Some 637,531 voices in the U.S. (as of Monday) can’t be reached for comment on the subject. They’re dead. At least that many individuals have died from COVID-related illness in this country since the beginning of 2020, according to official sources.

World-wide Covid deaths through Sunday were 4,520,118.

Makes one wonder what the little group assembled on a nearby street corner is talking about when it shouts about being deprived of individual freedom in government — as they have strapped on their seatbelts and driven down to the Safeway parking lot to protest a government mandate involving the wearing of masks.

The true goal of the self-serving stupidity thriving in our midst seems to be preservation of the white supremacy champion who has managed to get his foot into the door. And that would be Donald Trump.

The U.S. is on track to record another 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by Dec. 1, a forecast from researchers at the University of Washington said. While the U.S. already has so far recorded some. 637,500 deaths, researchers say that more than 738,700 could be reached as soon as by Dec 1. For the first time since March 2021, the U.S. is reporting an average of more than a thousand COVID-19 deaths a day. Cases have also been rising across the country as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads.

Things have looked comparatively safe in little old Jefferson County, where superior medical service has held things in check. But over the past weekend (Friday through Monday) 26 new cases were recorded. We’re swiftly moving from the stranger across town to the woman next door.

The COVID-19 pandemic is surging again nationally — with nationwide case counts having increased by 64.4 percent over the past 21 days, according to an Aug. 25 story in The Daily Beast.

The story notes: In western South Dakota’s Meade County, more than one in three COVID-19 tests currently are retuning positive and over the last three weeks have increased by 3,400 percent. This exponential growth in n cases likely is attributable to the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which drew an estimated 500,000 visitor to Neade County and its environs from Aug. 6 through Aug. 15 potentially as a super spreader event.”

It's difficult to keep up with the news these days, especially the pandemic. It will be September before I can get this reasonably proof-read and off to the Leader.

But while such Southern states as Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, etc. have been the main drivers of this most-recent pandemic surge, South Dakota deserves special concern The state more broadly has witnessed a 686.8 percent increase in daily case counts over the past three weeks, currently more than 10 times the nationwide rate. Meade County’s post-Sturgis uptick is certainly a contributor to this state-level increase. However neighboring counties have experienced a sharp incline in cases, too — ranging from a 1,900 percent increase in the past three weeks in Butte to a 1,050 percent increase in Lawrence.

As of a week or so ago, “only” about 180 new cases of COVID had been traced directly back to Sturgis. The annual South Dakota debacle undoubtedly sent the COVID seed back home to infect outposts both near and far represented by the half million visitors .

This all is occurring at a time when vaccines are available, but millions of people have been refusing to take them. During the Sturgis rally, several attendees told The Daily Beast they were unvaccinated and would not take a shot.

The foregoing is taken in large part from a more lengthy story which may be read along with others, by searching the headline ”Warnings About the Sturgis Rally Have Come Tragically True.”

Meanwhile, the deep South continues the traditional internecine battle for downright stupidity. Mississippi's governor says people in the state are less scared of COVID-19 because they believe in "eternal life.”