On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said, "The second pandemic," but officials in places like New York still want to let go of the first. I'm not.
On the same day, Mayor Eric Adams and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan lowered the city's pandemic alert status to "medium" because they "win the battle with COVID-19." I was proud that I could do it.
What? For many, the battle ofwonlong ago. COVID is now just a background threat and does not cause much more serious illness or death than any other illness. The number of deaths from COVID on Tuesday was only 56nationwide. Cancer kills 1,600 people a day.
On the other hand, in the city, the average daily COVID deaths confirmed on Wednesday was only4, which is the average number of shots per day this year. It's almost the same. And crime is clearly becoming a major threat as the number of deaths from viruses is declining every day. What is the status of crime alerts in the city?
Alas, some politicians (mainly Democrats) get Jolly from constantly yelling "pandemics." Governor Adams and Governor Kathy Hokul unnecessarily punished the New Yorker because it took too long to begin easing COVID's obligations.
This month,Hochul extended the state's COVID disaster "emergency" again. And while she isstilldemanding masks from public transport, riders are increasingly ignoring her.
Meanwhile, Adams maintains the city employee-vax mission even if he doesn't enforce it. Even Broadway theater operators, who are afraid of shadows, have lifted their mask obligations since July 1.
Police clearly love their own additional power and image as leaders in such "emergency situations". See the acclaimed and shameful things that former Governor Andrew Cuomo got from an early pandemic presser. He even wrote a book about the pandemic "leadership" — even if he fueled death in a nursing home by sending them COVID-positive patients.
That may be why Biden has already warned of a second virus outbreak. It has nothing to do with the actual pandemic — it's all political.
