Free Republic

The United States stood Sunday at the brink of 500,000 COVID-19 deaths as Dr Anthony Fauci warned that Americans could be wearing masks into 2022 despite infections falling 77 per cent over the last six weeks. A year into the pandemic, the running total of lives lost was about 498,000 — roughly the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and just shy of the size of Atlanta. The figure compiled by Johns Hopkins University surpasses the number of people who died in 2019 of chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer's, flu and pneumonia combined.

NEW YORK - Anyone who has to go to federal court in Manhattan, Westchester County, and Dutchess County will need to mask up — twice — to get inside, according to a new policy. In a public memo dated Feb. 11, 2021, Chief Judge Colleen McMahon says everyone coming into federal court buildings in the Southern District of New York will need to follow a series of pandemic protocols, including answering questions, getting their temperature checked, and wearing either two masks — a tight-fitting disposable mask under a cloth mask — or a well-fitting FDA-approved KN95 or N95 respirator-style mask.