Violence from firearms nearly doubled in Philadelphia—a trend that occurred throughout the United States—during the city’s lockdown for much of last year.
That’s the conclusion of a group of doctors and scientists from Temple University and published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. See 10.1001/jama.2021.1534
“These analyses provide evidence of a significant and sustained increase in firearm violence in Philadelphia following the enactment of COVID-19 containment policies. Counts of individuals shot per week continued to increase during protests following the killing of George Floyd and remained high during the partial lifting of containment policies until the end of the study period,” the authors found.
This study accessed data from the Philadelphia Police Department’s registry of shooting victims from January 1, 2016, through November 26, 2020. This registry is updated daily and includes all individuals shot and/or killed with a firearm. There were no changes in data collection policies or practices in 2020. Compared with trauma center records, the police registry contains approximately twice the number of individuals shot with a firearm.
The authors examined the data after three events:
The enactment of Philadelphia’s first COVID-19 containment policy (closure of nonessential businesses; March 16, 2020).
The killing of George Floyd (May 25, 2020).
The partial lifting of containment policies (June 26, 2020).
During the 256 weeks included in the study, 7,159 people were shot in Philadelphia. The shootings stood at 25 per week before the lockdown in March. However, after the lockdown, the incidents jumped to 46 people shot per week in the 37 weeks of the policy.
“The sustained nature of the increase in firearm violence observed in this study may be related to longer-term effects of COVID-19 containment policies, including intensifying unemployment and poverty, particularly in lower-income Philadelphia communities where shootings are most concentrated,” the analysis found.
Jessica Beard, a physician at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine, headed the inquiry.
Amid charges of chaos and corruption, Philadelphia’s plan to provide vaccines for the Covid viruses has been an absolute disaster.
Less than a month ago, Mayor Jim Kenney announced a major initiative with Andrei Doroshin, the CEO of Philly Fighting Covid.
What was the first indication that there might be a problem? Doroshin is a 22-year-old graduate student without any background in health. His organization included various college friends who had experience in technology, so they used 3-D printing machines to make face shields.
On October 7, he presented a slideshow via Zoom in which he described how he and his colleagues planned to create vaccination sites throughout Philadelphia to provide vaccines.
That’s when the second indication of a problem appeared. In the live stream of his presentation, Doroshin planned to manage five mass vaccination sites and 20 smaller sites scattered throughout the city. He claimed his team could vaccinate between 500,000 and 1.5 million people.
“This is the juicy slide,” said Doroshin, explaining the financing plan. “How are we gonna get paid?” He explained that the vaccine doses were free, provided by the federal government. But Philly Fighting Covid could bill insurance companies $24 a dose for administering it.
“I just told you how many vaccines we want to do—you can do the math in your head,” he said.
A month later, Doroshin made a similar presentation, complete with colorful maps and a $2.7 million projected budget, to the Philadelphia City Council. He said his team at Philly Fighting Covid had begun submitting plans for building out five high-capacity sites that could each take up to 10,000 patients a day.
Within days, the organization faced a variety of scandals. A nurse accused Doroshin of spiriting away doses of the vaccine to give to his friends and family. A City Council member and his family also got preferential treatment.
Ultimately, it turned out that a top Department of Health official gave Doroshin key information about how to handle the accounts and get the job.
The city never signed a formal contract with Philly Fighting Covid nor gave the organization any money, but it did provide its unofficial sanction and publicity. Most important, the city turned over thousands of doses from its vaccine allotment to the group and helped it find recipients by sharing lists of residents who were newly eligible for the vaccine.
Last week, the City of Philadelphia finally cut ties with Doroshin and his group. Still, the organization served as a major clearinghouse to register for vaccines, and now everyone has to sign up again.
Unfortunately for Philadelphia Democrats, they can’t blame Donald Trump for this incredible mess.
Hey given the degree of falsehood that the media has been selling lately the fact that the “senior administration official” who was Mr. Anonymous turned out to be a low level aide who was already a contributor to the network is pretty low on my outrage-dar.
Mike Lee’s question to Facebook, Twitter or Google, asking them to name one high proflle liberal they have censored but none of them can think of one off the top of their head speaks gives the lie to big tech’s protestations.
I’d really like the outraged MLB / Bidenball, outraged that Justin Turner who was pulled off the field in the 8th inning because of a positive COVID tested, how being on the field to celebrate the Dodgers World Series win two innings later is going to be a bigger risk than the fact he has been in constant contact with the same crowed for the last week?
At least one voter I know has changed his planned vote on Question 2 in MA from “yes” to “no” thanks to Jazz Shaw’s story on “ranked voting” which explains how it’s another way of putting the liberal fix in.
Finally I have a horrible feeling that the reason Rush Limbaugh has not missed as show this week or last is that he knows is time is up and wants to do all he can to rally the troops for one final battle.
Who else besides me is fed up wearing a mask when shopping at a supermarket?
