A federal judge in--where else--Florida has struck down the public transportation mask mandate including the part that applies to airplanes. I can live with that (still not comfortable flying) as long as they don't say that you can't wear a mask. I would not, after all, be wearing it to hide my identity. I'm just glad they didn't do this weeks or months ago.
China reported 23,460 new covid cases on Monday, of which 22,251 were in Shanghai. Still, China may start to lift the citywide lockdown in Shanghai and implement a "closed-loop management" system under which people live at their workplaces and test frequently. Many people are already doing this. Living in one's office sounds rough, but imagine the Shanghai convention center's being home to 50,000 beds in its new role as a quarantine facility. The lights stay on 24 hours daily, and there are no hot showers. (I'm not sure there are cold ones either.) Testing positive for covid while showing no or only mild symptoms will win you a week in a quarantine facility such as this.
It seems that fully vaccinated people are more likely to have a breakthrough infection if they also suffer from any psychiatric disorder, though it's only three percent higher overall. Certain disorders carry higher risk. For people over the age of 65, the greatest risks were seen in people suffering from substance use disorder, psychotic disorder, or bipolar disorder. For younger people, risk was highest for those with anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder, or substance use disorder. The study was done retrospectively using data from the Veterans Administration. There were some limitations. For one, the researchers relied on administrative data and electronic health records that could contain errors. The researchers also did not look at the severity of the breakthrough infections.
The coronavirus may have another victim ... the business suit. With people working from home plus, in the early days of the pandemic, unable to go for personal fittings, suits just aren't as popular as they used to be. In fact, the UK's Office of National Statistics has removed suits from the list of goods it uses to calculate the annual inflation rate. They've replaced "suit" with "formal jacket or blazer." The popularity growth of Casual Fridays had already cut into the popularity of suits; the coronavirus may have sounded its death knell.
In terms of suits--business suits for men or pantsuits for women--I was quite happy to spend the last quarter century of what passed for my career working from home. I did at various points have suits with skirts, the most recent one obtained over a decade ago to wear to a morning wedding. I never wore it to a funeral, though I have attended several, none of which were from covid I'm glad to say.
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