seeking to repeat the playbook...but the plays can’t be executed the same way in most places. That type of effort could also create political backlash in an election year which could backfire on the Fauchists who’d attempt it.