Year 3 of the Covid Era

December 12, 2019: a cluster of patients in Wuhan, China’s Hubei Providence, begin to experience shortness of breath and fever.
Early 2020, after the December 2019 outbreak, the World Health Organization identified a new type of coronavirus: SARS-CoV-2. 

SARS-CoV-2, triggering what doctors call a respiratory tract infection, quickly spread around the world.

CDC Timeline for Covid, from 2019 to present 

Below, today’s Covid numbers compared to numbers this time last year : 

Worldwide (Map) 
December 9, 2021 – 268,100,000 confirmed infections; 5,283,715 deaths
December 10, 2020 – 68,849,000 confirmed infections; 1,568,750 deaths
Total doses of vaccine administered: 8,246,30,377

US (Map) 
December 9, 2021 – 49,547,400 confirmed infections; 793,350 deaths
December 10, 2020 – 15,385,00 confirmed infections; 289,500 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
December 9, 2021 – 3,071,100 confirmed infections; 90,100 deaths
December 10, 2020 – 829,600 confirmed infections; 22,580 deaths

News blues

SA passes grim Covid-19 milestone as 90,000 official deaths are recorded. SA's NICD reported this week that the official death toll was 90,002 after the latest data was released by the national health department. 
We don’t know how severe Omicron is, but we do know it’s spreading very fast.

If you’re in the mood for detail, WHO obliges with a technical brief, “Enhancing Readiness for Omicron (B.1.1.529).” This reviews priority actions and “main uncertainties” for member states, including:

(1) how transmissible the variant is and whether any increases are related to immune escape, intrinsic increased transmissibility, or both; (2) how well vaccines protect against infection, transmission, clinical disease of different degrees of severity and death; and (3) does the variant present with a different severity profile. Public health advice is based on current information and will be tailored as more evidence emerges around those key questions.

Download the pdf (8 pages) >> 

The Lincoln Project:
Last week in the Republican Party  (1:45 mins)
Road map  (0:26 mins)
Meidas Touch: Politics Girl  (2:43 mins)
Want more Politics Girl? Check her out >> (1:22 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Life: a force that adapts and evolves. Take, as example, the many coastal species living miles from their usual habitats finding affordable housing on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, halfway between the coast of California and Hawaii.

Plants and animals, including anemones, tiny marine bugs, molluscs and crabs, found on 90% of the [Patch] debris.
[A recent study] examined plastic items more than 5cm (2in) in diameter gathered from a gyre - an area where circulating currents cause floating debris to accumulate - in the Pacific.

Neopelagic communities are composed of pelagic species, evolved to live on floating marine substrates and marine animals, and coastal species, once assumed incapable of surviving long periods of time on the high seas. The emergence of a persistent neopelagic community in the open ocean is due to the vast supply of durable and highly buoyant plastic pollution as suitable habitat for both pelagic and coastal rafting species. Examples of pelagic rafting species are: (a) gooseneck barnacle Lepas anatifera,(b) flotsam crab Planes major, and (c) bryozoan Jellyella tuberculata. Examples of coastal rafting species commonly found on floating plastic debris on the high seas include: (d) podded hydroid Aglaophenia pluma,(e) Asian anemones Anthopleura sp. , and (f) amphipod Stenothoe gallensis.
Illustrated by © 2021 Alex Boersma.

Lead researcher Dr Linsey Haram, who carried out the work at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre, said: "Plastics are more permanent than many of the natural debris that you previously have seen in the open ocean. They're creating a more permanent habitat in this area."

[The downside?] Scientists are concerned that plastic may help transport invasive species.

…
The world has at least five plastic-infested gyres. This one is thought to hold the most floating plastic - an estimated 79,000 tonnes in a region of more than 610,000 square miles (1.6m sq km).
"All sorts of stuff ends up out there," said Dr Haram. "It's not an island of plastic, but there's definitely a large amount of plastic corralled there."
Much of that is micro-plastic is very difficult to see with the naked eye. But there are also larger items, including abandoned fishing nets, buoys and even vessels that have been floating in the gyre since the Japanese tsunami in 2011.
The researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Nature Communications,  initially embarked on the investigation following that devastating tsunami. The disaster caused tonnes of debris to be ejected into the Pacific ocean, and hundreds of coastal Japanese marine species were found alive on items that landed on the shores of the North American Pacific coast and the Hawaiian Islands. 

