Enjoying life

News blues

In a [recent interview, Dr Anthony] Fauci urged the US Congress not to be complacent and to resume funding efforts to combat the virus, including the scourge of long Covid, which remains scientifically elusive but understood to hit women and people of colour especially hard.
“It’s a very insidious beneath-the-radar-screen public health emergency,” the chief medical adviser to Joe Biden said, “because it isn’t that you have people who are hospitalized or dying but their function is being considerably impaired and, for reasons that are obvious, that doesn’t attract as much attention as a death rate.”

Read more >> 

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On war…

Russian drone and missile attacks this month have destroyed almost a full third of [Ukraine’s] power stations. The destruction has triggered blackouts across the country, but the grid has remained relatively stable, showing that even Ukraine in a literal war with a superpower can still have better power scheduling than South Africa.

Read more >>

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The Lincoln Project:
Evidence  (0:27 mins)
Two faces  (1:08 mins)
Mike Lee begs  (0:45 mins)
Ticket  (0:59 mins)
Trumperton  (0:39 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - October 18, 2022  (1:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A reminder – our planet is beautiful. Photos have the power to prove it >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Nine more days of Mary feeling healthy, enjoying her days of exercise, research, and, yes, joy, too. Indeed, so easily does she find putting from her mind that mesothelioma is invading her lung and that chemo is coming up, again, that, today, she forgot to take her maintenance supplementary meds. That’s the right kind of forgetfulness.
Mary is enjoying life, perhaps more than ever....

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SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:20am
Sunset: 6:25pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:17am
Sunset: 6:11pm

Long Covid

Worldwide (Map) 
May 19, 2022 - 525,259,500 confirmed infections; 6,283,350 deaths
May 20, 2021 – 164,620,000 confirmed infections; 3,413,350 deaths

US (Map) 
May 19, 2022 - 82,951,400 confirmed infections; 1,001,300 deaths
May 20, 2021 – 33,026,300 confirmed infections; 587,870 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
May 19, 2022 - 3,908,100 confirmed infections; 100,870 deaths
May 20, 2021 – 1,621,370 confirmed infections; 55,510 deaths

Post of May 2020, Filling gaps
Post of May 2021, Still waiting… 

News blues

Since the early days of the pandemic, the Bay Area has been seen as a model for how to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.
The region instated the nation’s first stay-at-home orders in March 2020 and has since consistently seen lower levels of transmission than its southern counterparts. Today, the Bay Area has one of the country’s lowest COVID-19 death rates.
But over the past few weeks, the region has been getting a different, and less welcome, kind of pandemic attention.
The Bay Area has emerged as the state’s latest COVID hot spot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among California’s 58 counties, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda currently have the highest rates of COVID transmission….
On Friday, health officers from 11 counties in and around the Bay Area warned of a new swell of cases fueled by highly contagious omicron subvariants.

Read more >>

How big is the latest U.S. coronavirus wave? No one really knows. This, as the highly transmissible omicron subvariants spread and governments drop measures to contain the virus – inevitably resulting in less data about infections >> 

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Long Covid, aka Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, COVID Long Haulers
Acute COVID-19 usually lasts until 4 weeks from the onset of symptoms.
Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is defined as persistent symptoms that are 4 weeks or longer from the onset of symptoms and not explained by an alternative diagnosis. This is the point beyond which replication-competent SARS-CoV-2 has not been isolated.
PASC is divided into two categories:

• Subacute or ongoing symptomatic COVID-19: symptoms and abnormalities present from 4 to 12 weeks (about 3 months) after an acute COVID-19 infection
• Chronic Post-Acute COVID-19 syndrome: symptoms and abnormalities persisting 12 weeks (about 3 months) or longer after an acute COVID-19 infection and not attributable to alternative diagnosis.
• In the post-acute period following COVID-19 infection, it appears that at least 10% of COVID patients report having symptoms beyond 4 weeks after acute illness.
• Early data suggest a higher likelihood of PASC symptoms among older individuals ≥ 60 years. However, children and young adult survivors can also experience Long COVID symptoms at one-year post-acute infection. In one study, 20% of suspected Long COVID cases occurred in adults ages 18 to 34 with no chronic medical conditions.
• Individuals with co-morbid chronic health conditions (two or three) and those who had experienced severe disease (including hospitalization) are more likely to have persistent symptoms up to 1 year after onset of acute infection. However, it is recognized that people with mild disease can also experience lingering post-acute COVID-19 sequelae.
• Health outcomes including mortality rate among individuals with PASC are not fully understood. One study looked at 12-month adjusted all-cause mortality and found a significantly higher risk of death among patients hospitalized with severe disease, compared to COVID-19 negative patients and those with mild disease.
• At this time, it is unclear how vaccines and therapeutics for acute COVID-19 infection will impact the clinical manifestations of Long COVID. Further studies are needed.

Key Point: Post-acute Sequelae of COVID appears to disproportionately impact older individuals and those who identify as female. Those who identify as African American may be at higher risk too.

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On war…

Ukraine – photo essay of medics battling to save lives >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
Remember Buffalo (1:48 mins)
He learned it from Laura  (0:20 mins)
He learned it from Tucker (0:17 mins)
Goodbye Madison  (1:44 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - May 17, 2022  (1:48 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Working for a living sure gets in the way of living…
One more day – I work 4 days – and I’ll own my own time again - for at least 3 days. Something to look forward to. The good news is that the temperatures will rise this week – alas, so will the fire danger.

