COVID-19 mortality in U.S. exceeds 900,000 as Covid deaths surge in low-vaccination states – Tennessee has lowest vaccination rate and highest book-burning rate
By Nigel Chiwaya
4 February 2022
(NBC News) – More than 900,000 people have died in the United States from Covid-19 as of Friday, according to NBC News’ tally, and data shows that states with low vaccination rates have had the biggest share of deaths over the past six weeks.
The country has recorded 100,000 deaths since 13 December 2021. During that period, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have the largest number of deaths when adjusted for population. Of those states, Pennsylvania is the only one to have fully vaccinated more than 60 percent of its population. “Fully vaccinated” means that at least two weeks have passed since a person has received the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a single-dose vaccine.
While average new daily cases have decreased by more than 50 percent in the last two weeks, deaths in the U.S. have accelerated. Through Thursday, the country is averaging 2,659 new deaths per day, an increase of 33 percent compared to two weeks ago.
More than 60,000 deaths were reported in January 2022 alone, almost double the number recorded in November 2021, before the highly contagious omicron variant began spreading across the country. [more]
900,000 dead: Covid deaths are surging in low-vaccination states
They’re burning books in Tennessee
By Alejandro Ramirez
3 February 2022
(Nashville Scene) – Last week, McMinn County made news when the school board voted to ban beloved graphic novel Maus — a Holocaust story told with anthropomorphic mice and cats — due to instances of swear words and nudity. While the vote happened in early January, it went viral following a report from TN Holler.
Last night, Mt. Juliet pastor and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Greg Locke decided to turn it up a notch by organizing an old-fashioned book burning. The books included millennial staples like Harry Potter and Twilight — hits of the early Aughts that were targeted by Christian book burnings back in the day.
In a sermon preceding the bonfire, Locke described beefing with “Free Mason devils” and said “I ain’t gonna be ‘suiciding myself’ no time soon.” Locke also said people aren’t mad that they were burning books, but mad because of the books they were burning — implying that his critics, even other pastors, were devil and witchcraft supporters.
You can see the footage in Locke’s Facebook video of the event — the burning starts about an hour in. [more]
