April 29, 2021 – 149,206,600 confirmed infections; 3,146,300 deaths
December 3, 2020 – 64,469,710 confirmed infections; 1,492,100 deaths
US (Map)
April 29, 2021 – 32,229,350 confirmed infections; 574,350 deaths
December 3, 2020 – 13,920,000 confirmed infections; 273,370 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 29, 2021 – 1,578,500 confirmed infections; 54,290 deaths
December 3, 2020 – 796,475 confirmed infections; 21,710 deaths
Tracking Covid-19:
- Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide
- South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information…
News blues
India: “We are facing very bad times, very bad times….” (2:00 mins).India’s overall rate of infection is lower than the US but the US – crazy politics and all - is, at last, getting a handle on the pandemic. India is not, at least not yet. Scenes in video above give a sense of how bad things can get when a pandemic has the upper hand ….
The people paying attention know that coronavirus is a symptom of an over-stressed planet out of whack. The chamber of horrors in which India finds itself was not caused by any one man, or any single government. It’s a symptom of prevailing worldviews – and “What Happens When Rich People Do Nothing.” (I suggest an edit to this article’s title: “…when rich and/or clueless and/or feckless people do nothing…”
His Party (3:00 mins)
McCarthy (0:45 mins)
My research suggests that dumping toxics, by design or carelessness, has become a feature of “doing business” in our world. Various branches of the US government and business appear to act upon the aphorism “outta sight, outta mind.” Take the sampling up and down the California coast, for a regional example: Dumping and/or dispersing of toxic substances is a feature of American life. Nevertheless, it’s still shocking to learn that the Environmental Protection Agency, the US department tasked with protecting the environment is so, well, lax.
I’ve written much on this blog about the damage caused by toxics. For postings, see:
Sometimes I’m tempted to believe we humans have despoiled out planet beyond the possibility of cleanup. But I cannot afford, emotionally, psychologically, sor piritually to hold onto that belief.
We must clean up our only home.
Knowledge is power. It begins with you.
Seventy-two hours before her departure, she complied with her pre-flight Covid test. After that, we mulled how to spend her final days. This, after she’d driven the Chana bakkie to a local recycling plant where we recycled piles of various gauge electrical cable. (Driving is a thrill for her: on the “wrong side of the road,” and “steering wheel on the wrong side of the vehicle,” and “Huh, I’m not used to driving a manual transmission….”
As a passenger, I’m terrified: IMHO, too few thoughtful drivers in this country.)
After mulling a visit to Pietermaritzburg’s botanical gardens, we settled, instead, on driving towards the Drakensberg, to the village of Underberg. (I’d hoped we’d have had enough time together actually to spend a night at one of the many Drakensberg hotels or B&Bs. Alas, we simply ran out of time. Too many trips to scrap yards and recycling centers?)
The restaurant I’d visited once in the past, was hosting a private party so we sought another place. Slim pickings. We drove beyond Underberg to The Olde Duck, sat at an outdoor table under a willow tree, and enjoyed the view of the “’berg” on a perfect fall/autumn day.
We also visited the botanical gardens on the public holiday known as Freedom Day – a day to celebrate and contemplate election day 1994, the first time many – the majority? – of South Africans had the freedom to vote in an election. (That election resulted in Nelson Mandela becoming the first African elected as president in South Africa.)
The day my daughter departed South Africa, an audio message was sent to the community from a local security company reporting a hold up of a vehicle transporting at least 31 prisoners.
The message urged caution and described an incident that had occurred approximately 8 miles away from our town. Apparently, five men holding AK47s had stopped the prisoner transport vehicle, picked out and armed with AK 47s, had attacked a prison vehicle transporting a group of prisoners, and left the remaining prisoners to fend for themselves. Most had taken advantage of the situation and escaped the vehicle and were on the run.
By the time I returned from Shaka International Airport – about six hours after the prison break – six prisoners had turned themselves into police custody. Never a dull moment in KZN!
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 14: sunrise 5:58am; sunset 6:15pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 14: sunrise 6:14am; sunset 5:43pm.
April 29: sunrise 6:26am; sunset 5:26pm.
"I'm afraid this is not the peak," said Dr. Giridhara R. Babu of the Public Health Foundation of India on Monday. "The kind of data that we see, (we are) at least two to three weeks away from the peak."Moreover, India is the world’s largest vaccine producer and, that it is struggling to overcome its latest COVID-19 surge is everyone’s problem. “Ninety-two developing nations rely on India, home to the Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine maker, for the doses to protect their own populations, a supply now constrained by India’s domestic obligations.”
Others say India may be approaching the peak now, sooner than Babu's estimate -- but with so many ill and so few supplies available, the country will see many more deaths before the second wave subsides.
The people paying attention know that coronavirus is a symptom of an over-stressed planet out of whack. The chamber of horrors in which India finds itself was not caused by any one man, or any single government. It’s a symptom of prevailing worldviews – and “What Happens When Rich People Do Nothing.” (I suggest an edit to this article’s title: “…when rich and/or clueless and/or feckless people do nothing…”
***
Meanwhile, over the last week, California has reported an average of 1,901 new cases per day, a 34 percent decrease from two weeks ago…. ***
By Wednesday, South Africa recorded 849 Covid-19 new cases in 24-hours with a cumulative total of 1,576,320.
