As the world turns...

News blues

The struggle between and among the Covid convinced and unconvinced continues. The people of Anchorage, Alaska (largely unconvinced) were afforded six days to present their concerns about mask mandates – and, turns out, whatever else was on their minds. And a lot was on their minds.
Those focused on mitigating and surviving Covid stayed home to participate via Zoom and social media. 

… people lined up to comment against the ordinance.
Opponents have shown up en masse night after night . Mayor Dave Bronson and Assembly member Jamie Allard, ardent opponents of COVID-19 restrictions and masking requirements, have encouraged comments and engaged in procedural tactics that extend the process.
Mask ordinance opponents on social media encouraged families to bring their children to testify, and many did. A group served pizza to attendees in the entrance to the library.

Fun times!
Read “Anchorage Assembly and mayor battle over proceedings during sixth chaotic night of public comment on proposed mask mandate" >> 

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

The Lincoln Project - and other media
Package Deal  (0:55 mins)
Not for Sale  (0:25 mins)

After following the pandemic for close to two years, from perspective of a locked down South African and a Californian, Lawrence Wright’s new book, The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid is a good reminder of how We the People arrived at our current state. It’s also a confirmation of media reports from the pandemic’s early days.
Interesting quotes:

During the transition to the Trump administration, the Obama White House handed off a sixty-nine-page document called the “Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents.” A meticulous, step-by-step guide for combatting a “pathogen of pandemic potential,” the playbook contains a directory of the government’s resources in time of need and is meant to be pulled off the shelf the moment things start to go haywire. At the top of the list of dangerous pathogens are the respiratory viruses, including novel influenzas, orthopoxviruses” (such as smallpox), and coronaviruses.
The playbook outlines the conditions under which various government agencies should be enlisted. With domestic outbreaks, the playbook specifies that “[ w]hile States hold significant power and responsibility related to public health response outside of a declared Public Health Emergency, the American public will look to the U.S. Government for action when multi-state or other significant public health events occur.” Questions concerning the severity and contagiousness of a disease, or how to handle potentially hazardous waste, should be directed to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Federal “Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Is there evidence of deliberate intent, such as a terrorist action? The FBI has the lead. Have isolation and quarantine been implemented? How robust is contact tracing? Is clinical care in the region scalable if cases explode?
There are many such questions, with decisions proposed and agencies assigned. Because the playbook was passed to a new administration that might not be familiar with the manifold resources of the federal government, there are appendices describing such entities as the Surge Capacity Force in the Department of Homeland Security, consisting of a group of FEMA “reservists and others that can be called upon as “deployable human assets.” The Pentagon’s Military Aeromedical Evacuation Team can be assembled to transport patients. HHS has a Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, with the dry acronym DMORT, consisting of “intermittent federal employees, each with a particular field of expertise,” such as medical examiners, pathologists, anthropologists, dental assistants, and investigators.
The Trump administration jettisoned the Obama playbook.”

Another interesting quote…

“January 27 ...  “Rick, I think we’re in deep shit. The world.” 

There was an op-ed in USA Today that morning. “I remember how Trump sought to stoke fear and stigma during the 2014 Ebola epidemic,” Joe Biden wrote. “Trump’s demonstrated failures of judgment and his repeated rejection of science make him the worst possible person to lead our country through a global health challenge.” The former vice president cited Trump’s proposed cuts to NIH, CDC, and the Agency for International Development— “the very agencies we need to fight this outbreak and prevent future ones.”

Trump had dismantled the White House team in charge of global health security.”
“And he has treated with utmost contempt institutions that facilitate international cooperation, thus undermining the global efforts that keep us safe from pandemics and biological attacks. “To be blunt, I am concerned that the Trump administration’s shortsighted policies have left us unprepared for a dangerous epidemic that will come sooner or later.”

The Kindle version of this book is available in local libraries.

Healthy planet, anyone?

