The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 387 (887)

I couldn't find much covid news this morning, so I'll start with The Kiddos. They just left the aid station located 38 miles into the 100 miles that constitute the race. This means they are about to start a climb of about 3,000 feet. Then they will run down the far, up a bit, and then they turn around and do it all in reverse. They don't run ultras to win, place, or even show; they run them to finish; fingers crossed that they can finish this, arguably the hardest race they've run due to the elevation. I was able to set up text alerts so that whenever they pass an aid station, I get the relevant info such as time, pace, etc. 

Back to covid. The Professor and I tested ourselves this morning just in case we picked something up on our masked tour of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello on Monday. We both tested negative. The guidelines say to test two days in a row after a possible exposure, so we'll repeat the tests tomorrow. 

A fresh covid outbreak in Tibet has stranded thousands of Chinese tourists. So far there are 216 confirmed cases and 3,479 asymptomatic ones. People went to vacation spots to escape the possible city lockdowns, and now they're locked in those places. The beach resort of Hainan reported enough cases this week to raise China's total to a three-month high. One issue in Tibet is its remoteness; there is limited medical capacity and experience. 

K-12 schools are in the process of starting for the year. New York City has made some changes to how they deal with covid. First, there are no longer general vaccine mandates; however, vaccination is required for some extracurricular activities including some sports. Teachers, staff, and visitors to schools must be vaccinated. There are no longer general mask mandates, though masks will be available. Students who test positive will have to wear masks on days six through 10 after their first positive test or the onset of their symptoms. Last year, families had to complete daily health questionnaires; these are now a thing of the past. At-school exposure means two tests, 24 hours apart, on days four and five after exposure. Anyone with symptoms should stay at home. Students and staff will each get four tests per month, and there will be no PCR testing at schools. A positive test means isolation for five days. A person can return on the sixth day if symptoms are gone or improving. Masks will be required until 10 days from the test or the onset of symptoms. The public schools here start this week. It will be interesting to see what covid policies they have in place.