Day 245 of Lockdown/Corona Virus
Nov. 18th, 2020 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWho wants to take bets on when I lost track of days again or counting?
1. I'm a good mood. I found out today that the Universe may have decided to give me a couple of early Christmas Gifts.
*The Monster lost and will be out of the White House come January. (kind of already knew that, but still..it bears repeating.)
*. The new President-Elect has proclaimed that his administration will focus on climate change (and according to mother infrastructure - which is where I work. This is news.)
*. There are not one but COVID VACCINES that are 95% effective - Phfizer's and Modernas'. Also turns out I was wrong about immunity - it is a thing.
Note the only two things I wanted from the election was Trump out, and a focus on the environment. (Also it would be really nice if Kamala Harris got the VP role - but I wasn't counting on that.)
Guess what? I got all three! Yippee! Thank you, Universe. Also a big thank you for Kamala Harris - who was my pick for President. (I voted for Warren, but only because Harris wasn't an option.)
I know not everyone is happy about this turn of events - but the ones who aren't are kind of dumb, and we don't care what they think.
2. The news amused me this morning. Note we've already established that I have an off-beat sense of humor.
*Trump fired Christopher Krebs, the head of the agency in charge of election security. Last week, the agency called the election “the most secure in American history.” [If they don't agree with you? Fire the bastards. The modius operandi of the Doofus since well 2002...with the Apprentice. He just fires anyone who disagrees or counteracts him, even if they are right. If he hasn't fired the person within a year, then it's a given the idiot is a gutless toady.]
* "Republican officials refused to certify Biden’s win in Detroit — only to reverse themselves after an outcry from the city’s voters and state officials." [LOL! Go Detroit! Actually they tried to get the Republican state legislatures of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to decide the election in their favor - only to have them all say, nope, sorry, we don't decide elections. Also we go with the popular vote - that's kind of in our state constitutions.]
* "Rudy Giuliani asked the Trump campaign to pay him $20,000 a day for legal work challenging the election results. The campaign appears to have said no, and Giuliani denied requesting that much." (You'd think after the Four Seasons Landscaping travesty Giuliani would realize that the campaign has no money? They can barely afford the court costs, let alone paying him $20,000 a day to lose. Although I can't say I blame him for trying. Someone online wondered how he could plead a case in a PA court, when he's not licensed in PA - because PA recognizes NY, and he's doing it with a PA lawyer.)
* "Alaska voters approved ranked-choice voting for general elections, which makes it easier to vote for a third party without undermining a major-party candidate." (Apparently Alaska is tired of having folks like Trump get their electoral votes, and wants to remedy that?)
* "In The Times Magazine, Jonathan Mahler argues that Trump will soon present the country with a historic dilemma: an ex-president with substantial criminal liability." (And with various States vying with each other to put the bastard behind bars. New York is first in line - and is primed to arrest him the day after he leaves office for 20 years worth of income tax fraud. It wants its money back damn it. And its broke - so extra incentive right there. That's one of the reasons he doesn't want to concede or leave.)
3. The US Vs. the Virus
Note, the US is losing in its battle to contain the virus because our government and citizens are insanely stupid. I mean the stupidity defies logic. It's enough to make me want to apologize to every horror novelist, writer, filmmaker who ever lived. Yes, the American people are really that stupid. We know this now. Thank you, COVID.
But, hey, at least the scientists are smart. So there's hope.
* A new study found that immunity to the coronavirus may last for many years.
* The F.D.A. approved a rapid test that can be performed at home, paving a potential path for more widespread testing outside of health care settings.
[I kind of thought we already had this?]
*More states placed new restrictions, but some stopped short of closing restaurants, as some states and Europeans countries have done. [Why? What is the problem people have with closing restaurants? Just have them all do take out and outdoor dining. Also why do you want to go to a restaurant during a pandemic anyhow? People bewilder me. And let's think about this for a moment - where are you most likely to get a virus? In a restaurant.]
Uh, It's worth mentioning that I don't tend to go to restaurants - because I'm gluten intolerant, they are expensive, and I don't really like sitting at a table by myself in a noisy place and being waited on. I don't find it relaxing.)
* Ohio said all retail businesses must close from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. for three weeks, while Maryland ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m.
