POORLY EDUCATED AMERICANS BELIEVE IRRATIONAL INFORMATION AND CONTINUE TO DIE DUE TO THEIR REFUSAL TO BELIEVE MEDICAL INFORMATION AND TO BLINDLY FOLLOW MISINFORMATION.
A PANDEMIC IS NOT PARTISAN.
THIS WILL BE ADDED TO AS TIME PERMITS.
Republican lawmaker attends anti-vaxxer rally just days after his unvaccinated wife died of COVID-19, reports say
A beloved Kentucky pastor has died from COVID-19, after his church advised members on its website "not to worry" about the coronavirus because "God is in control."
Tim Parsons, senior pastor at Center Point Church in Lexington, died one day after the church embarked on a period of prayer and fasting asking the Lord to restore him "back to his normal self," the Christian Post reports.
Center Point Church had been meeting in person but temporarily switched to online worship — "out of an abundance of caution" —after Parsons was hospitalized earlier this month, according to a report from the local CBS affiliate.
In a frequently asked questions section on the church's website, one of the topics is, "Should I be worried about COVID-19?"
Tim Parsons, senior pastor at Center Point Church in Lexington, died one day after the church embarked on a period of prayer and fasting asking the Lord to restore him "back to his normal self," the Christian Post reports.
Center Point Church had been meeting in person but temporarily switched to online worship — "out of an abundance of caution" —after Parsons was hospitalized earlier this month, according to a report from the local CBS affiliate.
In a frequently asked questions section on the church's website, one of the topics is, "Should I be worried about COVID-19?"
Georgia cop who pushed people to take horse dewormer instead of vaccine ...
A captain at the Wayne County Sheriff's Office who promoted anti-vaccination propaganda on his Facebook page has...
A captain at the Wayne County Sheriff's Office who promoted anti-vaccination propaganda on his Facebook page has died from COVID-19.
Local news station WSAV reports that Capt. Joe Manning died this week at the age of 57 after what Sheriff Chuck Moseley described as a brief battle with COVID-19
"Captain Manning was an integral part of our family and our hearts are broken," Moseley said. "Our love and prayers go forward to his family."
On August 14th, for instance, Manning posted a meme that stated, "If we lose on vaccines we will completely lose our right to sovereignty over our own bodies."
That very same day, Manning informed his friends that "Wayne Feed and Seed has some liquid and past Ivermectin get it while supplies last."
When someone asked Manning in the comments if he needed to be dewormed, Manning replied, "don't care as long as it works."
In fact, the Center for Disease Control has advised people to not take horse deworming medicine that happens to contain ivermectin, as such medicines are designed for animals that weigh several times what the typical human weights.
Additionally, there is not nearly enough data yet to conclude whether ivermectin is an effective treatment for COVID-19.
Another individual, the head of a "Freedom Defenders" group in Texas, who opposed masks and vaccines before going into the hospital with a COVID-19 infection now has fibrosis, or stiffened lungs.
The 30-year-old father of three, whose wife is expecting their fourth child next month, organized "The San Angelo Freedom Defenders" group last year to push back against pandemic protection measures, and he organized anti-mask rallies and gave multiple interviews questioning public health measures before experiencing shortness of breath, high fever and a dry cough on July 26.
More information appears in The Raw Report.
Anti-masker 'not doing good' as lungs stiffen from COVID-19: 'They've run out of options for him'
The situation appears grim for the head of a "Freedom Defenders" group in Texas who opposed masks and vaccines before going into the hospital with a COVID-19 infection.
Caleb Wallace has been hospitalized with the coronavirus since the beginning of August, unconscious, alone and heavily sedated, and his pregnant wife shared a "heartbreaking update" Wednesday on his condition, reported GoSanAngelo.
"He's not doing good," Jessica Wallace posted on Facebook. "It's not looking in our favor, his lungs are stiff due to the fibrosis. They called and said they've run out of options for him and asked if I would consent to a do not resuscitate. And it would be up to us when to stop treatments."
The 30-year-old father of three, whose wife is expecting their fourth child next month, organized "The San Angelo Freedom Defenders" group last year to push back against pandemic protection measures, and he organized anti-mask rallies and gave multiple interviews questioning public health measures before experiencing shortness of breath, high fever and a dry cough on July 26.
"Every time he would start to cough, it would turn into a coughing attack, and then that would cause him to completely go out of breath," Jessica Wallace said, adding that he initially refused to get tested for COVID-19. "He was so hard-headed. He didn't want to see a doctor, because he didn't want to be part of the statistics with COVID tests."
At first, he tried treating himself with ivermectin, high doses of Vitamin C, zinc aspirin and an inhaler, but Wallace was taken July 30 by a relative to the emergency room at Shannon Medical Center, where he joined 33 others hospitalized with the virus.
