7. Orr calls on Birmingham-Southern College to be challenged by the Attorney General
- Birmingham-Southern College is the first university to publicly challenge the Alabama ban on placing burdens to entry on unvaccinated students when they told students they would be forced to pay $500 “to offset continual weekly antigen testing and quarantining.” The school attempted to frame this as a rebate to the vaccinated, but State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) isn’t buying it and wants the state to step in.
- Orr called the scheme a “constructive barrier” and said that “this is not the end of the story here.” He noted, “The bill says you cannot refuse services or education services, in this case, and even private school — it does apply explicitly to private schools, as well, like Birmingham-Southern. So this is something that does apply to the school. And again, the argument can certainly be made that charging the $500 is a constructive denial.”
6. An eviction moratorium is unconstitutional, and those pushing it know it
- Some Democrats in Washington, D.C. decided a good way to protest the expiration of the eviction moratorium was to camp outside the U.S. Capitol while others, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), demanded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention somehow extend the moratorium.
- Interestingly, this is unconstitutional, and the CDC has no power to do this and everyone knows it. But Democrats want this tied up in the court because they believe friendly judges will keep the moratorium in place while it is litigated. Increasing the frustration is the fact that Congress already appropriated $46.5 billion in rental assistance but only 6.5% of those dollars have been used so far.
5. Record number of COVID cases in Florida
- Florida has recorded 21,683 new cases of the coronavirus in a single day, a new record for the state. The state is already being called the new “epicenter for the virus,” since it makes up about 20% of all cases in the country.
- The state had more than 17,000 cases the day previous. The last record of daily cases was 19,334 back in January. Florida has almost a 60% vaccination rate for people 12 years and older. Governor Ron DeSantis has said the increase is a seasonal one.
4. Vaccination rates are on the rise
- The past week has seen the highest rate of people getting their first vaccination dose against the coronavirus since the beginning of June. White House chief of staff Ron Klain has highlighted this. The tally of vaccination doses last week was more than 816,000, and for new vaccinations, there were about 517,000. For almost the whole month of July, the rate of people getting vaccinated was increasing, mostly due to the spread of the Delta variant.
- In Alabama, the rate of vaccinations is surging up 62% over the past week to about 7,400 per day. Additionally, 90% of Americans 65+ have been vaccinated, and that is why the death rate isn’t skyrocketing with the surge in cases.
3. No mandate, but state supports masks in schools
- Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris appeared on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal” over the weekend, and he made it clear that any statewide mandate of masks in school or not is unlikely.
- However, Harris added that they’re recommending that masks be required for everyone in schools, whether they are vaccinated or not. Harris does support leaving the decision up to school systems, saying, “Not every situation is the same. Some schools have more resources than others and more ability to put in place other measures. Some counties in the state don’t have the same amount of disease in those communities as other counties do.”
2. Masks aren’t a choice anymore
- According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, masks are no longer a “personal choice” when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. Fauci said he disagrees with the idea that masks are a choice, saying that “there are things that have to do with you individually which also impacts others, and the spread of infection that we’re seeing now … is impacting everyone in the country.”
- Fauci said that when it comes to a matter of “public health … a person’s individual decision to not wear a mask not only impacts them … but you very well may infect another person who may be vulnerable.” Recently, Fauci has reversed his previous advice on whether vaccinated individuals should wear masks.
1. Enough with the mixed guidance
- As the Delta variant coronavirus cases are increasing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other officials have changed their guidance on mask-wearing for people who are vaccinated. But some officials, like Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, are speaking out against the mixed messages. Ainsworth said, “The CDC has lost all credibility with its confusing and contradictory guidance, and Fauci continues to be a disaster. I believe people should get the vaccine … but it must not be forced on anyone.” He also mentioned the importance of the state passing the ban on vaccine passports earlier this year.
- The media’s attempt to justify the change in the CDC’s guidance led them to overplay a study out of Massachusetts concerning 346 breakthrough cases, a small number were hospitalized and none died. Now, the focus is on the 99.998% of the 163 million vaccinated Americans who have not gotten sick.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.