I checked my phone to pull up any late-breaking coronavirus news, but the only new news is that the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial has reached a verdict. Word is that the verdict will be announced between 4:30 and 5:30, or potentially in about 30 minutes. I haven't written about the trial because I didn't want to open floodgates on the trial and possible consequences of whatever the verdict is. If the verdict is not guilty on all three charges, Minneapolis will burn tonight. The riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict will seem bush league compared to what could happen tonight. Part of me thinks that the jurors would not have reached threenot guilty verdicts this quickly, but perhaps that is wishful thinking.
Back to the novel coronavirus that is far past seeming "novel." The WHO announced there have been 5.2 million new confirmed cases over the latest week, and deaths rose for the fifth straight week. India was a major contributor to the number of new cases, with six consecutive days of over 200,000 new cases, for a total of 1.5 million cases in a week. The number of cremations suggests that the announced death toll there is smaller than the actual toll. Some Indian hospitals may start running out of medical oxygen this week. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled the trip he was about to take there. The US State Department is updating travel guidelines to more closely match the travel recommendations issued by they CDC. Once they've completed this, 80 percent of countries worldwide will become Level 4: Do Not Travel countries. Currently about 16 percent are.
One discussion of international travel listed the following points as guidance in any decision to travel. (1) Check where you can go and what you can do there. Germany, for example, prohibits entry from the US, and tourists are not permitted to stay in hotels. (2) Consider travel insurance. Personally, I won't get a plane ticket without also getting insurance. (3) Pack your vaccine card with your passport ... then check if you also need a vaccine passport. (4) Prepare to be tested before, and potentially after, you travel. You may even need to be tested even if you have been vaccinated. (5) Make sure you still have pandemic essentials. Don't assume you won't need masks, gloves, disinfecting wipes. You might.
A survey found that 91 percent of Americans were aware that administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been paused, and 88 percent thought that pause was a good thing. There was very little difference between Republicans and Democrats on whether the pause was good. Seventy percent of the people responding in this poll reported that they had already been vaccinated or will get vaccinated as soon as possible. Finally, 63 percent said that they wore a mask whenever they were outside their home, a proportion I wish were higher. From another poll, two in three of the Americans who haven't gotten a vaccine say that they don't plan to, another statistic I wish were different.
Finally, on a less serious note, coronavirus restrictions dropped Czech beer consumption to its lowest levels since the 1960s. The Czechs have long boasted of having the highest beer consumption per capita in the world. During the coronavirus, average consumption has dropped by almost seven percent.
The verdict is still to be announced.
2 comments:
Guilty, guilty, guilty. I saw some commenters saying, "What felony was Chauvin guilty of?" (for 2nd degree murder conviction). Assault, that's what. I'm happy with the verdict. He goes straight to jail, and though I'm sure his lawyer will appeal, he'll be there for some time. We'll see (perhaps) how he fares there.
There should be a final ppoint in your travevl checklist - check whether there is a need to quarantine on your return home. It's not all about the going but also the return. That's assuming you can return and that your destination didn't get put on a red list while you were away.
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