Coronavirus news: Keep wearing a damned mask, week 38 and beyond

• And, hopefully, in the not too distant future, you and I will know how well it works! NIOSH and ASTM are developing mask efficacy standards. As the story notes, the FDA, post-Scott Gottlieb, midst-Stephen Hahn semi-kowtowing to Trump, could have worked on such standards, and didn't.

• None too soon, either. London went on lockdown last Friday as the result of a new strain of coronavirus evolving, and Canada and many other countries temporarily blocked travel. Meanwhile, yet another new strain, perhaps worse than the London one, has also evolved, primarily in South Africa, and reportedly more dangerous than the London mutation, especially as it's more "aggressive" against younger people. I saw a piece by Outside mag recently speculating on how soon international travel might pick up again. Latest answer? Not very, and it is probably irresponsible of Outside to do any more speculating. That said, Dr. Anthony Fauci (wait a minute, is he an MD or not?) has said he opposes a travel ban here.

• A mix of sad and disgusting here in Texas. So many health care workers in the Valley passed on getting vaccinated (wish ProPublica/Trib had at least a few comments as to why) that it had extra vaccine available ... and ConservaDem Legiscritter Eddie Lucio cut in line, by standards of vaccination eligibility, as pictured at left.

Meanwhile, here's the latest on Chinese censorship at the start of the spread of the coronavirus. It's also yet another reminder not to trust Chinese case and fatality stats. Sidebar: The piece is also a reminder that I take commenters who pooh-pooh the seriousness of China's reported plans for a social media credit system with a grain or three of salt. The bigger question yet? How long before Beijing tracks down these leakers?

• Another reminder that, contra Trump's "reopen America" and Abbott's "reopen Texas" — dead people don't buy anything.

• That includes the 16,000 and counting age 25-44 COVID deaths.

• Reminder: Face shields, by themselves, are not great protectors. They help. But have gaps — literally.

• Texas, weddings, and maskless COVIDiocy. Shock me.

• Deborah Birx: The coronavirus' John Cornyn of (allegedly) talking tough to Trump in private. Oh, also, a big fat hypocrite.

• Bud Kennedy reports small-town Texans are "angry at COVID." From where I live, they're not angry enough to mask up like they should. He notes it's the same in places like Granbury. What this really is? Another form of American exceptionalism. "We're Merika, we shouldn't be getting bossed around by this little bitty V'uh-EYE-russ."

• Merika's expansive definition of "essential worker" and other things means that there's some major medical ethics involved with vaccine triage. (That doesn't stop Andrew Sullivan from playing "gotcha" with professor Harald Schmidt near the end of the story.)

• Reopening schools has had its own round of detritus in "blue" areas, especially ones that also have teachers unions in contract negotiations. Slate has details of how certain blue state considerations can trump science .... kind of like Trump did. Part of the story in Brookline is "blue against blue" .... Berniecrat type teachers vs. neoliberal Hillbot/Obamiac administrators and parents.

• And, schools largely opened up in Europe, for a variety of reasons that included but weren't limited to weaker unions in a few countries to more centralized (as in federalized/nationalized) school control in many.

• Shelley Luther got off scot-free. Had she been non-white and in the Valley? She'd have been arrested. 

• A guest poster at Skeptical Raptor says she'd like coronavirus vaccine liability cases moved OUT of an emergency use liability limitations court system and into the general vaccine court system. 

• Jef Rouner talks to Dr.Peter Hotez about the forthcoming anti-vaxxer backlash.