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Lockdowns Didn’t Stop COVID
The Wall Street Journal reported:
COVID-19 lockdowns shaved 3.5% off U.S. GDP in 2020 even as the federal government spent more than $2.6 trillion in relief measures. Millions of children fell behind in learning and nearly 100,000 businesses closed for good.
Conventional wisdom holds this was worth it because lives were saved by shutting workplaces and schools and telling people to stay home. But a new study by University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan shows the opposite. After the first month of the pandemic, organizations that adopted prevention protocols became safer places than the wider community.
Officials who didn’t see that coming forgot that organizations are rational and look for cooperative solutions that improve the welfare of the group, such as reducing the risks of communicable disease.
NY Stadium Plan Would Separate Vaccinated, Unvaccinated People at Baseball Games
The new rules allow vaccinated fans, and their children under age 16, to sit in special seating sections at professional baseball games, including the Rochester Red Wings, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Syracuse Mets and Toronto Blue Jays games scheduled at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. The fans would still be required to wear face coverings.
Unvaccinated fans attending the games will be seated in sections with a 33% occupancy limit and a six-foot social distance rule, as well as mandatory face coverings.
Restaurants Need Workers. Would an Employee Vaccine Mandate Bring Them Back?
Before implementing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees at his 15 Chicago restaurants, Fifty/50 Restaurant Group co-founder Scott Weiner did his due diligence. He consulted a lawyer, discussed the idea with his staff, and developed a policy around the requirement …
Getting shots in the arms of industry staffers will undoubtedly make restaurants safer places to work. Returning the industry to something resembling its pre-pandemic scale, though, is dependent on a range of factors, many of which don’t necessarily hinge on overall vaccine rates. For example: how well owners meet worker demands for better pay and treatment; the efficacy of the vaccines against variants; and when and how state and local governments decide to ease or lift pandemic capacity restrictions.
ImmunaBand Bracelet Is A Wearable Vaccine Passport
An enterprising company is selling a way for people to easily share their COVID-19 vaccination status: a $20 bracelet with a QR code that can be scanned to show their shot cards.
“Wear this bracelet to work, to restaurants, and to let people know your commitment to overcoming this disease through your completion of the vaccination series,” the company says on its website. “The bracelet is also a symbol of your commitment to safety — for yourself and for others.”
The company’s president, J. Tashof Bernton, says a customer was allowed into a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in New York by showing his bracelet and having an employee scan the code, Fox 5 San Diego reported.
Indianapolis Keeps Mask Mandate, Business Health Restrictions Despite New Legislation
Indianapolis city officials moved quickly to keep the current Marion County public health orders in place Monday night, just hours after legislators voted to void all local coronavirus restrictions.
The new legislation, Senate Bill 5, requires local health departments to get approval from the local legislative bodies and mayors if a city seeks to enact health orders that are more strict than statewide restrictions.
The health board or health officer also cannot file a court action to enforce a health order unless it receives approval from the legislative body, such as the City-County Council.