Plastic products have played significant roles in protecting people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The widespread use of personal protective gear created a massive disruption in the supply chain and waste disposal system. Millions of discarded single-use plastics (masks, gloves, aprons, and bottles of sanitizers) have been added to the terrestrial environment and could cause a surge in plastics washing up the ocean coastlines and littering the seabed. This paper attempts to assess the environmental footprints of the global plastic wastes generated during COVID-19 and analyze the potential impacts associated with plastic pollution. The amount of plastic wastes generated worldwide since the outbreak is estimated at 1.6 million tonnes/day. We estimate that approximately 3.4 billion single-use facemasks/face shields are discarded daily as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, globally. Our comprehensive data analysis does indicate that COVID-19 will reverse the momentum of years-long global battle to reduce plastic waste pollution. As governments are looking to turbo-charge the economy by supporting businesses weather the pandemic, there is an opportunity to rebuild new industries that can innovate new reusable or non-plastic PPEs. The unanticipated occurrence of a pandemic of this scale has resulted in unmanageable levels of biomedical plastic wastes. This expert insight attempts to raise awareness for the adoption of dynamic waste management strategies targeted at reducing environmental contamination by plastics generated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click to download the pdf version of “COVID pollution: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global plastic waste footprint” >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Life in congested commute lanes continues for another day….
Talking Heads put it right: “ask yourself, how did I get here…?” (3:44 mins)

Confusion and complication

Worldwide (Map) 

October 7, 2021 – 236,735,200 confirmed infections; 4,832,640 deaths
October 8, 2020 – 36,069,000 confirmed infections; 1,055,000 deaths
Total vaccine doses administered: 6,388,963,635

US (Map) 

October 7, 2021 – 44,086,000 confirmed infections; 708,200 deaths
October 8, 2020 – 7,550,000 confirmed infections; 212,000 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 

October 7, 2021 – 2,909,000 confirmed infections; 88,000 deaths
October 8, 2020 – 685,155 confirmed infections; 17,250 deaths

News blues

Moving in the right direction…. Compare the post describing the Covid goings-on one year ago, “Debatable”,  to California today:

Although the twists and turns of the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to surprise us, California seems to be in good shape at this time.

Read more >>

Misinformation and conflicting information have been constant features of this pandemic. Even as people line up for booster shots of Pfizer, confusion continues.

A vocal contingent of prominent doctors and scientists is pressing the Biden administration to scrap its plans to provide booster shots to all previously vaccinated adults, according to five people familiar with the matter.
Several of these outside experts, including some who advised President Joe Biden’s transition team, objected to the administration’s approach during a private, off-the-record call last week with federal health officials. Current U.S. data on vaccine performance does not justify using boosters widely to reduce the risk of breakthrough infections and slow the virus’ spread, the experts said.

Read more >> 

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

The Lincoln Project
Glen Trumpkin  (0:025 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party... (1:40 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Which Climate Threats Are Most Worrisome? U.S. Agencies Made a List.
Two dozen federal agencies flagged the biggest dangers posed by a warming planet. The list spreads across American society >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Earlier this week I mused about what the Covid Clinic might teach me this week.
Now I know… that I’m a commute wimp, that I have limits, that titrating work, workdays, commute, and compensation, and that assessing my stress levels and finding them wanting is a good thing – at least for me. As of the end of this week, my days of sitting in traffic congestion for 1.5 hours each way, 12.5-hour workdays, insufficient sleep, and constant stress are over.
Stress includes a constant reminder that the ragtag “team” caretaking my mother’s house in South Africa needs more direction than they’re getting from California. It’s time to plan a return.
One thing I know for certain: I will never again use the travel agency called FlyUs. After more that a year back-and-forthing via email (not a single actual person to talk to)for the refund for the flight they cancelled due to lockdown (Yes, I had travel insusrance), they've informed me no refund is forthcoming. Work and commuting long hours meant I had little time remaining to launch a fuller request. Whatever you do, do not use FlyUs for your travel needs.
Life. It’s complicated.

Wild and crazy

News blues

California has less Covid-19 transmission than any state in the country.
That’s according to federal officials, who on Wednesday ranked the state’s current coronavirus case rate  the lowest in the nation.
Sure, there are mask mandates and other measures to credit, but most deserving of thanks is the Golden State’s high level of vaccinations.
More than 82 percent of Californians aged 12 and older have at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Only nine states have more of their populations immunized.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, in Alaska (I have family, vaccinated, living in Anchorage) doctors must decide who lives and who dies. With too many Alaskans refusing the vaccination, doctors are in the unenviable position of having to prioritize treatment based on who is most likely to survive. 
Naturally, no matter how they prioritize, overworked doctors will be blamed for making wrong choices.
Life under Covid is sheer madness.

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

The Lincoln Project….
Regret  (1:00 mins)
Who They Are  (1:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

The San Francisco Bay Area is experiencing it’s Indian Summer – clear, warm to hot days, people wearing masks but out and about on the beach. It’s glorious.

That's San Francisco skyline in the background.

