And not from The Babylon Bee.
Coronavirus: Israel Launches ‘Happy Badge’ for Weddings and Large Parties
Jerusalem Post | 7/16/2021 | Rossella Tercatin
In a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus at large events, the coronavirus cabinet…
(General Turgidson from Dr. Strangelove: “Hey, we gotta get one of those!”)
… on Thursday adopted the “Happy Badge,” an outline for safely holding mass gatherings.
… uh … if “lookalikes could kill” … In the voice of Dr. Strangelove himself:
On the heels of the third straight day with more than 750 cases, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the pass was necessary for “maximum protection.”
Starting Wednesday, access to weddings and similar events with more than 100 guests will be reserved to individuals who are vaccinated, recovered or holders of a recent negative coronavirus test, Bennett, Economy Minister Orna Barbivay and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said in a joint statement.
On Thursday, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amos Ben Avraham was appointed as the ministry’s commissioner responsible for enforcing coronavirus quarantines.
Ben Avraham will head the coronavirus enforcement headquarters, which will coordinate the necessary operations, including the use of advanced technology and coordination between various bodies, such as the police, local authorities and the Airports Authority, the Public Security Ministry said.
And on a related topic:
Some 765 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in Israel on Wednesday, with 1.38% of tests returning positive, the Health Ministry reported Thursday morning.
The figure marks the highest number of new infections since March. Until a month ago, 10 to 20 new virus carriers were identified every day.
Out of how many tests per report? I wanted to do the math.
(I’ll assume the 765 new cases were for a 24-hour period, but it’s not specified.)
Serious morbidity has also increased. Some 54 patients were in serious condition on Thursday. A week ago, there were 41.
So, 13 more in a week. Is that average? This would be a great time to present that statistic. But wait — the topic shifts:
In April, with about 5,300 active cases, a similar number as now, more than 320 patients were in serious condition.
But now there are only 54, right?
Blizzard of jumbled numbers presented here.
A week ago, there were 41 patients in serious condition — out of how many positive tests, and/or out of how many “active cases,” whatever that means?
A week later, there were 54 patients in serious condition — out of how many positive tests, and/or out of how many “active cases”?
Is a positive test an active case?
If not, why not?
Who gets to decide between the two?
We get the numbers for April, but now we have nothing to compare them to now.
54 patients now in serious condition compared to 320 in April sounds like cause for rejoice, not depression.
The likely explanation is that among the current virus carriers, some 2,000 are schoolchildren, and half of them were fully vaccinated. Both groups are very unlikely to develop severe forms of the disease.
“Current virus carriers” may or may not be the same as “active cases,” but we are not given definitions or current numbers for either.
Otherwise, I’d give this report a straight “A” for effect.