Eid Mubarak! I don't know if any of my Muslim friends read this blog, but I'm thinking of them. I have no idea what the month of Ramadan feels like, mentally or physically. I do know, though, what a celebration Eid brings.
I didn't get too many notes taken this afternoon, so I'm not sure how long this post will be. The view here at home in the US is rosy. All 50 states are holding steady or declining in terms of the number of new cases. New cases declined last week in 37 states. Deaths are at their lowest level since July, around 600 per day. Hospitalization rates are also falling. Probably at least in part due to this, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks or physically distance, indoors or out, under most circumstances, even in crowds. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky took that a step further, and this is the part I have the largest problem with. She said, "If you are fully vaccinated, you are protected, and you can start doing the things that you stopped doing because of the pandemic." We're back to where we were two years ago? Really? I'm not sure I'm okay with that statement. The pandemic is dead; long live whatever the opposite of "pandemic" is? Will the vaccine-hesitant or vaccine-resistant folks respond appropriately to the "if you are fully vaccinated" condition? My bet is that they won't, and given there is still much to learn about how long vaccine-induced immunity lasts, how the vaccines handle the existing--and future--variants, I'm not sure I want to risk my life on people who don't seem to give a rat's ass about others.
Moving right along before I let the wine do more pontificating, travel is becoming more popular. The top 10 domestic locations right now are New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Charleston, Denver, San Francisco, and Phoenix. The top international destinations are Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dubai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Paris. I have one friend I would love to visit here in the Continental 48. I might be willing to consider that domestic trip, but all those large cities? They don't seem worth my perceived risk. International will be out for much longer. There's just too much uncertainty about what might happen there.
The Professor has taken two short trips to Mumbai, India, and has no desire to return. India is not a place I have any special desire to visit, especially now. Two states and the territory of Delhi have suspended vaccinations for people ages 18 to 44 due to a shortage of vaccine. The daily new case and death numbers are not declining. It's going to be quite a while before they can start doing the things they stopped doing because of the pandemic, if they ever really can.
The situation in Papua New Guinea is interesting. The prime minister just got the first dose of vaccine given in the entire country, noting that he was the "guinea pig" and if he died, no one else needed to get vaccinated. Evidently, there are so many conspiracy theories running rampant even encouraged by doctors. Some 62 percent of Facebook posts about vaccines in the region make unsubstantiated claims including that the vaccine will help the government track personal data, is counter to the foundations of Christianity, and will negatively impact female fertility. That vaccine doses might expire before they can be given is a nontrivial concern there. It is worth noting that the prime minister's two brothers got vaccinated along with him noting that "a Papua New Guinean will stand by his brother, if it means to die with his brother, he will." That's family for you.
3 comments:
I've been quietly seething today about the CDC's announcement. I fear they're bending to the will of The Great Unwashed--we know they surrendered their backbone to the previous administration, so why should anything they announce be supported by principles or science?
With Judy's passing, you, I, and all the Magpies know that a person can be fully vaccinated and still catch and die from COVID. If you can catch it, you can spread it, and that's the purpose of the masks: to prevent the spread from YOU to THEM. It's never been about protecting yourself with a mask! And trust anyone else around me to be bare-faced because they're vaccinated? As if!!
I'll be wearing my mask for the next several months, thankyouverymuch, and quite probably into the 22s. I fully expect to be harassed for "not being vaccinated" (because why else would one wear a mask?), but my loins are girded and my vaccine card at the ready.
C-in-Pf
Why would anyone travel to London when you start your trip with a ten day quarentine (or five days and pay for a PCR test). That's a week of your visit spent looking at the walls, maybe ok if you are working but it's not going to make a fun trip.
The risk to my age group with no pre-existing conditions is small, the reason I've lived under a rock for the last year is the possibility of bringing it home to mum and the mother-in-law who are both over 80 and have relevant health conditions. Things open up here from Monday, I might stop home for a couple of weeks until the crowds reduce but then I never liked crowds anyway.
We tested overnight travel last weekend, staying at a Homewood Suites. Masks required in all public areas including hallways, pool and gym closed. No maid service unless requested. Room cleaned before hand and door "sealed" with a sticky seal to let you know it hasn't been entered since. We were on the ground floor so we didn't need to use the elevator.
Breakfast was set up with prepared boxes with two hard boiled eggs prewrapped/sealed in plastic; a bagel & cream cheese; and a small yogurt plus utensils. You could also pick up, separately, a sealed juice cup, wrapped orange or apple, single cereal serving (mostly sugary cereals, though), and coffee from the normal carafes. Then you needed to take these items back to your room...no seating nearby.
We had takeout food for dinner which we ate at the small table in our room. I think it all worked well.
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