Wider angle view - SF in background

A happy ground squirrel on the right.
The Pacific Flyway shorebirds are arriving in huge flocks now, too. On their way further south....

  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Life in the Covid Clinic continues to overwhelm the brave and hardworking team supporting health and safety. We continue to vaccinate – booster shots – as fast as we can, up to 600 per day. That’s a lot of vaccinations… and a lot of folks standing in line complaining about this, that, and the next thing.
Some people, unfortunately, are abrasive and rude, some even abusive.
Last week, I had to step between two parents accompanying their teenage sons for vaccinations. As the boys watched, an arrogant father verbally abused a woman, a complete stranger, because she had the temerity to be ahead of him in line. Like a wild animal trainer in a circus, I stared down the man and, with sheer force of words and presence, urged him retreat back in line.
Life is stranger than fiction.
What will the Covid Clinic teach me this week?

Tested

Worldwide (Map)

September 30, 2021: 233,414,450 infections; 4,776,885 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 33,881,275 confirmed infections: 1,012,980 deaths
Total vaccinations conducted around the world: 6,219,646,200

US (Map)
September 30, 2021: 43,361,700 infections; 7.808,100 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 7,233,199 confirmed infections: 206,940 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 30, 2021: 2,898,900 infections; 87,420 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 674,340 confirmed infections: 16,735 deaths

News blues

South Africa returns to Alert Level 1. 

Speaking to South Africans last night, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that as many as 20,000 lives could be saved if the majority of the country's adult population received their Covid-19 vaccines. He pleaded for all citizens to do their bit.
For this reason, the country will embark on a mass vaccination drive which will allow people to receive their jabs on weekends. Ramaphosa, his deputy David Mabuza, and other officials were expected to mobilise communities to take their jabs as the “Vooma Vaccination Weekends” programme kicks off from Friday.
Mass gatherings allowed as Ramaphosa moves SA moves back to lockdown level 1. 
The last time SA was under level 1 was between March and May this year.
Listen and watch President Ramaphosa  (29:30 mins)

***

Kids in the US, from ages 5 to 11, soon could be eligible for vaccine against Covid 

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

Catching up with The Lincoln Project….
Last Week in the Republican Party  (2:20 mins)
The Fox Virus  (1:20 mins)
Governor Freedumb  (0:25 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Last Friday, the drive through Flu Clinic where I work vaccinated 990 clients, from babies 6-months and older to adults and retirees. Today and yesterday, our Covid vaccination clinic jabbed the arms of more than 650 patients each of those two days. That’s a good thing: 990 fewer people with flu this year; more than 1,200 fewer people risking Covid-19.
While holding the positive aspects of vaccination, think also of the waste generated by these efforts (waste that will end up incinerated, in landfill and/or eventually the ocean):
Over 3 days, 990 + 1,200 = 2,200 one-time-use plastic syringes (incinerated… )
Packaging for 2,200 syringes plus dozens of hard paper/soft cardboard boxes of flu vaccine – 10 syringes per box
At least 2,200 cotton balls for swabbing
Plastic packaging for cotton balls
Swabbing antiseptic in plastic containers
2,200 one-time-use band aids
Packaging for 2,200 one-time use band aids
2,200 pairs of rubber gloves for each of 6 nurses. That is, at least 13,200 pairs discarded over 3 days
Packaging for that many rubber gloves (each box holds 25 pairs/50 gloves)
Surgical masks for all staff: 6 nurses, 4 Medical Assistants, 6 to 10 support staff, masks changed several times each day
Additionally, many patients arrive for vaccination either alone in a vehicle or with a spouse and, sometimes, with other family members. Let’s say of 990 clients seeking vaccinations, at least two thirds have more than one person per vehicle (usually SUV or large sedan). That is, 330 to 350 vehicles pass through the tent from 8:30am to 5:30pm each day. That’s a lot of carbon monoxide pumping into the air and captured within the tent where nurses and staff work.
In the SF Bay Area, the hospital system I work for has at least 6 drive through flu clinics and 4 drive through Covid test sites. With the population of the SF Bay Area approximately 7 million, many other companies, from corporate chain pharmacies to grocery stores to independent agencies, offer similar services at similar facilities … all of whom must practice state and federal safety standards. That produces heaps of waste.
Who handles it and how?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Inevitably, the last weeks of commuting to and from work where I run around like a crazy person for 12-hour workdays five days a week, and, on weekends, have been engaged in selling, moving goods from, and bidding farewell to my beloved houseboat – resulted in a dip in my health.
Since I work in a Covid vaccination clinic, I know a sore throat can be one symptom of Covid. While my sense of smell remained intact, I chose to exercise an abundance of caution and called in sick.
My manager suggested I take a Covid test. Accordingly, I found a local test site – a drive-through – of the hospital system for which I currently work.
Covid tests are free but by appointment only. Luckily, I was able to make an appointment within the hour and I drove to the facility’s parking garage where tests are conducted.
I drove my vehicle - an older, 6-passenger automatic transmission van currently loaded to the gills a folded Sea Eagle inflatable boat, a 25 HP outboard motor and an electric trolling motor – to the end of a long line of approximately 30 other motor vehicles looping along residential city streets.
Naturally, I have environmental concerns, including dozens of fossil fuel vehicles pumping carbon monoxide into the atmosphere while idling on a city street, moving at a pace of one vehicle length every several minutes) but I mollified my guilt by alternatively running the engine and switching it off then back on. Neither good for the engine nor fuel efficient.
Twenty minutes later, I entered the garage… again to wait in line, albeit in sight of the Covid swabbers. After offering both “nasal passages” for swabbing, I exited the several story garage and drove home. An experience to remember. These photos – edited for patient anonymity – offer another view of life during the pandemic of ’20 – ’21.

