Monday, June 29, 2020

Self-isolation Day 104.

Last night I went to bed at 10:45, fell asleep quickly, got up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 8am.

Today is another holiday – San Pedro y San Pablo (Feasts of Saint Peter and Paul).

Last night I played 4 games on Chess.com, sadly losing all 4. My rating is now 1326.

Teresa left just after 9am to take her mother out for a walk so they can both get some vitamin D.

I left at 9:30, walked up calle 30 (everything’s closed) to Avenida Poblado, across the street to Aymará, across the street to San Marcos church, up a couple back streets and through the “bat” park, south a couple blocks then down the hill to Avenida Las Vegas, north to the gas station, and back to the apt by 10am.

This morning my back was a little stiff and sore but at least not painful. On the way, in the gas station, I saw 2 policemen on a motorcycle for the first time in what seems like weeks. Where have they all gone? Fighting the virus? Laid off?

 

Teresa beat me in parcheesi 6 games to 2.

 

About 4:30 a strong wind kicked up. Being in a valley this is something rare. About 5pm it started raining but it didn’t last long either.

 

Vice President Pence on Sunday implored Americans to wear face masks, practice social distancing and stay away from senior citizens to protect them amid a new spike in coronavirus infections as the United States surpassed 2.5 million confirmed cases. (Wow, talk about late to the party. Btw, where does our impeached president stand on this issue?)

 

Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” longtime political columnist David Ignatius said that his own follow-up on the New York Times’ explosive report that Donald Trump’s administration was well aware that the Russians were offering a bounty for the death of U.S. military members revealed that Pentagon officials have been “pounding on the door” and trying to get Donald Trump to do something about it.

 

Former Trump FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Monday warned that COVID-19 infections in the United States are accelerating at an alarming rate that could see as much as half the population infected with the disease by the end of the year.

 

Houston Methodist CEO Dr. Marc Boom told CNBC on Monday that Texas’ spike in coronavirus cases is impacting a greater number of people under 50 than earlier in the pandemic. “We are definitely seeing this affect young people, and they’re getting quite ill,” he said on “Squawk Box.” About 60% of the Covid-19 patients at Houston Methodist’s hospitals are under the age of 50, Boom said. 

 

Florida is reporting an unprecedented number of Covid-19 cases, but Governor Ron DeSantis has pointed to the relatively low median age of the sick -- 36 -- to suggest that the outbreak isn’t having serious clinical consequences. But now, record numbers of Floridians 75 and older are testing positive for Covid-19, according the latest report from Sunday, which reflects data through Saturday.

In a phone interview, Dr. Dermot Phelan, cardiologist and Director of the Sports Cardiology Center at Atrium Health's Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, explained how COVID-19 affects the heart and why athletes who have had mild symptoms will need cardiac testing before being approved to return to play.

 

 

More than a half-million people have now died from COVID-19 worldwide, and the death toll has doubled in just over seven weeks.

That grim milestone – marked Sunday by Johns Hopkins University – is particularly unsettling given warnings by health experts that the pandemic is still in its infancy. The U.S. with more than 125,000 deaths makes up approximately 25% of the total fatalities. 

 

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would "settle" for a Covid-19 vaccine that's 70% to 75% effective, but that this incomplete protection, coupled with the fact that many Americans say they won't get a coronavirus vaccine, makes it "unlikely" that the US will achieve sufficient levels of immunity to quell the outbreak.

 

 

Tonight El Presidente said that Colombia will not be having a strict quarantine. (Personally, I think that means we’re F***Ked.)

 

A Trump replay from April 3^rd “It’s going away and it is going away.”

 

The US has 2,509,464 ð 2,562,925 ð 2,599,047 coronavirus cases with 125,344 ð 125,804 ð 126,105 deaths. (Total cases in the US are still increasing.)

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 88,591 ð 91,769 ð 95,043 cases with 3,223 deaths.  Medellin has 1,756 ð 1,885 ð 1,958 cases, an increase of 73 from June 28^th to June 29^th. Colombia’s rolling 6-day average of new cases has take a slight decrease in new cases, Medellin included. Envigado has a total of 84 cases, an increase of 5 from June 27^th to June 29^th.

 

Joke of the day

According to the Knight-Rider News Service, the inscription on the metal bands used by the U.S. Department of the Interior to tag migratory birds has been changed.

The bands used to bear the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated, "Wash. Biol. Surv.".

Until the agency received the following letter from an Arkansas camper:

"Dear Sirs: While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you it was horrible."