[So, Ohio has 24 hour retail? And they were keeping them open until 5 Am through most of the pandemic? Are there vampires in Ohio? (It would explain a lot). Are they nuts? And why do they think 10pm - 5am is the best time to close? As opposed to 5am -5am? Do they think the virus only comes out at night? I'm thinking Ohio and Maryland have the virus confused with vampirism.)
* Illinois will suspend indoor dining starting Friday, and Pennsylvania will require anyone who enters the state to be tested before arrival. [Okay, again, Illinois just now decided to suspend indoor dining? And how exactly does PA plan on enforcing this requirement and why did they wait so long to pronounce it? Honestly, you'd think the entire US economy was based on the restaurant and hospitality industry.)
* Vermont banned “multi-household gatherings,” and its governor, Phil Scott, argued that those gatherings had led to more infections than restaurants. “I know this is difficult & frustrating, especially with the holidays right around the corner, but it’s necessary,” Scott tweeted. [He's not wrong, although both do it. But honestly, you can ensure restaurants are closed or control how many people are in them. Kind of difficult to stop multi-household gatherings. People can do that in secret. What are you going to do, go house to house to ensure they don't? That's been NY's problem shutting down all the illegal house parties that people keep having.]
* Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said that the nation needed “a uniform approach” to the pandemic, rather than a “disjointed” state-by-state response. [Yep. Makes sense. I mean this is why Australia, New Zealand and China have been able to contain it for the most part - they don't have to worry about their next door neighbors throwing caution to the winds and having large gatherings, rallies, and house parties.]
* Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, an 87-year-old Republican, said he had tested positive. His absence shattered his pride and joy: the longest consecutive voting streak in Senate history. [I know it's wrong, but I kind of hope the man dies and is replaced by a Democrat. He's old. It's time.]
* Fans are crediting Dolly Parton as a pandemic savior because she donated $1 million this spring to Vanderbilt University, which worked with the drugmaker Moderna to develop a vaccine. [Wouldn't it make sense to wait until it actually works? Also she's not the only person who has donated to these firms.]
* Looking to start exercising again after recovering from Covid-19? Take it slow, Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician, advises. [Sounds kind like common sense...]
Oh updates...from the evening Corona Virus report:
* The F.D.A. authorized the first at-home coronavirus test. [We already have one - via pixlar labs. My co-worker has been taking it for several months now.]
* New York City will shutter all public schools again as virus cases increase.[Yep that happened today.]
* A mini-outbreak on the U.S. Capitol Hill is threatening to disrupt the business of Congress.
* New Orleans announced that there would be no parades during the February 2021 Mardi Gras celebrations.[I guess they learned their lesson finally from last years Mardi Gras celebrations? This is kind of like a slow motion horror film...]
*There's memes on social media - that social Darwinism may take out the idiotic Republicans in the Red States who refuse to wear masks, while all the Democrats are, and we won't have to worry about an election in 2024, since the other party will be dead. Death by stupidity. In South Dakota and Ohio - patients are refusing to do Facetime with family members to say Goodbye, because they don't believe in COVID and still think it is a hoax. (Folks on FB were wondering what they thought they were dying of?)
4. Our continuing coverage of New York vs. the Corona Virus
Per tonight's Governor's email...
After Canadian Thanksgiving, on October 12, Canada saw a major spike in COVID cases. It is our deep concern that the same thing will happen here. For that reason, I have continued to raise the alarm about the risk of COVID spreading in smaller indoor settings — so-called "living room spread" — including at holiday dinners.
We all wish the pandemic was over and we didn't have to worry about it this holiday season. Sadly and very clearly that's not the reality — on the contrary, COVID is getting worse. So I am asking all New Yorkers again: Be smart and help us avoid a Thanksgiving spike. That means having Thanksgiving with your immediate household only, not attending Thanksgiving dinners with over ten people, and taking all the recommended health precautions. The best way to show your thanks and love this year is to stay apart. A small Thanksgiving dinner, or one over Zoom, is no less meaningful a way to reflect on our blessings and mark a great American tradition.