"He couldn't breathe on his own," said Jessica Wallace. "The first week he was able to be on oxygen. By the morning of (Aug. 8), he had to be ventilated."
Jessica Wallace said her political views differed from her husband, who also identified himself as the state coordinator for the right-wing West Texas Minutemen.
"I'm from the border town of Del Rio, and my views are less conservative," she told GoSanAngelo. "I'm not a liberal. I stand somewhere in the middle ... Caleb would tell me, 'You know masks aren't going to save you,' but he understood I wanted to wear them. It gives me comfort to know that maybe, just maybe, I'm either protecting someone or avoiding it myself."
In a misguided attempt to prevent or cure COVID-19, some people are resorting to ingesting ivermectin, a deworming drug meant for horses and other animals.
While the drug has approval from the Food and Drug Administration for treating some parasites and skin conditions in humans, the agency has not signed off on using ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.
Nonetheless, many people have shared stories online of buying animal-grade versions of the drug and self-medicating, with messy repercussions.
Some have posted pictures of their supposed 'poop worms' online
A perusal through pro-ivermectin Facebook groups shows users complaining about the dangerous effects of taking the animal dewormer, including blurry vision, diarrhea, and pooping out "worms." Some have gone to the lengths of posting images of their excreted "worms."
Facebook did not immediately respond to Insider's inquiry about plans to take down the groups.
Comments in pro-ivermectin Facebook groups include detailed descriptions of people's poops. Facebook
Dr. Wesley Long, a clinical pathologist and the director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist Hospital, told Insider that the chances of getting a parasitic infection were incredibly low in the US and other first-world countries. He said his lab sees an intestinal worm infection only "once every six to eight weeks."
Insider sent Long an image of one such "worm" posted in a pro-ivermectin group. His response: It was not a worm.
Long said the threadlike excretion could be a part of the person's previous meal, as people commonly mistake vegetables in their poop for worms. But he said that ingesting topical treatments meant for animals could wreak unprecedented havoc on someone's digestive tract.
"I would say that if people are taking product designed for topical application or products designed for cows, horses, or other things then there's no telling what that might look like on the back end, so to speak," Long said.
Some people have reported seeing "rope worms" in their feces, but that is not a real medical diagnosis. Facebook
Many in the ivermectin Facebook groups are calling the strings in their excrement "rope worms," but Long said there was no such medical diagnosis. He said people were likely just seeing intestinal mucus or perhaps shedding parts of the intestinal lining. Both could look like worms to an untrained eye.
Ivermectin can be toxic to humans in large doses
Small doses of ivermectin can help humans overcome parasitic infections, with the risk of a few minor side effects such as nausea, rashes, and increased heart rate.
Large quantities of the drug can have much scarier effects. Overdoses of ivermectin can result in blurred vision, dizziness, hallucinations, lung issues, coma, and seizures, according to the CDC.
Taking a drug meant for a horse is an easy way to overdose — veterinary-grade formulas are usually sold at higher concentrations — and it's driving an increase in calls to poison-control helplines. According to the CDC, there's been a threefold increase in calls to poison-control centers this year and a fivefold increase from the baseline since July.
In Mississippi, a state with a surging number of coronavirus cases, at least 13 people have called poison control after taking ivermectin this month. Seventy percent of those calls came from people who ingested products meant for animals, Ruth Cummins, an assistant director for media relations at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, told Insider.
Despite warnings from the CDC and FDA, many in the pro-ivermectin Facebook groups espouse the false belief that overdose symptoms such as blurred vision mean the drug is working. The CDC recommends seeking immediate medical treatment if you're experiencing side effects after taking ivermectin.
If you or a loved one has taken a large dose of ivermectin, call your local poison center or 911.
I'm sorry that the anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers have drained and exhausted medical professionals who are struggling to save people from their own stupidity.
I'm sorry for the innocent others they infected.
I'm sorry for the financial waste in the health care system.
I'm sorry for those patients who need medical care that they might not have received because of ignorance.
IGNORANCE is the greatest threat to DEMOCRACY and this proves it.
MISSOURI STUPIDITY!
Steve Walsh, husband of State Rep. Sara Walsh, dies after battle with COVID-19
Steve Walsh, the husband of State Rep. Sara Walsh and spokesman for U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, has died following a battle with COVID-19, Sara Walsh announced early Thursday morning. He was 63.
"It saddens my heart to share that this morning my best friend and beloved husband Steve Walsh was welcomed to Heaven’s glory into the arms of Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior," Sara Walsh tweeted.
"Thank you to everyone who has lifted us up in prayer," she wrote.
