Thursday, September 17, 2020

Day 230: Should Fido Wear a Mask?

The Netherlands have jumped a couple of places past China (now #41) over the course of the week. Next up to surpass China are Guatemala and the United Arab Emirates. Michigan also surpassed Massachusetts this week, pushing us down to #18 in the US. Next up is Maryland, though Missouri and Wisconsin are moving faster at the moment.

Today's title question is an apparently serious one from Reader's Digest: Should Your Dog Be Wearing a Pet Mask? The answer, of course, is no. Dogs need to pant as well as breathe, and some of them have been bred to be dangerously bad at the latter even without a mask. Of course no one asks whether your cat should wear a mask because clearly your cat will refuse.

On the science front, not only does smoking protect you from COVID-19, but wearing glasses does as well, at least according to this report in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Massachusetts' cases are up a third of a percentage point today. Here's the graph of the cities and towns data from Wednesday; things are still happening in Williamstown and on the islands, as well as in Worcester, Lawrence, Revere, and New Bedford:
(Pop out.)

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