Still in line... but getting closer to the nasal swab....

  

The swabbers in sight....

Any minute now I'll have a swab stuck up my nose....

 

Life in Oakland is not back to normal with venues closed and shows cancelled.

Street scene in Oakland, a wonderfully vibrant and human-size city.

 The good news? Within 23 hours, test results declared me free of virus.

Falling behind

Last day of the 78th week of this darned Covid hassle aka pandemic!
Life has become way too complicated...hard to keep up with commitments, commute, and coffee…. Yet, the numbers of infections continue to rise even as more people accept vaccinations.

 
Worldwide (Map)
September 22, 2021 – 229,708,120 confirmed infections; 4,712,053 deaths 

September 3, 2020 – 26,940,000 confirmed infections; 861,870 deaths

Total vaccinations: 5,981,351,780

US (Map)
September 22, 2021 – 42, 425,400 confirmed infections; 678.815 deaths 

September 3, 2020 – 6,114,000 confirmed infections; 185,710 deaths

 
SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 22, 2021 – 2,886,335 confirmed infections; 86,376 deaths 

September 3, 2020 – 630,596 confirmed infections; 14,390 deaths

News blues

Past week’s news:
Finally, almost a year and a half, hints of sanity during an insane time in the life of America. President Biden expands vaccine push with mandates for the private sector  and announces sweeping vaccination and testing requirements for federal government workers, contractors and even private sector employees, as his administration works to fight the spreading coronavirus.

***

The owners of the marina in which I moor my houseboat joined the thousands of mask-free Covid skeptics at Sturgis, South Dakota for a giant FU motorcycle rally. A week later, they were abed, infected with Covid.
Sturgis-associated infections are higher this year than they were last year.. Go figure.
Moreover, the marina is moored on edge of Central Valley where…

Hospitals in California’s Central Valley have been increasingly overwhelmed by the fourth surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, with officials scrambling to transfer some critically ill patients more than 100 miles away because local intensive care units are full. 
The San Joaquin Valley, the Sacramento area and rural Northern California are now the regions of the state being hit the hardest by COVID-19 hospitalizations on a per capita basis… The regions have lower vaccination rates than in the highly populated, coastal areas of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

My houseboat is moored in the San Joaquin River, part of this region. With mixed emotions, one over-riding emotion is relief that I’m not living on my houseboat right now.

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

Catching up with The Lincoln Project….
Last Week in the Republican Party – (reprise)  (1:25 mins)
Brian Kemp laugh track (0:30 mins)
The Fox Virus  (1:20 mins)
Democracy is under attack  (0:46 mins)

Last Week in the Republican Party – (reprise) (0:45 mins)
Abbott’s Wall (0:55 mins)
Sad  (0:56 mins)
Ivermectin  (1:25 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party – (reprise)  (1:55 mins)
And
Lincoln Project’s Steve Schmidt “There’s a Battle for Control of MAGA Empire” | Amanpour and Company  (18:25 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

An important article with full excerpt from the National Geographic newsletter by By Victoria Jaggard, SCIENCE executive editor

Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists and government officials have gotten sage advice from a group of people who were already battling a massive threat to public health: climate scientists. From piles of sometimes contradictory evidence to rampant misinformation  to mind-boggling denials of established facts, the issues that have plagued COVID-19 researchers and policymakers are starkly like those that have influenced the climate crisis. The pandemic has also laid bare similar issues with equity, access to healthcare, intergovernmental squabbling, and reluctance to embrace solutions that might harm the bottom line.
But while the state of things may seem bleak right now, we actually have a lot to celebrate with COVID-19, in part because the pandemic spurred people to act urgently and drove a lot of innovation. Now mRNA vaccines are not only keeping people out of hospitals, they hold potential for combating a host of other diseases  .
More people are saying they will embrace masks as an effective way to prevent respiratory illness beyond COVID-19. And governments and institutions are investigating ways to improve healthcare infrastructure. 
So why can’t we learn a few things from COVID-19 to get serious about tackling climate change? That’s what the editors of more than 200 medical journals are asking this week in an article co-published across their pages. “Many governments met the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic with unprecedented funding. The environmental crisis demands a similar emergency response,” the editors write.
And yes, they add, “the science is unequivocal” that climate change is a huge risk to public health. Extreme heat already threatens the health of about 30 percent of the world’s population, according to a 2017 study. Shifting climate zones mean that tropical diseases—many carried by my personal archnemeses, mosquitoes—are pushing into higher latitudes, threatening even more people with ailments such as dengue fever, malaria, Zika, and valley fever. Droughts are making crops harder to grow and less nutritious, while floods create stagnant waters that can carry all sorts of icky infectious agents. Heck, climate change has even been implicated in making seasonal allergies worse 
The global response to COVID-19 has not been perfect. But it has shown the world what’s possible when people come together with the resources and the willpower to overcome a deadly challenge. And as the journal authors write: “Despite the world’s necessary preoccupation with Covid-19, we cannot wait for the pandemic to pass to rapidly reduce emissions.” All our lives depend on it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Human beings are not well adapted to evolution. We tend, unconsciously, to insist that nothing much has changed, that ‘life goes on…’ (except for the more than 4 million dead from Covid… “Suckers”, Donald Trump would call them). Sure, pandemic; shandemic.
Covid, schmovid.
Masks…social distancing… hand sanitizing… whatever…
This, despite the obvious and huge changes occurring around us, moment-by-moment.
Evolution. Schmevolution…
I suspect there’s an evolutionary advantage to peoples’ inability to recognize and change as change presses, but I cannot fathom the positive outcomes for such resistant to recognize when change is essential.
Then again, many humans believe evolution is a hoax, too.  and that dinosaurs existed concurrent to slightly before BCE (Before Christ Era). 
And, each day, millions of Americans drive bumper to bumper along utterly congested freeways. My commute offers a firsthand view of this craziness as I participate, too. We know we’re driving the planet and our oceans to extinction with our garbage, our plastics, our carbon monoxide, and our lack of ability to change. Yet we continue.

***

Stories from the Covid clinic frontlines
For the last 3 weeks, I’ve started most days addressing, one-on-one, individuals who’ve decided they need “the booster shot.”
Armed with clip boards loaded with Attestation forms, I respond,
“We’re not doing booster shots yet. As you may know, the CDC  is working out the details of booster shots. For now, we are not offering boosters. We are, however, offering “third dose” shots to immunocompromised people.”
“That’s me. I’m here for that.”
As I hand over the clip board with form and pen, I say, “These are the immunocompromised health issues we’re currently serving…”
I run through the six bullet points, one at a time: current cancer treatment; organ transplant, stem cell transplant, immunocompromised syndromes, HIV treatment, and high dose steroid treatments. The client shakes his or her head at each bullet point… until we reach the end of the list. Then,
“Well, my doctor sent me an email (or phoned me) and told me to get a booster shot.”
“Yes, I understand that doctors’ office admins have been doing that. Unfortunately, we’re administering third doses only to people that fall into one of these categories.” “Well, I came all the way down here to get my booster.”
“Yes, that is frustrating. Unfortunately, we’re not administering boosters yet. Maybe in a couple of weeks when the CDC et al officially decide how to administer boosters. At this time, however, we’re administering third doses only to people that fall into one of these categories.” I tap the form.
The client either accepts this information – with good or ill grace – and (muttering his or her displeasure) departs the long line. Or she or he explodes into anger. Facing a stranger’s wrath is not the way I prefer to start my day – especially as this line-filtering role evolved to ensure a positive experience for the many other people standing in our usually long vaccination lines - and keep healthy our front-line workers.
I hold fast. If the client insists on forcing a “booster”, I say, “I cannot stop you from signing this form and attesting to its accuracy, even as you know it may not be accurate. This signed attestation will appear on your health record… You decide.”
At that point I depart to assist the next client.