Here's what else you need to know tonight:
* The positivity rate in the micro-cluster focus areas dropped slightly to 4.73 percent. Excluding these areas, it was 3.10 percent. Of the 154,434 tests reported yesterday, 5,294, or 3.43 percent, were positive. Total hospitalizations rose to 2,202. Sadly, we lost 35 New Yorkers to the virus. [So, how are they containing it? They are closing schools tomorrow for the rest of the year. Not indoor dining, not gyms, not salons, schools.]
2. New York will modify micro-cluster focus zones in response to updated metrics. Part of Erie County's Yellow Zone will transition to an Orange Zone. Parts of Niagara County and the Bronx will go into Yellow Zones. There will be an expanded Yellow Zone in Queens. Meanwhile, due to improvements, the Yellow Zones in Broome County and Orange County will be removed, and the Brooklyn cluster's Orange Zone will transition to a Yellow Zone. These changes go into effect Friday for businesses and Monday for schools. [Which means that restaurants can stay open along with other non-essential businesses...in yellow zones. I think NY is the only state doing zones. Illnois according to cousin is confusing - they tell everyone that they can wander about, yet at the same time that they should stay home and locked down. ]
* If you get a call from NYS Contact Tracing, pick up. Contact tracers are working around the clock to trace clusters and inform people who have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID. How can you help? Simply by picking up the phone. If your caller ID says "NYS Contact Tracing," pick up and help New York stop the spread. (Tracers will never ask for your Social Security Number or financial information; if someone does, they are not an official tracer and you should hang up.)[A bunch of people are worried the government is spying on them or something. Wales' pal Alan has a burner phone and won't participate. So they are having issues with the crazy people - there are more of them than you might think.]
* Northeastern colleges are asked to provide testing for students before students leave for Thanksgiving break. Today, I was joined by the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in recommending that residential colleges in our respective states provide testing prior to sending students home for Thanksgiving. Read more about the regional coalition's announcement here. [They are also basically telling the students not to come back to school after break. Oh, and spring break has been removed from school calendars now, along with any snow days. Not that the snow days were ever really there.]
Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": The Little Shelter Animal Rescue in Suffolk County is celebrating its 93rd anniversary this year. Instead of a fundraising gala, they are expanding two charitable programs. The first program aids families who are struggling to provide for their pets' needs, delivering them pet food and other goods so that they don't need to surrender their pets to shelters. The second, a soup kitchen, primarily serves seniors and disabled individuals. During the pandemic, volunteers coordinated no-contact delivery to protect both the staff and the pet owners.
[I like how the newsletter attempts to cheer everyone up at the end of it.]
5. Europe vs. the Corona Virus
Well, well...France and Sweden have shifted tactics..and it's working.
"France bends the curve, again
After a summer lull, France faced a terrifying second wave of coronavirus infections this fall that hit most of the country at the same time and put intense pressure on its hospitals. This week, the country became the first in Europe to surpass two million confirmed cases and the number of hospitalized patients reached a record high.
And yet, a nationwide lockdown that was put in place last month seems to be turning things around.
“Our collective efforts are starting to bear fruit,” Jérôme Salomon, a top health ministry official, said yesterday at a news conference.
France is one of the first countries in Europe to re-enter lockdown, but the restrictions this time around are less harsh than in the spring.
Restaurants, bars and cinemas are once again closed, public gatherings are bannedmovement outside the home has been limited. In most French cities, the wearing of masks is mandatory in enclosed public spaces. But parks and schools are still open, restrictions on visits to retirement homes are not as tight and a wider range of businesses are allowed to remain open.
New cases have come down by 32 percent over the past two weeks, and the number of deaths also seems to be stabilizing — an encouraging sign.
Officials say some of the latest restrictions may start to be lifted next month, and small businesses might be allowed to reopen during the run-up to Christmas. Still, the authorities plan to reverse the lockdown slowly, and only if the positive trends continue.
“Your efforts are starting to pay off, you must definitely not stop them,” Olivier Véran, the health minister, told the BFM TV news channel yesterday. “Yes it’s long, yes it’s difficult, but that’s the price to return to a normal life.”
Sweden changes course. In the spring, Sweden opted for a lighter touch in managing the virus. But responding to a fall surge in cases, the government abandoned its old approach, announcing its strictest limitations yet and warning of darker days ahead."
