Thursday, May 21, 2020

Self-isolation Day 65.


Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly but woke up at 4:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I finally gave up and got up at 6am.



Ahead of President Trump’s planned trip Thursday to a Ford manufacturing plant in Michigan, the state’s attorney general implored him to wear a face mask on his tour, citing a “legal responsibility.”



Per the Today show:

·      Lori Loughlin and her husband reportedly to plead guilty in college admissions scandal; she is to serve 2 days in prison and he 5 days.

·      Jobless claims increased 2,400,000 last week, bringing the total to more than 38,600,000.

·      Yesterday was the worst for number of new coronavirus cases as globally it surpassed 5,000,000.

·      New model estimates 36,000 US lives could have been saved by earlier action.

·      CDC reports that the virus does not appear to spread easily on objects or surfaces.

Well, we made the 6 blueberry muffins from our old Betty Crocker mix. They weren’t too bad even with their fake blueberries.



At 5pm Envios Market delivered my package for 106,400 pesos. It was 2 large containers of wasp spray for the finca. I think the shipping charges have gone up quite a bit. Maybe everything comes Fed-Ex express now. I picked up a Gente newspaper on my way back to the apt. An article listed the steps each shopping center is taking before they open to protect their customers.



Trump’s response to his coronavirus testing: "I tested very positively in another sense so - this morning. Yeah. I tested positively toward negative, right. So. I tested perfectly this morning. Meaning I tested negative."



President Donald Trump was inundated with ridicule on Thursday after he seemed not to know what the term “per capita” means. “And you know when you say ‘per capita,’ there’s many per capitas,” the president said. “It’s like, per capita relative to what? But you can look at just about any category and we’re really at the top, meaning positive, on a per capita basis too.”



A poll of health care workers reported shortages of the following supplies:

66% - N95 respirator masks

42% - surgical masks

36% - hand sanitizer

36% - protective/isolation medical gowns

35% - face shields

26% - eye protection

22% - gloves

Mitch McConnell: "I think there is a high likelihood we will do another rescue package," McConnell told Fox News Channel in an interview. "But we need to be able to measure the impact of what we've already done, what we did right, what we did wrong ... We're not quite ready to intelligently lay down the next step, but it's not too far off."

President Trump said Thursday the United States would not shut down in the case of a second coronavirus wave. "People say that's a very distinct possibility. It's standard. And we're going to put out the fires. We're not going to close the country. We're going to put out the fires," Trump told reporters during a tour of a Ford manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., when asked if he was concerned about a second wave of COVID-19.

Nine top scientists who advised Barack Obama in the White House are warning that the US has just three months to rebuild its national stockpile of emergency medical supplies or risk further drastic shortages of testing kits and protective gear should coronavirus strike again in the fall.

Sweden has revealed that despite adopting more relaxed measures to control coronavirus, only 7.3% of people in Stockholm had developed the antibodies needed to fight the disease by late April. The figure, which Sweden's Public Health Authority confirmed to CNN, is roughly similar to other countries that have data and well below the 70-90% needed to create "herd immunity" in a population. 

The coronavirus pandemic continues its deadly march through rural counties and small towns across the US, led by flareups in Southern and Midwestern states that are becoming new epicenters of the outbreak.



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledged Thursday that it is combining the results from viral and antibody COVID-19 tests when reporting the country's testing totals, despite marked differences between the tests.

And a Trump replay from February 10^th: “I think the virus is going to be it’s going to be fine. A lot of people think there’s a way in April. As the heat comes in. Typically that goes away in April.”

The US has 1,535,011 ð 1,547,311 ð 1,582,042 coronavirus cases with 91,837 ð 92,617  ð 94,584 deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 16,935 ð 17,687 ð 18,330 cases with 652 deaths.  Medellin has 356 ð 369 ð 373 cases, an increase of 4 from May 19^th to 20^th. Looking at the 6-day averages provided by Medellin Guru it still looks like Colombia’s curve is flattening.



Joke of the day

A poor old lady was forced to sell her valuables to avoid eviction. As she rummaged through her dusty belongings, she came across a dull copper kettle. Intrigued by its possible value the old woman dusted it off and BAM! A genie erupted from its neck.

The genie says, “I have seen your plight, and will grant you three wishes.”

The woman, astounded, thinks for a moment and says “age has taken its toll on me. I wish to be young and beautiful once more.”

BAM! In a sudden flash emerged a ravishing young woman.

Thrilled by her success the woman says “genie I want to live a life of grandeur! To be rich!”

BAM! With a snap of the genie’s fingers, the room swirled and transformed into a great hall. Her once broken cottage had become a mansion. Upon looking down the woman noticed her worn clothing had been replaced with a stunning dress and shining heels.

While she marveled at this outcome the genie stood solemnly and said: “you have one wish left.”

The woman thought about this for a while and then felt a slight brush against her leg. It was her old cat, frightened by the building's transformation.

The woman looked up at the genie and said “this cat has been faithfully with me for all my years. Please, transform him into a human man, so that we may spend many happy days together!”

BAM! In a blinding flash the cat had vanished. Standing in his place was a tall, dark-haired, handsome young man.

Immediately enamored by her new love, the woman fell into his arms. The genie, his work complete, disappeared. As she gazed into his eyes, he drew her close and whispered, “I bet you wish you hadn't had me fixed.”