Or at work?
Or a restaurant?
I haven’t eaten inside an Illinois restaurant–or in a tent–since Governor JB Pritzker instituted his first lockdown in March. I’ve picked up take-out meals only.
Who has had enough of lockdowns?
As a person with a strong libertarian bent I don’t like being bossed around, pestered, or nagged.
But I’ve been coping with all of that for months.
I know ten people who’ve contracted COVID-19. Only two of them told me they were very ill. Two were asymptomatic. All of them are still with us–in fact, they’ve all returned to their jobs as if nothing happened.
Last month the Centers for Disease Control released the survival rates for those who have contracted COVID-19.
Age 0-19 — 99.997%
Age 20-49 — 99.98%
Age 50-69 — 99.5%
Age 70+ — 94.6%
So if you are over 70, and most people already know that seniors are more prone to death from COVID-19 than everyone else, you have a 94.6 percent of surviving. President Trump is one of those septuagenarians who has recovered. Yes, COVID-19 is serious, because those stats also say those 70 and over have a slightly higher than 5 percent chance of dying from it.
Here’s another situation where that percentage, 94 percent, comes in to play. Nearly two months ago the CDC said of those deaths from the novel coronavirus, 94 percent had “multiple chronic conditions.” In other words, they were already unhealthy. Every death is tragic. But part of life is getting sick, getting injured, getting old, and yes, passing away. You can fool, perhaps, your neighbors or co-workers about your true age with hair dye and plastic surgery, but never can you hoodwink Father Time.
Humans are intensely social animals, as are all primates. It’s in our genetic makeup. The most watched television shows and movies are centered on personal interactions. One of the most popular TV programs ever aired is “Friends.” There is not a show entitled “Hermits,” there is no interest in producing such a program because few people would want to watch it.
The death rate from COVID-19 is very low for the very young. Yet many of our schools are closed except for cold and impersonal Zoom sessions.
Usually our first and most lasting impressions with others of our species is by way of their faces. But the mask requirements in many states, especially blue ones like mine, take those connections away from us.
The lockdowns have led to an increase in drug overdoses and possibly suicides. Among young people, the CDC says, the death rate for young people is higher for overdoses and suicides than for COVID 19.
That wave just might be beginning. For instance, Chicago, which is just south of where I live, just instated another curfew because of an uptick in COVID cases. All businesses deemed non-essential for the next two weeks must close between 10pm and 6am. Bars and restaurants, already reeling from being closed down this spring, will be hit especially hard. Some of these businesses, especially those struck by looting this summer, will never re-open. Which means of course more people will be prone to suicide and drug and alcohol abuse. The workforce in the food and beverage industry is disproportionately young.
Mrs. Marathon Pundit was an early victim of the COVID-19 lockout layoffs. She’s fine–she has a new job in a different field. But her former boss was forced to downsize his business, which I believe his home mortgage was tied into. He sold his home this summer and moved into a much smaller residence.
There are millions of former business owners facing similar situations across America. And not all workers, such as Mrs. Marathon Pundit, will be able to land on their feet.
One “fix” to the drop in revenue for brick-and-mortar restaurants is to set up plastic tents next to them. Diners instead of eating indoors will be eating, sort of, outdoors in these tents, but still breathing each other’s air. Alongside them in cold weather climates, in the winter, will be space heaters, which are a well-known fire hazard.
Follow the science.
Take a deep breath before reading this next paragraph.
Based on my current age, overall health, and family history, I’ll probably live another 25-years. I do not want to spend those years wearing a mask. I don’t want to go running outdoors–and this really happened–as I run 50 yards past a couple who, in horror, hurriedly put their masks over their faces as I move, maskless, down the street that I live on as if I am Typhoid Mary. According to federal government data, there have been 624 positive cases of COVID-19 in the town I live in, Morton Grove, which has a population of 23,000.
Who frightened that Morton Grove couple? Not me, well not initially that is.
Will the mask mandates return–if they ever go away–when a more virulent than usual strain of the flu strikes?
Follow the science.
This is not a distress from me call but instead a call for action. For the sake of our overall health–while maintaining strict safety controls in places such as senior homes and hospitals–these lockdowns must end. But I suspect many politicians–such as Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago–don’t want the lockdowns to end. They are too in love with power. Lightfoot and Gov. Pritzker told us we needed the lockdowns to “flatten the curve” in the spring so hospitals wouldn’t be overwhelmed. Now they want to prevent all of us getting sick, which as we know is not possible.
The goalposts keep moving.
Years ago I read in a book about marathon training that stated that distance running, all things being equal, does indeed lead to a longer life expectancy. But more importantly, those extra years on this planet for runners usually mean they are enjoyable years. Who is going to sign up for an additional ten years of life if those years will consist of living in a nursing home in need of 24-hour care?
The quality of life for myself and millions of others is diminished because we are ordered to wear masks and to avoid each other.
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