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SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 5:56am
Sunset: 8:14pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:38am
Sunset: 5:12pm

So, long Covid

News blues

Among the nearly half a billion people who have contracted COVID around the world so far, an estimated 10 to 50 percent will experience long-term symptoms.  For four weeks to years after the initial diagnosis, the aftereffects of the virus may linger, affecting how patients go about their daily lives.
Medical experts are still trying to understand why long COVID grips some patients and not others. According to a study in the journal Cell,  a patient may be more prone to long-term symptoms if they experience one or more of the following biological factors: high viral load during the initial infection, a flood of autoantibodies, reactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus, and a history of Type 2 diabetes. These drivers aren’t immediately visible in patients from the outset, making it challenging to predict who eventually is at higher risk for long COVID.
Some studies suggest that vaccines halve the risk of adults ending up with long COVID—but other preliminary research suggests otherwise.

Read more >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
[Conservative Political Action Conference] CPAC: Days 3 and 4 in 135 Seconds  (2:10 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

United Nations’ latest temperature-check on global warming provides a sweeping analysis of climate impacts and vulnerability

[The UN report] emphasizes what millions of people can already intuit from dramatic shifts in weather patterns: Ways of life that sustained generations are coming to an abrupt and chaotic end, causing great suffering that world governments’ responses so far have proven woefully inadequate to ease, much less reverse.
“We simultaneously need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to reduce the risks of climate change and address losses and damages that are already being experienced,” Adelle Thomas, an author of the report and researcher at the University of Bahamas, said in a call with reporters. “And we have a very limited amount of time to do this.”

Confirm your intuition about our collective futures and read “14 Takeaways From The Latest U.N. Study On Climate Change’s Deadly Toll” >> 

Case in point of “world governments’ responses so far have proven woefully inadequate to ease, much less reverse”: the US Supreme Court is weighing in on climate change. The Court appears

… poised to narrow the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, a move that could further derail President Joe Biden’s ambitious plans to fight climate change that have already suffered a setback in the Senate.

Feeling hopeless about effective leadership on this critical, world-changing reality of our times? 

Yup, me too!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Who is Suzie and how did she arrive on the scene in my email inbox? 

For the past year the US Democratic Party has been sending promo and fundraising emails to “Suzie.” I’m not sure who is this Suzie person, or how she came about. Moreover, the number of emails to Suzie is increasing exponentially. Where once Suzie received emails from one Democrat, today Suzie receives emails from Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, and others. Neither I nor Suzie read these emails….

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Thirteen more days until California changes to daylight savings time. Unfortunately, the predicted cold spell arrived, but none of the predicted rain. Some snow in the Sierras….
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:40am
Sunset: 6:02pm

Lots of rain as autumn/fall marches along in South Africa:
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:50am
Sunset: 6:32pm

Age of pandemics?

News blues…

From a South African perspective, an overview of Covid-19 with a focus on Long Covid and its effects. COVID-19: Our entrance into an age of pandemics. (16:45 mins)
Takeaway? “We need, as a world, to take on and be prepared for those next pandemics….”

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Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

Healthy futures, anyone?

Study of tree rings dating back to Roman empire concludes weather since 2014 has been extraordinary and recent European droughts 'worst in 2,000 years'

The series of severe droughts and heatwaves in Europe since 2014 is the most extreme for more than 2,000 years.
The study analysed tree rings dating as far back as the Roman empire to create the longest such record to date. Scientists said global heating was the most probable cause of the recent rise in extreme heat.
The heatwaves have had devastating consequences, causing thousands of early deaths, destroying crops and igniting forest fires. Low river levels halted some shipping traffic and affected the cooling of nuclear power stations. Climate scientists predict more extreme and more frequent heatwaves and droughts in future. 

Read more >> 

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In China, a massive sandstorm has combined with already high air pollution to turn the skies in Beijing an eerie orange, and send some air quality measurements off the charts.
Air quality indexes recorded a “hazardous” 999 rating on Monday as commuters travelled to work through the thick, dark air across China’s capital and further west. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Today, as I review one purchase offer for my mother’s house, another couple will tour the place and, potentially, make a competing offer.
It’s good (to appear ) to have options. I feel lighter in spirit.
The auction house pickup vehicle will arrive tomorrow morning to carry away yet another batch of material. I’ve still a long way to go to clear the garage and assorted sheds of miscellany (tools, planks, roofing, bags of coal (huh?), ropes of various sorts and gauges of wire….). Today is the day to finish preparations.
Alas, the gardener who, under ‘normal’ conditions is a natural ally to help with this task, remains ill.
About a month ago, he called in sick. I suspected Covid, but no, a doctor diagnosed either an ulcer or gastro enteritis – then settled on the latter.
Gastro “usually” resolves within a week, two at most. Our gardener – 38 years old - has been ill for 5 weeks. He’s lost at least 10kg/20lbs, his formerly round face is emaciated, his eyes dull, and he complains about weakness and pain in his knees and legs.
His prescribed medication is not helping. He shows few signs of regaining his health.
I sent him home early yesterday, after proposing a plan to which he’s agreed: he’d travel to the clinic and “insist” on an appoint for Wednesday. I’d pay for the appointment (amazing how much public health care here costs in both money and time…). Today, he’d arrive at the house an hour later than usual, help me sort goods to auction then he’d depart; that he’d not work tomorrow, instead get in line to wait for his doctor’s appointment. The friend for whom he’d usually work agreed to pay him for a sick day.
Let’s hope the doctor can pinpoint the ongoing, debilitating malady.
From my selfish point of view? What can go wrong, will go wrong. The gardener’s illness has dovetailed with the sale of this house – just when the house and garden ought to look its best, it is overcome with late summer weeds, long grass, and piles of “stuff” carried from my mother’s former life….

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Days getting shorter, nights getting longer:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 14: sunrise 5:58am; sunset 6:15pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.