The mind-boggling numbers back then:
- June 25, 2020 - worldwide: 9,409,000 confirmed infections; 482,190 deaths
June 19, 2020 - worldwide: 8,489,000 confirmed infections; 454,007 deaths - June 25, 2020 - US: 2,381,540 infections; 121,980 deaths
June 19, 2020 - US: 2,191,100 confirmed infections; 118,435 deaths - June 25, 2020 - SA: 111,800 confirmed infections; 2,205 deaths
June 19, 2020 - SA: 83,890 confirmed infections; 1,737 deaths
Today's numbers:
Worldwide (Map)
May 13, 2021 – 160,450,550 confirmed infections; 3,331,300 deaths
Vaccine doses administered: 1,357,850,000
April 29, 2021 – 149,206,600 confirmed infections; 3,146,300 deaths
Worldwide (Map)
May 13, 2021 – 160,450,550 confirmed infections; 3,331,300 deaths
Vaccine doses administered: 1,357,850,000
April 29, 2021 – 149,206,600 confirmed infections; 3,146,300 deaths
US (Map)
May 13, 2021 – 32,814,500 confirmed infections; 583,700 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 32,229,350 confirmed infections; 574,350 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
May 13, 2021 – 1,602,100 confirmed infections; 54,970 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 1,578,500 confirmed infections; 54,290 deaths
- Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide
- South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information…
News blues
Herd immunity” is achieved when a large enough portion of a community becomes immune to a disease (either through natural infection or vaccination) that there’s nowhere left for the virus to spread. There may still be small outbreaks, but they would be contained. (That’s different than eradicating the disease altogether, which has only ever been done twice in global history, with smallpox and rinderpest, a bovine disease that decimated southern Africa’s cattle from 1896 through 1899.) So, is coronavirus here to stay? What to know…***
India, already reeling from Covid shows signs of yet more trauma, this time a deadly fungus:
A rare black fungus that invades the brain is being increasingly seen in vulnerable patients in India, including those with Covid-19, as the health system continues to struggle in the midst of the pandemic.Read “What is the deadly ‘black fungus’ seen in Covid patients in India?” >>
…The fungus, called mucormycosis, “is very serious, has a high mortality, and you need surgery and lots of drugs to get on top of it once it takes hold”, said Prof Peter Collignon, who sits on the World Health Organization’s expert committee on antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases.
The disease is caused by a group of moulds, called mucormycetes, that live throughout the environment including in soil and on plants. Mucormycosis is seen throughout the world, including in the US and Australia. It can be acquired in hospitals – most commonly by vulnerable transplant patients – when the moulds get on hospital linens, travel through ventilation systems, or are transmitted on adhesives.
“They’re a family of fungus that gets into your sinuses and deposit there, and they can get into the air spaces in your head,” Collignon said.
***
The glory of humor in dire times: an interview with Gary Trudeau of the cartoon, Doonesbury (4:17 mins) The Lincoln Project:
- Whaaat? On oldie but goodie? McConnell denounces Trump (1;21 mins)
- Stefanik (1:21 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Guardian News series on our disappearing glaciers- Melting ice reveals first world war relics in Italian Alps. Accelerating retreat of glaciers in Lombardy and Trentino Alto-Aldige reveals preserved history of ‘White War’
- Glacial lakes threaten millions with flooding as planet heats up
- Receding glaciers causing rivers to suddenly disappear. Global phenomenon known as river piracy demands urgent adaptation from ecosystems and people who rely on their flow
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
If only I could chill! I hoped that pressure of trying to sell my mother’s house would diminish after we/I took it off the market for the interim. Alas, it turns out cultural norms in this country still have the power to reduce me to a quivering mass of anger.Preface to what I’m about to relate: After living in California for about a decade, I returned to college to earn under- and graduate degrees. By then, I’d experienced many bouts of culture shock and, paying attention to what I’d learned, I wrote my undergraduate thesis on that topic. I worked on graduate level studies of cultural shock as an adult learning experience. It was a wonderful, fascinating and very enlightening course of study that continues to serve me every day of my life …
But “knowing” what one is experiences only helps reduce – not extinguish – the negative sides of an experience.
I’ve complained about South African small businesspeople not showing up anywhere near the agreed upon day, and/or not showing up at all. I remind myself that, after decades in the US, I’ve taken on that culture’s view of time: linear, with a definitive beginning and end, and limited in supply. Working as a project manager made me especially attuned to “on time and on budget” focus on milestones and deadlines…
The US can be described as a monochronic culture that values orderliness and agrees that there’s appropriate time and place for everything. Most Americans hold the belief that “time is money” and do not value interruptions.
South Africa, I realize, is a polychronic culture that perceives time as cyclical and endless, a go with the “flow” attitude in which time-based schedule are followed loosely – if at all - and changes or interruptions are viewed as a normal part of the routine.
Here, it’s known as “African time” – and, if I don’t catch myself, it drives me crazy. That’s when I remind myself: “only 2 more weeks”… then I’m back to California, my family, my houseboat, and summer….
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 15: sunrise 6:18am; sunset 5:39pm.
April 25: sunrise 6:23am; sunset 5:30pm.
May 1: sunrise 6:27am; sunset 5:24pm.
May 3: sunrise 6:29am; sunset 5:22pm.
May 10: sunrise 6:33am; sunset 5:17pm.
May 13: sunrise 6:35am; sunset 5:15pm.
I’ve complained about South African small businesspeople not showing up anywhere near the agreed upon day, and/or not showing up at all. I remind myself that, after decades in the US, I’ve taken on that culture’s view of time: linear, with a definitive beginning and end, and limited in supply. Working as a project manager made me especially attuned to “on time and on budget” focus on milestones and deadlines…
The US can be described as a monochronic culture that values orderliness and agrees that there’s appropriate time and place for everything. Most Americans hold the belief that “time is money” and do not value interruptions.
South Africa, I realize, is a polychronic culture that perceives time as cyclical and endless, a go with the “flow” attitude in which time-based schedule are followed loosely – if at all - and changes or interruptions are viewed as a normal part of the routine.
Here, it’s known as “African time” – and, if I don’t catch myself, it drives me crazy. That’s when I remind myself: “only 2 more weeks”… then I’m back to California, my family, my houseboat, and summer….
***
Getting darker here…Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 15: sunrise 6:18am; sunset 5:39pm.
April 25: sunrise 6:23am; sunset 5:30pm.
May 1: sunrise 6:27am; sunset 5:24pm.
May 3: sunrise 6:29am; sunset 5:22pm.
May 10: sunrise 6:33am; sunset 5:17pm.
May 13: sunrise 6:35am; sunset 5:15pm.