6. Meanwhile...it appears we may have a vaccine on the way.
We have an update on Pfizer’s vaccine: The drug maker said today that it had finished its late-stage vaccine trial and that its shot was 95 percent effective, with no serious side effects. It had previously said that its vaccine was more than 90 percent effective, based on preliminary data.
The company also said its vaccine prevented mild and severe forms of Covid-19, and was 94 percent effective in older adults, who do not respond strongly to some types of vaccines.
Pfizer, which developed the vaccine with its partner BioNTech, said the companies were planning to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization “within days,” raising hopes that a working vaccine could soon become a reality. Pfizer has said that it might have up to 50 million doses available by the end of the year, and up to 1.3 billion by the end of next year, but only about half would go to Americans. Health care workers, as well as vulnerable individuals, like older people, would be first in line to get the shot.
Scientists are calling on Pfizer and Moderna, which also released encouraging preliminary results this week, to provide more detailed analysis of the data — beyond the initial news releases — so they can evaluate the results. Pfizer said it would submit the results for review in a scientific journal and that it was ready to submit two months of safety data to the F.D.A. The agency said it planned to review the data with an outside panel of vaccine experts, a process that could take weeks.
What’s next: If approved, attention will immediately turn to the manufacture and distribution of the vaccine, which requires subzero temperatures and ultracold freezers that many hospitals and injection sites do not have.
Pfizer's COVID Vaccine works and is 95% effective without side-effects
7. While people were complaining about the Rockerfeller Christmas Tree - an adorable and omnious owl was discovered wrapped up in the Rockerfeller Christmas Tree.
On Tuesday morning, as New Yorkers brutally criticized the 2020 Rockefeller Christmas Tree for being too scrappy, the tree revealed a secret: a tiny owl.
An adorable offering to its critics... or an omen? As we know from the Twin Peaks universe, owls are not only not what they seem, but they signal supernatural dangers. And David Lynch didn't just make that up during a late night coffee bender — owls have long been seen as "bad omens and harbingers of death."
Way to go, now we've got a supernatural owl on our hands.
For now, the owl — nicknamed Rockefeller — and its powers are being contained at the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, New York. A spokesperson for Ravensbeard told Gothamist on Wednesday "the owl was discovered by a worker who was putting the tree up in Rockefeller Center. It was inside the wrapped up tree and had been there for three whole days without food or water before it was discovered by this worker and brought to us."
1. I'm a good mood. I found out today that the Universe may have decided to give me a couple of early Christmas Gifts.
*The Monster lost and will be out of the White House come January. (kind of already knew that, but still..it bears repeating.)
*. The new President-Elect has proclaimed that his administration will focus on climate change (and according to mother infrastructure - which is where I work. This is news.)
*. There are not one but COVID VACCINES that are 95% effective - Phfizer's and Modernas'. Also turns out I was wrong about immunity - it is a thing.
Note the only two things I wanted from the election was Trump out, and a focus on the environment. (Also it would be really nice if Kamala Harris got the VP role - but I wasn't counting on that.)
Guess what? I got all three! Yippee! Thank you, Universe. Also a big thank you for Kamala Harris - who was my pick for President. (I voted for Warren, but only because Harris wasn't an option.)
I know not everyone is happy about this turn of events - but the ones who aren't are kind of dumb, and we don't care what they think.
2. The news amused me this morning. Note we've already established that I have an off-beat sense of humor.
*Trump fired Christopher Krebs, the head of the agency in charge of election security. Last week, the agency called the election “the most secure in American history.” [If they don't agree with you? Fire the bastards. The modius operandi of the Doofus since well 2002...with the Apprentice. He just fires anyone who disagrees or counteracts him, even if they are right. If he hasn't fired the person within a year, then it's a given the idiot is a gutless toady.]
* "Republican officials refused to certify Biden’s win in Detroit — only to reverse themselves after an outcry from the city’s voters and state officials." [LOL! Go Detroit! Actually they tried to get the Republican state legislatures of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to decide the election in their favor - only to have them all say, nope, sorry, we don't decide elections. Also we go with the popular vote - that's kind of in our state constitutions.]