Iran: My Iranian neighbor reports Iran’s “government and mullahs are vaccinating themselves and their families and ignoring the general population.”
Iran’s Covid data, if accurate, shows 5,477,230 infected and 118,200 dead.
India An Indian client at the clinic for this first Covid shot after returning to the US after visiting family in India describes nightmare scenes of Indians dying in the streets of the country’s cities. India’s Covid data, if accurate, is the second highest in the world with 33,531,500 confirmed infections and 445,800 confirmed dead. (US still “numbah One”.)

***

Meanwhile, in the northern hemisphere, yesterday was the fall equinox (spring equinox in South Africa / the southern hemisphere).
Californians officially head towards winter, despite glorious weather. Rain is predicted in the San Francisco Bay Area; none has fallen.
My cookie-cutter days have me arising in the dark, Monday through Friday. By by 6:45am I’ve taken my place in a freeway lane and, with luck, I arrive at work by 8:00am. I run around all day supervising both the Covid and flu clinics (Covid clients served inside the clinic, flu clients outside, in their vehicles parked under a drive-through tent. Soon after 5:15pm, I take my place in a freeway lane and, watching my fuel/petrol gauge drop, I head home. (These days, fuel/petrol costs anything from $4.15 to $4.85 per gallon.)
Stress, commuting, and lack of time has me neglecting my exercise regime. Not a good strategy for future health.
Alas, practicality forced my understanding the unfeasibility of continuing to to maintain my houseboat. Of the 2.5 years I’ve owned and paid slip fees for the boat, I’ve lived aboard for only 6 months. My current work commute – in the opposite direction of the marina – plus trips to the marina each weekend to maintain the boat made continued ownership impractical.
Moreover, after my job ends in February, I must return to South Africa (Covid willing) to wrap up my mother’s business.
Further paying slip fees and not living aboard.,br> Accepting reality albeit with a heavy heart, I sold my beloved houseboat.
The purchaser is a loving son seeking to ameliorate his father’s pandemic-related social isolation yet maintaining his health.
How could I refuse?

***

Among the many vax skeptics and conspiracy theorists are people – one of whom I know and care about – swallowing the anti-bacterial dog and horse de-wormer medication (not even a viral medication) Ivermectin. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19
Fascinating.
Humans. Constantly evolving into an evolutionary ornery and hard to understand critter.

Category of critter

Week 76
Day 535, Thursday, September 9 - Category of critter

Well, the United State continues to lead the world in Covid infections. Amazing.
Worldwide (Map)
September 9, 2021 – 223,101,000 confirmed infections; 4,604,450 deaths 

September 3, 2020 – 26,940,000 confirmed infections; 861,870 deaths

US (Map)
September 9, 2021 – 40,601,000 confirmed infections; 654,600 deaths 

 September 3, 2020 – 6,114,000 confirmed infections; 185,710 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 9, 2021 – 2,843,100 confirmed infections; 84,327 deaths 
September 3, 2020 – 630,596 confirmed infections; 14,390 deaths 

News blues

Finally, some sanity during an insane time in the life of America. President Biden expands vaccine push with mandates for the private sector and announces sweeping vaccination and testing requirements for federal government workers, contractors and even private sector employees, as his administration works to fight the spreading coronavirus.
About time, Mr. Biden!

***

Hospitals in California’s Central Valley have been increasingly overwhelmed by the fourth surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, with officials scrambling to transfer some critically ill patients more than 100 miles away because local intensive care units are full.  

The San Joaquin Valley, the Sacramento area and rural Northern California are now the regions of the state being hit the hardest by COVID-19 hospitalizations on a per capita basis… The regions have lower vaccination rates than in the highly populated, coastal areas of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

My houseboat is moored in the San Joaquin River, part of this region. I’m grateful that I’m not living on my houseboat right now.