Read more >> 
What can you do? It’s depressing to see the hows and whys of our unique planet’s slow succumbing to humans’ abuse via refusal to address and end the reign of plastics, fossil fuels, manufacture of toxics, etc. One can easily feel disempowered by the enormous complexity and apparent lack of effective action. Yet, We the People can take small steps to address our complicity. Here’s one small swap that can make a difference: Switch to bar soap for… everything 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

During my daily walk I noticed a familiar tree blossom. Close attention revealed a coral tree, native to SA and KZN. 

I know coral trees grow in the hotter Los Angeles, but I’ve not seen such a large specimen in my San Francisco Bay Area town. 

In KZN, coral trees blossom after leaves fall, bare limbs acting as frames for spectacular displays. This local tree displays both leaves and blossoms simultaneously. 

Turns out coral trees – Erythrina  with approximately 112 different species – also are found in Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Asia, Australia, and Hawaii.

***

Here, days are colder and daylight shorter (sun rose at 7:13am today and will set at 4:49pm). Time to remember KZN’s summer birds:

Wooly necked stork dries its wings.

Masked bishop.
Photos (c) S.Galleymore

Fiddling the data?

Typically, politicians deliver bad news to Americans late Friday. This, as politicians assume Americans will cool down over the weekend and Monday will bring a new start, fresh thinking, and a dose of amnesia.
Even while Trump’s White House tenure delivers outrageous news thick and fast all day, any day, and every day, the coming weekend promises no cooling down nor amnesia.
Perhaps just the opposite.
Two days ago, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, African-American George Floyd was killed by up to four police officers.
In February, African-American runner Ahmaud Arbery was shot to death in Satilla Shores, Georgia .
In March, African-American Breonna Taylor was shot eight times and killed during a police raid of her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
Unlike other similar deaths, these deaths burst into public awareness and stoked outrage.
They’re adding to the stress brought on by an apparently out-of-control pandemic, a controversial election, and what looks very much like the crumbling of a venerated democracy.
This weekend in the US looks be long, hot, and violent.
Instead of steady leadership, Trump, of course, resorted to blaming via Twitter:

“I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.....”

Ironically, it was just two weeks ago that Trump threatened to “terminate” 40,000 National Guardsmen by June 24, one day before thousands would have qualified for key retirement and education benefits. (See post “Distracting the Distractor”)
After an outcry, Trump made a sharp U-turn. The federal government will now keep funding National Guard troops across the country.

“The National Guard remains committed to its service in support of the fight against Covid-19 and will remain in that fight as long as we are needed," a National Guard Bureau spokesperson told POLITICO. "Our nation is looking to the National Guard to help and we will not let them down.” 

News blues…

New week, new numbers
Worldwide: 5,810,335 confirmed cases; 360,335 deaths
US: 1,721,750 confirmed cases; 101,620 deaths
SA: 27,405 confirmed cases; 577 deaths

Several news outlets report federal and state officials across the nation altering or hiding public health data that tracks the spread of Covid-19, and

… hindering the ability to detect a surge of infections as President Donald Trump pushes the nation to reopen rapidly.
In at least a dozen states, health departments have inflated testing numbers or deflated death tallies by changing criteria for who counts as a coronavirus victim and what counts as a coronavirus test according to reports …and states' own admissions. Some states have shifted the metrics for a “safe” reopening; Arizona sought to clamp down on bad news at one point by simply shuttering its pandemic modeling. About a third of the states aren’t even reporting hospital admission data — a big red flag for the resurgence of the virus.
The spotty data flow is particularly worrisome to public health officials trying to help Americans make decisions about safely venturing out. The lack of accurate and consistent Covid-19 data, coupled with the fact that the White House no longer has regular briefings where officials reinforce the need for ongoing social distancing, makes that task even harder.