* "Rudy Giuliani asked the Trump campaign to pay him $20,000 a day for legal work challenging the election results. The campaign appears to have said no, and Giuliani denied requesting that much." (You'd think after the Four Seasons Landscaping travesty Giuliani would realize that the campaign has no money? They can barely afford the court costs, let alone paying him $20,000 a day to lose. Although I can't say I blame him for trying. Someone online wondered how he could plead a case in a PA court, when he's not licensed in PA - because PA recognizes NY, and he's doing it with a PA lawyer.)
* "Alaska voters approved ranked-choice voting for general elections, which makes it easier to vote for a third party without undermining a major-party candidate." (Apparently Alaska is tired of having folks like Trump get their electoral votes, and wants to remedy that?)
* "In The Times Magazine, Jonathan Mahler argues that Trump will soon present the country with a historic dilemma: an ex-president with substantial criminal liability." (And with various States vying with each other to put the bastard behind bars. New York is first in line - and is primed to arrest him the day after he leaves office for 20 years worth of income tax fraud. It wants its money back damn it. And its broke - so extra incentive right there. That's one of the reasons he doesn't want to concede or leave.)
3. The US Vs. the Virus
Note, the US is losing in its battle to contain the virus because our government and citizens are insanely stupid. I mean the stupidity defies logic. It's enough to make me want to apologize to every horror novelist, writer, filmmaker who ever lived. Yes, the American people are really that stupid. We know this now. Thank you, COVID.
But, hey, at least the scientists are smart. So there's hope.
* A new study found that immunity to the coronavirus may last for many years.
* The F.D.A. approved a rapid test that can be performed at home, paving a potential path for more widespread testing outside of health care settings.
[I kind of thought we already had this?]
*More states placed new restrictions, but some stopped short of closing restaurants, as some states and Europeans countries have done. [Why? What is the problem people have with closing restaurants? Just have them all do take out and outdoor dining. Also why do you want to go to a restaurant during a pandemic anyhow? People bewilder me. And let's think about this for a moment - where are you most likely to get a virus? In a restaurant.]
Uh, It's worth mentioning that I don't tend to go to restaurants - because I'm gluten intolerant, they are expensive, and I don't really like sitting at a table by myself in a noisy place and being waited on. I don't find it relaxing.)
* Ohio said all retail businesses must close from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. for three weeks, while Maryland ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m.
[So, Ohio has 24 hour retail? And they were keeping them open until 5 Am through most of the pandemic? Are there vampires in Ohio? (It would explain a lot). Are they nuts? And why do they think 10pm - 5am is the best time to close? As opposed to 5am -5am? Do they think the virus only comes out at night? I'm thinking Ohio and Maryland have the virus confused with vampirism.)
* Illinois will suspend indoor dining starting Friday, and Pennsylvania will require anyone who enters the state to be tested before arrival. [Okay, again, Illinois just now decided to suspend indoor dining? And how exactly does PA plan on enforcing this requirement and why did they wait so long to pronounce it? Honestly, you'd think the entire US economy was based on the restaurant and hospitality industry.)
* Vermont banned “multi-household gatherings,” and its governor, Phil Scott, argued that those gatherings had led to more infections than restaurants. “I know this is difficult & frustrating, especially with the holidays right around the corner, but it’s necessary,” Scott tweeted. [He's not wrong, although both do it. But honestly, you can ensure restaurants are closed or control how many people are in them. Kind of difficult to stop multi-household gatherings. People can do that in secret. What are you going to do, go house to house to ensure they don't? That's been NY's problem shutting down all the illegal house parties that people keep having.]
* Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said that the nation needed “a uniform approach” to the pandemic, rather than a “disjointed” state-by-state response. [Yep. Makes sense. I mean this is why Australia, New Zealand and China have been able to contain it for the most part - they don't have to worry about their next door neighbors throwing caution to the winds and having large gatherings, rallies, and house parties.]
* Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, an 87-year-old Republican, said he had tested positive. His absence shattered his pride and joy: the longest consecutive voting streak in Senate history. [I know it's wrong, but I kind of hope the man dies and is replaced by a Democrat. He's old. It's time.]
* Fans are crediting Dolly Parton as a pandemic savior because she donated $1 million this spring to Vanderbilt University, which worked with the drugmaker Moderna to develop a vaccine. [Wouldn't it make sense to wait until it actually works? Also she's not the only person who has donated to these firms.]
