The weather forecast is ominous. The last advisory I read predicted 3 to 8 inches of snow and sleet alone with .2 to .4 inches of ice. The advisory runs from 9:00 tonight to 1:00 am Friday. Personally, I'm hoping for more snow and as little ice as possible. I'm not a big fan of slip slidin' away. Mother Nature, though, doesn't always see things as I do, so I fully expect tomorrow won't be pretty.
Remember Sweden at the start of the pandemic? They went without mitigation measures hoping for her immunity within their borders. It seems that they started gradual limits in November and are now preparing to close gyms, restaurants, and hair salons. This, as we start to open up even further here. I'm thinking they're on a more correct path than we are right now. Yes, the numbers are getting better here, but that doesn't mean we should stop being careful.
The UK is starting a human challenge study using 90 healthy volunteers 18 to 30 years old. The goal is to establish the smallest amount of virus needed to cause infection, look at the immune response, and see how the virus can be passed from person to person. They'll use the original virus not any of the variants currently in the news. I give those who volunteer for the study major props for being willing to be infected with the virus everyone else is so actively trying to avoid. As for the variants, the CDC has said they could lead to a rapid rise in the number of cases, predicting that deaths could reach 559,000 by March 13. Currently, we're at somewhere over 488,000.
Vaccinations are still hard to come by in many spots. People locally are complaining in not-very-quiet voices about both the state health department's registration system as well as the system CVS drug stores are using for people to make appointments to get vaccinated. They're still not doing my group, the one with underlying conditions. Massachusetts is currently requiring two underlying conditions for vaccination. It's like extra credit in school!
POTUS said in a town hall meeting last night that he hopes the nation could return to normal by "next Christmas." The article I read did not define "next" as being 2021 or 2022. I would think of Christmas 2021 as being "this Christmas" with 2022 being "next." Either way, I wonder what normal will mean as we emerge from the pandemic. Handshakes are probably gone for good. I'm not sure about hugs, though I expect if we do still hug, we'll save them for people with whom we are particularly close. There are probably quite a few men who prefer the no-necktie look and feel. Will we pack into a sold-out movie showing and sit shoulder-to-shoulder with a stranger? What about a sports event? A wedding? A funeral? Will restaurants ever get back the capacity they've relinquished? Will people feel comfortable sitting with other people at the next table or in the next booth.
The local university recorded 117 positive cases on Monday. I'm not sure quite how they did it, but they ascertained that the large number of cases came from people letting their guard down in terms of mitigation. They got too close to each other, or let their mask slip down from their nose, or did some other bad thing. As a result, they shut things down about as tight as they can without sending everyone home as they did last spring. No in-person gatherings on or off campus. In-person classes will continue but with added measures to keep students separated. Kids who live on campus can only leave their dorm rooms for class, meals, exercise, or picking something up at a library. Those will be open only for p8ick-ups. Gyms are closed. If things improve over the next 10 days, they'll relax theses measures. And surprise, surprise, they did not do the 4:00 pm update giving the number of new cases found yesterday. Inquiring minds, well, my mind wants to know.....
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My uni student came home before Christmas and is still here, at the moment I've no idea when he will be returning, if at all. Last year he was refunded the rent for the term they weren't there, this year when they were instructed not to return - nothing.
I'm all for the challenge test, I keep saying that science will save us all but it has to have the base data to do that. The volunteers will be fussed over and tended to and the NHS will fall on them at the first sign of a sniffle. It's a fantastic way to say that you made a difference.
I have nightmares about crowded places, I do genuinely believe that when all restrictions ease there will be some of us requiring an intervention. Maybe not, memories are short, but I've been a long time seeing other people as a threat. Research has shown that we see "others" as a threat but not family and friends which is why mitigation measures haven't worked as well as they should. Nope, they are all out to get me and I worked out early on that my mother in law was the biggest threat.
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