Covidiots

Houston’s ABC News affiliate reports: While a takedown to the floor wasn’t necessary, police body camera video of a maskless woman being arrested for the second time in six days showed her in the middle of a recitation of her “rights” inside an Office Depot store in Texas City. However, much like her previous arrest at a Bank of America …

ABC News reports: Pastor John Hagee, who was infected with the coronavirus last year, told his Cornerstone megachurch as he was recovering that “we have a vaccine; the name is Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.” Doctors say remarks like that make it more difficult to ensure that all communities are protected from the virus. Hagee Ministries clarified …

The New York Times reports: President John Magufuli of Tanzania, a populist leader who played down the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and steered his country away from democratic ideals, died on Wednesday at a hospital in the port city of Dar es Salaam. He was 61. His death was announced on television by Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who …

Houston’s ABC News affiliate reports: A woman accused of resisting a Galveston police officer earlier this month after being asked to leave a bank over her refusal to wear a face mask has been arrested again. Terry Lynn Wright, 65, was taken into custody Wednesday by Texas City police at an Office Depot, just six days after her arrest on …

Vancouver Is Awesome reports: A video of a woman refusing to wear a face mask on the Canada Line despite several warnings from a Metro Vancouver Transit Police officer has gone viral on social media. The video shows an officer donning a face mask and standing in front of the unmasked woman who is filming the video. She repeatedly tells …

“I have seen the tears in your eyes at how essential walking into the church doors — fellowship with one another, encouragement of one another, hope with one another — because isolation is a tool of war. “That is a tool of the enemy of war. And covering your mouth? That is what the enemy wants to do. That’s what …

Yahoo News reports: Uncertainty about why only 75% of the House is confirmed as vaccinated against the coronavirus is fueling a debate about when the chamber can return to its normal rules of operation. The other 25% of members have either refused to get the vaccine, have not reported getting it at home or are avoiding it because of medical …

Euro Weekly News reports: A Brazilian politician who proposed a law against vaccination has died of Covid-19. Silvio Antonio Favero, 54, who proposed a bill before the legislature of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul to prevent mandatory vaccination of the population against Covid, died on Saturday, March 13, a victim of the disease. He shared with Bolsonaro …

San Antonio’s ABC News affiliate reports: A ramen noodle shop on the Northwest Side was vandalized just days after its owner spoke out against Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to end the state’s mask mandate in an interview with CNN. Noodle Tree, located on UTSA Boulevard, was found with red paint graffiti Sunday afternoon, the restaurant owner Mike Nguyen confirmed to …

The Washington Post reports: Facebook is conducting a vast behind-the-scenes study of doubts expressed by U.S. users about vaccines, a major project that attempts to probe and teach software to identify the medical attitudes of millions of Americans, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The research is a large-scale attempt to understand the spread of ideas that contribute …

Denver’s NBC News affiliate reports: A Colorado man accused of disrupting an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Denver by refusing to wear a mask and then standing up and urinating in the cabin faces a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew that carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine. The …

Mediaite reports: This week marked the one year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic, and the nationwide shutdown that attended it. As we reported this week, many predictions and pronouncements have aged poorly in the intervening time, but one thing has not: Republicans’ opinions about the threat posed by the virus. Respondents to a new Yahoo! News/YouGov poll …

Houston’s ABC News reports: Just a day after Texas rolled back COVID-19 restrictions, including those mandating face coverings in public, a woman’s arrest has emerged stemming from her refusal to wear a mask. Body camera footage released by Galveston police shows officers confronting the woman inside a Bank of America branch on Central City Boulevard. With the woman giving pushback, …

Via press release from the FAA: A flight attendant warned the man that jetBlue’s policies required him to wear a face mask, and twice warned him that FAA regulations prohibit passengers from drinking alcohol they bring on board an aircraft. Despite these warnings, the passenger continued to remove his face mask and drink his own alcohol, the FAA alleges. A …

NPR reports: While there was little racial difference in who wants the vaccine, there were sharp partisan differences, according to the poll. Among Republican men, 49% said they did not plan to get the shot, compared with just 6% of Democratic men who said the same. Among those who said they supported President Trump in the 2020 election, 47% said …

The Washington Post reports: Videos with names such as “Murder By ‘Vaccine’ — The Evidence Mounts!” and “Doctors and Nurses Giving the coronavirus vaccine Will Be Tried as War Criminals” have been viewed tens of thousands of times after being linked on QAnon-themed channels, including “Q NEWS OFFICIAL TV,” which has more than 50,000 members. Other QAnon groups on Telegram …

Orlando’s NBC News affiliate reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis has filed an executive order that cancels any fines related to local government COVID-19 restrictions on people and business. The order states any fines imposed between March 1, 2020, and March 10, 2021, fines imposed by any political subdivision of Florida related to local government COVID-19 restrictions are canceled. The order goes …

The Hill reports: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said on Wednesday that his office was looking into “every avenue” to block the city of Austin’s mask mandate. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) lifted the state’s mask mandate on Wednesday, making it the latest out of over a dozen states to ease the coronavirus prevention method. However, the Austin City …

USA Today reports: A video that shows a ride-sharing passenger ripping off her mask, coughing on a driver, attempting to steal his phone and breaking the driver’s mask has prompted a police investigation and bans from both Uber and Lyft. San Francisco police say the incident occurred Sunday and a 32-year-old driver for Uber was the victim. The conflict began …

“It’s time for us to break free of the cycle of failed experts and frankly unconstitutional orders. If you are trapped in a blue state that won’t open up, that denies the data and the science, that bows to the teachers unions, it’s time to get — get up and either leave altogether, or get involved in politics, on the …