* Looking to start exercising again after recovering from Covid-19? Take it slow, Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician, advises. [Sounds kind like common sense...]
Oh updates...from the evening Corona Virus report:
* The F.D.A. authorized the first at-home coronavirus test. [We already have one - via pixlar labs. My co-worker has been taking it for several months now.]
* New York City will shutter all public schools again as virus cases increase.[Yep that happened today.]
* A mini-outbreak on the U.S. Capitol Hill is threatening to disrupt the business of Congress.
* New Orleans announced that there would be no parades during the February 2021 Mardi Gras celebrations.[I guess they learned their lesson finally from last years Mardi Gras celebrations? This is kind of like a slow motion horror film...]
*There's memes on social media - that social Darwinism may take out the idiotic Republicans in the Red States who refuse to wear masks, while all the Democrats are, and we won't have to worry about an election in 2024, since the other party will be dead. Death by stupidity. In South Dakota and Ohio - patients are refusing to do Facetime with family members to say Goodbye, because they don't believe in COVID and still think it is a hoax. (Folks on FB were wondering what they thought they were dying of?)
4. Our continuing coverage of New York vs. the Corona Virus
Per tonight's Governor's email...
After Canadian Thanksgiving, on October 12, Canada saw a major spike in COVID cases. It is our deep concern that the same thing will happen here. For that reason, I have continued to raise the alarm about the risk of COVID spreading in smaller indoor settings — so-called "living room spread" — including at holiday dinners.
We all wish the pandemic was over and we didn't have to worry about it this holiday season. Sadly and very clearly that's not the reality — on the contrary, COVID is getting worse. So I am asking all New Yorkers again: Be smart and help us avoid a Thanksgiving spike. That means having Thanksgiving with your immediate household only, not attending Thanksgiving dinners with over ten people, and taking all the recommended health precautions. The best way to show your thanks and love this year is to stay apart. A small Thanksgiving dinner, or one over Zoom, is no less meaningful a way to reflect on our blessings and mark a great American tradition.
Here's what else you need to know tonight:
* The positivity rate in the micro-cluster focus areas dropped slightly to 4.73 percent. Excluding these areas, it was 3.10 percent. Of the 154,434 tests reported yesterday, 5,294, or 3.43 percent, were positive. Total hospitalizations rose to 2,202. Sadly, we lost 35 New Yorkers to the virus. [So, how are they containing it? They are closing schools tomorrow for the rest of the year. Not indoor dining, not gyms, not salons, schools.]
2. New York will modify micro-cluster focus zones in response to updated metrics. Part of Erie County's Yellow Zone will transition to an Orange Zone. Parts of Niagara County and the Bronx will go into Yellow Zones. There will be an expanded Yellow Zone in Queens. Meanwhile, due to improvements, the Yellow Zones in Broome County and Orange County will be removed, and the Brooklyn cluster's Orange Zone will transition to a Yellow Zone. These changes go into effect Friday for businesses and Monday for schools. [Which means that restaurants can stay open along with other non-essential businesses...in yellow zones. I think NY is the only state doing zones. Illnois according to cousin is confusing - they tell everyone that they can wander about, yet at the same time that they should stay home and locked down. ]
* If you get a call from NYS Contact Tracing, pick up. Contact tracers are working around the clock to trace clusters and inform people who have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID. How can you help? Simply by picking up the phone. If your caller ID says "NYS Contact Tracing," pick up and help New York stop the spread. (Tracers will never ask for your Social Security Number or financial information; if someone does, they are not an official tracer and you should hang up.)[A bunch of people are worried the government is spying on them or something. Wales' pal Alan has a burner phone and won't participate. So they are having issues with the crazy people - there are more of them than you might think.]
* Northeastern colleges are asked to provide testing for students before students leave for Thanksgiving break. Today, I was joined by the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in recommending that residential colleges in our respective states provide testing prior to sending students home for Thanksgiving. Read more about the regional coalition's announcement here. [They are also basically telling the students not to come back to school after break. Oh, and spring break has been removed from school calendars now, along with any snow days. Not that the snow days were ever really there.]
Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": The Little Shelter Animal Rescue in Suffolk County is celebrating its 93rd anniversary this year. Instead of a fundraising gala, they are expanding two charitable programs. The first program aids families who are struggling to provide for their pets' needs, delivering them pet food and other goods so that they don't need to surrender their pets to shelters. The second, a soup kitchen, primarily serves seniors and disabled individuals. During the pandemic, volunteers coordinated no-contact delivery to protect both the staff and the pet owners.
[I like how the newsletter attempts to cheer everyone up at the end of it.]
5. Europe vs. the Corona Virus
Well, well...France and Sweden have shifted tactics..and it's working.
"France bends the curve, again
After a summer lull, France faced a terrifying second wave of coronavirus infections this fall that hit most of the country at the same time and put intense pressure on its hospitals. This week, the country became the first in Europe to surpass two million confirmed cases and the number of hospitalized patients reached a record high.
And yet, a nationwide lockdown that was put in place last month seems to be turning things around.
“Our collective efforts are starting to bear fruit,” Jérôme Salomon, a top health ministry official, said yesterday at a news conference.
France is one of the first countries in Europe to re-enter lockdown, but the restrictions this time around are less harsh than in the spring.
Restaurants, bars and cinemas are once again closed, public gatherings are bannedmovement outside the home has been limited. In most French cities, the wearing of masks is mandatory in enclosed public spaces. But parks and schools are still open, restrictions on visits to retirement homes are not as tight and a wider range of businesses are allowed to remain open.
New cases have come down by 32 percent over the past two weeks, and the number of deaths also seems to be stabilizing — an encouraging sign.
Officials say some of the latest restrictions may start to be lifted next month, and small businesses might be allowed to reopen during the run-up to Christmas. Still, the authorities plan to reverse the lockdown slowly, and only if the positive trends continue.
“Your efforts are starting to pay off, you must definitely not stop them,” Olivier Véran, the health minister, told the BFM TV news channel yesterday. “Yes it’s long, yes it’s difficult, but that’s the price to return to a normal life.”
Sweden changes course. In the spring, Sweden opted for a lighter touch in managing the virus. But responding to a fall surge in cases, the government abandoned its old approach, announcing its strictest limitations yet and warning of darker days ahead."
6. Meanwhile...it appears we may have a vaccine on the way.
We have an update on Pfizer’s vaccine: The drug maker said today that it had finished its late-stage vaccine trial and that its shot was 95 percent effective, with no serious side effects. It had previously said that its vaccine was more than 90 percent effective, based on preliminary data.
The company also said its vaccine prevented mild and severe forms of Covid-19, and was 94 percent effective in older adults, who do not respond strongly to some types of vaccines.
Pfizer, which developed the vaccine with its partner BioNTech, said the companies were planning to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization “within days,” raising hopes that a working vaccine could soon become a reality. Pfizer has said that it might have up to 50 million doses available by the end of the year, and up to 1.3 billion by the end of next year, but only about half would go to Americans. Health care workers, as well as vulnerable individuals, like older people, would be first in line to get the shot.
Scientists are calling on Pfizer and Moderna, which also released encouraging preliminary results this week, to provide more detailed analysis of the data — beyond the initial news releases — so they can evaluate the results. Pfizer said it would submit the results for review in a scientific journal and that it was ready to submit two months of safety data to the F.D.A. The agency said it planned to review the data with an outside panel of vaccine experts, a process that could take weeks.
What’s next: If approved, attention will immediately turn to the manufacture and distribution of the vaccine, which requires subzero temperatures and ultracold freezers that many hospitals and injection sites do not have.
Pfizer's COVID Vaccine works and is 95% effective without side-effects
7. While people were complaining about the Rockerfeller Christmas Tree - an adorable and omnious owl was discovered wrapped up in the Rockerfeller Christmas Tree.
On Tuesday morning, as New Yorkers brutally criticized the 2020 Rockefeller Christmas Tree for being too scrappy, the tree revealed a secret: a tiny owl.
An adorable offering to its critics... or an omen? As we know from the Twin Peaks universe, owls are not only not what they seem, but they signal supernatural dangers. And David Lynch didn't just make that up during a late night coffee bender — owls have long been seen as "bad omens and harbingers of death."
Way to go, now we've got a supernatural owl on our hands.
