Mothers Speak about War and Terror: mask mandates

Showing posts with label mask mandates. Show all posts

Friday, July 8, 2022

Coping - but just

News blues

As we’ve shared all this week, Covid cases are on the rise. Now, mask mandates may make a comeback.

Cities across the United States might be urged to bring back mask mandates as the new Omicron subvariants continue to spread.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Omicron's subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are expected to make up a combined 70.1 percent of the COVID variants in the country as of July 2, Reuters reported. Both of the sublineages made up 52 percent of the variants in the U.S. during the week of June 25.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School said in June that new data suggests that the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 seem to be more vaccine-evasive than previous subvariants among the fully vaccinated and boosted and those who were previously infected. However, the COVID-19 vaccine is still deemed as an effective way to protect against the virus.

Humor amid the horror: Good lines…

As America devolves into a sprawlier version of Hungary, let’s capture and celebrate creative lines:
Not my personal fav in terms of his worldview, David Brooks, of the New York Times, nevertheless produced an apt description vis-à-vis The Donald: “We’ve got this perverse situation in which the vast analytic powers of the entire world are being spent trying to understand a guy whose thoughts are often just six fireflies beeping randomly in a jar.”
Read The Atlantic’s “The most pathetic men in America” >>

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The Lincoln Project:
AZ Gubernatorial (2:16 mins)
Boris (1:25 mins)
Star (0:24 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

As introduced on July 4th, post “Oh, the irony,” asbestos is an environmental health menace. Like other environmental poisons, asbestos is stealthy, until it’s not. Then it’s a ghoulishly efficient and relentless killer.
And… We the People are set to endure yet another variety of human-manufactured toxins to bedevil our children and our children’s children.
Meet Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), Perfluorooctyl Sulfonate (PFOS) and Other Perfluorinated Chemicals (PFCs), known collectively as PFAS.
At a recent meeting of the Advisory Restoration Board – RAB that I’ve served on for more than a decade - representatives of the companies “cleaning up” the former US Naval Base, Alameda, alerted community members to the huge until-recently unrecognized problem our community faces with PFAS. These chemicals are widely distributed on the former base, as well as in waterways surrounding the base.
Environmental contamination is not unusual for US military bases – anywhere in the world. For other posts on this topic, see “Consequences” and “Play ball” and “It’s perfectly safe, it just kills plants” )
More on PFAS:

PFAS are a class of chemicals used since the 1950s to make thousands of products repel water, stains and heat. They are often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t fully break down, accumulating in the environment, humans and animals. Some are toxic at very low levels and have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease, liver problems, decreased immunity and other serious health issues.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It’s been a rough couple of days. My bestie looks the way she usually looks, perhaps a trifle more introspective - yet her left lung is contaminated with asbestos. (We refer to "him" as The Squatter - who has invited all his relatives in to share the bountiful free rent.)
This time next week she’ll have been sliced and diced, ribs spread, lungs scraped, and put back together again.
Terrifying!
Slowly but surely, we’re coping with this new reality.
As if we don’t have enough going on, someone, who knows who, crawled under my Honda and stole the catalytic converter.
This is nothing new for other unlucky residents in our town. Such thefts are reported every week, if not every day. Apparently, spending a couple of minutes under someone else’s car to rip off the catalytic converter is a quick way to make a few hundred bucks. In my case, my vehicle was parked in my parking spot in the so-called secured parking lot in the so-called secure complex.
So much for security.
On the plus side, it’s a beautifully sunny and breezy day here on the San Francisco Bay shoreline.
Pelicans, Canada geese, crows, cormorants, California gulls, Least Terns, ground squirrels, and others all having a great time.

On my iPhone, I captured this stilt singing in a local pond.

Stilt aria

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Business as usual, cont'd...

News blues…

A Tweet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC - finds that state-issued mask requirements are associated with the slowing of COVID-19 cases and deaths. “Wearing a well-fitting mask consistently and correctly is one of the best ways we can protect ourselves and each other. “
On the heels of Texas and Mississippi lifting their statewide mask mandates and ditching other coronavirus safety measures, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report suggesting states should be doing the complete opposite to Texas and Mississippi.
The study closely examined COVID-19 cases, as well as hospitalization and death rates across the country, and – surprise! - found that mask mandates were associated with reductions in those figures, while on-site dining was associated with increases.

From March 1 to Dec. 31 of last year public mask mandates were associated with a 0.5 percentage point decrease in the daily growth rate of cases up to 20 days after the rule was put into place, the study found. Those reductions increased over time, shooting up to 1.8 percentage points 100 days after implementing the mask mandate.
Rules allowing for restaurant dining, meanwhile, were associated with a 0.9 percentage point increase after 60 days of greenlighting that activity. That figure jumped to 1.2 percentage points after 80 days. The study, however, did not differentiate between indoor or outdoor dining, the latter of which infectious disease experts say is much safer than the former.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a recent press briefing, “I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19.”
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said that it is a mistake to relax coronavirus restrictions when more contagious and possibly more dangerous virus variants are circulating in the US. He warned, “We're walking into the mouth of the monster.“
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the US shouldn't ease restrictions in place to prevent Covid-19 before the number of new coronavirus cases falls below 10,000 daily, "and maybe even considerably less than that…." He added that the country should pull restrictions gradually, after a substantial portion of Americans are vaccinated.
The last time the US saw fewer than 10,000 new daily cases was almost a year ago, on March 22, 2020. The number hasn't fallen below 50,000 daily cases since mid-October, and the seven-day average on Wednesday was more than 64,000.

Will Americans listen?
Some will. Some will not.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is listening. He signed an executive order once again extending the requirement that most people in Colorado “wear a medical or non-medical face covering” … for another 30 days.