"I am saddened at the loss of Steve Walsh, who served my office and Missouri’s Fourth District admirably for the past decade," Hartzler wrote in a statement Thursday. "Since day one, Steve has been a key member of my team, serving previously as Press Secretary before his current role as Field Representative.
"We loved Steve for his enormous heart, passion for life, and the joy he brought to everyone who was lucky enough to meet him. His love of God and his beautiful wife, Sara, was undeniable. Steve will be sorely missed, but his memory will live on with those who were blessed to know him.
"I ask that the Walsh family be given privacy during this difficult time."
An outpouring of support on social media followed Sara Walsh's announcement.
"I am so sorry to hear of the passing of my friend," State Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden tweeted. "Steve was a great guy — always quick to bring humor and optimism to any situation. He had a heart for people and for this state."
"Steve Walsh was a true professional, an incredibly kind man of strong faith, and he was our friend," Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe tweeted. "@ClaudiaLKehoe & I extend our heartfelt condolences to @SaraForMissouri. She is hurting. We are hurting. We will miss him greatly, but knowing he is in Heaven provides us comfort."
Gov. Mike Parson held a moment of silence Thursday for the Walsh family while speaking at the Governor’s Ham Breakfast at the State Fair in Sedalia.
After working more than 25 years in media, Steve Walsh made a career transition into political communications in 2010.
Sara Walsh on Aug. 3 asked for community prayers as both she and her husband battled COVID-19.
She posted on Facebook at that time: "Friends, please pray for my precious husband Steve Walsh. He is very sick and is in the hospital. We serve a miracle working God and tonight please help me get prayers lifted up for Steve’s healing and recovery.
"Steve is my sweet love and my best friend in the whole world."
An Ashland Republican running for Hartzler's seat in Congress, Sara Walsh said last week she had mostly recovered from the virus, though Steve remained hospitalized.
The couple did not get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Marc Bernier of station WNDB of Orlando, Florida speaks to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove during a radio interview 24 October 2006 at an event for radio talk shows at the White House in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Marc Bernier worked as a broadcast journalist for 46 years.
Following his hospitalization on August 10, Bernier fought the coronavirus for three weeks until he passed.
Bernier likened the US government to Nazi Germany in his last tweet.
Longtime WNDB radio host Marc Bernier, an outspoken critic of COVID-19 vaccinations, has died from COVID-19 after a three-week hospital stay, the Daytona Beach News Journal reported.
"It's with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier. Marc informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years while enjoying a successful 46-year career as a broadcast journalist," a WNDB Facebook post said.
Bernier was hospitalized on August 10 and spent three weeks fighting the virus. His last tweet quoted a video from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried asking residents to get vaccinated, which he used to compare the US government to Nazi Germany.
Winston Wallace, 9, raises his hand on the first day of school at iPrep Academy in Miami, on Aug. 23. In Miami-Dade County, Fla., masks are mandatory for everyone. (photo: Lynne Sladky/AP)
A Teacher Took Off Her Mask to Read Aloud. Within Days, Half Her Class Was Positive for Delta.
EXCERPT:
Doctors are also speculating about anecdotal reports of unvaccinated young parents getting seriously ill, and what that might say about transmission in families. In Arkansas just outside Little Rock, Tate Ezzi, 44, and his pregnant wife, Christine, 39, parents to five young children, have been urging the vaccine-wary to revaluate their stance since both were hospitalized and she lost the pregnancy after attending a birthday party at a skating rink. In Texas, Lydia Rodriguez, 42, died this month of covid-19, two weeks after her husband Lawrence’s death from the same disease, orphaning their four children.
A recent technical paper out of Britain suggested the delta variant does not cause more serious illness than its predecessors, but the analysis did not specifically break out children. David Rubin, a researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who has been studying U.S. hospitalization data, said that in recent weeks, 1,200 to 1,400 children were inpatients at the peak, and while those numbers may be large, the rate of hospitalization remains the same as in the past at 0.8 to 0.9 percent.
Demonstrators gather with signs and flags to protest against mandated vaccines outside of the Michigan State Capitol on August 6, 2021 in Lansing, Michigan. Emily Elconin/Getty Images
At least six radio hosts and high-profile anti-mask and anti-vaccine advocates have died from COVID-19 in recent weeks.
The men are radio hosts Dick Farrel, Phil Valentine, and Marc Bernier, as well as former CIA officer Robert David Steele, anti-masker Caleb Wallace, and conservative leader Pressley Stutts.
Misinformation around the virus and vaccines remains widespread as cases continue to rise.
At least six conservative radio hosts and high-profile anti-mask and anti-vaccine advocates have died from COVID-19 in recent weeks.
