"Good thing we've got politics in Texas--finest form of free entertainment ever invented!"--Molly Ivins

Is it any surprise Gov. Abbott pointed to a prison as a source of covid-19 cases, but not a meatpacking plant?

The rate of cases per 1,000 residents is especially high in the panhandle’s Moore County, where infections are tied to a meatpacking plant. The rate of cases is also high in counties with state prisons such as Walker and Jones. In other rural areas where the presence of the virus has yet to be confirmed, testing has been scarce.

That last sentence leaves me thinking of Trump's arguments about testing and knowledge.  Ignorance is bliss, to stupid people.  Is Abbott that stupid?  Or does he just act like it in public?

Now, as much as I like the Tribune, this is kind of stupid:

On April 6, the state started reporting the number of patients with positive tests who are hospitalized. It was 1,153 that day and 2,518 on June 16. This data does not account for people who are hospitalized but have not gotten a positive test. As of mid-April, concerns that Texas hospitals would be unable to accommodate a surge of COVID-19 patients seem to have been assuaged.

As of mid-April?  What does that mean for us in mid-June?  Except that our reports are going to be two months behind, so it may be August before we realize what a disaster (God forbid) June was?  Wow, I feel better already.

Yes, there is always a lag time between exposure and a rise in cases, but since April 6 the number of cases of covid-19 in hospitals alone has risen almost 100%.  If that continues into August, the number of beds available in the state shrinks to below 10,000.  And those beds are not evenly distributed across the state, anymore than the cases are.

Cumulative cases of coronavirus in Texas

Yeah, I don't think that number reflects the number of "youths" crowding into bars, or one prison's population in one county.  Besides, the people seem to be smarter than the governor:

Restaurants and bars across Texas — including in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and San Marcos — have closed recently due to concerns about potentially spreading the coronavirus, according to social media posts and local news reports.

Those voluntarily closures come weeks into Gov. Greg Abbott's phased approach to letting businesses reopen in hopes of igniting the state's economy, which took a catastrophic hit from local and statewide business shutdowns in March and April. It also comes as local officials ask the governor to allow them to require that people wear face masks in public and as Austin Mayor Steve Adler is encouraging reopened businesses to voluntarily operate their indoor spaces at 25% or less of their full capacity.

And the closures come as the virus continues to spread in Texas. Tuesday was the fifth straight day of record-high hospitalizations of Texans with coronavirus, a worrying confirmation for health experts who predicted cases would rise after the state started reopening. Also Tuesday, the state reported that at least 2,000 Texans have died from the COVID-19 disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Many restaurant owners have been trying to balance feedback from their staffs, their patrons, state guidelines and local officials, said Melissa Stewart, executive director of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association.

Like I said early on, who really wants to be known as a vector for this disease?  I'm also not satisfied that the problem is the bar patrons.  I think the responsiblity lies with the government we elect to protect us all from things like this.