Choose your summer vacation spot with care and an eye toward health.

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Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide

Healthy planet, anyone?

To address and inform the public about how corporate and ideological interests spread disinformation across the US, and use their influence to try to stop climate action, the Guardian is partnering with Floodlight , a nonprofit environmental news collaborative partnering with local journalists.
Floodlight’s debut story investigates how the gas industry is fighting to weaken the climate ambitions of two Texas cities: Austin and San Antonio.

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Cyclone Winston devastated vital coral colonies off Fiji, but four years on, the reefs are alive again, teeming with fish and colour

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Photo essay: the week in wildlife

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday’s cooler weather allowed me to wheel my mother on a long-awaited trip outside the Care Center. We didn’t go far and, hunched as she is now, I’m not sure how much of the local flora she saw, but it made a welcome change for her. I’ll do it again today, but this time I’ll pad her with cushions to prop her up and prevent her slumping in the wheelchair.
I’m concerned about her swollen and painful right hand. She’d complained last week that her hand was sore and, as I massaged tight tendons in her palm near both pinky fingers, I’d encouraged her to flex her hands frequently. That hasn’t helped.
No red spots on her hand indicate insect bites or infection and she has no discernable bruising; puzzling.

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House sale, ongoing: neighbors who have lived on this street for 30 years, indicated interest in viewing the house after the end of the sole mandate period. They prefer to make an offer free of an agent’s commission.
Yesterday, I showed them around the property. I discerned references to yet another suspensive sale. This relies on the seller assuming the loan while the buyer pays it off over an agreed period.
I’d refused a suspensive sale last week (the buyer tried a classic bait and switch) and informed real estate agents, “no more offers for suspensive sales – I’m not interested.”
Turns out this is likely the neighbor’s tack, too. I’ll refuse his offer, too - albeit with reluctance.

After more than a year living here, I’ve learned a thing or two about this country.
For one thing, I despair of what I call the country’s “reverse development” mentality: very little effort put toward educating workers about the benefits of high-quality work product. Planning is an alien concept as it what defines quality and/or a job well done. This means people work without a plan, or supervision, or quality controls, and or consequences for failing to perform adequately.

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Days getting shorter, nightfall happening earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 6: sunrise 5:53am; sunset 6:25pm.
March 7: sunrise 5:54am; sunset 6:24pm.

Thursday, March 4, 2021

One year of Covid

News blues…

What’s up with them crazy ‘Mericans, anyway?

According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Kansas... the 24 counties with mandatory mask mandates saw an overall decrease in COVID-19 cases, while the 81 counties that opted out of the mask mandate continued to see increases in cases.

Today, despite warnings from experts across the nation, the trend is for “red states” (predominantly Republican-dominated states), always resistant to mask-wearing, push against continuing mask mandates.
Dr Fauci’s warning on governors deciding to ease coronavirus restrictions, even completely lifting mask mandates, amid the pandemic. (3:35 mins)

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In South Africa, after a year of Covid, some sobering and not-so-sombre facts on the pandemic:

The first Covid-19 case was recorded on March 5 2020. The patient was a 38-year-old male who had travelled to Italy with his wife as part of a group of 10 people who had arrived in the country four days earlier.
On March 28, the health ministry announced the first Covid-related death. On January 13 2021 the country recorded its highest death toll in a single day - clocking in 806 new Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours.

More facts on this topic.

South Africa’s year of Covid in pictures

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Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide

Healthy planet, anyone?

Disclaimer:

I spent my adolescence, teenage years, and early adulthood, first, as a fruitarian then as a vegetarian. Oddly, when in South Africa, I occasionally eat chicken and, about once every two months or more infrequently, lamb chops. This year, under lockdown, I’ve eaten more lamb chops – about 8 - than I’ve ever eaten in my life.
I never eat pork. (A favorite childhood activity was watching – “helping” – staff clean then butcher and segment pigs grown and slaughtered on “the farm.” I was fascinated by the view of pigs’ interiors but eat them? No way..)
I seldom eat beef and, when I do, it’s usually while in South Africa.
Seldom eating meat presents an opportunity to notice the impact meat has on digestive system and my wellbeing when I do eat it.
I do not suffer digestive maladies. I notice a meat-based meal staves off hunger longer than a plant/cereal-based meal.
For me, an occasional meat-based meal likely is positive for my overall health. (Feel free to disagree. Healthy disagreement fosters enlightenment.)

With that disclaimer out of the way, Our World in Data presents fascinating information on the impacts, real and potential, of how adopting a plant-based diet could reduce global agricultural land use – from 4 billion to 1 billion hectares (a size comparable to the entire United States and Brazil).
If you are a regular meat eater, how would you feel about adopting a predominantly plant/cereal-based diet?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

As of today, all, even the wishy-washy, property deals concerning the sale of my mother’s house are off the table. I’m back at square one.
It is worrisome, particularly as my mother’s care expenses have escalated alarmingly over the last weeks: health insurance increased by more than R1,500/ month; Care Center rate increased by more than R3,500/ month. Running two households on one fixed income is no longer feasible.
I continue to seek advice from an assortment of professionals: other care providers, realtors, lawyers, and, today, I meet with my mother’s financial advisor.

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A good day to obsess about the sun’s trajectory as autumn/”fall” approaches:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
Feb 27: sunrise 5:48am; sunset 6:32pm.
Feb 28: sunrise 5:49am; sunset 6:31pm.
March 1: data missing due to failed battery on my iPhone 6SE. (Curse you, Apple! LOL!) March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 3: sunrise 5:51am; sunset 6:28pm.
March 4: sunrise 5:52am; sunset 6:26pm.