Before catching COVID-19, the men — radio hosts Dick Farrel, Phil Valentine, and Marc Bernier, as well as former CIA officer and conspiracy theorist Robert David Steele, anti-masker Caleb Wallace, and South Carolina GOP conservative leader Pressley Stutts — had shared conspiracy theories about vaccines, told supporters misinformation about the virus, and even held rallies in opposition to mask mandates.
Florida radio host Dick Farrel had advocated against the COVID-19 vaccine on Facebook before his death.
Farrel Austin Levitt, known publicly as conservative talk show host Dick Farrel, died of "severe damage" caused by COVID-19 in early August, his fiancee and life partner Kittie Farley told the Washington Post. He was 65.
"Why take a vax promoted by people who lied 2u all along about masks, where the virus came from and the death toll?" he wrote in a Facebook post in July.
But his friends said he actually encouraged them to get vaccinated after he got sick.
"He is the reason I took the shot," Amy Leigh Hair, Farrel's close friend, told WPTV, an NBC News affiliate. "He texted me and told me to 'Get it!' He told me this virus is no joke and he said, 'I wish I had gotten it!' "
Radio host Phil Valentine changed his views on the COVID-19 vaccine before his death.
Valentine, who said his chances of dying from the virus were "way less than one percent" in December 2020, announced he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 11, and less than two weeks later, he became hospitalized with the virus.
His radio station, 99.7 WTN, announced his hospitalization.
"Phil would like for his listeners to know that while he has never been an 'anti-vaxxer' he regrets not being more vehemently 'pro-vaccine,' and looks forward to being able to more vigorously advocate that position as soon as he is back on the air, which we all hope will be soon," the station said.
And after Valentine got sick, he changed his view on vaccines, his brother, Mark Valentine, told WBUR.
"Take politics out of it. It's time for us to get together and fight this thing collectively," he said. "Just put all the conspiracies and microchips and all that business aside and go get vaccinated and don't put your family through what his wife and the rest of us are going through."
Valentine, who was hospitalized with pneumonia caused by COVID-19, died a month after falling ill.
Marc Bernier, a radio host in Florida, said on air that he opposed vaccines before dying of COVID-19.
WNDB radio host Bernier had voiced anti-vaccine opinions on air before his death in late August.
"I'm not taking it," he said when asked about the COVID-19 during a segment of his show in December 2020, according to USA Today. "Are you kidding me? Mr. Anti-Vax? Jeepers."
Mel Stack, an attorney and friend of Bernier, told USA Today that Bernier's anti-vaccine opinions weren't politically based but instead based on how he believed other vaccines had impacted people close to him.
Former CIA officer Robert David Steele died from COVID-19 after spreading COVID-denial conspiracy theories.
But he had spread anti-vaccine and COVID-19-denial conspiracy theories on his blog throughout the pandemic, Vice reported.
"I will not take the vaccination, though I did test positive for whatever they're calling 'COVID' today, but the bottom line is that my lungs are not functioning," he wrote in a blog post on August 17.
Accompanying the blog post was a photo of Steele apparently hooked up to a ventilator.
"The good news is that I will survive with a few days off. I should be back up and at least functional soon," he wrote.
Days later, he died from the virus.
Caleb Wallace, an anti-masker who previously protested against COVID-19 safety measures, died after spending a month in the hospital.
In 2020, Wallace helped organize rallies to protest against COVID-19 safety measures, including lockdowns and masks, which he called "COVID tyranny."
His wife, Jessica Wallace, told the San Angelo Standard-Times that Wallace started showing symptoms in July and opted to treat himself with ivermectin — a horse de-wormer that CDC has warned should not be used to treat COVID-19 — as well as high doses of vitamin C, zinc, aspirin, and an inhaler before seeking professional medical care when his condition deteriorated.
He was taken to an intensive care unit at Shannon Medical Centre, where he spent weeks on a ventilator.
His wife said on a GoFundMe page that he died on August 28.
"He was an imperfect man but he loved his family and his little girls more than anything," his wife wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Pressley Stutts, a South Carolina conservative group leader, died after making fun of masks.
Stutts, chair of the Greenville Tea Party, died from COVID-19 in August after making false statements about the virus and downplaying the importance of mask-wearing.
Among other comments, Stutts called face masks an "illusion" in a Facebook post, cheered on unvaccinated doctors and nurses, and even downplayed the virus while hospitalized with COVID in early August.
"COVID is nothing to fool with and in as much as possible, it is up to you to take the best precautions for you and your family to avoid getting it," he said from an ICU bed.
Two weeks later, he changed his views and called the virus "hell on earth."
"When you have to take every single ounce just to get your next breath, you know you are in the battle for your life!" he wrote in that Facebook post. "I IMPLORE YOU....PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD MOVES MIGHTILY IN MY BODY. ISOLATED. DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I CAN ENDURE WITHOUT YOUR PRAYERS. SERIOUSLY!"