For now, the owl — nicknamed Rockefeller — and its powers are being contained at the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, New York. A spokesperson for Ravensbeard told Gothamist on Wednesday "the owl was discovered by a worker who was putting the tree up in Rockefeller Center. It was inside the wrapped up tree and had been there for three whole days without food or water before it was discovered by this worker and brought to us."
no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 04:32 am (UTC)Some grocery stores including Walmart are open 24 hours in many places. The Walmart closest to me gave up the over night hours past 1:00 am. just a few months before the virus hit. They have been gradually restoring hours since going to a minimum early in the outbreak. Currently they are closed here between 10:00 pm. and 6:00 am.
Arizona's governor again decided not to make mask wearing mandatory, mostly because easily 90% plus of the people live in towns that have their own mandatory mask laws. I still think much of the current surge across the country is due to schools being open in-person and pre-election Trump support rallies where no one wore masks, like the one in my area. In both cases people probably got it, then passed on more or less at home. Schools are going back to on-line only and no one except white supremacists seem to be too thrilled about rallying for Trump any more. So maybe the cases will start dropping fairly soon.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 01:50 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, no.
I've read various articles detailing studies in Europe and here, and they found that the virus wasn't being transmitted in schools. That kids really didn't transmit it that much. The culprit has been large indoor gatherings, parties, and well indoor dining and bars. All the surges in NY were due to: large weddings, private house parties, bars and restaurants.
My niece's school - with 500 students? Nothing. No outbreaks.
But a restaurant on Long Island which had a large wedding of 113 people ended up with 92 people getting it and 7-10 dead.
Same deal in other states.
The first hotspot - was due to a birthday party, funeral and worship service.
And Canada's outbreak - the Canadian Thanksgiving = large indoor gatherings.
ETA: In Europe, where they chose to close bars, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters but keep schools open with restrictions in place such as social distancing/masks, the cases went down and the virus was contained. See you can test and contain it with schools open, but not with indoor dining/bars/gyms and theaters or anything that leads to a party or large indoor gathering.
ETA: Regarding rallies - yes they spread it. But they aren't the main one. If they were the surge would have been during the summer not now. There weren't that many recently. The main cause across the board has been indoor gatherings. Arizona went up according to the researchers in the NY Times due to restaurants and bars being re-opened. When they were shut, the cases went down.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 03:01 pm (UTC)Our surge here has been about the same total numbers as last time, but the hospitals here are doing a little better than during the last surge since they had the first experience.
The mega church in my area went back to open services about the same time as the election, although they kept the services on-line for those who preferred that. I haven't been by there on Sunday mornings to see how many cars were going in...
Everything has been open all along in the upper plains and parts of the upper Midwest. They were just lucky to avoid big problems till now, and now are paying the price for their earlier good fortune.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 06:33 pm (UTC)It doesn't necessarily contradict what you've stated, just provides a bit more nuance and varying details - showing that shutting down was the most effective response.
The problem with shutting down the schools in NYC and NY State - is charter and private schools are still open. Only public schools get shut down.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 07:46 pm (UTC)Very weird.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 11:07 pm (UTC)I watched one of the smack-down Zoom responders. It was glorious. And accurate. "You're on the wrong side of history. Your names will be known like George Wallace's is now." (Something like that...)
the US is losing in its battle to contain the virus because our government and citizens are insanely stupid. I mean the stupidity defies logic.
I've seen nurses in hot zones in flyover states who talk of patients who refuse to believe that they're sick with COVID. Right up until they're intubated. Or they die. And yeah, some of it is just a complete lack of sense, but I also blame the horrifying morass of fake news that gets spread via social media.
I'm not surprised to see Sweden have to change course a bit. Their (relative) success earlier was due in part to the warming weather. And to a much stronger social welfare health system that allows people to take time off from work when sick. They still have all of that--but the air is colder and drier again.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-19 11:39 pm (UTC)I'm not surprised to see Sweden have to change course a bit. Their (relative) success earlier was due in part to the warming weather. And to a much stronger social welfare health system that allows people to take time off from work when sick. They still have all of that--but the air is colder and drier again.
Sweden also has the benefit of being smaller and not surrounded by crazy neighbors. Kind of like Maine in that regard. And they don't have narcissistic federal government who doesn't want to do anything.