Nor is our planet out of the woods…or the atmosphere… where the load of carbon dioxide continues an upward trajectory:
23 May 2020: 416.97 ppm
23 May 2019: 414.72 ppm
May 2010: 393.46 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280
Safe level: 350
Reading from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (part per million). Source: NOAA-ESRL

Scientists have warned for more than a decade that concentrations of more than 450ppm risk triggering extreme weather events and temperature rises as high as 2C, beyond which the effects of global heating are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible.

If that news leaves you blue, consider that Covid-19 at least benefits some animals. In Yosemite and Death Valley, critters appear that have not been seen, “in our lifetimes,” said Kati Schmidt, a spokesperson for the US National Parks Conservation Association.
Deer, bobcats, black bears, pronghorns, coyotes, even wolverines are taking advantage of human-free environments while they can.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, “only 300 [wolverine] species [are] left in the contiguous US,” and a handful have been spotted in Washington State. One on a beach, another “walking down a road in Naselle, a town east of Long Beach Peninsula.”

***

Use of plastic has soared during the pandemic. Restaurants trying to stay afloat rely on plastic utensils for takeout orders, grocery shoppers have reverted to disposable bags over sanitary concerns, and the CDC says disposable dishes, utensils, napkins and tablecloths should be the default.

"The idea that the CDC recommends that single-use disposable items should be preferred seems a little illogical to me," said Chris Slafter, interim coordinator of Clean Water Action's ReThink Disposable program… Someone still has to handle that item before it goes into a customer's hand."
Before the pandemic, California was leading the way on eliminating single-use plastics in various consumer sectors. While environmentalists have long criticized plastic products for polluting oceans and overwhelming landfills, state and local leaders also have sounded the alarm after China in recent years stopped accepting many U.S. plastics for recycling.
[T]he virus has thwarted efforts to toughen statewide recycling targets.

***

Another Daily Maverick Live Webinar, “School Reopening: The Great Debate”
After weeks of uncertainty, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga confirmed last week that schools will reopen on 1 June – but only for Grades 7 and 12.
Hosted by Judith February, governance specialist, columnist and lawyer. With Dr Nic Spaull, education economist at Stellenbosch University and commentator on education policy in South Africa, and Dr Sara Black, former high school maths teacher who now trains teachers and works in critical education sociology, with a focus on equity and justice in education policy.

***

Comedienne Sara Cooper’s Trump impressions have tickled more than 18 million viewers. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell recently interviewed her on The Last Word  (5:31 minutes).
We’ve celebrated Sara – “The Trump Whisperer” – on this blog, too. (See post, “Humor might save us”.)
I’m in awe of how many wonderfully talented, funny people out there keep the rest of us sane during crazy times. Thank you!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Following the direction of Category 1b of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, I’m removing invasive cannas from the inside garden. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, cannas – originally from the Caribbean and tropical America - were introduced to South Africa as an ornamental where they have, well, blossomed.
Black jacks, khaki weed, cosmos, cat’s claw – ditto, from South America - have successfully settled into KZN’s fertile soil, too. They are among 775 identified invasive species – that’s about seven new species introduced each year. (List of invasive species in South Africa.)
I’ve written elsewhere about my small success eradicating cat’s claw creeper  and I intend eradicating canna. At least, from the inside garden. I’ve no ambitions to tackle the plant beyond the inside garden where it thrives along roads, in the wetlands, indeed, wherever its hardly seeds germinate.
Frost damages the leaves and stems but does little to discourage its tuber.
Getting rid of tubers requires persistence – and heavy digging.

Read   Week 1 |   Week 2   |  Week 3  |  Week 4 |  Week 5  | Week 6  |  Week 7  |  Week 8  |  Week 9  |  Week 10 

See photos  Spying on Garden Creatures 

Watch  Videos of Garden Creatures