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

The Lincoln Project
Sad  (0:56 mins)
Ivermectin  (1:25 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party – (reprise)  (1:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

An important article with full excerpt from the National Geographic newsletter by By Victoria Jaggard, SCIENCE executive editor:

Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists and government officials have gotten sage advice from a group of people who were already battling a massive threat to public health: climate scientists. From piles of sometimes contradictory evidence to rampant misinformation  to mind-boggling denials of established facts, the issues that have plagued COVID-19 researchers and policymakers are starkly like those that have influenced the climate crisis. The pandemic has also laid bare similar issues with equity, access to healthcare, intergovernmental squabbling, and reluctance to embrace solutions that might harm the bottom line. But while the state of things may seem bleak right now, we actually have a lot to celebrate with COVID-19, in part because the pandemic spurred people to act urgently and drove a lot of innovation. Now mRNA vaccines are not only keeping people out of hospitals, they hold potential for combating a host of other diseases. More people are saying they will embrace masks as an effective way to prevent respiratory illness beyond COVID-19. And governments and institutions are investigating ways to improve healthcare infrastructure.  So why can’t we learn a few things from COVID-19 to get serious about tackling climate change? That’s what the editors of more than 200 medical journals are asking this week in an article co-published across their pages. 

“Many governments met the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic with unprecedented funding. The environmental crisis demands a similar emergency response,” the editors write. And yes, they add, “the science is unequivocal” that climate change is a huge risk to public health. Extreme heat already threatens the health of about 30 percent of the world’s population, according to a 2017 study. Shifting climate zones mean that tropical diseases—many carried by my personal archnemeses, mosquitoes—are pushing into higher latitudes, threatening even more people with ailments such as dengue fever, malaria, Zika, and valley fever. Droughts are making crops harder to grow and less nutritious, while floods create stagnant waters that can carry all sorts of icky infectious agents. Heck, climate change has even been implicated in making seasonal allergies worse  

The global response to COVID-19 has not been perfect. But it has shown the world what’s possible when people come together with the resources and the willpower to overcome a deadly challenge. And as the journal authors write: “Despite the world’s necessary preoccupation with Covid-19, we cannot wait for the pandemic to pass to rapidly reduce emissions.” All our lives depend on it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I still have not acclimated to my new life as a commuter, nor found a way to commute, work a full day, and come home regularly post on this blog.
I’m trying but it’s a learning curve.

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Currently, people who are medically immunocompromised – suffering from illnesses associated with underperforming immune systems such as cancers, organ transplants, untreated HIV, and high dose steroid treatments – can receive a third dose of a Covid vaccine.
Naturally, people being people, many not suffering such illnesses arrive at the clinic and try to bulldoze their way into receiving this cautionary measure. One of my jobs is to try to explain to the latter category of people the difference between the third dose for the immunocompromised and “booster shots”. 

The simplest explanation? Booster shots are not yet available. 

I repeat the same information scores of times a day – while also performing my “real” duties. A part of me enjoys these glimpses into how the human mind works to bamboozle it’s way into getting third doses. Healthy people know they’re ineligible, but they’re willing to sign their names to Attestations and have false information entered into their medical records – in other words, create proof that they’re liars – simply to get a third dose of vaccine.
These people are the opposite of the people who’d rather take an anti-bacterial horse de-wormer – Ivermectin – than a human anti-viral vaccine.
Fascinating.
Humans. 

A hard to understand category of critter.

Down the rabbit hole

Commuting and working and organizing the vax clinics – yes, clinics, as flu season vaccinations began last week – leaves me little free time to present the planet’s Covid-19 numbers. (Luckily the world doesn’t depend on me, eh?) 

Here are the numbers as of today, compared to 2 weeks ago and to the last day of last year:

Worldwide (Map) 
September 6, 2021 – 220,863,350 confirmed infections; 4,571,200 deaths
August 19, 2021 – 209,892,500 confirmed infections; 4,401,700 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 82,656000 confirmed infections; 1,8040100 deaths

US (Map) 
September 6, 2021 – 39,955,200 confirmed infections; 648,615 deaths
August 19, 2021 – 37,201,600 confirmed infections; 625,150 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 19,737,200 confirmed infections; 342,260 deaths

 
SA (Tracker) 
September 6, 2021 – 2,820,000 confirmed infections; 83,419 deaths
August 19, 2021 – 2,652,660 confirmed infections; 78,694 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 1,039,165 confirmed infections; 28,035 deaths

