The View from the Hermitage, Day 458

The CDC has followed WHO in declaring Delta to be a "variant of concern." Evidently there is a more serious category above that, "variant of high consequence." Let's hope Delta doesn't get that far. It's doubling every two weeks, something the Alpha variant did on its way to becoming the dominant strain in the US. Dr. Cyrus Shah, covid-19 data director at the White House, says that by the time more Americans are fully vaccinated, in some five to six weeks, Delta "will be the majority of US cases ... important to start building protection now." The Pfizer vaccine is said to offer "very good" protection, while Astra-Zeneca's protection is "substantial but reduced" efficacy. Coming on Delta's heels is Lambda, a variant first found in Peru and now associated with "substantive rates of community transmission in multiple" countries in the region. And we can't forget Gamma which is apparently fueling an outbreak in the Yukon.

Covid death totals go up and down depending on how one counts covid deaths. Federal guidance is to rely on death certificates where covid was determined to be a factor. They want to count only people who die of or from covid as opposed to people who die with covid. 

On the vaccination front, some pediatricians in the US are vaccinating as many adults as children. They'll vaccinate the parents who bring the children in to save them a trip to get vaccinated elsewhere. WHO has warned not for the first time that the virus is spreading faster than vaccinations. Royal Caribbean has postponed the inaugural sailing of the Odyssey of the Seas after eight vaccinated crew members tested positive. All 1,400 crew were vaccinated on June 4 and will be considered fully vaccinated on June 18. The positive cases were identified after vaccination but before full efficacy. Six of the eight crew members are asymptomatic; the other two have mild symptoms.

Up to 10,000 people could be allowed to watch Olympic events in Tokyo. Spectators currently would be capped at 5,000 or 50 percent capacity, whichever is smaller. I'm tempted to put on a character's voice to say, "They call that a crowd?" We have a different idea of crowd size here in the US. The Los Angeles Dodgers had over 50,000 fans at Tuesday's game; they called it "Reopening Day." The Kentucky Derby was run before a crowd of 51,000. A crowd of 70,000 watched a recent boxing bout. Topping them all, the Indianapolis 500 was conducted before a crowd of 135,000. Now that's what I call a crowd. You would not find me even in the 5,000 mentioned for a possible Olympics crowd.

The US is expected to be added to a list  of countries from which the EU will admit tourists. It's not clear if the CDC vaccination card will be accepted as a vaccination passport; it was not intended to serve as one. It wasn't clear if a negative test result might also be needed. I should ask The Professor if he still wants to go to Germany to meet with a colleague there. If so, he should start checking into things now rather than his usual at the last minute.

The View from the Hermitage, Day 77

The novel coronavirus accounts for only one smallish article on the front page of today's Washington Post along with an even smaller article about yesterday's first launch of US astronauts from US soil in nearly 10 years. (The capsule successfully docked at the International Space Station this morning.) Unfortunately, the rest of the front page was nothing but articles on the (quoting from the lead headline) "wave of rage and anguish sweep(ing) U.S. cities." I wish I had profound words to express how sickened I am by all this. I find it hard to comprehend the mindset of people such as the policemen who, with their treatment of George Floyd, set this all off. I use the plural because there is evidently some evidence that Mr. Floyd was killed not by the officer with his knee on his neck but instead by the two officers who sat on his back. Pressure on the two places--neck and back--results in different types of suffocation, and it appears that the type from which Mr. Floyd died was the kind resulting from back pressure on someone lying face down.

Because of how friends become friends, I can't think of anyone I know who would think this is okay. As I write that, however, I am reminded of my father's racism, something that got more extreme as he aged. I wrestle with whether that racism would have led to his taking the life of another person. I would like to think it would not, but I honestly do not know, and this frightens me. I know that attitudes such as racism come from nurture not nature, but I still wonder. It makes me thankful for the people I have met and the experiences I have had that help me keep my faith in human goodness, as unrealistically idealistic that may be.

Closer to home, I have three loaves of bread in the oven. I've made bread for the family for a couple of decades. We do buy bread if life gets in the way of my baking, but then I somewhat miss it. Working the hands kneading, smelling the bread as it bakes. My current go-to recipe is a whole wheat and oatmeal bread from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking. That book has several recipes I have tried and liked. It's getting pretty dogeared, though, from frequent perusing if not using.

We went to the park again this Sunday morning. I'm not sure what the dog likes better, the car ride or the walk and different smells once we get there. There was a new Stop sign at the entrance and two people sitting there in lawn chairs (at least six feet apart) reminding people coming in to practice social distancing. We assured them we would and got a thumbs up when we held up the masks we were going to put on before leaving the car. The part of the park where we usually park had one or two more cars than are usually there, but there was still a lot of open space.

While the area around the softball fields was relatively empty, the area near the river was anything but. 

We don't know if the occupants of these cars were using the trail that runs beside the river for quite a distance. They might have been swimming; if so, I hope they stayed safe. Someone drowns in that river just about every year. We did see one car with two kayaks on the roof and another with two canoes, so at least some people were on top of the water rather than in it.

We did not go to the park last Sunday, instead visiting the university cemetery, so I can't say whether the crowds were due to the state's having entered Phase I of reopening or the nicer weather today than last weekend. Older son thought it was Phase I, which led to a rousing discussion of the metrics shown on the state health department's website. Our reading is that the arrows are not going in a direction that suggests Phase I has been a good thing. I can't see the governor pulling the state out of Phase I and back to staying at home; I don't think he has the courage (I really wanted to cite male genitalia here, but decided to stay PG-rated) to do so. I can see, and hope he does as well, extending Phase I for several more weeks. We'll find out on Tuesday or Thursday when he has his pandemic press conferences. In the meantime, I shall enjoy fresh, homemade bread sitting in an Adirondack chair on the front porch while I continue reading John Barry's The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.