Deaths, broken down by province: Eastern Cape five, Free State five, Gauteng three, KwaZulu-Natal one, Limpopo five, Mpumalanga 0, North West 0, Northern Cape two and Western Cape 17, bringing the total number of deaths since the star of the pandemic in the country to 54,186.
***
The Lincoln Project’s latest ads remind the public of the recent past:His Party (3:00 mins)
McCarthy (0:45 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
I am a longtime member on a Restoration Advisory Board that encourages local residents to overview the cleanup of toxic chemicals from the superfund site that is the former Naval Air Station, Alameda. As such, I’ve become aware of the volume of residual chemicals that the US Department of the Navy dumped on the 2,000-plus acres of landfill on the edges of the City of Alameda, California.My research suggests that dumping toxics, by design or carelessness, has become a feature of “doing business” in our world. Various branches of the US government and business appear to act upon the aphorism “outta sight, outta mind.” Take the sampling up and down the California coast, for a regional example: Dumping and/or dispersing of toxic substances is a feature of American life. Nevertheless, it’s still shocking to learn that the Environmental Protection Agency, the US department tasked with protecting the environment is so, well, lax.
Starting in 1973, the EPA issued chemical giants permits to discard thousands of drums of industrial chemical waste at the offshore site. The pollutants included chlorinated hydrocarbons, or CHCs, a family of toxic chemicals that can persist in the environment and become concentrated in marine organisms, potentially migrating up the food chain and posing a risk to human health. In the decades since, oil companies have built up a vast network of wells and seafloor pipelines in the same portion of the Gulf. The area’s largest producer is Shell Offshore Inc., a subsidiary of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, which operates three platform rigs and three drillships in what’s known as the Mars-Ursa oil basin. Shell also happens to be one of the companies that received permits from the EPA to dump huge quantities of industrial chemical waste in the Gulf in the 1970s, albeit at a different location.Read more >>
I’ve written much on this blog about the damage caused by toxics. For postings, see:
- It’s “perfectly safe; it just kills plants”
- “Goodbye guineafowl, hello truck stop”
- “BP’s Hayward…”
- More on BP’s “responsive” and “responsible” ways
- Hate to say it … but “told you so”
- Play ball! ...on a radioactive site. Or, denial is a river in Egypt [on site at Naval Air Station, Alameda]
- Deep costs of war trauma
Sometimes I’m tempted to believe we humans have despoiled out planet beyond the possibility of cleanup. But I cannot afford, emotionally, psychologically, sor piritually to hold onto that belief.
We must clean up our only home.
Knowledge is power. It begins with you.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
My daughter is on her way back to California. Boo hoo! I already miss her. We enjoyed our two weeks together.Seventy-two hours before her departure, she complied with her pre-flight Covid test. After that, we mulled how to spend her final days. This, after she’d driven the Chana bakkie to a local recycling plant where we recycled piles of various gauge electrical cable. (Driving is a thrill for her: on the “wrong side of the road,” and “steering wheel on the wrong side of the vehicle,” and “Huh, I’m not used to driving a manual transmission….”
As a passenger, I’m terrified: IMHO, too few thoughtful drivers in this country.)
After mulling a visit to Pietermaritzburg’s botanical gardens, we settled, instead, on driving towards the Drakensberg, to the village of Underberg. (I’d hoped we’d have had enough time together actually to spend a night at one of the many Drakensberg hotels or B&Bs. Alas, we simply ran out of time. Too many trips to scrap yards and recycling centers?)
The restaurant I’d visited once in the past, was hosting a private party so we sought another place. Slim pickings. We drove beyond Underberg to The Olde Duck, sat at an outdoor table under a willow tree, and enjoyed the view of the “’berg” on a perfect fall/autumn day.
We also visited the botanical gardens on the public holiday known as Freedom Day – a day to celebrate and contemplate election day 1994, the first time many – the majority? – of South Africans had the freedom to vote in an election. (That election resulted in Nelson Mandela becoming the first African elected as president in South Africa.)
The day my daughter departed South Africa, an audio message was sent to the community from a local security company reporting a hold up of a vehicle transporting at least 31 prisoners.
The message urged caution and described an incident that had occurred approximately 8 miles away from our town. Apparently, five men holding AK47s had stopped the prisoner transport vehicle, picked out and armed with AK 47s, had attacked a prison vehicle transporting a group of prisoners, and left the remaining prisoners to fend for themselves. Most had taken advantage of the situation and escaped the vehicle and were on the run.
By the time I returned from Shaka International Airport – about six hours after the prison break – six prisoners had turned themselves into police custody. Never a dull moment in KZN!
***
Long nights, shorter days here…Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 14: sunrise 5:58am; sunset 6:15pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 14: sunrise 6:14am; sunset 5:43pm.
April 29: sunrise 6:26am; sunset 5:26pm.
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