News blues

Cases are being driver down by vaccinations
About 370.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered across the country as of Tuesday, according to CNN data About 370.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered across the country as of Tuesday, according to CNN data. 
An average of 899,462 doses are being administered each day, and 426,311 people are getting their first dose each day. When it comes to booster shots, as of August 13 -- when the CDC endorsed booster doses for certain immunocompromised people -- about 996,000 people had received that third dose.
"We are already getting the benefit of community immunity," Lessler said. "It's not an absolute number but a continuum. We will turn the corner when we reach a critical threshold of immunity and that's when cases will start to go down -- we always get there, either the virus or the vaccine gets us there. But that (community immunity) is still what is going to get this under control."
Even though 25 states have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents and half the United States is fully vaccinated, the country is inching back to winter levels in terms of cases, deaths and hospitalizations. Cases in the United States are averaging more than 159,000 each day, which has not been this high since January.
The country is averaging 1,329 deaths a day, a seven-day average not seen since March. As for hospitalizations, the US seven-day average stands at 100,057, which has not been seen since January.
"There are still a lot of people out there who are susceptible. That's one reason why this has been so bad," Lessler said. "Yes, we have a lot of immunity, and yes, we're in a better place than we were, but there are still huge pockets of susceptible people and those people cluster together. They interact."
With 4 months left in 2021, here's where the US stands with Covid-19

***

The Lincoln Project Pro-Life  (0:56 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party – (reprise)  (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone? 

The new Kivi Kuaka project focuses on birds’ ability to hear infrasound, the low-frequency sound inaudible to humans ¬ that researchers believe is the most likely signal birds would use to sense storms and tsunamis. Infrasound has myriad sources, including lightning strikes, jet engines, and the songlike vocalizations of rhinoceroses. Even the Earth itself generates a continuous infrasonic hum. Though rarely measured, it is known that tsunamis generate infrasound, too, and that these sound waves travel faster than the tsunami wave, offering a potential window in which to detect a tsunami before it hits.
There is some evidence that birds dodge storms by listening to infrasound. In a 2014 study, scientists tracking golden-winged warblers in the central and southeastern United States recorded what’s known as an evacuation migration when the birds flew up to 9,300 miles to evade an outbreak of tornadoes that killed 35 people and caused more than $1 billion in damage. The birds fled at least 24 hours before any foul weather hit, leaving the scientists to deduce they had heard the storm system from more than 250 miles away.

Read “Birds Can Hear Tsunamis Way Before They Hit. Scientists hope the ability can be turned into an early-warning system." >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Conspiracy theories continue… and people continue to line up at our clinic for jabs where we, in the Covid’s effects-can-be-reduced Camp, continue to inject vaccine into willing arms.
People, being people – quirky, diverse and diversely quirky – continue to wrestle with, well, whatever is the wrestle-able item of the day. For example, counterfeit Covid cards.
Last week, someone showed up at the clinic with a fake vaccination card. How did we know it was fake? She wanted a Maderna jab. There is no such jab as Maderna. On closer inspection, the card presented other spelling and editorial errors.
Why bother to present a counterfeit card? Who knows? Covid vaccinations are free with few questions asked. Why go to the trouble of making or acquiring a fake card? Who knows? People display all the inexplicable complexities of people-dom.

***

My new life as a commuter severely cuts down on my ability to follow the news. I do not own – nor do I want to own – a television. Living on the beachfront, however lovely, presents internet connection issues. Spending many hours on the freeway to and from work, and many hours at work, means few hours spent at home. I’m unwilling to spend hard-earned dollars on internet service that I’d hardly use. Well, that’s the thought for today. Tomorrow, I may re-think the wisdom of that decision. Having internet at home is convenient. Then again, not having internet at home makes me realize how often, when I do have access at home, albeit squirrelly, I interrupt one online activity for a quick sidebar to review another online activity. That is, frequently I find myself breaking my online focus to explore or research a tangential topic that pops into my head. So, while researching, say, Covid statistics, I think of fires in northern California. Since internet access make it easy, I take a side trip to catch up on fire news, then that topic stimulates another topic, say, the air quality index, then I’m off to read about the rising cases of, say, asthma… then I might circle back to Covid statistics. Or not.
It’s also possible that my forays turn into further forays, and I’ll not return to Covid statistic for hours. Down the rabbit hole….
I love the ability to research on the fly. It’s increasingly challenging to stay focused on one topic.
What does it mean for “us” – people – that this is the wave of the future? Will we lose the ability to concentrate on one issue at a time?
It certainly means more conspiracy theories.
What of young minds? How do young people strengthen their ability to concentrate and stay focused?
Beats me.