Delta’s High (Not the Airline)

Sunday Reads – July 25, 2021

Some weeks the news and life present a more random list of topics for reading, but this one held a steady theme — what we’ve learned about ourselves and what we haven’t during our pandemic time.

What’s very old is new … again

While we’d like to spend less time on this topic, we can’t: The coronavirus danger has returned in the form of the delta variant. What we know: Everyone can get it, but vaccinated people don’t get as sick. Georgia still ranks among the most dangerous places to be only because less than half of all people 18 to 64 have been vaccinated. If two strangers are in line at the grocery store, odds are good that one of them isn’t vaccinated. We also know children and younger people can die from it, so we’ve gone from endangering our seniors to putting our children in harm’s way if we spread it. Camden County set a one-day case record this week, and hospitals are seeing more patients, nearly all unvaccinated. Mask up.

Another COVID danger has bubbled to the surface in the form of unvaccinated home health care workers. This group has been eligible for the vaccine from the start but reaching them is logistically difficult. Now companies and private-pay consumers are working to make sure these critical workers are safe to bring into homes. Andy Miller at Georgia Health News reports on the situation this week. ProPublica also has a national view based on new research by AARP and others.

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Georgia’s children aren’t getting help

Miller also has a non-COVID story that’s disturbing and shouldn’t be overlooked: Children in Georgia who are eligible for specialty health services like dental, mental health and other corrective care under Medicaid aren’t being referred. In Georgia, 1.4 million children are eligible and only 30,000 are referred. The number pales compared to other states. The care is available yet doctors aren’t referring patients at the ages when the treatment would do the most good. Legal advocates are now getting involved to see what the obstacles are.

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And back to learning

Two risk researchers have been polling people for the last 7 months to find out the different factors that distinguish those who see the coronavirus as a risk and those who don’t. And they wanted to understand what it takes to make us see danger and take it more seriously. The overarching find: Friendships and community make the difference when it comes to stemming a pandemic or threat. This seems simple, but it sets up some very thoughtful dinner conversations on how to build and maintain a strong sense of community in these divisive days.

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And for your second cup

Do you ever find yourself asking why everyone is so angry lately? Or why there’s always something to fear that you haven’t even considered? If that’s the case, think about what may have caused all of that. It seems, communications research finds, that we are on a wartime footing for propaganda when we’re not even at war and that’s left all of us as propagandists. And it’s left our leaders at a loss for constructive political discourse that has the ability to calm us and move the nation in a peaceful direction. We’re sharing the findings from the research, but more importantly, we hope we’re sparking you to consider how to discern destructive information, stop sharing gratuitous fear and work every day toward calmer discussions based on credible information.

Enjoy.

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