US reaches 700,000 COVID-19 deaths

[wnylib]

26. We get a lot of cross state traffic

here in western NY from northwestern PA and northeastern Ohio, which is why I wondered about Erie County, PA.

This is a touristy area and large events continued all summer as if there were no pandemic, contributing to high transmission. In addition, people here were very slow to start wearing masks again. The two small cities here are politically blue, but the villages, hamlets, and farm areas are deep red. Before mandatory vaccination for health care workers and some companies, the vaccination rate in the county was around 45%. Now it is up to 53%. The county health director is running public service announcements around the clock on local radio stations to inform people of the delta risks and the need for vaccinations, masks, and distancing. People are finally falling in line, but there are still a few places where I get strange looks and chuckles for wearing a mask.

Just when the tourist season slowed down and might have given us a break, the schools opened up. Now the under 20 group dominates transmissions.