Covid-19

Many Fox News hosts in recent weeks have railed against businesses that are enacting some kind of vaccine requirement for workers and customers.

However, an internal Fox News memo obtained by Ad Week shows that the right-wing cable news network is enacting its own kind of vaccine passport program.

"Fox & Friends" has joined the Governor Ron DeSantis movement of promoting Regeneron's highly-experimental COVID-19 antibody therapy as a treatment option instead of the preventative coronavirus vaccine, and is falsely claiming that most people hospitalized with the coronavirus are treated with the drug.

"You know it's interesting," Fox & Friends' Ainsley Earhardt said Wednesday, "Greg Abbott, he's in our prayers this morning because he announced that he tested positive for COVID yesterday. He has been vaccinated and still got COVID," she said, appearing to falsely imply the coronavirus vaccine does not work.

Former President Donald Trump ranted against vaccine booster shots and falsely insisted that the Covid-19 virus was "virtually gone" when he left office.

During an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday, Trump said that he was "proud" to have taken the Covid vaccine.

Cullman County, Alabama Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette apologized to parents in a video Monday for "alarming" them about scheduling a meeting of the school board to discuss implementing a mask mandate. He assured parents there would be no meeting – and no mask mandate – because he opposes masks as do the other school board members.

Nearly 400 students in the small county are out on COVID-19 related absence after the first week of classes, according to the Alabama Political Reporter. Those students either have tested positive for the coronavirus or have been exposed to someone who has.

Coronavirus denial is by no means universal in Christianity. A wide range of practicing Christians, from Catholics to Mainline Protestants such as Lutherans, Methodists and Episcopalians, have encouraged social distancing, mask wearing and vaccination. But countless far-right white evangelicals have recklessly, irresponsibly promoted the spread of COVID-19, and an article published by the Los Angeles Review of Books on Aug. 15 describes an L.A. megachurch's battle against public health measures.

Writer Jim Hinch explains, "Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, evangelical Christians have been among the most polarizing voices in a divided nation struggling to respond to a grave public health emergency. From the moment authorities began addressing the crisis last year, evangelicals have protested government-ordered lockdowns, resisted measures such as mask-wearing, defied restrictions on indoor worship services, and fought public health officials all the way to the Supreme Court."

On Tuesday, ABC News reported that a couple in Savannah, Georgia have died from COVID-19 after being persistently reluctant to get vaccinated against the disease.

"Martin and Trina Daniel, married for over 20 years, both died of COVID-19 within hours of each other, leaving behind two teenage children facing an unimaginable loss," reported Emily Shapiro. "The Daniels met at Savannah State University in the 1990s before Martin Daniel headed to Tuskegee University in Alabama for graduate school."

A Bible-wielding anti-vaxxer on Tuesday went off on an unhinged rant during a County of San Diego Board of Supervisors meeting in which she accused people who want others to get vaccinated of committing "crimes against humanity."

Via the San Diego Union-Tribune's Phillip Molnar, a woman at the meeting stood up and immediately started brandishing her Bible, which she claimed that board members couldn't touch without their hands catching fire.

A Mississippi teen was pronounced dead Saturday after catching COVID-19 and lasting for just a day.

A WATP report Monday described middle school student Mkayla Robinson as "loved by all of her teachers."

On Tuesday, the office of Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19. Abbott, who was fully vaccinated, will reportedly isolate and undergo monoclonal antibody therapy as a precaution to prevent more serious illness.

The news triggered an explosive reaction from commenters on social media.

It was announced Tuesday afternoon that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has contracted the novel coronavirus despite being vaccinated.

What's more, it seems that Abbott attended a crowded event just one day before his positive test, as a large group of mask-less supporters joined the governor just north of Dallas in Collin County at the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch meeting on Monday.

According to a statement from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office, the Republican governor has tested positive for COVID-19. He has been fully vaccinated, but the delta variant of the virus has proven to be much more likely to lead to breakthrough cases.

"The Governor has been testing daily, and today was the first positive test result. Governor Abbott is in constant communication with his staff, agency heads, and government officials to ensure the state government continues to operate smoothly and efficiently. The Governor will isolate in the Governor's Mansion and continue to test daily. Governor Abbott is receiving Regeneron's monoclonal antibody treatment," said a statement form his office.