I told you so!

Governor Andy Beshear (D-KY) hasn’t tried to make masks mandatory again, but today’s “recommendations” certainly set the table for that.

The Governor’s new “recommendations” are:

• All unvaccinated Kentuckians should wear masks indoors when not in their homes
• Kentuckians at higher risk due to pre-existing conditions should wear masks indoors when not in their homes
• Vaccinated Kentuckians in jobs with significant public exposure should consider wearing a mask at work
• All unvaccinated Kentuckians, when eligible, should be vaccinated immediately

Mr Beshear is like any other American: under our First Amendment, he has the freedom of speech, and can recommend anything he wishes. But I do not trust him, nor do I trust the state Supreme Court and how they may rule on the Governor’s legal attempts to invalidate the restrictions on his emergency powers under KRS 39A passed by the General Assembly last February, and it’s all too easy to see Mr Beshear trying to turn his recommendations into orders.

Kentucky reporting new cases of COVID-19 at levels not seen since March

By Alex Acquisto | July 22, 2021 | 1:38 PM | Updated: 2:06 PM EDT

Kentucky is poised to report its fourth consecutive week of rising COVID-19 cases, the overwhelming majority of which are driven by unvaccinated people, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.

“We believe that on Monday we are going to be in another week of increasing cases,” the governor said from the state Capitol. Cases began rising again in late June after two months of consecutive decline.

In Kentucky, where roughly half the state is at least partially vaccinated, over 95% of the more than 61,000 new coronavirus cases from March 1 to July 21 were among unvaccinated people, the governor announced. Likewise, 92% of the 3,100 coronavirus-related hospitalizations and 89% of the 447 people who died of coronavirus were either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

OK, let’s stop right there. The vaccines didn’t even become available to people under 70 until the beginning of March, so when March and April are included, those numbers are wholly skewed. I’m in my upper sixties, and I was not able to get my first dose until April Fool’s Day, and my second until Cinco de Mayo. I would not have been considered “fully vaccinated” until 14 days after my second dose, which meant May 19^th.

So, when the Governor tells us that “over 95% of the more than 61,000 new coronavirus cases from March 1 to July 21 were among unvaccinated people,” he is using a time frame in which most Kentuckians had the opportunity to be vaccinated. The percentage of the Commonwealth’s population which could have been vaccinated, especially “fully vaccinated,” during March and April was pretty small.

Note what the Herald-Leader had reported just two days earlier:

About one-fifth of the new COVID-19 cases in Lexington in July occurred in vaccinated people, according to new data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.

Those so-called “breakthrough” cases had accounted for less than 1 percent of Lexington’s reported infections until the last few weeks. In May, less than 10 percent of the month’s cases were breakthrough infections. In June, that number increased to almost 15 percent.

This month, about 19.5 percent of all cases have been in people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the health department.

Note, the report is that 19.5% were among people fully vaccinated. One wonders what the infection rate was for those who were only partially vaccinated.

The vaccines are supposed to help those who do contract the virus anyway by resulting in far less serious symptoms. If someone has been vaccinated, and he doesn’t feel sick, there’s really no reason for him to be tested, so, though we can’t prove a negative, it stands to reason that a smaller percentage of vaccinated than unvaccinated people get tested for COVID-19. It could well be that the percentage of vaccinated people who are infected with COVID anyway is significantly higher than anyone knows.

And why would a fully vaccinated person get tested unless it was absolutely necessary? From CNBC:

If a vaccinated person tests positive for Covid, through routine workplace testing, for example, “we don’t just let them go about their business and forget about the fact that they tested positive,” says Dr. Peter Katona, professor of medicine and public health at UCLA and chair of the Infection Control Working Group.

“With the understanding that you’re less of a problem than an unvaccinated [person], it doesn’t mean you let up on your protocol,” he says.

The most important thing to do after testing positive would be to isolate, meaning you stay away from people who are not sick, including others who are vaccinated, and monitor for Covid-related symptoms, Gonsenhauser says.

“You are going to have to isolate just as though you were not vaccinated for 10 days from the first symptoms that you recognize or from the time of your test…keeping yourself from being around other people until that period is up,” Gonsenhauser says.

You should avoid visiting any private or public areas or traveling during that 10-day period, according to the CDC.

In other words, if you are fully vaccinated and are not sick, getting tested can mean only one thing: more restrictions on your life!

And here comes what I said was coming:

The more contagious Delta variant is driving an increase in cases and the statewide positivity rate, which rose above 6% on Wednesday for the first time since late February. On Tuesday, the state reported 1,054 new cases of the virus — the highest single-day increase since March 11, Beshear said. On Wednesday, the state reported 963 new cases.

For the first time since he lifted the statewide mask mandate and repealed capacity restrictions in early June, Beshear said on Thursday that he will not shy away from reinstituting those rules if the spread of the virus continues to gain momentum.

“We’re not going to be afraid to make the tough decision if it’s merited,” he said, again noting that the solution to stemming spread is for more people to get vaccinated.

It is, I believe, the wiser choice for people to go ahead and get vaccinated; not only have I said that before, but my freely disclosed choice on the matter months ago ought to stand as testimony to that. And if someone believes that he ought to wear a face mask, I absolutely support his right to choose to do that.

But I am absolutely opposed to the government trying to mandate vaccination, or facemasks, or any of the restrictions on our individual rights that so many states imposed previously. COVID-19 may be deadly in a small percentage of cases, but it has already dealt a near-mortal blow to our rights as free people and as Americans.